Ch.+33+by+Roda+Roberts

by Roda Roberts
 * Translation **

The word translation is used in different senses. It can stand both for transferring meaning from one language to another and it can be seen as a product of the act of translating as well as it is used for the academic discipline which examines the operation of translation. In all these cases translation can be considered as a generic that refers to both written and oral transfer of a message.


 * Typologies of Translation **

The act of translation can be classified as “//human translation//” and “//machine translation//” (MT) or computer-assisted translation” depending on who performs it. These both types have different subtypes. According to the type of system used by the computer MT can be subdivided, two from that are: //the direct translation// and //the transfer system//. The MT can be also classified by the nature of the human intervention which includes pre-editing, creating sourse texts using limited syntax and vocabulary and post-editing (Lawson 1989: 212, cited in Kaplan 2000: 431). Human translation is simply called “translation” which classifications have been given both by translation scholars and by translation professionals. Translation scholars focus on the nature of the text while the translation professionals pay much attention on the target text. Delisle identifies pragmatic translation (translation of the main informative text) and literary translation (translation of a text with the dominant expressive and aesthetic functions). Also the degree of specialization is considered in identifying the basis of the source text. So Delisle show the difference between general translation (by non-specialists) and specialized translation (by specialists). According to Snell and Crampton (Snell and Crampton 1983, cited in Kaplan, 2002) there is a difference between noncommercial translation (done for pleasure and as a language acquisition device) and professional one (done for a customer).


 * The Translation Process **

The process of translation includes various pairs of elements. And the main elements are as follows:


 * Two authors
 * Two texts
 * Two sets of intended receptors
 * Two cultures

When writing a text the author aims to convey some message but a translation is generally based on the message as realized in the source text rather than on what the author may have intended to say.

In order to translate a text the translator needs to have a very good command not only of linguistic and textual norms but also of cultural norms of the TL.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">A translation process usually consists of three stages. The first stage involves an in-depth comprehension of the message of the source text which is achieved by analyzing words, their meanings, and relationship between them, as well as reading between lines. In the second stage the translator already has in her/his mind some non-language-specific representation and transforms it into the target text. This stage is called //transfer// by Nida and Taber (1974:99-119), //reformulation// by Delisle (1980:77-82), and //synthesis// by Bell (1991:58-60). This is considered to be a draft translation which is then addressed in the third stage. Here the translator reconstructs the target text and checks it against the source text. Different scholars and linguists give this final stage different names but generally it is called //revision//.


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Recent translation Research **

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">History of translation starts from the beginnings of civilization, but more in-depth study of translation began in 1950s, when researchers started to be interested in generating machine translations. Besides, in the universities of Europe and North America courses on translation started to emerge. Here are some fields for translation research: Translation process Translation quality assessment Training of translators Use of technology in translation and machine translation. Early works were criticized in being based only on theory. Thus, during the past fifteen years researchers do more practical and observational investigations. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The first practical Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS) were developed by Toury in 1980. These studies concentrated not on the process of translation but on the final product. According to Toury, translations are influenced by the target culture and the translator should decide to be close to the source text or to translate according to the norms of the target culture (initial norms). <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The next step in development of research studies in translation was the use of computerized corpora. In 1990s researchers developed number of corpora for doing translations. Corpus establishment is one of the problems in development of corpus-based approach. For proper translation there is a need for a corpora for comparison of source text and the final product. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Corpus translation studies have opened many possibilities for research, but still several factors were remaining such as psychological reality of translating, that is what translator’s think while translating. This became a goal for other studies and researches which borrows tools from psychology and psycolinguistics. Kring is the author of the think-aloud protocol (TAP) which became a famous experimental method used in translation studies. During these experiments translators are asked to verbalize what they think while translating, their performance is recorded, transcribed and the transcription is referred to as “ TAP. TAP studies resulted in classification of different translation problems such as comprehension problems, combined comprehension and production problems and pure production problems. TAP studies raised came to some interesting conclusions, however some of them seem to be contradictory. Like Seguinot’s case study showed that the translation is an automatized process, with little decision makings by translators, whether another research showed that professional translators identify more problems and spend more energy solving them than do language learners.


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The translation Profession **

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Translation profession had major changes in the last decades. Wilss (1999) identifies three basic trends that influenced this profession since the beginning of 1990:

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Globalization: Translators like products and capital, and they more easily can work abroad.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Specialization: Knowledge today is highly specialized. In order to be able to transmit such specialized knowledge translators themselves need to be specialists in both knowledge of the subject and knowledge of the special language.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Technologization: Technologization profoundly changed the way that translators work providing them with new tools, that help them to be more efficient and rapid.

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