Kinds of Translation

KINDS OF TRANSLATION

Outline : Many critics have propounded many kinds of translation.

We discuss some of them below.

(A) Roman Jakobson talks of three kinds of translation in his essay

On Linguistic Aspects of Translation. They are the following:

) Intra-lingual translation:

This kind of translation consists in translating one form of

literature into another form within the same language. Plutarch s

Lives is in prose. Shakespeare turns this into drama. This is an example

of intra-lingual translation. Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb turning

Shakespeare's plays into tales is another instance of intra-lingual

translation. Many American editions of our time have replaced the

English of the past with modern English. Similarly, Puliyur Kesikan

had rendered much of Cangam poetry (especially Ahanaru and Puranaru)

into easy modern Tamil. Students of history turn the Tamil in

ancient stone edicts in Hindu temples into modern Tamil.

Chaucer's Canterbury lales is in Middle English. This has been rendered

into modern English by Neville Coghill. All these are examples of

intra-lingual translation or translation from one shape to another within

the same language.

i) Inter-lingual translation:

This is translation from one language into another language.

This is translation proper. Turning of the Bible from Greek into English

and from English into Tamil are instances of inter-lingual translation.

The translation of the Gitanjali from Bengali into English and then

from English into Tamil is another worthy inter-lingual translation. In

this type of translation, the verbal signs of one language are replaced by those of another.

i) Inter-semiotic translation or transmutation:

In this type of translation, the verbal signs of one language are

changed into non-verbal signs such as dance, music, pictures, etc.

Thus the Ramayana can be conveyed through dance sequences, a

series of paintings, songs, lectures etc. Religious discourses on the

Ramayana or the Mahabharata constitute one kind of translation. Raphael's paintings of important Biblical incidents, the pictures on

the walls of Sri Meenakshi Amman temple, depicting the lilas of Lord

Shiva are all non-verbal translations. Non-verbal translations appeal

to children and illiterates.

(B) Goethe, in his book West-Osflicher Divan, talks of three kinds of translation, based on transference of cultural values.

 (1) In the first type, the translator is keen on transferring the

culture of the source language to the reader directly.

ii) In the second type, the translator absorbs the culture of the

foreign work and then conveys it to the reader not directly but through

a substitute or surrogate. During the freedom struggle, many English

books were conveyed to Indian readers through such surrogates

iii) In the third type of translation the target language text is a

perfect replica of the source language text so much so that nobody

wishes to read the original. Kavimani's translation of Fitzgerald*s

Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is such a perfect translation. It has done

away with the need to go to the original.

(C) John Dryden, in his, Preface to Ovid's Epistles, classified

translation into the following three kinds.

i) Metaphrase:

Metaphrase is word-by-word translation. It is a most faithful

translation as every word in the original gets translated. Nothing

escapes the translators notice. The translator pays a great deal of

attention to find words in them target language that are exactly

equivalent to those in the source languae text.

1) Paraphrase:

This is a sense-for-sense translation. In this translation only thé

sense of the original is taken into consideration. Words that are

considered superfluous or unimportant for conveying the sense are

omitted. Waller's translation of Virgil's Aeneid is considered as a free

paraphrase.

ii) Imitation:

The imitator takes liberties with the original. He alters the

language or the form and even the sense of the original, if necessary

in many of his odes, Abraham Cowley imitates Pindar. Sometimes an imitation

surpasses the original in parts, if not as a whole. Thus Milton's similes

in Paradise Lost are superior to the Homeric similes which served as

his model.

Dryden prefers the paraphrase to the other types of translation

as it gives ample freedom to the translator.

Metaphrase or word-for-word translation has an advantage. It is

effective in translating one or two sentences But the word order or

syntax of the original language cannot be followed as it is in the

target language. For example, it is absurd to translate the English

sentence 

I ate three idlis' into Tamil 

நான் சாப்பிட்டேன் மூன்று இட்லிகள். The SVO sentence pattern in English has to be changed

into SOV as நான்  மூன்று இட்லிகள் சாப்பிட்டேன் . In

the same way idiomatic expressions in English are absurd if transated

literally in the target language. Thus the sentence 1t rained cats and

dogs yesterday will sound absurd if translated literally into Tamil as

அது மழை பெய்தது பூனைகளும் நாய்களுமாக நேற்று

The correct translation in Tamil would be நேற்று பலத்த மழை பெய்தது.

