Laghman University

Department of English
Junior Class

Translation in English

Instructor: Abdul Mutalib Mutaber

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 Introduction

The conversion of text from one language into another is said to be translation.
The person who is engaged in the translation is called as translator. Translation
is to express in another language. In the translation, a translator changes
vocabulary terms including grammatical forms of the original language to the
second language.

Most of literary figures and translators believe that the task of translation is
more difficult than the writing of a manuscript in one’s own language, because a
writer writes in his own language on which he has sound command in various
aspects. But in the translation, it is necessary for a translator that he should
know well the source language, and be able to convert the aims and message of
the author to the target language correctly. Also, he should have enough
command and knowledge on his mother tongue or (language of habitual use) to
be enabled in the finding of alternative words in his native language which are
common, comprehensive and meaningful.

Different books pertaining to translation focus on the meaning of a message not

only the converting of the text word-for-word. The experts of translation say the
best translation is to write the idea of a text in one’s own language. It is
generally said that the word-for-word type translation is not as comprehensive
and meaningful as much as free or idiomatic translation.

Translation is concerned with the written conversion of a text from one

language into another language. It means that in translation task, there are
always two languages involved; one is translated language (source language)
and the second is translating language (target language). Interpretation is the

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oral rendering of the meaning of the spoken word from one language into
another. It should be mentioned that the person who is engaged in conversion of
textual materials of one language into another is named as a translator. But, the
person who is engaged in conversion of oral messaging of one language speaker
to another language speaker is known as an interpreter. Translation is also used
as a term for all tasks where the meaning of one language is turned into another
language, whether the medium is spoken, written or signed.
Translation is not only the conversion of text and oral material of one language
into another but it is also the best source of information to the target language
readers; great claims have been made for translation; it has been hailed as the
key to international understanding.

Types of Translation
Types of Translation according to Content

There are multiple types of translations we will discuss some important ones as
following.

1. Full Translation

This is the kind of translation in which the entire text is submitted to the
process of translation; that is, every part of the source language text is
replaced by the target language text.

Example:
All the passengers are on board. . ‫تمامی مسافران سوار هستند‬
2. Partial Translation

This is the type of translation in which some parts of the source language
text are left untranslated because they are either untranslatable or for the
deliberate ‫ عمدی‬purpose to introduce local color into the target language
text.
Example:

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The conference was held in June 2010. ‫ برگزارشد‬2010 ‫کنفرانس در جون‬
3. Free Translation
Free translation means to have free hand in translating subjects.
Free translation is always unbounded (unlimited) equivalence; that is, a
sentence in the source language can be replaced by a phrase or even a word
in the target language and vice versa, a word or a phrase in the source
language may be replaced by a sentence in the target language.

Example:

A bird of a feather flocks together.

‫کند همجنس با همجنس پرواز – کبوتر با کبوتر باز با باز‬

Knowledge is power. ‫ زدانش دل پیر برنا بود‬-‫توانا بود هرکه دانا بود‬

Good bye ‫خدا حافظ‬

4. Word-for-word Translation

It is always bounded equivalence; that is, words in the source language, text
will be replaced only by words in the target language and translation may
not replace a word by a phrase or sentence and the other way around. It
should be mentioned that word for word translation is more often used in
translating Scriptures, such as, The Holy Quran, the Bible …. Etc.

Example:

I saw him in the park.‫دم او را در چمن‬cccccccccccc‫من دی‬

God protector ‫خدا حافظ‬
5. Literal Translation

Literal translation lies between free and word for word translations; it may
be group to group or clause to clause translation; that is, literal translation,

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like word for word translation remains lexically word for word, but keep the
characteristics of free translation.

Example:
Knowledge is power. ‫ت‬ccccccccccccc‫ایی ا س‬ccccccccccccc‫ایی توان‬ccccccccccccc‫دان‬.
God protect you. ‫خداحافظ‬

6. Literary Artistic Translation

Literary artistic translation is very close to free translation and is the most
difficult one. Translation of literary works (novels, short stories, plays,
poems, etc.) is considered a literary. It is a kind of translation in which
poems are translated from one language into another. We call it literary
artistic because it is done here as a skill. It is also notable that a person who
performs this translation must be a poet and knows all the rules of the
poetry. Also, some translators believe that it is impossible to translate a
poem to another poem because of differences between languages. Poets
focus more on poems music and rhythm ‫ وزن‬than its syntax and grammar.
Footsteps of Angels: ‫رد پای فرشتگان‬

When the hour of days is numbered, ‫هنگامیکه روز به پایان رسید‬

And the voices of the night ‫ روح واال را‬،‫آواها ی شب‬
Wake the better soul that slumbered ‫ بیدار می کند‬، ‫به خواب فرورفته‬

To a holy, calm delight ‫که در لذت آرام و منزهی‬

7. Idiomatic Translation

Idiomatic translation is where the meaning of the original is translated into

forms which most accurately and naturally preserve the meaning of the
original forms.
Example: He is on his last leg. ‫پایش به لب گور است‬.
Translation According to Mode

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1. Machine Translation
Machine translation is a procedure whereby, in principle, a computer
program once activated, analyzes a source text and produces a target text,
without further human intervention. In reality, however, machine translation
typically does involve human intervention in the form of pre-editing and
post-editing. Exception to that rule would be, for instance, the translation of
technical specifications (strings of technical terms and adjectives) in a
dictionary-based machine translation system.
To date, machine translation—a major goal of natural-language processing
—has met with limited success.
Machine translation has been brought to a large public by tools available on
the internet, such as Alt Vista’s Babel Fish, and by low-cost programs such
as Babylon, and freeware such as Lingoes and StarDirt.
These tools produce a “gisting translation”—a rough translation that “gives
the gist” of the source text.
With proper terminology work, with preparation of the source text for
machine translation (pre-editing), and with re-working of the machine
translation by a professional human translator (post-editing), commercial
machine-translation tools can produce useful results, especially if the
machine translation system is integrated with a translation memory or
globalization management system.
In regard to texts (e.g. weather reports) with limited ranges of vocabulary
and simple sentence structure, machine translation can deliver result that do
not required much human intervention to be useful.
Relying on machine translation exclusively ignores the fact that
communication in human language is context-embedded and that it takes a
person to comprehend the context of the original text with a reasonable
degree of probability. It is certainly true that even purely human-generated
translations are prone to error. Therefore, to ensure that a machine-

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generated translation will be useful to a human being and that publishable
quality translation is achieved. Such translation must be reviewed and
edited by a human. (Ali Rahimim, P56-57)

2. Computer-Assisted/Aided Translation
This is a form of translation wherein a human translator creates a target text
with the assistance of a computer program. In computer-assisted translation,
the machine supports a human translator. Computer-aided translation
includes standard dictionary and grammar software. The term, however,
normally refers to a range of specialized programs available to the translator
including translation memory, terminology-management, conference and
alignment programs.

3. Dubbing and Subtitling

Dialogues and narrations of feature movies and foreign TV programs need
to be translated for local viewers. In this case, translator for dubbing and
translation for films subtitles demand different versions for the best effect.
Thus, unlike the original language, the subtitles of the translated language
are quite often not verbatim (word for word) with the dialogue.
In general, the greater the contact and exchange that has existed between
two languages, or between both and a third one, the greater is the ratio of
metaphrase (to edit between the sentences) to paraphrase that may be used
in translating between them. However, due to shifts in ecological niches (a
better position for someone or something to place) of words, a common
etymology (study of the origins of words) is sometimes misleading as a
guide to current meaning in one or the other language. The English “actual”
for example, should not be confused with the cognate French “actuel”
meaning present or current.

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 Translation

Etymologically, the word “translation” is taken from the Latin which means
“carrying across” or “bringing across.” There are many more definitions of
translation as following

Definition – 1:

Translation may be sated as:

 Decoding the meaning of the source language text; and

 Re-coding this meaning in the target language text.

Definition – 2:

A written communication in the second language having the same meaning as

the written communication in the first language is called translation.

Definition – 3:

Translation is the interpretation of the meaning of a text in one language (the

source language text) and the production in another language, of an equivalent
text (the target language text) that communicates the same message.

Definition – 4:

From general linguistic point of view translation is an operation perform on

languages; that is, the process of substituting a text in one language for a text in
another.

Definition – 5:

Translation can be a cultural relation amongst the people who speak different
languages. It is also the means for transfer of thoughts, wills, traditions, stories,
arts, knowledge and so on from one language into another.

Definition – 6:

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Engine Nida the chairman of the committee for “The Bible Translation” says
that translation consists in reproducing in the target language the closet natural
equivalent of the source language message both in meaning and style.
Definition – 7:

The conversion of a text from source language into target language is said to be
a translation.

Translation is not a thing to be learned by studying a series of principles and

rules; rather it is a kind of knowledge which is acquired through practice and
experience. Although one should follow, when doing translation, some general
or specific principles and theories, the most important thing is to transfer
accurately the meaning of the original text into the target language without any
addition, deletion or distortion. The process of translation should be carried out
in a way that the content of the message and the style of the original text are
retained in the receptor language as far as possible. To accomplish this serious
task, the translator is to employ those equivalents which are the closest ones in
the meaning and style.

Every language has its own linguistic characteristics and features and that is
why there are different languages. To convey a message each language has its
own wordings and forms, and these are to be changed when the same message
is to be conveyed in another language, and it is this process of change which is
called translation. It is true that the main task of the translator is to transfer the
message of the source language text into the receptor language, but finding total
equivalence is an imaginary idea which is almost impossible to be actualized.
Because languages have distinct codes and rules regulating the construction,
grammatical stretches of language and these forms have different meanings.
The contrasting forms in two languages convey meanings which cannot but fail
to coincide totally, and it is not the total meaning which is reproduced in the
target language; something is always lost in the process of translation.

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Although translation is not a form of synonymy, it is possible to translate a
sentence from one language into another language in numerous corresponding
sentences which are synonyms of one another. This means that translation is not
a prescribed thing without any alternative. Rather, the translation of a certain
statement can be reworded or restructured in numerous lexical and grammatical
synonyms conveying the same message in different wordings or forms. See the
following twenty English translations of a Qur’anic verse.

‫ایاک نعبد و ایاک نستعین‬

1. It is thee whom we adore; it is from thee we require help.

(qtd.A. Ross, 1649)

2. Thee do we worship, and of thee do we beg assistance.

(qtd. G. Sale, 1734)

3. Thee only do we worship, and to Thee do we cry for help.

(qtd. J. M. Rodwell, 1861)

4. Thee do we serve and Thee we ask for aid. (qtd. E.H.

Palmer, 1880)

5. Thee we worship, and Thee we ask for help. (qtd. M.

Abdul Fazal, 1910)

6. Thee do we serve and Thee do we beseech for help. (qtd.

Muhammad Ali, 1917)

7. Thee alone do we serve, and Thee alone do we ask for

help. (qtd. Gulam Sarwar, 1929)

8. Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we ask for help.

(qtd. M. Pickthall, 1930)

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 9. Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek. (qtd. A.
Yusuf Ali, 1934)
10. Thee do we serve, and on Thee do we call for help.
(Richard Bell, 1937)

11. Thee only we serve; to Thee alone we pray for succour.

(qtd. A.J.Dawood, 1956)

12. Thee alone do we worship and Thee alone do we implore

for help. (qtd. Sh. Ali, 1955)

13. You alone we worship and to You alone we pray for help.
(qtd. N.J. Dawood, 1956)

14. Thee alone do we worship, and of Thee alone we seek

help. (qtd. Abdul Majid, 1957)

15. Thee (alone) worship we and of Thee (only) we seek help.

(qtd. Mir Ahmad Ali. 1964)

16. Thee only do we serve and Thee only do we ask for help.
(qtd. S. Abdul Lateef, 1968)

17. THEE alone would we serve, THEE alone we pray for

help. (qtd. H. Amir- Ali, 1974)

18. You alone we worship, and to You alone we look for help.
(qtd. M.Y. Zayid, 1980)

19. Thee alone do we worship; and unto Thee alone do we

turn for aid. (qtd. M. Asad, 1980)

20. You do we worship and You do we call on for help. (qtd.

T. B. Irving, 1985)
I have given the following ten possible English translations, as synonyms in
grammar, which can be equal to the Persian sentence given below:

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 ‫حل مساله غیر ممکن است‬.

