Translators are specialised in language pairs and may be further classified as medical translators combining medical knowledge with multiple language pairs.
Traditional Translators
The translator combines knowledge and fluency of the source language with the required in depth knowledge of the target language based on idioms or phrases. Books were translated throughout history by thoroughly dedicated scholars, usually monks in monastic settlements. The Book of Kells, a translation of the Four Gospels, came from the Dark Ages period in Ireland.
Prior to Machine Translator (MT) techniques, the translator developed his understanding of the language pairs until their proficiency allowed a fluency in translation over decades of practice.
Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832) developed the central phase of German literary culture with Faust, Part One, lines 7 and 8 translated from:
Mein Busen fuhlt sich jugendlich erschuttert Vom Zauberhauch, der eure Zug umwittert
to:
Deep stirs my heart, awakened touched to song, As from a spell that flashes from your thong.
to finally:
Besiege me, and with magic breath restore, Stirring my soul, lost youth to me once more
A poor translation of Leutnant Ernst Junger's Storm of Steel, (In Stahlgewittern) First World War experience, rendered the translation as - 'The pleasure of my return was dashed by an unexpected alarm which had for me the peculiarly unpleasant consequence that I had to ride the company charger to Beaumont.' In fact, Junger had to 'accompany the baggage train to Beaumont.' Gefechtstross was correct not Gefechtsross. One letter caused Basil Creighton's 1929 English translation error.
Vitaly Grossman's epic Life and Fate (Zhizn I Subda) was painstakingly translated into English from Russian by means of a microfilm smuggled out of Russia in 1980 and was completed in 1985, containing the first description of 'The Hell of Treblinka.' Similarly, Irene Nemirovsky's wartime novel Suite Francaise was translated from French miniscule writing into English over thirty years. Machine translation was not in operation until relatively recently and could not be applied to these books.
Modern translation
Agencies expect the translator to have a command of Machine Translator (MT) with a CAT (Computer Aided Translation) bilingual data (corpora) database compiled from websites. The following list comprises three popular MT programs:
- Linguee www.linguee.com gathers information from websites and matches it with entered searches. It provides contexts and the website link which is downloaded to MT. A dictionary may be added to improve the corpora itself. Dictionaries may be uploaded as a GTL file.
- My Memory mymemory.translated.net provides internet searches compiled by human translators and machine translated text (from Google Translate). Furthermore one may use their existing memory by downloading a TMX file of documents into their system. It searches the memory so one may work with it through one's own CAT tool. It is available in many language combinations and one may search by phrase or word but It lacks a dictionary entry like Linguee. It is free to join.
- TAUS Data Association www.tausdata.org This corpora is a paid subscription site allowing one to download the memory into one's CAT tool. One may browse their extensive catalogue, some are public and others are for members. The subject category allows access to a vast array of subjects and through www.taustracker.com one may access directories from an extensive translation memory.
The Future for Translators
These are not examples of poor translation but how the source language may be revisited and improved even though the original writer may be long deceased. A combination of machine translation and human intuition is the best possible approach. Medical terms are continually evolving and require updating and additions to the bilingual date or body of work (corpus) of the professional translator.
Sources
- What Exactly is Translation
- Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe translated by David Luke, Oxford World's Classics 1987
- Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger, a new translation by Michael Hofmann Allen Lane 2003
Michael Manning - ' The best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity' W.B.Yeats
