Definitions of Translation

There are many definitions of translation defined and it is defined in many ways. If we analyze the translation, we will see that there are two languages involved in translation. That is the reason of knowing what translation is.

In her book entitled Meaning-Based Translation (1984), Larson argued the definition of translation by some statements. She stated that:

Translation is basically a change of form. When we speak of the form of a language, we are referring to the actual words, phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs, etc., which are spoken or written. These forms are referred to as the surface structure of a language (Larson, 1984: 3).

She also added that:

The form from which the translation is made will be called the source language and the form into which it is to be changed will be called the receptor language (Larson, 1984: 3).

Another definition of translation was also proposed by Catford in his book entitled A Linguistic Theory of Translation (1965), he stated about the definition of translation that says:

Translation is an operation performed on languages: a process of substituting a text in one language for a text in other (Catford, 1965: 1).

He also added:

Translation can be defined as follows: The replacement of textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another language (TL) (Catford, 1965: 20).

Catford also stated about translation, as a process, is always uni-directional: it is always performed in a given direction; from a Source Language into a Target Language. He used the abbreviations: SL for Source Language and TL for Target Language.