A faithful translator is a mediator between multiple world cultures.Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source language text by means of the equivalent target language text, but has nothing to do with just word-by-word reproduction of what is said or written in the source language. A gifted translator or interpreter should be aimed at creating a comprehensive and adequate copy of an original, in order to convey the message hidden under the veil of foreign language words flow. The actual process of translation is a complex work that include a careful search of full or partial equivalents in the target language dictionaries. When there is no direct equivalence, and the translation involves realia ( notions or phenomena that exists only in a particular culture and lacks in others), personal names, phraseological phrases, as well as some stylistically, grammatical or syntactical differences between the source and the target language, then a translator has to be aware of the common translation technologies. Oblique Translation Techniques are used when the structural or conceptual elements of the source language cannot be directly translated without altering meaning or upsetting the grammatical and stylistics elements of the target language. The most widespread technologies are: transposition (the process where parts of speech change their sequence when they are translated), modulation (sense development), reformulation (expressing an idea in a completely different way), adaptation ( the technic, which occurs when something specific to one language culture is expressed in a totally different way that is familiar or appropriate to another language culture) and compensation (the technology, used when something cannot be translated, and the meaning that is lost is expressed somewhere else in the translated text). There are quite a wide range of other translation methods and their number can be changed according to a chosen type of classifications. The most known lexical, grammatical, syntactical transformations are also word omissions, additions, generalization, concretization, antonymic translation; change of speech parts, inversion, sentence division and combining.
After a careful consideration of the given in the assignment paragraph, extracted from the writings of John Duns Scotus, and the suggested translation of it, made by Allan Wolter, I have concluded that the above mentioned translator is faithful to the original text. Due to the use of multiple grammatical and lexical transformations, such as modulation, or sense development, changes of speech parts, transpositions, omissions, additions, and commentary the translator has succeed in conveying the sense by means of the target language.
For instance, while translating the third line of the original paragraph, Alan Wolter uses sense development:
in quibus est nobis necessaria certitudo,
scilicet de scibilibus simpliciter.
(1) things knowable in an unqualified sense.
In the fourth line of the latin paragraph the translator uses an addition in order to make the text understandable to a reader:
. de scibilibus per exprerientiam.
(2) things knowable through experience.
While translation of the sixth line, the Allan Wolter makes a commentary:
. exemplum triangules habit tres.
An example [of each]: (1) A triangle has three [angles equal to two right angles].
Thus, the structure of the whole sentence provides the simplicity of acquiring the information.
Making a conclusion, I would like to refer again to the thesis statement of the present essay: a faithful translator is not the one, who makes word-by-word translation just by searching the most suitable equivalents to the original words in the dictionary. A fair translator is aimed at conveying sense of the original message, making the final text comprehensive and understandable to the reader. A gifted and skillful specialist should be aware of both source language and target language norms, cultural peculiarities and diversity, historical heritage which also an integral part of a language development process. The sentence structure, grammar and lexis of the translation should comply with the norms of a target language. Considering all the above listed arguments, I would like to stress that the translation of the given Latin paragraph, made by Allan Wolter should be treated as a fair and professional work.
