1.

History of Translation

1.1. Early History of Translation

1.2. Famous Translators Throughout Time

1.3. Modern Translation Methods

The history of translation has been a topic that has long been debated by scholars and
historians, though it is widely accepted that translation pre-dates the bible. The bible
tells of different languages as well as giving insight to the interaction of speakers from
different areas. The need for translation has been apparent since the earliest days of
human interaction, whether it be for emotional, trade or survival purposes. The demand
for translation services has continued to develop and is now more vital than ever, with
businesses acknowledging the inability to expand internationally or succeed in
penetrating foreign markets without translating marketing material and business
documents.

1.1. Early History of Translation

The word ‘translation’ comes from a Latin term which means “to bring or carry across”.
Another relevant term comes from the Ancient Greek word of ‘metaphrasis’ which
means “to speak across” and from this, the term ‘metaphrase’ was born, which means
a “word-for-word translation”. These terms have been at the heart of theories relating
to translation throughout history and have given insight into when and where translation
have been used throughout the ages.

It is known that translation was carried out as early as the Mesopotamian era when the
Sumerian poem, Gilgamesh, was translated into Asian languages. This dates back to
around the second millennium BC. Other ancient translated works include those carried
out by Buddhist monks who translated Indian documents into Chinese. In later periods,
Ancient Greek texts were also translated by Roman poets and were adapted to create
developed literary works for entertainment. It is known that translation services were
utilized in Rome by Cicero and Horace and that these uses were continued through to
the 17th century, where newer practices were developed.

It is argued that the knowledge and findings of Greek academics was developed and
understood so widely thanks to the translation work of Arabic scholars. When the
Greeks were conquered, their works were taken in by Arabic scholars who translated
them and created their own versions of the scientific, entertainment and philosophical
understandings. These Arabic versions were later translated into Latin, during the
Middle Ages, mostly throughout Spain and the resulting works provided the
foundations of Renaissance academics.

1.2. Famous Translators Throughout Time

Translators have often been hidden characters, unnamed people who have paved the
way for some of the greatest contributions to the dissemination of ideas, knowledge and
theories throughout the ages. In some cases, working as a translator was incredibly
dangerous and some even lost their lives because of their work. This included famous
translators such as William Tyndale, who was executed in Holland in 1536 because he
worked on translating the bible into English. Other famous translators include:
Chinese monk Xuanzang who in 645 AD was credited with having translated 74
volumes on Indian Buddhist scripts into Chinese.

Constance Garnett was a British translator who translated Russian classics including
Tolstoy, Chekhov, Turgenev and Gogol into English towards the end of the 19th
Century.

Gregory Rabassa was an American literary translator who translated numerous Latin
documents into English throughout the 20th Century.

1.3.Modern Translation Methods

Following on from the Industrial Revolution, the economy developed rapidly and
evolved into a machine with the potential for global success. New machinery allowed
for swifter production of texts and business related materials and this means that more
time could be invested in evolving a company and translating material to enter foreign
markets. Since the 18th century, businesses have benefitted from formalised translation
 services but the dawn of modern practice came with the widespread introduction of the
internet.

The internet has revolutionised the ability to access, translate and understand texts and
documents from all over the world, whether they be contemporary or historical pieces.
Crucially, the need to understand the culture of the original country and that of the
target audience is further enhanced by modern tools and practices. Although some
instant translation services are capable only of metaphase translation (literal word-for-
word translation), specialist firms, platforms and translators are able to translate texts
and spoken word into multiple languages whilst observing the relevance and culture of
the target receiver.

2.What is Translation?

2.1.Translation Studies
2.2.Semiotic and Communicative Approaches
2.3.Levels of Translation. Unit of Translation. Translation Invariant.
2.4.Professional Requirements and Responsibilities of a Translator

2.1. Translation Studies

The second half of the 20th century has seen the in-depth study of translation, which is
sometimes called Theory of Translation, Science of Translation, Translation Linguistics, or
even Translatology. It has been claimed abroad that translation studies began in 1972 with
Holmes’s paper presented at the Third International Congress of Applied Linguistics, “The
Name and Nature of Translation Studies”. The main concern of translation theory is to
determine appropriate translation methods for the widest possible range of texts and to give
insight into the translation process, into the relations between thought and language, culture
and speech. There are several aspects of this branch of linguistics:
• General theory of translation, whose object is general notions typical of translation from
any language.
• Specific (or partial, in terms of Holmes) theory of translation that deals with the regularities
of translation characteristic of particular languages - for example, translation from English
into Spanish and vice versa.
• Special (partial) theory of translation that pays attention to texts of various registers and
genres.
There are two terms in translation theory: translation and interpretation. Those who
discriminate between the terms refer the term ‘translation’ to the written text, and the term
‘interpretation’ to oral speech. However, the terms are polysemantic: to interpret might mean
“to render or discuss the meaning of the text” – an outstanding British translation theorist
P.Newmark, for example, states that “when a part of a text is important to the writer’s
intention, but insufficiently determined semantically, the translator has to interpret”. The
term to translate is often referred to any (written or oral) manner of expression in another
language. We should also differentiate the terms translating and rendering. When we
translate, we express in another language not only what is conveyed in the source text but
also how it is done. In rendering, we only convey the ideas (the what) of the source text.
Several approaches are used for defining translation.

2.2. Semiotic and Communicative Approaches

Language system is the part of semiotics dealing with sign systems. Therefore, semiotic
theories may be applied to language functioning. According to the semiotic approach,
translation is language code switching. When translating, we switch from one language to
another one. American linguist Roman Jakobson in his article “On Linguistic Aspects of
Translation” spoke of three possibilities of code switching: 1) Intralinguistic translation, or
rewording, i.e. interpreting verbal signs through other signs of the same language. This can
be done on diachronic level: Chaucer’s text is translated into modern English. When done
on synchronic level, this kind of code switching is called a paraphrase. We often deal with
paraphrasing when trying to explain or define things. For example, to explain the meaning
of the phrase “I am not much of a cook”, we can paraphrase it by “ I do not like to cook, or
“I do not cook well”. In the theory of translation, this type of code switching is called a
transformation. Intralinguistic transfer can also be illustrated by stylistic differentiation, as
is done in the following Azerbaijani text switching from the expressive publicistic register
to a very formal style of the police report. 2) Interlanguage translation, i.e. substituting verbal
signs of one language by verbal signs of another language, or switching from one language
code to another one. This type of code switching is translation proper, the object of
Translation Studies. 3) Intersemiotic translation, i.e. substituting signs of one semiotic
system by signs of a different semiotic system. In its broad meaning, the term implies
transmutation and can be illustrated by decoding some ideas and themes expressed, for
example, in a poem through the “language” of music or dance. Other linguists adhere to the
semiotic approach to translation. J. Catford, for example, defines translation as “the
replacement of textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual material in
another language (TL).”
We communicate to transfer information from one person to another. Translation helps
people communicate if they speak different languages. Thus, translation is a two-facet
phenomenon: on the one hand, it is the process of transferring information; on the other hand,
it is the result of this process. By the result is meant a new text created in translating. The
communicative situation consists of several elements:
A speaker or writer (an author) makes a meaningful utterance called the text and addresses
it to the listener, reader, or receptor, who understands the purport of the text and reacts to it.
The translation situation doubles the elements of communication. The receptor of the
original text in turn becomes a translator who makes a translated text, or target text intended
for the receptor speaking another language: The source text is the text to be translated. The
target text is the end-product, the translated text.
For the translation to be adequate and effective, the target text should be equivalent to the
source text. Indeed, when reading tragedies by Shakespeare in Azerbaijani, the receptor is
but seldom aware that the words s/he sees in the text were not written by Shakespeare but
by some other person, a translator. The form of the target text is new but the purport and the
content are very close to the original. Paradoxically, the better a translator's work, the less
his/her work is observed. The translated text is attributed to the author speaking another
language and this text is used everywhere as if it were the original. Thus translation unifies
two different language speech acts in one communicative situation. It can be defined as a
special type of communication intended to convey information between the participants
speaking two different languages. As E. Nida and C. Taber put it, “translating consists of
reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source-language
meaning and secondly in terms of style.”

