What type of translation are you or your team involved in? Does it use specialized or religious materials? These types of texts have some unique characteristics that need to be taken into consideration during translation and editing.
Today we will look at 5 useful tips for doing specialized or religious translation. Several of these have to do with quotations.
1—RESPECT THE ORIGINAL TEXT. In translation of general materials, there might be room for a bit of flexibility. But when it comes to specialized or religious texts, it is crucial that the original content be accurately conveyed in the translation. Authors in specialized or religious fields spend years building their reputation, and an incorrect translation could cause misunderstandings and criticisms.
2—WATCH FOR SPECIALIZED TERMINOLOGY. Authors in a certain field, particularly in religion, often use terminology from authoritative texts (such as the Bible) without using quotation marks. It is important that either the translator, or the person doing bilingual revision of the translation, be familiar with this terminology so the equivalent is consistently used in the translation.
3—BE CLEAR ABOUT QUOTATIONS. If the translation includes several quotations from one source (for example, the Bible), state clearly at the beginning of the translation which version the quotations are taken from. If you need to use a different translation in a certain place where the author does this to emphasize a point, then put the name of that version in brackets after the quotation.
4—CUT AND PASTE QUOTATIONS. If you type a quotation, you might inadvertently produce an error such as a missing word, different punctuation, etc. The best way to avoid this is to cut and paste from an online version of the translated quotation whenever possible.
5—TRANSLATING QUOTATIONS. If there is no existing translation of the quotation, you can use your own translation. Just add a footnote to say something like: “All original [English] quotations have been translated by the translator of this document.”
Specialized or religious translation definitely requires more attention to detail, but it is very rewarding to make these types of materials accessible in other languages. Keep up the good work!
Have a great day!
Liane 🙂
