By Dr. Montasser M. A. Mahmoud

Assistant ProfessorAl Imam Mohamed bin Saud

University

Newmark (1981: 7) indicates that translation is “rendering the meaning of a text into another language in the way that the author intended the text”.

Nida and Taber (1982: 12), on the other hand, state that “translating consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source language message”. Hatim and Munday (2004: 6) define translation as “the process of transferring a written text from source language (SL) to target language (TL)”.

Bell (1991) views translation as the replacement of a text in one language by an equivalent text in another language.

Translation consists of studying the lexis, grammatical structure, communication situation, and cultural context of the source language text; all these are analyzed in order to determine its meaning.

This same meaning is then

reconstructed using the lexicon and grammatical structure which are appropriate in the target language and its cultural context.

For example, if we use Arabic as a source language and English as the target, “Ana Muslim” becomes the source text

whose lexicon, grammatical structure, communication situation and cultural context are analyzed in order to determine its meaning.

The meaning is then reconstructed using the

lexicon and grammatical structure which are appropriate in the target

language. To that extent, “Ana Muslim” is restructured thus: ‘I am

Muslim’.

(1) Excellent writing skills Translators are expected to be professional

writers, so they need to be knowledgeable about grammar, vocabulary, and style of two languages at least.

In popular belief, to translate, a person only needs: Writing skills: Translators are expected to be professional

writers, so they need to be knowledgeable about grammar, vocabulary, and style of two languages at least.

Research. Translators may get very different texts to translate from one day to the next, so they have to do research as much as possible.

Good cultural awareness: Intended meaning mostly determined by the cultural implication in addition to the textual meaning.

Reasonable knowledge of a foreign language; You need to be able to read widely and easily in your foreign language and understand not only what it says, but what it really means – not always the same thing! Lots of practice reading, watching TV and films, listening to radio in your foreign language(s) will help.

long and varied experience; and a few good dictionaries

It is in fact virtually impossible , except in extreme cases, to draw a line between what counts as a good translation and what counts as a bad translation.

Every translation has points of strength and points of weakness and every translation is open to improvement.

Nida (1964) stated the following requirements of good translation:

(1) It must make sense. (2) It must convey the spirit and

manner of the original. (3) It must have a natural and easy

form of expression. (4) It must produce a similar

response.

It must be many things: 1)Easily understood, 2) well-written, 3) true to the spirit of the original as well as

the meaning, 4) true to the context of the original in terms

of history and culture, and 5) able to make explicit that which is implicit

in the original without destroying the meaning.

Creating a good translation is a matter of grammar, vocabulary, and cultural knowledge.

You must be familiar with all aspects of the source and target languages in order to render one.