VARIOUS DEFINITIONS OF TRANSLATION

Translation is the process of converting the meaning of a written message (text) from one language to
another. Translators must strike a fine balance between staying true to the original meaning and making a text
sound natural in the target language—to ensure that the final text communicates the same message, feeling,
and tone as the original.
Translation is an act through which the content of a text is transferred from the source language into the
target language. (Foster, 1958). The language to be translated is called the source language (SL), whereas the
language to be translated into or arrived at is called the target language (TL)
Translation consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source
language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style. Nida and Taber (1969: 12)
Translation is the expression in another language (or the target language) of what has been expressed in
another, source language, preserving semantic and stylistic equivalences. French theorist, Dubois (1974)
Translation is the replacement of a text in one language by a replacement of an equivalent text in a second
language. Meetham and Hudson (1972) and Catford (1965)
Translation is the production of a functional target text maintaining a relationship with a given source text
that is specified according to the intended or demanded function of the target text. (functionalist)

What are the key approaches to translation?

At a high level, there are two main approaches to translation: human and automatic. Depending on the type of text, the
context, the target audience, and other factors, businesses will choose one or the other—or a combination of both. Let’s
take a closer look at each approach.

Human translation

Human translation is the conventional approach to translation. In human translation, one or more translators convert
the text from the source language to the target language. They may aid themselves with digital tools, such as CAT tools
or online resources, but they ultimately rely on their own understanding of the source text, target language, and cultural
context to produce an accurate translation.

ADVANTAGES

First, human translators can capture subtle nuances, such as sarcasm, humor, or double meaning, that machines may
struggle to understand. This makes human translation ideal for marketing or other types of texts where these nuances
and translation quality are essential.

Second, human translators specializing in a certain industry or field can bring their domain-specific knowledge to the
translation. This is essential for highly technical texts where serious consequences could result from a mistranslation,
such as medical or legal documents.

Third, human translators can accommodate special requests such as staying within a certain character limit—critical for
user interface elements or social media posts, for example—or including specific keywords for search engine
optimization (SEO) purposes.

Last, human translators can steer away from literal translations that might sound odd or stilted in the target language
and instead opt for a more appealing, natural-sounding translation. This proves especially important for marketing texts
where the overall impact is more important than a phrase-for-phrase translation.
Machine translation

Machine translation (MT) involves using software to automatically convert text from the source language to the target
language without any human input. Most modern machine translation tools use artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze the
source text and generate an automatic translation that retains the original meaning.

ADVANTAGES

First, it’s much faster than human translation, which makes it ideal for large projects where time is of the essence—for
example, ecommerce businesses translating product descriptions en masse.

Second, it’s more affordable than human translation, which makes it a good option for businesses working with smaller
budgets and having to reduce translation costs where content has lower visibility, reach, and ROI.

Third, machine translation offers automated integration with other software platforms and workflows, making it
possible to run entire translation processes without any human involvement. This can be a major advantage for non-
brand-oriented content—such as internal documentation—where the goal is simply to make the content accessible to as
many people as possible with minimal effort.

Generally, the translation of a document, whatever its nature, goes through

three distinct stages:
1. Comprehension: the translator reads the text with care, looking for expressions, notions and references which may
be unknown to him or about which he has doubts, until the meaning of the text becomes clear to him and leaves no
room for wrong interpretation;
2. The creation of meaning: The translator mentally – and often unconsciously – records the text or paragraphs as
units of meaning, thus deviating from the sentences and words that made up the original text, and;
3. Writing a new text: once the message contained in the original text is fully understood, the translator can, by
breaking away from the words themselves, begin to write a new version of the document in another language, by
applying to preserve the effects contained in the original text.

There are some general translation principles which are relevant to all types of translation.

1) Meaning :

The translation should reflect accurately the meaning of the original text. Nothing should be arbitrarily added or
removed, though occasionally part of the meaning can be transposed.

2) Form :

The ordering of words and ideas in the translation should match the original as closely as possible. This is particularly
important in translating legal documents, guarantees, contracts, etc. But differences in language structure often require
changes in the form and order of words. When in doubt, underline in the original text the words on which the main
stress falls.

3) Register :

Languages often differ greatly in their levels of formality in a given context, for example, the business letter. To resolve
these differences, the translator must distinguish between formal or fixed expressions and personal expressions, in
which the writer or speaker sets the tone.

4) Source language influence :

One of the most frequent criticisms of translation is that it does not sound natural. This is because the translator's
thoughts and choice of words are too strongly molded by the original text. A good way of shaking off the source
language influence is to set the text aside and translate a few sentences aloud, from memory. This will suggest natural
patterns of thought in the first language, which may not come to mind when the eye is fixed on the source language
text.

5) Style and clarity :

The translator should not change the style of the original. But if the text is sloppily written, or full of tedious repetitions,
the translator may, for the reader's sake, correct the defects.

6) Idiom :

Idiomatic expressions are notoriously untranslatable. These include similes, metaphors, proverbs and sayings, jargon,
slang, and colloquialisms and (in English) phrasal verbs. If the expressions cannot be directly translated, try any of the
following :

a. retain the original word, in inverted commas.

b. retain the original expression, with a literal explanation in brackets.

c. use a close equivalent.

d. use a non-idiomatic or plain prose translation.

The golden rule is : if the idiom does not work in the L1, do not force it into the translation.