Republic of the Philippines Ramon Magsaysay Technological University Castillejos Extension-San Marcelino Campus Castillejos, Zambales

Transcription

1 Republic of the Philippines Ramon Magsaysay Technological University Castillejos Extension-San Marcelino Campus Castillejos, Zambales Submitted by: Kathrina Mae M. Bagasina BSED II-b Submitted to: Ms. Jovilyn peralta Instructor

2 History of Translation of Language Early history The word translation itself derives from a Latin term meaning "to bring or carry across". The Ancient Greek term is 'metaphrasis' ("to speak across") and this gives us the term 'metaphrase' (a "literal or word-for-word translation") - as contrasted with 'paraphrase' ("a saying in other words"). This distinction has laid at the heart of the theory of translation throughout its history: Cicero and Horace employed it in Rome, Dryden continued to use it in the seventeenth century and it still exists today in the debates around "fidelity versus transparency" or "formal equivalence versus dynamic equivalence". The first known translations are those of the Sumerian epic Gilgamesh into Asian languages from the second millennium BC. Later Buddhist monks translated Indian sutras into Chinese and Roman poets adapted Greek texts. Arabic scholars Translation undertaken by Arabs could be said to have kept Greek wisdom and learning alive. Having conquered the Greek world, they made Arabic versions of its philosophical and scientific works. During the Middle Ages, translations of these Arabic versions were made into Latin - mainly at the school in Cardoba, Spain. These Latin translations of Greek and original Arab works of learning helped underpin Renaissance scholarship. Religious texts Religious texts have played a great role in the history of translation. One of the first recorded instances of translation in the West was the rendering of the Old Testament into Greek in the 3rd century BC. A task carried out by 70 scholars this translation itself became the basis for translations into other languages. Saint Jerome, the patron saint of translation, produced a Latin Bible in the 4th century AD that was the preferred text for the Roman Catholic Church for many years to come. Translations of the Bible, though, were to controversially reemerge when the Protestant Reformation saw the translation of the Bible into local European languages - eventually this led to Christianity's split into Roman Catholicism and Protestantism due to disparities between versions of crucial words and passages. Martin Luther himself is credited with being the first European to propose that one translates satisfactorily only toward his own language: a statement that is just as true in modern translation theory. Modern Theory and Practice Whilst industrialisation has led to the formalization of translation for business purposes since the eighteenth century it is, perhaps, the internet and mechanical translation that has really revolutionised the field. In terms of theory Lawrence Venuti's call for "foreignizing" strategies marks a call for fidelity over transparency in translation. The two poles of metaphrase and paraphrase, however, still set the terms of debate from the age of Babel to that of Babel Fish.

3 History of Language Translation in the Philippines Translation in the Philippines started as part of a religious undertaking. The Spanish missionaries used translation as a tool to spread Christianity among the natives, thus fulfilling a utilitarian role: to conquer mind and body. The Spanish missionaries, aware that a foreign language would meet resistance as medium in teaching a new religion, studied the native languages instead and undertook the first translations from Spanish into Tagalog and other Philippine languages. The first printed book in the Philippines, the Doctrina Christiana, which came out in 1593, is a translation of prayers and Christian doctrines with which the Spanish friars spread the new religion. Other books that came out after Doctrina were translations or adaptations of Biblical stories, or explications of Christian doctrines. In 1627, the first dictionary, Vocabulario de la lengua tagala by Fray Pedro de San Buenaventura came out. It is an important tool for the Spanish missionaries to learn Tagalog. Other books of translation worth mentioning are the following: Meditaciones cun manga mahal na pagninilay na sadia sa sanctong pag- Exercisios, by Fray Pedro de Herrera, a translation into Tagalog of the spiritual exercises of San Ignacio de Loyola from the Spanish of Fray Francisco de Salazar. Manga panalanging pagtatagobilin sa calolova nang tauong naghihingalo (1703), by Gaspar Aquino de Belen, a Batangueno who worked in the printing press of the Jesuits. The book is a translation of Recomendacion del alma (1613) by Tomas de Villacastin. Aral na tunay na totoong pagaacay sa tauo, nang manga cabanalang gaua nang manga maloualting santos na si Barlaan ni Josaphat (1712) by Fray Antonio de Borja based on the text of San Juan Damaceno. It should be noted that the source language was not always Spanish. There were also what is called relay translation, where Spanish was an intervening language of a text that was originally written in other languages. The translation language (or target language) was not only Tagalog, either. Since Manila was the seat of the colonial government, most of the publications were of Tagalog texts; however, there were also translations in Ilokano, Kapampangan, Cebuano and others. The earliest translations were therefore directly related to religion. Toward the end of the 18th century, translation took a new direction. This time, the texts were not purely religious, though still containing religious ideas. From Europe came the narrative poetry and the metrical romance which became popularly known as awit and korido. The theatrical presentations komedya and moro-moro became very popular. They were believed to be either translation or adaptations of comedia de capa y espada. The translators were "Indios" in the employ of Spanish friars, and in the translation, they would add their own interpretations, thus giving indigenous touch to the translated texts. There were also translations from Tagalog and other native languages into Spanish. Fray Pedro Chirino retold in Spanish two legends in Panay. Fray Ignacio Francisco Alzina summarized in Spanish two narrative poems in Boholano. Our national hero, Jose Rizal, translated into Tagalog Schiller s Wilhelm Tell from the original German.

