Translation Thesis

Translation Thesis

Politeness Pragmatic Research Thesis Translation

“Politeness Aspects in translation English Screenplay Movie into Indonesian on “The Pursuit of Happyness” and “The Holiday”” (A Case Study of Pragmatic Translation). An unpublished research of An Undergraduate Thesis. 2008

ABSTRACT

Mushallin, “Politeness Aspects in translation English Screenplay Movie into Indonesian on “The Pursuit of Happyness” and “The Holiday””; (A case Study of Pragmatic Translation) Thesis. Faculty of Letters. English Literature. Undergraduate Degree. Gunadarma University. Jakarta 2007.
Advisor 1, Drs. Hendro Firmawan, MMSI Advisor 2, Dra. Endang Purwaningsih, Mhum.
Keywords: politeness aspects, translation, pragmatic, screenplay movie.
________________________________________________________________________


This thesis is a study of pragmatic translation of Politeness Aspects from English Screenplay movie into Indonesian. The movies entitled “The Pursuit of Happyness” and “The Holiday” selected as data. The word “Happyness” is truly movie title which the title was grammatically wrong, but this title is originally from film industry where the movie explained about the word “Happyness” in the scene. The objective of the study is tried to examine politeness aspects based on the conversation in the screenplay English movie and the translation in Indonesian. Besides examines the relation to politeness aspects that applied in pragmatic translation in Indonesian and also examine the conversation that has no applied pragmatic translation in Indonesian which show violation, ignorance, impolite, irrelevant, inappropriateness and inconsistence in pragmatic translation.

The research used a qualitative method, because the data of the research are row in words such as words, expressions or speeches, the research data are words, expressions or speeches from English screenplay movie and the translation into Indonesian that contain and unapplied aspect of politeness in the pragmatic field, and all data are verbal language or discourse. And the subjects of the research are two screenplays movie “The Pursuit of Happyness” and “The Holiday”. In analyzing data the writer has adopted the framework developed by Miles and Huberman to describe the major phases of data analysis: data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification
This study utilizes a number of theories which have been identified eclectically as follows;
The Cooperative Principle which consist several conversation maxims by Paul Grice,
The Principle of Politeness, which consist in several maxim in maximize and minimize conversation by Geoffrey Leech, Politeness Strategy which consist some strategy in making polite communication by Brown and Levinson, Politeness Scales by Leech, Brown and Levinson, and Robin Lakoff, and Indonesian supporting book and several translation journals, linguistic journals, and some online journals and articles were utilized to support this research.
This study showed that 9 (nine) data principle of politeness on the “The Pursuit of Happyness”, and 22 (twenty two) data of principle of politeness on the “The Holiday”,
And the writer found 6 (six) data on the “The Pursuit of Happyness” and 15 (fifteen) data on the “The Holiday” based on Brown and Levinson theory. And all data found are founding no problem with pragmatic translation.
This study also showed that 13 (thirteen) data from two movies the first is “The Pursuit of Happyness” and the second is” The Holiday”, which violated, ignored, impolite, rude and inconsistence in applying the pragmatic in the translations. In this case, politeness aspects which are related to pragmatists theories. In this problem, the writer tried to give hints as a solution for the unapplied meaning with pragmatic problem. To show more objective of the research, the writer added an expert views of the problem. In this case the writer asked two experts’ judgment and an overview that have varieties comment on that.

Read also Goal of Translation 

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A Pragmatic Approach to Translating

A Pragmatic Approach to Translating

Politeness Pragmatic Translation

By; Prof.grad I Mariana Sava
Colegiul Tehnic ‘Ion Borcea’ Buhusi

In the last two decades there has been an increasing interest in approaching translation from a pragmatic perspective, as both pragmatics and translation are concerned with communicative situations. Roughly speaking, pragmatics studies how utterances have meaning in speech situations or the ability to use language effectively so as to fulfil intentions and goals. Speakers and writers plan and fulfil goals as they use language, which is a matter of choice. They choose their goals and they choose appropriate language for their goals, and the outcome of the effort of processing this particular ‘language’ (whether expressed linguistically, or non- linguistically) will enlighten the addressee with regard to the message intended by the author through the relationship between the protagonists.
Of the variety of notions that are central to approaching any instance of communicative discourse from a pragmatic perspective, I have chosen a few which I believe to be particularly helpful in exploring the question of ‘making sense’ and in highlighting areas of difficulty in cross-cultural communication.

These are:
[1] aspects of the speech situation (Leech, 1980):
addresser/writer/speaker(s), addressee/translator/reader/hearer/(h) and the
relationship between them;
the context of an utterance – any background knowledge assumed to be shared by
s and h and which contributes to h’s interpretation of what s means by a given utterance; it includes ‘relevant’ aspects of the physical or social setting of that utterance;
the goal(s) of an utterance/ the ‘intentional state(s)’.
The same aspects might be applied when analysing the dramatic text as a coherent chain of utterances as well as when translating it into another language for a readership with a cultural background different from the one the source text is set against. Pragmatics, as the study of ‘language in action’, will prove a helpful tool in the hands of the translator. His/her decisions are governed by the choices made in the process of decoding the message at the utterance and, ultimately, at the discourse level.

