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Challenges of Translating a Text from Arabic to English - Research Paper Example

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"Challenges of Translating a Text from Arabic to English" paper discusses and presents the challenge of translation between English and Arabic languages; much attention is focused on those likely faced by a translator in translating a text from Arabic to English…
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Challenges of Translating a Text from Arabic to English Name: Institutional affiliation: Date: Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 1.0.Introduction 2 2.0.Meaning of Translation Opened 4 3.0.The Concept of Culture 6 4.0.The Common Cultural Imputations for Translation 8 5.0.Cultural Differences between European and Arab 9 6.0.Semantic and Equivalence Problems 15 7.0.Untranslatability 16 8.0.Conclusion 17 Challenges of Translating a Text from Arabic to English 1.0. Introduction Due to the continued and increased rate of development of technology, culture and science, the need for translation has increased in the current times. Since translation is the major method applied to enable communication, it has become an activity of huge importance in the current society and the study and practice of translation has managed to be established field of study and research in language studies (Steiner, 2000).  Several researches have been conducted in the area of translation owing to the significance of the process. Theories have been developed to by experts and scholars in the field of social linguistics to aid in explaining the process and clearly familiarize the language students and practitioners with the challenges likely to be met in the event of translation and the possible solutions to these challenges. One of the great theories is that of Newmark (1998) who asserts that translation is an art and at the same times a skill and a science. A vivid consideration of the theory brings some significant aspects of translation that are to be considered for a quality resultant text: the language to be translated into and the cultural aspect of the native language, the two languages, the writer and the translator. The principle goal of this paper is to discuss and present the challenge of translation between English and Arabic languages; much attention is focused on those likely faced by a translator in translating a text from Arabic to English. The Arabic and the English languages belong to two settings that are completely distinct with a difference in the language family (Clark and University of Durham, 2000). Arabic is categorized to be part of the sematic family language while English is part of the Indo-European family of languages. Arabic is the national and official language that is spoken in around fifteen countries in the Middle East while English is the language of Indo-European and the language that is considered official language of Britain, the United States of America and most of the nations under common wealth. An analysis of Arabic text a sea of sand is employed and discussed exhaustively to clear out the challenges faced in translating a text from Arabic into English. There are many linguistic problems that are faced by translators in the process of translating literary texts. Examples of such challenges include but not limited to culture, grammar, context, equivalence, and lexical meaning. Dickin et al (2002).  There are many words and expressions used to refer to events, objects, facts and so on that have deep root into the culture of the original language and very exclusionary to the arts, customs and habits of the particular society from which they are produced so that they do not have their equivalent in the culture to which they are to be translated, may be because they are not known or because they have not been coded in the language that us targeted. The syntax of Arabic and English is different since they have different arrangements of words. It is also significant to note the distance in geographical locations between the Arabic language setup and the English language setup, which has promoted the wide difference in the cultures of Arabic and English. Dickins et al (2016).  Thus culture plays an important role when translating from Arabic to English and thus offers a stumbling block in the process of translation because of the notable differences between the two cultures. Translation play an important role in communicating between cultures since in introduces people to other languages and the manners of thinking. Proper understanding of the relationship between the cultures is very significant when training translators and those who do interpretation. A researcher in the field, Delisle assert that the fact that translation takes place between two different cultures with different schools of thinking and manner of viewing things makes translation exactly distinct (Delisle and Woodsworth 2012).  2.0. Meaning of Translation Opened Catford (2009) defined translation as a process of substituting a text in one language for a text in another language. That way, he considers translation as a transformation that is done between languages. He establishes his definition and argument on the notion of equivalence, when he describes the process of translation as the act of replacing textual material that is written in one language with another textual material that equals it in another language. Catfrod did consider as the most common challenge to translation the ability to find the equivalent text in the language that is to be translated into. Depending on the degree of the submission of the original language text to the process of translation, the translation could be classified as either partial or full. He asserts that when the original language is being reproduced into the target language, there should be closeness in meaning and styles in the resulting translation. The foundation of discussions on rules and the processes of translation according to Catford is a painstaking and careful not to omit or miss any detail and more than slight and superficial knowledge in the way through which the objects or the concepts that the word or phrase denotes or that which a sentence says is conveyed or made explicit through language as the code of communication. Weight is laid on the conception of the communication goal of translation. Newmark in his definition of the word translation says that translation is ‘a craft consisting in the attempt to replace a written message and /or a statement in one language by the same message and/or statement in another language’. He later stated that ‘translation is rendering the meaning of a text into another language in the way that the author intended the text’. This definition of translation surpasses the notion of making the language and the traditions of the country of origin ornate more richly, it goes passed making new and fully developing the original text’s life, it surpasses the expression and analysis of the closest relations of one language with another and make a platform for entering into a language that is common to all members of the different cultures Parra et al (2012). Being a believer in functionalism Halliday and Yallop (2007) give the definition of the purpose of the utilitarian theory of the form of communication using words either spoken or gestured with the hands and structure with the grammar frequently with a writing system as that which explains the set of rules defining the behavior of the language, and the phenomena of the language, by referring to the concept that language has a portion of human life to perform; that language is a requirement in doing service to some forms of demand that are universal. The theory gives an approach to language via text establishing some six degrees: register, social system, semantics, lexicon-grammar, phonology and phonetics (Halliday and Yallop, 2007).  