Translation Techniques

As somebody who has been translating professionally for over 15 years now, I must
confess the topic of Translation Techniques poses somewhat of a challenge; trying to pin
down strategies that you use almost intuitively every day of your life becomes a rather
difficult task
That is why I decided to outline a widely!accepted list of translation techniques in the
hope that the reader may become interested in knowing a little bit more about
translation and its nuances
Direct Translation Techniques
"irect Translation Techniques are used when structural and conceptual elements of the
source language can be transposed into the target language "irect translation
techniques include#
$orrowing
%alque
&iteral Translation
Borrowing
$orrowing is the taking of words directly from one language into another without
translation 'any (nglish words are )borrowed) into other languages; for
e*ample software in the field of technology andfunk in culture (nglish also borrows
numerous words from other languages; abbatoire, caf, pass andrsum from
+rench; hamburger and kindergarten from ,erman; bandana, musk and sugar from
-anskrit
$orrowed words are often printed in italics when they are considered to be )foreign)
Calque
A calque or loan translation .itself a calque of ,erman &ehn/berset0ung1 is a phrase
borrowed from another language and translated literally word!for!word 2ou often see
them in speciali0ed or internationali0ed fields such as quality assurance .aseguramiento
de calidad, assurance qualit taken from (nglish1 (*amples that have been absorbed
into (nglish include standpoint and beer garden from
,erman Standpunkt and Biergarten; breakfast from +rench djeuner .which now means
lunch in (urope, but maintains the same meaning of breakfast in 3u4bec1 -ome
calques can become widely accepted in the target language .such as standpoint, beer
garden and breakfast and -panish peso mosca and Casa Blanca from
(nglish flyweight and White House1 The meaning other calques can be rather obscure
for most people, especially when they relate to specific vocations or sub5ects such as
science and lawSolucin de compromiso is a -panish legal term taken from the
(nglish compromise solution and although -panish attorneys understand it, the meaning
is not readily understood by the layman An unsuccessful calque can be e*tremely
unnatural, and can cause unwanted humor, often interpreted as indicating the lack of
e*pertise of the translator in the target language
Literal Translation
A word!for!word translation can be used in some languages and not others dependent on
the sentence structure# l equipo est! trabajando para terminar el informe would
translate into (nglish as "he team is working to finish the report -ometimes it works
and sometimes it does not +or e*ample, the -panish sentence above could not be
translated into +rench or ,erman using this technique because the +rench and ,erman
sentence structures are different And because one sentence can be translated literally
across languages does not mean that all sentences can be translated literally l equipo
e#perimentado est! trabajando para terminar el informe translates into (nglish as "he
e#perienced team is working to finish the report .)e*perienced) and )team) are
reversed1
Oblique Translation Techniques
6blique Translation Techniques are used when the structural or conceptual elements of
the source language cannot be directly translated without altering meaning or upsetting
the grammatical and stylistics elements of the target language
6blique translation techniques include#
Transposition
'odulation
7eformulation or (quivalence
Adaptation
%ompensation
Transposition
This is the process where parts of speech change their sequence when they are translated
.blue ballbecomes boule bleue in +rench1 It is in a sense a shift of word class
,rammatical structures are often different in different languages He likes
swimming translates as r schwimmt gern in ,erman Transposition is often used
between (nglish and -panish because of the preferred position of the verb in the
sentence# (nglish often has the verb near the beginning of a sentence; -panish can have
it closer to the end This requires that the translator knows that it is possible to replace a
word category in the target language without altering the meaning of the source te*t, for
e*ample# (nglish Hand knitted.noun 8 participle1 becomes -panish "ejido a
mano .participle 8 adverbial phrase1
Modulation
'odulation consists of using a phrase that is different in the source and target languages
to convey the same idea# "e lo dejo means literally $ lea%e it to you but translates better
as &ou can ha%e it It changes the semantics and shifts the point of view of the source
language Through modulation, the translator generates a change in the point of view of
the message without altering meaning and without generating a sense of awkwardness
in the reader of the target te*t It is often used within the same language The
e*pressions es f!cil de entender .it is easy to understand1 and no es complicado de
entender .it is not complicated to understand1 are e*amples of modulation Although
both convey the same meaning, it is easy to understand simply conveys )easiness)
whereas it is not complicated to understand implies a previous assumption of difficulty
that we are denying by asserting it is not complicated to understand This type of
change of point of view in a message is what makes a reader say# )2es, this is e*actly
how we say it in our language)
Reformulation or Equivalence
9ere you have to e*press something in a completely different way, for e*ample when
translating idioms or advertising slogans The process is creative, but not always easy
:ould you have translated the movie "he Sound of 'usic into -panish as (a no%icia
rebelde ."he )ebellious *o%ice in &atin America1 orSonrisas y l!grimas .Smiles and
"ears in -pain1;
daptation
Adaptation occurs when something specific to one language culture is e*pressed in a
totally different way that is familiar or appropriate to another language culture It is a
shift in cultural environment -hould pincho .a -panish restaurant menu dish1 be
translated as kebab in (nglish; It involves changing the cultural reference when a
situation in the source culture does not e*ist in the target culture .for e*ample +rance
has $elgian 5okes and (ngland has Irish 5okes1
Compensation
In general terms compensation can be used when something cannot be translated, and
the meaning that is lost is e*pressed somewhere else in the translated te*t <eter +awcett
defines it as# )making good in one part of the te*t something that could not be
translated in another) 6ne e*ample given by +awcett is the problem of translating
nuances of formality from languages that use forms such as -panish informal t+ and
formal usted, +rench tu and %ous, and ,erman du and sie into (nglish which only has
=you=, and e*presses degrees of formality in different ways
As &ouise ' 9aywood from the >niversity of %ambridge puts it, )we have to
remember that translation is not 5ust a movement between two languages but also
between two cultures %ultural transposition is present in all translation as degrees of
free te*tual adaptation departing from ma*imally literal translation, and involves
replacing items whose roots are in the source language culture with elements that are
indigenous to the target language The translator e*ercises a degree of choice in his or
her use of indigenous features, and, as a consequence, successful translation may
depend on the translator=s command of cultural assumptions in each language in which
he or she works)
If you are interested in reading further on the sub5ect, please refer to <eter +awcett,
Translation and &anguage, -t ?erome, 'anchester, 1@@A .especially %hapter B on
Translation Techniques1