meaning based translation

  

Steps in a Translation Project

A. Establishing the Project.

       Before one considers beginning a translation project, there are number of matters which nted to be clearly understood by all who will be involved. These can be summarized undef four T's-text, the target, the team, and the tools.

      The text refers to the source language document which is to be translated. The desirablity of translating a particular text must be determined. Texts are chosen to be translated for various reasons. Most often it is to communicate Certain information to people speaking another langusage, or it may be to share the enjoyment of the source text. The translator should examine his reasons or choosing the text and the potential for its use by the receptor Ianguage audience.

      The target refers to the audience. For whom is the translation being  prepared? The form of the translation will be affected by questions of dialect, educational level, age level, bilingualism, and people's attiudes towards their languages. Will it be used in school, in business, or read orally in church and at home? The question of alphabet is very important. The attiude of the target audience towards the proposed aphabet should be determised before the translation begins. Some excellent translations have been rejected because those who read them did not like, or could not read, the alphabet.

      The team refers to the people who will be involved in the project. If a person is a competence speaker of both the source language and the receptor language, it may be that the project can be done completely by one person. But even so there should be others available for evaluation and consultation. Most translation projects require a team, a number of people who are going to contribute to the translation at some stage in the project. The working relationship between these people needs to be established before the project gets underway. It may, however, also change as the project moves along and new factors come into focus. The team consist of :

1.      Co-translator, where one is a specialist in the source language and the other a specialist in the receptor.

2.      A translator wih capality to handle both source language und receptor language matter and an advisor or consultant.

3.      A committee working together with specific responsibilities delegated to each one. Which kind of a program is developed will depent on who is available and quality to determine the meaning of the source language, who is most skilled at drafting in the receptor language, and who has an understanding of translation principles. The team may include the ranslator(s), a consultant, testers and reviewers, and technical pcople to do typing and proofreading.

      The tools refers to written source materials which will be used by the translator as help. These include. in addition to the document to be translated, any dictionaries, lexicons, grammars, cultural descriptions etc., of both the source language and receptor language which are available, The team will want as much information available as possible while translating. All of these tools should be brought to the translation site in preparation for the project. For some projects, there will be a wealth of materials that can be used to help in interpreting the source language text and in finding equivalents in the receptor language. For other projeet, there may be a searcity of such material, but whatever is available should be there to make the work easier. Equipment and finances are aso tools needed to carry on an effective program.

B. Exegesis

      Exegesis is used to refer to the process of discovening the meaning of the source language tte will is to be tranlated. It is the step which  includes the preparation and analysis which must be done before anything at all can be writen in the receptor language. The text mush be understood completely.

      The analysis of the source the text will include resolving ambiguity identifying implicit information, studying key, words, interpreting, figurative sense, recognizing when grammatical struktur are being used in a secondary function etc. 

C. Transfer and Initial draft

         Before any extensive drafing can be done, the key terms must be determined. Every text has a set of words which are crucial to the content and correct communication of the theme. These need to be decided upon and may need to be checked with other speakers of the receptor language here are two ways of approaching the transfer and initial draft. Some translators prefer to do a quick trough translation so that the material flows naturally. Then they go back and tighten up the details to be sute that there is no wrong information, and no omissions or additions.

      It may be necessary to rework the initial draft several times before the team is satisfied that all the adjustments needed have been made, that no information is wrong or omitted, that the text communicates clearly in the receptor language and that the form chosen will communicate to the desired audience. While making and reworting this draft, the audienc must always be kept mind. Once the translation team has sufliciently : reworked, the Inltlal draft, they amange for copies to be made so that to adequate evaluation can be caried on. 

D. Evaluation

      The purpose of evaluation is threefold: accuracy, clearness and naturalness. The questions to be answered are:

1.       Does the translation communicate the same meaning as the source language?

2.      Does the audience for whom the translation is intended understand it clearly?

3.      Is the form of the translation easy to read and natural receptor language grammar and style?

Those helping with the evaluation should be mother-tongue speakers of the receptor language. There are a number of kinds of evaluatlons which need to be done.

E. Revised Draft

      After evaluation is done carefully, there will need to be a revised draft those with whom the made on the basis of the feedback received. translator has checked may have suggested many rewordings may have. The translation team now works expressed misunderstandint etc. Through this material honestly acception the evaluation and rewording. the matenial accordingly, If any key words are changed, the text will need to be checked carefully for consistency in the change made. If some parts were hard for people to read, they may need to be made casier by more redundancy for less redundancy in another language.  

F. Consultation

      In many translation projects, tbere are advisors or consultants who are willing to help the translator. The translator will expect that the consultant is interested in three malters:

·         Accuracy of content,

·          Naturalness of style, and

·         Effect on the receptor language audience.

the consultant will want to know how the exegesis and initial draft was done and what tools were used. In early meetings, if he was not in on the planning. He may ask about the project as a whole, i.e. all four T's.

G. Final Draft

Some matters may need special testing before the final draft is prepared. If the publication is to include pictures, these will need evaluation. If a special size of print is being recommended, it will need tobe tested. A final editing for speling and punctuation will need to be made. When all matters are cared for a number of copies should be prepared and disturbuted for proofreading by various people before the actual printing takes place. Every translator wants his final copy to be as accurate as possible. The time spent in careful checking and preparation of the final draft will improve quality and will make the translation more acceptable to the audience for whom it is being prepared.