Translation {{pp-move-vandalism|small=yes}} {{wiktionarypar|translate}} {{selfref|For article translations in Wikipedia, see [[Wikipedia:Translation]].}} {{otheruses}} {{TOCright}} '''Translation''' is the action of [[hermeneutics|interpretation]] of the [[Meaning (linguistic)|meaning]] of a text, and subsequent production of an [[Dynamic and formal equivalence|equivalent]] text, also called a '''translation''', that communicates the same [[message]] in another language. The text to be translated is called the [[source text]], and the language it is to be translated into is called the [[target language]]; the final product is sometimes called the "target text." Translation must take into account constraints that include [[wiktionary:context|context]], the rules of [[grammar]] of the two languages, their writing [[Convention (norm)|convention]]s, and their [[idiom]]s. A common [[misconception]] is that there exists a simple [[literal translation|word-for-word]] correspondence between any two [[language]]s, and that translation is a straightforward [[mechanical]] process. A word-for-word translation does not take into account context, grammar, conventions, and idioms. Translation is fraught with the potential for "[[language contact|spilling over]]" of [[idiom]]s and [[style guide|usage]]s from one language into the other, since both languages repose within the single brain of the translator. Such spilling-over easily produces [[mixed language|linguistic hybrids]] such as "[[Franglais]]" ([[French language|French]]-[[English language|English]]), "[[Spanglish]]" ([[Spanish language|Spanish]]-[[English language|English]]), "[[Poglish]]" ([[Polish language|Polish]]-[[English language|English]]) and "[[Portuñol/Portunhol|Portuñol]]" ([[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]-[[Spanish language|Spanish]]). The art of translation is as old as written [[literature]]. Parts of the [[Sumer]]ian ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'', among the oldest known literary works, have been found in translations into several [[Asia]]tic languages of the second millennium BCE. The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' may have been read, in their own languages, by early authors of the ''[[Bible]]'' and of the ''[[Iliad]]''.J.M. Cohen, "Translation," ''[[Encyclopedia Americana]]'', 1986, vol. 27, p. 12. With the advent of computers, attempts have been made to [[computer]]ize or otherwise [[automate]] the translation of [[natural language|natural-language]] texts ([[machine translation]]) or to use computers as an ''aid'' to translation ([[computer-assisted translation]]). ==The term== [[Image:Rosetta Stone.jpg|thumb|left|100px|[[Rosetta Stone]]]][[Etymology|Etymologically]], "translation" is a "carrying across" or "bringing across." The [[Latin]] "''translatio''" derives from the [[perfect aspect|perfect]] [[grammatical voice|passive]] [[participle#Latin|participle]], "''translatum''," of "''transferre''" ("to transfer" — from "''trans''," "across" + "''ferre''," "to carry" or "to bring"). The modern [[Romance languages|Romance]], [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] and [[Slavic language|Slavic]] [[European languages]] have generally formed their own [[Formal and dynamic equivalence|equivalent]] terms for this concept after the Latin model — after "''transferre''" or after the kindred "''traducere''" ("to bring across" or "to lead across").[[Christopher Kasparek]], "The Translator's Endless Toil," p. 83. Additionally, the [[Greek language|Greek]] term for "translation," "''metaphrasis''" ("a speaking across"), has supplied [[English language|English]] with "[[Wiktionary:metaphrase|metaphrase]]" (a "[[literal translation]]," or "word-for-word" translation)—as contrasted with "[[paraphrase]]" ("a saying in other words," from the Greek "''paraphrasis''").Kasparek, "The Translator's Endless Toil," p. 83. "Metaphrase" equates, in one of the more recent terminologies, to "[[Translation#Equivalence|formal equivalence]]," and "paraphrase"—to "[[Translation#Equivalence|dynamic equivalence]]." ==Misconceptions== Newcomers to translation sometimes proceed as if translation were an [[exact science]] — as if consistent, one-to-one [[correlation]]s existed between the words and phrases of different languages, rendering translations fixed and identically reproducible, much as in [[cryptography]]. Such [[novice]]s may assume that all that is needed to translate a text is to "[[encode]]" and "[[decode]]" equivalents between the two languages, using a [[translation dictionary]] as the "[[codebook]]."Such an approach to translation appears in the story of [[Soviet Air Force]] pilot Lt. [[Viktor Belenko]]'s 1974 [[defection]], and of his English translation of his wish to deliver to Western authorities a [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25|MIG-25]] [[jet fighter]]. Though he understood the limitations of his translation, he confused the western intelligence authorities, who read it as a threat rather than an offer. ''MIG Pilot: The Final Escape of Lt. Belenko'', 1980, ISBN 978-0380538683. On the contrary, such a fixed relationship would only exist were a new language [[constructed language|synthesized]] and simultaneously matched to a pre-existing language's scopes of [[meaning (linguistics)|meaning]], [[etymologies]], and [[lexicon|lexical]] [[ecological niche]]s. [[Samuel Johnson]]'s preface to ''[[A Dictionary of the English Language]]'' (1755); Jonathon Green's ''Chasing the Sun'' (1996), ISBN 978-0224040105, about [[lexicographer]]s' inconclusive investigations, disagreements, and expedient solutions undertaken for practicality. If the new language were subsequently to take on a life apart from such cryptographic use, each word would spontaneously begin to assume new shades of meaning and cast off previous [[association (psychology)|association]]s, thereby vitiating any such artificial synchronization. Henceforth translation would require the disciplines described in this article. Another common misconception is that ''anyone'' who can speak a [[second language]] will make a good translator. In the translation community, it is generally accepted that the best translations are produced by persons who are translating into their own [[native language]]s,Kasparek, "The Translator's Endless Toil," p. 86. as it