Translation theory

Indifference to genetic kinship.
Although translation and comparative typology are indifferent to the genetic relatedness of the systems of the compared languages, the genetic proximity of the systems of the languages ​​in question may create favorable conditions for translation.
Translation equivalence increases if typological affinity is accompanied by genetic kinship, since in genetically related languages, formally typological affinity is accompanied by semantic or material affinity. For example, typological affinity is accompanied by genetic affinity in closely related Germanic languages.
If typological affinity is accompanied by genetic affinity, then there is no particular difficulty in translating. It is easier for a translator to translate text or compile dictionary matches if he is dealing with systems of closely related languages.
The identification traits considered can include the fact that in comparative typology and translation they use almost identical linguistic methods and techniques.
Differentiating signs
Despite the similarity of the operations performed and the presence of other common features, the typological comparison and translation theory have a number of differences, namely:
a) the relative freedom of choice of the translator;
b) the difference in terms of content.
Freedom of choice when translating as follows:
a) replacement of units of one level with units of other levels;
b) the use of descriptive methods of translation regardless of single-level compliance;
c) the choice of stylistically suitable or more expressive means from other levels and categories of words;
d) the use of synonymous forms and structures; e) replacing the text with another text, provided that the deep commonality is preserved (for example, proverbs).
When certain information is recoded from language to language, the translator can refer to all levels to select the appropriate units from the expression plan.
Translation and sociolinguistics
The socio-linguistic approach is especially important in investigating the problem of translatability and untranslatability (Mounin 1963). The vacuity of the agruments put forward to support the idea of untranslatability is best shown by the tremendous amount of translations produced all over the world, refuting the thesis of untranslatability day by day, and yet every book on translation theory contains a section devoted to this problem.
Mounin, the eminent French translation scholar ingeniously refutes the claim that the differences above would reflect different views of the world:
… if within the same language one conducts several similar analyses, then it may be concluded that speakers even of the same language gain their experience of the world at different levels. The fact that this is reflected in the structure of lexis does not mean that we are faced with different world views. At a place where the common Frenchman sees only snow, the French ski champion can distinguish between and name several types of snow, the same way as Lapps or Eskimos living in the distant Arctic... (Mounin 1963).
This obviously does not mean that the average Frenchman’s world view differs from that of the French ski champion, or that the world view of the latter would be similar to that of the Lapps or Eskimos. It is more correct to say that all Eskimos come into contact with snow in one way or another, and thus the vocab­ulary related to snow becomes part of everyday speech, while in French it remains part of merely of the technical vocabulary used by a restricted number of people.
Translation and stylistics
The transfer of stylistic units is one of the major tasks in translation. It should be paid special attention. Stylistic devices of a language are divided into four subdivisions⁹:
1. Lexical stylistic devices- epithet, metaphor, metonomy, ontonomasia, zeugma, irony, pun, oxymoron, violation of phraseological units.
2. Syntactical stylistic devices- repetition, detachment, parallelism, gap-sentence link, asyndeton, polysyndeton, chiasmus, aposiopesis, question-in-the-narration, rethorical questions, sudden-break–in the narration.
3. Lexico-syntactical stylistic devices- represented speech, antithesis, hyperbole, understatement, simile, climax, anticlimax, litotes, periphrasis, euphemisms.
4. Phonetical stylistic devices- rhyme, alliteration, rhythm, onomatopoeia.
The translation of above given stylistic devices should meet certain stylistic requirements, i.e. normative rules characterizing texts of the same type in the target language. These requirements are:
1. Semantic correspondence. Depending on the style and orientation of translation the translator must always strive to ensure that the translated text reflects the true meaning of the original. Semantic correspondence includes stylistic accuracy, adequacy and completeness.
2. Literacy. The main requirement is that the text is consistent with the general rules of the Azeri and foreign languages. As a rule, the absence of stylistic, grammatical and spelling errors is expected to be.
3. Lexical and stylistic consistency. It is assumed to be the correct selection of equivalents to the terms of the original, the search for analogues of acronyms and abbreviations, correct transliteration.
The general style of the translated text and style of the original should not diverge in perception. Technical translations are characterized by the accuracy of phrases, lack of emotionally colored words, the construction of simple sentences, impersonality. To make the speech relevant to the main stylistic requirements, to be expressive, precise and stylistically motivated, and the devices which used are the most appropriate for the content expression and relevant in the present context, the speaker must master the stylistic resources of a language and know its stylistic norms. Translation, either oral or written, is a complex and multi-dimensional process.
Translation and cross-culture communication
Language and culture are two inseparable phenomena that underline any act of translation. To transfer a message from the source text into the target text, the translator must somehow overcome linguistic and cultural barriers. Cultural aspects of translation are related to the beliefs, customs, history, literature, and shared knowledge of the speech community in which the original text has been created. This shared or common knowledge makes the members of the same speech community capable of communicating and understanding each other. However, in interlingual communications such as translation, this knowledge must be transferred to the target readers to enable them to understand the messages or the meanings contained in the target text.
Accordingly, throughout the history, translation has played an important role in conveying thoughts and knowledge from one nation to other nations. Apart from this importance, the act of translating is not simply changing a message from the source language into the target one; translation is an act of problem solving.