1.3 Idiomatic Translation

Since all languages have different ways of structuring words and grammar in order to express the same ideas, translations often reflect the structure of either the source language or the target language. As we mentioned earlier in this lesson, source language bias results from following the form of the source language too closely and therefore reflecting source language forms and grammar tendencies in the target text. The opposite problem, target language bias occurs when we translate so freely into the target language that we lose some of the meaning of the source text.

We can imagine a spectrum from translations with strong source language bias to translations with strong target language bias, as the language bias in a translation is always observable. On the extreme of source language bias we find literal translation, translation in which the words of the ST are quite literally transferred into the TL without much consideration for how naturally they sound in the TL. As we learned before, this would break our golden rule of translation: “message has priority over form”. An example of a literal translation might be:

Example 1.2

Source text:

Literal translation:

On the opposite extreme - target language bias - we have free translation. In this case, the translator takes the liberty to mold the text so much to the TL that the message of the ST may be augmented or distorted. Again, doing this would be counterproductive to our purpose in translation. Taking the same example, a free translation could be:

Example 1.3

Source text:

Free translation:

Between the extremes of literal translation and free translation we can imagine an infinite number of degrees, but it is helpful to identify several points of reference so that we can measure the degree of source language or target language bias in a translation.

The following diagram suggests five possible points on this spectrum:

Figure 1.2 - The translation spectrum

On this spectrum, our goal is to achieve idiomatic translation. We can describe each point on this scale in the following manner:

Literal - Closely mirrors the structure of the SL, making the translation difficult to understand and possibly distorting the message of the ST.

Faithful - Shows SL bias with some compensation for the TL, may sound unnatural.

Balanced - Displays structure from both the SL and TL, the message is reasonably comprehensible.

Idiomatic - Follows the structure of the TL and sounds natural while communicating the exact message of the ST.

Free - Follows the structure of the TL so much that part of the message of the ST may be changed or distorted.

Let’s use another example, this time from one of the letters you were asked to translate for the last exam, to imagine a possible translation at each point on this spectrum.

Example 1.4

Source text (ST):

Literal translation:

Faithful translation:

Balanced translation:

Idiomatic translation:

Free translation:

Again, our goal is to achieve idiomatic translation - translation in which the target text reflects the exact message of the source text in a manner that is naturally expressed in the target language. We want to follow the structure and grammar rules of the TL in order to express the message of the SL, without carrying SL forms into our final text. This will result in a translation that communicates the message of the ST most clearly and naturally into the TL so that the translation is easy to read and understand. Note that idiomatic translation refers to achieving a target text that sounds natural in the target language, while idiomatic expressions are idioms or fixed expressions in a given language. We will be discussing these in detail in Lesson Seven.

An idiomatic translation should:

• Reflect the exact message of the source text as completely as possible
• Be written in a way which reads naturally in the target language
• Use idiomatic expressions when appropriate
• Be as easy to read as if it were written in the target language