2.3. Levels of Translation. Translation Invariant. Unit of Translation

Levels of translation begin with identification of language signs. There are 4 levels of
translation: textual level, referential level, cohesive level, the naturalness. The textual level
involves the source text. At this level, you decode or render the syntactic structures of the
source text into their correspondent structures in the target text. The referential level operates
on the content of the source text. It deals with the message or meaning of the text. On this
level, you decode the meaning of the source text and build the conceptual representation.
On it you decode idioms and figurative expressions. This is where you figure out pragmatic
function of the source text. Once you decoded the source text, you encode it into an
appropriate target language expressions.
The referential and textual levels are closely related because the language of the source text
conveys the message, and you use language to use language to encode the message into the
target text. The cohesive level links the textual end referential levels. It deals with the form
and the meaning of the text. You take into consideration the tone and the mood of the text.
You establish the tone by finding the so-called value-laden and value-free passages, such as
subjective and objective bits, euphemisms, and other framing devices. The train of thought
has to be followed. You reconsider the length of paragraphs and sentences, the formulation
of the title; the tone of the conclusion. This is where the findings of discourse analysis is
pertinent.
Translation Invariant. Unit of Translation. Many linguistic terms have been borrowed
from mathematics. Translation invariant is one of them. By translation invariant we mean
what is in common between the two expressions, a source one and a target one, after our
manipulations and transformations of variable phrases. By translation invariant we should
understand the semantic equivalence of the source and the target texts. Some linguists,
however, consider the notion to be broader than this definition. They suppose that it is the
real situation described by the text that brings together the source and the target texts. If the
situation is understood differently, it leads to misunderstanding, which can happen in a
monolanguage situation as well, and is often the basis for all sorts of comical jokes. For
example, the situation in the shop: Покупатель: Я хочу примерить платье в витрине.
Продавец: Пожалуйста, но у нас есть примерочная. Customer: I’d like to try on the
dress in the shop window. Salesgirl: You are welcome. But we have a fitting room.
Different situations verbalized here are caused by different pragmatic emphasis. The
customer presses upon trying on a featured dress whereas the salesgirl implies the
impropriety of using a shop window. If the translator of this joke had paraphrased the first
sentence in a different way (I’d like to try on the dress that is in the shop window), the joke
would have been lost, though the meanings of its sentences would have been equally
transferred. Therefore, the invariant of translation is based not only on semantics (meaning),
but also on pragmatics (communicative intention).
Singling out and defining a unit of translation is a problem widely discussed in
Translation Studies. According to R. Bell, a unit of translation is the smallest segment of a
source language text which can be translated, as a whole, in isolation from other segments
(as small as possible and as large as is necessary).
Should we consider a word as a translation unit? Though there exists the notion of a word-
for-word translation, the word can hardly be taken for a translation unit. First of all, this is
because word borders are not always clear, especially in English. Sometimes a compound
word is written in one element, sometimes it is hyphenated, or the two stems are written
separately as a phrase: e.g., moonlight, fire-light, candle light. On the other hand, in oral
speech it is difficult to single out separate words because they tend to fuse with each other
into inseparable complexes: [‘wud3э 'ko:lim?] – according to the stress, there should be two
words, while in written speech we can see four words: Would you call him? Furthermore,
it is impossible to consider a phrase (word combination) as a translation unit, because its
bounderies are also vague. Thus, it is not a language unit that should be considered in
translation, but a discourse (speech) unit. A translation unit is a group of words united in
speech by their meaning, rhythm and melody, i.e. it is a syntagm, or rhythmic and notional
segment of speech. This definition of the unit of translation is process-oriented. If
considered from a product-oriented point of view, it can be defined as the target-text unit
that can be mapped onto a source-text.

2.4.Professional Requirements and Responsibilities of Translators

1. Excellent writing skills in your native language

To succeed as a freelance translator, you have to be a very good writer, with excellent
grammar and knowledge of different writing styles in your native language. If you are
only nearly bilingual, you should only translate into your native language. Your
translations will be read by native speakers with a lot of experience in the field in which
you translate, so if you can’t write at the level at which your audience reads, you will
cause a lot of trouble for both yourself and your clients.

How to improve these skills:

 If you are not living in a country where your native language is spoken, it is
extremely important that you spend a lot of time in such a country as often as you
can in order to keep up with the evolution of the language.
 Purchase and refer to language and style guides, and update these resources
regularly.
 Read newspapers and journals, watch TV and listen to radio in your target
language.
 Take continuing education courses to improve your writing skills and writing
style.
 Collaborate with proofreaders and ask to see the changes they make so you can
both learn from each other.
2. Excellent reading and comprehension skills in your source language(s)
To succeed as a freelance translator, you need to be fluent or almost fluent in your
source language(s) so you can understand source texts perfectly and truly know what
you are translating.

How to improve these skills:

 Spend time each year in a country where your source language is spoken.
 Read, listen and watch material in your source language.
 Take language courses in your source language.
 Purchase and refer to language and style guides.

3. Cultural knowledge in both your target and source language(s)

A good freelance translator is very familiar with the cultural differences between the
country or countries in which the the source lan1guage(s) and target language(s) are
spoken. We translators also need to function as cultural consultants and let clients know
when something does not work or is inappropriate in the target culture. No matter how
good a translation is, if there are cultural faux pas, clients’ goals will not be fulfilled.

How to improve these skills:

 Spend time in both the source and target cultures.

 Take classes in intercultural communication and study material on the different
cultures.

4. The ability to specialize in one or a few subject areas

If you know a lot about a subject, you can provide1 better translations when working
with that subject matter. When serving a company as a freelance translator, for example,
you need to know about their product or service and how it works in order to avoid
making translation errors. Ideally, you should be able to discuss the subject matter with
the people who wrote it as if you were one of them. You can choose an area of expertise
from your professional history, if you have one. If not, you may be able to find family
members or close friends with expertise in a subject matter that you can learn from.
You can also take courses in a subject matter to learn more about it, or ask a colleague
with expertise in an area to train you in translating related material. Having a
specialization will also make it easier to market yourself to your ideal clients, since you
can narrow down your target group and speak directly to them. I know several
translators who specialize in very narrow subject areas, such as cosmetics or waste
management, and do very well. They can speak directly to a special target group, and
their clients view them as valuable experts worth paying good money for.

How to improve these skills:

 Choose an area of specialization relevant to your academic, professional or other

related experience.
 Consider the time that researching texts in your area of specialization will require,
and charge accordingly.
 Keep up to date on the latest developments and terminology through various
media in your source and target language(s).

5. Good computer and keyboarding skills1

Most translators these days work with a computer-aided translation tool, or CAT tool,
and have to know how computers and different software programs work, be able to
learn to use new tools easily, and understand how to do research and market themselves
online. To be a good freelance translator, you also have to be proficient at keyboarding
in order to be profitable. You need to be able to type fast, with all of your fingers, even
if you use a speech-to-text software program, since you will need to edit the texts you
produce.

How to improve these skills:

 Take a course in keyboarding and computer skills.

 Learn from forums, blogs, YouTube, etc.
 Hire someone for IT and computer support and learn from them.