(D) J.C.Catford, in his book A Linguistic Theory of Translation has

suggested many kinds of traslation and they are discussed one by one

below.

i) Phonological translation:

In this type of translation, the phonology of the source language

is replaced by the phonology of the target language. This is not

always possible. There are ditficulties in replacing the phonology of

English proper nouns as they are when translating them into Tamil

For example, the proper noun 'Caroline' can be represented only as

காரலின் or கேரலின்sit in Tamil. Both these phonological

representations in Tamil are wrong. Similarly, the Tamil place name

angsnt is phonologically translated as 'Sattur'and not as 'Sathur'

ii) Graphological translation

Graphology is the science of studying people's handwriting to

learn about their character. Graphological translation bristles with

difficulties. A writer's handwriting as seen in his handwritten

manuscript cannot form the basis of an accurate translation.

Graphological translation is bound to be unscientific.

iii) Grammatical translation:

Grammatical translation has only a limited applicability Many

grammatical torms that are valid in English are not used in Tamil

They cannot be literally replaced in Tamil. The following are some

examples.

One should support one's parents. ('One and 'one's cannot be

translated literally into Tamil) They say that democracy is unsuitable

India.

it is wrong to translate them in the above sentence into

'அவர்கள்' Similarly in the sentence It is warm today. It should not

be translated at all into Tamil. It should be omitted.

Hence, not all the grammatical elements in the source language

can be translated into the target language

iv) Lexical translation :

Lexical translation is translation of the meaning of a word. Lexical

one-to-one equivalents are wrong on many occasions. For example,

it is wrong to translate 'dressing a wound' as 'புண்ணுக்கு ஆடை உடுத்துவது'. Similarly, it is wrong to effect a one-to-one translation

of the phrase 'mother tongue' as 'தாய் நாக்கு' and of the sentence

'He is eyeing her'. அவன் அவளை கண் வைக்கிறான்.

v) Full translation and Partial translation:

In full translation, the whole source language text is translated.

In Partial translation, only some parts of the SL text are translated

into the target language and the other parts are left untranslated.

vi) Total Translation and Restricted Translation

Translation has many levels such as phonology, grammar, lexis,

graphology, etc. A good translation is one which takes into

consideration all these various levels. A translation which pays

attention to one or two levels only is a Restricted translation. A

Restricted translation is an imperfect translation.

vil) Rank-bound translation:

Rank-bound translations are bound at word or morpheme rank

Translations based on word-to-word or morpheme-to-morpheme

equivalents are rank-bound translations. Translations that are not bound by these factors are called unbounded translations. Free

paraphrases may be called unbounded translations.

E) Some other kinds of translations are author-oriented translation,

text-oriented translation and reader-oriented translation.

The author-oriented translation is the one in which the translator

has direct access to the author. Translations of an author's autobiography,

personal diary, personal speeches, etc. come under the category of author-oriented translation. Translations of Gandhi's My Experiments with Truth.

Jawaharlal Nehru's Autobiography and his letters to his daughter from

these are some author-oriented translations. Translations of Petrarchan

sonnets to his mistress also belong to this category. Text-oriented

rather than to the author. Translations of reports, research papers,

technical books, etc, are text-oriented translations. 

Reader-oriented

translation are the ones in which primary attention is paid to the

reader*s response. Translations of advertisements, notices

propagandist pamphlets, the manifestos of political parties, etc, come under this category.

F)Andre Lefevere's classification of translation :

In his essay Translation Studies. The Goal of the Discipline

Lefevere classifies translations of Catullus's poems under the following

categories

I)Phonemic translation: This aims at reproducing the sound of

the SL text in the TL Text.

ii) Literal translation: This aims at word-for-word translation.

iii) Metrical translation: This aims at reproducing the metre of

the original text in the translation.

iv) Rhymed translation: This aims at reproducing the rhyme of

the SL text in the Target Language text,

v)Prose rendering: This aims at rendering a poem into a prose

translation

vi) Blank verse translation: This aims at translating a rhymed

poem by turning it into a blank verse poem.

vil) Interpretative translation This translation does not stop

with word-for-word translation.  It aims at the translator interpreting

the SL Text according to his own light.

The above is an exhaustive survey or various kinds of translation.

History of Translation - 17th Century to 20th Century

12) Translation in the Seventeeth Century:

    Thomas Shelton translated Don Quixote, a Spanish work authored by Cervantes into English. In his Preface to his Pindaric Odes, Abraham Cowley, one of the Metaphysical Poets, condemned word-for-word translation. Dryden translated Juvenal and Virgil. In his Prefaces, Dryden disapproves of metaphrase, that is, word-for-word translation and approves of paraphrase, that is sense-for-sense translation.

