Types of Translation
Types of Translation
Introduction to Translation
Key Content
Translation is the process of transferring meaning from a source language into a target language. It is not a simple word-for-word operation. A good translator must consider grammar, meaning, culture, style, tone, context, audience, and purpose.
Key Terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Source Language | The original language |
| Target Language | The language of translation |
| Source Text | The original text |
| Target Text | The translated text |
| Translator | A person who translates written texts |
| Interpreter | A person who translates spoken language |
Example
English: The child opened the window.
French: L’enfant a ouvert la fenêtre.
Arabic: فتح الطفل النافذة.
Jakobson’s Three Types of Translation
Roman Jakobson classified translation into three main types.
1. Intralingual Translation
Translation within the same language. It is also called rewording.
Example:
“The patient suffers from hypertension.”
→ “The patient has high blood pressure.”
2. Interlingual Translation
Translation from one language into another.
Example:
“Good morning.”
→ “Bonjour.”
→ “صباح الخير.”
3. Intersemiotic Translation
Translation from words into another sign system.
Example:
A novel becomes a film, or a poem becomes a painting.
Literal and Free Translation
Literal Translation
Literal translation follows the words and structure of the source text closely.
Example:
“She closed the door.”
→ “Elle a fermé la porte.”
Advantages
It is useful for simple, clear, factual, or technical sentences.
Limits
It can be wrong when translating idioms, metaphors, jokes, or cultural expressions.
Bad literal example:
“I am over the moon.”
→ “Je suis au-dessus de la lune.”
Free Translation
Free translation focuses on the meaning rather than the exact words.
Example:
“I am over the moon.”
→ “Je suis très heureux / heureuse.”
Semantic and Communicative Translation
Peter Newmark distinguishes between semantic and communicative translation.
Semantic Translation
Semantic translation stays close to the original meaning, style, and form.
It is often used for:
- literature,
- poetry,
- religious texts,
- philosophical texts,
- speeches.
Example:
“Her heart was a silent room.”
→ “Son cœur était une chambre silencieuse.”
Communicative Translation
Communicative translation focuses on the target reader and tries to produce the same effect.
It is often used for:
- public notices,
- instructions,
- advertisements,
- health information,
- tourist texts.
Example:
“Mind the gap.”
→ “Attention à l’espace entre le quai et le train.”
Professional Types of Translation
Literary translation deals with novels, poems, plays, and short stories.
It focuses on:
- imagery,
- rhythm,
- style,
- tone,
- symbolism,
- emotion.
Example:
“The night swallowed the city.”
→ “La nuit engloutit la ville.”
Technical Translation
Technical translation deals with specialized texts such as manuals, scientific reports, engineering documents, and medical texts.
It requires:
- accuracy,
- clarity,
- correct terminology,
- consistency.
Example:
“Disconnect the power supply before maintenance.”
→ “Débranchez l’alimentation électrique avant toute opération de maintenance.”
Legal Translation
Legal translation deals with contracts, laws, certificates, court documents, and agreements.
It requires:
- precision,
- formal style,
- legal terminology,
- knowledge of legal systems.
Example:
“This agreement shall enter into force on the date of signature.”
→ “Le présent accord entrera en vigueur à la date de sa signature.”
Audiovisual Translation
Audiovisual translation deals with films, television, videos, documentaries, and multimedia.
Main types:
| Type | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Subtitling | Written translation on screen |
| Dubbing | Replacing the original voice |
| Voice-over | Translated voice over the original |
| Audio description | Description of images for blind viewers |
Main challenges include time, screen space, reading speed, image, sound, lip movement, slang, and humor.
Functional Translation
Functional translation focuses on the purpose of the translation and the needs of the target audience.
The translator asks:
- Who will read the translation?
- Why is it translated?
- Where will it be used?
- What effect should it have?
Example:
“Discover the heart of the city.”
→ “Découvrez l’âme de la ville.”
Translation Procedures
Vinay and Darbelnet proposed several important translation procedures.
| Procedure | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Borrowing | Taking a word directly | internet, café, pizza |
| Calque | Literal translation of parts | skyscraper → gratte-ciel |
| Literal translation | Word-for-word when natural | I read a book → Je lis un livre |
| Transposition | Changing grammar category | after his arrival → after he arrived |
| Modulation | Changing point of view | It is not difficult → It is easy |
| Equivalence | Same effect with different words | Like father, like son → Tel père, tel fils |
| Adaptation | Replacing cultural reference | baseball reference → football reference |
Translation Shifts
A translation shift happens when the translator changes the structure of the source text because the same structure does not work naturally in the target language.
Example
English: She is good at singing.
French: Elle chante bien.
The English adjective structure becomes a French verbal expression.
Shifts happen because languages differ in grammar, word order, idioms, style, and culture.
Text Types and Translation
Katharina Reiss connects translation methods with text types.
| Text Type | Examples | Translation Aim |
|---|---|---|
| Informative | Reports, manuals, textbooks | Clarity and accuracy |
| Expressive | Poems, novels, plays | Style and artistic effect |
| Operative | Advertisements, speeches | Persuasion and impact |
| Audiomedial | Films, songs, videos | Coordination with sound and image |