Editing Translation

'''Translation''' is the communication of the [[Meaning (linguistic)|meaning]] of a [[source language (translation)|source-language]] text by means of an [[Dynamic and formal equivalence|equivalent]] [[target language (translation)|target-language]] text.<sup>[1]</sup>  The English language draws a [[terminology|terminological]] distinction (not all languages do) between ''translating'' (a written text) and ''interpreting'' (oral or sign-language communication between users of different languages); under this distinction, translation can begin only after the appearance of [[writing]] within a language community.   

A translator always risks inadvertently introducing source-language [[word]]s, [[grammar]], or [[syntax]] into the target-language rendering. On the other hand, such "spill-overs" have sometimes imported useful source-language [[calque]]s and [[loanword]]s that have enriched target languages.  Translators, including early translators of [[sacred text]]s, have helped shape the very languages into which they have translated.<sup>[2]</sup>

Because of the laboriousness of the translation process, since the 1940s efforts have been made, with varying degrees of success, to [[machine translation|automate translation]] or to [[computer-assisted translation|mechanically aid the human translator]].<sup>[3]</sup> More recently, the rise of the [[Internet]] has fostered a [[world-wide market]] for [[translation services]] and has facilitated [[language localization|"language localization"]].<sup>[4]</sup>

==Etymology==
[[Image:Rosetta Stone BW.jpeg|thumb|115px|left|[[Rosetta Stone]], a [[secular icon]] for the art of translation.<sup>[5]</sup>]]
The [[English language|English]] word "translation" derives from the [[Latin]] word ''translatio'', which comes from ''[[trans]]'', "across" + ''[[ferre]]'', "to carry" or "to bring" (''-latio'' in turn coming from ''latus'', the past participle of ''ferre'').  Thus ''translatio'' is "a carrying across" or "a bringing across":  in this case, of a text from one language to another.

The [[Germanic languages]] and some [[Slavic languages]] have [[calque#Loan translation: translatio and traductio|calque]]d their words for the [[concept]] of "translation" on ''translatio''.

The [[Romance languages]] and the remaining ''Slavic'' languages have derived their words for the concept of "translation" from an alternative Latin word, ''traductio'', itself derived from ''traducere'' ("to lead across" or "to bring across", from ''trans'', "across" + ''[[ducere]]'', "to lead" or "to bring").

The [[Ancient Greek language|Ancient Greek]] term for "translation", μετάφρασις (''metaphrasis'', "a speaking across"), has supplied [[English language|English]] with "[[metaphrase]]" (a "[[literal translation|literal]]", or "word-for-word", translation)—as contrasted with "[[paraphrase]]" ("a saying in other words", from  παράφρασις, ''paraphrasis'').

Strictly speaking, the concept of metaphrase—of "word-for-word translation"—is an [[Perfection|imperfect]] concept, because a given word in a given language often carries more than one meaning; and because a similar given meaning may often be represented in a given language by more than one word.  Nevertheless, "metaphrase" and "paraphrase" may be useful as ''ideal'' concepts that mark the extremes in the spectrum of possible approaches to translation.

==See also==
* [[American Literary Translators Association]]
* [[Applied linguistics]]
* [[Back-translation]]
* [[Bilingual dictionary]]
* [[Code mixing]]
* [[Contrastive linguistics]]
* [[Dictionary-based machine translation]]
* [[False cognate]]
* "[[False friend]]"
* [[First language]]
* [[Hindi to Punjabi Machine Translation System]]
* [[Interpreting notes]]
* [[Inttranet]]
* [[Language industry]]
* [[Language interpretation]]
* [[Language localisation]]
* [[Language professional]]
* [[Language transfer]]
* [[Lexicography]]
* [[Linguistic validation]]
* [[Literal translation]]
* [[Machine translation]]
* [[Metaphrase]]
* [[Paraphrase]]
* [[Phono-semantic matching]]
* [[Postediting]]
* [[Register (sociolinguistics)]]
* [[Second language]]
* [[Self-translation]]
* [[Source language (translation)]]
* [[Syntax]]
* [[Tahash]]
* [[Target language (translation)]]
* [[Technical translation]]
* [[Transcription (linguistics)]]
* [[Translation associations|Translation associations]]
* [[Translation criticism]]
* [[Translation memory]]
* [[Translation scholars|Translation scholars]]
* [[Translation studies]]
* [[Translation-quality standards]]
* [[Transliteration]]
* [[Untranslatability]]


==Notes==
* 1. ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'', Namit Bhatia, ed., 1992, pp. 1,051–54.
* 2. [[Christopher Kasparek]], "The Translator's Endless Toil", ''[[The Polish Review]]'', vol. XXVIII, no. 2, 1983, pp. 84-87.
* 3. W.J. Hutchins, ''Early Years in Machine Translation: Memoirs and Biographies of Pioneers'', Amsterdam, John Benjamins, 2000.
* 4. M. Snell-Hornby, ''The Turns of Translation Studies: New Paradigms or Shifting Viewpoints?'', Philadelphia, John Benjamins, 2006, p. 133.
* 5. "Rosetta Stone", ''The Columbia Encyclopedia'', 5th ed., 1994, p. 2,361.

[[Category:Applied linguistics]]
[[Category:Communication]]
[[Category:Translation| ]]
[[Category:Meaning (philosophy of language)]]

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