is rare for someone who has learned a second language to have total fluency in that language. A good translator understands the source language well, has specific experience in the subject matter of the text, and is a good writer in the target language. Moreover, he is not only [[bilingual]] but [[bicultural]]. It has been debated whether translation is [[art]] or [[craft]]. Literary translators, such as [[Gregory Rabassa]] in ''If This Be Treason'', argue that translation is an art—a teachable one. Other translators, mostly technical, commercial, and legal, regard their ''métier'' as a craft—again, a teachable one, subject to [[Discourse analysis|linguistic analysis]], that benefits from [[Academia|academic]] study. As with other human activities, the distinction between art and craft may be largely a matter of degree.At the dawn of European thought about [[art]], such a distinction would have been thought ludicrous. The expression "art" derives from the [[Latin]] "''ars''," which was a translation of the [[Greek language|Greek]] "''techne''." ''Techne'' in Greece—''ars'' in Rome and in the [[Middle Ages]], and even as late as the [[Renaissance]]—meant skill. It was the skill to make an object, a house, a statue, a ship, but also the skill to command an army, measure a field, sway an audience. All these skills were called arts: the art of the architect, the geometrician, the rhetorician. A skill rests upon a knowledge of rules; there was no art without rules: the architect's art has its rules, which are different from those of the sculptor, the general, the geometrician, the rhetorician. Doing anything without rules, merely from inspiration or fantasy, was not, to the ancients or to the [[Scholasticism|Scholastic]]s, art: it was the antithesis of art. When, in earlier centuries, the Greeks had thought that [[poetry]] sprang from inspiration by [[Muses]], they had not reckoned it with the arts. [[Władysław Tatarkiewicz]], ''A History of Six Ideas'', pp. 11-13. Even a document which appears simple, e.g. a product [[brochure]], requires a certain level of linguistic skill that goes beyond mere technical terminology. Any material used for marketing purposes reflects on the company that produces the product and the brochure. The best translations are obtained through the combined application of good technical-terminology skills and good writing skills. Translation has served as a writing school for many recognized writers. Translators, including the early modern European translators of the ''[[Bible]]'', in the course of their work have shaped the very [[language]]s into which they have translated. They have acted as bridges for conveying knowledge and ideas between [[culture]]s and [[civilization]]s. Along with [[idea]]s, they have imported into their own languages, [[calque]]s of [[grammar|grammatical structures]] and of [[vocabulary]] from the [[source language]]s. ==Interpreting== {{main|Interpreting}} Interpreting, or "interpretation," is the intellectual activity that consists of facilitating [[speech communication|oral]] or [[sign language|sign-language]] [[communication]], either simultaneously or consecutively, between two or among three or more speakers who are not speaking, or signing, the same language. The words "interpreting" and "interpretation" both can be used to refer to this activity; the word "interpreting" is commonly used in the profession and in the translation-studies field to avoid confusion with other meanings of the word "[[Interpretation (disambiguation)|interpretation]]." Not all languages employ, as [[English language|English]] does, two separate words to denote the activities of ''written'' and live-communication (''oral'' or ''sign-language'') translators.For example, in [[Polish language|Polish]], a "translation" is "''przekład''" or "''tłumaczenie''." Both "translator" and "interpreter" are "''tłumacz''." For a time in the 18th century, however, for "translator," some writers used a word, "''przekładowca''," that is no longer in use. [[Edward Balcerzan]], ''Pisarze polscy o sztuce przekładu, 1440–1974: Antologia'' (Polish Writers on the Art of Translation, 1440–1974: an Anthology), 1977, ''passim''. ==Fidelity vs. transparency== [[Fidelity]] (or "faithfulness") and [[transparency (linguistic)|transparency]] are two qualities that, for millennia, have been regarded as ideals to be striven for in translation, particularly [[literary]] translation. These two ideals are often at odds. Thus a 17th-century French critic coined the phrase, "''les belles infidèles''," to suggest that translations, like women, could be ''either'' faithful ''or'' beautiful, but not both at the same time.The comparison was first used by the French philosopher and writer [[Gilles Ménage]] (1613-1692), who commented on the translations of the humanist Perrot Nicolas d’Ablancourt (1606-1664) and stated, "''Elles me rappellent une femme que j’ai beaucoup aimé à Tours, et qui était belle mais infidèle''." Quoted in Amparo Hurtado Albir, ''La notion de fidélité en traduction'', Paris, Didier Érudition, 1990, p. 231. Fidelity pertains to the extent to which a translation accurately renders the meaning of the [[source text]], without adding to or subtracting from it, without intensifying or weakening any part of the meaning, and otherwise without distorting it. [[Transparency (linguistic)|Transparency]] pertains to the extent to which a translation appears to a native speaker of the target language to have originally been written in that language, and conforms to the language's grammatical, syntactic and idiomatic conventions. A translation that meets the first criterion is said to be a "faithful translation"; a translation that meets the second criterion, an "[[idiomatic]] translation." The two qualities are ''not necessarily'' mutually exclusive. 