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The article discusses the complexities and challenges involved in translating selected short stories by Puthumaipithan, focusing on various translation theories and issues such as linguistic differences, cultural nuances, and specific lexical problems. It highlights the importance of contextual meaning in translation to preserve the original intent of the text. The author emphasizes that achieving accurate translations often requires balancing literal meanings with the broader cultural and stylistic elements of the source material.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
10 views6 pages

16Mrs NISHAtamil

The article discusses the complexities and challenges involved in translating selected short stories by Puthumaipithan, focusing on various translation theories and issues such as linguistic differences, cultural nuances, and specific lexical problems. It highlights the importance of contextual meaning in translation to preserve the original intent of the text. The author emphasizes that achieving accurate translations often requires balancing literal meanings with the broader cultural and stylistic elements of the source material.

Uploaded by

devivm9
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Issues in translating Puthumaipithan's selected short stories

Article in ET journal · April 2023

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Anita Gnanamuttu
Sadakathullah Appa College
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187 JOURNAL OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF MUMBAI, ISSN: 0972-0766, Vol. XCVI, No.2, 2023

Issues in translating Puthumaipithan's selected short stories

Mrs. NISHA NASIRA BAN. M, M.A. English (II year) Sadakathullah Appa College
(Autonomous), Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu - 627011.
Dr. L. Anita Gnanamuttu, Assistant Professor and Head, PG Department of English,
Sadakathullah Appa College, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu - 627011

Abstract

The process of conveying the meaning of a text written in a source language through a text written
in a comparable target language is referred to as translation. In contrast to other languages, the
English language distinguishes between interpreting oral or signed communication between
speakers of different languages and translating the written text. Under this distinction, translation
cannot begin until the writing is present.

Keywords: Translation, Theories, Issues

Translation

Inadvertently incorporating grammar, syntax, or words from the source language into the translation
into the target language is always a possibility for a translator. However, these "spill- overs"
occasionally bring useful calques and loanwords from source languages that have improved target
languages. Translators have shaped the languages into which they have translated, including early
translators of sacred texts.

Since the 1940s, efforts have been made, with varying degrees of success, to automate translation
or mechanically assist the human translator due to the laborious nature of the translation process.
The development of the Internet in recent years has made it easier to "language localize" and created
a global market for translation services.

The Latin word translation is the source of the English word "translation." Therefore, in this
instance, translation is "a bringing across" or "a carrying across" of a text from one language to
another.

1. A means of communication is translation;


2. Culture is passed down through translation;
3. Truth is also transmitted through translation;
188 JOURNAL OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF MUMBAI, ISSN: 0972-0766, Vol. XCVI, No.2, 2023

Translation theory

The translation is a process in which another's man's creation is adapted to suit one's purposes.
Though the process of translation is thousand years old, the attempts to define translation are
recent. J.C Catford in his A Linguistic Theory of Translation represents "The restoration of textual
substance in one language (SL) by an equivalent textual substance in another language (TL)".

Peter Newmark in his Approaches to translation states, "Translation is a craft consisting in the
attempt to replace a written message and/ or statement in one language by the same message and/
or statement in another language". Eugene A. Nida states that "Translating consists in reproducing
in the receptor language to the closest natural equivalent of the source language message, first in
terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style ".The sociolinguistic approach means a translator
is necessarily the product of his or her society: our sociocultural background is present in
everything we translate. The communicative approach is meant that meaning must be translated,
not language. Language is nothing more than a vehicle for the message and can even be an
obstacle to understanding. The hermeneutic approach is mainly based on George Steiner's
research.

The linguistic approach means linguistics such as Vinay, Darbelnet, Austin, Vegliante, or
Mounin, interested in language text, structuralism, and pragmatics, also examined the process of
translating. The literary approach does not consider that a translation is a linguistic endeavor but
instead a literary one. The semiotic approach is the study of signs and signification. Meaning is
the result of a collaboration between a sign, an object, and an interpreter.

Translation theory does the following: (1) it identifies and defines a translation problem; (2) it
lists all of the possible translation procedures; (3) it recommends the most suitable translation
procedure and the appropriate translation.

Literal Translation

According to the linguistic theory of discourse analysis, any deviance from literal translation can
be justified in any circumstance by citing the text as the primary source of authority. If literal
translation achieves referential and pragmatic equivalence to the original, then it is accurate and
should not be avoided.

Asian Translation Theory

There is a distinct tradition of translation in South Asia and East Asia (most notably modern
India and China), which is particularly associated with the rendering of religious texts,
particularly Buddhist texts, and the administration of the Chinese empire. Chinese translation
theory identifies various criteria and limitations in translation, and classical Indian translation is
189 JOURNAL OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF MUMBAI, ISSN: 0972-0766, Vol. XCVI, No.2, 2023

characterized by loose adaptation rather than the closer translation more commonly found in
Europe.

Word-for-word and one-to-one translation are two different types of literal translation. Literal
translation varies from one word to another, from one group to another, from one collocation to
another, from one clause to another, and from one sentence to another. In both communicative and
semantic translations, this is where the fundamental translation process begins.

The contact with vassal states during the Zhou Dynasty gave rise to the Chinese translation theory.
Through the translation of Buddhist scripture into Chinese, it developed. It is a response to both the
universal aspects of the translation experience and the particular aspects of translating from
particular source languages into Chinese. It also developed within the framework of Chinese
intellectual and literary tradition.