Discovery of the various and varied linguistic tools, resources and with the help of the developed theories such as equivalence, politeness, lexical meaning, grammar and many more, and with the invention of various technologies that have been used in translation, the process of translation has become more efficient today than in the ancient times. However, the process still encounters numerous challenges that impact negatively on the quality of the translation (Nida, 2003).  There are hindrances due to difference in vocabulary, words or morphemes of the two languages under consideration, the challenges of the poetic meter, intonation, stress, the pattern of sounds and rhythm in the text, and the challenges due to difference in the structure and the culture. The paper will discuss some of these challenges deemed to be the most significant problems that can be encountered when translating a text from Arabic to English (Di and Nida, (2006).  3.0. The Concept of Culture Since translation involves two different languages and cultures, the process of translation continuously faces the problem of the manner in which the cultural aspects unique with the original text and being able to find the most techniques that are most suitable to convey these components in the target language Almanna (2016). The scope of the cultural problems shows considerable variation depending on the gap that exists between the two cultures in question. The concept of culture for translation consider many forms that range from lexical content and the set of rules that govern how ideas and words are combined to form phrases and sentences and the manners of living in the culture under consideration. The person who is involved in translating a text should also be able to make a decision on the weight laid on some aspects of the culture and determine the level of significance in making sure that they are conveyed to the target language. The goals of the source text in the like manner has implication on the translation also taking into account the targeted audience in both the source text and the target language (Dimitriu and Shlesinger, 2009). In relation to linguistics and translation, dictionary defines culture in the following manner: the arts, customs and habits that characterize a particular society or nation; the beliefs, values, behavior and material objects that constitute peoples way of life; any knowledge passed from one generation to the next, not necessarily with respect to human beings. Culture as defined by Newmark is the way of life and its manifestations that are peculiar to a community that uses a particular language as its means of expression, hence he acknowledges that there are various and different cultural practices specific to that particular group (Anderman and Rogers, 2003). Anderman and Rogers assert that he regards not language as being part of or characteristics of culture though some scholars and linguistic experts say that language is part of culture. The aspect of culture in translation is very pivotal taking into account the imputation for translation and in spite the conflicting opinions of theorists on placing language as part of the culture or never; both the aspects do not appear to be separate (Mohd and Amna, 2012). When the challenges of relation are discussed, some theorists have agreed that there is a shared significance by both the linguistic and cultural divergence between the source language and the target language with the conclusion that the divergence between cultures can lead to multiplied adverse complexity for the person involved in translation than does the divergence in the structure of the language (Munday, 2012). There is more explanation that the differences in culture frequently give a common comprehension in spite of the important official change in the translation. The cultural imputation for translation is therefore of great value likewise lexical consideration. The aspect of culture is important when the interface of translation is to be considered. It is therefore of great importance when doing translation of a text from one culture to another to note the magnitude of lexical impartation on the readers of the target language of translation and likewise the way the aspects of culture would be viewed by the target audience thus make the correct decisions in translation (Dimitriu, Shlesinger, 2009).  Before relating the analysis of the chosen text, a sea of sand, the various aspects of culture and how they influence the process of translation and the resulting text obtained in the target language will be vividly discussed and opened in the general sense. 4.0. The Common Cultural Imputations for Translation The aspect of the language in translation as well as culture can now be viewed as having a very close relation and both must be put to consideration when undertaking translation. When the translation of words and notions which have a deep cultural root is considered, two methods that are antagonistic to one another have been proposed by Newmark that is transference analysis and componential analysis (Newmark, 1999). Newmark states that the notion of transference retains the original picture and keeps names and aspects that have deep roots in the culture of the source language. He emphasizes the consideration of the cultural aspects that are of more importance and meaning to the targeted reader. However, Newmark adds that this procedure of translation is bound to bring about challenges for the reading of the resulting text and disadvantage the proper comprehension of some notions. The significance of the process of translation in communicating the ideas of the original intent of the writer lead him to make a proposal of the analysis of the component, a method he described as the translation method that has a high degree of accuracy. This method of translation does not include the culture but lays more weight in the communication and the information. We may also need to consider the changeable equivalence explanation put forward by Nida which also has a huge imputation for translation of cultural texts. 