[2] conversational principles such as:
the Cooperative Principle (CP) (Grice, 1975) and its maxims: the maxim of quantity (‘give the right amount of information’), the maxim of quality (‘try to make your contribution one that is true’), the maxim of relation (‘be relevant’) and the maxim of manner (‘be perspicuous’);
the Politeness Principle (PP) (Leech, 1980; Grice, 1975) and its maxims: tact maxim (‘minimize cost to other; maximize benefit to other’), generosity maxim (‘minimize benefit to self; maximize cost to self’’), approbation maxim (‘minimize dispraise of other; maximize praise of other’), modesty maxim (‘minimize praise of self; maximize dispraise of self’’), agreement maxim (‘minimize disagreement between self and other; maximize agreement between self and other’) and sympathy maxim (‘minimize antipathy between self and other; maximize sympathy between self and other’)
the Irony Principle (IP) (‘minimize, other things being equal, the expression of impolite beliefs; maximize, other things being equal, the expression of positive beliefs’).pragmatic inference: implicature and presupposition
Implicature, according to Grice (1975), refers to what s means rather than what he or she literally says. Pragmatic or conversational implicatures can be conveyed by flouting any of the conversational maxims. Working them out depends on h’s ability to assess the target readers’ range of knowledge and assumptions about various aspects of the world and to strike a reasonable balance between fulfilling their expectations and maintaining their interest in the communication.
Pragmatic or extralinguistic presupposition (Levinson, 1983) refers to the social and cultural aspects, allusions, quotations, parodies, etc. It is here that there are frequently gaps between what the authors assume to be knowledge that they share with their readership and the socio-cultural background of the readers of the original texts coming from other cultural backgrounds or the readers of the translated texts. It is up to translators to explicitate, adapt or omit the otherwise opaque presuppositions of the source. When dealing with them, translators may often run the risk of overtranslating (explaining the obvious) or undertranslating (leaving their readers in the dark as to issues that are alien to them).

[3] the Communicative Principle of Relevance 
(Sperber and Wilson, 1986; 1995), which contributes to the explanation of the cognitive mechanisms underlying human communication, be it speech act proper or translation work (‘Every act of ostensive communication, e.g. an utterance, communicates a presumption of its own optimal relevance’). Consequently, an utterance may be interpreted by building contextual assumptions about its overall propositional form. Relevance can be seen as depending on a balance between effects and effort, or on the ‘gains’ from a certain stimulus and the cognitive energy it takes to retrieve those gains. The weightier the gains are, the more relevant the stimulus becomes; the less effort is required to achieve those gains, the more the relevance of the stimulus is enhanced. In other words, because s asks for the attention of h, the latter is entitled to assume that the former is trying to be relevant and therefore interprets an utterance according to this expectation. If we consider the hypothesis that all instances of human translation can be accounted for as instances of ostensive-inferential communication, the success of the communication/translation depends on how well it meets the basic criterion for all human communication, which is consistency with the principle of relevance.

Assuming that the speech acts are governed by standard conversational maxims, the power dimension and the speech act dimension can be combined in four different ways:
• The speaker is high status (the one in power) and the hearer is low status (the subordinate) (s > h);
• The hearer is high status and the speaker is low status (s <> s);
• The high status is a third ‘entity’ and the hearer is low status (e > h). In the last two cases, the third person can be a real person or an impersonal power, the so-called ‘power of evidence’ (fo instance, with modals in epistemic use, e.g. You must be insane to do a thing like that (where you is h). The objects of the power relations are the actions that are salient in the speech act situation. For a power relation to be effectuated, i.e. the low status does what the high status expects, the low status must know the attitudes of the high status towards the salient action. Even if there is always some form of power relation between two interlocutors, these will not result in any linguistic utterances as long as their expectations are well matched. It is only when the relevant expectations clash or are unknown that linguistic communication is necessary to achieve the appropriate actions. By definition, the high status can demand that his expectations about the salient action be fulfilled by the low status, he has the right to impose his perspective on the low status, while the low status can never demand anything, but possibly negotiate with the high status that he be let off doing the action.
However, the participants in a speech situation do not always see eye to eye. Simon Winters (1998) distinguishes between three levels of expectations about attitudes towards an action p:
• s’s attitude towards p;
• s’s expectation about h’s expectation towards p;
• s’s expectation about h’s expectation about s’s attitude towards p.

If some of the expectations are not fulfilled, the incongruence will normally result in some linguistic utterance on the part of the one whose expectation is violated. The cognitive structures of the participants in a speech situation may generate, for instance, modal expressions as grammatical and semantic markers of stance (i.e. personal feelings, attitudes, value judgments, or assessments).
“Translating must aim primarily at reproducing the message. To do anything else is essentially false to one's task as a translator” (‘Traddutore traditore’, as it were) (Nida and Taber, 1969). Therefore, a translation should convey the same information as the original, but how can this be done?. The conversational principles are not in the least universal, as they seem to reflect directly notions which are known to be valued in the English-speaking world (e.g. sincerity, brevity, and relevance). They do not necessarily have the same value in other cultures, nor should they be expected to represent any ideal basis for communication. In some translation contexts, being polite can be far more important than being accurate. A translator may decide to omit or replace whole stretches of text which violate the reader’s expectations of how a taboo subject should be handled, if at all, in order to avoid giving offence. Despite this lack of universality, the addressee/ translator should bear in mind that all discourse, in any language, is essentially co-operative and that the phenomenon of implicature (rather than the specific maxims suggested by Grice) is universal. In other words, the interpretation of the maxims may differ from one linguistic community to another, but the process of conveying intended meaning by means of exploiting whatever maxims are in operation in that community will be the same. Readers in general, and therefore readers of translated texts too, are prepared to accept a great deal of change and a view of the world which is utterly different from their own provided they have a reason for doing so and are prepared for it.

With this framework in mind, we shall have a look at the way utterances are used in communicative situations (translation work included) and the way we interpret them in context.