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 or historical context, and so forth. The criteria for judging the [[transparency (linguistic)|transparency]] of a translation would appear more straightforward: an unidiomatic translation "sounds wrong," and in the extreme case of [[literal translation|word-for-word translation]]s generated by many [[machine translation|machine-translation]] systems, often results in patent nonsense with only a [[humor]]ous value (see "[[round-trip translation]]"). Nevertheless, in certain contexts a translator may consciously ''strive'' to produce a literal translation. [[Literary]] translators and translators of [[religious]] or [[historic]] texts often adhere as closely as possible to the source text. In doing so, they often deliberately stretch the boundaries of the target language to produce an unidiomatic text. Similarly, a literary translator may wish to adopt words or expressions from the [[source language]] in order to provide "local color" in the translation. In recent decades, prominent advocates of such "non-transparent" translation have included the French scholar [[Antoine Berman]], who identified twelve deforming tendencies inherent in most prose translations,[[Antoine Berman]], ''L'épreuve de l'étranger'', 1984. and the American theorist Lawrence Venuti, who has called upon translators to apply "foreignizing" translation strategies instead of domesticating ones.Lawrence Venuti, "Call to Action," in ''The Translator's Invisibility'', 1994. [[Image:Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher.jpg|thumb|right|120px|[[Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher|Schleiermacher]]]] Many non-transparent-translation theories draw on concepts from [[German Romanticism]], the most obvious influence on latter-day theories of "foreignization" being the German theologian and philosopher [[Friedrich Schleiermacher]]. In his seminal lecture "On the Different Methods of Translation" (1813) he distinguished between translation methods that move "the writer toward [the reader]," i.e., [[transparency (linguistic)|transparency]], and those that move the "reader toward [the author]," i.e., an extreme [[fidelity]] to the foreignness of the [[source text]]. Schleiermacher clearly favored the latter approach. His preference was motivated, however, not so much by a desire to embrace the foreign, as by a nationalist desire to oppose France's cultural domination and to promote [[German literature]]. For the most part, current Western practices in translation are dominated by the concepts of "fidelity" and "transparency." This has not always been the case. There have been periods, especially in pre-Classical Rome and in the 18th century, when many translators stepped beyond the bounds of translation proper into the realm of ''adaptation''. Adapted translation retains currency in some non-Western traditions. Thus the [[India]]n epic, the ''[[Ramayana]]'', appears in many versions in the various [[Languages of India|Indian languages]], and the stories are different in each. If one considers the words used for translating into the Indian languages, whether those be [[Aryan]] or [[Dravidian]] languages, he is struck by the freedom that is granted to the translators. This may relate to a devotion to [[prophecy|prophetic]] passages that strike a deep religious chord, or to a vocation to instruct [[unbeliever]]s. Similar examples are to be found in [[medieval Christianity|medieval Christian]] literature, which adjusted the text to the customs and values of the audience. ==Equivalence== {{main|Dynamic and formal equivalence}} The question of [[fidelity]] vs. [[transparency (linguistic)|transparency]] has also been formulated in terms of, respectively, "''formal'' equivalence" and "''dynamic'' equivalence." The latter two expressions are associated with the translator [[Eugene Nida]] and were originally coined to describe ways of translating the ''[[Bible]]'', but the two approaches are applicable to any translation. "Formal equivalence" equates to "[[wiktionary:metaphrase|metaphrase]]," and "dynamic equivalence"—to "[[paraphrase]]." "Dynamic equivalence" (or "''functional'' equivalence") conveys the essential ''[[thought]]'' expressed in a source text — if necessary, at the expense of [[literal]]ity, original [[sememe]] and [[word order]], the source text's active vs. passive [[voice (grammar)|voice]], etc. By contrast, "formal equivalence" (sought via [[literal translation|"literal" translation]]) attempts to render the text "[[literal]]ly," or "word for word" (the latter expression being itself a word-for-word rendering of the [[classical Latin]] "''verbum pro verbo''") — if necessary, at the expense of features natural to the [[target language]]. There is, however, '''''no sharp boundary''''' between dynamic and formal equivalence. On the contrary, they represent a ''spectrum'' of translation approaches. Each is used at various times and in various contexts by the same translator, and at various points within the same text — sometimes simultaneously. Competent translation entails the judicious blending of dynamic and formal [[Dynamic and formal equivalence|equivalents]].[[Christopher Kasparek]], "The Translator's Endless Toil," pp. 83-87. ==Back-translation== If one text is a translation of another, a '''back-translation''' is a translation of the translated text back into the language of the original text, made without reference to the original text. In the context of [[machine translation]], this is also called a "'''round-trip translation'''." Comparison of a back-translation to the original text is sometimes used as a [[quality control|quality check]] on the original translation, but it is certainly far from infallible and the reliability of this technique has been disputed. {{cite journal | url = http://www.atc.org.uk/winter2004.pdf | title = Back Translation: Same questions – different continent | journal = Communicate | issue = Winter 2004 | pages = p. 5 | last = Crystal | first = Scott | publisher = Association of Translation Companies | location = [[London]] | format = [[PDF]] | accessdate = 2007-11-20}} ==Literary translation== Translation of [[literature|literary works]] ([[novel]]s, [[short story|short stories]], [[theatre|plays]], [[poetry|poems]], etc.) is considered a literary pursuit in its own right. Notable in [[Canadian literature]] ''specifically'' as translators are figures such as [[Sheila Fischman]], [[Robert Dickson (writer)|Robert Dickson]] and [[Linda Gaboriau]], and the [[Governor General's Awards]] present prizes for the year's best English-to-French and French-to-English literary translations. Other writers, among many who have made a name for themselves as literary translators, include [[Vasily Zhukovsky]], [[Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński]], [[Vladimir Nabokov]], [[Jorge