7. Self-motivation, organization and discipline

You need to be motivated to continually market your services, and you need to be
organized and disciplined in order to meet deadlines.

How to improve these skills:

 Read all you can on organizational skills and time management.

 Organize your time and workspace.
 Stick to a routine and explain your work hours to your family and friends.
 3 . Types and Methods of Translation

3.1.Classification Criteria
3.2.Machine Translation
3.3.Translation and Interpreting
3.4.Methods of Translation: Word-for-word Translation; Literal Translation; Faithful
Translation; Semantic Translation; Adaptation; Free Translation; Idiomatic
Translation; Communicative Translation.

3.1. Classification Criteria

There are some criteria for classifying translation: 1) The first one is based on who does
the translation. These days translation may be done by a human translator or by computer.
2) Form of speech: according to this criterion, translation as a written form, sight translation
(or translation-at-sight, on-sight translation) as the oral translation of written text, and
interpreting as oral translation of oral discourse are differentiated. This criterion also
involves subtitling, that is visual translation involving the superimposition of written text
onto the screen, and dubbing, or the replacement of the original speech by a voice track
which attempts to follow as closely as possible the timing, phrasing and lip movements of
the original dialogue. 3) Source text perception: a translator can see or hear the text. 4) Time
lapse between the source text perception and translation: consecutive and simultaneous
interpreting. 5) Number of languages in translation situation: one-way or two-way
translation. 6) Direction of translation: direct translation, that is, translation into the
mothertongue, and inverse translation, or translation into a foreign language. 7) Methods of
interpreting: note-taking interpretation, phrase-by-phrase interpretation 8) Functional style
and genre of the text: literary works and informative texts. According to the dominating
function of the source text, translations are divided into literary and informative groups. In
literary translation, the poetic function of the text prevails. It is the translation of fiction
prose, drama, and poetry. To translate a literary work, a translator should apply for the
copyright. Informative translation is the translation of texts on science, technology, official
writings, business messages, newspaper and magazine articles, etc. These texts can also have
an expressive function, but it is not dominating in the text. The prevailing function here is
informative.

3.2. Machine Translation

The first demonstration of an MT system took place in 1954 in Georgetown University,

U.S.A., where the experiment of making a computer translate words from Russian into
English was conducted.
Machine translation is often called computer-aided translation (CAT). CAT systems are
divided into two groups: machine-aided human translation (MAHT) and human-aided
machine translation (HAMT). The difference between the two lies in the roles of computer
and human translator. In MAHT, a translator makes the translation, then uses the computer
as a tool for typing, checking spelling, grammar, style; for printing the target text, for looking
up words in electronic dictionaries and data bases, for getting references on CD-ROMs and
other sources, for consulting about contexts, for discussing problems in the web, for seaching
a job, etc. In HAMT, the translation is automated, done by a computer but requiring the
assistance of a human editor. There are two phases of human help: pre-editing and post-
editing. In pre-editing, an operator (or a customer) prepares the text for input. A special
computer translation program transfers the text from one language to another. Then a
translator does the post-editing, mostly by correcting the word usage.
Machine translation is based on analysis and synthesis operations and has required many
years of hard work and frustrations. Sometimes the end-product of the machine translation
was so ridiculous (like Out of sight, out of mind. ), that in the 1960s there happened a
machine translation ‘recession’. However, with third-generation computer systems emerging
in the 1970s, interest in machine translation was revived. Word-processors appeared and
today’s translators cannot imagine their lives without them. Machine translation uses
software to translate text or speech from one language to another. MT uses a machine
translation engine to perform simple substitution of words in one language for words in
another, but that alone doesn’t usually produce the highest quality translation of a text. For
more accurate translation, recognition of whole phrases and their closest counterparts in the
target language is needed
Sometimes the general meaning of the text is all you need. In those cases, MT provides
an acceptable level translation. MT is a good option if you’re on a tight budget, looking for
immediate translation, and are okay with less than perfect quality. Use MT to translate less
important types of content like tweets, blog comments, blog posts, forums, or message
boards.

MT Strengths

 It’s the fastest way to translate your content into a new language.
 It’s less expensive.
 You can add a human review of MT to improve the quality.
 You can use translation memories (TM) to remember your key terms.
 You can integrate MT with a cloud-based TMS.
 It’s good for translating web content and web pages.

MT Weaknesses

 Depending on the language pairs, it has a 60 - 80% accuracy rate.

 Some content translates better with MT than others:

o Different languages work better with different MT engines.

o Some MT engines perform better with different subjects.

 It is difficult to translate technical terms, slang, or nuanced meanings.

 It can lack flow and sound stilted.