1. It is impossible to solve the problem.

2. Solving the problem is impossible.
3. The problem is impossible to solve.
4. One cannot solve the problem.
5. A solution to the problem is impossible.
6. The problem is insoluble.
7. To solve the problem is impossible.
8. There is no solution to the problem.
9. The problem has no solution.
10. Solving the problem is impossibility.

Since ‘impossible’ can be replaced by ‘not possible’, ‘insoluble’ by ‘not

soluble’ and ‘one’ by ‘we’ or ‘you’, we can have fifteen possible translations.
We will have even more renderings if we also use lexical synonyms, such as
replacing ‘problem’ by ‘question’. However, grammatical synonyms are often
semantically closer to one another than lexical ones, and yet among all the
synonyms in grammar we may normally find just one of them that, as a
translation keeps the same stresses of the original text, since the source-
language sentence can also be said in numerous grammatical synonyms like its
translation in the receptor. For example, the Persian sentence mentioned above
can be reworded or restructured in many lexical and grammatical synonyms,
each of which being corresponding to all of the ten given English translations.
Therefore, we come to this conclusion that a certain sentence, as a unit of
translation, in one language, can be translated into another by numerous
equivalents, which are made through paraphrasing and employing lexical and
grammatical synonyms (Salar Manafi,2001:p3-4)

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 Steps and Process of Translation

To have an adequate translation, a translator should take into consideration or

go through some steps. These steps are outlined as following:

1. Reading over the Entire Text

Before actual translation is started, it is essential to read the entire text quickly
in an effort to grasp the general meaning. Again read the text this time attention
should be paid to details, unfamiliar words or expressions and unusual
grammatical structures. (One may underline difficult words and expressions.)
Translator should consult reliable dictionary to pick up the meaning which best
fits the context. The habit of consulting mono-lingual dictionary (English to
English dictionary) first and then using bi-lingual dictionary (English to Dari
dictionary) to find the nearest equivalent in one’s own language is indispensible
to a successful translation. It is worth mentioning that using bi-lingual
dictionary is the last not the first means to be used by translator. Also long
sentences which trouble understanding and transferring should be broken into
“kernel” a sentence that is keeping to the basic patterns: subject, verb and
qualifying phrase. Translator should also try to judge the writer’s purpose, style
and particularly his use of figurative language.

2. Preparing the Draft Copy of Translation

Now that all obscurities have become clear to you and you have grasped both
the message and style through reading, you can start restructuring the message.
In restructuring the message translator determines:

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 1. Unit of translation
2. Proper equivalence and
3. Performs necessary adjustments

Unit of translation basically depends on the type of translation you want to

produce. That is, if the aim is to produce the literal translation then the unit of
translation may be sentence to sentence but if the tendency is towards a free
translation then the unit of translation might be a whole paragraph.
When you hear the term ‘equivalence’ the immediate thought that comes to the
mind should not necessarily be perceived as ‘replacement’ of words by their
straightforward or apparent synonyms. We must think and talk of equivalence in
terms of equivalent ideas, parallel grammatical structures and equivalent effect.
Translator can also make some adjustments to produce a decent translation.
Adjustments may be lexical, grammatical and both lexical and grammatical.

3. Revising the Draft Copy of Translation

When the process of restructuring has been completed, is important that the first
draft be left to cool at least for a day or so, so that the translator can return to the
work with a greater objectivity. During the process of revision one can:
1. Omit unnecessary words
2. Rearrange the component parts
3. Correct errors in meaning and style
4. Give special attention to the connection between units

4. Testing the Translation

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Before the fair copy of translation, a good way of evaluating your work is to
read it aloud to some listeners in order to observe their reaction. The reactions
of the receptors to the hearing a text are important indicators to validity of the
overall impression of translation. The translator himself can note the points at
which the reader hesitates.

Is Translation Ideal?

Many translation scholars maintain that any translation of a literary work can be
improved, that is, there can be produced no ‘ideal translation’ that may not be
rectified, reformed or revised; rather, it is always possible to reform, revise and
improve a translation. This can be the reason that why some great literary works
in the world, especially classical works, have been translated into one and the
same language for many times, and any new translator has justified his
performance by claiming that it is to improve the previous translation.
Translating a poem, if its creator is a craftsman, is like rescoring a piece of
music for a different set of instruments or a different kind of musical ensemble.

A translation can no more be definitive than the interpretation of a piece of

music, or a solo performance in an orchestral work. The concept of the ‘ideal
translation’ is unreal. Translation is an ‘endless’ procedure, except in the case of
‘performative’ statements. Other translations can never be finished, only laid
aside. They can always be improved. And, for any linguistically difficult
passage, there are often several equally good (if in some respect inadequate)
solutions. Moreover, since it is assumed that the target language reader is alive,

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a translation is written in the modern language, and therefore, there is a case for
revising it every 30 years.
However, it is not true to say that any new translation of a literary work will be
better and more perfect than the previous one(s). It may happen that the new
performance be even worse than the one(s) previously performed. To
distinguish the best among the different translations of a single work, one
should not make a judgment about them from a chronological point of view;
rather, to reach the aim, a careful contrastive analysis and comparative study
will be necessary. Even the best translation of a work cannot be ‘ideal
translation’, because it can also be reformed, revised and improved.
Example:

‫که نتوان برآورد فردا زگل‬ ‫بیا تا برآریم دستی زدل‬

Clarker: COME; let us raise a hand from the heart,

For, to-morrow, (after death), one cannot raise the hand from the clay (of the
grave).

Wickens: Come; let us lift up our hands from our hearts

For tomorrow they cannot be raised from the clay!

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 Why Translation?

“Without translation, our world would narrow mercilessly.” (qtd.Chute,

1078)

When translation was first used as a means to act as a bridge between

primitive people is not really known because no records can be traced back
in history. But what is definitely known is that as soon as writing was
invented and developed among separate nations in antiquity, translation
came to play a significant role in intercommunication. But the question still
remains unanswered; why translation? Do we really need translation? This
question can be viewed from two different perspectives. On the one hand, it
seems to be useless and of no value. Since it is possible to conduct a long-
time career without any access to translation, if there is no enthusiasm to
others or even to care what others do, then translating taking into
consideration all its shortcomings is a waste of energy and time spent by
individuals. Only a few may be interested in knowing other peoples’
cultural, sociological, political and emotional attitudes and thoughts and for
them, the solution would be to learn the respective languages. On the other
hand, the flow of enthusiasm to get to thoughts, ideas, and information of
others, no matter how and to what extent, makes translation inevitable and
as a consequence, it becomes a choice of priority. As long as the need to
know other cultures is great, the need for translation will be great. Another
question might be brought up to seek what the outcomes of this knowledge
would be and how much of it is needed. The immediate response would be,

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As much as we need to know ourselves when compared to others. How can
we evaluate ourselves or our community if no other community is fully
known to us so that we can compare ourselves with it? The more one knows
of other cultures, the more one knows of his own culture. This awareness of
oneself, thus gained as a result of cultural contacts with foreign cultures,
makes one pragmatic and realistic in one’s attitudes towards the world’s
affairs and enable one to cope better with oneself and to conduct a more
successful life.
Looking at education as a general world process, one is deemed to believe
that with regard to the fast improvements in world’s affairs, nothing but an
access to translation, that is, a means to an opening to the world events,
plays a vital role. Removing obstacles to learning, when viewed from
different angles, cannot be fully achieved without facilitating the condition
in which fast and reliable translations become easily accessible.

When communities lived in isolation, education was in a narrow sense,

confined to the acknowledgement of one’s community’s traditions, beliefs,
thoughts and ideas. The long lasting periods of darkness in Middle ages
which was detrimental to the lives of the people of that time, revealed an
undeniable fact that to live and to progress, requires awareness in
conscience and broad-mindedness in views and attitudes. People are created
not to live in isolation but to search for better understanding of other nations
and to live in peace. To achieve such a goal, educational systems must be so
equipped to meet these universal needs. Translation occupies a significant
place in the educational curriculum development as a means to open out to
us other peoples’ experiences that we would not have otherwise.

Cultural Relations

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Translation is a two-way process: from one culture to the others; and from
other cultures into one’s own culture. In other words, there is a give and
take process involved. If knowledge of industrialized nations and the secrets
to their developments and improvements is a need to the developing back-
warded nations, the same is true to the corrupted and self-deceived nations
who have found their communities void of moralities and who may seek
satiety in other so-called “less developed” but highly cultured nations. Lofty
ideologies, though manipulated by corrupted agents to be replaced by cheap
ones now and then, are to find their ways into other nations, not to the
extent to aware them of their own experiences, but to show them how a
healthy life should be conducted. Without translation, people may walk
across you, but few are aware that you are there. This cultural transmutation
is not only practicable and demanded when cultures meet physically, but it
may also be appreciated when one cannot find answers to one’s insatiable
thirst for knowledge in one’s own culture. The cries come from different
directions.

“We need translation today in Europe more than we needed it before,” Says
Balloc.”We need it materially in the satisfaction of common life, for
discovery is common to all our culture and is not of one province. We need
it spiritually, in the spreading and comparison of separate cultural efforts
more than ever it was needed before, at any rate of recent centuries.”(qtd.
Balloc)

Elsa Gress, truly but implicitly, opens up the door to a more general
understanding that, “Without translation, Western civilization from
antiquity on would be unthinkable in its present form” (qtd.Elsa). Most
probably, she refers to the serious task of translation which was undertaken
by the Islamic scholars who having conquered the Greek World, made

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Arabic versions of its great scientific and philosophical works. Since
manuscripts of the Greek science scarcely existed in the West, some
translations were made from Arabic into Latin during the Middle Ages.

Socio Multiculturalism

For some though not many, the word ‘translation’ pictures in minds, would
be ‘a means to rewording in another language’. In other words, the
immediate picture depicted of ‘translation’ is a situation where one
language form is transferred in another. Catford calls this process
‘interlingual’. Nevertheless, translation as an intralingual phenomenon
(rewording in the same language), is of great concern to the administration
authorities of cosmopolitan societies where the diversification of cultures is
so extensive that communications among members sometimes come to halt.

Wars, natural catastrophes and calamities, political unrest, social

disturbances, and social and political emigrations sometimes bring people
and cultures so closely together that, if intralingual translation cannot pave
the way for removing misunderstanding, they become sources of clashes
and inevitable fights for many centuries to come because in communities
where a great number of cultures intermingle, differences of world views
lead to misunderstanding. The reason is that one group is always unaware
of others’ cultures. To familiarize people of different traditions, translation
can be very useful and effective.

Scientific Exchanges

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The industrialized changes began about 1750. They came so quickly that
they were like a revolution in industry; that is, in the way people live and
think, in the way they demand. Until this time, people lived independent of
one another. The use of machines changed life not only in Europe but also
all over the world. Self-reliance, as it was favored and practiced up to that
time was no longer practicable. Socially separated world fragments found it
no longer possible to continue to live independently. Soon the news was
spread all over the world that machinery was an answer to all miseries. This
issue further raised other questions. “Would the machines make life easier?
and if they do, how does the machine work!” New inventions brought the
nations of the world close together. But such inventions, though they made
life easier, brought disasters as well as miseries to the world communities to
the extent that they had never anticipated before. Sophisticated weaponry,
machineries, radio-controlled lethal rockets, nuclear powers, missiles, and
other arsenals pushed the industrialized nations to a more superior position
and made them less dependent. Instead the less developed countries found
themselves helpless and more dependent, physically though not spiritually.
The gap grew so larger that filling it required hard working and preplanned
actions. Thus, scientific translating has played an important role, though the
techniques used are not without their shortcomings and are still to be
improved. We witness today how hard some devoted people, though some
novices among them, work to fill this gap through scientific texts from one
language into others.