5.0. Cultural Differences between European and Arab As it has been stated before in this paper, culture determines to a great extent how appropriate the components of a language are in translation. The variations in culture is also a determinant in the level at which two language communities understand each other. Thus language can be said to be a very important component of a culture since every language vocabulary finds their definitions and meanings from the cultures they are from. The Arabic language has association with some unique and specific values rooted to its culture and some social features that are not found in Britain. The surrounding and the cultural inclination of an individual influences to a great degree the language of the writer, this is notable in the vocabulary of the speaker of the language. Translation transmits various knowledge and civilization form one culture to another. The resultant works of translation will show to some degree the cultural appearance of the persons doing the translation, in spite of the translators themselves having a good intention (Newmark, 1999). Every person who is involved in the work of translation has different belief, attitude and level of understanding. Differences in the matters of faith, aspects and the normal ways of conducting various cultural activities and the expressions of the language between the cultures of Arabic and English and the languages poses some hardships in translating a text from Arabic to English. The differences in the cultural outlook of the two languages tends to present more difficulty to the translators in the process of translating a text from Arabic to English more than any other featuring linguistic challenges of translation like the structure of the language. Most frequently there are gaps between cultures that result from the differences in the appearances of the societies which results to differences in the linguistic between the two cultures. Thus to find the best terms that equal the original texts it is of significant need to find a means of bridging the gap between the two cultures so that the expectations of the readers of the target language are met effectively. It is important for the people doing the translation work to be well conversant with what their targeted audience expects, the rules and mannerism of the people are affected by the culture and the understanding of words of the group are affected to a larger extent by the expectation, the rules that are enforced by the community. There are a lot of cultural difficulties that are needed to overcome during translation since there are some norms and practices that are accepted in one culture but are considered strange and foreign in the other cultures. For example, in the Arab world, marrying many wives is acceptable provided the man in question is in a position to treat all the women equally and fairly, a practice that is not acceptable in the European world which are mostly dominated with the Christian doctrines. These differences between cultures present a lot of problems when considering the aspect of translation. The levels of the difficulties are dependent on the closeness and the cultural remoteness of the involved languages. The implication here is that it is more difficult to translate among languages that have big distinctions in their cultural structure than it is to translate among languages form cultures that are closely related or that share some similarities. Nevertheless, translation between these languages and cultures that have similarities is not in any way direct as would be thought to be the implication of this statement (Dimitriu, Shlesinger, 2009). But instead it presents a visible form some important potential problem to a lower extent in comparison with the translation of texts from cultures that exhibit numerous and ambiguous cultural differences. When the languages that are entangled show a considerably wide distinction so that similar figures are not available in one of the languages or the other language, there are several and distinct theories and methods of translation that are put in place so that a translation that is partly successful is obtained Sometimes it is impossible to overcome the problems as determined because some terms of the message text that is culturally appealing to the emotions may not hold on to all of the meaning that implies or suggests something else when the terms are translated. In other words the meanings of some terms are not carried forward and may not reach the targeted reader with all the linguistic components. Thus the targeted readers are never in expectation of obtaining the proper meaning and the richness of culture as do the source language readers. Because of this the people who do the translation work should employ recompense or reward for the loss the linguistic components so that there is clarity in the concepts and the cultural implications of the text. For instance, there are terms in one culture that refer to particular features and are even used more often by the languages in that culture yet they imply totally different things in the other cultures and are associated with some negativity in the latter culture. When translating such terms, the translator has to compensate by going an extra mile in adding more materials to the targeted language version so that such distinct connotations are cleared in the target language, or the translator may decide to use some footnotes that are well explained to cover up for the connotations that are not included in the target language. Some expressions like proverbs, idioms and some phrases that are unique to a given culture are so fixed and deeply rooted in the language and their structure and are completely influenced by the cultures of certain people. These expressions with deep roots in the language structure and the cultures from which they come cause a major havoc in translation. An additional input and study coupled with much added effort and determination are required in the part of those doing translation to at least surpass these very hard to overcome obstacles in translation. This is because the translators are faced with the task of finding the best translation in the target language that resembles the phrase in terms of meaning and use of such phrases and expressions just like it is used in the original text. Thus the people involved with the translation of these proverbial phrases should be well conversant with the culture of the Arab word for effectiveness in transfer of the intended meaning of the Arabic rooted phrases to English. There are cases where there are no equivalence of terms and phrases between different cultures. It is common to fail in trying to find an equivalence of the Arabic terms in the English language. Many of the problems and difficulties met in the process of translation are associated with the interactions between the cultural and the linguistic challenges. It is therefore the work