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Translation and Text Understanding

Translation and Text Understanding

Book Text Translation Understanding

By Carolina Orloff

Introduction

“…The literary imagination is not a grace
of life or a diversion: it is the best way we
have found of reaching for the meaning of
existence.”
R.Fulford in The Literary Imagination In our Time.

In the Author’s Note to The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, the Czech writer Milan Kundera asserts that, after thorough revision, ‘French translations have become…more faithful to the Czech originals than the originals themselves’. So much does the author trust these translations that, for the English translation, the book has been translated from the French on Kundera’s advice. ‘I had the pleasure of seeing my text emerge in [Aaron Asher’s] translation as from a miraculous bath. At last I recognized my book.’ In Kundera’s statement, I see the ultimate wish of the translator come true: to understand the original text in such depth, as to reach the original essence of the text even before it became one. That is, to understand the text from within the author’s mind, to become the author’s mind thinking and writing in another language.

The translator assumes a responsibility that not only concerns a book and an author, but an entire culture. Understanding is fundamental in every respect, for beyond the fixed text, there is also a culture to be translated into mirror words of a different language. This essay attempts to look at the many levels of understanding involved in the creation of a ‘good’ translation. We shall only concentrate on examples of literary and philosophical texts.

a. Translation as a Powerful Conductor of Cultures: Understanding Language

“A translation is only a somewhat provisional
way of coming to terms with the foreignness of
languages.”
Walter Benjamin, ‘The Task of the Translator’

“Language: to humbly speak thought.”
J.L.Borges, ‘An Investigation of the Word’

In discerning the ethics of translation, Venutti adopts Berman’s view that a ‘good’ translation is one that ‘opens a dialogue, a cross-breeding, a decentering’, forcing the domestic (i.e. the target) language and culture to acknowledge and even learn from the foreignness of the translated text. The translator aims to portray the understanding of the foreign text through another that may be faithful to the original, even in its foreignness. However, the reader should not be completely marginalized, feeling that a ‘foreignizing’ translation is as unreadable as the untranslated original. If necessary, the translator will have to create a new language, one that renders, to quote Brisset’s examples, the cockney dialogue in Pygmalion or the lunfardo (i.e. local slang) of R. Arlt’s Buenos Aires, and still embraces the richness of the target language and culture. 

A good example is S.J.Levine’s translation of M. Puig’s Boquitas Pintadas, literally meaning ‘Little Painted Mouths’ and interestingly translated as Heartbreak Tango. The difficulty within this text lies not only on the use of Argentinian slang, but also in the key use of tango lyrics. In the original text, quotes from tango songs appear as epigraphs before
each chapter. The Argentinian (and Uruguayan, perhaps) would immediately associate that quote with a certain melody and even a sentiment, yet how to translate this effect for an English-speaking readership?
S.J. Levine admits that the author’s deep knowledge of the popular culture of United States helped enormously in their joint creative translation for the North American edition. The translator becomes a craftsman, in the search to find words that are familiar to the Anglo-reader and at the same time evoke the same feelings originally provoked in the Hispanic-reader.
The translation of such culturally loaded texts takes into account the world of the author and needs to anticipate the target readers and universe. The translator must somehow be able to know the readers (the way they think, react, live, remember, feel), in order to predict the effect that words are going to have on them. The understanding of language by the translator must be impeccable on both sides of the text: from the culture of the author to that of the reader. Apart from language and as part of it, what also needs to be portrayed faithfully is the author’s precise and deliberate choice of words. For that, the translator must again understand language to perfection, that is, understand the power of isolated words in both cultures.
In the translator’s preface to Kafka’s stories, J.A.Underwood claims that the (usually translated as) ‘giant bug’ which Gregor Samsa has became in The Metamophosis, 

does no justice to the cultural resonance of Kafka’s predilection for ‘ungeheures Ungeziefer’. Although ‘giant bug’ does not capture the social and religious exclusion implicit in Kafka’s choice, the literal ‘monstrous vermin’ would not read well in English. Thus, after the understanding, the compromise.
Another example is Plato’s pharmakon, famously ambiguous, meaning both ‘remedy’ and ‘poison’ in Greek. This is discussed by the French philosopher (and translator) J. Derrida, who sees in this semantic ambivalence the vulnerability of the entire course of Platonism in the hands of translators. Undoubtedly, this is a fundamental ambiguity. One only need think of Socrates’ death to understand the importance of translating the right meaning of a single word.

b. The Inevitable Act of Infidelity: Understanding Style

“It will be our destiny to mould ourselves to syntax, to its
treacherous chain of events, to the imprecision, the maybes,
the too many emphases, the buts, the hemisphere
of lies and of darkness in our speech.”
J.L.Borges, An Investigation of the Word.
The creativity of the translator is not in the choosing of the right words, for language conventions exist and restrict the ways in which a certain word can be held to mean the same in another ‘idiom’. It is with style and the attempt to remain loyal to the author in this, that the art of translation blooms…and despairs! How faithful can the style of the translated text remain to that of the original, without obscuring the sense or making the reading too awkward?
I thought of Marcel Proust’s writings, and how the translator had approached his problematic style. The translator of the Penguin edition, T. Kilmartin, argues that if there is a need for a revision of a previous translation, it is because Proust’s style has been altogether misinterpreted and thus, wrongly portrayed. Although ‘complicated, dense, overloaded’, he argues, ‘…Proust’s style is essentially natural and unaffected, quite free of preciosity, archaism or self-conscious elegance’. Whether he succeeds in maintaining it in English or not, I have not yet had the luxury to find out. Yet, the translator has made the decision to remain faithful to the author. This in itself is already a successful act of the understanding of style.