Significance of Translation

One of the most important points of a language is its progress; by

translating, language can use different sources and languages in different
social, scientific and political fields of life so as to get, from one hand,

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information about different areas of social life, such as economic, politics,
physic, culture, technique, invention and other important international
issues, and from other hand, it can offer service for students, scholars and
people of art.
Currently there are different administration systems, and generally the
countries of the world are divided into three groups:
1. Economically progressive countries which are dominant over
the high scientific and technical systems.
2. Countries which are developing and in progress.
3. Back-warded countries
The 3rd group (back-warded) countries are struggling to reconstruct and
build their countries in all social, political and academic fields by using the
experience of progressive countries.

A scholar said about the significance of language, “Language and science

are like lock and key.” So language and science are correlative to each
other; when we know a foreign language, we can gain information in
multiple international spheres. Therefore, translation or translator has
important role in the progressive society.

Needs of explosion or technology era, communication revolution and the

present political systems of the world made the countries very small and as
the consequence life became limited and easy, and the people became
dependent to one another in different dimensions. Multi-dimensional
dependence of the current communication time, forced people to get
information from each other’s situations, to understand each other’s
requirements, to be aware from each other’s problems, and in finding
solution for the problems, they should cooperate and have contact with one
another in different aspects. For improving their own life, they should use

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each other’s scientific, technical and cultural achievements. To address all
these needs, they have to acquaint one another very well and know the
language of one another.

In the length of history, everyone has paid attention to the translation: the
importance of translation and the effect it has in the social life is evident to
everyone.
Considering the significance of translation and translator, we can say that if
translation or translator didn’t exist, we wouldn’t have awareness from
other tribes and nations, because humans form one hand, need to learn
sciences and arts from one another, from other hand, they are not able to get
in contact because of the differences of language. Therefore, we don’t have
other remedy other than referring to translation.

On a serious note, translation is one of the most critical jobs in modern society.
As the whole globe is coming together based on information sharing and
communicative advances, it is only natural that there has been a constant
demand and an unprecedented need for translation of ideas from one language
to another. Translation plays a vital role in the performance of international
companies and governments alike. We have had incidences in human history,
where entire wars were initiated just because of misinterpretations and business
relations severed due to failure of communications. Translation is no longer just
the process of translating words, but has evolved into the transformation of
meaning and intentions. Here we have listed some more points relating to
importance of translation.

Vital For Multinationals

For companies which operate in multiple countries, translation is inevitable.

Sometimes they need to pass information or collect data from all the employees

23
or branches across the world. In this scenario, it is necessary that they translate
the information to and fro. Moreover, in scenarios where they need to negotiate
terms with international governments or other local companies for tie-ups, they
need to have proper translation of proposals and demands.

External Affairs of Nations

In today’s world, international diplomacy is the most important of all external

affairs. Many times the world leaders are expected to present their ideas on
situations arising in other parts of the world. It is important that those ideas are
translated properly when expressed; else they can result in major catastrophes.
Moreover, international dialogues on different matters rest heavily on successful
translation.

Cultural Interchange

Translation of various art forms like music, films and literature from a region is
necessary for global understanding of a region and its life. The plight of
Palestine refugees, the poverty in Brazilian streets, the colorful life in Spanish
cities and the myths and legends of ancient India are spreading across the world,
riding on the shoulder of good translation. Translated films and subtitled films
generate more revenue for global film industry, while translated music and
literature provides added royalties to the artists. Recognition from the world
stage and international fame is an added bonus.

Transfer of News

World events can only be transmitted accurately if the correct information is

received by news agencies. This involves proper translation of news coming

24
from local bodies and regional centers. Unless proper translation is done, the
news will be ambiguous and unreliable. An example for this can be seen when
the government of China recently banned international news agencies from
entering local regions for covering a major problem. However, information was
still passed on to the world. Insiders covered all the important news, which was
later translated and presented to the world.

For The Realization of Global Village

The global citizenship can only be achieved through sharing and caring. We
need to be able to communicate our ideas and thoughts without delay or
ambiguity. Different people around the world use different languages and are
most comfortable handling their online activities in their own regional
languages, but they translate their thoughts in English, so that global friends can
understand them.

To Boost Tourism

Tourists around the world complain of being short-changed and tricked, as they
are unfamiliar with the destinations. The primary reason for such negative
experiences is the absence of proper translation. When we can offer proper
translation to tourists along with genuine guidance, we assure the quality of our
region as a tourist friendly destination and ensure success. This not only makes
the country as a popular tourist destination, but also helps in increasing the
revenue of the country men and the country as a whole.

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 History of Translation

It is evident that translation like other genres has gone through long process
from its birth and so far, and has witnessed many positive and negative
changes.
In the history of translation, the first translator was a Greek slave name
Liulous Nicko who translated famous Homer text (Adisa) in Latin which
still exists. Afterwards translation extended gradually, and the famous
authors translated the literary works of the Greek philosophers: Aristotle,
Plato, and Hippocrates from Greek into Arabic to Umayyad. Therefore,
Arabic translation started at the end of 7th Century AD; at the end of 8th
Century it flourished and by 9th Century translation reached to its
brightness.
Ibn Nadim quoted that Khalid Bin Yazid, the caliph of Umayyad who ruled
in Egypt, commissioned a group of Alexandrian scholars to translate into
Arabic some of physic and chemistry books which were written in Greek.
But the actual translation started in the era of Abu Mansoor the 2 nd caliph of
Abbasids. He tried to substitute Baghdad in the place of Athens and
Alexandria and made it the cultural center of Muslims. His successors also
followed his path, particularly Mamun who completed the renewal
movement and encouraged translation and reading classic research works.
The utmost efforts of Abbasids led to the scientific expansion or
development; thus, Muslims were busy translating scientific, philosophical,

26
literary and religious texts of the ancient civilizations for more than three
centuries; they started translation in the 2 nd half A.H (Anno Hijre) Century
and continued to the end of 5th Century.

Openness to Others and Translation All of the

Fundamentals of Islamic Civilization
As the peoples of the world who embraced Islam were an important factor that
enriched the human civilization, openness to the cultures of previous nations
and taking advantage of them were also of the most important fundamentals of
the Islamic civilization and a factor of its development.

Openness to Others

For the first time in human history, Muslims adopted the principle of openness
to other civilizations and borrowing from the efforts of ancients. The Messenger
of Allah (May peace be upon him) advocated the approach of openness, and he
had an unbigoted view. He kindly asked Sa'd ibn Abu Waqas (May Allah be
pleased with him) to go for an atheist physician, Al-Harith ibn Keldah Al-
Thaqafi, for treatment! He saw no qualm in what he did, as medicine is a life
science, which is a heritage of all humanity. Sa'd narrated: “I suffered from an
illness. The Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) came to pay a visit to
me. He put his hand between my nipples and I felt its coolness at my heart. He
said: “You are a man suffering from heart sickness. Go to Al-Harith ibn Keldah,
a Thaqif tribesman. He is a man who gives medical treatment. He should take
seven ripe dates of Medina and grind them with their kernels, and then put them
into your mouth.” Splendidly enough, the Messenger of Allah (May peace be
upon him) urged Zayd ibn Thabit to learn Syriac! Zayd learnt it in sixty days
time, and he also learnt Persian and Roman languages.”

27
This was reflected clearly on the history of Muslims thereafter. When Muslims
left their Arabian peninsula to spread the message of Islam, which they were
authorized to spread in the East and West, they came across various
civilizations. They did not hush up or destroy these civilizations. Rather, they
were interested in studying them and benefiting from them. They took from
these civilizations what benefited them and what was approved by their religion
at a time when Greek civilization addressed its people only and took from
nobody but its scholars as was the case in the Persian, Indian and Chinese
civilizations. Perhaps this was kept until recently in some of these civilizations,
such as the Chinese and Indian civilizations.

Umayyad Caliphate and Openness to (Translation)

Muslims in the era of the Umayyad Caliphate had started. The movement of
translation was launched by Khalid ibn Yazid Al-Umawi, who translated Greek
science into Arabic, and then took advantage of this science and developed it,
especially in the field of medicine and chemical equations.

As the Umayyad Caliphate stabilized – and flourished politically and

economically and inherited foreign science from the Persians, the Romans and
others after their countries demised – an intellectual movement rose up. Many
books of old civilizations, including ancient Greek, Persian, and others, were
translated into Arabic. This was considered an important event in terms of
civilization, as it opened a window for Arab and Muslim scientists to oversee
for the first time the knowledge and science of others.

Experimental sciences had an important share from among these translated

sciences. Medicine came on top of all. In the beginning of that period, Islamic
medicine was based on the instructions of the Prophet (May peace be upon
him), herbs, medicinal plants, cauterization, phlebotomy, cupping, circumcision

28
and some minor surgical operations. As Muslim and Arab doctors began to
recognize the Greek medicine through the schools of Alexandria and
Jundaisapur, they were keen to translate medical books into Arabic. In this
regard, Jewish doctor Masirjuweh, who was one of the most prominent
translators at that time, translated to Caliph Marwan ibn al-Hakam (64 - 65 AH)
a Greek medical encyclopedia called "Al-Kunnash".

Translation during Abbasid Caliphate

Whereas the elite of the Umayyad Empire was largely Arab (ethnically
speaking), the Abbasid Empire was overall more international in composition
and character,With ethnic Arabs forming only one part of the nation and its
elite. In due course, the word 'Arab' came to refer to any Arabic-speaking
Muslim, irrespective of racial background or affiliation. Thus, it must be borne
in mind that the many references to the large body of knowledge accumulated
during this period as Arab (Arab medicine, Arab philosophy and so on) often
apply to work which is not necessarily attributable to ethnic Arabs from the
Peninsula. There were certain areas in which the ethnic Arabs excelled (in
particular theology, jurisprudence and linguistics), but in almost all other areas
it was the Persians, Syrians and Jews who led the way, both in terms of
translation and of original writing. The Persians in particular were instrumental
in shaping the intellectual development of Muslim society. By the
tenth/eleventh century, even the Arabic language had become more ornate
under the influence of Persian.

Generally speaking, however, it is often very difficult to apportion credit for

translation or original work to specific ethnic groups within this melting pot of
an empire. The earliest work of science to appear in Arabic (in 683), for
example, was a translation by a Jewish physician of Persian origin (Masarja-
wayh of al-Basra) of a Syriac treatise on medicine, originally written in Greek

29
by Ahrun, a Christian priest in Alexandria. Similarly, it is often difficult to
specify the boundaries between original and translated work, or for that matter,
to identify the exact source of a translation. The Thousand and One Nights, the
best-known work of Arabic literature in the West, is itself based on an old
Persian work, Hazar Afsana (Thousand Tales -- the story-teller -- is a Persian
name); this in turn contained several stories of Indian origin. Some of the stories
were also added much later and may have been inspired by the new context and
written in Arabic.

Alexandria had been captured in 642 and the Arabs had begun to sample the
riches of its great scholarly tradition. The first centers of education started to
appear in the early eighth century in Egypt and Iraq, and early Abbasid caliphs
subsequently began to take an active interest in translation. The second Abbasid
caliph, al-Mansūr (reigned 754-75), commissioned a number of translators and
set up a translation chamber. Al-Rashīd (reigned 786-809) founded Bayat Al-
Himah, the most important institute of higher learning in Islam, located in
Baghdad, which also became the most celebrated centre of translation in Arab
history. Similarly Mamun supported translation activity and enlarged the
translation chamber set up by his father. Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom)
functioned as an academy, library and translation bureau and had personnel of
65 translators, working from Greek, Syriac, Persian, Sanskrit and Aramaic. Al-
Nadīm tells us in al-Fihrist that in Bayt al-Hikma alone 47 translators worked
from Greek and Syriac, 17 from Persian, two from Sanskrit and one from
Aramaic.