Luis Borges]], [[Robert Stiller]] and [[Haruki Murakami]]. ===History=== The first important translation in the West was that of the ''[[Septuagint]]'',J.M. Cohen, p. 12. a collection of [[Jew]]ish Scriptures translated into [[Koine Greek]] in [[Alexandria]] between the 3rd and 1st centuries BCE. The dispersed [[Jew]]s had forgotten their ancestral language and needed Greek versions (translations) of their Scriptures. Throughout the [[Middle Ages]], [[Latin]] was the ''[[lingua franca]]'' of the western learned world. The 9th-century [[Alfred the Great]], king of [[Wessex]] in [[England]], was far ahead of his time in commissioning [[vernacular]] [[Anglo-Saxon language|Anglo-Saxon]] translations of [[Bede]]'s ''[[Ecclesiastical History]]'' and [[Boethius]]' ''[[Consolation of Philosophy]]''. Meanwhile the [[Christian Church]] frowned on even partial adaptations of the standard [[Latin]] ''[[Bible]]'', [[St. Jerome]]'s ''[[Vulgate Bible|Vulgate]]'' of ca. 384 CE.J.M Cohen, pp. 12-13. In [[Asia]], the spread of [[Buddhism]] led to large-scale ongoing translation efforts spanning well over a thousand years. The [[Tangut Empire]] was especially efficient in such efforts; exploiting the then newly-invented [[block printing]], and with the full support of the government (contemporary sources describe the Emperor and his mother personally contributing to the translation effort, alongside sages of various nationalities), the Tanguts took mere decades to translate volumes that had taken the [[China|Chinese]] centuries to render.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} Large-scale efforts at translation were undertaken by the [[Arabs]]. Having conquered the Greek world, they made [[Arabic]] versions of its philosophical and scientific works. During the [[Middle Ages]], some translations of these Arabic versions were made into Latin, chiefly at [[Córdoba, Spain|Córdoba]] in [[Spain]].J.M. Cohen, p. 13. Such Latin translations of Greek and original Arab works of scholarship and science would help advance the development of European [[Scholasticism]]. The broad historic trends in Western translation practice may be illustrated on the example of translation into the [[English language]]. The first fine translations into English were made by England's first great poet, the 14th-century [[Geoffrey Chaucer]], who adapted from the [[Italian language|Italian]] of [[Giovanni Boccaccio]] in his own ''[[Knight's Tale]]'' and ''[[Troilus and Criseyde]]''; began a translation of the [[French-language]] ''[[Roman de la Rose]]''; and completed a translation of [[Boethius]] from the [[Latin]]. Chaucer founded an English [[poetry|poetic]] tradition on ''[[Literary adaptation|adaptation]]s'' and translations from those earlier-established [[literary language]]s. The first great English translation was the ''[[Wycliffe Bible]]'' (ca. 1382), which showed the weaknesses of an underdeveloped English [[prose]]. Only at the end of the 15th century would the great age of English prose translation begin with [[Thomas Malory]]'s ''[[Le Morte Darthur]]''—an adaptation of [[Arthurian romance]]s so free that it can, in fact, hardly be called a true translation. The first great [[Tudor period|Tudor]] translations are, accordingly, the ''[[Tyndale Bible|Tyndale New Testament]]'' (1525), which would influence the ''[[Authorized Version]]'' (1611), and [[Lord Berners]]' version of [[Jean Froissart]]'s ''Chronicles'' (1523–25). Meanwhile, in [[Renaissance]] [[Italy]], a new period in the history of translation had opened in [[Florence]] with the arrival, at the court of [[Cosimo de' Medici]], of the [[Byzantine]] scholar [[Georgius Gemistus Pletho]] shortly before the fall of [[Constantinople]] to the Turks (1453). A Latin translation of [[Plato]]'s works was undertaken by [[Marsilio Ficino]]. This and [[Erasmus]]' Latin edition of the ''[[New Testament]]'' led to a new attitude to translation. For the first time, readers demanded rigor of rendering, as philosophical and religious beliefs depended on the exact words of [[Plato]], [[Aristotle]] and [[Jesus]]. Non-scholarly literature, however, continued to rely on ''adaptation''. [[France]]'s ''[[Pléiade]]'', [[England]]'s [[Tudor period|Tudor]] poets, and the [[Elizabethan]] translators adapted themes by [[Horace]], [[Ovid]], [[Petrarch]] and modern Latin writers, forming a new poetic style on those models. The English poets and translators sought to supply a new public, created by the rise of a [[middle class]] and the development of [[printing]], with works such as the original authors ''would have written'', had they been writing in England in that day. The [[Elizabethan]] period of translation saw considerable progress beyond mere [[paraphrase]] toward an ideal of [[Stylistics (linguistics)|stylistic]] equivalence, but even to the end of this period—which actually reached to the middle of the 17th century—there was no concern for [[verbal]] [[accuracy]].J.M. Cohen, p. 14. In the second half of the 17th century, the poet [[John Dryden]] sought to make [[Virgil]] speak "in words such as he would probably have written if he were living and an Englishman." Dryden, however, discerned no need to emulate the Roman poet's subtlety and concision. Similarly, [[Homer]] suffered from [[Alexander Pope]]'s endeavor to reduce the Greek poet's "wild paradise" to order. Throughout the 18th century, the watchword of translators was ease of reading. Whatever they did not understand in a text, or thought might bore readers, they omitted. They cheerfully assumed that their own style of expression was the best, and that texts should be made to conform to it in translation. For scholarship they cared no more than had their predecessors, and they did not shrink from making translations from translations in third languages, or from languages that they hardly knew, or—as in the case of [[James Macpherson]]'s "translations" of [[Ossian]]—from texts that were actually of the "translator's" own composition. The 19th century brought new standards of accuracy and style. In regard to accuracy, observes J.M. Cohen, the policy became "the text, the whole text, and nothing but the text," except for any [[bawdy]] passages and the addition of copious explanatory [[footnote]]s. In regard to style, the [[Victorians]]' aim, achieved through far-reaching metaphrase (literality) or ''pseudo''-metaphrase, was to constantly remind readers that they were reading a ''foreign'' classic. An exception was the outstanding translation in this period, [[Edward FitzGerald]]'s ''[[Rubaiyat]]'' of [[Omar Khayyam]] (1859), which achieved its Oriental flavor largely by using Persian names and discreet Biblical echoes and actually drew little of its material from the Persian original. In advance of the 20th century, a new pattern was set in 1871 by [[Benjamin Jowett]], who translated [[Plato]] into simple, straightforward language. Jowett's example was not followed, however, until well into the new century, when accuracy rather than style became the principal criterion. ===Poetry=== [[Poetry]] presents special challenges to translators, given the importance of a text's [[form]]al aspects, in addition to its content. In his influential 1959 paper "On Linguistic Aspects of Translation," the [[Russia]]n-born [[linguist]] and [[semiotician]] [[Roman Jakobson]] went so far as to declare that "poetry by definition [is] untranslatable." In 1974 the American poet [[James Merrill]] wrote a poem, "[[Lost in Translation (poem)|Lost in Translation]]," which in part explores this idea. The question was also discussed in [[Douglas Hofstadter]]'s 1997 book, ''[[Le Ton beau de Marot]]''. ===Sung texts=== Translation of a text that is sung in vocal music for the purpose of singing in another language — sometimes called "singing translation" — is closely linked to translation of poetry because most [[vocal music]], at least in the Western tradition, is set to [[verse]], especially verse in regular patterns with [[rhyme]]. (Since the late 19th century, musical setting of [[prose]] and [[free verse]] has also been practiced in some [[art music]], though [[popular music]] tends to remain conservative in its retention of [[stanza]]ic forms with or without [[refrain]]s.) A rudimentary example of translating poetry for singing is church [[hymn]]s, such as the German [[chorale]]s translated into English by [[Catherine Winkworth]]. For another example of poetry translation, including translation of sung texts, see: http://vagalecs.narod.ru/ Translation of sung texts is generally much more restrictive than translation of poetry, because in the former there is little or no freedom to choose between a versified translation and a translation that dispenses with verse structure. One might modify or omit rhyme in a singing translation, but the assignment of syllables to specific notes in the original musical setting places great challenges on the translator. There is the option in prose sung texts, less so in verse, of adding or deleting a syllable here and there by subdividing or combining notes, respectively, but even with prose the process is almost like strict verse translation because of the need to stick as closely as possible to the original prosody of the sung melodic line. Other considerations in writing a singing translation include repetition of words and phrases, the placement of rests and/or punctuation, the quality of vowels sung on high notes, and rhythmic features of the vocal line that may be more natural to the original language than to the target language. A sung translation may be considerably or completely different from the original, thus resulting in a [[contrafactum]]. Translations of sung texts — whether of the above type meant to be sung or of a more or less literal type meant to be read — are also used as aids to audiences, singers and conductors, when a work is being sung in a language not known to them. The most familiar types are translations presented as subtitles projected during [[opera]] performances, those inserted into concert programs, and those that accompany commercial audio CDs of vocal music. In addition, professional and amateur singers often sing works in languages they do not know (or do not know well), and translations are then used to enable them to understand the meaning of the words they are singing. ==History of theory== [[Image:John Dryden.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[John Dryden]]]] Discussions of the theory and practice of translation reach back into [[ancient history|antiquity]] and show remarkable [[Wiktionary:continuity|continuities]]. The distinction that had been drawn by the [[ancient Greeks]] between "[[Wiktionary:metaphrase|metaphrase]]" ("literal" translation) and "[[paraphrase]]" would be adopted by the English [[poet]] and [[translator]] [[John Dryden]] (1631-1700), who represented translation as the judicious blending of these two modes of phrasing when selecting, in the target language, "counterparts," or [[Dynamic and formal equivalence|equivalents]], for the expressions used in the source language: {{blockquote|When [words] appear... literally graceful, it were an injury to the author that they should be changed. But since... what is beautiful in one [language] is often barbarous, nay sometimes nonsense, in another, it would be unreasonable to limit a translator to the narrow compass of his author's words: 'tis enough if he choose out some expression which does not vitiate the sense.[[Christopher Kasparek]], "The Translator's Endless Toil," p. 83.}} Dryden cautioned, however, against the license of "imitation," i.e. of adapted translation: "When a painter copies from the life... he has no privilege to alter features and lineaments..."Kasparek, "The Translator's Endless Toil," p. 84. [[Image:CiceroBust.jpg|thumb|left|80px|[[Cicero]]]] This general formulation of the central concept of translation — [[Dynamic and formal equivalence|equivalence]] — is probably as adequate as any that has been proposed ever since [[Cicero]] and [[Horace]], in first-century-BCE [[Ancient Rome|Rome]], famously and literally cautioned against translating "word for word" ("''verbum pro verbo''").Kasparek, "The Translator's Endless Toil," p. 84. Despite occasional theoretical diversities, the actual ''practice'' of translators has hardly changed since [[ancient history|antiquity]]. Except for some extreme [[Wiktionary:metaphrase|metaphrasers]] in the early [[Christian]] period and the [[Middle Ages]], and adapters in various periods (especially pre-Classical Rome, and the 18th century), translators have generally shown prudent flexibility in seeking [[Dynamic and formal equivalence|equivalents]] — "literal" where