People spoke different languages and had different tastes and desires in those five areas, making it
difficult for them to communicate with one another. There were officers, or transmitters, in the east,
who were responsible for capturing their thoughts and conveying their desires. Tî-tîs in the west,
representationists in the south, and interpreters in the north.

Western Translation Theory

There are remarkable continuities in discussions of translation theory and practice that date back to
antiquity. The ancient Greeks distinguished between paraphrase and metaphrase, which is a literal
translation. John Dryden, an English poet and translator who lived from 1631 to 1700, coined the
term "translation" and described it as the "judicious blending of these two modes of phrasing" when
selecting "counterparts," or equivalents, for the expressions used in the source language in the target
language.

Changing words that appear literally graceful would be detrimental to the author. However, since
beauty in one language is frequently barbaric, if not nonsense, in another, it would be unreasonable
to confine a translator to his author's words: It is sufficient if he selects a meaning- preserving
expression.

This generalization of the central idea behind translation, equivalence, is as good as any that has
been proposed since Cicero and Horace, who famously and literally warned against translating
"word for word" (verbum pro verbo) in Rome in the first century BCE.

Regardless of infrequent hypothetical variety, the genuine act of interpretation has scarcely changed
since vestige. With the exception of a few extreme metaphrasers during the early Christian period
and the Middle Ages, and adapters during a variety of periods (particularly pre- Classical Rome and
the 18th century), translators have generally displayed prudent flexibility in their search for
equivalents that are “literal” when possible and paraphrastic when necessary for
190 JOURNAL OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF MUMBAI, ISSN: 0972-0766, Vol. XCVI, No.2, 2023

the original meaning and other crucial “values” (such as style, verse form, concordance with
musical accompaniment or, in movies, with speech articulatory movements) as determined by

By reinterpreting the actual grammatical structure when necessary, translators have typically sought
to preserve the context itself by reproducing the original order of sememes and, by extension, word
order. This has not been hindered by the grammatical differences that exist between languages with
"fixed-word-order," such as English, French, and German, and languages with "free-word-order,"
such as Greek, Latin, Polish, and Russian.

At the point when an objective language has needed terms that are found in a source language,
interpreters have acquired those terms, in this way enhancing the objective language. Few concepts
in modern European languages are "untranslatable" due, in large part, to the transfer of calques and
loanwords between languages and their importation from other languages.

In general, the ratio of metaphrase to paraphrase that can be used in translating between two
languages or between those languages and a third language increases the more contact and
exchange there has been. However, a common etymology can sometimes be misleading as a guide
to current meaning in one or the other language due to shifts in ecological niches of words.

Issues

According to Catford, linguistics problems of translation arise where there is no substitute in the
Target Language. Generally, while translating a work there will be many differences between the
Source Language and the Target Language. The translator tries his level best to come out with valid
translations each time whenever he comes across any such items. An effort has been made here to
analyze the lexical problems. They are Transliteration, Hybrid formation, Specific vs generic,
Singular to plural, Double words, and Repetitive Words.

Repetitive Words are அடுக்குத் ததொடர் in Tamil. If the word “இருள் ” from the pair of
“இருள் இருள் ” is split, the single word itself stands alone and gives meaning. The pair is called
Repetitive Words
1. "தெதுவொக தெதுவொக" - Slow
2. "கற் பு கற் பு" - Chastity

Double Words are known as “இரட்ட ட கிளவி in Tamil. If the same two words are split
and the words did not have any meaning. Such words are called Double Words

1. “சிணுசிணுத்து” - Whispering
2. “முனுமுனுத்து”- Murmuring
191 JOURNAL OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF MUMBAI, ISSN: 0972-0766, Vol. XCVI, No.2, 2023

Family is one of the oldest and most common human institutions. The specific word family
means a group of people who share a house. Most families are based on 'kinship' that is, the
members belong to the family by blood, by affinity, or through adoption. Here we can see some
particular terms that are used by the Indians to call their family members.
1. கிழவன் - grandfather
2. சகதர்மிணி - wife
The more specific a word, the less accurate in translation since it comprises more semantic
features. In places where the native term and a translated term could not be enabled the TL
reader to make out the meaning; the translator may use a generic name to help the reader in
understanding the meaning.
1. பற் றுக் ககொல் - stick
2. கூஜொ - Bowl
Transliteration is an attempt to represent the sounds of the SL text through the letters available in
the TL. But not all languages have the same sounds. Every language has its sounds. Some of
them happen to be simple sounds and some are complex.
1. தபன்ஷன் - Pension
2. பிரொட்கவ - Broadway
3. கொர்ப்தபொகரஷன் - Corporation
The researcher faces many issues in translating the source language to the target language. It seems
very difficult to translate words such as Isomorphous units, Generic names, double words, repetitive
words, possessive pronouns, gender, and target language words in the source language. The
researcher has discussed the issues and difficulties in translating from the source language to the
target language. Finally, the researcher concludes, while translating a work the researcher does not
give the exact meaning of the words. If the researcher does so, it will change the entire meaning of
the story. Finally, the researcher has to see the contextual meaning of that word and complete the
work.

References

"Puthumaipithan short stories ", India


Natrinai Publication, 2022.
Nihamathullah A. "Procedures of Translating", Tirunelveli; Shaheen Publication; 2009.
Hema. K "Theory and Practice of Translation", Madurai; Shalax Publication, 2019.

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