A vast range of material was translated under the Abbasids. Ptolemy's

Geography was translated into Arabic several times, most notably by Ibn
Qurrah, either directly or through Syriac. Generally speaking, Greek material
already available in Syriac was translated from Syriac, which still functioned as
the liturgical language of the Nestorians who headed the translation chambers.

30
Greek works which were not available in Syriac were either rendered directly
into Arabic or first into Syriac and then into Arabic. Greek works on moral
philosophy, starting with Aristotle's Ethics, were among the first to be translated
and laid the foundation for the indigenous version of philosophy. The scientific
study of astronomy was inspired by the translation of an Indian treatise,
Sindhind, by Muhammad Ibn Ibrahīm al-Fazari, whose translations of this and
other Hindu works also introduced into the Muslim World, and later Europe, the
Hindu numeral system and the 'zero'. The Old and New Testaments, or
fragments of them, were translated several times. The most important, full
translation of the Old Testament was done by Sa īd al-Fayyūmi in Egypt.

Overall, the Arabs translated essentially scientific and philosophical material

from Greek and showed little or no interest in Greek drama and poetry. As far
as literature was concerned, Persian -- rather than Greek -- provided most of the
source texts during this period. India, on the other hand, was the chief source of
wisdom literature and mathematics, though it must be borne in mind that much
of Persian literature can be traced back to Indian sources. For example, as in the
case of the “Thousand and One Nights”, Kalilah wa Dimna (another important
work of literature in Arabic) is based on a translation from Middle Persian,
which in turn is based on Sanskrit sources. Sanskrit was also important as a
source language for medical treatises, though the translations were often carried
out via Persian, as in the case of the great Indian medical treatise Charaka-
Samhita.

A large number of the translators active during this period were Christian and
many were scholars in their own right. The most notable was Yuhanna who
headed Bayt al-Hikma and who wrote Daghal al-Ayn (Disorders of the Eye),
the oldest systematic work on ophthalmology in Arabic.

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One of the most outstanding translators during this period is Hunayn lbn Ishaq,
who was paid by al-Ma'mūn in gold, matching the weight of the books he
translated. Being somewhat greedy, he wrote in large letters, on thick, heavy
paper, with wide spaces between lines. His greed had the unexpected side
benefit of ensuring that the manuscripts remained intact and readable for several
centuries. Ibn Ishaq is credited with translating some 100 manuscripts into
Syrian and 39 into Arabic, including the works of Aristotle, Plato and Ptolemy.
He was aided in this ambitious enterprise by his son Ishaq and his nephew
Hubaysh.

Another prolific translator of the period was the Sabian Thabit Ibn Qurrah the
Sabians were a community of star worshippers who naturally had a
longstanding interest in astronomy. Ibn Qurrah and his disciples were
responsible for translating most of the Greek works on astronomy and
mathematics, including the works of Archimedes and Apollonius of Perga. As
in the case of Ibn Ishaq, other members of Ibn Qurrah's immediate family
followed in his footsteps and distinguished themselves as translators, including
his son Sinan, his grandsons Thabit and Ibrahīm, and his great grandson Abu al-
Faraj.

Two methods of translation seem to have been adopted during this period. The
first, associated with Yuhanna Ibn al-Batrīq and Ibn Nima al-Himsi, was highly
literal and consisted of translating each Greek word with an equivalent Arabic
word and, where none existed, borrowing the Greek word into Arabic. This
method was not successful overall and many of the translations carried out by
al-Batrīq were later revised under al-Ma'mūn, most notably by Hunayn Ibn
Ishaq. The second method, associated with Ibn Ishaq and al-Jawhari, consisted
of translating sense-for-sense, creating fluent target texts which conveyed the
meaning of the original without distorting the target language. Ibn Ishaq and his
followers thus gave priority to the requirements of the target language and the

32
target reader from the outset, stressing readability and accessibility in a way
which suggests that the translations were conceived as having a didactic
function: Ibn Ishaq, for instance, explicitly praised his own translations for their
'pleasant and limpid style which can be understood by the non-expert in the
field of medical science or by him who does not know anything of the ways of
philosophy.

In addition to comments concerning the most successful method of translation,

there was also some reflection during this period on such issues as whether
translation of certain text types was at all possible, whether translated texts in
general offered a reliable source of information and the effect of interference
from Greek and Syrian on the structure of Arabic. Al-Jahiz one of the best-
known writers of the period, was particularly caustic in his statements about
translators and translation, insisting that 'the translator can never do [the
philosopher] justice or express him with fidelity.' But apart from such
occasional criticism of their profession, translators generally enjoyed a most
enviable position under the Abbasids. Their work was highly valued and they
seem to have enjoyed a rather luxurious style of life, at least the more successful
among them. Al-Nadīm gives a lavish description of the daily routine of
Hunayn Ibn Ishaq: he bathed, relaxed in a lounging robe, enjoyed a light drink
and a biscuit, had his siesta, and on waking 'burned perfume to fumigate his
person', had dinner, went back to sleep, woke up again and drank several rotls
(Arabic measure of weight) of wine 'to which he added quinces and Syrian
apples if he felt the desire for fresh fruits.’

This Golden Era of translation under early Abbasid rule was followed by a rich
period of original writing in many fields, including astronomy, alchemy,
geography, linguistics, theology and philosophy. Here again, the most
outstanding contributions came from Arabic-speaking subjects of the Empire
(i.e. non-ethnic Arabs), especially Persians such as Ibn Sīna (Avicenna), al-

33
Tabari and al-Razi(Rhazes ). Much of this original writing included a
substantial amount of commentary on Greek sources, such as Aristotle, by
writers who often had no knowledge of Greek and who relied on existing
Arabic translations in developing their own philosophical positions. This is true,
for example, of the works of Ibn Rushd (Averroës) and the Jewish philosopher
(as well as astronomer, theologian and physician) Mūsa Ibn Maymūn
(Maimonides). Another interesting feature of the 'original writing' which
followed the Golden Era of translation is that some of it, though written in
Arabic, was either lost and later found only in Hebrew translations or Latin
translations from the Hebrew (as in the case of Ibn Rushd's commentaries) or
was written in Hebrew characters from the outset.

The flowering of knowledge that took place in the Islamic World during the
tenth and eleventh centuries and that later provided the impetus for the
development of all branches of knowledge in the West, including natural
science and philosophy, could not have taken place had it not been for the
intense program of translation carried out under the Abbasids. Thus, translation
lay at the center of the most important period of intellectual activity in the
history not only of the Islamic World but of the world at large.

In the era of the Abbasid Caliphate, the movement of translation increased

greatly, especially at the time of the fifth Caliph Harun Al-Rashid (170-194
AH), who established Bayt Al-Hikmah (the House of Wisdom) and was keen to
provide it with books that were brought from Asia Minor and Constantinople, as
well as the seventh Caliph Al-Ma'mun (198-218 AH), who increased care about
Bayt Al-Hikmah, doubled grants for translators, and dispatched missions to
Constantinople to bring as many Greek works of various colors of knowledge as
possible. Muslim caliphs clinched great treaties with leaders of other countries.
These treaties stipulated that Muslim scholars should be allowed access to the

34
libraries of churches and Byzantine palaces to translate the books therein.
Sometimes, Muslims swapped prisoners of war for books!

In his book "Al-Fihrist", Ibn Al-Nadim wrote about nearly seventy scholars,
including interpreters, doctors, scientists, philosophers, architects and
astronomers, in the third and fourth A.H centuries. Most of them were Syrian or
Muslims of Persian or Indian origins. This implies the importance of this step,
namely openness to others and the ancient cultures that existed before Islam, in
enriching and building the Islamic scientific civilization.

Openness and Maintaining Values of Islam

It is worth mentioning here that this openness to others was not blind, but it was
mostly in accordance with the values and principles of Muslims and what was
enshrined in their religion. They opened up to Hellenism, but they did not take
its laws nor did they translate the Iliad or the masterpieces of pagan Greek
literature. They sufficed themselves with learning how to codify books and
translate natural science. They also opened up to the Persian civilization, but
they avoided its destructive doctrines and benefited - for example - from the
Persian literature, and the administrative ranks of Persians. They also opened up
to the Indian civilization, but they avoided its philosophy and religions, and
took its calculation and astronomy, which they preserved and developed.

What Muslims benefited from other cultures is an advantage not a shame. This
means that Muslims are open-minded and willing to accept others. Contribution
to the march of humanity begins with the point at which others stopped. Then,
update should be introduced in order to complete the march which was initiated
in earlier civilizations.

35
 Medieval Arabic Translation: Rise and Decline

There is no denying the fact that knowledge is a collective pursuit to which all
cultures, past and present, have contributed. A great deal of this knowledge is
preserved and augmented through a highly creative and rigorous process known
as translation. Medieval Arabic translators did really contribute to the
development and preservation of human knowledge.

While the Umayyad of both Damascus and Cordoba were culturally voracious
and syncretistic, it was not they but the Abbasids of Baghdad who sponsored the
astonishing multigenerational project to translate major portions of the Greek
philosophical and scientific canon without which, arguably, much of that canon
might have been permanently lost.

In the Abbasid era, translation into Arabic flourished and was established as a
fully-fledged profession. Medieval Arab translators in Baghdad started off their
groundbreaking career with unmatched zeal and perseverance. However, like all
intellectual movements, this activity waxed and waned due to the demand and
supply principle and the dearth of material to be translated.

To begin with, it is worth mentioning that man’s hunger for knowledge has
always been the driving force for progress and prosperity. For Muslims,
however, seeking knowledge is must for both men and women. In fact, both the
Holy Quran and the Prophet’s Hadiths encourage Muslims to pursue and
acquire knowledge regardless of the nature of knowledge, be it religious or
secular. In the Holy Quran, Allah (the Almighty) says:

Are those equal, those who know and those who do not know? It is those who
are endued with understanding that receive admonition. (Chapter 39, Verse 9)

36
It is also narrated that the Prophet Mohammad (May Allah’s prayers and peace
be upon Him) says in one Hadith related by Al-Bayhaqi and Al-Tabarani:
"Seeking knowledge is obligatory upon every Muslim. Consequently, it is no
wonder that Medieval Arabic translators were motivated into acquiring
knowledge via translation by the most inspirational sources of Islam, the Holy
Quran and the Prophet’s Hadiths. In addition, translation came as a necessity for
Medieval Arabs because they needed to have access to other spheres of
knowledge such as philosophy, medicine and astrology. What also made
Medieval Arab translation more fashionable and accessible was the introduction
of the paper industry from China to Baghdad and then to Spain or Andalusia
from which it moved to the West.

Another important factor that led to the success of Medieval Arabic translation
was the Abbasid rulers’ financial support for the translation budding enterprise.
Because translation was the most lucrative and high-ranking job, scholars were
motivated into carrying it out. Harun al-Rashid, for example, used to send
scholars to different parts of the world in quest of knowledge and manuscripts.
Later on his son, al-Mamun, recruited the best scholars and translators to
undertake his project of disseminating knowledge. During his reign, translators
were given the best and highest positions in the administration due to their
industrious efforts to enrich the Muslim and Arab heritage with new branches of
knowledge. In this specific respect, with the early ’Abbasids, major carriers of
precisely this translation culture came into the highest posts of the
administration and received institutional banking and financial support to carry
out this activity.

The Abbasid rulers gave the translation movement their full moral and financial
support in order to keep their empire as powerful and up-to-date as possible.
They realized the importance of knowledge to the greatness and strength of their

37
nation. Therefore, by translating books of famous Greek scholars, philosophers
and scientists, the Muslim nation would become more powerful.

The translation movement in 9th century Baghdad was produced by the needs of
the rulers of a powerful empire. The trading networks which played such a
crucial role in the development of the Muslim empire were able to carry new
ideas to far-flung corners of the world.