4 Toward the end of the 19th century, translation had a new use, no longer to conquer, but to inspire the spirit of nationalism and thus to liberate. Ang mga Karampatan ng Tawo ( ) is a translation of Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen which summarized the spirit of the French Revolution. Jose Rizal s "Amor Patrio" was translated into Tagalog as "Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa." Rizal s "Mi Ultimo Adios" was translated by Andres Bonifacio as "Huling Pahimakas." With the coming of the Americans and the introduction of English as medium of instruction, the direction of translation is now from English into Tagalog/Filipino and other Philippine languages. The translation texts are no longer religious in nature, but now have a wider range. Translation is now a tool for liberating the masses from ignorance. Through translations, those who do not fully understand English may still benefit from the wisdom of the west through the translation into Filipino and other Philippine languages of informative materials on science and technology. In the field of education, translation is a necessary tool in the production of textbooks and reference materials in the language understandable to the greater number of the people. English is also used as intervening language in the translation into Filipino of various materials from French, German, Japanese, and other languages. The government agency that has pioneered in translation is Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (formerly Surian ng Wikang Pambansa later renamed Linangan ng mga Wika sa Pilipinas). Now, the National Commission on Culture and the Arts is also mandated to undertake translation work through one of its national committees, the Committee on Language and Translation. NCCA sponsored a project in 1991 which surveyed individuals and institutions undertaking translation, and came out with a bibliographic listing of translated works. Nowadays, there are many individuals and institutions undertaking translation, aside from the KWF and the NCCA. There are religious organizations which translate the Bible into the Philippine languages; there are individuals who translate literary works and nonliterary texts. There are two existing professional organizations of translators, Pambansang Samahan sa Pagsasalingwika and Pambansang Unyon ng mga Tagasalin. What is needed now is a concerted effort to come up with a national translation program that will define priorities and professionalize translation. Translation an Art of Science Is translation a scientific study or artistic endeavor, researchable theory or technical craft, a branch of linguistics or of literature? Being utilized as a means to act as a bridge between two cultures, translation seems to be a complicated and multi-faceted activity or phenomenon. According to Benjamin (1923), the twentieth century has been called the age of 'reproduction' or, as Jumplet (1923) points out 'the age of translation' (as cited in Newmark, 1988a:1); however, the constant debate as to whether translation is an art or science has a long history. Some scholars may argue that translation is a process of creative thinking; consequently, it is subjective and cannot be systematized by laws. In spite of the fact that translation currently plays a crucial role in the world's affair, it has always been considered as second-hand art. In this regard, Belloc (1931:6) believes that translation, "has never been granted the dignity of the original work, and has suffered too much on the general judgment of letters."

5 As Savory (1957:49) claim, "it would almost be true to say that there are no universally accepted principles of translation, because the only people qualified to formulate them have never agreed among themselves"; therefore, he does not tend to consider translation as a science. According to Kelly (1979:51), Hieronymus (also known as St. Jerome, 4 th century A.D) as well as others followed Cicero's B.C) claim constantly that translation was a branch of oratory, and Holmes (1979a:23), specifying two branches of translation studies, namely pure and applied, points out that the aim of pure translation studies is to describe the phenomenon of translation and to investigate all related aspects of it; however, applied translation studies focus on the application of translation theories to such aspects of translation as translation practice, the teaching and learning of translation. He believes that all factions of translation are interrelated and their relationship is dialectical; however, Toury (1995:7) puts forward that the relationship between pure and applied translation studies is unidirectional--theoretical studies serve as a nurturing source for the applied studies. Furthermore, Toury (1982:7) believes that translation, as a cognitive science, has to reach beyond linguistics, and calls it "interdisciplinary"; consequently, it seems that he considers translation a science. This science seems to be warmly welcomed by some scholars in the form of 'word for word.' For instance, Norton (1984:59) quotes Horace (65-8 B.C) to state that, "it is the duty of a faithful interpreter to translate what he undertakes word for word." Nevertheless, Chukovskii (1984:93) does not take translation into consideration as a science when he confirms that, "translation is not only an art, but a high art." Moreover, Newmark (1988a), referring to translation as "a craft" (p.7), believes that literal translation is, "the basic translation procedure, both in communicative and semantic translation, in that translation starts from there," and he goes as far as to claim that literal translation above the word level is, "the only correct procedure if the SL and TL meanings correspond" (1988b:70). Some scholars consider translation a science. Though the most salient features of a field of science are precision and predictability, Berkeley (1991:83) notes that some sciences, principally those dealing with the humanities, do not attain a one hundred percent predictability level. Miremadi (1991:39) writes that, "whether translation is considered an art or a science, it is, in its modern sense, a by-product of a long history of trials and errors, developments, improvements and innovations." Furthermore, Long (1996:10) believes that the desire for creating a science of translation seems to be a mere wishful thinking. A similar idea is echoed by Zaixi (1997:339), who writes that "Translation is a process, an operation, an act of transferring. It is mainly a skill, a technology that can be acquired. In the meantime, it often involves using language in a creative manner so that it is also an art. However it is by no means a science." On the contrary, he maintains that, "the subject which takes translation as its object of study must be treated as a science, because it is a system of knowledge, about translation, aiming to expose the objective laws about the process of translation". However, Baker (1998:4) points out that translation is a separate academic discipline which, "like any young discipline... needs to draw on the findings and theories of the other related disciplines in order to develop and formulate its own methods." Nevertheless, distinguishing between science and translation, Karra (2000:1) writes that "my colleagues never understood why I chose the world of translation over science."

