Etymology of Translation

 Translation – came from the Latin “translatio” (to carry across), an adaptation from the Greek’s concept of
“metaphrasis” (word-for-word or literal) vs. “paraphrasis” (saying in other word). In linguistic approach,
these terms are tantamount to formal equivalence vs. dynamic equivalence.
 In usage, verbatim translation is imperfect for words can carry multiple meaning but both are considered as
ideals and possible approaches in the process of translation.

History based on Theories

 Western
 Translation practice in 1600 – 1700, translation theorists focused more on “equivalents” or language
meaning counterpart to retain the essence and beauty of the original literature.
 Prior to the proliferation of English literature and the different movements or school of thoughts,
Romans already veered away from “verbum pro verbo” (word for word) because what is beautiful in
one language can be barbarous in the target language.
 With the old philosophers’ (Horace, Cicero, Terence, etc.) attempts to translate literature without
causing injury the context, it was discovered that there are words that failed to meet the standards of
the principles of equivalence. Thus, “untranslatable” words were bridged with “loanwords” to meet the
grammatical rules governing the western literary world and abiding the “sememe” or the intended
meaning.
 In the 13th century, a translation movement called Bilingualism started propagating the knowledge of
both languages (originating and targeted) is a pre-requisite of translation. Roger Bacon, a famous
English Philosopher and the father of empirical method of science is one of the advocates of this
movement.
 As religion and fanaticism beat its rhythm in the 18th century, Martin Luther made an axiomatic move
to translate religious literature, particularly the bible towards his native language.

 Eastern: Sinosphere Theory

 There is a separate tradition of translation in South Asia and East Asia (primarily modern India and
China), especially connected with the rendering of religious texts — particularly Buddhist texts — and
with the governance of the Chinese empire. Classical Indian translation is characterized by loose
adaptation, rather than the closer translation more commonly found in Europe, and Chinese translation
theory identifies various criteria and limitations in translation.
 In the East Asia Sinosphere (sphere of Chinese cultural influence), more important than translation per
se has been the use and reading of Chinese texts, which also had substantial influence on the Japanese,
Korean and Vietnamese languages, with substantial borrowings of vocabulary and writing system.
Notable is Japanese Kanbun, which is a system of glossing Chinese texts for Japanese speakers.

History of Literary Translation

 First notable translation of the west would be the Septuagint, Jewish sacred scriptures translated into Koine
Gk. (Jews needed Gk version of their scriptures)
 Middle age, 19th cent – Latin was the lingua franca; there were struggles in translating religious and
philosophical scriptures; text were then translated to vernacular Latin.
 With the large-scale effort to spread Buddhism, Tangut Empire utilized block printing translating centuries
of calligraphically rendered scriptures – promoting understanding of Buddhism as personally supported by
the emperor and his mother
 After Arab conquered the Greek world, scientific and philosophical accomplishments were translated to
Arabic texts. These text were then converted to Latin that later helped the advancement of Scholasticism of
European world.
 13th century marked the flourishing of English equivalents that gave rise to the name of Geoffrey Chauser
whose literary work entitled Knight’s Tale marked the standards in translation.
  15th century dawned the translation of prose literature opening the door to Arthurian literature to
European writing.
 Renaissance in Italy flipped another chapter in literature by introducing the works of Plato in
straightforward language that also paved the way for the works of other philosophers to be introduced in
European Literature.

General Purposes of Translation

1. Retrieval of lost information
2. Understanding of the Universal Truth
3. Sharing of beliefs
4. Understanding and appreciation of culture
5. Bridging cultural barrier
6. Advancement in human achievement
7. Addressing social needs
8. Social Empowerment
9. Binding nations
10. Neo-culture development