Advice and Information for the World Traveller on Many Destinations

Translation is the interpretation of the meaning of a word and the production of an equivalent word. It means communicating a similar message in another language. Translation was based on etymology, which means “bringing across” or “carrying across.” It was derived from the Latin word “translatio”, which came from “translatum”, the perfect participle of “transferre.” The text that will be translated is known as the “source text”, and the final product is called the “target language” or “target text.”

Written literature was thought to be as old as translation. One of the oldest literary works, the ‘Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh’, was translated into various Asiatic languages during the second millennium Before the Common Era (BCE). The very first notable translation was the ‘Septuagint’, which is a compilation of Jewish Scriptures that were translated into Koine Greek from the third until first centuries BCE. The scattered Jews forgot their inherited language and required the Greek versions for their religious writings. The Arabs have undertaken great efforts in translation. They were able to conquer the Greek word, and made Arabic versions of their scientific and philosophical works.

Translation acted as a school for several well-known writers. Many translators have formed the languages to which they translated their works. These include monks who shared the Buddhist texts all over East Asia and the contemporary European Bible translators. Translators served as bridges for transmitting ideas and knowledge between various civilizations and cultures.

With the emergence of computers, efforts were made either to computerise the translation of text known as “machine translation”, or use the computers as support to translation, called “computer-assisted translation.’

One Response to “Information about Translation”