Student ID: 200913001311
Word Count: 506
What are the criteria in judging translations?
Since different principles apply to different types translations, it is not easy to judge
the
relative
merits
of
two
or
more
translations.
We
must
first
understand
what
translation is if we want to judge which translation work is better. There are a great
many definitions of translation, but no written rules to clearly define it.
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means
of
an
equivalent
target-language
text.
Translation
is
a
tool
in
modern
information
transfer. So, the criteria in judging translations should be focus on both the sources
and
the
targets.
Different
ways
help
to
determine
the
relative
merit
of
particular
translations.
To
achieve
an
accurate
translation
from
source
texts
to
target
texts
should base on the source language, and meet the adaption to the target culture and
readers.
The
criteria
in
judging
translations
can
divide
in
two
aspects.
The
first
one
is
Source-oriented.
Source-oriented
reveal
as
much
of
the
form
and
content
of
the
original
message.
A
good
translation
work
should
respect
to
the
original
work
and
maintain the centre information. A good translation should keep Formal Equivalence,
which means the comprehension of intent must be judged essentially in terms of the
context
in
the
communication.
In
some
menu
translation
cases,
they
use
literal
translation to translate the dish names directly with ordinary words and knowledge
in cuisine field which was shared by both Chinese and westerns. For examples:
鈥滄潖浠?/p>
楦′竵鈥?/p>
is translated into
鈥?/p>
Chicken Cubes with Almond
鈥?/p>
;
鈥滄澗浠侀鑿団�?/p>
is translated
into
鈥?/p>
Black
Mushroom
with
Pine
Nuts
鈥?/p>
;
鈥滆懕娌归浮鈥?/p>
is
translated
into
鈥淐hicken
in
Scallion
Oil鈥?/p>
.
The
adequacy
can
be
achieved
because
all
the
source
ingredients
鈥?/p>
names are retained in the translation version.