Furthermore, the Medieval Arabic translation movement reached its zenith by

virtue of the exceptional efforts exerted by the most laborious and talented
scholars of the time. World-famous intellectuals such as Hunayan, Ibn Ishaq,
Al-Kindi, Ibn Sina, Ibn Rushd, Farabi, Al-Razi and others had an immense
impact not only on Medieval Arabic translation but also on the scientific
breakthroughs which were made later on in the West. Nothing but an
unquenchable thirst for knowledge and unrivaled professionalism kindled these
people’s enthusiasm for carrying out such an intriguing endeavor. Indeed, the
world at large should publicly admit that without the efforts and works of the
Medieval Arabic translators and scholars, much of today’s technological
progress could not have been made. In this respect, Gatson wiet (1973) points
out:

“There was no lack of talented men. The rush toward Baghdad was as
impressive as the horsemen’s sweep through entire lands during the Arab
conquest. The intellectuals of Baghdad eagerly set to work to discover the
thoughts of antiquity.”

In addition to that, the Arabic language became very dominant at that time, and
major scientific and philosophical books in Arabic were abundantly available.
In other words, it was then the turn of Arabic to be the focus of scholarly
interest and pursuit, and thus the language and culture to be transmitted and
translated into the other living languages of the time.

38
In conclusion, it can safely be said that the Medieval Arabic translation
movement both contributed to and enriched human knowledge. Islam’s major
sources, the Holy Quran and the Prophet’s Hadiths both inspired Medieval
Arabic translators to seek and acquire knowledge. Besides, the Abbasid rulers
showed unique admiration and love for knowledge, and they reflected that in
sponsoring and supervising the translation process themselves. Not only did
those rulers reward the translators for their painstaking work, but they also gave
them high ranks in the administration of the state. Of course, without the erudite
scholars and translators at that time, the translation movement could not have
been possible. Once Arabic was established as a prominent and dominant
language, and once there were no more books to translate, Medieval Arabic
translation came to an end.

Arab Translators and Islam’s Golden Era

Knowledge is the hallmark of an advanced and civilized society. Islam also

stands for a knowledge-based society, where knowledge is not merely some
black marks on a white sheet of paper but shapes a particular way of life, i.e.
Islam. Inspired by this noble vision, Muslims started learning and pursuing the
knowledge, which was not earlier accessible to them. Translation became the
tool, which speeded up the process of acquiring knowledge, leading to the
creation of a noble society.

The birth of Islam in the 7th century is the most important event in the history
of the Arab people. It changed the political, cultural and linguistic landscape of
the area forever. The spread of Islam began during the lifetime of the Noble
Prophet (May peace be upon him) and gathered phenomenal speed after his
death in 632 C.E. By 698 C.E., Iraq, Iran, Syria, Egypt and North Africa
became part of the new political and religious order.

39
Islam presents a system of life built around a body of beliefs and a well-defined
approach to individuals and society. The Islamic social order, built around
certain sound principles and practices earlier unknown to mankind, stood as a
unique innovation and project in human history.

Islam has laid great emphasis on knowledge. It has made seeking knowledge
obligatory for every Muslim man and woman. The Qur’an is full of exhortations
to pursue knowledge. The very first Qur’anic revelation is such a forceful
exhortation for the acquisition of knowledge. It says, ‘Read: In the name of your
Lord Who created man from a clot. Read and your Lord is the most bounteous,
Who taught man that which he knew not.’

The traditions (Hadiths) of Prophet Muhammad (May peace be upon him) offer
further insight into education. One Hadith says, ‘He who goes forth in search of
knowledge, is in the way of Allah till he returns,’ while another says, ‘the
superiority of the learned man over the devout man is like mine over the most
contemptible among you. God, his angles, the inhabitants of the heaven and
earth, even the ants in their hole and the fish in water invoke blessings on him
who teaches men what is good.’
This approach towards knowledge encouraged members of the Muslim
community to acquire and cultivate it. As a result, search for knowledge, thus
became a noble goal of life. But at the same time, Islam firmly believes in the
imperative necessity of utility, honesty and purity in the cultivation and
advancement of knowledge; it does not subscribe to the concept of knowledge
for the sake of knowledge.
Prophet Muhammad (May peace be upon him) himself was Ummi (unlettered),
but he did not spare any occasion to get his followers educated. For instance, he
gave some of the captives of the Battle of Badr the assignment of educating at

40
least 10 Muslim children each.
Thus, he fixed their ransom to teach the art of reading and writing to the
children of Muslim society. It was under his dynamic leadership that a
community of almost illiterate and ignorant people turned into the torchbearers
of knowledge and learning, culture and civilization, and spread out to the nooks
and comers of the then known world.

In the period of the rightly-guided Caliphs (Khilaphaye Rashiddin), i.e. Abu

Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali (May Allah be pleased with them all), the frontier
of the Islamic State extended far beyond the Arabian Peninsula. This proved the
rewarding in the sense that the process of synthesis between the cultures and
traditions of the conquered people and the conquerors started. The Muslims did
not spare any effort in the enormous task of educating and directing the
communities, which were entering the fold of Islam. Simultaneously, they
realized the importance of learning the languages, cultures and science of the
conquered nations and made every possible effort in that direction.

Following the sincere efforts of the pious Caliphs, the Umayyad and later on
Abbasids built the magnificent super-structure of their unprecedented literary
and academic achievements.
The Umayyad period witnessed a number of developments, which laid the long-
term foundations of the Islamic Empire: The development of a postal service,
Arabic coinage and, most importantly, the establishment of Arabic as the
official language of administration. Translation activity also gained impetus
during this period. There is a general agreement that the first translations were
carried out during this period which were from Greek and Coptic into Arabic.
Al-Nadim claims in his book, Al-Fihrist that it was Prince Khalid, son of the
second Umayyad Caliph, who commissioned the first translations from Greek
and Coptic, having turned to the pursuit of knowledge following his failure to

41
secure the position of Caliph. Al-Nadim further suggests that the first treaties to
be translated were on alchemy, because Khalid believed it was possible to turn
minerals into gold.
The translations also included treaties on medicine and astrology during this
period. A vast amount of Greek gnomologia (wisdom literature) was translated
into Arabic towards the end of the Umayyad period, including virtually all
gnomologia connected with Aristotle and Alexander. These translations were to
have a strong influence on Arabic poetry in the 9th and 10th centuries.
The Umayyad Caliphs, no doubt, contributed towards progress in science, arts
and translations and laid down the foundation for the great cultural, scientific
and material progress of the Abbasid period.
The Abbasid Caliphate was the most glorious period in Arab history in terms of
higher material, cultural and intellectual development. The Umayyad Empire,
from first to last, was co-ordinate with the limits of Islam and consisted of
largely Arabs, which is no longer true of the Abbasid Empire. It was overall
more international in composition and character, with ethnic Arabs forming
only one part of the nation. It represented the longest period stretching from 750
C.E. to 1285 C.E.

The Abbasid period is associated with the legendary stories of Arabian Nights,
Kalila wa Dimna and House of Wisdom on the one hand, and the scholars of
great standing as Ibn Sina, Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi, Al-Beruni, Al-Tabari, Al-
Masudi and many other luminaries on the other. Commentaries on the Qur’an
were written, the traditions of the Prophet were gathered and sifted and schools
of jurisprudence were developed. Thousands of books were translated and
written on different topics.

An amazing amount of knowledge, wisdom and scholarship from the above-

mentioned languages were translated into Arabic under the Abbasid Caliphs.

42
Ptolemy’s geography was translated into Arabic several times, most notably by
Thabit Bin Qurrah. Greek works on moral philosophy, starting with Aristotle’s
Ethics, were among the first to be translated, which laid the foundation for the
indigenous version of philosophy known as Ilm Al-Akhlaq. Indian works like
the Hindu numeral system, the “Zero” and others were introduced into the
Muslim world, and later to Europe via translation.

Short Statement on the Purpose of Translating

Great translators have enumerated different purposes for attempts they have
made to translate great writers’ masterpieces. Generally speaking, most of
them believe that if one finds himself competent enough to offer translation
at par, he/she should not hesitate to do so because it is incumbent upon
him/her as a social responsibility to reveal and undress the hidden treasures
oneself has got access to.
Some of these statements will be quoted here; the readers are invited to
make judgments and if they find them logical and justifiable, pursue them
in their careers.

1. To leave some small memorials; to give testimony on the

peaceful age they (great writers) were living in.
2. To serve the public benefit.
3. To serve the state.
4. To express love and adornment to one’s country.
5. To help the people to suck knowledge and to profit hereof.
6. To insist on the importance of historical knowledge; to bring
all worthy histories into their natural language.

43
 7. To follow patriotic emulation of what has been done in other
countries.
8. To offer rules for kings to rule; counselors to counsel, prelates
to practice, captains to execute, soldiers to performs, the prosecutors
to prosecute, and the poor in adversity to be comforted, how to write
and talk with all men in all matters at large.
9. To rouse a national resistance against other countries.

Need of Translation

Today’s life is closely connected with technology and the world has
become so small and turned into a village with the help of technology,
therefore people need to communicate and understand each other, but
how they can communicate with each other, of course without the help
of language and translation, nobody is able to do this.

Problems in Translation

Theoretical Problems of Translation

A common fallacy is to assume that, since all human beings use some
type of language to represent their understandings and express their
thoughts and all talks about the same world of reality; translating from
one language into another is not a difficult task and therefore easily
carried out. But, the fact is that translators, in rendering texts, are always
engulfed by a number of problems which are to be tackled consciously,
consistently and accurately.

44
 The first problem is how to get access to adequate comprehending of the
original text with all its complexities. Languages vary in their superficial
representation as well as the realizations of the referents to which the
surface representations refer. Thus, in order for the translator to capture
the image of the original text, a thorough survey of the text, its intention,
its power act, its pragmatic valence, and the potential applicability of the
related language is to be conducted. The translator has to postulate and
to fully capture a model of translational competence based on which a
perfect understanding of the text with the totality of the complexities of
the semantic, syntactic, morphological, phonological, and the lexicon of
the source language as well as the target language styles and register is
attained.

Moreover, the translator should possess a transcoding mechanism to

enable him.

a. To make accurate interpretations of the totality of the source and the

target language related texts.
b. To carry out an adequate conversion of the grammar into the target
language grammar.
c. To make generalization based on a constant intertrafic between the
two languages to seek equivalents.

The second problem concerns the inefficiency of the translator’s mastery of

the target language and how that language is to be manipulated. Being a
native speaker of a certain language is by no means enough to make one
eligible for a translating task. It is false to assume that anyone can translate
equally well from one language into another by simply being a native
speaker of that language. A thorough knowledge of the target language

45
style, registers, dialectal variations, cultural diversifications and ethnic and
traditional background as well as a familiarity with the socio-psychological
expectations of the related community is the basic requirement for anyone
to claim being in this camp.

Yet, the third problem is the whats and hows of the procedures involved in
between the two stages as mentioned earlier; namely, the stage of
comprehending the source language text and that of the manipulation of the
target language. The existence of lexical, syntactical, semantic, pragmatic
and the world perspective imbalance between languages hinders and in
some cases impairs the act of accurate transferring.
Due to the differences, there is not completely exact translation between
any two languages. What one can hope for is an approximation. The degree
of similarity between the systems of the two languages determines the
efficacy of the translation made. In other words, the degree of
approximation depends on the degree of the seriousness of the deviation
from one language to the other. Jacob Loewan, in the Bible translating,
depicts the deviations as following:

a. There might be some components in the source language that cannot

be in the target language.
b. Both languages may represent similar structures, but their functions
may differ.
c. The source language and the target components may be similar, but
not identical in number and quality.
d. The source language forms and those of the target language may be
identical, but totally different as to their meanings.

46
Lexical Problems

Human beings, in their interactions with the real world, experience,

feelings, emotions and sentiments and react to them respectively. In other
words, the world non-linguistic factors constantly affect human beings and
they, in turn, react to these stimuli through physical as well as verbal
responses. Human beings also need to express their feelings, emotions and
sentiments. In order to do so, they need words, the arbitrary
correspondences between the totality or portions of these experiences from
the world of reality and the verbal or graphical symbols, presuppose the
existence to inconsistency between forms and concepts within different
languages. These are actually certain words in every language that
correspond imperfectably to the words of other languages.

