(1) Direct translation
(a) Borrowing
Borrowing is the simplest and void of style method of translating
to overcome some metalinguistic problems. Borrowing is sought
as a resort when equivalent in TL seems difficult or inappropriate
for better translation. For example, if a translator is to translate
the word ‘basant’ into English which definitely has no one word
or exact equivalent in English, as a resort and inevitably, he has
to borrow the word ‘basant’ for communication of its cultural and
conventional meaning. The compound word ‘kite-flying’ or
‘kite-flying festival’ does not give intended conventional
meaning instead one tinge of its colours. Examples of borrowing
from the Qur’ān may include the Arabic lexical items/terms like
‘Subhaan’ (36:36) and ‘Aya’ (36:37). The word ‘Subhaan’ has
no equivalent in English. Similarly the term ‘Aya’ also has no
one word substitution. The phrases/clauses ‘Glory be to Him’,
‘Glory (proclaim/flawlessness)of Who (He)’, ‘Glory to Allah’,
‘limitless in His glory is He’, ‘Holy is He Who’, substitute for
the word ‘Subhaan’ but there is no one word equivalent denoting
all of its shades of meaning. There is also a problem of
connotative meaning of such words, e.g., in Bible the word
‘glory’ means worship, adoration and thanksgiving (Oxford
Advanced Learner’s Dictionary). Then the term ‘Aya’ has been
translated by different translators as ‘sign’, or ‘token’. Both
words having worldly attributes spoil the divinity of the Message
and do not give specifically intended meaning of Monotheism in
their contexts.
Translators’ interest in borrowing is developing in response to the
difficulties that crop up during the process of translation. Old
borrowings have become a part of the respective TL lexis. In
English such words as ‘carburetor’, ‘chic’, ‘rendezvous’ are no
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longer considered to be borrowing. The entries of these words in
the ‘Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary’ show nothing about
their borrowing instead they have been treated equally to other
English lexis. Usually borrowing enters a language through
translation and interethnic communication, e.g., the word
‘glamour’ is borrowed from Scot. Moreover, borrowing of SL
lexical items now and again for introducing its colours of
meaning, is a matter of style and ultimately communication of the
intended message.
(b) Calque
Calque’s status in translation is that of a sandwich between pure
borrowing and TL/receptor’s expectations. A calque is a peculiar
kind of borrowing whereby a language borrows an expression
form of another but then translates literally each of its elements,
e.g., ‘Qur’ān-i-Hakeem’ and in English it becomes ‘wise Qur’ān’.
There are many fixed calques like borrowing, which, after a
period of time, become an integral part of the TL. Translators
seem interested in calques that may minimize linguistic
difficulties like the terms and imagery of the Qur’ān without
using actual borrowing that may cause comprehension problems
for receptors. It serves dual purpose – first, it does not use an
actual borrowed word exactly as it is used in SL; second, its use
as a calque makes meaning more clear in the TL and to some
extent receptor’s expectations are fulfilled.
(c) Literal translation
Literal or word-for-word translation is the direct transfer of
explicit features of SL text into TL text. Venuti3 states: “The
term literal translation” tautological since anything but that is not
truly a translation but an imitation, an adaptation or a parody”.
Here the translator’s task is adhering to the surface linguistic
needs of the SL and TL. Literal translation is not appreciable both
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for SL and TL. First, the niceties of SL and context of the
message is not given due consideration; second, for a common
reader it looks like a random collection of lexical items, hence
makes no sense towards comprehension of a message whereas
translation is meant for receptors so their difficulties of
comprehension need to be emphasized. Anyhow, Jean-Paul4 and
others are of the view that: “a literal translation is a unique
solution which is reversible and complete in itself”.
The opinion about literal translation contained in the phrases
‘unique solution’ and ‘complete in itself’ seems an overestimation.
How a word-for-word translation may be regarded as
‘unique’ and ‘complete’. Here two questions arise to evaluate
Paul’s idea: (i) does literal translation of the Qur’ān encompass
all dimensions of its Message? The answer is certainly ‘no’, (ii)
does the literal translation cause comprehension problems for
receptor of the Message? The answer is definitely ‘yes’.
