Translation Theory

Translation is a means of interlingual communication.

The English term "translation" first attested in around 1340, desires either from Old
French or from the Latin "translatio" (transporting), itself coming from the participle of the verb
"transferre" ("to carry over).
The process of translation between 2 different written lang-s involves the changing of an
original written text (the source text or ST) in the original verbal language (the source language
or SL) into a written text (the target text or TT) in a different verbal language (the target
language language or TL).
Source text (ST)
Target text (TT)
In source language (SL)
In target language (TL)

Thus, when translating a product manual from Russian into English, The ST is Russian
and the TT is English.
Thus type corresponds to "interlingual translation" ,described by Russo-American structuralist
Roman Jacobson (1896-1982) in his seminal paper "On linguistic aspects of translation".
Throughout history, written and spoken translations have played a crucial role in
interhuman communication.
The study of translation as an academic subject only really began in the 2 nd half of the 20th
century. In the English-speaking world, this discipline is now generally known as "translation
studies" ,thanks to the Dutch- based US scholar James S. Holmes (1924-1986) in his key
defining paper delivered in 1972, but not widely available until 1988.
The theory of translation provides the translator with the appropriate tools of analyses
and synthesis, makes him aware of what he is to look for in the original text, what type of
information he must convey in TT and how he should act to achieve his goal.
The linguistic theory of translation is concerned with translation as a form of speech
communication establishing contact between communicants who speak different languages.
The core of the translation theory is the general theory of the translation, which is
concerned with fundamental aspects of translation inherent in the nature of bilingual
communication and therefore common to all translation events, irrespective of what languages
are involved or what kind of text and under what circumstances was translated.
The general theory of translation deals, so to speak, with translation universals and is the
bases for all other theoretical study in this area, since it describes what translation is and what
makes it possible. An important part of the general theory of translation is the theory of
equivalence aimed at studying semantic relationship between ST and TT.
The general theory of translation describes the basic principles which hold good for each
and every translation event. Contemporary translation activities are characterized by a great
variety of types, forms and levels of responsibility. The translator has to deal with works of the
great authors of the past and of the leading authors of today, with intricacies of science fiction
and the accepted stereotypes of detective stories. He must be able to cope with the elegancy of
expression of the best masters of literary style and he has to preserve and fit into a different
linguistic and social context a gamut of shades of meaning and stylistic nuances expressed in the
original text, a great variety of language devices: neutral and emotional words, archaic words
and new coinages, metaphors and similes, foreign borrowings, dialectal, jargon and slang
expressions, proverbs and quotations and so on and so forth.
The translator has to tackle complicated specialized descriptions and report on new
discoveries in science or technology for which appropriate terms have not yet been invented. His
duty is to translate diplomatic representations and policy statements, scientific dissertations and
brilliant satires, maintenance instructions and after-dinner speeches, etc.
Translating a play the translator must bear in mind the requirements of theoretical
presentation, and dubbing a film he must see to it that his translations fits the movement of the
speaker′s lips.
The translator may be called upon to make his translation in the shortest possible time,
while taking a meal or against the background noise of loud voices or rattling type-writers.
Mention should be made of one more branch of the theory of translation which deals
with the programmatic aspect of the translating process. The communicants involved in
interlingual communications speak different languages but they also belong to different cultures,
have different general knowledge, different social and historical background.
The translator has to access the possible communicative effect of TT and take
paints to ensure an adequate understanding of its message by TR (translation receptors).