CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
As a branch of applied linguistics, translation is an important tool of the meaning transfer from one language to another for every aspect of life throughout the world. Major aspects of life such as religion, literature, science, and technology have depended on the translation role. In general, the translation role in human civilization and advancement is without a doubt contributive.
The contribution of translation to human knowledge is facilitated by the translator’s knowledge and expertise in at least two different languages. This notion makes the relation between translation and languages are inseparable. Translation is always related to different languages and different language forms for representing
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Regarding translation and equivalence, Nida in Venuti (2000) states that “translation consists of reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalence of the source language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style.” It is realized that the result of translation is not exactly the same but equivalent to the meaning intended from the source text. The term “closest natural equivalence” refers to a very close similarity in meaning. Naturalness in translation is essential. It makes the translation more acceptable. To achieve naturalness in translation, a translator must have excellent knowledge of the receptor language into which he is translating as well as excellent knowledge of the source language. The term “style” refers to translation that has similar function and effect as intended by the source language. A good translator has to try to ensure the style of the source language transferred to the target language. Thus, considerations of the text style must be made in order to render similar intended functions and effects of the source language into the target
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Show MoreWords are almost translations themselves. They are re-creations of other words from other languages and from their own. They are metaphors—dead because they have been "carried across" into alien languages, and dead because we no longer hear them. They are the memories of, and allusions to, what they once were.
Ted Chiang’s “Story of Your Life” is a short science fiction story that explores the principals of linguistic relativity through in interesting relationship between aliens and humans that develops when aliens, known as Heptapods, appear on Earth. In the story Dr. Louise Banks, a linguist hired by the government to learn the Heptapods language, tells her unborn daughter what she has learned from the Heptapods as a result of learning their language. M. NourbeSe Philip’s poem “Discourse on the Logic of Language” also explores the topic of language and translations, as she refers to different languages as her “mother tongue” or “father tongue.” Although these two pieces of literature may not seem to have much in common both explore the topics of language and translation and connect those ideas to power and control.
If you have ever had a conversation with someone whose first language is not the same as your own, you are probably familiar with the idea that there are certain words and phrases that do not translate perfectly from one language to another. This conflict is usually a matter of one language having a single word or succinct phrase for a concept which another language might need an entire sentence to capture.
Translation is a linguistic science, but it occurs within a theological and moral framework. The issue is a sensitive one, as theology involves an obligation to the text and morality involves an obligation to the
Some English words do not have corresponding words in most foreign languages so there are issues with exact translation. It may take more words to present the same message in a different language.
In conclusion we can agree that the use of both foreignization and domestication should be used when translating a text and/or movie. We can see that the successful use of mashing both techniques can lead to an accurate translation.
Translations are essential to us and our culture, because through ancient documents, inscriptions and books, historians and archeologists reconstruct the ancient societies and civilizations, as well as the story of our forefathers and the history of the entire human race. They allow communication between us and different countries and nations, whose language might be different from ours and this may create difficulties in being able to understand each other. However, translators make this possible as they are the mediators between two different cultures. The need for translations is massive, from both a social and political outlook. According to David Katan’s Translating Cultures, “The translator is a bilingual mediating agent between monolingual communication participants in two different language communities” (16). Therefore, for a translation to succeed translators have to be not only bilingual, but also bicultural. A translator is furthermore put in an exclusive but at the same time, difficult position because it is his responsibility to clarify certain ideas within cultural and natural boundaries. This can be done by keeping the same exact (literal) meaning. Interpreting and translating a text is not a simple and easy task; it takes time and is also challenging, because “the translator cannot merely search for equivalent words in the target language to render the meaning of the source” (Dingwaney and Maier, 3). Up until today there are many translations of ancient works and books, such as the Odyssey; and so, there is a wide range for people to choose from. This choice must be taken with the most care because some may be exceptionally good at communicating the essence of the original text while others ...
