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Translation is an activity comprising the interpretation of the sense of a text in one language - the source text - and the production of another, equivalent text in another language - the target text. The goal of translation is to establish a relationship of equivalence between the source and the target texts (that is to say, both texts communicate the same message), while taking into account the various constraints placed on the translator. (These constraints include the rules of grammar of the source language, its writing conventions, its idioms and the like.)
The term translation is also used for the product of this procedure. Translation is also the name given to a profession which consists of transferring ideas expressed in writing from one language to another.
A distinction is made between translation, which consists of transferring ideas expressed in writing from one language to another, from interpreting, which consists of transferring ideas expressed orally, or by the use of gestures (as in the case of sign language), from one language to another.
Although interpreting can be considered a subcategory of translation from the point of view of analyzing the processes involved (translation studies), in practice the talents required for these two activities are quite different.
The translation process, whether for translation per se or for interpreting, can be stated simply as:
Behind this simple procedure there lies a complex cognitive operation. For example, to decode the meaning of the source text in its entirety, the translator proceeds more or less consciously and methodically to interpret and analyse all the features of the text, a process which requires in-depth knowledge of both the grammar, semantics, syntax, idioms and the like of the source language, as well as the culture of its speakers. The translator needs the same in-depth knowledge to re-encode the meaning in the target language. In fact, many sources maintain that the translator's knowledge of the target language is more important, and needs to be deeper, than his knowledge of the source language. For this reason, most translators translate into a language of which they are native speakers.
In addition, knowledge of the subject matter being discussed is essential.
In recent years studies in cognitive linguistics have been able to provide valuable insights into the cognitive process of translation.
As the goal of translation is to establish a relationship of equivalence between the source and the target texts (that is to say, both texts communicate the same message), while taking into account the various constraints placed on the translator, a successful translation can be judged by how well it meets these two criteria:
A translation meeting the first criterion is said to be a "faithful translation"; a translation meeting the second criterion is said to be an "idiomatic translation".
The criteria used to judge the faithfulness of a translation vary according to the subject, the precision of the original contents, the type, function and use of the text, its literary qualities, its social context, its historical context, etc.
The criteria for judging the transparency of a translation would appear more straightforward: an unidiomatic translation "sounds" wrong, and in the extreme case of word-for-word translations generated by many machine translation systems, often result in patent nonsense.
Nevertheless, in certain contexts a translator may knowingly strive to produce a literal translation. For example, literary translators and translators of religious works often attempt to retain the model of the source text as much as possible. To do this they deliberately "stretch" the boundaries of the target language to produce an unidiomatic text. Likewise, a literary translator may wish to adopt words or expressions from the source language to provide "local colour" in the translation.
The concepts of faithfulness and transparency are looked at differently in recent translation theories. Fidelity, with its inherent notion of sexual loyalty, is contested not only for being gender blind, but also for prioritizing the so called "original" over the translation. The theory that translation can be as creative and original as the source text is gaining momentum. This theory helps the translators to get rid of the sense of guilt that accompanies in trying to be a bit creative or original.
The critique of these two concepts is also aided by the translation practices in non-western countries like India. The Indian epic Ramayana has numerous versions in many Indian languages and the stories in each are different from one another. If one looks into the words used for translation in Indian (either Aryan or Dravidian) languages, the freedom given to the translators is evident.
Any type of written text can be a candidate for translation, however, the translation industry is often categorized by a number of specializations. Each of these specializations has its own challenges and difficulties. An incomplete list of these specializations includes:
The translation of administrative texts.
The translation of commercial (business) texts.
The translation of computer programs and related documents (manuals, help files, web sites.)
The notion of localization, that is the adaptation of the translation to the target language and culture, is gaining prevalence in this area of specialization.
The translation of texts in the fields of economics.
The translation of texts of a financial nature.
The translation of "general" texts. In practice, few texts are really "general"; most fall into a specialization but are not seen as such.
The translation of legal documents (laws, contracts, treaties, etc.).
A skilled legal translator is normally as adept at the law (often with in-depth legal training) as with translation, since inaccuracies in legal translations can have serious results.
