Scientific and Technical Translation Explained

A Nuts and Bolts Guide for Beginners

Jody Byrne

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• eBook ISBN: 9781317642039
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Linguistics
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

From microbiology to nuclear physics and chemistry to software engineering, scientific and technical translation is a complex activity that involves communicating specialized information on a variety of subjects across multiple languages. It requires expert linguistic knowledge and writing skills, combined with the ability to research and understand complex concepts and present them to a range of different audiences. Using a combination of interdisciplinary research, real-world examples drawn from professional practice and numerous learning activities, this introductory textbook equips the student with the knowledge and skills needed to get started in this exciting and challenging field. It examines the origins and history of scientific and technical translation, and the people, tools and processes involved in translating scientific and technical texts.

Scientific and Technical Translation Explained provides an overview of the main features of scientific and technical discourse as well as the different types of documents produced. A series of detailed case studies highlight various translation challenges and introduce a range of strategies for dealing with them. A variety of resources and exercises are included to make learning effective and enjoyable. Additional resources and activities are available on Facebook.

1. Scientific and Technical Translation

In this chapter

This chapter introduces you to scientific and technical translation and explains its origins and its importance both from a historical perspective and in terms of its current position within the language and other industries. This chapter will also show that while scientific translation and technical translation are closely related fields, they are not identical and the terms scientific and technical cannot be used interchangeably. We will discuss the significance of this type of translation before examining how theories of translation can help the translator. You will also learn about who is involved in scientific and technical translation and gain an overview of the typical tools you will need to use as a translator. This chapter will discuss your responsibility as a scientific and technical translator from a legal and ethical point of view before presenting some practical activities to help you practise what you have learned.

1.1 Introduction

Scientific and technical translation is part of the process of disseminating information on an international scale, which is indispensable for the functioning of our modern society.

(Pinchuck 1977:13)

Translation is an important driving force of modern society. It facilitates the flow of ideas, expertise, values and other information between different cultures. It is also essential for scientific and technological advancement. In today’s information age, the role of scientific and technical translation is more important than ever. It has facilitated some of the most significant scientific and technological advances of recent decades. These advances have transformed our daily lives to the extent that the world around us is virtually unrecognizable from fifty, or even twenty, years ago. Virtually every aspect of our lives from education and work to entertainment, shopping and travel has been swept along by a seemingly unstoppable wave of new inventions and technological advances. What many people do not realize is that these inventions and advances are accompanied at almost every step of the way by translation in its capacity as a vehicle for disseminating scientific and technical knowledge.

Although in terms of translation studies, scientific and technical translation is just one of a number of fascinating areas of study, it is, however, an area of translation which has had a profound impact on society. Furthermore, as a field of translation activity, it is one which will have most impact on the vast majority of translation students, as it is here that many translators find a sizeable amount of their income.

1.1.1 Some distinctions

Despite their similarities, technical and scientific translation are not interchangeable terms.

The aim of this book is to introduce the fundamental features of scientific and technical translation and the skills needed to engage in this type of activity. It is important to realize, however, that the terms scientific and technical are not identical and that the expression scientific and technical is not a tautological reference to the same type of translation. Part of the decision to group these areas together has to do with the way in which these subjects are traditionally taught, rather than any similarity between the two. The majority of translator training institutions offer modules with titles such as “Scientific & Technical Translation” or “Advanced Translation – Scientific & Technical” and presumably, this is a convenient way of organizing teaching provision.

Another reason is that the lines separating scientific and technical texts are becoming increasingly blurred. As we will discuss later, it is not uncommon for texts to combine elements of both scientific and technical texts and all of the issues that this entails. So, while the two areas are separate in many ways, the ways in which they appear in the real world mean that they need to be considered together.

Pinchuck (1977:13) identifies three key categories of information, which provide the materials for scientific and technical translation:

1. The results of pure science;

2. The results of applied scientific research carried out in order to solve a particular problem; and

3. The work of technologists, which is intended to result in an industrial product or process, which can be sold.

Pinchuck quite rightly points out, though, that there is always a significant amount of overlap between these categories and that the work of today’s scientists, i.e. theoretical scientific information, is likely to become tomorrow’s technology and as such give us various tangible products, devices, services and so on. From this perspective, it is worth remembering this relationship as we examine scientific and technical translation in this book; while the texts may differ and the information may take different forms, their foundations are ultimately built upon largely the same information. However, the way in which this information is presented and used varies quite significantly between scientific and technical translation. So, while a technical text is designed to convey information as clearly and effectively as possible, a scientific text will discuss, analyze and synthesize information with a view to explaining ideas, proposing new theories or evaluating methods. Due to these differing aims, the language used in each type of text, and consequently the strategies needed to translate them, may vary significantly.

It could even be said that scientific translation has just as much to do with literary translation as it does with technical translation. While the common view of scientific writing is that it is dry, highly objective and impartial, with all traces of style and linguistic creativity chased from the discourse like a fox from a chicken coop, the reality is quite different. Locke (1992) comprehensively dismantles the idea that there is no place for individualism, style, metaphor and creativity in scientific discourse. Indeed, he argues that the very nature of science means that individual style and creativity are intrinsic parts of the scientific process. He cites, for example, the use of metaphors as a foundation of scientific language with terms such as the Big Bang and the Greenhouse Effect owing their existence to the creativity of scientists and writers. The implication of this for translators, then, is that they must be able to recognize and negotiate culture-bound metaphors in much the same way as literary translators must.

1.1.2 Historical significance

Technical translation’s long and colourful history helps us understand its importance today.

