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Practical Translation Issues

The document provides guidelines for translators on various practical issues when translating texts, including: 1) Retaining titles, headings, paragraphs, and subheadings from the source text layout unless there are strong reasons to change them. 2) Some source language words may require transference instead of translation due to differences in culture, geography, or new concepts. Translator's notes may be needed. 3) Names of people, places, organizations and positions should generally not be translated, even if possible, as they are often specific to the source language context. Translator's notes can provide explanations.

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Mohammed Abueissa
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227 views3 pages

Practical Translation Issues

The document provides guidelines for translators on various practical issues when translating texts, including: 1) Retaining titles, headings, paragraphs, and subheadings from the source text layout unless there are strong reasons to change them. 2) Some source language words may require transference instead of translation due to differences in culture, geography, or new concepts. Translator's notes may be needed. 3) Names of people, places, organizations and positions should generally not be translated, even if possible, as they are often specific to the source language context. Translator's notes can provide explanations.

Uploaded by

Mohammed Abueissa
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Titles & Headings

• All NAATI test passages have headings


+ many also have sub-headings
Some Practical Issues + these are part of the text & must be translated

in Translation + try to imitate the general layout of the source text

Paragraphing & Sub-paragraphs Transference of SL Words

• Retain the original paragraph divisions • Some SL words may have no TL equivalents
+ unless there are very strong reasons to change + differences in geography / culture
– not just because you ‘feel like it’ + new technology
• Retain any sub-paragraphs / dot-points + borrowing from SL to fill gaps in TL vocabulary
+ also retain any identifying numbers / letters • These may require transferring the SL word into the TL
+ ie, the SL word is not translated
+ but a translator’s note may be required
+ requirements when SL & TL use different scripts
– may require transliteration

1
Names of People, Places etc (1) Names of People, Places etc (2)

• Particular cases of ‘transference’ are names of: • Translation of position names depends on type of
+ people (eg, Quentin Bryce) document:

+ places (eg, Riverview) + if TL readers will need to know SL term

+ organisations (eg, Medicare) – ‘transfer’ SL word, then explain in a TN

+ positions (eg, Student Welfare Coordinator) + in other cases, translate using suitable equivalents

• Even when they can be translated, they should not be


• Names widely known in the TL usually have equivalents
+ eg, United Nations
+ but not those specific to SL country, eg Newstart

Abbreviations & Acronyms Punctuation & Capital Letters (1)

• Some SL documents may use: • Punctuation in translated text should reflect the original
+ abbreviations, eg Kodam = Komando Daerah Militer + but should be ‘converted’ to reflect normal TL usage
= Military Area Command + eg, English use of comma [,] for thousands / millions
+ acronyms, eg NAATI = National Accreditation Auth- + many languages use full stop [.] for this purpose
ority for Translators & Interpreters
• Quotation marks in SL should be reflected in TL
• These may also be handled by transferring the SL word
+ eg, to indicate quoting of exact words / unusual
+ but a translator’s note may be particularly useful meaning
+ some TL scripts may not allow separate letters for • Use of round brackets ( ) should also be reflected in TL
acronyms
+ ie, to indicate a parenthesis
– may require full translation

2
Punctuation & Capital Letters (2) Words of Unknown / Uncertain Meaning

• Insertions by translator must be in square brackets [ ] • Sometimes meaning of SL word:


+ emphasises information not in original document + cannot be found (not listed in available dictionaries)
• Upper-case / lower-case letters + is genuinely ambiguous (original badly expressed)
+ if TL writing system allows for these: • Translators must alert their readers to this
– capitals in SL must be reflected in TL + if possible, indicate what intended meaning might be
– but only as consistent with normal rules in TL + don’t just leave blank space
– in English, capitals must be used when required, + this is what translator’s notes are for
even if SL did not have them

Translator’s Notes (1) Translator’s Notes (2)

• Typical situations: • Typical situations [cont]:


+ information that TL readers do not know + for clarity in legal documents
‘Pancasila [official state philosophy] Education’ – information not stated in SL, but required in TL for
+ information the translator does not know grammatical reasons

‘loss of 1 laptop, 3 [word illegible], 2 watches’ ‘he stated [that he] had once met this man’

+ mistakes in the SL document – in most types of texts, this will not be required

‘pay the sum of $125,000 (one hundred and twenty • Over-use of TNs in NAATI tests may be penalised
thousand dollars) to the other party’
‘moved from Melbourne to Sidney to seek work’

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