2.1 Translation and İnterpreting

Difference in written translation and interpreting has been fixed by two international
professional associations: F.I.T. (Fédération Internationale des Traducteurs) or the
International Federation of Translators, the association of written translators; and A.I.I.C.
(Association Internationale des Interprètes de Conferénce), or the International Association
of Conference Interpreters, dealing with oral translation.
As is seen from the name of the professional association, interpreters are often called
conference interpreters, though their functions can be much broader. Conference interpreting
is known to have started after World War I, at the Conference on the Preliminaries of Peace
in 1919. Until then all international meetings had been held in French, the language of 19th
century diplomacy.
The first conference interpreters did consecutive interpreting, i.e. they delivered their
translation after listening to the speaker so that there was some time between the source
language text and the translation. The interpreters worked in teams of two, each into his
mother tongue. At the League of Nations, interpreters went to the rostrum to deliver their
translation as soon as the speaker had finished. Occasionally speeches lasted well over an
hour, so the interpreters, considering it bad taste to interrupt a speaker, developed a technique
of consecutive interpreting with note-taking.
Two Geneva conference interpreters, J.-F. Rozan and J. Herbert, after having reviewed
their own as well as their colleagues’ writing pads, came to the conclusion that although each
interpreter had his or her own manner of writing,there was something common to all the
notes reviewed. This brought to life recommendations to would-be interpreters on how to
take notes in order to memorize the message and not to interrupt the speaker.18 Unlike
shorthand, an interpreter’s system of note-taking or speedwriting is not a word-for-word
recording of speech. It is based on the conceptual representation of the message utterance by
utterance and helps to single out the main idea of the speaker. The main principles of note-
taking are as follows:
• only key-words and the so called ‘precision’ words (i.e. words conveying unique
information, e.g., proper names, statistics, etc.) are put down;
• words are contracted (vowels are omitted, the so-called Arabic approach);
• special symbols are used;
• the syntactic structure has a vertical progression: Subject group Predicate Object
Object (homogeneous parts of the sentence are written one under the other).
The ‘sentence-by-sentence’ interpreting often found in liaison and community
interpretingб is not regarded now as ‘true consecutive’.Liaison interpreting takes
 place in spontaneous conversational settings, while community interpreting is typical of
the public service sphere.
These days consecutive interpreting is used mostly in bilateral contacts, to serve only two
languages.
Interpreting may take place in two directions when the interpreter has to work for both
language participants. This is a two-way, or bidirectional, translation (interpretation) and it
requires a special skill of switching the languages to speak to, suppose, a French participant
in French and to an English participant in English and not vice versa. A one-way interpreting
means translation from one language only and is usually employed for summit meetings.
There is a sub-variety of the consecutive interpreting, known as postponed consecutive
interpreting. This is a translation which is not performed in the presence of the participants,
but which is dictated from the interpreter’s notes into a dictating machine or typed, in case
the participants have understood the speaker but want to think over the discourse to take
appropriate decisions on it.
Consecutive interpreters are also called linear interpreters, for their translation is in line
with the source text unlike simultaneous translation that overlaps the original speech.
Simultaneous interpreting, i.e. interpreting almost immediately as the speaker produces the
text (the interpreter can lag behind the speaker not more than 2 or 3 seconds), came into life
much later, at the Nuremberg trials (1945-1946) and Tokyo trials (1946-1948) of war
criminals, though some attempts had been made in the late 1920s and the early 1930s. In the
USSR, simultaneous interpreting was first introduced at the 6th Congress of the Communist
International in 1928, with the interpreters sitting in the front row of the conference hall
trying to catch speakers’ words coming from the rostrum, and talking into heavy
microphones hanging on strings from their necks.23 Isolated booths for interpreters appeared
five years later, in 1933.
Simultaneous interpreting gained ground at the United Nations Organization that began
the era of multilateral diplomacy. Today’s simultaneous interpreters, unlike their
predecessors, are provided with special equipment. They work in a special booth, listening
through a headset to the speaker in the conference room and interpreting into a microphone,
while at the same time watching what is going on in the meeting room through the booth
window or viewing projections on the TV screen. Delegates in the conference room listen to
the target-language version through a headset.
Simultaneous translation is usually employed at multilanguage (multilateral) meetings, so
that conference participants can switch their headphones to the appropriate language
channel.
 Simultaneous interpreting is very exhausting work. It requires extremely concentrated
attention. The interpreter should adjust his/her own speech tempo to that of the speaker.
Several skills are simultaneously featured: listening, speaking, switching to another
language, compressing information. Simultaneous interpreting is possible due to the human
ability to anticipate and forecast what will be said in some minutes (вероятностное
прогнозирование). To do it, one must have a good command of the subject matter under
discussion. Since the simultaneous interpreter’s work is so intense and the conditions are
extreme, interpreters are usually changed at the microphone every 20 or 30 minutes.
Simultaneous translation may take place not only in the special booth. There is also
whispered interpreting (or chuchotage) where the interpreter sits between the participants
and whispers his/her translation to them. This type of translation is often used in a business
meeting.
The simultaneous interpreter can get the source text in written form, which does not make
his/her job easier, since the interpreter has to do simultaneously three jobs: read, listen and
interpret. It is a most strenuous task, for the interpreter has to be watchful of the speaker
deviating from the text.
Written translation is also divided into sub-varieties. It may be a visual translation (a
written text is before the translator’s eyes), translation by ear (in this case the translator
listens to the text and writes the translation: dictationtranslation), sight translation, (i.e.
translation of the written text without preliminary reading, usually done orally).
The most obvious differences between written translation and interpreting are as follows:
- translators have time to polish their work, while interpreters have no time to refine their
output
- any supplementary knowledge, for example terminological or world knowledge, can
be acquired during written translation but has to be acquired prior to interpreting - translators
can re-read their texts, they do not have to memorize big segments, while interpreters are
able to listen to the text but once
- interpreters have to make decisions much faster than translators
- unlike written translation, interpreting requires attention sharing and involves severe
time constraints. Following the United Nations norms of six to eight pages of written
translation per day, the professional translator typically produces about five words per
minute or 300 words per hour. The simultaneous interpreter, in contrast, has to respond
instantly at a rate of 150 words per minute or 9000 words per hour.25
 3.4 Methods of Translation
There are 8 methods of translation: word-for-word translation, literal translation, faithful
translation, semantic translation, adaptive translation, free translation, idiomatic translation,
and communicative translation.
The word order is preserved and the words translated by their most common meanings.
Cultural words are translated literally. The main use of this method as either to understand
the mechanics of the source language or to construe a difficult text as pre-translation process.
In literal translation grammatical constructions are converted to their nearest equivalents
but the lexical items are again translated out of context. As pre-translation process, it
indicates problems to be solved.
Faithful translation attempts to reproduce the precise contextual meaning of the original
within the constraints of the grammatical and lexical deviation from norms. It attempts to be
completely faithful to the intentions and the text realization of the writer.
Semantic translation differs from faithful translation only in as far as it must take more
account of the aesthetic value of the text compromising 7 meaning where appropriate so that
no assonance, word play or repetition jars in the finished version. It doesn’t rely on cultural
equivalence and makes vary small concessions to the readership. While “faithful” translation
is dogmatic, semantic translation is more flexible.
Communicative translation attempts to render the exact contextual meaning of the original
in such a way that both language and content are readily acceptable and comprehensible to
the readership.
Idiomatic translation reproduces the message of the original but tends to distort nuances
of meaning by preferring colloquialisms and idioms.
Free translation reproduces the matter wiyhout the manner, or the content without the form
of the original. Usually it is a paraphrase much longer than the original.
Adaptation is the freest form of translation mainly used for plays and poetry: themes,
characters, plots preserved.

4.Translation Equivalence
4.1.Pragmatic Level of Equivalence
4.2.Situational Level of Equivalence
 4.3.Transformational Equivalence
4.4.Lexical and Grammatical Equivalence
4.5.Formal and Dynamic Equivalence

According to V. Komissarov, one can distinguish five levels of equivalence:

pragmatic, situational, lexical (semantic), grammatical, structural levels.

4.1 Pragmatic Level

First and foremost, the translation must retain the same communicative function as the
source text. The description and enumeration of speech functions can be found in the work
by R. Jakobson, who pointed out the following:
• informative function, i.e. conveying information: Rəqibimin uğurları məni yatmağa da
qoymur.– I am green with envy because of the success of my competitor.

• emotive function, i.e. expressing the speaker’s emotions: Belə dost nəyimə gərək? – hat
on earth do I need such a friend for?
• conative function, i.e. expressing one’s will: Could you do me a favor, please? – Mənə
bir lütf edə bilərsinizmi, zəhmət olmasa?
• phatic function, i.e. making communicative contact: How do you do! – Salam!
• metalingual function, i.e. describing language features: Don’t trouble trouble until
trouble troubles you. – На дворе трава – на траве дрова.
• poetic function, i.e. aesthetic impact To be or not to be that is the question: Whether ‘tis
nobler in the mind to suffer. Olum, ya ölüm, budur məsələ!Hansı daha şərəflidir,
sığandır əqlə (Aslan Aslanov)
These sentences have only one thing in common: general intent of communication,
communication aim, or function. At first glance, the source and target texts have no obvious
logical connection; they usually designate different situations, have no common semes .

4.2 Situational Level

 The source and the target texts can describe the same situation from different angles with
different words and structures: I meant no harm. – Bağışlayın, bilmədən oldu.(the situation
in the bus); Who shall I say is calling? – Onu kim soruşur? (the situation on the phone); Wet
paint. – Ehtiyatlı olun, rənglənib! (the situation in the park). There are no parallel lexical or
structural units in these counterparts. Therefore, their content is different, the word semes
are different, grammar relations between the sentence components are different.
Nevertheless, the utterances correspond to each other in their communicative functions and
in the similarity of the described situation. Because of this identity, V. Komissarov calls this
type of equivalence «identification of the situation» Frequently one and the same situation
is referred to in different languages. This is particularly true of set phrases: Fragile. – Şüşə,
ehtiyatlı olun! Beware of the dog! – İt, ehtiyatlı olun! Push/Pull – Özünə sarı və əksinə.
Some situations cannot be translated: “Nuş olsun!” has no corresponding phrase in
English. In place of this lacuna, English people use the French idiom “Bon appetit!”. There
is also no equivalent for the expression of ”həmişə təmizlikdə”

4.3 Semantic Paraphrase

Dealing with the transformation of meaning implies a semantic variation, or semantic

paraphrase of the source language utterance. For example, the sentence in the original can
be translated as if the situation were viewed from a different angle: He was not unlike his
mother. – О, anasına çox bənzəyir. He is my son. – Mən o oğlanın anasıyam. Or some words
of the source language sentence are paraphrased in translation: After her illness, she became
as skinny as a toothpick. – Xəstəlikdən sonra o arıqlayıb taxta kimi olmuşdu. Or the target
sentence can verbalize the idea in more detail than the source language sentence: Bugün
Borisin qanı qaradır. – Boris is in no mood for joking today. On this level of equivalence,
the source and the target sentences have the same function (aim), they describe the same
situation, and their meanings are approximately identical, whereas their grammar structures
are different. As is known, the meaning of each word consists of semes, the smallest sense
component. The set of semes in the source and target sentences is the same, but they are
grouped differently and, therefore, are verbalized in different ways and do not have the same
syntactic structure. V. Komissarov states that on this level the two sentences match because
they have approximately the same method of the situation description.

