SUMMARY OF LIN261 - TRANSLATION & INTERPRETING

COMPREHENSIVE SUMMARY OF LIN261 - TRANSLATION & INTERPRETING

A  SUMMARY BY NWANI UCHENNA WILLIAMS

COURSE CODE: LIN 261

COURSE TITLE: INTRODUCTION TO TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETING.

COMPLETE SUMMARY AND REVISION QUESTIONS ON LIN. 261.

INTRODUCTION.

This course introduces and familiarizes students to what the concepts – "Translation & Interpreting" denotes. It further exposes the students to the types, similarities, differences, qualities, challenges and principles of Translation and Interpreting.

It is designed and narrowed with the intention that at the end of the study, the student will be well groomed and equipped to absorb & devour the course avidly.

COURSE OUTLINE:

1. What is Translation/Interpreting?

2. Types of Translation/Interpreting.

3. Who is a Translator/Interpreter?

4. Qualities of a good Translator/Interpreter.

5. Similarities between Translation and Interpreting.

6. Differences between Translation and Interpreting.

7. Challenges/problems encountered while translating and interpreting.

8. Principles and techniques employed in solving these problems.

1.         A. What is Translation?

            Translation, according to Nida (2001), is the transferring of the meaning of a text from a language to another. In Linguistics, Translation is seen from 3 different angles - as a process, a product, and an area of study. These 3 angles have different meaning as examined below.

i. As a process: This has to do with the actual or physical conversion of a text from a language to another.

ii. As a product: This is the end result realized from the process of translating.

iii. As an area of study: It focuses on how the end product is studied by the audience.

A look at some concepts of translation:

i. Source language (SL): This refers to the language from which information is gotten. For example, if a text written in English language is being rendered into the Igbo language, the English language is the ‘source’ language.

ii. Target language (TL): It is the receiver of the information. From the example given above, the Igbo language is the ‘target’ language.

iii. Source text (ST): It is the text that is being translated. It is the giver of information. For e.g, the translation of George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’ which is in English language, to ‘Mmadx  ka a na-aria’ in Igbo language, by Maazi Chxma Okeke. From this example, the text – ‘Animal Farm’ is the source text.

iv. Target text (TT): It is the text that receives the information. A product of the act of translation. In the example given above, the text – ‘Mmadx  ka a na-aria’ is the target text.

v. Target audience (TA): This refers to the people for whom the target text translated is designed to consume or read.

B. What is Interpreting?

            Interpreting according to Ajunwa (2014), is an oral means of communication in which what the speaker is saying in one language is repeated in another language.

Interpreting is thus, an oral or sign representation of what a speaker says in another language. It operates only at oral and sign level.

2.         A. Types of translation

Roman Jacobson, a famous Linguist, classified translation majorly into 3 viz:

i. Interlingual translation: This involves the translating or converting of a text written in a language into another language. For e.g, the translation of George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’ which is in English language, to ‘Mmadx  ka a na-aria’ by Maazi Chxma Okeke, in Igbo language. Also is the translation of ‘English’ Bible into ‘Igbo.’

ii. Intralingual translation: This involves the translating of a text or passage written in a language into a variety or dialect of that same language. For e.g, And thou shalt... And you shall. Also is Qn[cha (central Igbo) to Qnitsha (a variety or dialect of the same language). We also have color (American English) & colour (British English).

iii. Intersemiotic translation: This involves the converting of a written language into signs/symbol or sign/symbol into written language.

There exist other types of translation according to some other scholars. They include:

1. Literary translation: The rendering of a text in the area of literature – prose, drama, poetry from a language to another.

2. Technical translation. The rendering of a text that is scientific or technical in nature from a language to another. E.g. Physics textbooks, Linguistics, Chemistry et al. This is further sub-classified into:

i.        Economic/financial translation

ii.      Legal translation

iii.    Medical translation

3. General translation: It has to do with simple and short stories from a language to another language. E.g. letters, news item et al.

B. Types of Interpreting.

There are three major types of interpreting viz:

i. Consecutive Interpreting: It is the process whereby a speaker speaks and pauses, while the interpreter interprets. The speaker continues after about 1 or 2 minutes.

ii. Simultaneous Interpreting: In this process, while the speaker is speaking, the interpreter follows up immediately. It is mostly seen in E-interpreting.

iii. Sight interpreting: It is a simultaneous oral rendition of text written in one language into another language, in a manner in which the content of the text can be easily understood by the audience. Here, the speaker is also the interpreter.

There exist other types of interpreting which include Telephone Interpreting, Relay interpretation, Sign Language Interpreting, On-site Interpreting, Community Interpreting or Public Sector Interpreting, Court Interpreting etc.

3.         A. Who a translator is: A translator is someone who converts or translates the meaning of a text, film and other materials from a source language (SL) to another language (TL).

B. Who an Interpreter is: An Interpreter is someone who converts a spoken language or dialect orally or by sign, into another language.