of the translator to comprehend the use and the meaning of the words or phrases that are suggested or implied, as opposed to a denotation, or literal meaning and a characteristics of words or phrases or of the contexts that words and phrases are used in and find the suitable equivalence in the particular text in which the word or passage is taken from and which is able to give information on the that help ascertain its meaning. Here is discussed the cultural norms in the background of the two cultures, the European and the Arabic world. This was done to give an illustration of the distinctions that exist between the western cultures in particular the Britain and the culture of the Arabs, which are deemed to pose a difficulty in the translation of the Arabic text to English. Form the analysis of the text, a sea of sand; it is possible to see an illustration of the problems of translation. These challenges of translation of a text show in an implicit manner that the resultant work into the target language could not be easily understood by the targeted readers if the contextual structure is not well displayed in the target language. A good comprehension of both the Arabic and the English cultures is therefore of great importance to help surmount the obstacles that are met in translating an Arabic text into English (Mohd and Amna, 2012). Problems also arise when dealing with expressions and word that are particular to a given culture. When the case of translation from Arabic to English, it is a common phenomenon for the people involved in translation to come across texts and messages that contain proverbs, verses, and some figures in history whose remembrance has stopped in the minds of people, persons who did remarkable things like legends, place names, animal names and many more that are unique only to a particular culture and locality. Additionally it is of significant importance to consider the common problems that are to be overcome when translating the cultural settings of two different worlds with entirely distinct preferences and set of rules guiding the use of language like translating from Arabic speaking cultures to the English speaking cultures; two cultures that are completely distinct in the manner in which they use language and other ways of life. In the process of translation, the translator should have in their mind the fact that the work is not just a transfer of words and phrases but more to that it should convey meaning and communicate at the long run. When this important feature of translation is considered, it means that the translator must be very conversant with the two languages in question and the cultures and the differences that exist (Mohd and Amna, 2012). They must have a deep knowledge of the culture from which the original text is obtained and at the time have a good and complete knowledge of the target language. It is still important to consider the environmental conditions as portion of the culture since the Arabic language is found in the part of the world with a hot and dry climate while the European world from which English is originated and spoken as number one language is a place with cold and wet climate (Hassan, 2014).  Some Arabic words and expressions get related with the cold weather to give positive and desired and favorable notations of happiness and delight among the Arabs. However in the English world the equivalent use of such expressions that associate with the good moods and happiness are in most cases linked with warmth instead of cold. For this reason the translation process from Arabic to English is likely to encounter these challenges due to idioms and expressions that are ecologically based. Some of such objects get meanings that differ in both the languages. Something that may be considered as being a meaningful colloquialism in the Arabic language could be disparaging in the English language. The opposite of that also applies. Translating colloquialisms that contain in them terms and phrases that reflect concepts that are specific to a particular culture or concepts and connotations that are associated with the relationship of the language with its environment may be difficult because even after thorough research the translator may not be in a position to find a one to one correspondence in both languages. Nevertheless, with the notion that translation is about communicating and passing the message of the original text, the translation of some proverbs and idioms may not present difficulties. This far it is possible to notice the controversies that are experienced in translating the culture-specific colloquialism 6.0. Semantic and Equivalence Problems Now turning to doing an exploration of more challenges that one is likely to encounter when translating a text from one language to another; more specifically the semantic and equivalence problems. The aim here is to first of all bring us to the knowledge that translation is far from just literal transfer of individual words in a text from the source language to the target language. And to show that a text can be translated to accomplish its desired particular communication goal for a specific target group in a specific setup (Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk and Thelen, 2010). The clearing of this idea will assist translators find the basis and relation between the original language of the text and the language to which it is supposed to be rendered. As a result the use of literal translation is evaded and. Literal translation is to be avoided as much as possible because the resultant text in the target language that has been literally translated does not secure referential and pragmatic equivalence to the original (Farias, 2015). The problem of reflecting the intended structure and meaning of words happen whenever the translators do not associate the meaning of the word from the setting where the word is located. For examples, the dictionaries that contain different languages may be able to supply a translator with many distinct definitions and meanings of a word the translator is searching for, yet at the end the translator has to decide on the meaning that makes sense when he or she has placed the word in the context of the text in question. The translator has to therefore into other words in the context of the text which would give them an upper hand in making the correct decision in choosing the best word in English that fits in the context of the sources text. When the translators go passed the linguistics and the sematic standards they are more likely to face problems of translation equivalence. The major goal therefore is to create awareness among translators of the theories of equivalence which aims to translate the terms the original language with the phrases and words that have the same meanings and produce texts that convey the an approximate of the meaning and the purpose of the original text. Thus the translators are in a better position to make the best decision on what should