Translation is practically as old as writing itself and for almost as long as humans have been writing they have been translating. Indeed, evidence of this can be found in ancient clay tablets containing bilingual Sumerian-Eblaite glossaries (Deslisle & Cloutier 1995:7). Some have gone so far as to say, rather humorously, that translation is the “second oldest profession” known to humanity (Baer & Koby 2003:vii). To many, translating sacred texts such as the Bible or Koran immediately springs to mind when we speak of translation in historical terms. However, the translation of scientific and technical texts has a history, which is as long as that of religious translation, if not longer. That translation has accompanied virtually every significant scientific and technological discovery throughout the ages is well documented and it is difficult, if not impossible, to find a single example of an invention or discovery which was not exported to another language and culture by means of translation.

While translation has always facilitated the dissemination of knowledge, it was not until the 15^th century that it really came into its own. In 1447, Johannes Gutenberg developed what is widely credited as being the first moveable type printing system which revolutionized printing and made it much easier to produce and, indeed, own books. That this invention had such an impact on translation and the dissemination of scientific and technical knowledge is due to the ensuing explosion in the number of books produced in Europe. Tebeaux (1997:14–30) describes how, during the English Renaissance, countless books were written on topics such as medicine, farming methods, animal husbandry, fishing, gardening, household management, horse riding, falconry, fencing, military science, navigation, road building, carpentry, stained glass making and so on. Gutenberg’s press permitted unprecedented levels of distribution for these books thanks to the relative ease and cost-effectiveness with which they could be produced. Not only did this make it easier to distribute original language texts, it also made it easier to disseminate information in translation.

And so, translation, newly empowered by widespread printing, continued to play a central role in the dissemination of scientific and technical information for centuries. However, it was only during the last 100 or so years that translation really made its mark on science and technology. This was a time when scientists were making countless new discoveries and writing about their findings in their own native languages. With other researchers eager to acquire new knowledge and learn new techniques, the demand for translations of these scientific texts was unprecedented. This translation activity in turn fuelled new research, which resulted in even more new discoveries. Imagine how under-developed science would be, were it not for translation; each language area would be intellectually isolated and each language community would have to discover the entire body of scientific and technical knowledge for itself. This would not simply be a case of reinventing the wheel, but of reinventing the wheel dozens, if not hundreds, of times.

The following are just a few examples of significant scientific pioneers and the languages in which they published their work:

Physics: Max Planck and Albert Einstein (German), Nils Bohr (Danish), Robert Boyle (English), Hideki Yukawa (Japanese);

Biology and genetics: Camillo Golgi (Italian), Tang Dizhou (Chinese);

Radiology and medical diagnostics: Pierre and Marie Curie (French), Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (German);

Bacteriology: Alexander Fleming (English), Louis Pasteur (French);

Psychiatry: Sigmund Freud (German).

The advent of printing also marked the start of a new era in translation itself, which, it could be argued, saw the way in which translation was viewed and carried out change quite significantly. In the centuries before printing, there existed a manuscript culture with texts being handwritten, fragile and almost ephemeral objects. Texts, usually of a scientific or technical nature, were copied by scribes and were often modified, whether intentionally or unintentionally, through the addition, omission or modification of information. This resulted in variability and uncertainty with regard to texts and the problem became even more pronounced when translation was added to the mix. At the time, translating lacked the standards of accuracy and quality that we expect today with the result that mistranslations or even omissions of difficult passages were common (Montgomery 2002:178).

Indeed, such was the extent of the problem it was not uncommon for copies of the same work held, for example, in libraries in Paris and Oxford to differ quite significantly in terms of content (Grant 1992:367). As Grant points out: “knowledge was as likely to disappear as to be acquired” as a result of the translation process. This was made all the more problematic when we consider that there might only have been one copy of the source text and this would have been written on fragile vellum or papyrus. This trend can be traced back to ancient Rome and Greece where the concept of intellectual property as we currently know it simply did not exist. In Greece, for example, the demand for knowledge, particularly of a scientific and technical nature, gave rise to what we now call compilers. These compilers, whose name comes from the Latin “to plunder”, effectively “misappropriated” whole chunks of texts, usually through translation and presented them as their own work (Stahl 1962:55). Translators at the time used source texts as the basis for new books and combined the ideas of the original with their own ideas, opinions and suggestions.

Consequently, many of the great works by some of the most important scholars such as Posidonius or Ptolomy have effectively been lost; despite numerous publications purporting to contain the writings of these scholars, there is no trace of their actual writings left as a result of countless publications which combined, modified, assimilated or falsified their work. Roman translators were no less cavalier in their approach to scavenging knowledge and passing it off as their own. Indeed, the Romans described these practices as inventio (invention), which involved the rewriting or rewording of the original during translation, and contaminare (contamination), which involved combining translations together from different sources to form an entirely new work.

This changed quite significantly, however, with the advent of relatively high volume printing as facilitated by Gutenberg’s invention. Texts became fixed – objects to be respected rather tha...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures
• Acknowledgements
• About this book
• Using this book
• 1. Scientific and Technical Translation
• 2. Translation and Technical Communication
• 3. Understanding Technical Documentation
• 4. Case Studies
• 5. Basic Translation Techniques
• 6. Pitfalls, Problems and How to Deal with Them
• Bibliography
• Appendix 1. Glossary of Terms
• Appendix 2. Scientific Notation & Units of Measure
• Appendix 3. Hazard, Risk and Safety Phrases
• Appendix 4. Sample Document Profiles
• Index