4.4 Transformational Equivalence

 On this level, the target and the source language sentences manifest grammar
transformations: the passive predicate can be translated by the active: The port can be entered
by big ships only in tide. – Böyük gəmilər sahilə yalnız cərəyan zamanı daxil ola bilərlər.
Likewise, part of speech can be changed in translation: We had a long walk. – Biz çox
gəzdik.

4.5 Lexical and Grammatical Equivalence

On this level, the most possible semantic similarity between the source and target
sentences is found: Every mother loves her children. – Hər ana sevir övladını! I will write
you every week. – Я буду писать тебе каждую неделю (transıation from English to
Russian). As a matter of fact, this is a word for word translation where each word and the
whole structure retains its lexical and grammatical meaning, the situation designated by the
sentences is identical, and the communicative nction of the utterances is the same. Every
form of the target sentence is equal, with no variations, to that of the source language
sentence.Therefore, this level might be called the level of formal equivalence.

4.5 Dynamic and Formal Equivalence

Dynamic and formal equivalence are concepts from linguistics. When
a language is translated into another one, there is a problem: the meaning of a word or a
phrase in the first language is not the same as that of the word or phrase in the second
language. The first language may also have grammatical structures that do not exist in the
second language. This is a problem for translation.
There are two possible ways to solve this problem:

1. The translator can look at what the text means. He or she can then try to find
expressions in the target language that mean very similar things. With this approach, the
translation will sound more natural, and may be easier to read. This is known
as dynamic or functional equivalence.
2. It is possible to make a literal translation. This will be harder to read, but it will
be closer to what is written in the source text. A literal translation may mean that the text is
translated word for word - Some expressions that are there in the source language may not
be there in the target language. Such translations are called formalequivalence.
 5.Transformations in Translation

5.1.Transposition in Translation
5.2.Replacement in Translation
5.3.Omission in Translation

As there are differences between formal and semantic forms of source and target
languages, equivalence demands transformations in translation. Because a good
translation observing all rules of the target language and transmitting all information of
the source text is impossible without these transfomations. Main types of
transformation met in translation are transposition, replacement, addition and omission.
In translation theory, “translation shifts “ is also used instead of transformation.
However this classification is conditional, because the same type of transformation is
explained in different ways.
5.1 Transposition
It is changing places of members of sentence in the source language in translation to
the target language. As we know, the sequence of words in English is like subfect+the
predicate+other parts of the sentence. Adverbial modifier of time can also precede the
subject.
Yesterday I came home at 5 o’clock. (AT+S+P+AP+AT)
Dünən saat 5 də evə gəkdim. ( AT+AT+AP+P)
As English is an analytic language, the sequence of words is fixed. However
Azerbaijani is a synthetic language, and the sequence of words is relatively free. Both
in translation from English to other languages or vice versa, first of all, we have to find
subject and predicate of the sentence. Then, we try to collect other members of the
sentence around subject and predicate. Places of principal and subordinate clauses may
also change in translation; Who is your date if it isn’t Fitzgerald? –I asked him (
Salinger)-Fitzgerald deyilsə, bəs kimdir görüşdüyün bu qız? Bir də ondan
sorçdurm(T.V.)
 5.2 Replacement
It is the most commonly usage form of transformation. Each unit and category of
language can be replaced.There is spoken about 2 types of replacement in theoretical
literature - grammatical and lexical replacement. In translation from English to
Azerbaijani, most of plural nouns are translated in singular: I bought potatoes(oats,
apples, onions) in the market.- Bazarda kartof yulaf, pomidor, alma, soğan) aldım.
A part of speech can be replaced with another one. For example, He spent the night at
home.- o, evdə gecələdi. He was beheaded/- onun başı kəsildi.Onun başını kəsdilər).
He gave her his book.-Oğlan kitabını qıza verdi.
Complex sentence can be made simple: When I came home he was watching TV- Mən
evə gələndə o televizora baxirdi.
There are also some types of replacement like lexical replacement, antonymic
translation, compensation and addition.
Lexical replacement is substitution of different lexical units of source language with
non-equivalent lexical units of target language. There are 3 types of lexical
replacement; concretisation, generalisation, replacement of cause by effect and effect
by case.
In concretisation, a word with a wide referensial meaning is translated as loose meaning
word or word combination. For example, in Azerbaijani “barmaq” can be translated to
English like “finger” and “toe”. When translating the sentence “O, dirnaqlarını
tuturdu.” it must be given in a concrete way, if it is “finger nail” or “toe nail”.
Generalization is a type of lexical transformation contrary to concretization. In this
type of translation, a lexical unit with a loose meaning in the source language is
translated to the target language with a wider meaning. For example, That isn’t too far
from this crumby place, and he comes over and visits me practically every weekend. In
this sentence the translation of word “weekend” in O.Musayev’s dictionary is given
like “weekend-hefte sonu(şənbə bazar)
In replacement of cause by effect and effect by case, cause is replaced by effect and
effect is replaced by cause. For example, I do not blame them.- Mən onları başa
düşürəm. (ona görə günahlandırmıram)
5.4 Omission
 Omission is a contrast form of addition. It can be understood in two ways: omission
of words from the semantic point of view; omission of redundant words from the ethic
point of view. Omission of words is related with norms of source language.
In English usage of synonyms in the same expression is an ordinary case: null and void,
just and fair, by force and violence. In Azerbaijani we can see this kind of cases too:
aöıllı-kamallı, gözəl-göyçək, varlı-dövlətli. According to the norms of the target
language, one of these synonyms is omitted. The contract üas decla red null and void.
– Müqavilə etibarsız elan olundu. He expected to have a just and equitable treatment.-
O, edaletli reftar gözləyirdi. All these cases are examoles for semantic omission.
In ethic omissions differences between cultures is a principal norm. For example, in
translation of arabic novels called “1001 nights”, R.Burton omits some moments as
cultures of English and Arabic people are quite different.

6. Grammatical Problems of Translation

6.1.Differences between Azerbaijani and English languages

6.2.Translation of Definite and Indefinite Articles
6.3.Translation of Gender Category
6.4.Translation of Single and Plural Forms of Noun

6.1 Differences between Azerbaijani and English Languages

All languages of the world are communicative. But they are not similar in their
grammar. Languages belonging to different language families are different from
syntactic and morphological categories. In this case, English and Azerbaijani languages
are not exceptions. Number of parts of speech, categories belonging to parts of speech
are partially different. But differences don’t make translation impossible between these
two languages. For translating from one of these languages to another one we must
know these languages perfectly.
English is an analytical language. The sequence of words is fixed. Parts of sentence in
different cases of noun are identified by their place in the sentence, but not with their
formal features. For example; The lion killed the boy- The boy killed the lion.
Exceptions are more than rules in English. That’s why English lexicographers pay a
special attention to the plural forms of the noun, irregular forms of the verb, places of
the article. For example; ox-oxen, woman-women, put-put-put, go-went-gone
There is a gender category neither in English nor in Azerbaijani. There are differences
between the number of tenses and their their agreement. For example, there are more
tenses in English than in Azerbaijani and we must be very attentive while translating
tense forms. All these cases make transformations important while translating process.
In translation from Azerbaijani to English we have problems in translation definite
articles with proper nouns, gender category, singular and plural forms of the noun and
tense forms.