be added, what is to be retained, what is to be changed and on what should be deleted in the language to which the work is being transferred, so that the meaning of the text can be viable to the targeted readership of the target language (Mohd and Amna, 2012). To keep the communication level relevant with the readership of the intended translation, a lot of importance is laid on the use of common methods that are at aimed at finding terms and conveying meanings that are familiar with the targeted readership. For example, in the of idioms, proverbs and the expressions that are deeply rooted and specific to the particular culture, it is important for the translators to find an equivalent in the target language that will produce the same impact as that of the original source. If the proverbs and such word s with deep roots in the particular language culture are literally translated, they produce a very shallow meaning of the phrase, and cannot produce the communication consequence as that of the original text. 7.0. Untranslatability This term connotes the fact that there might not be in existence equivalence between cultures. No existence between cultures which results into untranslatability of terms arise most often when the features in the situation are of functional significance to the source text, but is completely absent from the target language text in which the target language culture has a deep root. With increased failure of agreement that exists between the notions of the culture of the original text or the systems of linguistic with that of the target language culture or the systems of language, increases the hindrances to intercultural translation (Sanders, 2014). This problem is sure to cause untranslatability like is noticed in the instances where there is overwhelming conflict between the nature and the meaning of the words and phrases, making the process of obtaining the equivalences more hectic and impossible in some instances. The system of the nature and meaning in the source language may be showing some similarity to the systems and nature in the target language but at the same not identical to with it (Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk and Thelen, 2010). The notion implied in this statement is very important; in simple terms there is no completely exact translation. This notion has found a wide application in translating of text where the forms and natures and meanings have very close relationships and cannot be separated. This issue depends a lot on the translators themselves. Translators who are much skilled and have a lot of experience can be able translate the untranslatable and give some meaning in of the terms in a creative manner that will be understood by the targeted audience, even when the texts and phrases in question are deeply rooted in the source language. Thus in translating an Arabic txt to English, the translator who is a native Arab can be in a position to find certain lexical objects in Arabic that do not have equivalent in English since the notions they are referring to may not be present in the English speaking culture (Delisle, and Woodsworth, 2012).  8.0. Conclusion Since translation is the major method applied to enable communication it has become an activity of huge importance in the current society and the study of and practice of translation has managed to be grounded field of study and research in language studies. Translation is very much possible and has improved with the researches and scholarly works in the linguistics increased. Through translation people have overcome the language barrier, yet the process in not very easy. It is common for translators to meet overwhelming challenges and hardships in the process of translation. Most recent researches and studies have shown that inadequate understanding of the structure of Arabic as well as understanding the difference between the language families that Arabic and English belong to cause challenges. Some literary works are not difficult to translate while others are so problematic to the extent of being reefed to as untranslatable. 8. References: Catford, J. C. (2009). A linguistic theory of translation: An essay in applied linguistics. Johanneshov: TPB. Dickins, J., Hervey, S. G. J., & Higgins, I. (2016). Thinking Arabic translation: A course in translation method : Arabic to English. Dickins, J., Hervey, S., & Higgins, I. (2012). Thinking Arabic Translation: A Course in Translation Method: Arabic to English. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. Mohd Juzaiddin Ab Aziz, & Amna Mansur Hendr. (2012). Translation of Classical Arabic Language to English. Asian Network for Scientific Information. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, B., & Thelen, M. (2010). Meaning in translation. Frankfurt am Main: Lang. Munday, J. (2012). Evaluation in translation: Critical points of translator decision-making. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Farias, . S. L. M. (December 18, 2015). Munday, Jeremy. Evaluation in translation: critical points of translator decision- making. London/New York: Routledge, 2012. Print.Cadernos De Tradução, 35, 2, 441. Clark, P., & University of Durham. (2000). Arabic literature unveiled: Challenges of translation. Durham: University of Durham, Center for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. Delisle, J. (1988). Translation: An interpretive approach. Ottawa, Canada: University of Ottawa Press. Delisle, J., & Woodsworth, J. (2012). Translators through history. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Pub. Co. Dickins, J., Hervey, S. G. J., & Higgins, I. (2002). Thinking Arabic translation: A course in translation method : Arabic to English. London: Routledge. Dimitriu, R., & Shlesinger, M. (2009). Translators and their readers: In homage to Eugene A. Nida. Bruxelles: Les Editions du Hazard. Halliday, M. A. K., & Yallop, C. (2007). Lexicology: A short introduction. London: Continuum. .Sanders, E. F. (2014). Lost in translation: An illustrated compendium of untranslatable words from around the world. Anderman, G., & Rogers, M. (2003). Translation today: Trends and perspectives. Clevedon [u.a.: Multilingual Matters. Di, J., & Nida, E. A. (2006). On translation. Hong Kong: City Univ. of Hong Kong Press. Nida, E. A., & Taber, C. R. (2003). The theory and practice of translation. Leiden, Pays-Bas: Brill. Catford, J. C. (2009). A linguistic theory of translation: An essay in applied linguistics. Johanneshov: TPB. Contexts in translating. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Hassan, B.-E. A. (2014). Between English and Arabic: A practical course in translation. Farghal, M., & Almanna, A. (2015). Contextualizing translation theories: Aspects of Arabic-English interlingual communication. Parra, M. E., García, P. M. A., Classen, A., & Conference on Translation, Text and Interference. (2012). Aspects of literary translation: Building linguistic and cultural bridge in past and present. Tübingen: Narr. Read More