Words are entities which refer to objects or concepts. If concepts are not
identical then they cannot substitute each other in even two dialects of the
same language; the same is true in the case of objects. No two cultures see
an identical object in the same way; Size, shape and other factors may add
to or subtract from the meanings attached to the words. Thus, in translating
texts, all differences have to be taken into account.

Problems with the Source Text

Translation is inherently a difficult activity. Translators can face many
problems which make the process even more difficult, such as:
 Changes are made to the source text during translation process.
 Illegible or difficult-to-read text

47
  Inconsistent use of terminology
 Misspelled or misprinted text
 Incomplete text
 Poorly written text (ambiguity or incomprehensibility)
 The source text contains a translation of a quotation that was
originally made in the target language, and the original text is
unavailable, making word-for-word translation is nearly impossible.
 Obvious inaccuracies in the source text (e.g. “Prehistoric Buddhist
ruins”, when Buddhism was not founded during prehistoric time.

Language Problems
 Dialect terms and neologisms
 Unexplained acronyms and abbreviations
 Proper names of people, organization, places and the like
 Obscure jargon
 Obscure idioms
 Stylistic differences, such as redundant phrases in a source language,
when redundancy is frowned upon in the target language
 Differences between languages with respect to punctuation
conventions
 Words that are commonly known in one culture but generally
unknown in another
 Rhymes, puns and poetic meters

Equivalence

48
It refers to the forms and style chosen in the receptor language that are equal in
meaning and forms of the text and their effect of the reader to those in source
language.
Functional equivalence, natural equivalence, contextual equivalence and
dynamic equivalence are some technical terms discussed by the translation
scholars during the last few decades, whereas the older focus was the form of
the message, and the translators preferred formal equivalence, verbal
equivalence and literal correspondence. Today it is maintained that equivalence
should sound so natural that it is not distinguishable from a target-language
original. When the function of equivalence in the receptor language is equal to
that of the original (the source language) it is called functional equivalence.
Some authors have recently used the terms ‘covert translation’ and ‘overt
translation’. Covert translation is that which reads not like a translation, but
like an original, i.e., it is so natural that its being a translation is not
apparent or manifest, but concealed by the naturalness of the language. It is
in this kind of translation that one can produce natural or functional
equivalence. Overt translation is that which appears to be a translation, that
is, it reads not like an original, but like a translation

Priority of Contextual Consistency over Verbal Consistency

The meaning of each word, sentence and paragraph in every language

should be determined within the context, not out of it, as it is the context
that determines the exact meaning of every word in a sentence and every
sentence in a paragraph.
Since words cover areas of meaning and are not mere points of meaning,
and since in different languages the semantic areas of corresponding words
are not identical, it is inevitable that the choice of the right word in the
receptor language to translate a word in the source language text depends

49
more on the context than upon a fixed system of verbal consistency. For
example always translating one word in the source language by a
corresponding word in the receptor language. Verbal consistency or word-
for-word translation may result in ambiguity and distortion of the meaning,
because each language has its own semantic areas of words, and translation
is not just matching the corresponding words in the two languages
regardless of the context.

Priority of Dynamic Equivalence over Formal Equivalence.

Dynamic equivalence is to be defined in terms of the degree to which the

receptors of the message in the receptor language respond to it in
substantially the same manner as the receptor in the source language. This
response can, in fact, be equal in the two languages, but not identical,
because cultures are different. Thus, it is of prime importance for a
translator to be sure that his translation will be understood by the receptors
as it was by the readers of the original text; that is, the intelligibility of the
translation is of vital significance. Such intelligibility is not; however, to be
measured in terms of whether the words are understandable and the
message has the effect on the one who receive it. So dynamic equivalence is
that which is intelligible to the receptors as the original was to its readers,
but formal equivalence may often be unintelligible, misleading and
unnatural.

Adjustment

50
The translator, no matter what he translates, is believed to be the one whose
duty is to convey the message in the best way possible. In order to achieve
this, s/he should make changes or adjustments in his/her translation.
Translating must aim primarily at reproducing the message; to do anything
else is essentially false to one’s task as translator. But to reproduce the
message one must make a good many grammatical and lexical adjustments.
Adjustments are performed in order to reproduce natural equivalents which
in turn help the translation to be read with ease and pleasure one notable
point is that adjustments usually used in poetry. Adjustments are made as
following:

Semantic Adjustments

Semantic adjustments are made in various areas, two of which, expansion

and reduction, are discussed here.

1. Expansion
Expansion is the distribution of the semantic components over a number
of different words. When we translate one word of the source language
by several words in the target language, we make expansion adjustment.
There is seldom a complete match between languages. Because of this, it
is often necessary to translate one word of the source language by
several words in the receptor language to give the same meaning.
Expansion adjustment in a translation is, in fact, an analytical rendering
of the original text.

The original is the Persian text in the below examples:

1. those who believe1) ‫مومنان‬

51
 2. those who disbelieve2) ‫کافران‬
3.Those who are distressed3) ‫قروماندگان‬

2. Reduction

Reduction is, indeed, the opposite of expansion. It is translating several

words of the source language by a single term or fewer words in the
receptor language. In this type of semantic adjustment, which is a
synthetic rendering of the original text, the translator puts several
semantic components into a single term. Example:
e. The believers1)‫آنان که ایمان دارند‬
f. The unbelievers2)‫کسانی که کافر اند‬
g. The helpless3)‫آنان که درمانده اند‬

Structural Adjustments

Structural adjustments cover all linguistic structures. A translator may, and

sometimes is obliged to adjust the structures of words and sentences of the
translation in order to accord it with the linguistic features of the receptor
language. We discuss only some important areas of structural adjustments
here.

A) Active structure to passive structure and vice versa. Examples

1. Know that He created you pure, lest you go to earth impure.

‫ مبادانا پاک به خاک بروی‬، ‫بدان که پاک آفریده شده ای‬

2. The tongue was given for gratitude and thanks:

The man who knows what is due will wield it not for slander.

‫به غیبت نگرداندش حق شناس‬ ‫زبان آمد از بهر شکر وسپاس‬

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 B) Adjustment of Tenses. Example:

1. Glorious one! Whoever turns from His door his head,

To whatever door he goes, he finds no glory.

‫به هر در که شد هیچ عزت نیافت‬ ‫عزیزی که هرگز درش سربتافت‬

.
C) Singular to Plural and Vice Versa. Examples:

1. Hearst not my word if, to-day, thou

God forbid! That, tomorrow, thou should be abashed.

‫مبادا که فردا پشیمان شوی‬ ‫گر امروز گفتار ما نشنوی‬

2. A certain person boxed a child’s ears severely,

Saying: O you of clownish judgment, of fortune in reverse!

‫که ای بوالعجب رای برگشته بخت‬ ‫یکی گوش کودک بمالید سخت‬

D) Noun to Verb and Verb to Noun. Examples:

1. Every inhalation of the breath prolongs life. And every

expiration of it gladdens our nature.
‫هر نفسی که فرو می رود ممد حیات است و چون برمی آید مقترح ذات‬.

2. Again, it is not hard for man to make prostration,

Since in his back he has no vertebra all in one piece.

‫که در صلب او مهره یک لخت نیست‬ ‫از سجده بر آدمی سخت نیست‬

E) Noun to Pronoun and Pronoun to Noun. Examples:

We all worship God, and in Him we trust.‫ما همه خدا پرستیم و به خدا توکل می کنیم‬
If God makes thee a crown-possessor, raise thy head;
But, if not, scratch the head of despair.

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 ‫وگر نه سر ناامیدی بخار‬ ‫گر او تاجدارت کند سربرآر‬

Change in Parts of Speech

Languages have the same types of containers or grammatical forms words

like verb, noun, adjective…etc, but they may put the same content or
meaning in different containers. In one language, a verb may carry some
meaning, but in another language, the same meaning may be carried by a
noun. Thus, it is natural that parts of speech change in translation from
source language into target language.

A. Verb into adjective/adverb.

Example:

The church bell stopped ringing.‫زنگ کلیسا دیگر صدا نمی کرد‬.
They appeared to be waiting for something.‫ظاهرًا منتظر چیزی بودند‬.

B. Adjective/ adverb into verb.

Example:
A high, clean, rather empty-looking room
‫اتاق تمیز باسقف بلند که تقریبًا خالی به نظر می رسد‬.

By a couple of remarkably small horses

‫توسط اسپ های که کوچکی جثه شان جلب توجه میکرد‬.

C.Verb into noun.

Example:

The last night’s fortune rainfall freshened the air.

‫این هوای تمیز از موهبت بارنده گی دیشب است‬.

The way the sky touches the house-tops is just like Cairo.
‫نزدیکی آسمان به سقف خانه فقط مثل قاهره است‬.
We imagine them to be both brilliant and tranquil.
‫به نظر ما آنها باید همیشه با هوش وآرام باشند‬.

54
D. Adjective/adverb into noun.
Example:

The Iraqi army‫ارتش عراق‬

Southern Afghanistan ‫جنوب افغانستان‬

Legitimate Expansions

The tendency to make a translation longer than the original text is mostly
due to the fact that the translator wants to translate everything or he is
obliged to make explicit any information which is implicit in the source
language text. This is of course, different from adding extra information;
rather, it is a kind of legitimate expansion or redundancy in the translation
to make it semantically comprehensible to the potential readers in the
receptor language. Such legitimate expansions are sometimes required in
order to produce a dynamic equivalence. However, adding any information
which is not implicit in the original text will expand the translation with
some illegitimate redundancy. To have a distinction between justifiable and
unjustifiable redundancies in translations see the following paragraph.

When this problem of calculated and justifiable redundancy in translation

was being explained to a group of Africans in the Cameroun, one of the
men insisted that he understood exactly what was meant, for as he said, this
is just what a python does when he kills an animal he cannot swallow. He
coils his body around the animal, crushes it, and thus squeezes it out long
and thin. Then he can swallow it. The meat and the bones are all there.
They are just in different form.”

55
This is precisely what the translator does with an unswallowable linguistic
portion of text. He analyzes its components, builds a proper redundancy by
making explicit what is implicit in the original, and then produces
something the readers in the receptor language will be able to understand.

Therefore, a translator is always obliged to change the form of the source

language text. Within the limitation of its content, and to reproduce the
message in the target language in a new form or structure which may be
longer than that of the original due to some legitimate redundancies added
to the translation to make it long and thin so that it may be swallowable or
intelligible to the readers in the target language. Any addition, however,
which is not implicit in the original text, will be out of the scope of such
legitimate or justifiable expansions.

Interpretation vs. Translation

A distinction is made between translation and interpretation; the expressed

ideas that are transferred in writing is said to be translation, but
interpretation is the transferring of ideas which are expressed orally.
Although interpreting can be considered a subcategory of translating in
regard to analysis of the processes involved (translation studies), in practice
the skills required those two activities are quite different: translators and
interpreters are trained in entirely different manners.
Translators receive extensive practice with representative texts in various
subject areas, lean to compile and manage glossaries of relevant software
(for example, word processors, desktop publishing systems, and graphic or
presentation software) and computer-assisted translation software tools.

56
Interpreters, by contrast, are trained in precise listening skills under taxing
condition, memory and note-taking techniques.
The industry expects interpreters to be more than 80% accurate; that is to
say that interpretation is an approximate version of the original.
Translations should be over 99% accurate, by contrast.

Modes of Interpreting
There are two modes of interpretation: simultaneous interpretation and
consecutive interpretation.

Simultaneous Interpretation
In such situation, the interpretation occurs while the source language
speaker speaks, as quickly as the interpreter can formulate the spoken
message to the target language. Simultaneous interpretation is used in
various situations such as business conference, graduation ceremonies, any
situation where there is no pause between each statement allowing time for
the interpreter to relay information to the interprete. For example, at
international conference and at the UN, simultaneous interpretation is
effected while the interpreter sits in a sound proof booth, speaking into a
microphone, and usually with a clear view of the source language speaker,
while listening with earphones to the speaker’s source language message.
The interpreter then relays the message in the target language into the
microphone to the target language listeners who wear headsets, listening to
the interpreter occur at the same time the speaker speaks. Simultaneous
interpreting also is the most common mode used by sign language
interpreters as there is no audible language interference while both
languages are being expressed simultaneously.

