Ways and methods of translating

Generally speaking, translators can choose from two methods of translating, namely direct, or literal, translation and oblique translation. In some translation tasks it may be possible to transpose the source language message element by element into the target language, because it is based on either parallel categories, in which we can speak of structural parallelism, or on parallel concepts, which are the result of metalinguistic parallelism. But translators may also notice gaps, or “lacunae” in the target language which must be filled by corresponding elements, so that the overall impression is the same for the two messages.

It may, however, also happen that, because of structural or metalinguistic differences, certain stylistic effects cannot be transported into the target language without upsetting the syntactic order, or even the lexis. In this case it is understood that more complex methods have to be used which at first may look unusual but which nevertheless can permit translators a strict control over the reliability of their work: these procedures are called oblique translation methods. In the listing which follows, the first three procedures are direct and the others are oblique.

Direct methods of translating

Procedure 1: Borrowing (transcription, transliteration, transcoding)

To overcome a lacuna, usually a metalinguistic one (e.g. a new technical process, unknown concept), borrowing is the simplest of all translation methods. It would not even merit discussion in this context if translators did not occasionally need to use it in order to create a stylistic effect. For instance, in order to introduce the flavour of the source language culture into a translation, foreign terms may be used, e.g. such Ukrainian words as, and so on.

Procedure 2: Loan translation

Loan translation (calque) is a special kind of borrowing whereby a language borrows an expression form of another, but then translates literally each of its elements. The result is either a lexical loan, i.e. calque which respects the syntactic structure of the target text, whilst introducing a new mode of expression; or a structural loan, which introduces a new construction into the language.

The following types of borrowings can be distinguished:

loan words proper – words borrowed from another language and assimilated to this or that extent;

loan translation – 1) (process) borrowing by means of literally translating words (usu. one part after another) or word combinations, by modelling words after foreign patterns; 2) (result) translation loans (calques) – words and expressions formed from the material already existing in the English language but according to patterns taken from another language by way of literal word-for-word or morpheme-for-morpheme translation: e.g. chain smoker::Germ Kettenraucher; goes without saying::Fr. va sans dire; summit conference:: Germ. Gipfel Konferenz, Fr. conférence au sommet;

semantic borrowings/loans – the term is used to denote the development in an English word of a new meaning due to the influence of a related word in another language.

Translation loans are word-for-word (or morpheme-for-morpheme) translations of some foreign words or expressions. In such cases the notion is borrowed from a foreign language but it is expressed by native lexical units, «to take the bull by the horns» (Latin), «fair sex» (French), «living space» (German) etc. Some translation loans appeared in English from Latin already in the Old English period, e.g. Sunday (solis dies). There are translation loans from the languages of Indians, such as: «pipe of peace», «pale-faced», from German «masterpiece», «homesickness», «superman».

Procedure 3: Literal translation

Literal, or word for word, translation is the direct transfer of a source text into a grammatically and idiomatically appropriate target language text in which the translator’s task is limited to observing the adherence to the linguistic servitude of the target text.

If, after trying first three procedures, translators regard a literal translation unacceptable, they must turn to the methods of oblique translation. By unacceptable is meant that the message, when translated literally: gives another meaning, has no meaning, or is structurally impossible, or does not have a corresponding expression within the metalinguistic experience of the target language, or has a corresponding expression, but not with the same register.