During translation, direct translation techniques are utilized when the source language's structural and conceptual elements are converted into the target language.
Today, we want to talk about translation techniques that are well-known though they can make the translation process more sophisticated and even more efficacious.
The question is about translation industry – if translation industry originated centuries ago is there any possibility that something new will appear in the field?
Let’s admit it is a very disputable question. On one hand, there have been thousands of scholars who have an incredible experience, hundreds of approaches, a dozen of techniques for efficient translation. On the other hand, all these methods and techniques got adjusted to the recent demands of society and gained a high level of professionalism.
In general, the purpose of translation is to reproduce various kinds of texts—including religious, literary, scientific, and philosophical texts—in another language and thus making them available to wider readers.
It’s very simple: a method is applied to the entire text to be translated, while the technique may vary within the same text according to each case and depending on the specific verbal elements to be translated.
Direct translation techniques are used when structural and conceptual elements of the source language can be transposed into the target language. Direct translation techniques include:
Borrowing is the taking of words directly from one language into another without translation. Many English words are “borrowed” into other languages; English also borrows numerous words from other languages;
Borrowing is a translation procedure that involves using the same word or expression in the original text in the target text. The word or expression borrowed is usually written in italics. This is about reproducing an expression in the original text as is. In this sense, it is a translation technique that does not actually translate.
A calque or loan translation is a phrase borrowed from another language and translated literally word-for-word. You often see them in specialized or internationalized fields such as quality assurance. Some calques can become widely accepted in the target language. The meaning other calques can be rather obscure for most people, especially when they relate to specific vocations or subjects such as science and law. An unsuccessful calque can be extremely unnatural and can cause unwanted humor, often interpreted as indicating the lack of expertise of the translator in the target language. When a translator uses a calque, he or she is creating or using a neologism in the target language by adopting the structure of the source language.
Usually, this is called a word-for-word translation or metaphrase. Literal translation can be used in some languages and not others depending on the sentence structure. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. And because one sentence can be translated literally across languages does not mean that all sentences can be translated literally.
This means a word-for-word translation, achieving a text in the target language which is as correct as it is idiomatic. A literal translation can only be applied to languages which are extremely close in cultural terms. It is acceptable only if the translated text retains the same syntax, the same meaning and the same style as the original text.
