This document discusses key concepts in translation between languages. It defines translation as changing from one language or form to another, while retaining the meaning. The source language is what is being translated from, and the receptor language is what it is being translated into. Meaning must be discovered in the source language text and then re-expressed in the receptor language. Languages package meaning differently through their lexical items and grammar. Whole sentences can also take on different functions across languages. The diversity in how different languages correlate form and meaning makes direct translation complicated. The goal of a translator is to produce a receptor language text that has the same meaning as the source, but is expressed idiomatically in the form of the receptor language.

1. Chapter I
Form and Meaning
What is translation?
- Consists of changing from one state or form to another
- To turn into one's own or another's language
- A change of form
SOURCE LANGUAGE
- The form from which the translation is made
RECEPTOR LANGUAGE
- The form into which it is to be changed

2. Source Language Receptor Language
MEANING
Translation
Text to be
translated
Re-express
The meaning
Discover the
meaning

3. SL
Tengo Sueno
RL1
Kajang pujawai
RL2
I am sleepy
Person (speaker) is in
state of
Being sleepy.

4. When the translator may not be equally fluent in two
languages, the study of principles to be presented will
enable them to make a more adequate translation.
Ex.
English – What is your name?
Spanish – Como se llama? ( “How yourself you-call?”)
Aguaruna – Amesh yaitpa? (“You-doubt who-are-you?”)

5. Characteristics of language which
affect translation
Meaning components

“Packaged” into lexical items, but they are “packaged” differently
in one language than in another.
Meaning components of Plurality

For example the English. This often occurs in grammar as a suffix
on the nouns or verbs or both.

6. Meaning components of Plurality

In Aguaruna, plurality is a component of the verb
stem itself. They use different forms for singular
and plural.
1. tupikau – he runs 2. pisaju – they run
1. eketu – he sits 2. pekemsau – they sit

7. Meaning Components

Components or words that are translated in a
single word.
Example :

In Otomi (Mexico) : one single word means
watch sheep by night

In Vietnamese: there is a word which means
someone leaves to go somewhere and something
happens at home so that he has to go back home

8. Characteristics of Language

The same meaning component will occur in
several surface structure lexical items (forms)
Example:
Word English Huambisa(Peru)
Lamb Young sheep its child
Ram Adult male sheep big
Ewe Adult female sheep its woman

9. Whole sentences
may also have several functions. A question form may
be used for a non-question.
Example:
“Mary, why don't you wash the dishes?”
* It may be asking for information,but is often used with the meaning of
command or suggestion, rather than a real question. It is then a
rhetorical question.

10. 
Grammatical markers – also have their primary
function and often have other secondary functions.
Ex. preposition “on”
John found a book Juan encontro un libro en on the
floor. (on) el suelo.
John found a book Juan encontro un libro on
Mathematics. sobre/da (about) matematicas.

11. Skewing
- the diversity or lack of one-to-one correlation
between form and meaning.
- the basic reason that translation is a complicated
task.

12. Conclusion
The goal of a translator should be to produce a receptor
language text (a translation) which is idiomatic;
that is one which has the same meaning as the
source language but it is expressed in a natural
form of the receptor language. The meaning, not
the form, is retained.