Translation and its History
– Etymology of the word translation
– Different calquing patterns in Slavic languages
– Translation theories and practices in ancient times
– The importance of selecting equivalents in the target language
– The preservation of context in translation
– Borrowing terms from the source language
– The influence of calques and loanwords on translation
– Untranslatable concepts and the provision of gloss
– The ratio of metaphrase to paraphrase in translation
– The misleading nature of common etymology in different languages
– Challenges in the translation process
– Efforts to automate translation and the rise of the global market for translation services
Western Translation Traditions
– Western traditions replacing other traditions due to colonialism and cultural dominance
– Drawing on ancient, medieval, and European innovations
– Importance of earlier approaches to translation
– Unique theories and philosophies in Chinese translation traditions
Near East Translation Traditions
– Translation traditions among ancient civilizations
– Babylonians as the first to establish translation as a profession
– Translations from Greek and Coptic texts into Arabic
– Baghdad as a leading center for translation
– European translations from Arabic versions of lost Greek and Roman texts
Translation in Asia
– Separate tradition of translation in South, Southeast, and East Asia focused on religious texts
– Loose adaptation in classical Indian translation
– Criteria and limitations in Chinese translation theory
– Influence of Chinese texts on other Asian languages
– Sanskrit translations in Indianized states in Southeast Asia
Challenges in Translating Chinese Texts
– Unique challenges in translating classical Chinese poetry
– Difficulty in understanding the meaning and reproducing the poem in the target language
– Debate between literal and artistic translation approaches
– Unique features of Chinese characters and their impact on translation
– Subjectlessness, nouns, and number in Chinese poetry
– Tenselessness in Chinese verbs and its advantages for poets
Fidelity and Transparency in Translation
– Definition and importance of fidelity and transparency in translation
– Different translation approaches and their adherence to the source text
– Influence of German Romanticism on non-transparent translation theories
– Advocacy for foreignizing translation strategies
– Formal equivalence vs. dynamic equivalence
– Blending formal and functional equivalents in competent translation
– Difficulties posed by lexical and syntactical differences between source and target languages
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between translating (a written text) and interpreting (oral or signed communication between users of different languages); under this distinction, translation can begin only after the appearance of writing within a language community.
A translator always risks inadvertently introducing source-language words, grammar, or syntax into the target-language rendering. On the other hand, such "spill-overs" have sometimes imported useful source-language calques and loanwords that have enriched target languages. Translators, including early translators of sacred texts, have helped shape the very languages into which they have translated.
Because of the laboriousness of the translation process, since the 1940s efforts have been made, with varying degrees of success, to automate translation or to mechanically aid the human translator. More recently, the rise of the Internet has fostered a world-wide market for translation services and has facilitated "language localisation".