Another example is the complexity of Dostoyevsky’s style. The translators of Crime and Punishment elucidate the problems of Dostoyevsky’s Russian, from the intricacy of names, to a different calendar, punctuation and other nuances. Nevertheless, they set themselves the task of a literal rendition of the Russian chosen by Dostoyevsky, showing a supreme understanding of the culture as well as the text. 

It is a delusion to think that an author’s style will remain intact after translation. However, if the translator has fully understood the language and its universe and has, as it were, entered the mind of the creator, s/he can also understand the logic behind a style, which is never a whimsical matter.
Borges’s most faithful English translator, A. Hurley, has fully captured the author’s logic behind his style. He explains thus:
“Borges’ prose style is characterized by a determined economy of resources in which every word is weighted, every word (every mark of punctuation) “tells”. It is a quiet style, whose effects are achieved not with bombast or pomp, but rather with a single exploding word or phrase, dropped almost as thought offhandedly into a quiet sentence (…) Quietness, subtlety, a laconic terseness –these are the marks of Borges’ style”

With such an understanding of the author’s style, thoughts and implicit intentions, the translator moves on to produce a fine text. “I have rendered Borges in the style that I hear when I listen to him”, admits Hurley to the reader, in the hope that the reader, in turn, shall hear something of the genius of Borges’ storytelling and, indeed, style.

c. Translator’s exile and the miracle of translation: Understanding the translated text

“In translation, the work of thinking is transposed into
the spirit of another language and so undergoes an
inevitable transformation (…) [which] shines a new
light on the fundamental position of the question…”
M. Heidegger

“The power of illumination…is the supreme power of translation”, argues Berman in the idea that translation is, by definition, a clarifying process, for it makes an unintelligible language, readable. The reader becomes ‘illuminated’ by translation, which unveils a new text and, through it, an entire culture.
The responsibility in the hands of the translator (literally) is unfathomable; particularly with regards to non-fictional texts, such as Philosophy, where the essence of ideas have to be rendered on a deeper level than that of the tangible realm of words. Yet, how does the translator approach this final text, after being torn constantly between two languages and cultures, writing and reinventing a text which s/he has never created in his mind? The translator is in exile from his own language, being at the service of another one. This must allow for an enriched perspective, for a deeper final understanding of the text.
The translator is a merciless reader, and as such reading his/her own work, the translator must understand the translation as clearly as s/he understood the original, if not more. It is this second understanding, the enriched ‘bridge’ between one language and the other, that should be portrayed in the final translated text, which is a new version of another final original one.

Conclusion

There are translations that have understood the language and syntax, and have tried to remain loyal to the style, but have failed to understand the final translated text, i.e. the impact that the words the translator has chosen have on the reader. An example of this is P. Blackburn’s translation of J.Cortázar´s Historias de Cronopios y de Famas. In this translation, there are no notes at all. Given the difficulty of the book, even in its original language, this is surprising, for an English reader, for example, will not be able to capture any of the subtle cultural references. I would argue that his translation is culturally irresponsible, that the tranlator has failed to understand his own text.
A.Hurley resorts to an opposite extreme, soaking his translation of Borges text with ‘Notes to the Fictions’, which aim to level the Anglo-reader with the knowledge that a LatinAmerican would have. A certain justice is thus achieved, for although these notes might come across as condescending, the option (to understand more) is there. In that option, lies the possibility of understanding the text in its completeness. For, the translator has already been inside the author’s mind, and is now willing to illuminate us by showing us some doors to the author’s world. The translator has understood that in the essence of what s/he is translating, might lie the very meaning of existence.

Bibliography
Berman, A. (1985) Translation and the Trials of the Foreign. Trans. Venutti, L. In Venuti, L.(ed.) Translation Studies Reader. London: Routledge, 284-298.

Borges, J.L. (1998) Collected Fictions. Trans. Hurley, A. London: Penguin Books.
--------------. (1999) The Homeric Versions. Trans. Weinberger, E. In Weinberger, E. (ed.) The Total Library: Non-Fiction 1922-1986. London: Penguin Books, 69-74.
--------------. (1999) An Investigation of the Word. Trans. Weinberger, E. In Weinberger, E. (ed.) The Total Library: Non-Fiction 1922-1986. London: Penguin Books, 32- 39.

Brisset, A. (1990/96) The Search for a Native Language: Translation and Cultural Identity. Trans. Gannon, R & Gill, R. In Venuti, L.(ed.) Translation Studies Reader. London: Routledge, 345-375.

Cortázar, J. (1994) Cronopios and Famas. Trans. Blackburn, P. London: Marion Boyars.

Derrida, J. (1981) Dissemination. Trans. Johnson, B. London: The Athlone Press.

Dostoevsky, F. (1992) Crime and Punishment. Trans. Pevear, R. & Volokhonsky, L. London: Vintage.

Fulford, R. (1990) The Literary Imagination in Our Time. In Manguel, A. (ed.) Soho Square III. London: Bloomsbury Publishers Ltd.

Kafka, F. (1981) Stories 1904-1924.Trans. Underwood, J.A. London: Abacus.

Kundera, M. (1996) The Book of Laughter and Forgetting. Trans. Asher, A. London: Faber and Faber.

Levine, S.J. (1998) Escriba Subversiva: Una Poética de la Traducción. México DF: Fondo de Cultura Económica.

Mochulsky, K. (1967) Dostoevsky: His Life and Work. Trans. Minihan, M.A. USA: Princeton University Press.

Nietzsche, F. (1968) The Portable Nietzsche. Trans. Kaufmann, W. (ed.) London: Penguin Books.

