Technical Translation Level 3 ENG 259 PDF

LEVEL 3 ENG 259 SECTION: 042 + 341+ 343+343 DALAL ALHAMMADI Technical translations are one of the most demanded translation services nowadays, closely intertwined with technical developments in the modern world. Because of the constant evolution of technology, technical tran...

LEVEL 3 ENG 259 SECTION: 042 + 341+ 343+343 DALAL ALHAMMADI Technical translations are one of the most demanded translation services nowadays, closely intertwined with technical developments in the modern world. Because of the constant evolution of technology, technical translations have become almost indispensable.  What is technical translation? It is a type of specialized translation involving the translation of documents produced by technical writers, or more specially, texts that relate to technological subject areas or texts that deal with the practical application of scientific and technological information. * Technical translation deals with texts on subjects based on applied knowledge from the natural sciences.  What are the areas in which technical translation takes place? Technical translation is always associated with applied sciences, and it, in the broader sense, involve any non- literary translation, such as: chemistry computer science Geology oil refining mechanical engineering Patents User manuals Food technology Mathematics Physics law etc.  Who needs technical translation? Typically, this type of technical translation is needed by the following categories of people: - Scientists who keep up with the times and follow the latest news in a particular field of activity; - Students who want to expand their knowledge base and write meaningful term papers or thesis; - Specialists working with foreign equipment (technologists, adjusters, etc.); - Users of household or computer equipment. The essential areas of expertise for technical translators are the following: Subject knowledge Writing skills Research skills Knowledge of genres and text types Pedagogical skills  Features of Technical Texts The main features can be classified into four categories: morphology, lexis, grammar and style Morphological Features 1. Affixation The process of adding an affix (a letter or group of letters with a particular meaning added to the beginning or end of a word to make a new word. Aerospace= aero(air) + space ‫الطيران‬ Hydrology= hydro (water) + logy (science) ‫علم المياه‬. 2. Compounding Combining two or more free morphemes into one lexeme. Bridge-builder / Rainbow / Mother tongue 3. Acronyms + Abbreviations Acronyms :A word created from the initial letters of more than one word, it canbe pronounced as a word. E.g. VAT, OPEC Abbreviations: Shortening words to their initial letters. E.g. CEO, HR. Laser= light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation UNESCO= United Nations Educational, Scientific, and cultural Organization CD ‫قرص مضغوط‬ Lexical Features of technical Translation Lexical items in the technical domain consist of common words and many other specialized terms. Dictionaries do not always provide the right answers to technical terminology problems. Obviously, the correct choice will depend on the context. A technical translator will know the proper term to use. Example What is the accurate equivalent of the word pin? ‫?مسمار ? دبوس‬ ‫?مشبك‬ Even if the terminology and all information contained in the document is correct, technical writing has a style that is difficult, if not impossible, for a non-technical person to imitate. A high-quality technical translation combines correct terminology and a style appropriate for the type of document and the intended audience. A text describing a surgical procedure will use a different terminology and style depending on whether it is intended for physicians or laypersons. Excessively technical terminology may not be understood by the layman, while the specialist may be offended by use of popular language. Therefore, the translator must know when to use "kidney toxicity" and when to use "nephrotoxicity." Syntactic Features of technical Translation 1. Nominalization In English, noun phrases are more frequently used in technical language than in general English. This is because technical writing often involves more abstract concepts like definitions, principles, laws, conclusions, etc. Example ‫اجري تحليل المتوسطات الحسابية لبحث آثار العمر ونوع الجنس و التعليم على أداء االختبار‬ An analysis of medians was conducted to examine the effects of age, gender, and education on test performance. In general English, the above sentence can take the following form: We analyzed medians to examine the effects of ……. Or Medians were analyzed to examine the effects of…… 2. Use of passive structure In academic texts, the passive voice is often used to show that the doer is unknown or unimportant, and that the action or the fact is more important. The passive voice may cause a problem during the translation from Arabic into English, due to the fact that Arabic grammar does not use it frequently, unless the doer is unknown. So, the translator should take into consideration during the translation process whether the action or the doer is more important in the sentence. For example: ‫وتبعا لذلك قسمها الجغرافيون الى أربعة أنواع من الصحارى‬ due to that, the area was divided into four types by the geographies In this example, the passive voice is used to indicate that the action (dividing the area), is more important than the doer. 3. Use of general and impersonal pronouns In technical writing we tend to use impersonal style. Impersonal style includes the passive voice, impersonal pronouns such as it, there, that, …. In technical writing, the author tries to be more objective and hide his/her personality throughout the work. Compare the following sentences: We used a standard graphical representation to …… ‫ل‬.........‫استخدمنا المثيل البياني القياسي‬ A standard graphical representation was used to….. ‫اُستخدم الرسم البياني القياسي ل‬.... 4. Very precise, detailed, informative and free from any ambiguities 5. The use of present tense  The difference between technical and scientific translation Despite the obvious connection between the two, i.e. they both deal with information based on the work of scientists, scientific translation is quite distinct from technical translation. Scientific translation relates to pure science in all of its theoretical side while technical translation relates to how scientific knowledge is actually put to practical use. Exercise 1 Translate the following sentences: 1. Ecosystems help purify the air we breathe and the water we drink. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………………………………. 2. Recently, the use of nuclear power for desalination purposes has gained increased attention. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 3. ‫أن تسهم بقدر كبير في تكثيف الزراعة يمكن للتكنولوجيا الحيوية‬. …......................................................................................................................................................... 4. This PDA is infected with an extermination virus. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 5. ‫الخام طبيعيًا بحفر اآلبار في الخزان األرضي استخراج النفط يبدأ‬. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Exercise 2 Identify the technical features in the previous sentences. Feature Example Morphological features Lexical features Syntactic features