6 However, Gabr (2001:2) considers translation both a craft and a science when he writes that "translation being a craft on the one hand, requires training, i.e. practice under supervision, and being a science on the other hand, has to be based on language theories". However, claiming a literary translation to be a device of art, Herzfeld (2003:110) writes that literary translation used to release the text from its "dependence on prior cultural knowledge." Nonetheless Azizinezhad (2004:3) points out: Translation has a lot in common with arts as well as sciences. It sometimes becomes highly dependent on the idiosyncrasies and intuition of the translator. Like composers and painters, translators often find their own moods and personalities reflected in their work. The major factor that prevents translation from being considered an art is that, unlike translators who have to solve a range of different problems, the defining factor of an artist's work is esthetics. Translation is an art, not a science; like most arts, it is a lot more complicated than it looks. (Translation, 2005:2) Many newcomers to translation wrongly believe it is an exact science, and mistakenly assume that a firmly defined one-to-one correlation exists between the words and phrases in different languages which make translations fixed, much like cryptography.... There is also debate as to whether translation is an art or a craft. Literary translators, such as Gregory Rabassa in "If This Be Treason" argue convincingly that translation is an art, though he acknowledges that it is teachable. Other translators, mostly professionals working on technical, business, or legal documents, approach their task as a craft, one that can not only be taught but is subject to linguistic analysis and benefits from academic study. Most translators will agree that the truth lies somewhere between and depends on the text. (Translation, 2005: 2) Beginning of Translation Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh (ca BCE) into Southwest Asian languages of the second millennium BCE. The word translation derives from the Latin translatio (which itself comes from trans- and fero, the supine form of which is latum, together meaning "to carry across" or "to bring across"). The modern Romance languages use words for translation derived from that source or from the alternative Latin traduco ("to lead across"). The Slavic and Germanic languages (except for the Dutch "vertaling", "literally" a "re-language-ing") likewise use calques of these Latin sources.[8] The Ancient Greek term for translation, μετάυρασις (metaphrasis, "a speaking across"), has supplied English with metaphrase (a "literal," or "word-for-word," translation) as contrasted with paraphrase ("a saying in other words", from παράυρασις, paraphrasis).[8] Metaphrase corresponds, in one of the more recent terminologies, to "formal equivalence"; and paraphrase, to "dynamic equivalence."[9]

7 Strictly speaking, the concept of metaphrase of "word-for-word translation" is an imperfect concept, because a given word in a given language often carries more than one meaning; and because a similar given meaning may often be represented in a given language by more than one word. Nevertheless, "metaphrase" and "paraphrase" may be useful as ideal concepts that mark the extremes in the spectrum of possible approaches to translation. A secular icon for the art of translation is the Rosetta Stone. This trilingual (hieroglyphic-egyptian, demotic-egyptian, ancient-greek) stele became the translator's key to decryption of Egyptian hieroglyphs by Thomas Young, Jean-François Champollion and others.. Poem Translation may be defined as relaying poetry into another language. Poetry's features can be sound-based, syntactic or structural or pragmatic in nature. Apart from transforming text, poetry translation also involves cognition, discourse, and action by and between human and textual actors in a physical and social setting. A poetry translation project usually aims to publicize a poet or poets. Poetry translation is typically overt. Poetry translators are concerned to interpret a source poem's layers of meaning, to relay this interpretation reliably, and/or to create a poem in the target language which is readable and enjoyable as an independent, literary text. Poetry translation involves challenges and these are highlighted in this article. Poetry accounts for a tiny proportion of world translation output. Prose translation transfers a story written in one language into another. In doing so the translation seeks to convey the qualities of the original text. Prose translation is a recent arrival in literature. Until 1709 there was no concept of copyright or copyright infringement. Gradually, increase in literacy among readers reassured that the books were accurately translated. In 1791 Alexander Tytler formulated some essential principles in his essay on the principles of translation. Prose translation in the nineteenth century was concerned with what was not published as with what was. In 1946 the Harvill Press was founded to build cultural bridges in Europe following World War II. Prose translation in the twenty-first century involves working with the author. Translators' personal and emotional response is not considered. Published translations are of a very high quality without which, much of the world's literature would be beyond the reach of most readers.