Definition of Translation

Nida and Taber (1982: 12) see translating as a process of reproducing in the receptor language
the closest natural equivalent of the source language message, first in terms of meaning and
secondly in terms of style. In other words, translation is a transfer of meaning, message, and style
from one SLT to the TLT. In the order of priority, style is put the last. Here the things to
reproduce (transfer) is stated, message.
According to Catford (1978: 20) says that translation is the replacement of textual material in one language
(SL) by equivalent textual material in another language (TL ).
Larson (1984:3) states that translation is transferring the meaning of the source language into
the receptor language. This is done by going from the form of the first language to the form of a
second language by way of semantic structure. It is meaning which is being transferred and must
be held constant.

History of Translation
From Babel to Babel Fish
There have been a number of books written recently about the history of translation. What
certainly is true is that as we move from the age of the tower of Babel (where the Bible tells us
different languages were first introduced) to the age of Babel Fish (and other instant translation
services) there is a growing need for translation. As the internet spreads, and globalisation moves
on - the need for translation increases. Language schools and courses, like St Georges language
courses in London, may help you to learn Spanish in London but theorists throughout the ages
have insisted that a good translator must not only know the language but understand the culture
they are translating.

Early history
The word translation itself derives from a Latin term meaning "to bring or carry across". The
Ancient Greek term is 'metaphrasis' ("to speak across") and this gives us the term 'metaphrase' (a
"literal or word-for-word translation") - as contrasted with 'paraphrase' ("a saying in other
words"). This distinction has laid at the heart of the theory of translation throughout its history:
Cicero and Horace employed it in Rome, Dryden continued to use it in the seventeenth century
and it still exists today in the debates around "fidelity versus transparency" or "formal
equivalence versus dynamic equivalence". The first known translations are those of the Sumerian

epic Gilgamesh into Asian languages from the second millennium BC. Later Buddhist monks
translated Indian sutras into Chinese and Roman poets adapted Greek texts.

Arabic scholars
Translation undertaken by Arabs could be said to have kept Greek wisdom and learning alive.
Having conquered the Greek world, they made Arabic versions of its philosophical and scientific
works. During the Middle Ages, translations of these Arabic versions were made into Latin mainly at the school in Crdoba, Spain. These Latin translations of Greek and original Arab
works of learning helped underpin Renaissance scholarship.

Religious texts
Religious texts have played a great role in the history of translation. One of the first recorded
instances of translation in the West was the rendering of the Old Testament into Greek in the 3rd
century BC. A task carried out by 70 scholars this translation itself became the basis for
translations into other languages.

Saint Jerome, the patron saint of translation, produced a Latin Bible in the 4th century AD that
was the preferred text for the Roman Catholic Church for many years to come. Translations of
the Bible, though, were to controversially re-emerge when the Protestant Reformation saw the
translation of the Bible into local European languages - eventually this led to Christianity's split
into Roman Catholicism and Protestantism due to disparities between versions of crucial words
and passages. Martin Luther himself is credited with being the first European to propose that one
translates satisfactorily only toward his own language: a statement that is just as true in modern
translation theory.

Modern Theory and Practice

Whilst industrialisation has led to the formalization of translation for business purposes since the
eighteenth century it is, perhaps, the internet and mechanical translation that has really
revolutionised the field. In terms of theory Lawrence Venuti's call for "foreignizing" strategies
marks a call for fidelity over transparency in translation. The two poles of metaphrase and
paraphrase, however, still set the terms of debate from the age of Babel to that of Babel Fish.