Translation is as old as language. Different language communities considered translation necessary for their interaction. With translation as an important activity, there emerged diverse theories to guide it.

1. As-Safi, A. (2010). Translation theories, strategies and basic theoretical issues.
Jordan, Petra: Petra University Press
Introduction to
Translation Theories
A Course Presentation by:
Dr. Jihan Zayed
Mustaqbal University, KSA
2020

2. Translation is as old as language. Different
language communities considered
translation necessary for their interaction.
With translation as an important activity,
there emerged diverse theories to guide it.
Introduction
2

3. Translation
Translation is the expression in a target language (TL) of
what has been expressed in a source language (SL),
preserving semantic* and stylistic** equivalences.
• *Semantic: meaning
• **Style: refers to the relations among the participants in a language activity, especially
the level of formality they adopt (colloquial, formal, etc.).
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4. Criteria for Classifying Translation Types
Translation
Method/Approach
Mode
Code
4

5. Translation Types: Method/Approach
Translation
Literal
Literary
Semantic
Free
Non-literary
Communicative
Static Dynamic
5

6. Translation Types: Code
Translation Proper: by
means of some signs of
another language.
Rewording: by means
of other signs of the
same language.
Transmutation: by means
of signs of nonverbal sign
system.
Intralingual
Translation
Interlingual
Translation
Intersemiotic
Translation
There are three ways of interpreting a verbal sign:
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7. Translation Types: Mode
Written (Translating)
Translation
Oral (Interpreting)
Interpreting consists in conveying to the TL the most accurate, natural
equivalent of the SL oral message.
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8. Requirements for Competent Translators
Mastery/Proficiency of SL and TL1
Thorough knowledge of Source and Target cultures2
Familiarity with the topic3
Vocabulary wealth4
Awareness of the 3-pahase process: SL decoding, SL-TL
transcoding, TL encoding5
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9. Requirements for Competent Interpreters
Short-term memory for storage and retrieval1
Acquaintance with different accents2
Quick wittedness and full attention3
Knowledge of short-hand writing4
Self-exposure5
9

10. Translation Theories: A Historical Perspective
•For almost 2000 years, translation theory
has merely been concerned with outstanding
works of arts.
•The science of translation or “translatology”
has not emerged until the 1940s in an
attempt to establish itself as a new discipline.
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11. Main Periods in Translation History
11
The Fourth Period
The Third Period
The Second Period
The First Period
1960s: Present
1940s:1960s
1600:1940s
27 BC:1600

12. The First Period:
Though translated documents were found in the third and the
second millennium B.C. in ancient Egypt and Iraq, this period
starts with the Romans (i.e., 27 B.C.). It is the longest period as
it covers a span of about 1700 years.
• An underlying principle of enriching the native language through
translation led to stress the aesthetic criteria of the TL product.
• Translation should give a complete transcript of the ideas of the
original work.
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13. The Second Period:
This period runs up to the forties of the twentieth century.
The French theorist, Etienne Dolet (1509 –1546), stressed
the importance of understanding the text. He put some
principles for the translator:
1.The translator should avoid word-for-word translation.
2.The translator is at liberty to clarify obscurities.
3.The translator attempts to reach the “spirit” of the
original.
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14. John Dryden (1631-1700) formulated 3 basic types of
translation:
14
Metaphrase: Translating word by word, line by line, from one language into another1.
Paraphrase: Translation with latitude: sense-for-sense2.
Imitation: The translator can abandon the text of SL. He can mix between the two
extremes: paraphrase and metaphrase.
3.
.

15. The Third Period:
This period, which is the shortest as it extends to less than
three decades, starts with the publication of the first
papers on machine translation in the 1940s, and is
characterized by the introduction of structural and applied
linguistics, and contrastive studies which helped the
translators identify between SL and TL.
15

16. The Fourth Period:
The last period coexists with the third period as it has its
origins in the early 1960s. This period sets the discipline in
a wide frame which includes a number of other disciplines.
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17. • The invention of computer led to automatic machine
translation (MT).
• MT is simply translation performed either purely
automatically by a computer or with human assistance
which involves the preparation of ST (pre-editing)
and/or product editing (post-editing).
Translation Computerization Era
17

18. • The Arabs are credited with initiating the first organized, large-scale
translation activity in history.
• Al-Ma’mun had founded in 830 Bait Al-Hikma in Baghdad which
functioned as an academy, library and translation bureau and had a
personnel of 65 translators.
• Two methods of translations had been adopted:
1. Ibn Al-batriq and Ibn Na’ima Al-Himsi’s method was highly literal and consisted
of translating each Greek word with an equivalent Arabic word, but when there
was no equivalent, the Greek word was adopted.
2. Ibn Ishaq revised the first method and exercised translating sense-for-sense
translation.
• Al-Jahiz insisted that the translator can never do the original writer
justice or express him with fidelity.
Arabs’ Theorization
18