There are many linguistic problems that are faced by translators in the process of translating literary texts. Examples of such challenges include but not limited to culture, grammar, context, equivalence, and lexical meaning. Dickin et al (2002).  There are many words and expressions used to refer to events, objects, facts and so on that have deep root into the culture of the original language and very exclusionary to the arts, customs and habits of the particular society from which they are produced so that they do not have their equivalent in the culture to which they are to be translated, may be because they are not known or because they have not been coded in the language that us targeted.

The syntax of Arabic and English is different since they have different arrangements of words. It is also significant to note the distance in geographical locations between the Arabic language setup and the English language setup, which has promoted the wide difference in the cultures of Arabic and English. Dickins et al (2016).  Thus culture plays an important role when translating from Arabic to English and thus offers a stumbling block in the process of translation because of the notable differences between the two cultures.

Translation play an important role in communicating between cultures since in introduces people to other languages and the manners of thinking. Proper understanding of the relationship between the cultures is very significant when training translators and those who do interpretation. A researcher in the field, Delisle assert that the fact that translation takes place between two different cultures with different schools of thinking and manner of viewing things makes translation exactly distinct (Delisle and Woodsworth 2012).  2.0.

Meaning of Translation Opened Catford (2009) defined translation as a process of substituting a text in one language for a text in another language. That way, he considers translation as a transformation that is done between languages. He establishes his definition and argument on the notion of equivalence, when he describes the process of translation as the act of replacing textual material that is written in one language with another textual material that equals it in another language. Catfrod did consider as the most common challenge to translation the ability to find the equivalent text in the language that is to be translated into.