possible, [[paraphrase|paraphrastic]] where necessary — for the original [[meaning (linguistics)|meaning]] and other crucial "values" (e.g., style, [[verse form]], concordance with [[music]]al accompaniment or, in [[film]]s, with speech [[Manner of articulation|articulatory]] movements) as determined from context.Kasparek, "The Translator's Endless Toil," p. 84. In general, translators have sought to preserve the context itself by reproducing the original order of [[sememe]]s, and hence [[word order]] — when necessary, reinterpreting the actual [[grammatical]] structure. The grammatical differences between "fixed-word-order" [[language]]sTypically, [[analytic language]]s. (e.g., [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]], [[German language|German]]) and "free-word-order" languagesTypically, [[synthetic language]]s. (e.g., [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Latin]], [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Russian language|Russian]]) have been no impediment in this regard.Kasparek, "The Translator's Endless Toil," p. 84. When a target language has lacked [[terminology|term]]s that are found in a source language, translators have borrowed them, thereby enriching the target language. Thanks in great measure to the exchange of "''[[calque]]s''" (French for "[[tracing paper|tracings]]") between languages, and to their importation from Greek, Latin, [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[Arabic language|Arabic]] and other languages, there are few [[concept]]s that are "[[untranslatability|untranslatable]]" among the modern European languages.Kasparek, "The Translator's Endless Toil," p. 84. [[Image:Samuel Johnson by Joshua Reynolds 2.png|thumb|120px|[[Samuel Johnson]]]] In general, the greater the contact and exchange that has existed between two languages, or between both and a third one, the greater is the ratio of [[Wiktionary:metaphrase|metaphrase]] to [[paraphrase]] that may be used in translating between them. However, due to shifts in "[[ecological niche]]s" of words, a common [[etymology]] is sometimes misleading as a guide to current meaning in one or the other language. The [[English language|English]] "actual," for example, should not be confused with the [[cognate]] [[French language|French]] "''actuel''" (meaning "present," "current") or the [[Polish language|Polish]] "''aktualny''" ("present," "current").Kasparek, "The Translator's Endless Toil," p. 85. For the translation of [[Buddhist]] texts into [[Chinese language|Chinese]], the monk [[Xuanzang]] (602–64) proposed the idea of 五不翻 ("five occasions when terms are left untranslated"): # 秘密故—terms carry secrecy, e.g., chants and spells; # 含多义故—terms carry multiple meanings; # 此无故—no corresponding term exists; # 顺古故—out of respect for earlier translations; # 生善故—{{Fact|date=June 2008}} The translator's role as a [[bridge]] for "carrying across" values between [[culture]]s has been discussed at least since [[Terence]], Roman adapter of Greek comedies, in the second century BCE. The translator's role is, however, by no means a passive and mechanical one, and so has also been compared to that of an [[artist]]. The main ground seems to be the concept of parallel creation found in critics as early as [[Cicero]]. [[John Dryden|Dryden]] observed that "Translation is a type of drawing after life..." Comparison of the translator with a [[musician]] or [[actor]] goes back at least to [[Samuel Johnson]]'s remark about [[Alexander Pope]] playing [[Homer]] on a [[flageolet]], while Homer himself used a [[bassoon]].Kasparek, "The Translator's Endless Toil," p. 85. [[Image:Roger-bacon-statue.jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[Roger Bacon]]]] If translation be an art, it is no easy one. In the 13th century, [[Roger Bacon]] wrote that if a translation is to be true, the translator must know both [[language]]s, as well as the [[science]] that he is to translate; and finding that few translators did, he wanted to do away with translation and translators altogether.Kasparek, "The Translator's Endless Toil," pp. 85-86. [[Image:Luther46c.jpg|thumb|left|120px|[[Martin Luther]]]] The first [[Europe]]an to assume that one translates satisfactorily only toward his own language may have been [[Martin Luther]], translator of the ''[[Bible]]'' into [[German language|German]]. According to L.G. Kelly, since [[Johann Gottfried Herder]] in the 18th century, "it has been axiomatic" that one works only toward his own language.L.G. Kelly, cited in Kasparek, "The Translator's Endless Toil," p. 86. Compounding these demands upon the translator is the fact that not even the most complete [[dictionary]] or [[thesaurus]] can ever be a fully adequate guide in translation. [[Alexander Tytler]], in his ''Essay on the Principles of Translation'' (1790), emphasized that assiduous [[reading (activity)|reading]] is a more comprehensive guide to a language than are dictionaries. The same point, but also including [[listening]] to the [[spoken language]], had earlier been made in 1783 by [[Onufry Andrzej Kopczyński]], member of [[Poland]]'s Society for Elementary Books, who was called "the last Latin poet."Kasparek, "The Translator's Endless Toil," p. 86. [[Image:Johann Gottfried Herder.jpg|thumb|left|115px|[[Johann Gottfried Herder|Herder]]]][[Image:Ignacy Krasicki 1.JPG|thumb|right|170px|[[Ignacy Krasicki|Krasicki]]]] The special role of the translator in society was well described in an essay, published posthumously in 1803, by [[Ignacy Krasicki]] — "Poland's [[La Fontaine]]", [[Primate of Poland]], poet, encyclopedist, author of the first Polish novel, and translator from French and Greek: {{cquote|[T]ranslation... is in fact an art both estimable and very difficult, and therefore is not the labor and portion of common minds; [it] should be [practiced] by those who are themselves capable of being actors, when they see greater use in translating the works of others than in their own works, and hold higher than their own glory the service that they render to their country.Cited by Kasparek, "The Translator's Endless Toil," p. 87, from [[Ignacy Krasicki]], ''"O tłumaczeniu ksiąg"'' ("On Translating Books"), in ''Dzieła wierszem i prozą'' (Works in Verse and Prose), 1803, reprinted in [[Edward Balcerzan]], ed., ''Pisarze polscy o sztuce przekładu, 1440–1974: Antologia'' (Polish Writers on the Art of Translation, 1440–1974: an Anthology), p. 79.