13) Translation in the Eighteenth Century:

     The most prominent translator in the eighteenth century was Alexander Pope. He translated Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. Pope was criticized for not following the spirit of the original. A critic said: "It is a pretty poem, Mr.Pope, but you must not call it Homer”.

        Another notable translation of the period was George Madison Priest's translation of Goethe's Faust. A.W.Wilhelm translated seventeen plays of Shakespeare into German. The Schlegel -Tick in collaboration translated the other plays of Shakespeare.This collaborative translators faithfully translated not only the verse but also the prose of Shakespeare.

The British East India Company arranged to translate many ancient Indian works from Sanskrit into English. Charles Wilkins translation of the Bhagavad Gita into English and William Jones's translation of Kalidasa's drama Sakuntala into English are worth mentioning.

A theoretical work on translation to this period is the Essay on the Principles of Translation by Alexander Fraser Tytler and Lord Woodhouselee. These two authors emphasized that a translation should have the ease and style of the original and also be a complete transcript of the original.

14) Translation in the Nineteenth Century:

       Translations were abundant in the nineteenth century. Thomas Carlyle translated Goethe's Wilhelm Meicester . Longfellow translated Dante's Divine Comedy .Edward Fitzerald translated six plays of Calderon from Spanish into English and Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam from Persian into English. The Rubaiyat is considered as the best translation in English.

      In his Defence of Poetry Shelley discouraged translation, saying it was a futile exercise. He said that the genius of one writer cannot be transfused by another writer just as the secret of the colour and odour of a violet cannot be discovered by casting it into a crucible.In his essay On Translating Homer, Matthew Arnold also condemned translation. He said that translating a great work in order to satisfy the whims of the local reader is like taking a blind man for one's guide.

15) Translation in the Twentieth Century:

         Official efforts are taken in the twentieth century to streamline translation studies. In 1964 a popular Translation Workshop was conducted at lowa in the United States. In 1965 the University of Texas established the National Translation Centre. The plays of Ibsen and Bernard Shaw, the great phonetician, orator and politician, the essays of Bertrand Russell and the short stories of O.Henry and Anton Chekov, the Russian Writer have been translated into many languages.New trends such as structuralism and Deconstruction have also facilitated translation. 

Essay - Give Me Blood, I will give You Freedom by Subash Chandra Bose

 

                    Essay - Give Me Blood, I will give You Freedom by Subash Chandra Bose

Indian patriot Subhash Chandra Bose was a remarkable figure. People still remember him for his love of and service to his nation. This authentic Indian man was born on January 23, 1897. Most notable of all, he bravely resisted British power. Subhash Chandra Bose undoubtedly belonged to the revolutionary insurgency.

Subhash Chandra Bose joined the Direct Action Movement at the time. Subhash Chandra Bose joined the Indian Independence struggle in this way. He joined the Indian National Congress as a member (INC). Additionally, he was elected party president in 1939. Due to his resignation from this position, though, this was only for a brief period of time.

Subhash Chandra Bose was imprisoned by the British. He was against British rule, which is why. But because to his cunning, he departed the country covertly in 1941. Then he travelled to Europe to look for support against the British. Most notably, he requested German and Russian assistance in fighting the British.

In 1943, Subhash Chandra Bose visited Japan.  It occurred as a result of the Japanese supporting his request for assistance. Subhash Chandra Bose launched the creation of the Indian National Army in Japan as well. Most notably, he was instrumental in creating a transitional government. During the Second World War, the axis powers undoubtedly acknowledged this interim administration.

The north-eastern regions of India were attacked by the Indian National Army. Additionally, Subhash Chandra Bose was in charge of this attack.  Subhash Chandra Bose is an unforgettable national hero, who had tremendous love for his country. Also, this great personality sacrificed his whole life for the country.

When Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose declared, "You give me blood and I will give you freedom," he delivered a stirring speech that electrified the nation. It frightened the British Empire in addition to forcing him to recruit allies for World War II. The Indian people received hope from it as well, though, at the same time. Indians gained confidence as a result. They cherished their illustrious past and had faith in their ability to defend their nation as free individuals. Subhash Chandra Bose used his communication skills to build an Indian army that could battle the British in a tactical manner. The greatest fight for Indian independence was aided by his blood and freedom of speech.