(One example of problematic translation is the Treaty of Waitangi, where the English and Maori versions differ in certain important areas.)
Sometimes, to prevent such problems, one language will be declared authoritative, with the translations not being considered legally binding, although in many cases this is not possible, as one party does not want to be seen as subservient to the other.
The translation of literary works (novels, short stories, plays, poems, etc.)
If the translation of non-literary works is regarded as a skill, the translation of fiction and poetry is much more of an art. Some writers, such as Vladimir Nabokov, have made a name for themselves as literary translators per se.
Many consider some forms of poetry to be almost impossible to translate accurately, given the difficulty in rendering both the form and the content in the target language.
This question was expertly explored, and a mostly positive answer given, in Douglas Hofstadter's 1997 book, Le Ton beau de Marot. A proposal has been made regarding how BambooWeb can have an effect on translating poetry.
The translation of works of a medical nature.
Like pharmaceutical translation, medical translation is specialization where a mistranslation can have grave consequences.
Translation practiced as a means of learning a second language.
Pedagogical translation is used to enrich (and to assess) the student's vocabulary in the second language, to help assimilate new syntactic structures and to verify the student's understanding. Unlike other types of translation, pedagogical translation takes place in the student's native language (or dominant language) and the second language. That is to say that the student will translate both to and from the second language. Another difference between this mode of translation and other modes is that the goal is often literal translation of phrases taken out of context, and of text fragments, which may be completed fabricated for the purposes of the exercise.
Pedagogical translation should not be confused with scholarly translation.
The translation of works in the medpharmaceutical industry.
Like medical translation, pharmaceutical translation is specialization where a mistranslation can have grave consequences.
The translation of scientific texts.
The translation of specialized texts written in an academic environment.
Scholarly translation should not be confused with pedagogical translation.
The translation of technical texts (manuals, instructions, etc.)
The translation of religious works has played an important role in world history. For instance the Buddhist monks who translated the Indian sutras into the Chinese language would often skew the translation to better adapt to China's very different culture. Thus notions such as filial piety were stressed.
The translation of the Christian Bible has long been of great import.
St. Jerome, the patron saint of translation, is still considered one of the greatest translators in history for his work on translating the Bible into Latin. This translation was used by the Catholic Church for centuries, but even his translation met much controversy when it was released.
The Protestant Reformation saw the translation of the Bible into the local languages of Europe, an act condemned by the Catholic Church and one that had a great impact on the split between Protestantism and Catholicism.
Martin Luther's Bible in German and the King James Bible in English had immense impacts on the religion, culture, and language of those countries.
See also: Bible translations
Machine translation (MT) is a form of translation where a computer program analyses the source text and produces a target text without human intervention.
Currently the state of machine translation is such that it involves some human intervention, as it requires a pre-editing and a post-editing phase. Note that in machine translation, the translator supports the machine.
In recent years the long anticipated goal of machines assisting in the translation process has met with limited success. The goal of converting information from one language to another automatically is a major goal of natural language processing.
The international plaza of the internet has been a promising testing ground for these technologies, such as Alta Vista's Babel Fish. These tools produce what is called a "gisting translation" - a rough translation that gives the "gist" of the source text, but is not otherwise usable.
However, in fields with highly limited ranges of vocabulary and simple sentence structure, for example weather reports, machine translation can deliver useful results.
Computer-assisted translation (CAT), also called machine-assisted translation (MAT), is a form of translation where a human translator creates a target text with the assistance of a computer program. Note that in computer-assisted translation, the machine supports the translator.
Computer-assisted translation can be seen to include standard dictionary and grammar software, however, the term is normally used to refer to a range of specialized programs available for the translator.
For example, translation memory (TM) programs store and align previously translated source texts and their equivalent target texts in a database. When a new source text is submitted, the translation memory program scans it for previous translations, which are then proposed to the translator for re-use.
This is a new area of concern in Translation Studies. Cultural translation is a concept used in Cultural Studies to denote the process of transformation, linguistic or otherwise, in a given culture. The concept uses linguisiitc translation as a tool or metaphor in analysing the nature of transformation in cultures. For example, ethnography is considered a translated narrative of an abstract living culture.
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