Correlation between the translator and the author

1. authorial translation

2. non-authorial

3. authorized translation

4. machine translation

5. mixed translation

 

Authorial, non-authorial and authorized translations: examples

• Stefan George’s (1868-1933) translations of his own poems from German into English.

• Vladimir Nabokov’s (1899-1977) poems from Russian into English

• Authorized translation of “The Stories” (1922) of Chaim Bialik (1873-1934) from Yiddish into Russian.

• Irrespective of the intrinsic qualities of the secondary text, self-translations are often regarded as superior to non-authorial translations. This is because "the writer-translator is no doubt felt to have been in a better position to recapture the intentions of the author of the original than any ordinary translator“ (Brian Fitch).

 

Factors that encourage self-translation

• The elite character of a specific language

• The cultural dominance of a specific language in a multilingual society

• The cultural dominance of the national language may encourage self-translation from a local dialect

• Perfect or almost perfect bilingualism

• Dissatisfaction with existing translations or distrust of translators may encourage self-translation

 

Machine translation

Machine translation performs simple substitution of words in one language for words in another, but that alone usually cannot produce a good translation of a text because recognition of whole phrases and their closest counterparts in the target language is needed.

 

Mixed translation

Mixed translation combines the traditional translation techniques with the machine translation.

Segmentation of the text and the structural units

1. morphemic translation

2. word translation

3. phrasal translation

4. paragraph translation

5. whole-text translation

 

Morphemic translation

• Examples: translation from Greek into Old Slavic

ἱερ-εύς свати-тель

γραμματ-εὐς кьнижь-никь

κρωτο-κλισ-ία прьво-вьзлежа-ние

σκληρο-καρδ-ία жесто-срьд-ие

θεο-σεβ-ής — бого- чьсть-нь

ἄ-σβεσ-τος не-гас-имъ

εὐ-λογ-ειν — благо-слови-ти

Translation of prefixes:

ἀντι — сѫпротиво-

δια — раз-(рас-)

ἐκ — из-(ис-)

ἐν- — въ-

ἐπι- — на-

κατα- о-

συν — съ

ὑπο-подъ

 

Word-by-word translation

• This kind of translation is used for the sacral texts mainly.

בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ

ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν

In principio creavit Deus caelum et terram.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

На початку Бог створив небо та землю. (Gen 1:1)

 

Phrasal translation

• In the phrasal translation a phrase of SL is substituted with an equivalent phrase of TL

United Nations Organization = Організація Об’єднаних націй

Independent nation = незалежна держава

…run round like a squirrel in a cage = …крутитися як муха в окропі

 

Paragraph and the whole-text translation

• This kind of translation takes into consideration text cohesion and elements of discourse which make the text coherent, understandable and perceivable.

 

4. Form of presentation of ST and TT:

- writing (1.Writing translation of the written text. 2.Writing translation of the oral text.)

- oral (1.Oral translation of the oral text: synchronic, consecutive, one-sided, double-sided. 2.Oral translation of the written text.)

5. Correlation between ST and TT:

Loose

Exact

Adequate

Authentic

Certified

 

Loose (free) translation

Loose (or free) translation a translation or restatement that is not completely accurate and not well thought out; a translation or restatement done casually.

Characteristics of the loose translation:

• Equivalence at the level of message, but not at the level of statement and utterance.

• Correspondence between ST and TT at the level of core information without taking into account formal and semantic components of ST.

• Loose translation is a subjective rendering of the main content of ST

In the past loose translation was used mainly for rendering the secular writings.

 

Exact (“sworn”) translation

A “sworn” translation has a little bit of wiggle room. This kind of translation is used for rendering:

• Sacral texts

• Juridical texts

• Ancient texts which are aimed at scholars and students

 

Adequate translation

This kind of translation provides not only correct rendering of the content, but also vocabulary, syntax and stylistic specificities of ST.

• Competent substitution of all the elements of ST in TT.

• Translation which takes into consideration the context and style.

• Translation which represents ST in full measure.