Proust, M. (1981) Remembrance of the Things Past. Trans. Scott Moncrieff, C.K. & Kilmartin, T. London: Penguin Books, pp. ix-xii.

Reiss, K. (1971) Type, Kind and Individuality of Text. Decision Making in Translation. Trans. Kitron, S. In Venuti, L.(ed.) Translation Studies Reader. London: Routledge, 160-171.

Venutti, L. (1998) The Formation of Cultural Identities. In The Scandals of Translation: Towards an Ethics of Difference. London: Routledge, 67-87.

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Dealing with Quality Issues on the Translation Process

Dealing with Quality Issues on the Translation Process

Issues Process Quality Translation Process

By Manuel Martín-Iguacel
The following is just a quick overview and not an exhaustive analysis.
Premise:
It is an imperative key principle not only to fulfil the customer’s needs but also to exceed their expectations so that they are happy and willing to create a long-lasting working relationship. In order to make this possible, we should address the quality issues in the most effective way.

There might be several reasons for explaining common quality issues. These are listed at random below.

1. Guidelines/instructions factor
Unclear guidelines and/or instructions regarding terminology and terminological priorities. Sometimes instructions are unnecessarily long and yet the same time not so informative. They contain references to “old battles” (issues), which do no longer apply and take an awful lot of space. Obviously, this may discourage many translators from reading on further. I am, personally, in favour of providing the translator with long initial instructions for reference only at the beginning of the project/collaboration and then providing them with short and concrete updates containing relevant information related to the potential issues in the future.

2. Time factor: Unrealistic or extremely tight deadlines.
They (the final clients) always want unrealistic deadlines: “I want it for yesterday”. Well, unfortunately this is they way it is, but it does not mean it is the way it should be. The truth is that very few final clients bother to try and understand the fact that the translation process, when carried out properly and professionally, must take a bit longer than just a tiny while.

3. Translator factor
Sometimes so-called experienced translators are just very enthusiastic junior translators with no proven track record or an unfinished educational background, i.e. they are not so experienced at all in the end.
Cheap translators are a very inviting and dangerous temptation. We all know that quality demands a price! Trying to save money at the initial stage (the translation itself) proves to make the whole localization process in the end more expensive.

4. Project size factor (huge projects) – Teams of translators
When too many different translators work simultaneously on the same huge project, this endangers its consistency, accuracy and quality. This is a very common practice due to the commonly so unrealistic/extremely tight deadlines of huge size projects. If this working procedure is applied, then: 1. the use of common basic reference material and 2. a very thorough proofreading stage are absolutely vital.

5. Sub-contracting factor
Some translators might, illegally, sub-contract projects or parts of them assigned by a specific agency to third parties. If a translator wishes to sub-contract any work, this must be agreed to and permitted by that agency. Also, before delivery, the translator should always read the translation s/he has commissioned to a different translator in order to make sure it complies with the expected/desired level of quality.

6. Source text factor
Last but not least, the style and composition of the source text is quite often far from consistent and clear. The authors are experts on engineering, automotive, trucks, backhoe loaders, information technology, intelligent software, etc., but for whatever reason they do not have the time to write properly or they simply do not care. It is quite common to see the use of different words and expressions for the same concept, technical part, etc. Also, the construction of the sentences is too complex or unnecessarily long. To be fair with the technical authors, I must admit that they also experience time constraints, which obviously affect the final result in the negative way that everyone involved in the translation business has already noticed. Furthermore, sometimes the alleged source is also a translation, which raises unnecessary problems, leading to confusion and generating potential issues and queries.
Suggestions:

The ideal translation process I try to implement, by all means wherever is possible, is pretty comprehensive:
Translation + two Proofreading stages (un/formatted) + DTP format check

Initial and continuous reward to good/consistent and punctual translators is better than later punishment to not so good translators.

Giving frequent and positive feedback to the translators is as good and important or even better than only giving not so good feedback when it is too late...

Unfortunately it is quite difficult to find the time to send any feedback at all, unless something goes pretty wrong (there is a catastrophe…). This practice, however, should be established. It would contribute to creating and strengthening a bond between the agency and the translators/proofreaders, who would feel closer and more willing to deliver good work to the agency.

The practice of providing the translator with the formatted source text for reference has proven (to be) very useful, also as a potential problem-solving strategy.

Communication with the client.
It is essential to get the client used to maintaining an active channel/line of communication.
Frequent and quick feedback from the client concerning the translators’ queries can speed up considerably the translation and correction processes. It can also be helpful to share the queries generated by different the translators of different languages, when multilingual projects.

Educating the final client.
This is almost a “mission impossible”, but it might be a serious option to consider. Making the client aware that 1. the translation process and 2. a high quality final product requires reasonable deadlines to be properly and professionally implemented. Otherwise, and we all know that, the consequences can be fatal. Murphy is a quite hyperactive kind of guy and does not need much sleep.

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Preparing a Translation Project

Preparing a Translation Project

Article Project Translation Translation Project

Preparing a Project for Translation

By Kim Vitray, Operations Manager, Ralph McElroy Translation Company, Austin, Texas

This article assumes you have already completed the first step in successful translation purchasing —identifying a qualified translation vendor with whom you can develop a good working relationship and a body of experience. Better yet, you have more than one such translation vendor in a pool of possibilities, from which you can make the best choice for a particular project’s time frame, size and content. Now, how can you help the selected translation vendor provide the best possible product, that meets your needs for time frame, quality and cost?