}} ==Religious texts== Translation of religious works has played an important role in history. Buddhist monks who translated the [[India]]n [[sutra]]s into [[Chinese language|Chinese]] often skewed their translations to better reflect [[China]]'s very different [[culture]], emphasizing notions such as [[filial piety]]. A famous mistranslation of the ''[[Bible]]'' is the rendering of the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] word "''keren''," which has several meanings, as "horn" in a context where it actually means "beam of light." As a result, artists have for centuries depicted [[Moses the Lawgiver]] with horns growing out of his forehead. An example is [[Michelangelo]]'s famous sculpture. [[Christian]] [[anti-Semite]]s used such depictions to spread hatred of the [[Jews]], claiming that they were [[devil]]s with horns. [[Image:Domenico Ghirlandaio - St Jerome in his study.jpg|thumb|left|150px|[[Jerome|Saint Jerome]], [[patron saint|patron]] of translators]] One of the first recorded instances of translation in the West was the rendering of the [[Old Testament]] into [[Greek language|Greek]] in the third century B.C.E. The resulting translation is known as the ''[[Septuagint]]'', a name that alludes to the "seventy" translators (seventy-two in some versions) who were commissioned to translate the ''[[Bible]]'' in [[Alexandria]]. Each translator worked in solitary confinement in a separate cell, and legend has it that all seventy versions were identical. The ''Septuagint'' became the [[source text]] for later translations into many languages, including [[Latin]], [[Coptic language|Coptic]], [[Armenian language|Armenian]] and [[Georgian language|Georgian]]. [[Jerome|Saint Jerome]], the [[patron saint]] of translation, is still considered one of the greatest translators in history for rendering the ''[[Bible]]'' into [[Latin]]. The [[Roman Catholic Church]] used his translation (known as the [[Vulgate]]) for centuries, but even this translation at first stirred much controversy. The period preceding and contemporary with the [[Protestant Reformation]] saw the translation of the ''[[Bible]]'' into local European languages, a development that greatly affected [[Western Christianity]]'s split into [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]] and [[Protestantism]], due to disparities between Catholic and Protestant versions of crucial words and passages. [[Martin Luther]]'s ''[[Bible]]'' in [[German language|German]], [[Jakub Wujek]]'s in [[Polish language|Polish]], and the ''[[King James Bible]]'' in [[English language|English]] had lasting effects on the religions, cultures and languages of those countries. {{see also|Bible translations|Translation of the Qur'an}} ==Machine translation== [[Machine translation]] (MT) is a procedure whereby a computer program analyzes a [[source text]] and produces a target text ''without further human intervention''. In reality, however, machine translation typically ''does'' involve human intervention, in the form of '''pre-editing''' and '''post-editing'''. An exception to that rule might be, e.g., the translation of technical specifications (strings of [[terminology|technical terms]] and adjectives), using a [[dictionary-based machine translation|dictionary-based machine-translation]] system. To date, machine translation—a major goal of [[natural language processing|natural-language processing]]—has met with limited success. A [[November 6]], [[2007]], example illustrates the hazards of uncritical reliance on [[machine translation]].[http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380743991&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull Journalists' junket to the Netherlands gets lost in translation | Jerusalem Post] Machine translation has been brought to a large public by tools available on the Internet, such as [[Yahoo!]]'s [[Babel Fish (website)|Babel Fish]], [[Babylon translator|Babylon]], and [[StarDict]]. These tools produce a "gisting translation" — a rough translation that, with luck, "gives the gist" of the source text. With proper [[terminology|terminology work]], with preparation of the source text for machine translation (pre-editing), and with re-working of the machine translation by a professional human translator (post-editing), commercial machine-translation tools can produce useful results, especially if the machine-translation system is integrated with a [[translation memory|translation-memory]] or [[Globalization Management System|globalization-management system]]. {{cite journal | last = Vashee | first = Kirti | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Statistical machine translation and translation memory: An integration made in heaven! | journal = ClientSide News Magazine | volume = 7 | issue = 6 | pages = 18–20 | publisher = | date = 2007 | url = https://webmailcluster.perfora.net/xml/deref?link=http%3A%2F%2Frs6.net%2Ftn.jsp%3Ft%3D8mtygbcab.0.ksqvgbcab.ro78ttn6.33435%26ts%3DS0250%26p%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.clientsidenews.com%252Fdownloads%252FCSNV7I6.zip | doi = | id = | accessdate = }} In regard to texts (e.g., [[meteorology|weather reports]]) with limited ranges of [[vocabulary]] and simple [[sentence (linguistics)|sentence]] [[structure]], machine translation can deliver results that do not require much human intervention to be useful. Also, the use of a [[controlled language]], combined with a machine-translation tool, will typically generate largely comprehensible translations. Relying on machine translation exclusively ignores the fact that communication in [[natural language|human language]] is [[wiktionary:context|context]]-embedded and that it takes a person to comprehend the context of the original text with a reasonable degree of probability. It is certainly true that even purely human-generated translations are prone to error. Therefore, to ensure that a machine-generated translation will be useful to a human being and that publishable-quality translation is achieved, such translations must be reviewed and edited by a human.J.M. Cohen observes (p.14): "Scientific translation is the aim of an age that would reduce all activities to [[Technology|technique]]s. It is impossible however to imagine a literary-translation machine less