 

Thirukkural Essay

 

Thirukkural Essay

 

Thiruvalluvar’s Thirukkural contains 133 chapters, constituted of 10 couplets for each chapter with a total of 1330 couplets, The term ‘kural’ means the metre of the poem, they are short and brief couplets. Each couplet is complete and transmits an outstanding idea expressed in a refined and intricate metre. His thoughts of Porul, Aram, Akam and Puram are efficiently articulated for the guidance of mankind. It threw light on the burning problems of the times.

 

The sayings of Thiruvalluvar are all together are in a book that is famously called the “Thirukural”. Each poem is in a couplets (known as “Kural” in Tamizh which has 2 lines – ideally has 7 words; 4 in the first line and 3 in the second line)

 

There are totally of 1330 couplets and they are divided into three segments namely:

 

Arrathu Paal (Dharma) – which deals with the virtue

Porutpaal (Artha) – which deals wealth or polity

Kaamathuppaal (Kama) – which deals with love

 

Thirukkural is regarded as a universal Bible and munificently called the Another “Gita, Koran or Zend Avesta”. Thirukural is considered as the Universal Bible and famously entitled as  “The Three-Chaptered” or “The Three-Sectioned” (Muppaal) which is the original name given by Thiruvalluvar, “Statements Devoid of Untruth” (Poyyamozhi), “The Two-Lined Book” (Iradi Nool), “Northern Veda” (Uttharavedham), “The Tamil Veda” (Tamil Marai) and so on.

 

Thirukural, the holy book helps us to adapt an honest and realistic attitude towards life. It is good to know that Thirukural is not a religious scripture; it does not talk about spirituality or Godly Promises. It gives us a detailed look on our life. With the wise lines in it we can learn ways of cultivating one’s mind to achieve harmony in present life. Thiruvalluvar in most of his couplets simply insists on what we need to do in humanly life in order to reach eternal life.

 

When a person wants to learn, he/she has to learn it with clarity. Whatever he has learnt, he has to act according to the moral ideas reflected in the book. Learning is the true imperishable riches and all the other things are not riches.  Thiruvalluvar gives much important to learning and he articulates the following:

 

“Learn with clarity, the scholarly books and then  

Act what you have learnt”.  (Thirukkural 391)

 

Thiruvalluvar was a practical thinker, social reformer, and observer of nature, animate and inanimate objects. He has left a valuable message on virtue, love and politics and concern about better living of mankind.  Thiruvalluvar talks about unworthy words as the following:  

“Unworthy words uttered in public are poorer

Than erroneous deeds served to comrades.” (Thirukkural 192) 

The words in conversation should be suited to the level of understanding of the person addressed to.  Eloquence without the power of debating shows lack of readiness.

 

Thiruvalluvar gives much importance to safe guard our tongue and its words.  Holding one’s tongue is much significant because one’s slip of the tongue will bring misery and woe.   The style of Thiruvalluvar is in the form of couplet who uses epigrammatic sentences.  Each line stands by itself and it is the concentrated expression of substantial thought.  Though speech is easier than action, one must have control over tongue.

History of Translation (From the Ancient Times - Sixteenth Century)

 

History of Translation

 

1) Translation during the Ancient Times:

It is said that translation is as old as original writing, Translation, with all its confusion and multi-faceted character, reminds one of the confused Biblical conference in the Tower of Babel. Willis Barnstone considers translation as the other Babel. In his book After Babel, George Steiner divides the history of translation into four periods:

i) The first period extends from 46 B.C. to 1768. This is the period of Cicero, Horace and Alexander Frazer.

ii) The second period extends from 1769 to 1940. The eminent translators Friedrich Schliermacher and Valery Larbaud belong to this period.

 

iii) The third period extends from 1940 to 1960. Machine translation and hermeneutic translation marked this period.

 

iv) The fourth period extends from 1960 to today.

 

What is wrong with Steiner's periodization is that he does not pay due attention to developments in Pre-Christian times.

 

2) Translation in the Third Millennium B.C.

The Rosetta Stone found on the bank of the Nile in 3000 B.C. marked the beginning of translation. On this steep stone was found an inscription in two languages, Egyptian language and Greek.  Another one was the famous trilingual inscription carved by Darius on a rock in Behustan. This inscription was in three languages and they were Persian, Babylonian and Sumerian.

 

3) Translation in the First Century B.C.

 In this period Cicero, the Roman orator, and Catullus, the Roman poet, translated many Greek works into Latin. Cicero adopted the sense-to-sense approach.