If you have control over the content of the document to be translated (that is, it’s something you or your company are writing), examine that content carefully for words and phrases that won’t translate well, such as slang or colloquial expressions. For example, on our Web site we refer to our General Manager as our “head honcho” — after all, we are in Texas! — and our Systems Administrator as our “number one computer guru.” But when we localized our Web site into multiple languages, we reviewed the text and revised phrases such as these, realizing they would present difficulties in word choice for the translator and in meaning for the target audience. Be sure your text is as clear, concise and complete as possible, even if you have to hire a professional editor.

If at all possible, be sure the text is finalized and all “tweaking” is finished before you submit it for translation. Revisions to source documents after the translation process has begun require extra time to organize, coordinate and implement, and increase the potential for the misunderstanding and miscommunication that cause errors. Time is money — and the time it takes to manage even a single revision of a source document being translated into multiple languages is substantial.

You may be involved with translation projects over which you have no content control. In this circumstance, keep in mind that the translation will only be as good as the source, particularly with technical documents. If the source is complex and poorly written, the translation will reflect that reality. The translation vendor will, of course, attempt to make the translation as comprehensible and readable as possible, but producing a quality localized product will be more
challenging. Also, translators must carefully balance providing a well-written translation against adhering to the integrity of the source document.

Identify and communicate to the translation vendor the target audience for the translation. Are there government requirements to be met? What is the reading and comprehension level of the anticipated user? What country will it be used in? The target audience most likely will not affect the quality, schedule or cost of the translation, but its “fitness for use” — a key concept in making one word choice over another — may be greatly affected. When you write professionally, you
consider who you’re writing to and for, and the practice of translation is no different.

One of my favorite moments during the work day is when a project manager “oohs” and “aahs” over an incoming project that a client has carefully and thoughtfully organized. When that happens, we know we can provide our very best product. Following are some things you can do to ensure your vendor’s delight, which means you will also be pleased with your translation.

• Locate and provide electronic source files, if they exist. You should send only the electronic files you want to be translated, no more and no less. If you send additional electronic files as reference material, clearly indicate that’s what they are. Name the source files something that will have meaning for both you and the translation vendor. If you reference the source files in your correspondence, use their exact filenames. This is also the ideal time to inform your vendor of any special file-naming conventions you (or your technical personnel) may have
for target-language files.
• Be sure that any paper copy you send matches the corresponding electronic file — exactly. With multiple source files, post-it notes on the paper copies indicating their correlating filenames are very helpful, saving time and ensuring against mishap.
• Provide reference material and/or a terminology list, if available. If a terminology list is not readily available, the time taken to develop even a brief one, especially of terms, acronyms and abbreviations specific to your organization, is well worth the investment.
• Tend to the administrative details on your end in advance, such as obtaining a purchase order or arranging for a confidentiality agreement to be signed.
• Send a complete “package” all at once — written instructions, paper copy, electronic copy, reference material, terminology list, and contact information. Although your vendor may know who you are and what you want from the briefest of e-mail messages, complete information saves time in the long run and insures efficient order processing. The translation of graphics can be more complex and problematic than text — ask your vendor about this and expect to speak with a project manager who will have very specific questions. Are electronic files available? What software were they created in? What format are they? Are they editable? Do you need electronic target files? Fonts also need special attention. If particular fonts
are required for your document’s layout, can you provide them, or is the translation vendor to purchase them or substitute similar ones? Are they for the Macintosh or the Windows operating system? If the target translation is to be in a double-byte character language such as Japanese or Chinese or a bidirectional language such as Arabic or Hebrew, do you have the fonts and software to correctly display and print it? There are good and easy solutions to most graphics and font situations, and the translation vendor will be knowledgeable about them — just let them know the issues exist in your project.
Most importantly, clearly and explicitly communicate your expectations, requirements, and instructions to the translation vendor in writing. If you are unsure of the answers to the following questions, they can help you decide what’s best for your needs.

• What are the target languages?
• In what locale will each language be used?
• What is the deliverable? Paper copy? Electronic copy, and what format — Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, PDF, Quark, or something else?
• Do you need an estimate? This should be provided in writing from the translation vendor, and you should also confirm acceptance of the estimate in writing.
• What is the delivery method? Overnight courier? Disk? CD? E-mail? Fax? FTP? A
combination of methods?
• Who is the completed work to be delivered to?
• What is the specific date or general timeframe for completion of the translation? If it is a large project, do you want it delivered in parts as they are finished, or complete at the end?
• Are there any special formatting requirements or other instructions?
• Who should the vendor contact with questions, and how and when is that person best
reached?

If you are new to the translation process, have the vendor explain it to you, ask a lot of questions, provide as much information as you can, and allow adequate time for completion of the work. Keep in mind that a change in scope of the project, such as adding or replacing documents or languages, will affect the timeframe and cost; and hastening the due date may also affect cost. And beware of the following “myths”1 about translation:

