Importance of translations - Essay Example

We all know the importance of translations from one language to the other and its impact on globalization. And due to this reason there are many translation guide books in the market to help a layman understand a language and carry out transactions in languages other than the ones known to him. There are 3000 to 8000 odd languages in the world and there are 180 to 200 languages with more that a million native speakers. English is known to be the most important language in the world so many translation guide books are based on it. In Other Words' is one such book written by Mona Baker in the year 1992. Mona Baker herself is a renowned professor of translation studies in the University of Manchester in Great Britain. 'In Other Words' is known as a course book on translations, which was a best seller, has been reprinted at least 12 times. This book especially addresses the need for a systematic approach so that training in translation research can become easier. Most translations in the book are literal. The book has a number of bona fide examples, which are very interesting and informative. This book directs the reader to spell and pronounce correctly and understand the differences in different languages and is a standard course book worldwide. Addressing the need for the translation profession as a whole it is about training in translation. It focuses on people who love words and translation of the text. It garners some of the most peculiar and intriguing examples and expressions from our world of language and expression for which one finds no easy English translation equivalents. It addresses the training approach one should take to doing in translation studies. Shows the link between the theoretical findings and the actual translation work in the real world. It explores the meanings of single words and their expressions to grammar and the words in their cultural contexts. It draws on key areas in modern linguistic theory and relates them to translation and the problems one faces in translation how one adopts strategies to solve them. Examples are drawn from various languages and their texts which are translated. No one needs to know about anything which is linguistic or no knowledge of foreign language is assumed. The key linguistic concepts are explained when referred to and related to practical exercises. It gives a good basis for the training needed to train translators in their professional field by adopting a systematic approach to training in translation studies. Theory and actual practice is linked with real examples. As Baker says "Translators are not yet sure whether translation is a trade, an art , a trade or a business. Almost every aspect of life in general and of the interaction between speech communities in particular can be considered relevant to translation, a discipline which has to concern itself with how meaning is generated within and between various groups of people in various cultural settings. If translation is ever to become a profession in the full sense of the word, translators will need to work with some thing other than the mixture of intuition and practice to enable them to reflect on what they do and how they do it. They will need above all a sound knowledge of the raw material with which they work: to understand what language is how it comes to function for its users. Linguistics is a discipline which studies language in its own right and as a tool for generating meanings. Text linguistic( is a study of text as a communicative event rather than a shapeless string of words and structures ) and pragmatics (study of the language in use rather than as an abstract system. This book attempts to explore some areas in which modern linguistic theory can provide a basis for training translators and can inform and guide the decisions they have to make in the course of performing their work." ("Baker, Mona In other words, a course book on translation") Translation teachers at last have the book they've been waiting for. - stephen bax, applied languages institute in other words is a lucid, systematic and stimulating guide to some of the main difficulties involved in translation. - anthony paul, filter A remarkable down-to-earth coursebook which is consistently related to real-life experiences in the translating world - a.a. Ibrahim, lore and language In other words is a richly rewarding book which provides a remarkable amount of information and many valuable insights - john d gallagher (http://www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/html/moreinfo.asp'bookid=536885465&etailerid=19) Chapter 7 "Pragmatic equivalence" shows how texts are used to communicate in various situations that involve writers , readers in various cultural contexts. It discussed the failures of translation as a language of communication across cultures. Several words are untranslatable in English and in Japanese culture there is a word YOKO MESHI[yoh-koh mesh-ee] . Meshi means "boiled rice" and yoko means 'horizontal,' so combined you get 'a meal eaten sideways.'This is how the Japanese define the peculiar stress induced by speaking a foreign language: yoko is a humorous reference to the fact that Japanese is normally written vertically, whereas most foreign languages are written horizontally. The pun is intentional here describing the headache of communicating in an alien tongue , The second chapter is based on the lack of equivalence of words in different languages. For example, in English we say we brush our teeth, but in German we say we polish our teeth and in Polish we say we wash our teeth. This proves that there is no one to one correspondence between words across languages. Also the concept of hyponyms (English words having no equivalent meaning in any other language) is explained with examples such as bungalow, cottage, croft, hut, et al. Another example of is 'luftmensch' which when translated from German literally means someone who lives in air