4.         A. Qualities of a good Translator:

i. He must be literate

ii. He must be sound when it comes to the SL and TL.

iii. He must have the necessary tools for his work, such as dictionary, encyclopedia, atlas etc.

iv. He must be adequately competent, translates with accuracy & clarity.

v. He must know the rules of the target language.

vi. He must avoid plagiarism, etc.

            B. Qualities of a good Interpreter:

i. He must be quick to comprehend.

ii. He must have a good knowledge of the SL & TL.

iii. He must have a good retentive memory.

iv. He must be good in using paralinguistic features.

v. He must be sound in health emotionally.

vi. He must dress good & smart.

vii. He must be fluent, outspoken; not shy.

vii. He must be a computer literate – especially with e-interpreting.

5.  Similarities between Translation and Interpreting.

i. Both enhance effective communication

ii. They convey meaning

iii. Both require the knowledge of two or more languages or the varieties of a language.

iv. Both involves teamwork

v. Both require an audience.

vi. Both require the mastery of different tools & techniques so as to effectively deal with challenges that might surface.

6. Differences between Translation and Interpreting.

i. The mode: While Interpreting is done orally, Translation is written.

ii. Unlike in Translation, gesture or body language is employed in Interpreting.

iii. In interpreting, when a point is missed by the audience, it’s gone already because there’s no room for reversal or correction, unlike in translation.

iv. An Interpreter appears to be tensed during interpreting, but a Translator takes his time during translation.

v. The duration: While interpreting is done immediately, translation is not immediate.

7. Challenges/problems encountered while translating and interpreting.

i. Cultural problem: Culturally, different speakers & writers manifest different world views which are carried by their languages. It therefore becomes a problem for a Translator or an Interpreter to translate or interpret some cultural aspects or practices which are absent in their own culture. He must thus, find a way to handle these problems properly.

ii. Problem of Equivalence: When confronted with idioms, proverbs and other figurative expressions while interpreting or translating, it would be improper to interpret or translate them verbatim. One must therefore, strive to find a substitute that will be fitting in the target audience language.

iii. Phonological problem: This occur in cases where certain phonemes (sounds) are absent in the TL.

iv. Psychological problem: The mind of the Interpreter/Translator must sound. But when it’s the opposite, wrong information may be produced.

v. Problem of style or Stylistic problem: Some writers or authors have a particular way of writing. While some (like Achebe’s) are easy to understand, some (like William Shakespeare’s, Soyinka’s) are difficult. When the author and speakers use words that are verbose, arcane or ambiguous, it may become a problem for the interpreter or translator to handle.

8. Principles and techniques employed in solving these problems.

1. Explication: This is a concept where the Interpreter or Translator provides additional information to explain further what he or she has interpreted. For example, when the speaker is talking about a masquerade festival of Nsukka and mentioned (Oriqkpa), the interpreter has to explain that ‘Oriqkpa is a masquerade’ for some audience who doesn’t understand. For the translator, the information has to be in parenthesis.

2. Transposition: It refers to the use of different parts of speech to replace another part of speech or other parts of speech. E.g.

a. That car is for sale = A na-ere xgbqala ahx ere. Note that the word ‘sale’ which is a noun in English sentence changes to a verb in the Igbo translation or interpretation.

b. They are looking fierce = Anya na-acha ha qkx.

3. Literal translation: This has to do with the rendering of a SL word for word in the TL. Although this may not be meaningful in many areas of translation. E.g. in figurative expressions such as “Break a leg” which means goodluck.

4. Loan: One can adopt the principle of loaning or borrowing when a term exists in a source language which can’t be seen in a target language. E.g.

i. Osikapa = Rice

ii. Iyebasi = Onion

Note that ‘Osikapa’ and ‘Iyebasi’ are borrowed from Hausa and Yoruba language respectively, into the Igbo language to represent rice and onion respectively.

5. Retention: In this case, the Interpreter or translator maintains the word or words as they are without any modification. This occurs where the words are untranslatable or not interpretable. E.g. UNESCO, WHO etc.

6. Lexical coinage: When there is no available agreed term or terminology (meta-language), the interpreter or translator is free to coin his or her own words.

7. Equivalence: This is applied where the Interpreter or Translator finds a phrase or sentence in the TL that creates a similar effect with what is obtainable in the SL.

Review questions:

1.         A. Outline five (5) qualities of a good Interpreter and a Translator respectively.

            B. The audience of the Interpreter hears or sees him while the Translator’s audience reads his product. Discuss.

2.         A.  Enumerate and explain the major types of translation and interpreting respectively.

            B. Differentiate between Interlingual translation and  Intralingual translation.

3. Identify and explain briefly, four (4) difference and similarities between Translation and interpreting respectively.

4. Write short notes on the following:

a. Stylistics problem of translation and interpreting.

b. Cultural problem of translation and interpreting.

c. Loan as a principle/technique of transalation/interpreting.

5.  In translation, the concepts below applies. Justify these concepts with clear examples.

i. Source language (SL)

ii. Source Text (ST)

iii. Target Text (TT)

iv. Target Language (TL)