Use of dictionaries in translation
In modern translation, a large number of words have several meanings, an interpreter who perfectly knows a foreign language cannot remember them all. The memory of a person cannot hold such a huge amount of information, then the dictionaries come to the aid of an interpreter. Referring to the dictionary, a translator has access to the list of all possible values of the same words, in order to avoid the difficulties that arise when translating. Of course, there are times when there is no suitable word or expression in the dictionary, then the translator uses the normative value specified in the dictionary to find the appropriate word.
In order to work correctly with the dictionary, first of all it is necessary to know the alphabet thoroughly and understand the structure of the dictionary itself. To make your work easier, you can use bookmarks. Each translator, working in a translation agency or independently, knows that it is not necessary to close the dictionary very quickly, if the search word is not fixed, this will lead to a re-search of the required values.
All dictionaries can be divided into two main groups: encyclopedic and linguistic. Encyclopedic dictionaries – explain the content of concepts and meanings of objects, phenomena and events. In turn, they are divided into general and special. In general encyclopaedic dictionaries, information about words is presented from all spheres of knowledge. And in special only specialized fields of knowledge, such as economic, technical, etc. In linguistic dictionaries, not an object or meaning is interpreted, but the word itself, its characteristic as a unit of language is given, by this they differ from encyclopedic dictionaries. In the linguistic dictionary each value of a certain word is represented, if there are several, grammatical and spelling characteristics, its style is described. After, examples of using the selected word in a speech with different values are presented.
In a linguistic dictionary, the meaning of a word can be explained in two ways: by means of the same language from which the word is given, or by means of translation, that is, another language. This, in turn, divides the dictionaries into monolingual and translated. Monolingual linguistic dictionaries can be divided by what language material is presented and in what way it is processed: explanatory, spelling, etymological, frequency, orthoepic dictionaries.
Each translator begins the process of translating the text from the analysis of the source material, which allows you to get an understanding of the semantic content, only after that, the translator can start working directly on the translation. A qualified translator will never start the translation process if the foreign text is understood “in general terms”.
Before you start working on the translation of the text, the translator must read it by paragraph. Due to this, he can better determine the contextual links of the proposals. Preparation of the translation process begins with the analysis of proposals. If in the text there are unfamiliar words, they should be compared with the meaning of the translated sentence. When the sentence is completely clear and the translator does not have doubts about his semantic content, he can fix it in the target language. To avoid literal translation, it is best to search for variants of the meanings of the words, while digressing from the text. To obtain a high-quality translation, it is necessary to convey the idea embedded in the source text with the help of the most natural speech formulations. After the thought is fully expressed, the translator “checks” with the source material. In order to move on to the next paragraph, the translator must have complete confidence that the previous thought is correctly expressed and completely. After finishing the work on the text, the translator independently assesses the work performed, analyzing, the meaning is accurately conveyed and whether the functional and stylistic correspondence is obtained in the material being translated, the material is original.
Particular attention, the translator must pay attention to the title, which can contain hidden semantic elements, that’s why the translator begins work on the title when the entire text is ready.
If the translation is done in the native language, the interpreter lacks information, because he is fluent in his native language, and there is no need to refer to the dictionary. But when translating into a foreign language, the interpreter cannot always clearly define the necessary meaning of the word and then he has to resort to the help of a dictionary. In order to correctly select a suitable word, the translator must learn the meanings in the dictionary and select the most appropriate one from the context.
Over the past few years, the number of multilingual dictionaries that are not so much in demand as bilingual has increased. Every year, thanks to the improvement of software, a huge number of electronic dictionaries appears, but an interpreter who works with complex texts can guarantee the correctness and correctness of the text only if he has an unsurpassed ability to work with specialized dictionaries.