2. Theory and Practice of
Translation
• The theory and practice of translation
describes the set of processes that are actually
employed in translating.
• Based on the translation of the Bible.
Book written by Richard R. Taber and Eugene A. Nida in
1969.
3. • Translating is essentially a process of communication and this means
that a translator must go beyond the lexical structures to consider the
manner in which an intended audience is likely to understand a text.
• Much depends on the underlying presuppositions of the respective
source and target cultures.
• In testing the adequacy of a translation, the main questions are:
“From whom?” And in “what cultural setting?” since the source text
and the translated text may represent very diverse cultural
orientations and values.
4. • A translator of a text involving significant
cultural differences is like a juggler trying to
throw and catch a variety of objects all at the
same time.
• A translator must establish certain priorities:
Contextual consistency
Dynamic equivlence
Orality
Expressions that are used and are accepable to the
intended audience
5. The Old Focus and the New
Focus
• Old focus was the form of the message.
Translator were concerned about the style of
the text such as rythm, rhyme, connection of
words, among others.
• New focus is the response of the receptor to
the translated message.
• Not that the receptor understand, but that he
doesn´t misunderstand the text.
6. Nature of Translating
Translating consists in reproducing in the receptor
language the closest natural equivalent of the
source- language message, first in terms of
meaning and secondly in terms of style.
This chapter underlines a set of characteristics in
the proces of translating:
Reproducing the message
Equivalence rather than identity
Closest equivalent
The priortity of meaning
The significance of style
A system of priotities.
7. Grammatical Analysis
• Analysis: Surface structure is analyzed in terms of the
grammatical relationships and the meanings of the
words.
• Transfer: The analyzed material is transferred in the
mind of the translator from language A to language B.
• Restructuring: the Transferred material is
restructured in order to make the final message fully
acceptable in the receptor language.
