Translation Reliability

For different people, translation can be a different thing. According to Robinson (2001: 07), there are eight kinds of translation reliability viewed from the reader's point of view.

1)      Literalism

In literalism, the translation follows the original word for word, as close to that ideal as possible. The syntactic structure of the source text is painfully evident in this kind of translation reliability.

2)      Foreignism

The translation can have a lot of similarity with the original one, but one who had read it fluently, can conclude that it is a translation, not an original work since he has a slightly alien feeling when reading it.

3)      Fluency

Fluency translation is so accessible and readable for the target language reader as to seem like an original in the target language. It never reflects that in fact, it is a translation.

4)      Summary

The translation covers the main points of the original.

5)      Commentary

The translation unfolds the hidden complexities of the original, exploring at length implication that remains unstated or half-stated in the original.

6)      Summary – Commentary

The translation summarizes some passage briefly while commenting closely on others. The passages in the original that mostly concern the user are unpacked; the less important passages are summarized.

7)      Adaptation

The translation recasts the original to have the desired impact on an audience that is substantially different from that of the original. According to Bastin (in Robinson, 2001) adaptation may be understood as a set of translative operations which result in a text that is not accepted as a translation but is nevertheless recognized as representing a source text of about the same length.

a.       Modes

Mode is the way in which adaptations are carried out on the work of the adapter. The procedures used by the adapter can be classified as follows:

·        Transcription of the original: it is word-for-word reproduction of part of the text in the original language

·        Omission:  the elimination or reduction of part of the text.

·        Expansion: explicitation of some information that is implicit in the original, either in the main body or footnotes or a glossary.

·        Exoticism: the substitution of stretches of slang, dialect, nonsense words, etc. in the original text by rough equivalents in the target language.

·        Updating: refer to replacement of outdated or obscure information by modern equivalents

·        Situational Equivalent: refers to the insertion of a more familiar context than the one used in the original

·        Creation: refers to a more global replacement of the original text with a text that preserves only the essential message/ideas/ functions of the original.

b.      Motivations

Motivations are the most common factors which cause translators to resort to adaptation. Some of the motivations are:

·        Cross-code breakdown: it occurs where there are simply no lexical equivalents in the target language

·        Situational inadequacy: it occurs where the context referred to in the original text does not exist in the target culture.

·        Genre switching: it refers to a change from one discourse type of another. For example is an adult text to children text. It is often entails a global re-creation of the original text.

·        Disruption of the communication process: it refers to the emergence of a new epoch or approach or the need to address a different type of readership often requires modifications in style, content or presentation.

c.       Restriction

As a case of translation, adaptation is carried out under certain restriction. The most obvious of restriction are:

·        The knowledge and expectation of the target reader: that is, the adapter has to evaluate the extent to which the content of the original text constitutes new or shared information for the potential audience.

·        The target language: the adapter must find an appropriate match in the target language for the discourse style of the original text and look for coherence of adapting modes.

·        The meaning and the purposes of the original and target text.

Adaptation may be applied to isolate parts of the text in order to deal with specific differences between the language or culture of the source text and that of the target text.

8)      Encryption

The translation recasts the original so as to hide its meaning or massages from the group while still making it accessible to another group.