6.2 Translation Definite and Indefinite Articles

There are enough grammatical materials about usage of definite articles with common
nouns. However there are many difficulties with proper nouns because of exceptions.
For example, according to “Grammar of Spoken and Written English” , if not having
defining feature nouns are used without articles, but in the case of having defining
feature they are used with definite article: Tom, Alan, The National Australia Bank, the
Indian Ocean, The Congress Library.

Names of social individuals the Queen, the President (but Congress, Parliament), names
of social buildings and organizations ( The Library of Congress, The British Library,
the University of Oxford, The Act of Human Rights); names of parties ( The Sweden,
The Russian, the English) are used with definite article. Geographical names used in
plural forms ( the British Isles, The Great Smoky Mountains) ; names of seas, rivers,
oceans, channels, hotels, restaurants, cinemas, museums, libraries, ships, newspapers
are used with definite article. There are also proper nouns used like common nouns; for
example, member of the family, any product of the enterprise ( a Jones, the Joneses,
two Cadillacs)
But sometimes we cannot find any explanation to the usage of definite article. For
example, the Hague, the Ukraine, The Kremlin, etc. When translation this kind of
nouns you should have a look to explanatory dictionaries. There is given usage rules of
nouns in this kind of dictionaries.

6.3.Translation of Gender Category

English and Azerbaijani are lexical languages, so the gender of words is unknown from
their forms. However in Russian, words ending in а, я, ь are in feminine gender (книга,
молния, день), words ending in е,о ( озеро, печение) are in neuter gender, words
ending in with remaining letters are in masculine gender.
The gender problem is solved by lexical way: oğlan-qız, qoyun-qoç, erkək-dişi, toyuq-
xoruz. It is the same with English language, too. However it is possible to make the
feminineform of the noun to masculine one rarely, for example, lion-lioness, tiger-
tigeress.
In modern English we use “you” both for singular and plural form of the second person.
But in Azerbaijani and Russian we use “sən, siz , ты, вы”. In Azerbaijani and Russian
these words express closeness and formality, but it is not so in English.
There is difference between gender category of personal pronouns. So, there are
particular pronouns in the singular form the third person: he, she, it.
Moreover, in English, strong animals are considered to be masculine, weak ones to be
feminine, ship and motherland to be neuter gender.

6.4 Plural and Singular Form of the Noun

Singular and plural form of nouns make some problems in translation. So, there are
some words with the meaning of plural, but with the form of singular and vice versa,
words with the form of plural and meaning of singular; politics, dynamics, status- statas,
data-datum, addenda-addendum, etc. Explanation of such kind of words are given in
explanatory dictionaries.
 7. Lexical Aspects of Translation

7.1.Translation of Proper Nouns

7.2.Translation of Neologisms
7.3.Translation of International Words
7.4.Translation of Realia
7.5.Translation of Abbreviations
7.6. The Use of Dictionaries

7.1. Translation of Proper Nouns

Proper nouns refer to a specific person, place or thing. For example, Paris is a proper
noun since it refers to a specific city, while Neptune is a proper noun that refers to a
specific planet. In English, proper nouns are generally easy to identify because they're
capitalized no matter where they are located in a sentence, unlike most other nouns.
Here are several different types of proper nouns that often cause problems in
translations:

The exterior of Seville Cathedral, which is thought to contain the remains of famous
explorer Christopher Columbus.
It should come as no surprise that when it comes to the names of people, the general
rule is to keep them exactly the same in both languages, or as close to the original as
possible when dealing with different writing systems. This applies whether you're
dealing with a text that mentions a political figure like Barack Obama, a famous
musician like Madonna, or your mother.

That said, there are some exceptions, especially when it comes to older historical
figures. One great example of this is explorer Christopher Columbus, who is known
as Cristóbal Colón in Spanish, Cristoforo Colombo in Italian, and Christophe Colomb
in French, to name just a few of the variations.

A couple of other examples include Genghis Khan (Gengis Kan in Spanish), Julius
Caesar (Jules César in French) and Aristotle (Aristoteles in German).

Names of Places and Landmarks

Place and landmark names can often be a bit trickier. When it comes to smaller places
that aren't well-known, it's fairly safe to assume that there isn't a standard translation
for the foreign language you're translating into. However, large cities, famous
locations, and countries often do have standard translations in other languages. A few
examples include London (Londres in Spanish), Germany (Deutschland in German),
and the Statue of Liberty (Statue de la Liberté in French).

If you want to see even more examples of differing place names, check out our post
from way back in 2012 that covered all kinds of interesting endonyms and exonyms.

Names of International Organizations

When it comes to international organizations, there are often standard or official

translations of their names for various languages. A quick Google search, a look at the
organization's official website, or even Wikipedia can usually help you when your
translation contains such a name.

A couple of popular examples include Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans

Frontières in French) and the United Nations (Organización de las Naciones Unidas in
Spanish).

Names of Companies and Products

Most company and product names are going to be the same no matter which language
you're using since having one unique name that is universally used is important for
marketing purposes. That's why it's so easy to order a Coca-Cola no matter what
country you're in, even if you don't speak the language!

7.2. Translation of Neologisms

Neologisms are new words, word-combinations or fixed phrases that appear in the
language due to the development of social life, culture, science and engineering. New
meanings of existing words are also accepted as neologisms.

Nonce words are also new words made up by writers and publicists for a special
literary effect. They are rarely adopted into common language.

A problem of translation of new words ranks high on the list of challenges facing
translators because such words are not readily found in ordinary dictionaries and even
in the newest specialized dictionaries.
 Dictionaries lag behind changes in languages. New words, figurative words and
phrases, slang and nonce words are coined in the language so swiftly that no dictionary
can and should register them immediately. Indeed, the number of neologisms appearing
in mass media durinfg a year amounts to tens of thousands in developed languages. For
example:

1. Spam: Flooding the Internet with many copies of the same message, in an attempt to
force the message on people who would not otherwise choose to receive it.
2. App: Software application for a smartphone or tablet computer.
3. Ego surfer: A person who boosts his ego by searching for his own name on Google
and other search engines.
4. Staycation: A vacation at home or in the immediate local area.
5. Coffee (n.), the person upon whom one coughs.
6. Brangelina: used to refer to supercouple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
7. footprint – an impact on our planet

Neologisms can be both new created words, and old words used in a new meaning. As
the meaning of neologisms is unknown and sounds strange they attracts attention
quickly. The biggest part of neologisms are old words used in a new meaning. New
created and shortened words, homonyms, the words taken from proper names, words
with figurative meaning are also included to neologisms. Examples in Azerbaijani;
samizdat, nomentklatura, Addidas, sari, Wrangler, UNESCO, UNICEF)

Neologisms are translated in following ways:

1. Analogue Method. In this method there is a closeness between source and target words.
This method is Selection of an appropriate analogue in a target language. For example,
şəhər icra hakimiyyəti- mayorality, şəhər icra hakimiyyətinin başçısı- mayor, canlıq,
gödəkçə- vest, UFO (unidentified flying object) => UFO (Uçan Naməlum Obyekt)
2. Transcription or Transliteration Method. For example, sammit- summit, killer-killer,
manipulyasiya- manipulation, sanksiya-sanction.
3. Calque Method. For example, brain-drain- beyin axini, street people- küçə adamları,
paper tiger- yalançı əjdaha, wet market-nəm bazar
4. Explanatory translation and descriptive translation ( blue sky laws => müxtəlif ştatların
qiymətli kağızların satışını idarə edən qanunları)
Therefore, translators have to find out the meaning of very new neologisms mainly
based on the context (a sentence, paragraph, chapter or even the whole document) in
which the neologism is used.