19. Translation Theories: A General Survey
• Translation theory is mainly concerned with
determining appropriate translation methods for the
widest possible types of texts.
• It also provides a framework of rules for translating
and criticizing translations.
• A theory should also be concerned with translation
strategies adopted to address problems in certain
texts.
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20. Translation Theories
The following part will show some main theories:
Philological Theory
Philosophical Theory
Linguistic Theory
Functional Theory
Translational Action Theory
Sociolinguistic Theory
Skopos Theory
Polysystem Theory
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21. • Philology is the study of development of
language and the classical literary studies.
• Philological theory is concerned with the
comparison of structures in the native and
foreign languages, especially the functional
correspondence and the literary genres in
addition to stylistics and rhetoric.
Philological Theory
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22. • This theory emphasizes the psychological and
intellectual functioning of the mind of the
translator.
• Translation is essentially a semantic transfer
from SL into TL.
Philosophical Theory
22

23. • This theory is based on the comparison of the
linguistic structures of the STs and TTs.
• It is only the linguistic translation that can be
considered “faithful” because it is one which only
contains elements which can be directly derived
from the ST wording, avoiding any kind of
explanatory interpolation or cultural adjustment.
Linguistic Theory
23

24. • This theory views translation as purpose-driven,
or product-oriented human interaction with
special emphasis on the process of translation
as message-transmission from a source text.
Translational Action Theory
24

25. Skopos Theory
25
• Skopos is derived from Greek as a technical term for the
purpose of translation.
• It was developed in Germany in the late 1970s.
• It reflects a shift from predominantly linguistic and rather formal
theories to a more functionally and socio-culturally oriented
concept of translation.
• It endeavours to meet the growing need in the later half of the
twentieth century for the translation of non-literary texts:
scientific, academic papers, instructions for use, tourist guides,
contacts, etc.

26. • It has first arisen from the work of a group of Russian
literary theorists.
• As it offers a general model for understanding,
analyzing, and describing the functions and evolution of
literary systems, its specific application is to the study of
translated literature.
• These systems, whether in the original or translated
texts, subsume several levels: linguistic, cultural, and
social, all of which overlap and interact with each other.
Polysystem Theory
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27. Sociolinguistic Theory
27
• This theory endeavors to link translation to
communicative theory and information theory,
with special emphasis on the receptor’s role in
the translation process.
• It does not overlook language structures,
instead it deals with them at a higher level in
accordance to their functions in the
communicative process.

28. • This theory subsumes the early work on text
type and language function, the theory of
translational action, skopos theory and text-
analysis model.
Functional Theory
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29. Towards a Comprehensive Theory of Translation
29
• Three types of theories are required:
1
Theory of translation as a
process (translating). This
requires a study of
information processing,
including:
a. Perception,
b. memory, and
c. encoding and decoding.
Besides, there is a need for
psychology and
psycholinguistics.
2 3
Theory of translation as a
product (translated texts).
This requires a study of
texts on several levels
(syntax and semantics) and
making use of stylistics and
recent advances in text-
linguistics and discourse
analysis.
Theory of both process and
product (translating and
translated texts). This is the
long-term goal for
translation studies. It adds
an element between the
process and product (i.e.,
transfer). This supposes
that the three elements are
not separate from each
other.

30. Translation Strategies
General Strategies deal with
different text types.
Translation Strategies
Specific Strategies deal
with a certain text type or
readership. It has 5 types.
A translation strategy is a procedure for solving a problem encountered
in translating a text or a segment of it.
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31. 1. Domestication Strategy
31
• This strategy is often adopted by literary translators as it
gives them the right to manipulate the text so as to make it
natural, comprehensible, and readable in order to bridge the
cultural gap and achieve intelligibility.
• Example:
“Your daughter spent, as I heard one night, fourscore
ducats.” ‫سمعت‬‫أن‬‫ابنتك‬‫قد‬‫أنفقت‬‫في‬‫ليلة‬‫واحدة‬‫سبعين‬‫دينارا‬.
*The translator has replaced the currency of the time “ducat”
with “dinar” to be understood by the Arab audience, and
even changed the number “fourscore” into “seventy”.

32. 2. Compensation Strategy
32
• It is making up for ST effects achieved by one means through
using another means in the TT.
Kind Place Merging Splitting
The Arabic emphatic
devices (‫ن‬ ،‫)ل‬ as in
‫لنبلونكم‬ “Surely we will
try you”, compensated
by lexical items such
as truly, verily, surely,
etc.
As in compensating
for the loss of
alliteration (for ex.) at
a given place in the
ST by employing
assonance in the TT
or vice versa.
As in translating the
phrase‫خاطره‬ ‫جبر‬ into one
lexical item, the English
verb “consoled.”
Distributing the features
carried in a short stretch
of the ST over a longer
stretch in the TT. For ex.,
‫اإلحرام‬ is translated into “a
state in which one is
prohibited to exercise
certain deeds and
practices that are
religiously permitted at
another state.”