57
Simultaneous interpreting sometimes is incorrectly referred to as
“Simultaneous translation” and the interpreter as the “translation” this is
incorrect, as discussed between interpretations and translation.

Consecutive Interpretation
In consecutive interpretation, the interpreter speaks after the source
language text speaker has finished speaking; the speech may be divided into
sections.
Normally, the interpreter sits or stands beside the speaker, listening and
taking notes as the speaker progresses. When the speaker finishes speaking
or paused, the interpreter consecutively renders the message in the target
language.
Frequently, an experienced consecutive interpreter prefers interpreting
phrase by phrase, or shorter sentence portions so as to approximate
simultaneous interpretation. This method requires that the speaker pauses
between phrases and clauses to permit the interpreter to instantly render
each portion of the speech into the target language, without having to take
time to take notes and without risking forgetting details of the speech. The
phrase-by-phrase method frequently is used in settings such as speeches
before an audience, legal depositions, recorded statements, while
interpreting for a witness in a court hearing or a trial, etc. it is also used in
community interpreted dialogues, such as medical settings, job interviews,
etc.
Consecutive interpretation allows the full meaning to be understood before
the interpreter renders the message into the target language. This often
affords a more accurate and fully accessible interpretation than
simultaneous.

Types of Interpreting

58
Public Service Interpreting
Also known as community interpreting is the type of interpreting occurring
in fields, such as legal, health, local government, social housing, education
and welfare services. In community interpreting, factors exist which
determine and affect language and communication production, such as
speech’s emotional content, hostile or polarized social surroundings, its
created stress, the power relationships among participants, and the
interpreter’s degree of responsibility—in many cases more than extreme: in
some cases, even the life of the other person depends on the interpreter’s
work.
Conference Interpreting
Conference interpreting is the interpretation of a conference, either
simultaneously or consecutively, although the advent of multi-Lingual
meetings has consequently reduced the consecutive interpretation in the last
20 years.
Conference interpretation is divided between two markets: the institutional
and private. International institutions (EU, UN, EPO, etc) holding multi-
lingual meetings, often favor interpreting several foreign languages to the
interpreters mother tongues, local private markets tend to bi-lingual
meetings (the local language plus another ) and the interpreters work both
in to and out of their mother tongues: the markets are not mutually
exclusive. International association of conference interpreters (AII) is the
only world-wide association of conference interpreters. Founded in 1953, it
assembles more than 2,600 professional conference interpreters in more
than 80 countries.

Legal and Court Interpreting

59
Legal, court or judicial interpreting occurs in court of justice, administrative
tribunal, and wherever a legal proceeding is held (e.g. a conference room
for a deposition or the local for taking a sworn statement). Legal
interpreting can be the consecutive interpretation if witnesses testimony, for
example, or the simultaneous interpretation of entire proceedings, by
electronic means, for one person, or all of the people attending.
Depending upon the regulations and standard adhered to per state and
venue, court interpreters usually work alone when interpreting
consecutively, or as a team, when interpreting simultaneously. In addition
to practical mastery of the source and target languages, thorough knowledge
of law and legal and court procedures is required of court interpreters. They
often are required to have formal authorization from the state to work in the
courts– and they are called sworn interpreters.

Focus Group (Marketing) Interpreting

In focus group interpreting, an interpreter sits in a sound proof booth or in
an observer’s room with the clients. There is usually a one way mirror
between the interpreter and the focus group participants, where in the
interpreter can observe the participants, but they only see their own
reflection. The interpreter hears the conversation in the original language
through headphones and simultaneously interprets into the target language
for the clients. Since there are usually anywhere between 2 to 12 (or more)
participants in any given focus group, experienced interpreters will not only
interpret the phrases and meanings but will also mimic intonation, speech
patterns, tone, laughs, and emotions.

Escort Interpreting

60
In escort interpreting, an interpreter accompanies a person or a delegation
on tour, on a visit, or to a meeting or interview. An interpreter in this role is
called an escort interpreter or and escorting interpreter or an escorting
interpreter. This is liaison interpreting.

Medical Interpreting
Medical interpreting is a subset of public service interpreting, consisting of
communication, among medical personnel and the patient and his or her
family, facilitated by an interpreter, usually formally certified and qualified
to provide such interpretation services. The medical interpreter must have a
strong knowledge of medicine, common medical procedures, the patient
interview, the medical examination processes, and the daily workings of the
hospital or clinic were he or she works, in order to effectively serve both the
patient and the medical personnel. Moreover, and very important, medical
interpreters often are cultural liaisons for people (regardless of language)
who are unfamiliar with or uncomfortable in hospital, clinical, or medical
settings.

Sign Language Interpreting

When hearing a person speaks, an interpreter will render the speaker’s
meaning into the sign language used by the dead party. When a deaf person
signs, an interpreter will render the meaning expressed in the signs into the
spoken language for the hearing party, which is sometimes referred to as
voice interpreting. This may be performed either as simultaneous
interpreting. Skilled sign language interpreters will position themselves in a
room or space that allows them both to be seen by deaf participants and
heard by hearing participants clearly and to see and hear participants

61
clearly. In some circumstances, an interpreter may interpret form one sign
language into an alternate sign language.
Deaf people also work as interpreters; they team with hearing counterparts
to provide interpretation for deaf individuals who may not share the
standard sign language used in that country. They also relay information
from one form of language to another. For example, when a person is
signing visually, the deaf interpreter could be hired to copy those signs into
deaf-blind person’s hand plus include visual information.

The Important Points of Translation

The differences between languages are facing a translator with problems, but
translator should try his best to take the main idea according to the original
copy; the decoded piece should be 99% according to the original text. Sometime
translator should have his free opinion to make the translation subject
understandable and interesting.

The points that a translator needs to respect are:

1. Respect the idea and style of the original copy.

2. Take into consideration the coherence of the ideas.
3. Respect the expressions and similarities that used in the original
copy.
4. Try his best to use the same sentences.

Of course, the best translation is the one in which these four points are
respected, but sometimes it is very difficult because of different languages’
systems.

62
 Characteristics of Adequate Translation
To encompass what great theorists of translation have considered as
characteristics of a good translation, their characteristics will be itemized as
following
A good translation should:

1. Preserve the image of the source text.

2. Transfer the total understanding from the source language to the target
language but must, at the same time, be embellished with elegance.
3. Transfer exactly and appropriately into the target language what is
written in the source language.

4. Be eloquent enough to evoke the same reaction in the target language

as it did in its original form in the source language.
5. Thoroughly represent the image of the author and his/her creative
personality.
6. Invoke mutual actions in both languages.
7. Pass itself off as an original.
8. Be faithful to the content and not to the letter.
9. Select and reproduce the merits of the author ‘s message.
10. Be faithful not only to the transferring of the content of a text from
one language into another language but also to transfer the forms as well,
11. Produce in the target language the closest natural equivalent of the
source language message, firstly in terms of meaning and secondly in
terms of style.
12. Not reveal its non-native source.
13. Be read with ease and pleasure.

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 Hermeneutics
Hermeneutics is the science of interpretation and describes the rules of
interpretation. Interpretation is the means of understanding a text and
understanding a text is based on the following factors:

1. Pre-understanding of the reader or interpreter

2. Expectations and interest which direct the interpreter
3. Question from history
4. Recognizing the central meaning of the text and the interpretation on
the basis of that meaning

The translator should proceed based on these factors. If the interpreter doesn’t
have some pre-understanding, or doesn’t have interest in the subject, or he is no
aware of the history in which the text is written, he cannot interpret any texts.
S/he must have at least a very brief understanding of the subject, because with
absolute ignorance about the subject, interpreting is impossible.

Characteristics of a Competent Translator

Different translation theorists have expressed different views on what the

characteristics of a good translator should be. But something has been
commonly agreed upon and that is the fact that
‘Mere knowledge of the language (in its limited senses) is not by itself
sufficient to make one capable of handling translation from one language into
another.

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The number of people who consider themselves competent to undertake
translation most exacting task is legion, while the number who really master the
technique is small indeed. The idea so hopefully entertained that mere
knowledge of a foreign language is all-sufficient is a complete fallacy, even the
most exhaustive knowledge is inadequate unless associated with the real
ability, first of all ,to write one’s own language.
The person who has a native command of English and who has enormous
fluency in another language as a language teacher, or simply has acquired an
enormous fluency in another language, is not per se thereby equipped to be a
translator.
The followings are major characteristics of any translator, whether he/she is
involved in translating technical texts or in rendering art works
A good translator must:

1. Be a creator.
2. Get involved in translation without being influenced by his own
personality.
3. Represent the author as perfectly as possible.
4. Be faithful to the original and exactly translate the idea and form of the
original.
5. Possess the more essential characteristics of the author.
6. In rendering poetry, show his poetic taste.
7. Be familiar with the theories of translation.
8. Possess a good knowledge of at least the two languages.
9. Have sufficient knowledge and acquaintance with the subject.
10.Possess a sympathetic knowledge of the two cultures relating to the two
languages communities from which the book originated and into which
the book is being translated.

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11.Be consistent in his\her use of style, dialect and lexicon.
12.Be familiar with dialect variations of both languages.
13.Be quiet familiar with idioms and how they are to be used as a bridge to
convey message and to enrich the rendered version.
14.Be competent in the field from which or to which he is translating.
15.Be familiar with linguistic analysis and be able to realize diversities of
languages as well as the potential power of languages in conveying
messages.
16.Be familiar with lexical, syntactic and semantic universal properties.
17.Be a specialist in his own culture.
18.Make himself conversant with the history, religion, social life and
customs of the people in whose language the original book is written.
19.Be an artistic judge and able to make appropriate decisions in critical
situations.
20.Love his/her profession.
21.Be able to recognize and differentiate between poetic and prosaic stylistic
variations in the two languages.
22.Be alert to improve his/her writing ability in the target language if she/he
feels being impoverished in her/his writing.

23.Constantly improve his general knowledge through reading relevant texts.

24.Study logic which will assist him to assess the truth values underling the
passage he is translating.
25.Be familiar with different techniques and approaches of translation.
26.Be intelligent and sensitive.
27.Have a fairly large background in philosophical issues.
28.Know both the source and target languages equally well, that is, he
should understand the message of the source language and be able to
reproduce it in the receptor language.

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 29.Have abroad general knowledge and know sufficiently the subject matter
of the translation, and thus refuse to undertake a translation in a field
beyond his competence.
30.Be patient and does not get discouraged by referring to the well-informed
experts, or by repeatedly consulting various dictionaries.
31.Be careful, clever and conscientious.
32.Be a researcher, linguist and interested in literature.
33.Fully understand the sense and meaning of the original author.
34.Avoid word-for-word renderings.
35.Choose and order words appropriately to produce the correct tone.
36.a very good knowledge of the language, written and spoken, from which
he is translating (the source language);
37.An excellent command of the language into which he is translating (the
target language);
38.familiarity with the subject matter of the text being translated;
39.A profound understanding of the etymological and idiomatic correlates
between the two languages; and
40.A finely tuned sense of when to metaphrase ("translate literally") and
when to paraphrase, so as to assure true rather than spurious equivalents
between the source- and target-language texts.

System of translation and the role of translator in this system

Translation as a system consists of three stages:

1. Analysis: in which the message given in the source language is analyzed
in terms of both grammatical relationships and the meanings and
combinations of the words.

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 2. Transfer: in which the analyzed material is transferred in the mind of
translator from the source Language into the receptor language.
3. Restructuring: in which the transferred material is restructured so as to
make
the final message fully acceptable in the receptor language.
In this system, the translator has two completely different roles:
First he acts as a receptor, that is, the one who receives the source language
and the message in it.
Secondly he plays the role of a second source that reproduces in the receptor
language what he has already received in the source language.
By doing this, his objective is to create the very same feeling in the reader of the
target language text as that of the reader of the original. It can, therefore, be said
that the translator plays the role of a bridge between the mind of the author and
the reader of his book. Thus when translating a text, the translator should know:

a. What the author says.

b. What he means by that.
c. For home he says it.
d. How he puts it forward.