complex than the human brain itself, with all its knowledge, reading, and discrimination." == CAT == [[Computer-assisted translation]] (CAT), also called "computer-''aided'' translation," "machine-aided human translation (MAHT)" and "interactive translation," is a form of translation wherein a human translator creates a target text with the assistance of a computer program. The '''machine''' supports a human '''translator'''. Computer-assisted translation can include standard [[dictionary]] and grammar software. The term, however, normally refers to a range of specialized programs available to the translator, including [[translation memory|translation-memory]], [[terminology|terminology-management]], [[concordancer|concordance]], and alignment programs. With the internet, translation software can help non-native-speaking individuals understand web pages published in other languages. Whole-page translation tools are of limited utility, however, since they offer only a limited potential understanding of the original author's intent and context; translated pages tend to be more humorous and confusing than enlightening. [[Image:Multiple defns-he.png|frame|none|Interactive translation, showing possible translations from Chinese to English. Definitions are grouped by [[pinyin]] pronunciation.]] Interactive translations with pop-up windows are becoming more popular. These tools show several possible translations of each word or phrase. Human operators merely need to select the correct translation as the mouse glides over the foreign-language text. Possible definitions can be grouped by pronunciation. ==See also== *[[Accreditation of translators]] *[[American Literary Translators Association]] *[[International Federation of Translators]] *[[Prizes for different types of translators]] *[[Translating for legal equivalence]] *[[Translation-quality standards]] ==Notes== {{reflist|2}} ==References== *[[Edward Balcerzan|Balcerzan, Edward]], ed., ''Pisarze polscy o sztuce przekładu, 1440-1974: Antologia'' (Polish Writers on the Art of Translation, 1440-1974: an Anthology), Poznań, Wydawnictwo Poznańskie, 1977. *Berman, Antoine (1984). ''"L'épreuve de l'étranger"''. Excerpted in English in: Venuti, Lawrence, editor (2002, 2nd edition 2004). ''The Translation Studies Reader''. *Cohen, J.M., "Translation," ''[[Encyclopedia Americana]]'', 1986, vol. 27, pp. 12–15. *Darwish, Ali (1999). "Towards a Theory of Constraints in Translation". ([http://www.at-turjuman.com @turjuman Online]). *[[Christopher Kasparek|Kasparek, Christopher]], "The Translator's Endless Toil," ''[[The Polish Review]]'', vol. XXVIII, no. 2, 1983, pp. 83-87. Includes a discussion of [[European language|European-language]] [[cognate]]s of the [[terminology|term]], "translation." * {{cite book | title = The True Interpreter: a History of Translation Theory and Practice in the West | author = Kelly, L.G. | year = 1979 | publisher = New York, St. Martin's Press | id = ISBN 0-312-82057-7 }} * {{cite book | title = Translation Contract: A Standards-Based Model Solution | author = [[Uwe Muegge|Muegge, Uwe]] | year = 2005 | publisher = AuthorHouse | id = ISBN 1-4184-1636-3 }} *Rose, Marilyn Gaddis, guest editor (1980). ''Translation: agent of communication''. (A special issue of ''Pacific Moana Quarterly'', 5:1) *[[Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher|Schleiermacher, Friedrich]], ''"Über die verschiedenen Methoden des Übersetzens"'' (1813), reprinted as "On the Different Methods of Translating" in Lawrence Venuti, editor (2002, 2nd edition 2004), ''The Translation Studies Reader''. * {{cite book | title = Nimrod's Sin: Treason and Translation in a Multilingual World | author = Simms, Norman, editor | year = 1983 | publisher = | id = }} *[[Władysław Tatarkiewicz|Tatarkiewicz, Władysław]], ''A History of Six Ideas: an Essay in Aesthetics'', translated from the Polish by [[Christopher Kasparek]], The Hague, Martinus Nijhoff, 1980, ISBN 83-01-00824-5. * {{cite book | title = The Translator's Invisibility | author = Venuti, Lawrence | year = 1994 | publisher = Routledge | id = ISBN 0-415-11538-8 }} == External links == ===Resources=== * [http://www.unesco.org/culture/lit/ UNESCO Clearing House for Literary Translation] *{{gutenberg|no=22353|name=Early Theories of Translation}} 1920 text by Flora Ross Amos from the series ''Columbia University studies in English and comparative literature.'' * [http://wiki-translation.com/tiki-index.php?page=Welcome+to+Wiki-Translation Wiki-Translation.com] ===Associations=== * [http://www.atanet.org/ American Translators Association] * [http://www.utdallas.edu/alta/ ALTA (American Literary Translators Association)] * [http://www.aitc.ch AITC (International Association of Conference Translators)] * IATIS [http://www.iatis.org (International Association for Translation and Intercultural Studies)] * [http://www.fit-ift.org/en International Federation of Translators] * [http://www.elia-association.org ELIA (European Language Industry Association)] * [http://jat.org/lang-pref/en/ JAT (Japan Association of Translators)] * [http://www.naati.com.au/ NAATI (National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters, Australia)] * [http://www.aiic.net/ AIIC (International Association of Conference Interpreters)] ===Publications=== * [http://accurapid.com/journal/ ''Translation Journal''], quarterly edited by Gabe Bokor * [http://www.literarytranslators.org/tr.html ''Translation Review''], published three times annually by the Center for Translation Studies * [http://www.translations-news.com/ ''Translation News''], news about translations * [http://www.bu.edu/pusteblume/ ''Pusteblume''], journal of translation at Boston University [[Category:Communication]] [[Category:Translation|*]] [[ar:ترجمة]] [[br:Treiñ ha troidigezh]] [[bg:Преводач]] [[cv:Тăлмач]] [[cs:Překlad]] [[da:Oversættelse]] [[de:Übersetzung (Sprache)]] [[el:Μετάφραση]] [[es:Traducción]] [[eo:Traduko]] [[eu:Itzulpengintza]] [[fa:ترجمه]] [[fr:Traduction]] [[ko:번역]] [[hi:अनुवाद]] [[id:Terjemahan]] [[is:Þýðing]] [[it:Traduzione]] [[he:תרגום]] [[hu:Fordítás]] [[ms:Terjemahan]] [[nl:Vertaling]] [[ja:翻訳]] [[no:Oversettelse]] [[pl:Tłumacz]] [[pt:Tradução]] [[ru:Перевод]] [[simple:Translation]] [[sl:Prevajanje]] [[fi:Kääntäminen]] [[sv:Översättning]] [[tr:Tercüme]] [[uk:Переклад]] [[wa:Ratournaedje (langue)]] [[zh:翻译]]