What is Translation? 

We say it's a "translation class" - it would be important to know what translation is before we can do it. 

Translation = Interpreting + Time + frozen source text.  When we "interpret" we're working live and in real time.  But with translation we get more TIME to process and research the meaning before we produce our rendition.  We also work from a frozen text - this means that it could be either written (and not changing) or recorded video (and therefore not changing).  

• Our song project is an example of a translation because you will have weeks to work on it and you'll be working on it from the lyrics printed out to make them easier to work with. 

• Sight Translation is a section of the BEI in which you will be given 7 minutes to translate a short written text.  You'll have 2 minutes to read over the paper and prepare and 5 minutes to render the translation.  It may not seem like very much time, but it is "+ time" because it isn't happening simultaneously.  You will also be working from a written text that you can look at as many times as you like during the process. 

Interpreting vs. Translating:  The process you learn in Interpreting will crossover with the the process of translating.  We will still be analysing the source text for meaning, searching for signs to match the meaning, and producing a signed rendition - but when "interpreting" you'll work with a spoken text  in real time and in translation you'll work with a written text with extended time to process meaning. 

Terms we'll be using:

• Source text / Source Language

• Target text / Target Language

• Form vs. Meaning  (See hand out on Brightspace for more)

• Very literal

• Literal / Modified Literal

• Idiomatic

• Unduly Free

Have you heard any of these terms before?   Can you make a best guess as to what they mean?

Find them on the chart below.  What questions do you still have?

Meaning Based Translation

• Source Language (SL) - The language the interpreter or translator is working from.

• Source Text (ST) - The written, spoken, or signed text the interpreter or translator is working from. 

• Target Language (TL) - The language the interpreter or translator is working into.

• Target Text (TT) - The written, spoken, or signed text the interpreter or translator is working into. 

• Form vs. Meaning  (See hand out on Blackboard for more) - 

• Form - the state or structure of language -- grammatical structure or literal content of a message.  GLOSSING reveals the FORM of a message and is VERY LITERAL. 

• Meaning - The semantic intent of the message

Each of these variants in form serve a specific purpose - but is not always desired when our goal is an Idiomatic message

• Very literal - To be VERY Literal is distinguished from just being "LIteral".  When we GLOSS the ASL to show the structure or to study the grammar, we are revealing the FORM of the message.   While being Very Literal serves a purpose when we need to know the exact language/form that was used, we do not want very literal glossing in our idiomatic messages.   

  • • • • • • e.g. - the sign "POP-UP" to mean "arrive" in the SL of ASL - We don't want to say in the TL of  English, "You can pop up to the party anytime you like".  A more idiomatic choice would be to say "You can show up to the party anytime you like."

• Literal / Modified Literal - You can see this falls in a very wide range anywhere from "very literal" to "idiomatic" on the spectrum.   "Literel" or "Modified Literal" means that some FORM of the message still appears in the Target Text.  Examples of "Literal" are the many varities of Manually Coded English (MCE).  Signing Exact English (SEE1) is more literal and preserves more of the FORM of the Target Text than Pidgen Signed English (PSE).   PSE also has a wide range of acceptable forms - as you will learn in your Transliterating class.   PSE falls with the area of "Modified Literal" message and falls within this wide range.  PSE can preserve the FORM of the grammar and the language of the Source Text of English.  

• Idiomatic - 1) Contains / Preserves the MEANING of the SOURCE Text, while 2) using the FORM of the TARGET Language.   The goal of idiomatic translations  / interpretations is to look/sound natural in the Target Language.   When working from ASL to English we want our work to be in idiomtic English.  If some signs in ASL, "ME GO GO GO CHURCH", we don't want to say in English "I go, go, go to church." -- it would be more idiomatic to say "I attend Church regularly."  The same goes for working from English into ASL, we want our messages to keep the meaning of the English (SL/ST) but look natural in ASL (TT/TL).   Expansion Techniques are suggested for creating Idiomatic messages in ASL. 

• Unduly Free - Adds or skews/changes information that was in the source text.   In our effort to convey the meaning and intent of the Source Text but match the norms of the Target Language,  it's possible to go over the line and change/skew the message.   For example - Humor is very difficult to translate across any set of languages.  If someone is speaking to a large group they may open their speech with a joke - with the intent of breaking the ice and forming a connection with the audience with a little bit of humor.   As an interpreter we know that humor won't typically translate the same way and maybe the goal of breaking the ice or connecting with the audience won't be the same for the Deaf audience.   

  • • • • • Should the interpreter abandon the FORM of the original joke and aim to preseve the meaning and semantic intent of the message by telling a joke that WILL connect with the Deaf audience (Target Audience)?  

          • We want the meaning to be conveyed, right?   So the interpreter tells a classic Deaf joke instead?  Mission accomplished.  

          • But what happens when the Deaf consumer wants to go talk to the speaker after and talk to them about their connection to the Deaf community?  