33. 3. Addition Strategy
33
• This strategy is often adapted when the translator adds a
word to the original text. As in this example, he adds
“Hellfire”:
• Example:
“Truly, then I fear you are damned both by father and
mother.” ‫الواقع‬‫أن‬‫جهنم‬‫مثواك‬...‫من‬‫والدك‬‫و‬‫والدتك‬!

34. 4. Strategy of Elaboration and Explication
34
• In order to communicate the original message in an intact
manner to the recipient, the translator sometimes resorts
to elaboration and explication.
• Example:
“What news on the Rialto?” ‫ما‬‫أخبار‬‫ريالتو؟‬
*Such translation is clearly unintelligible, for the proper
noun could be understood as a name of a person rather
than stock market. Therefore, the translator replaced the
noun by what it means in Arabic as in:
‫ما‬‫أخبار‬‫بورصة‬‫ريالتو؟‬

35. 5. Strategy of Approximation and Compromise
35
• This strategy creates a balance between the SL aesthetic
and cultural values which are acceptable or unacceptable
in the TL.
• Example:
“The Call of the Curlew” ‫دعاء‬‫الكراوان‬
*In this case, an approximation, rather than complete
translation, is possible in order to present a natural,
acceptable translation.

36. Translation Equivalence
36
• Equivalence is a bilingual synonym or sameness
which is sought by means of “equal” verbal signs for
those in the original.
• Many theorists think that translation is based on
some kind of equivalence depending on: word,
sentence, or text levels.
• It must be acknowledged that this equivalence in
Arabic and English is, in many cases, unattainable
on all levels.

37. Types of Equivalence
37
One-to-one
A single
expression
in the TL
for a
single
expression
in the SL
One-to-
part-of-one
The concept
of zakat into
English as
alms or
charity
reveals only
a part.
One-to-many
Cousin for
the son or
daughter of
the uncle or
aunt
Many-to-one
More than
one TL
lexical item
for a single
SL lexical
item
Nil or Zero
No TL
expression for
the SL
expression, for
example, video
in Arabic and
Algebra in
English

38. Translation Loss and Gain
38
Due to the discrepancies between English and
Arabic as two languages of different families, one
is European and the other is Semitic, loss in
translation is very common.

39. 39
Inevitable: Due to
the divergent systems of
the two languages;
therefore, the translator
resorts to compensatory
strategies.
Kinds of Loss
Avertable: It is
attributed to the
translator’s failure to
find the appropriate
equivalence.

40. Levels of Loss
40
Stylistic Level
Textual Level
Semantic Level
Syntactic Level
Morphological Level

41. • Arabic classifies countable nouns into singular, dual, and
plural; whereas English has a binary classification whereby
countable nouns are either singular or plural.
• To transfer duality from Arabic into English, a lexical item
such as both or two must be added.
• In Surat Al-Rahman, the aya "‫فبأي‬‫آالء‬‫ربكما‬‫تكذبان‬“ repeated 31
times shows duality in ‫ربكما‬ (your Lord: Lord of the two of
you) and ‫تكذبان‬ (you both deny).
1. Morphological Level
41

42. • English has 12 tenses, some of which have no equivalents in Arabic,
such as present perfect and present continuous, or progressive.
• This can be illustrated by the verb ‫جاء‬ in the following Quranic ayas:
.1"‫جاء‬‫السحرة‬‫فرعون‬"
.2"‫و‬‫جاءت‬‫سكرة‬‫الموت‬"
.3"‫قل‬:‫جاء‬‫الحق‬‫و‬‫زهق‬‫الباطل‬"
.4"‫و‬‫سيق‬‫الذين‬‫كفروا‬‫إلى‬‫جهنم‬‫زمرا‬‫حتى‬‫إذا‬‫جاءوها‬‫و‬‫فتحت‬‫أبوابها‬"
• The verb ‫جاء‬ in the above four ayas denotes past, present, present
perfect and future tenses respectively.
2. Syntactic Level
42

43. • The loss on this level occurs due to the lack of equivalence
in English and Arabic, especially for many religious and
cultural words.
• Here is an example of this loss in translating the following
aya:
•"‫فإذا‬‫فرغت‬‫فانصب‬"
• “So when thou art empty, labour”
• The translator missed the intended meaning (i.e., the
completion of work) for an uncontextualized one: empty.
3. Semantic Level
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44. • Cohesion is one of the most significant constituents of the text: It
can be achieved via conjunctions, referring expressions,
repetition, etc.
• Coordination, for example, is employed differently in English and
Arabic.
• The excessive use of coordinated clauses in English may make
the text rather boring to read and hard to focus on its ideas.
• Conversely, the Arabic most recurrent coordinator ‫الواو‬ recurs 157
times in Surat Yusuf, which is not always adopted in translating it,
thus, creating loss on the textual level.
4. Textual Level
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45. • The translation of the rhetorical device metaphor in:
•"‫هن‬‫لباس‬‫لكم‬‫و‬‫أنتم‬‫لباس‬‫لهن‬"
• “They are garments for you and your garments for
them.” not as in the following translation”
• “They are a comfort to you as you are to them.”
5. Stylistic/Rhetorical Level
45