V.V. Mykhailenko, Iryna Pasternak

Bykovyna State Finance Academy, Chernivtsi, Ukraine

 

Translation and Interpretation in ELSP Paradigm: Introduction

The translation has a long-standing tradition and widely practiced throughout the history, but in our rapidly changing world its role has become of paramount importance. In a new millennium, when cultural exchanges have been widening, knowledge has been increasingly intensified and international communication has been skyrocketed, the phenomenon of translation has become significant. Be it for scientific, medical, technological, commercial, legal, cultural or literary purposes, today human communication depends heavily on translation. Consequently, all social strata reveal their deep interest in translation/interpretation.

The objective of the present paper is to reveal the essence of translation through its types, levels and the difference between translation and interpretation, and to elaborate the algorithm of translation, in particular, economic one.

In applied linguistics translation is a communication in second language having the same meaning as the communication in the first language [8]. The term “interpretation” may be synonymous to “translation”. Sometimes it is used instead of “translation”. But these two terms have some difference. Written translation involves taking a Source Text (such as a book or an article) and transforming it in the Target Language [7]. While oral interpretation refers to listening to spoken (a natural speech or its recording) in the Source Text and translating it orally into the Target Text. So the interpreters deal with spoken discourse, translators – with written discourse. While interpreters often interpret into and from both languages, translators generally translate only from or into their native language.

Due to the continuing evolvement of the translation industry there are now certain terms used to define special translations that do not fall under a general category [8]. Therefore there are some types of translation:

-       The translation of administrative texts. Although administrative has a very broad meaning, in terms of translation it refers to common texts used within businesses and organizations that are used in day to day management. It can also cover texts with similar functions in government [10].

-       Commercial translation or business translation covers any sort of document used in the business world such as correspondence, company accounts, tender documents, reports, etc. Commercial translations require specialist translators with knowledge of terminology used in the business world.

-       Economic translation. Similar to commercial or business translation, economic translation is just a more specific term used for the translation of documents referring to the field of economics. Such texts are usually a lot more academic in nature.

-       Financial translation. Financial translation is the translation of texts of a financial nature. Anything from banking to asset management to stocks and bonds could be covered.

-       General translation. A general translation is the simplest of translations. A general text means that the language used is not high level and to a certain extent could be in layman's terms. There is no specific or technical terminology is used. Most translations carried out fall under this category.

-       Legal translation. Legal translations are one of the trickiest translations known. At its simplest level it means the translation of legal documents such as statutes, contracts and treaties, etc. A legal translation will always need the specialist’s attention. Due to the fact that the law is culture-dependent and requires a translator with an excellent understanding of both the Source and Target cultures. When translating a text within the field of law, the translator should keep the following in mind: the legal system of the Source text is structured in a way that suits that culture and this is reflected in the legal language; similarly, the Target Text is to be read by someone who is familiar with another legal system and its language. This is because there is no real margin for error; the mistranslation of a passage in a contract could, for example, have disastrous consequences.

-       Literary translation. A literary translation is the translation of fiction such as novels, poems, plays and poems. The translation of literary works is considered by experts to be one of the highest forms of translation as it involves so much more than just a surface. A literary translator must also be capable of also translating feelings, cultural nuances, humour and other subtle elements of a piece of work.

-       Medical translation. A medical translation will cover anything from the medical field from the packaging of medicine to manuals for medical equipment to medical books. Like legal translation, medical translation is a specific field where a mistranslation can have grave consequences.

-       Technical translation. A technical translation has a broad meaning. It usually refers to certain fields such as IT or manufacturing and deals with texts such as manuals and instructions. Technical translations contain a high amount of terminology that only a specialist translator could deal with.

-       Computer translation. Not to be confused with CAT, computer assisted translations, which refers to translations carried out by software. Computer translation is the translation of anything to do with computers such as software, manuals, help files, etc.

Recently, financial and economic systems, mechanisms, and techniques have rapidly become more sophisticated. This trend requires translators to acquire more sophisticated technical knowledge of the industry and constantly collect the latest information. Translators should be familiar with different financial industries including banks, life insurance, and securities, and with the current situations of the investment markets in the world to support their sensitive, precise communications.

There are also the following types of interpretation:

1.   Consecutive interpretation. The interpreter takes notes while listening to a speech, then does his or her interpretation during pauses. This is a commonly used practice when there are just two languages at work; for example, if the British and Ukrainian businessmen were having a discussion. The consecutive interpreter would interpret in both directions, Ukrainian to English and English to Ukrainian. Unlike translation and simultaneous interpretation, consecutive interpretation is commonly done into the interpreter's A and B languages [9].

2.   Simultaneous interpretation. The interpreter listens to a speech and simultaneously interprets it, using headphones and a microphone. This is commonly used when there are numerous languages needed, such as in the EU, the United Nations or any other international institutions or conference. Each target language has an assigned channel, so Ukrainian speakers might turn to channel one for the Ukrainian interpretation, English speakers to channel two, etc. Simultaneous interpretation should only be done into one's A language [9].

Despite the type of translation there are levels of translation:

-       Literal translating, which is employed when dealing with separate words whose surface form and structure, as well as their lexical meaning in the source language fully coincide [1].

-       Verbal translation is also employed at the lexeme/word level. But unlike literal translating, it never conveys the orthographic or the sounding form of the source language units, but their denotative meaning only [1].

