“la parole exportée”

I generated this diagram using an attractive tool called Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus.

This software tool is meant primarily for writers. Using Java and similar to the mind mapping concept, it draws a floating -yes, floating in space- cloud of nouns, adjectives, adverbs and verbs connected to a core word that you choose and type into the text box. The software does all the work, all you need to do is watch as the cloud mushrooms on screen.

The sample word was ‘pen’, but I wanted to check it with translation in mind. I was secretly hoping for some sophisticated word associations…

The word ‘translator’ didn’t generate anything sophisticated, with only three branches: interpreter, transcriber, translating program.

As can been seen above, ‘translate’ offered richer relationships, my favorites being: be equal, understand, transmit, transfer, channel.

Each word comes with a set of definitions. The more associations, the longer the list.

My favorite definitions may seem obvious, but to me, these three assertions encapsulate the very nature of professional translation, namely to:

• make sense of a language, that is, for us, be sure to understand the finest nuances that writers/speakers use to convey their messages;
• express the same message in different words, is the part of our work that seems dangerously easy and obvious, hence the famous words: ‘you don’t need to understand, just translate’;
• be equivalent in effect: although this doesn’t apply strictly to languages, it is the natural continuation of the first two. If the writer/speaker has chosen specific words to convey a specific message, be it a technical manual, a marketing brochure, a sales pitch, a love story, poems, etc… the translator’s choice of words in the other language must be such that the same purpose is achieved in the other language, successfully and in a way that supports and does not discredit or ridicule the work of the writer/speaker.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 10th, 2008 at 1:31 am and is filed under Translation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.