Nida5 is a bit different in defining the term ‘literal translation’.
He says: “literal translation is one that translates only the strictly
explicit features”. The phrase ‘explicit features’ is self-evident
that literal translation has no priorities/regard for deep structure,
cultural convention, linguistic and non-linguistic contexts. On
the other hand it may not be appreciated by the receptor in TL
because of its expected difficulties. Sharma6 has a moderate
view about this kind of translation: “A literal translation is
something between a ‘rank-bound’ (word-for-word) and ‘rankfree’
translation”. The phrases ‘rank-bound and rank-free’
denote that it is neither literal nor dynamic rendering but linguists
place it in the procedure of rank-bound translation.
Nida has had a unique experience as a linguist with the American
Bible Society. He has been regularly contributing as a member
of the editorial board of The Bible Translators since its
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establishment in 1948. Nida comments on the expression
“begotten thee” taken from the translated version of the Bible
from Hebrew (SL) into Lengua (TL). Nida says: “Literal
translation of the expression ‘begotten thee’ is awkward. The
equivalent rendering is “This day I make you my son”. But here
the word ‘son’ in contemporary English, does not appeal to the
non-Christian reader of the translation. The connotative meaning
of the word ‘son’ at the time of revelation, may be ‘something
very dear’ because the Qur’ān says: “He begetteth not, Nor is He
begotten;” (112:3). This attribute of Allah transcends all
stretches of time even before the creation of man and the time
after resurrection.
Robinson7 sums up the idea of ‘word-for-word translation’ and ‘sensefor-
sense translation’:
It is perhaps unfortunate but inevitable that the norms and
standard appropriate for one group of users should be
generalized to apply to all. Some readers demand literal
translations, for the idea spreads that a translation other than
literal is no translation at all. On the other hand some receptors
like semantic (sense-for-sense) equivalence/rendering, here the
opinion is that a translation that charts its own semantic path is
no translation.
Different users of translations have their own preferences and
expectations so no general norm or standard may be applicable to all.
People’s likes and dislikes cannot be overlooked but the focal point is
that communication of the message should be reliable and the receptor of
the message is not disappointed/frustrated because of confusion and
ambiguities in communication.
(2) Cribs (exact or interlinear translation)8
Cribs or interlinear is better for students who want to follow the original
text word-for-word with the translation of each word printed directly
under the word it renders. Dr. Zia ul Haq’s translation of the Qur’ān is a
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fascinating model of interlinear/cribs. This also, according to Dr. Zia,
was specifically designed for students of the Qur’ān. This procedure of
translating proves an appropriate lexicon but it is definitely problematic
for comprehension of the Qur’ānic message by common readers in TL.
It may also happen that because of structural and metalinguistic
differences certain stylistic effects may not be achieved without
upsetting the syntactic and or lexis order. After trying the aforesaid
kinds of translations, if the translator regards a literal translation
unacceptable, he may approach the methods of oblique/indirect
translation procedures9 which include – transposition, modulation,
equivalence and adaptation.
(3) Oblique translation
(a) Transposition
Transposition involves replacing one word class (SL) with
another (TL) but without changing the meaning of the message.
From a stylistic point of view, the source and the tansposed
expression do not necessarily have the same degree of
communication. The translator should preferably choose to
transpose the SL text if this translation fits better into the text, or
allows a particular stylistic nuance to be retained. The transposed
form is more literary in character and frequently used case of
transposition is that of interchange. This procedure focuses
simply on replacement and communicative dimensions are
regarded as something secondary.
(b) Modulation
Modulation is a variation of the form of the message, obtained by
a change in the point of view (it is totally unacceptable in case of
translations of revealed messages). This procedure is considered
unsuitable, unidiomatic or awkward in the TL. The clause
‘obtained by a change in the point of view’ indicates that this
procedure involves subjectivity which certainly lacks reliability
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in communication of the message hence quite unacceptable both
for SL and TL readers.