7.3. Translation of International Words

In linguistics, an internationalism or international word is a loanword that occurs in

several languages (that is, translingually) with the same or at least similar meaning and
etymology. These words exist in "several different languages as a result of simultaneous
or successive borrowings from the ultimate source" Pronunciation and orthography are
similar so that the word is understandable between the different languages.

By internationalisms are meant such language units which are borrowed from one and
the same source language by at least three genealogically different languages in the
same or similar lingual form and identical meaning, e.g. dollar - dollar, atom - atom,
director – director. International may be not only words and phrases/word-group, but
also morphemes – prefixes, suffixes and even inflections, nothing to say about root
morphemes as the English or Azerbaijani words fund - fond, gas - qaz, lord - lord, park
–park.
Among the most often occurring international affixes in English and Azerbaijani are
the following:
o Prefixes: anti-/anti-, ex-/eks-, inter-/inter-, trans-/trans-; export (v.) - експортувати,
international – internasional, transmission – transmissiya.
o Suffixes: , -er/-еr, -ist/-ist,, -ssion/-sіya, humanist - humanist, constitution -
konstitusiya, aggression - aqressiya, humorist - yumorist.

7.4, Translation of Realias

The term realia refers to a local word or phrase that isn’t translated because there is no
obvious equivalent in the target language – and there are several strategies for handling
them.
Realia (plural noun) are words and expressions for culture-specific material elements.
The word realia comes from medieval Latin, in which it originally meant “the real
things”, i.e. material things, as opposed to abstract ones. The Bulgarian translators
Vlahov and Florin, who were the first to carry out an in-depth study of realia, coined
the modern sense of the word. They indicate that since realia carry a very local overtone,
they often pose a challenge for translation. Realia must not be confused with
terminology: the latter is primarily used in the scientific literature to designate things
that pertain to the scientific sphere, and usually only appears in other kinds of texts to
serve a very specific stylistic purpose. Realia, on the other hand, are born in popular
culture, and are increasingly found in very diverse kinds of texts. Fiction, in particular,
is fond of realia for the exotic touch they bring.
It means a term or phrase that describes something that is specifically local – something
that doesn’t easily translate to other languages because the locality doesn’t exist there.
An example would be the “fjords” in the Scandinavian languages. “Fjords” don’t exist
anywhere but Iceland, Greenland, and Norway, so translating the word into other
languages requires a strategy – similar to the strategies used to translate idioms,
expressions that don’t carry from one language to another. Types of realia are:

Geography

 physical geography: fjord, mistral, steppe, tornado, tsunami…

 geographic objects tied to man’s activity: polder…
 endemic species: kiwi, koala, sequoia, Abominable Snowman…

Ethnography

 everyday
life: paprika, spaghetti, empanada, cider, bistrot, sauna, kimono, sari, sombrero, je
ans, igloo, bungalow…
 work: carabinieri, concierge, machete, bolas…
 art and culture: kozachok, tarantella, banjo, gong, commedia
dell’arte, harlequin, bard, geisha, ramadan, cinco de mayo, easter, Santa
Claus, werewolf, vampire, mormon, quaker, dervish, pagoda, synagogue …
 ethnic characterizations: cockney, Fritz, gringo, yankee…
 measures and money: mile,
[2]
kilometer, hectare, gallon, perch, ruble, lira, peseta, talent, greenback…
Politics and society

 administrative
divisions: region, province, department, state, county, canton, principality, favela,
bidonville, arrondissement, souk, promenade...
 organs and
functions: agora, forum, knesset, duma, senate, chancellor, tzar, shah, pharaoh, vi
zier, ayatollah, satrap…
 political and social life: peronist, tupamaros, Ku Klux
Klan, partigiani, slavophile, lobbying, lord, bolshevik, agrégé, untouchables, samu
rai, union jack, fleur-de-lis…
 military realia: cohort, phalanx, arquebus, AK-47, katyusha, cuirassier…[3]

There are a few basic ways to handle realia and troublesome idioms:

Transcription: You can simply copy the realia exactly as it appears, perhaps with an
explanatory note. This can suffice, although it’s not the best solution as it pushes the
work off onto the reader.

Explanation: You can try to create an explanatory translation that maintains the overall
structure of the speech while getting the point across.

Equivalency: You can try to find something similar in the target language. Sometimes
this works and sometimes it doesn’t, and you have to be careful that you know the local
stories behind the realia and the substitute well enough to judge that they convey exactly
the same meaning.

6.5 Translating Abbreviations

Normally, one of the most frequent problems that translators have to deal with is the
translation of abbreviations or acronyms. Note that an abbreviation is the formation of
a word from the first letter of each of the words that are part of it. Acronyms, however,
are abbreviations that are pronounced as a word (e.g. “sonar” or “NATO”).

In general terms, these are some of the most important guidelines for the translation of
abbreviations (examples in this post are between Spanish and English, but apply to
nearly all language pairs):

1. When it refers to a company or agency that may not be widely recognized (DEA,
UBA, LAPD), translate the name and then place in parentheses: the acronym followed
by “for its acronym in [language of origin]” or the abbreviation followed by an
explanation in English.
For example: Buenos Aires University (UBA, for its acronym in Spanish) or Buenos
Aires University (UBA, Universidad de Buenos Aires).

2. Abbreviations of world-renowned international organizations generally have their

own translation in each language (WFP = PMA, NATO = OTAN). In this case, write
the full name and abbreviation in brackets.
E.g. United Nations (UN)
3. Acronyms related to medicine (those that refer to diseases, compound names of body
parts, etc.) also have a default translation: TC = CT (computer tomography), SIDA =
AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).

4. Abbreviations of job titles (CFO, CEO, CTO), names of countries (USA), political
organizations (ETA, IRA, etc.). For these cases, some investigation is necessary, since
some acronyms have a standardized translation (e.g., IRA is translated in Spanish as
ERI, Ejército Revolucionario Irlandés) and others do not.

Other rules that are important to consider:

1) A lowercase “s” is added at the end to form the plural: “met the CEOs of 10
companies …”.

2) The letters do not have an accent in languages with accented letters.

3) Almost all the letters are capitalized (some exceptions are “laser” and “radar”)

7.7. The Use of Dictionaries

Monolingual dictionaries are much more useful for translators than bilingual ones.
Monolingual dictionaries explain a language’s words in its own words. That is to say
that rather than simply offering possible equivalents or near-equivalents, a monolingual
dictionary offers you an understanding of how the speakers of that language define and
use a word and what associations they get from it. This in turn helps translators pick
the best possible translation. One cannot translate word-for-word; one translates the
context as well, and the context includes all of the source language and culture.