• Anyone with two years of high school language, or who lived in another country for three years during early childhood, or who can type in a foreign language, can translate. (Truth: Writing in another language, which is what translating really is, requires the same education and immersion as writing in the original language.)
• Translators can translate both ways just as easily. (Truth: Translators normally translate only into, not out of, their native language, and most translators only have one native language.)
• A good translator doesn’t need any reference literature. (Truth: Reference literature is enormously beneficial in understanding meaning and making good word choices.)
• A good translator gets it right the first time, without any editing or proofreading. (Truth: Do you get your articles, memos or reports right the first time, without any editing or proofreading?)
• Translators will soon be replaced by computers. (Truth: Yes, as soon as functional artificial intelligence is developed and widely implemented.)
• A 100-page technical manual that took four months and three persons to write can be translated by one translator in two days. (Truth: Let’s assume that a 100-page manual averages 250 words per page, for a total of 25,000 words to be translated. Let’s also assume that a full-time, experienced translator can translate 3,000 words per day. Simple math informs us that the project will take at least eight days for translation, not including editing or proofreading, or formatting. And this formula can be adversely affected by a large number of factors, such as the quality, complexity and subject matter of the source document, the actual number of words, the “popularity” of the source and target languages, and the translator’s
schedule and previous commitments. The point is that good translation work takes a
reasonable amount of time.)
• Translating is just replacing each word in the source language with the same word in the target language. (Truth: Alaskan Indians have numerous words for snow in their native languages; English has one — and in Texas, none!)
• Spanish is Spanish, all around the world. (Truth: The Spanish in Mexico is different from the Spanish in Spain; the French in Canada is different from the French in France; and the Portuguese in Brazil is different from the Portuguese in Portugal.)
“Quality” is a concern for many translation buyers — if you can’t read the target language, how do you evaluate the product? Ask the translation vendor what their quality process is— translations should always be translated and edited by a native speaker of the target language. You may also want to arrange for an “in-country review” by someone in your company who lives and works in the target locale. This native speaker of the target language will add value with their knowledge of jargon and nuance particular to your industry, your company, and your market position. Ask the translation vendor if they would be willing to coordinate this process for you,
among reviewers you select, by refereeing feedback and implementing revisions. Note that a frequently requested, although usually ineffective, method for testing translation quality is the “back translation,” where a translation from language A to language B is translated back to language A by a different translator. However, most clients are confused and disappointed by the result, because the original wording is not the result. Word choice can be both accurate and subjective, and often there are no “right” or “wrong” answers.

In summary, thorough upfront project organization and clear and complete communication with the translation vendor about the scope of work, including timeframe and cost, are the contributions you, the client, can make toward ensuring a successful translation project. And having done your part, you can relax and be comfortable with your right to expect timely, high-quality and as-specified execution by the translation vendor. For more information, download Translation: Getting It Right—A Guide to Buying Translations, produced by the Institute of
Translation & Interpreting and available in PDF format at ww.iti.org.uk.

1Morry Sofer, The Translator’s Handbook, 4th ed. (Rockville, MD: Schreiber Publishing, 2002), p. 42.

This article was published in the January/February 2003 issue of MultiLingual Computing & Technology, #53 Volume 14 Issue 1.

Ralph McElroy Translation Company
910 West Avenue
Austin, Texas 78701
Phone 800-531-9977
512-472-6753
Fax 512-472-4591
www.mcelroytranslation.com

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Literal and Idiomatic Translation

Literal and Idiomatic Translation

Idiomatic Literal Meaning Translation

What is literal Translation?

Literal translation or form-based translation attempt to follow the form of the source language.

What is idiomatic translation?

Idiomatic translation or meaning-based translations makes every effort to communicate the meaning of the source language text in the natural forms of the receptor language. The basic overriding principle is that an idiomatic translation reproduces the meaning of the source language (that is, the meaning intended by the original communicator) in the natural form of the receptor language.

Read also  Goal of Translation

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Methods of Translation

Methods of Translation

Communicative Idiomatic Literal Method Translation

Newmark (1988b) mentions the difference between translation methods and translation procedures. He writes that, "[w]hile translation methods relate to whole texts, translation procedures are used for sentences and the smaller units of language" (p.81). He goes on to refer to the following methods of translation:

Word-for-word translation: in which the SL word order is preserved and the words translated singly by their most common meanings, out of context.
Literal translation: in which the SL grammatical constructions are converted to their nearest TL equivalents, but the lexical words are again translated singly, out of context. Literal translation or form-based translation attempt to follow the form of the source language.


Faithful translation: it attempts to produce the precise contextual meaning of the original within the constraints of the TL grammatical structures. 

Semantic translation: which differs from 'faithful translation' only in as far as it must take more account of the aesthetic value of the SL text. 

Adaptation: which is the freest form of translation, and is used mainly for plays (comedies) and poetry; the themes, characters, plots are usually preserved, the SL culture is converted to the TL culture and the text is rewritten. 

Free translation: it produces the TL text without the style, form, or content of the original. 

Idiomatic translation: it reproduces the 'message' of the original but tends to distort nuances of meaning by preferring colloquialisms and idioms where these do not exist in the original.Idiomatic translation or meaning-based translations makes every effort to communicate the meaning of the source language text in the natural forms of the receptor language. The basic overriding principle is that an idiomatic translation reproduces the meaning of the source language (that is, the meaning intended by the original communicator) in the natural form of the receptor language.

Communicative translation: it attempts to render the exact contextual meaning of the original in such a way that both content and language are readily acceptable and comprehensible to the readership (1988b: 45-47).
Newmark (1991:10-12) writes of a continuum existing between "semantic" and "communicative" translation. Any translation can be "more, or less semantic—more, or less, communicative—even a particular section or sentence can be treated more communicatively or less semantically." Both seek an "equivalent effect." Zhongying (1994: 97), who prefers literal translation to free translation, writes that, "[i]n China, it is agreed by many that one should translate literally, if possible, or appeal to free translation."
Translation procedures, strategies and methods
by Mahmoud Ordudari at translationjournal

Read Also Translating Word Problems: How to Solve Word Problems

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How to Establish a Translation Project

How to Establish a Translation Project

Project Source Language Target Language Translation Translation Project Translator

How do we establish a translation project?

There are a number of matters which include the text, the target, the team, and the tools which need to be clearly understood before beginning a translation project.