Depending on the degree of the submission of the original language text to the process of translation, the translation could be classified as either partial or full. He asserts that when the original language is being reproduced into the target language, there should be closeness in meaning and styles in the resulting translation. The foundation of discussions on rules and the processes of translation according to Catford is a painstaking and careful not to omit or miss any detail and more than slight and superficial knowledge in the way through which the objects or the concepts that the word or phrase denotes or that which a sentence says is conveyed or made explicit through language as the code of communication.

Weight is laid on the conception of the communication goal of translation. Newmark in his definition of the word translation says that translation is ‘a craft consisting in the attempt to replace a written message and /or a statement in one language by the same message and/or statement in another language’. He later stated that ‘translation is rendering the meaning of a text into another language in the way that the author intended the text’. This definition of translation surpasses the notion of making the language and the traditions of the country of origin ornate more richly, it goes passed making new and fully developing the original text’s life, it surpasses the expression and analysis of the closest relations of one language with another and make a platform for entering into a language that is common to all members of the different cultures Parra et al (2012).

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Translating children's books

n transferring the text from the English to Japanese we must consider overall constraints and also innovations in language.... The behaviour of translating children's literature is determined by the position of children's literature within the literary polysystem.... english is especially guilty of this phenomenon.... For example classic texts such as Robinson Crusoe and Gulliver's Travels, use old style english language and phraseology which were appropriate in their time....
12 Pages (3000 words) Essay

Translation of Culture and Religion

Thus, there appeared the concept of translating one language into others, in order to make successful communications with other societies and cultures, as people have to enter into interaction with other cultures for trade, commerce, education, health, recreation, and other social, political, economic and other purposes; spread, preaching and learning of religious teachings is also one of the most dynamic purposes in this regards.... Similarly, by looking into the history of the religions, it becomes evident that religious belief systems particularly accelerated the pace of spreading languages from one society to the other through the spiritual leaders, religious mentors, philosophers and thinkers, which not only brought the people belonging to divergent cultures and societies closer to each other, but also communicated the sacred message of the Lord in a refined and sonorous manner....
12 Pages (3000 words) Research Paper

Features of Translation of Literary and Nonliterary Texts

For instance, certain northern peoples have a great variety of lexical units to denote different types of snow, as the latter constitutes an important part of their reality, whereas english is free of such peculiarity focusing on some other phenomena instead.... nbsp; Instead, each language is believed to create a system of meanings and concepts that is diverse from those of other languages.... 7), as far as “translation is a process of constant search for the transfer of a message from the Source Language (SL) into the Target Language (TL), it is often beset by many problems and difficulties that may be a result of the differences in both languages or differences in the cultures represented by them”....
6 Pages (1500 words) Coursework

The Difference between Arabic and English Translation

Furthermore, the case presents a situation where the translator's knowledge is of the target culture (TC) which again, has allowed him/her to expect possible reactions of a TT recipient and as a result, verify the functional adequacy of the process of translating the text produced.... The paper "The Difference between Arabic and english Translation" describes that the translation was aware of the fact that the doctrine or the norm of the target language may not necessarily be accommodated or go in line with those of the source language....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

The Application of a Functionalist Approach to Translation

he essay has further noted that functionalism and scoops theory often give the translator freedom as well as the responsibility to contextualize the text from ST.... The process will entail specification of the importance and roles of the source text (ST) when it comes to the target-oriented translation process, the language involved (Arabic and english as it is in this case), and levels of direction to what seems to be more relevant when it comes to the production of a target-oriented translation....
16 Pages (4000 words) Case Study

The Translation Of The Arabian Nights By Richard Burton

Through the theory of orientalism, it is possible to understand the manner in which western countries view the arabic world in terms of how they understand the arabic culture and their criticism of arabic culture.... In the paper "The Translation Of The Arabian Nights By Richard Burton" the main focus is to illustrate various ways in which orientalism was observed in the Arabian society while Burton was involved in the exploration of the Arabian region as well as during his effort to convert Arabians into Christianity....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay
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