In translation theory and practice, it is proved that any text can be adequately translated into a foreign language, moreover, in compliance with all the rules and preserving all the stylistic features, if any. A translation may depart from the original and then is literary. If the form of expression of the original and the translated text are the same, then we can talk about literal translation.
What is such a translation
A translation in which the word order and the construction as a whole in the original language is preserved is called verbatim. In this case, words are taken only in their broad sense. Context attention is not accepted. In other words, literal translation is a mechanical substitution of the words of the native language in place of the words of the source language. The syntactic design of the script and its lexical composition are preserved as much as possible. Often there is only a gap between content and form, when the author’s thought and main message is clear, but the grammatical construction is alien to the Russian ear.
What are the differences between literal and literal, literal, text translation
Do not confuse literal translation with a word for word. Sometimes it is also called literal, or subscript. In the latter case, words are thoughtlessly mechanically translated, and their logical and grammatical connections are not taken into account. So, for example, translating word by word the sentence What are you thinking about , we get - "What do you think about?" (instead of “What are you thinking?”, translated literally).
Another example: in German, the particle “not” is written at the end of a sentence. Thus, the phrase “I do not know” will sound like this: “I know not” ( ich weiss nicht) . That is, such a translation will be a word of mouth. Such a proposal in Russian looks illogical. Translating literally, we get "I do not know." Thus, in literal translation, grammatical relationships are taken into account. Literal tracing of words is not welcome in translation practice and should be expelled from the language.
In what cases is this type of transfer used
Often literal translation violates the syntactic norms of the Russian language (as in the examples above), therefore it cannot be considered as the final version of work on the text and requires literary processing. However, sometimes, for example, in an official, scientific style, or when you want to translate terms and definitions, this kind can be used.
For example, the English sentence This substance is dissolved in water corresponds to the Russian "This substance is dissolved in water." The syntactic structures of the first and second sentences coincide and are expressed by similar means. In literary texts, such coincidences are much less common and only in very simple sentences, for example, I was here corresponds to the Russian "I was here."
Also, literal translation is a frequently used tool for fluent, first translation of a text. The draft version is needed in order to understand the main message, the essence of the proposal. For work at the draft stage, this type is very suitable.
Transmission of words in the translation in question
Literal translation is only the beginning of any translation work. Then you need to reflect the lexical meaning of the words. For this in linguistics, there are three methods of translation. They are as follows:
- using analogues;
- equivalents;
- descriptively.
By the way, the last method cannot be made verbatim, because it implies the free transfer of semantic content. Equivalents are direct correspondences that are independent of context. For example, the word "parcel" is translated into English in two words - book parcel . The whole phrase is the equivalent of one word in Russian.
Literal translation can also be carried out using analogues - synonyms that correspond to the context most fully.
Is a literal translation of a song or a proverb possible
Proverbs and sayings are stable expressions in the language, otherwise called idioms. Literal translation of them into a foreign language is not possible. Qualitatively translating idioms is possible only in the following way: it is necessary to find their analogue in the target language. For example, the old English proverb It is raining cats and dogs cannot be translated literally as "it rains from cats and dogs." It would be more correct to say the analogue of the stable construction of the Russian language: "it pours like a bucket." The point is the same, but the rhetoric and presentation are completely different.
When translating proverbs, you need to pay attention to the mentality and thinking of the people in whose language you are translating. And literal translation is an almost identical reproduction of the original language. That is why literal reproduction is not possible here.
Translation of literal songs, as a rule, is also not possible. After all, each song is a finished literary work, a rather vast layer of text. As a rule, syntactic constructions do not coincide even if you literally translate a couple of sentences "word for word". And what can we say about the translation of the whole song! This can only be done in draft form, at the first stage of work.