but actually means a person who sponges off people around him. For this very reason a need for translating sights and books is felt all over the world. After the average businessman running an MNC can't be expected to know more that three languages. But nonetheless he needs accurate translations to do business with countries overseas. This is another reason for introducing foreign languages at grass root levels such as schools and colleges so that an individual can at least be well versed in two languages or more Entries are according to the country and the languages range from those in East and West Europe to Middle East , Africa and Asia by outlining examples of contemporary usages and problems. For example translation faces a whole lot of problems Culture bound: Arabic for example has words like: Arabic : taarradhin [tah-rah-deen] (noun) , meaning I win, you win . But no word for compromise . It resolves the problem without a loss of face . This is not the case in other languages such as in English . Compromise is a very dominant word in the Asian language, where life is based on the principles of compromise for the sake of honor. It is not sufficient to say that the word does not exist in the language so I translated this with XXX . Language translation gaps are admitted if there is a cultural reason to it behind it as in the example above. The Arab people don't think that they lose anything by not having the term 'compromise ' in their language . Rather they gain by having a win-win situation for themselves for one and all. ." (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php'storyId=4457805") As for the Czech's the term litost [lee-tosht] (noun) is an untranslatable emotion that only a Czech person would suffer from, defined by Milan Kundera as "a state of torment created by the sudden sight of one's own misery." Devices for coping with extreme stress, suffering, and change are often special and unique to cultures and born out of the meeting of despair with a keen sense of survival. (" http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php'storyId=4457805") French : esprit de I'escalier [es-pree de less-ka/-iay] (idiom) . A cultural by word which the Oxford dictionary says is indefinable "An untranslatable phrase, the meaning of which is that one only thinks on one's way downstairs of the smart retort one might have made in the drawing room." (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php'storyId=4457805") German phrases : korinthenkacker [core-in-ten-cuck-er] (noun). One who has nothing better to do then to spend all day crapping rasins . An ideal person. Greek : meraki [may-rah-kee] (adjective) to put ones soul into something, whatever it may be to prepare a meal . This phrase has some equivalence in the Asian languages but by and large gets lost in translation other wise ." (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php'storyId=4457805") Japanese : tatemae [tah-tay-mye] (noun) A term often translated as "form," but it also has the specific cultural meaning of "the reality that everyone professes to be true, even though they may not privately believe it." For privately held views, the Japanese have a different term, honne, meaning, "the reality that you hold inwardly to be true, even though you would never admit it publicly." The British civil servant muttering the reproach "bad form, old boy" over a drink in the club, may be expressing something very close to the quality of tatamae. yoko meshi [yoh-koh mesh-ee] (noun) , yoko meshi. Taken literally, meshi means 'boiled rice' and yoko means 'horizontal,' so combined you get 'a meal eaten sideways.'This is how the Japanese define the peculiar stress induced by speaking a foreign language: yoko is a humorous reference to the fact that Japanese is normally written vertically, whereas most foreign languages are written horizontally. How do English-speakers describe the headache of communicating in an alien tongue' I don't think we can, at least not with as much ease." ." (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php'storyId=4457805") Spanish : duende [dwen-day] (adjective) This wonderful word captures an entire world of passion, energy, and artistic excellence and describes a climactic show of spirit in a performance or work of art. Duende originally meant "imp" or "goblin" and came to mean anything magical. It now has a depth and complexity of meaning that crosses artistic borders, from flamenco dancing to bullfighting. The Spanish poet Garcia Lorca wrote an eloquent essay on duende that explores the complex and inspirational flavor of its sense, and I know no better introduction. ." (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php'storyId=4457805") The fifth chapter is rather intense and needs a lot of concentration to appreciate. The chapter has very long extracts as examples, which at times get though to comprehend. This chapter is about Textual Equivalence: Thematic and Information Structures. The thematic structure deals with the themes and rhymes of a sentence. In layman's term theme is what is being talked about and rheme is what is being commented about the theme. The Functional Information Structures the author writes is the alternative for the thematic structure and is indispensable for a translator German Torschlusspanik (literally 'door-shutting panic') for which the nearest would be 'fear of being left on the shelf', and the Yiddish luftmensch - literally somebody who lives on air, but figuratively a person who sponges off those around him. Entries are listed alphabetically by country, and the languages covered include East and West Europe, Nordic, Middle Eastern, African, Asian, and Creole and Pidgin languages. The entries for each group are prefaced by a short essay outlining examples of contemporary usages and problems. . The Italian attaccabottone (literally 'button attacker') is exactly as the person who in English 'buttonholes' you to relate some long tale of woe. Read More