8.Methods of Translation Phraseological Units

8.1 Equivalence Method of Translation

8.2 Analogue Method of Translation

8.3 Descriptive Method of Translation
8.4 Antonymic Method of Translation

8.5 Combined Method of Translation

 Translation of phraseological units is a task that requires solid knowledge and skills on
the part of the translator. While translating such units the translator has to take into
account several factors: the nature of the structure, i.e. whether it is a free or bound
word combination, the context, cultural coloring of the phraseological unit, its
connotation, and the effect it will produce on the target reader.
To distinguish between a free collocation and a fixed phraseological unit we need to
know the following things. The component parts of a free collocation preserve their
meanings; therefore, the translation of the free collocation depends on the meanings of
its elements and on the relationship between them.
to do smb. a favour – kiməsə yaxsiliq etmək; to speak in a low voice – sakit səslə
danısmaq; a bank robbery – bank oğurluğu

A word group with a fixed lexical composition and grammatical structure is called a
phraseological unit. Its meaning, which is familiar to native speakers of the given
language, is generally figurative and cannot be derived from the meanings of the
phraseological unit s component parts. The meanings of phraseological units are the
result of the given language’s historical development. Thus, the meaning of the word
combination is different from the meanings of its elements. Compare:

8.1 Equivalent Method of Translation

With the help of a phraseological equivalent, it means the translator has to find an
equivalent in the TL the meaning, figurative image and stylistic coloring of which
would fully correspond to the original. The number of such correspondences is rather
small. Phraseological units, which are translated with the help of equivalents, include
phr8seological units that exist in most of European languages, expressions that come
from Bible, antic history, classical literature, and political life. Usually translation of
phraseological units belonging to this group does not present any problems:

A Pyrrhic victory – a victory in which the winning side sustains very heavy losses, or
it may be translated by explanatory translation: Pir qələbəsi
To cross the Rubicon – The idiom "Crossing the Rubicon" means to pass a point of no
return, and refers to Julius Caesar's army's crossing of the river in 49 BC, which was
considered an act of insurrection. Because the course of the river has changed much
since then, it is impossible to confirm exactly where the Rubicon flowed when Caesar
and his legions crossed it.
Promised Land- is a term used to describe the land promised or given by God, according
to the Hebrew Bible, to the Israelites, the descendants of Jacob.

The promise is firstly made to Abraham (Genesis 15:18-21) and then renewed to his
son Isaac, and to Isaac's son Jacob (Genesis 28:13), Abraham's grandson. The Promised
Land was described in terms of the territory from the River of Egypt to the Euphrates
river (Exodus 23:31) and was given to their descendants after the Exodus.
To cast the first stone –The English idiomatic phrase to "cast the first stone" is derived
from Bible. The passage describes a confrontation between Jesus and the scribes and
Pharisees over whether a woman, caught in an act of adultery, ought to be stoned. Jesus
shames the crowd into dispersing, and averts the execution.
To be or not to be –"To be, or not to be" is the opening line of a monologue from
William Shakespeare's play Hamlet (written about 1600), act three, scene one.
Hot line – A direct telephone line set up for a specific purpose, especially for use in
emergencies or for communication between heads of government.

8.2 Analogue Method of Translation

With the help of a phraseological analogue, i.e. finding a phraseological unit in the TL,
which has a similar meaning but is based on a different image.

to work one's fingers to the bone –

to get out of the bed on the wrong side – yuxuda tərs ayaqda qalxmaq

to make a mountain out of a mole hill – dəvədən fil düzəltmək

to save for a rainy day – dar günə saxlamaq

8.3. Calque Method of Translation

With the help of calque (loan translation). In case if the phraseological unit has neither
an equivalent nor an analogue and its imagery, obtained with the help of loan
translation, can be easily assimilated by the language users.
to put all eggs in one basket – hər şeyi bir-birinə qatmaq
to learn to walk before you run –qaçmaqdan əvvəl gəzməyi ötrənməl lazımdır
No news is good news. – Ən yaxşı xəbər xəbərin olmamaısıdır.
You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs. – yumurtanı sındırmadan omlet edə
bilməzsən
In such cases it is advisable to give a short explanation, for example: as they say in
Great Britain).

8.4. Antonymous Method of Translation

With the help of antonymous translation, i.e. substituting the affirmative form in the
original by the negative in the TL, or on the contrary, the negative by the affirmative.

unvarnished truth – təmiz həqiqət

8.5.Descriptive Method of Translation

If there is no equivalent or analogue, and it is impossible to translate the expression

using calque, we use descriptive translation, i.e. the meaning of the expression is
explained.

to give smb. the cold shoulder – kiməsə soyuqluq göstərmək

to be in the same boat – eyni vəziyyətdə olmaq
wild goose chase – kimisə izləmək

8. History of Translation

8.1 Early History of Translation

8.2 Famous Translators Throughout Time

8.3 Modern Translation Methods

 The history of translation has been a topic that has long been debated by scholars and
historians, though it is widely accepted that translation pre-dates the bible. The bible
tells of different languages as well as giving insight to the interaction of speakers from
different areas. The need for translation has been apparent since the earliest days of
human interaction, whether it be for emotional, trade or survival purposes. The demand
for translation services has continued to develop and is now more vital than ever, with
businesses acknowledging the inability to expand internationally or succeed in
penetrating foreign markets without translating marketing material and business
documents.

8.1. Early History of Translation

The word ‘translation’ comes from a Latin term which means “to bring or carry across”.
Another relevant term comes from the Ancient Greek word of ‘metaphrasis’ which
means “to speak across” and from this, the term ‘metaphrase’ was born, which means
a “word-for-word translation”. These terms have been at the heart of theories relating
to translation throughout history and have given insight into when and where translation
have been used throughout the ages.

It is known that translation was carried out as early as the Mesopotamian era when the
Sumerian poem, Gilgamesh, was translated into Asian languages. This dates back to
around the second millennium BC. Other ancient translated works include those carried
out by Buddhist monks who translated Indian documents into Chinese. In later periods,
Ancient Greek texts were also translated by Roman poets and were adapted to create
developed literary works for entertainment. It is known that translation services were
utilized in Rome by Cicero and Horace and that these uses were continued through to
the 17th century, where newer practices were developed.

It is argued that the knowledge and findings of Greek academics was developed and
understood so widely thanks to the translation work of Arabic scholars. When the
Greeks were conquered, their works were taken in by Arabic scholars who translated
them and created their own versions of the scientific, entertainment and philosophical
understandings. These Arabic versions were later translated into Latin, during the
Middle Ages, mostly throughout Spain and the resulting works provided the
foundations of Renaissance academics.
8.2. Famous Translators Throughout Time

Translators have often been hidden characters, unnamed people who have paved the
way for some of the greatest contributions to the dissemination of ideas, knowledge and
theories throughout the ages. In some cases, working as a translator was incredibly
dangerous and some even lost their lives because of their work. This included famous
translators such as William Tyndale, who was executed in Holland in 1536 because he
worked on translating the bible into English. Other famous translators include:
Chinese monk Xuanzang who in 645 AD was credited with having translated 74
volumes on Indian Buddhist scripts into Chinese.

Constance Garnett was a British translator who translated Russian classics including
Tolstoy, Chekhov, Turgenev and Gogol into English towards the end of the 19th
Century.

Gregory Rabassa was an American literary translator who translated numerous Latin
documents into English throughout the 20th Century.

8.3. Modern Translation Methods

Following on from the Industrial Revolution, the economy developed rapidly and
evolved into a machine with the potential for global success. New machinery allowed
for swifter production of texts and business related materials and this means that more
time could be invested in evolving a company and translating material to enter foreign
markets. Since the 18th century, businesses have benefitted from formalised translation
services but the dawn of modern practice came with the widespread introduction of the
internet.

The internet has revolutionised the ability to access, translate and understand texts and
documents from all over the world, whether they be contemporary or historical pieces.
Crucially, the need to understand the culture of the original country and that of the
target audience is further enhanced by modern tools and practices. Although some
instant translation services are capable only of metaphase translation (literal word-for-
word translation), specialist firms, platforms and translators are able to translate texts
and spoken word into multiple languages whilst observing the relevance and culture of
the target receiver.