This means that formal equivalence aims to reproduce as closely as possible the same meaning of the ST without paying attention to TL readers, i.e. whether the translation sounds natural for them or not. Nida and Taber (1969: 201) state that formal equivalence “distorts the grammatical and stylistic patterns of the receptor language, and hence distorts the message, so as to cause the receptor to misunderstand or to labor unduly hard.” An example of formal equivalence is “gloss translation” in which the translator tries to reproduce the form and content of the ST in order to enable students to gain knowledge about SL structure and culture (Nida, 1964:159). Translation shifts are thus not expected to occur when formal equivalence is
Overall, the impacts of translation in literature was spectacular, and indeed, it contributed to provide literature work a broader platform, and enabled it to be studied and analyzed from different angles by different scholars from different countries; but still, it affected the author’s style and artistic
To show an example to grasp the difference between the two of them, it is enough to claim that in its most basic sense, if the translator cannot find an equivalent for the target language, it is at word level. However, if it is above the word level, the job of the translator becomes tougher because she/he needs to deal with more complicated language elements such as collocations, idioms and fixed expressions as clearly stated by Baker. By referring to the Baker’s reasons for non-equivalence, culture-specific concepts should be counted as the first because it is very obscure that each language reflects its culture in its language and that’s why each language differs from one another. For example, a translator may not find an equivalence for the word ‘speed-dating’ just because it doesn’t exist in the target language. Lack of a superordinate word, specific term; differences in terms of form, expressive meaning and semantic complexity of the languages can be added as other cases where we come across with difficulties. In fact, the skills of the translator is needed at this very point to deal with each situation separately by using various strategies. Using a general word, translating by cultural substitution, paraphrasing and omitting the problematic lexical element can be included as the most common strategies. To refer back to what has been explained previously, the complexity of the translation is determined by such factors. Indeed, interpreters seem to come across with more difficulties since they need to think on the
This view of translation and translation studies was dominant until the emergence of the so-called “cultural turn” in the 1980s. With the shift
Language is a means of human communication whether verbally or nonverbally. In everyday life we use language to express our thoughts, feelings ,attitudes,etc.A great amount of social interactions takes place every day over the telephone ,by online chats, face –to face interaction or at workplaces .We use language of different forms for different functions as in to inform, question , and sometimes to strengthen social relationships or just to keep the social wheels turning smoothly. Moreover, understanding one's own language and even other cultures’ language is important to arrive at a successful and effective communication with others . The study of language can be undertaken in various ways .Semantics and pragmatics are two branches of linguistics which are concerned with the study of meaning.
Translation was founded a hundred of years ago because the importance of communicating and understanding other people with different languages. Translation is a bridge that fills the gaps between two languages and cultures. Moreover, “it is a communicative process which transfers the message of a source language text to a target language” (algaz, 2015, p.183). It is not only conveying the meaning from the one language to another language, but also transferring the culture and tradition of the community. Lefevere (2003, p.2) describe the translation as "channel opened" and it can influence on the target culture by the foreign culture. It cannot be denied that translation has a pivotal role in communicating and sharing culture. Ideology and
If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language that goes to his heart.” ‒ Nelson Mandela. Since the 1960’s learning a second language has decreased by 30 percent in today’s society. People who wish to learn an additional language often do so to communicate with people who reside in different countries. With an increase in today’s globalization, it is forcing companies throughout the world to break the language barrier. However, with the advancement of technology, numerous citizens find it unnecessary to learn another language, as a translation is at the tip of their fingers. The methods of learning a foreign language can differentiate between people. Nevertheless it has been
Nowadays, translation and interpretation are professions that are on the rise; this is due to globalization and more especially with the inception of Internet in our daily life. Because of this, there is currently an increasing demand for information and knowledge waiting to be translated into several languages, so the need for translators and interpreters eventually increased and is expected to continue growing in the coming years as people from all corners of the globe are more intertwined as never before. In few words, translation and interpretation in the present time is a big deal. So in order to monitor and assess the need for translators and interpreters, I decided to replicate the results of Lynne Bowker´s article “What Does It Take to Work in the Translation Profession