*Text refers to the source language document which is to be translated
*Target refers to the audience. For whom is the translation being prepared?
*Team refers to the people who will be involved in the project. The team may consist of
1) co-translator, where one is a specialist in the source language and the other a specialist in the receptor language,
2) a translator with capability to handle both source language and receptor language matters and ad advisor or consultant,
3) a committee working together with specific responsibilities delegated to each one.

*Tools refers to the written source materials which will be used by the translators as helps. These include dictionaries, lexicons, grammars, cultural descriptions, etc.

Read also the Goal of Translation.

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The Goal of Translator

The Goal of Translator

Idiomatic Original Translator

What is the goal of a translator?

The goal of a translator should be to produce a receptor language text (translation), which is idiomatic; that is, one which has the same meaning as the source language but is expressed in the natural form of the receptor language. The meaning, not the form, is retained.

How does a translator know that he is successful in his translation task?

He will know that he is successful if the receptor language readers do not recognize his work as a translation at all, but simply as a text written in the receptor language for their information and enjoyment.

How does a translator make his translation as dynamic as the original text?

For the translation to have the same dynamics as the original, it will need to natural and easy to understand so that the readers will find it easy to grasp the message, including both the information and the emotional effect intended by the source language writer.

May be you interested in reading translation theory.

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Translation Study : Process of transferring the meaning into the receptor language text

Translation Study : Process of transferring the meaning into the receptor language text

Characteristics Cultural Context Grammatical Lexical Meaning Translation

What is the process of transferring the meaning into the receptor language text?

Translation consist of studying the lexicon, grammatical structure, communication situation, and cultural context of the source language text, analyzing it in order to determine its meaning, and then reconstructing this same meaning using the lexicon and grammatical structure which are appropriate in the receptor language and its cultural context.

What are the characteristics of language which affect translation?

a. Meaning components are “packaged” into lexical items, but they are ‘packaged’ differently in one language than in another. Many times a single word in the source language will need to be translated by several words.
b. It is characteristic of language that the same meaning component will occur in several surface structure lexical items (forms).
c. It is further characteristics of languages that one form will be used to represent several alternative meaning.
d. Whole sentences may also have several functions. A question form may be used for a nonquestion.
e. A single meaning may be expressed in a variety of forms.

Is it necessary to change the form when translating?

Anything that can be said in one language can be said in another. It is possible to translate. The goal of the translator is to keep the meaning constant. Whenever necessary, the receptor language form should be changed in order that the source language meaning not be distorted. Since a meaning expressed by a particular form in one language may be expressed by quite a different form in another language, it is often necessary to change the form when translating. It is not uncommon that passive constructions will need to be translated with an active construction or vice versa, depending on the natural form of the receptor language.

What is non-equivalence and why?

Non-equivalence at word level means that the target language has no direct equivalent for a word which occurs in the text. Non - equivalence because Culture-specific concepts (Religious belief, a social custom, or a type of food and tools).

Dr. Mashadi Said
(Secretary of Master’s Program in Translation of Gunadarma University, Jakarta)
Drs. In English Literature and Education, 1984
Post Graduate Diploma in Applied Linguistics, 1990
Magister in English Education, 1994
Ph D. in English Education, 1998
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Read Translation Theory

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Translation Theory: The ideal translation should be..

Translation Theory: The ideal translation should be..

Equivalence Language Theory Translation Translation Theory Receptor

What is translation?

Translation consists of transferring the meaning of the source language text into the receptor language text.
Catford (1965: 20) Translation is the replacement of textual material in one language by equivalent textual material in another language.

Acording to Nida and Taber

Translating consists of 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, 1982)
Translation is the general term referring to the transfer of thoughts and ideas from one language (source) to another (target), whether the languages are in written or oral form; whether the languages have established orthographies or do not have such standardization or whether one or both languages is based on signs, as with sign languages of the deaf (Brislin, 1976)

Translation is a process of finding a TL equivalent for an SL utterance. (Pinhuhuck, 1977:38)

Translation is a craft consisting in the attempt to replace a written message and/or statement in one language by the same message and/or statement in another language. (Newmark, 1981:7)

(McGuire, 1980:2) Translation involves the rendering of a source language (SL) text into the target language (TL) so as to ensure that (1) the surface meaning of the two will be approximately similar and (2) the structure of the SL will be preserved as closely as possible, but not so closely that the TL structure will be seriously distorted.

Translation is a transfer process which aims at the transformation of a written SL text into an optimally equivalent TL text, and which requires the syntactic, the systematic and the pragmatic understanding and analytical processing of the SL (Wilss and Noss, 1982).
Good theory is based on information gained from practice. Good practice is based on carefully worked-out theory. The two are interdependent. (Larson l991, p. 1)
The ideal translation will be accurate as to meaning and natural as to the receptor language forms used. An intended audience who is unfamiliar with the source text will readily understand it. The success of a translation is measured by how closely it measures up to these ideals.

The ideal translation should be…

Accurate: reproducing as exactly as possible the meaning of the source text.
Natural: using natural forms of the receptor language in a way that is appropriate to the kind of text being translated.
Communicative: expressing all aspects of the meaning in a way that is readily understandable to the intended audience.
Translation is a process based on the theory that it is possible to abstract the meaning of a text from its forms and reproduce that meaning with the very different forms of a second language.

Translation, then, consists of studying the lexicon, grammatical structure, communication situation, and cultural context of the source language text, analyzing it in order to determine its meaning, and then reconstructing this same meaning using the lexicon and grammatical structure which are appropriate in the receptor language and its cultural context. (Larson l998, p. 3)

Read also Translation study 

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