SIL International Publications

Four Bible translation types and some criteria to distinguish them

Series: 
Journal of Translation
Volume Issue: 
3(2)
Author(s):
Floor, Sebastian J
Abstract: 

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the discussion on the classification of Bible translation types. This paper proposes four types instead of the traditional two: literal and idiomatic or dynamic equivalent. The four types are Type 1) close (or literal) resemblance, Type 2) open resemblance, Type 3) close (or limited) interpretative, and Type 4) open interpretative. There are several continua of criteria: the degree of resemblance to the original semantic content, the degree of explicitness, and the type of adjustments needed to unpack the meaning. Eight criteria of adjustments are proposed to distinguish these four types: 1) order of clauses and phrases, 2) sentence length, 3) reference disambiguation and tracking, 4) concordance of lexical items, 5) key terms and unknown terms, 6) figurative usage and idioms, 7) transition marking, and 8) information structure.

Issue Date: 
2007
Field: 
Content Language: 
Subject: 
Translation Theory
Translation Principles
Relevance Theory
Functional Equivalence
Lexical Issues In Translation
Information Structure
Grammatical Issues In Translation
Nature of Work: 
Extent: 
pages 1-22
Entry Number: 
40268