Communicational Translation Theory

3844 Words16 Pages
Introduction Most traditional thinking about translation typology has been binary: two main types are set up, mostly as opposite ends of a continuum. The most common parameter has been “free vs. literal”, or “word-for-word vs. sense-for-sense”. A modern version of this distinction is the one proposed by Peter Newmark between semantic and communicative translation. Semantic translation is closer, more literal; it gives highest priority to the meaning and form of the original, and is appropriate to translations of source texts that have high status, such as religious texts, legal texts, literature, and perhaps ministerial speeches. Communicative translation is freer, and gives priority to the effectiveness of the message to be communicated. It focuses on factors such as readability and naturalness, and is appropriate to translations of “pragmatic” texts where the actual form of the original is not closely bound to its intended meaning. These are texts like advertisements, tourist brochures, product descriptions and instructions, manuals. Newmark’s Approaches to Translation and A Text Book of Translation have been widely used on translator training courses and combine a wealth of practical examples of linguistic theories of meaning with practical applications for translation. He suggests the solution of conflict of loyalty, or in other words, narrowing the gap between emphasis on source and target language by replacing such old terms as word for word, sense for sense, literal, free, and faithful translation with those of semantic and communicative translation. Review of the Literature “In a narrow sense, translation theory is concerned with the translation method appropriately used for a certain type of text, and it is therefore dependent on a functional theory of language. However, in a wider sense, translation theory is the body of knowledge that we have about
Open Document