-       Word-for-word translation is another method of rendering sense. It presents a consecutive verbal translation at the level of word-groups (phrases) and sentences [9].

-       The interlinear way of translating is a conventional term for a strictly faithful rendering sense expressed by phrase and sentences at the text level. In practice, it is applied to all speech units (sentences, paragraphs, etc.). It always provides completely faithful conveying of content only, which is often achieved through various structural transformations of many sense units [9].

-       Literary translating represents the highest level of translator’s ability. Any type of text skillfully turned into the target language, especially by a regular master of the pen may require the faithfulness and literary standard equal to that of the source language [9].

-       Historical/cultural analysis. The history and culture surrounding the authors is important to understand the aid in interpretation [9].

-       Contextual analysis. A verse out of its context can often be taken to mean something completely different from the intention. This method focuses on the importance of looking at the context of a verse in its chapter, book and even theme context [9].

-       Special literary analysis. Every text has several special literary aspects to look at, for example, different levels of allegory, figurative language, metaphors, similes and special literal language. So it is necessary to define the genre of the text to gain full understanding of the intended meaning [1].

-       Virtual translation. The first virtual translation conference was held on September 30, 2009, International Translation Day. It was a twelve-hour event, organized and hosted by ProZ.com, using the Unisfair platform as the virtual environment. The focus of the conference was improving knowledge of different aspects of the translation trade and networking. As with many virtual events, the virtual translation conference remains open for registrants to continue viewing the available material and recorded presentations, and for networking. Over 6,800 attendees participated in the virtual conference, which was provided free of charge. It was reported as the largest gathering of translation professionals in history to date.

-       Discourse level represents the cooperation of factors which influence the translation: social, cultural, pragmatic, psychological and others. It takes to consideration mental peculiarities of people that are talking whose speech is being translated. It is called discourse processing when every factor in the process of translating is important (intonation, voice level, mood, etc.). Discourse analysis is being studied in different areas of science like sociology, psychology, art, philosophy, ethnography[13]

Discourse translation requires definition of some of its aspects. There are lexicological, lexical grammatical and semantic aspects of translating/interpreting. To translate the text faithfully we suggest taking into consideration all the aspects of the translation above and follow the next algorithm:

1.                 Look through the text attentively.

2.                 Specify the “Finance” concept of the text.

3.                 Construct the “Finance” conceptual system of the text.

4.                 Buildup the “Finance” semantic domain of the text.

5.                 Mark unfamiliar:

5.1. notional words (nouns, verbs, adjectives)

5.2 functional words.

6.                 Supply unfamiliar words with the Ukrainian equivalents, choose the lexemes with a common “Finance” component.

7.                 Prepare a brief summary of the text in the Target Text

8.                 Develop the summary into text.

This algorithm can help to translate the text grammatically correct but one should keep in mind the other two aspects (lexical, cognitive and semantic). Only after analyzing all of them one can be sure about the faithfulness of the text one has been translating.

To sum it up, translation itself is a complex process but when one is aware of the rules, problems and tips of translation it becomes easier. To be always “in-the-know” the translator/interpreter should improve his/her language skills and work on special terminology and standards. We will furthering practical clues to financial translation from English to Ukrainian.

 

Literature:

1.   Êîðóíåöü ². Â. Òåîð³ÿ ³ ïðàêòèêà ïåðåêëàäó (àñïåêòíèé ïåðåêëàä): ϳäðó÷íèê. – ³ííèöÿ: Íîâà Êíèãà , 2001 – 448 ñ.

2.   Îñíîâè ïåðåêëàäîçíàâñòâà [Òåêñò] : íàâ÷. ïîñ³á. / [Óêëàä.: Íÿìöó À.ª., Äàùåíêî Î.²., Ãóðàëü Ì.². [òà ³í.]] ; ×åðí³âåöüê. íàö. óí-ò ³ì. Þ. Ôåäüêîâè÷à. - ×åðí³âö³ : Ðóòà, 2008. - 310 ñ.

3.   Øâà÷êî Ñ.Î., Êîáÿêîâà ².Ê. Âñòóï äî ìîâîçíàâñòâà: Ïîñ³áíèê . – ³ííèöÿ: Ôîë³àíò, 2005. – 221 ñ.

4.   Lipson M., Exploring Functional Grammar, in the series Functional Grammar Studies for Non-Native Speakers of English; Quaderni del Centro di Studi Linguistico-Culturali (CeSLiC), D.R. Miller (ed.), CLUEB, Bologna, 2006. – p. 140

5.   Manfredi M. Translating text and context: translation studies and systemic functional linguistics. Vol. 1 Translation theory / Marina Manfredi. – Bologna: Dupress, 2008. –p. 139;

6.   Concise Oxford English dictionary/ edited by Catherine Soanes, Angus Stevenson. - 11th ed.- New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Internet resources

7.   Àíäðåé Ïàðøèí. Òåîðèÿ è ïðàêòèêà ïåðåâîäà. http://teneta.rinet.ru/rus/pe/parshin-and_teoria-i-praktika-perevoda.htm

8.   http://french.about.com/cs/translation/a/introduction_2.htm

9.   http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Types-Of-Translation/305400

10.   http://www.ricintl.com/interpreting-services-types.html

11.   http://www.thefreedictionary.com

12.   http://focus.ti.com/lit/an/scea035a/scea035a.pdf

13.   Linguistics and translation by Jim Tyson http://www.translationdirectory.com/article613.htm