 

4) Translation in the First Century A.D.

 Pliny the Young made word-for-word translations. He also indulged in much theorizing

 

5) Translation in the Fourth Century A.D. :

During this period at the behest of the Pope, St. Jerome translated the New Testament from Hebrew into Latin, adopting the sense-for-sense for approach.

                                                                                  

6) Translation in the Eighth Century:

Translation flourished during this period. The Syrian scholars in Baghdad translated the works of Aristotle, Plato, Galen, Hippocrates and other Greek writers into Arabic. In course of time Arab leaming declined Baghdad lost its importance as a centre of translation activities.

 

7) Translation in the Ninth Century:

The Toledo College of Translators in Spain gained prominence in the ninth century. This college arranged the translation of many Arabic texts into Latin. This was a very roundabout procedure, as the following diagram shows

                                     Greek--à Syriac --à Arab-à Latin

Since the translation passed through many languages, more and more errors and deviations took place and accuracy was lost. In the loledo College, Adelard of Bath translated Eucid’s Principles from Arabic into Latin.

 

 

8) Translation in the Twelfth Century

Robert de Retimes translated the Koran (Quran) into Latin. This work lasted from 1141 to 1143.  By 1200 AD. many Greek texts were translated by the translators at Toledo. To this period belongs the famous translation, Liber Gestorum Barlaam et Josphat .  This work is a story of the Buddha.  But it reads like a Christian story in the translation. 

Translation in India also was very during this period.  The Telugu Poet Nannaya

translated the Sanskrit epic The Mahabharatha into Telugu. Following his footsteps, Tikkana and Errana translated the Mahabharatha into Telugu. 

 

9) Translation in the Fourteenth Century:

The most famous translator in the fourteenth century was the Oxford theologian, John Wycliffe. He translated the Bible from Latin into English.

 

 

10) Translation in the Fifteenth Century:

 

During this period the Wycliffite Bible was revised. Another remarkable achievement during this period was the translation of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana into Bengali, thanks to the efforts taken by the Muslim rulers of the period. The Muslim rulers of the time thought that they could endear themselves to the Hindu subjects through such cultural measures. Translation of this kind from one famous language into another equally famous language is called

horizontal translation by Gianfranco Folera.

 

11) Translation in the Sixteenth Century:

 

The Sixteenth Century, that is, the Elizabethan age, witnessed tremendous developments in the field of translation. Translation activities were afoot not only in England but in other European Countries as well.

 

 

Translations of the Bible followed one after another in England. William Tyndale translated the Old Testament from Hebrew and the New Testament from Greek, both into English. The public burning of Tyndale’s Bible in 1506 did not dampen the Bible enthusiasts. Coverdale’s translation of the Bible followed in 1535.

 

Martin Luther, the German theologian who triggered the Protestant movement translated the Bible into High German. Thomas Munz, leader of the poor German peasants, sponsored a translation of the Bible from Latin to German. His intention was to equip the poor peasants with enough Biblical language to resist the Catholic clergy. All these translators of the Bible had one comnmon aim. That is, they gave top priority to meaning. They were keen only on sense-for-sense translation. They made use of colloquial expressions. Their aim was to reach the masses. They did not care for grammar.

 

Besides the Bible, many other important works were also translated.

North translated Plutarch's Lives. This work supplied stories for Shakespeare's Roman plays. Wyatt and Surrey translated some of Petrarch's Sonnets from Latin into English. They faith fully reproduced not only the words and sentence structures but also the tone of the original.

 

Other translations in the Elizabethan age worth mentioning are Florio’s translation of Montaigne's Essais, and Philemon Holland’s translations of Livy, Pliny and Xenophon and Chapman's translation of Homer’s The Iliad. Florio's essays helped Bacon. Philemon Holland is called the Translator General. He preferred the popular phrase to the striking phrase.  Chapman’s translation of Homer gave a stimulus to the young Keats later.

 

The most important translation activity in the sixteenth century was the French humanist Dolet's formulation of a theory of translation. In his book How to Translate from One Language into Another (1540), Dolet put forward five important principles of translation. They are as follows:

 

i) The translator must base himself on the sense and meaning of the original.

 

ii) The translator should be quite familiar with the Source Language (SL) as well as the Target Language (TL).

 

ii) Word-for-word translation should be avoided.

 

iv) Forms of speech that are in common use should be used by the translator.

 

v) By choosing the correct words and the correct word-order the translator should reproduce the tone of the original.

 HISTORY OF TRANSLATION

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