What Is Translation?

By:

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar

http://www.kau.edu.sa/SBANJAR

http://wwwdrshadiabanjar.blogspot.com

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TRANSLATION

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A processA product

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Translation as a product

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Translation as a process

What is translation?DEFINITIONS OF TRANSLATIONTranslation is a phenomenon that has ahuge effect on everyday life. If we look at ageneral dictionary, we find the followingdefinition of the term translation:

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definition of the term translation:translation n. 1 . the act or an instance of translating. 2 . a written or spoken expressionof the meaning of a word, speech, book,etc. in another language.

The first of these

two senses relates

to translation as a

process, the

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process, the

second to the

product.

This immediately means that the term translation

encompasses very distinct perspectives.

The first sense focuses on the role of the translator

in taking the original or source text (ST) and turning

it into a text in another language (the target text,

TT).

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The second sense centres on the

concrete translation product produced

by the translator.

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Translation: An incredibly broad notion which can

be understood in many different ways. For example,

one may talk of translation as a process or a

This distinction is drawn out by the definition in thespecialist Dictionary of Translation Studies

(Shuttleworth and Cowie 1997:181):

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one may talk of translation as a process or a

product, and identify such sub-types as literary

translation, technical translation, subtitling and

machine translation; moreover, while more typically

it just refers to the transfer of written texts, the term

sometimes also includes interpreting.

Translation will thus be:

The process of transferring a written text from SL

to TL, conducted by a translator, or translators, in

a specific socio-cultural context.

The written product, or TT, which results from

that process and which functions in the socio-

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that process and which functions in the socio-

cultural context of the TL.

The cognitive, linguistic, visual, cultural and

ideological phenomena which are an integral part

of 1 and 2.

Reference:

Basil Hatim and Jeremy Munday (2004). Translation, An

advanced resource book . Routledge.

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