          • Choosing to change the joke is too far - it's Unduly Free.   This is an extreme example.  

          • We can also be Unduly Free anytime we add meaning to a message that was not there.   If I personally know that Karyn is out of the office because she's sick, but then when asked, the person I'm interpreting for says just, "Karyn isn't here today." -- But I sign "Karyn not here - sick".  That's also Unduly Free.   

          • Unduly Free can also leave key information out of the Target Text -- If the interpreter decides that something isn't relevant or wouldn't be understood in the same way by the Target Audience.  

          • There is a very fine line between EXPANDING the message by unpacking meaning that is implied by the Source Text, and ADDING to the message.  This is the line that we will always walk as interpreters/translators and we must continuously check in with our decisions - was that meaning there and I unpacked it and made it explicit?   Or did I add to the message and skew the original meaning/intent?   

Form vs. Meaning -- Read the short article on Blackboard from Carol Patrie

We’re going to be talking a lot about FORM (state or structure of language – the actual words, phrases, clauses, sentences) and MEANING in this class – and FORM vs. MEANING – so I want to be sure that we know what that means.

Each language packages meaning into form in different ways –

 For example, in Vietnamese there is a single word that means “someone leaves to go somewhere and something happens at home, so that he has to go back home”;   In ASL an “overhead projector” may be translated as “the square shaped object on the ceiling that shines light from above us to a flat picture on the wall behind me”.

• • • We have to be aware of how ASL and English package/use language – and deliver the Target Text in an idiomatic manner.   The difficulty we have is that we let our native language leak over into the ASL because we think that we need to “say everything” – and we DO – but we just need to know that it is told in different ways. (expansion techniques help us “re-package”).   

    • English may IMPLY meaning that ASL must make explicit --  e.g.  pronouns that act as Determiners should be made more explict in ASL. 

      • • • English:  "I left my book on the table, do you mind getting it for me?" -- ASL: " MY BOOK, LEFT, TABLE CL-BOOK (on top), MIND GET?"  -- We don't want to sign "IT".     Be very aware of the need to substitute the concrete noun that is being represented by words like:  it, that, who, which, etc

          • ASL: "INDEX MY FRIEND, TWO-OF-US GO CAMPING.  INDEX NOT LIKE OUTSIDE,  ME FORCE INDEX JOIN.  INDEX CRABBY." --  In English we use gender pronouns and over use of "My friend" becomes awkard.   "My friend and I went camping.  My friend doesn't like the outdoors, I forced my friend to go with me.  My friend was not happy about."   If we know from context the gender of the friend we can use he or she - if we don't we can use "they".   "My friend and I went camping.  They don't like the outdoors, I forced them to go with me.  They were not happy about."

One form (one word, sign, phrase, etc) can have MANY different meanings:

• • • For example the classic example of RUN -- how many different meanings does it have?   How do you sign each based on that meaning?

      • • • The water is running.

          • There is a run in my hose.

          • I like to run track. 

          • He's running for President. 

          • I'm now running my own business. 

          • The refrigerator isn't running. 

          • Your nose is running. 

          • The play had a good run.  

          • If you bring up politics in my family it will send everyone running.

    • How about "OK" – How many meanings can you think of if having in English?

      • • • Agreeable; acceptable: Was everything OK with your stay?

          • Satisfactory; good: The meeting was OK.

          • Not excellent and not poor; mediocre: made an OK presentation.

          • In proper or satisfactory operational or working order: Is the battery OK?

          • Correct: That answer is OK.

          • Uninjured; safe: The skier fell but was OK.

          • Fairly healthy; well: Thanks to the medicine, the patient was OK.

          • Can you think of others?  Ok, ok, ok!     Okaaaaaaaaaaaaay....    OK!!

-      We can easily see how ONE FORM can have many different MEANINGS.    We must interpret the MEANING, and discard the FORM to be idiomatic.  In Idiomatic ASL, each of these meanings would be signed differently.   However in SEE, they would sign RUN the same each time - beause they are LITERAL and preserve the FORM over the MEANING.   

Are you dizzy yet?  Or are we getting there? 

Idioms from around the world that can't be translated literally: 

Bad Translations Powerpoint -- When Literal Goes Wrong

These are examples of translations that were too literal.  The mistakes that were made because they adhered too closely to the Source Language and not enough to the meaning conveyed in the Target Language.    If we adhere too closely to the source language in our interpretations, the meaning could be just as skewed, and just as comical.    

How does Translating apply to Interpreting? 

Translating and Interpreting use the same process of analyzing a message (ST) and converting it into a message that means the same thing in another langauge (TL).   The difference is that Translations give us more TIME to work through that analysis.   Translation slows the process of Interpreting down and lets you practice the process without the time constraint.   

You will tell me that this feels like there is a lot of overlap between this class (Linguistics II) on Tuesday and Interpreting I on Thursday.  It's true, and it's intentional.  We'll slow the process down on Tuesdays and use a similar process on Thursdays, but with less time to produce a target text.