How Much Talent Required for a Translator?

People generally tend to believe that translation is merely the mechanical

replacement of languages, and therefore, anybody can be a translator if he/she
happens to know a foreign language.
This is absolutely wrong! Knowledge of foreign languages is no guarantee that
a translation will be rendered fairly well. The skill of translating is to make the
right interpretation of the meaning in the target language; therefore, a translator

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should understand the general idea of the subject besides having good
knowledge of a language, including grammar, syntax and spelling rules. So a
good knowledge of the subject of a translation is part of the translation process.
A skilled translator, however, has something else. It is his talent.
And now we are approaching the greatest challenge of a translation how to find
the proper balance between delivering the sense and beauty of the initial text
and making the target translation. Only gifted translators are capable of finding
this balance.

General Questions Considered in the Process of Translation

In order to achieve the goals of a good translation, translators should have a
basic understanding of the purpose and procedure of surveys and select the most
appropriate wording and sentence structure to achieve the functional
equivalence of a survey question, or to convey the message of survey
supporting documents. As language use depends heavily on the context, and
there are multiple ways to translate a word, a phrase, or a sentence, translators
should be provided with essential background information before they can
decide on the appropriate words and sentence structures for a translator. The
ultimate criteria for making the decision for word choice or sentence structure
should be based on the following guiding principles:
a. Who? Who is the target population? What are the social attributes (if known)
of the target population (e.g, education level, income level)?
b. What? What is the message contained in the source text?
c. Why? Why the document is needed? (e.g, is the text to be used to collect
data or to inform respondents?)
d. Where? At what geographical location and at what social setting is the
document going to be used?
f. How? How is the message going to be delivered? What is the manner of
delivery (formal or informal)? What is the mode of data collection?

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These six general questions outline the social and contextual factors that
influence language use in communication and should serve as the guidance for
dealing with linguistic nuances in translation. For example, if the mode of data
collection is an oral mode (e.g, Face-to-face or telephone), the translator
should select words and sentence structures that are commonly used in spoken
language instead of written. If the social setting in which the translated
document is going to be used is formal one, translators should use a more
formal style in the translation. Therefore, translators and reviewers should
consider these six general questions for guidance in selecting words, sentence
structures, and level of formality in the process of translation and review.

Translation Assessment (1)

A translator must communicate the meaning of the original text in the closest
natural equivalent in the target language in such a form that it is understandable
to the receptors. Thus, testing a translation should be based on the following
three points:

1. Accuracy of the meaning

2. Clarity or intelligibility of the message

3. Naturalness of the form

The purpose of translation evaluation is threefold: accuracy, clearness and

naturalness. I propose the following three questions to be answered regarding
the evaluation of a translation 1) does the translation communicate the same
meaning as the source language? 2) Does the audience for whom the translation
is intended understand it clearly? And 3) is the form of the translation easy to

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read and natural to the receptor language grammar and style? The evaluation
process should also include a careful comparison of the translation with the
original text to see whether any additions, deletions, or change of information
have crept in.
A second way to check translation is by having someone else, who is bilingual
in the source and receptor languages, make a back-translation of the translated
text into the source language …. It is a real literal rendering of the translation to
be used for checking purposes … .translating and back-translating are very
different. In translating, one uses natural and clear forms in back-translating,
literal forms are used in order to show up the structure of the translation being
back-translation.
The ultimate test of a translation must be based on three major factors:
The correctness with which the receptors understand the message of the original
(that is to say, its ‘faithfulness to the original’ as determined by the extent to
which people really comprehend the meaning.
The ease of the comprehension, and the involvement a person experiences as
the result of the adequacy of the form of the translation.

Translation Assessment (2)

Testing a translation should cover all possible problems. To test a translation,

one must focus attention not on the extent of verbal correspondence but on the
amount of dynamic equivalence. This means that testing the translation does not
consist in merely comparing texts to see the extent of verbal consistency or
conformity (translators can be consistently wrong as well as consistently right),
but in determining how the potential receptors of a translation react to it, they
maintain that dynamic equivalence has priority over formal correspondence. So,
a translator may be consistently wrong. For instance, he may reproduce a

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dynamic equivalence in the target language without a formal correspondence.
He may also be consistently right. He may, if the meaning is not distorted, have
a literal translation which is mostly distinguished from word-for-word
translation.
A translation must be intelligible and acceptable to the potential readers. So the
message must be conveyed in an equivalence which is actually used in the
receptor language. There should not be anything in the translation itself which is
stylistically awkward, structurally burdensome, linguistically unnatural, and
semantically misleading or incomprehensible, unless, of course, the message in
the source language has these characteristics (the task of the translator is to
produce the closest natural equivalent, not to edit or to rewrite). But to judge
these qualities one must look to the potential users.

A Brief History of Translation Teaching (1)

Modern systems of foreign language instruction in mainland China began
in 1862. From that point on, translation teaching was used as a means of
teaching foreign languages and would not become an independent discipline
until 1978. As early as 1944, Yan’an Foreign Languages Scholl, set up to train
translators and interpreters in politics, military affairs and foreign affairs,
offered course in translation and interpreting. It was perhaps the first official
translation course in mainland China, although there is no record of definite
teaching programs or textbooks. Between 1949 and 1978, some of the foreign
language institutes or departments included courses in translation, but the
timetables indicate that translation was used mainly as an exercise to practice a
foreign language. No distinction was made between teaching timetables indicate
that translation was used mainly as an exercise to practice a foreign language.
No distinction was made between teaching translation and translation teaching.
As a result, teaching plans had little in common and the study and research into
translation teaching was non-existent. Most teachers of translation let their

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students translate text and then commented on the students’ work in the class.
This method was subjective and allowed teachers to follow their own
inclination, but made it difficult to contrast results or compare notes on the
teaching experience. The translation course was mainly targeted to
undergraduates specializing in foreign languages, and there were no special
departments or programs for training translators or interpreters. The number of
qualified translators and interpreters graduated from foreign language institutes
or departments was therefore very limited.
Since 1978, a number of foreign language institutes and departments have
been established. According to incomplete 1989 statistics (from Important
Events of Foreign Languages Teaching in China 1949-1989, Foreign
Languages Teaching and Research Press, 1993), there are nearly 400
universities or colleges with foreign-language departments, in addition to the
foreign language institutes in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Xi’an,
Chongqing, Dalian and other cities, most of which offer courses in translation
and interpreting to undergraduates. By 1990, more than 50 foreign-language
universities or departments offered M.A. degrees in English language and
literature, according to statistics of the State Commission of Education. Among
those universities or departments, only a few were actually called “Translation
Theory and Practice;” others included translation within the specialty of
English language and literature. Thousands of undergraduate and graduate
students graduated from these universities, interpreting in various areas. Many
postgraduate students go on teaching translation. They have also translated and
published articles, works of literature and translation studies, as well as work
from other disciplines. They have also been interpreters in meetings, interviews
and conferences. The result of China’s translation teaching during this period is
remarkable in terms of both quantity and quality: ever since 1978, real and
official translation teaching has developed rapidly in mainland China.

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 A Brief History of Translation Teaching (2)
Not everybody recognizes the importance of translation teaching, but

there is perhaps no other discipline of language and literature that so

comprehensively reflects new research in linguistics, literature, aesthetics and
other areas. Translation is important components of foreign language training as
well as a means of testing foreign language skill. The program combines
translation, literature and linguistic theories with translating practice and
courses aimed at improving comprehensive linguistic capability. Through
translation teaching, students deepen their understanding of two languages and
two cultures, learn both the foreign language and their mother tongue
thoroughly, and enhance their knowledge of structure. The purpose of
translation teaching is to give students not only practical bilingual ability, but
also to encourage the attitudes and morality that will allow them to do the best
of possible translation work after graduation. From the students’ point of view,
translation is a very useful skill to graduate with. The level of translation
reflects comprehensive abilities in a foreign lanague and the mother tongue
(including listening, speaking, reading and writing) and even a
comprehensive understanding. Graduates with strong translation or interpreting
abilities can more easily find good jobs. In mainland China, translation is a
compulsory course for undergraduates in foreign language departments. On the
other hand, it is more difficult for students to write their graduation thesis
(especially, at the graduate level) on translation than on linguistics or literature.
There is less conference material than in linguistics and literature. Moreover,
the thesis must be connected with translation theories that involve the theories
of linguistics, literature and other branches of learning. In short then, the
translation abilities of students will affect both their work and studies.
It becomes apparent that translation theory could be applied widely
through translation teaching, and could then be studied in depth to set the course

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for continuous improvement in translation itself. A great number of high level
translators and interpreters are needed to accomplish China’s four
modernizations. Translation teaching has been playing an important role in
training these translators and interpreters, while also serving as the lifeline for
the development of translation studies.

Teaching Methods of Translation

We have focused primarily on the semantic transformation aspects and

not the cultural exchange aspect of translation teaching, a point that was noted
and discussed by many teachers. They realize that translators must pay special
attention to cultural differences and that teachers should develop in their
students a heightened cultural consciousness. The choice of teaching materials
should be practical and instructive, and teaching methods should not be
monotonous. Teachers must therefore be highly qualified, and have extensively
studied the theories of translation, linguistics, literature, aesthetics and other
related branches of learning. Moreover, they should be able to connect
translation theory with practice and to apply the theory to translation skills.
Teachers of translation should have a rich experience in the practice of
translation and have published books or articles on translation studies. They
should be familiar with English and American literature and with the cultural
systems of both West and East. They should also be aware of the mistakes most
often made by students, and be able to accurately analyze the causes of these
mistakes from the theories of linguistics, culture, literature, rhetoric, style,
aesthetics and so on. Acquaint themselves with translation theories and skill,
and be able to combine these theories with translation practice. That is to say,
they must be first of all highly qualified translators to be able to explain

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translation theories and skill vividly and clearly so that their students can
understand and assimilate these explanations. This is a challenge for all
translation teachers. Other teachers will explain translation skills first, and then
give an assignment. After correcting the exercise-books, they will give a lecture
again to highlight misunderstandings, mistaken translations and to point out the
correct translation with their own exercise in order to find their mistakes,
analyze the reasons for these mistakes, and improve the translation themselves.
Other teachers will discuss excellent passages from translations done by famous
translators with their students. Most teachers emphasize the importance of
translating whole paragraphs or texts. They provide articles of various styles in
order to enrich practical translation abilities and stimulate the interest of
students. In a word, all translation, teachers spend a lot of time preparing
lessons, correcting exercise-books, and doing practical translations themselves
to enrich their own experience and knowledge. In a sense, translation teachers
are more hard-working than the teachers of other subjects.
In translation teaching, we have found that students’ problems are largely
attributable to the following factors: (1) Attitude toward their occupation: they
do not recognize the importance of translation, so they do their homework
casually and carelessly; (2) weak bilingual foundation: both their
comprehension and expression of Chinese and the foreign languages are not
good enough. They often make grammatical and spelling mistakes, create
Chinglish sentences when they Chinese-English translation, and sometimes use
non-standard Chinese and incorrect punctuation marks. It is very hard for those
with weak writing abilities (especially Chinese writing abilities) to catch up
with others in a short time. (3) Rhetoric and style: students have no clear
consciousness of style, and have had little chance to appreciate various styles
before they begin to study translation. Correspondingly, they translate without
considering the style of the original and often mix different styles together. (4)
Cannot use reference books: students often ask their teachers the meaning or

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spelling of a new word rather than though they study background material by
themselves. Some students use the Chinese translation appearing in pocket
dictionaries without considering its definition, characteristic and usage. All
these problems are due to our educational system and teaching method, and
indicate that we must pay more attention to students’ study and thinking
methods.

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