Dealing with translation is used to be about techniques, procedures, and all those serious discussions. There are indeed tonnes of fascinating facts about translation you need to know.
When you look for those facts on Google, most of the online portals share the common ideas, including:
- Bible is the world’s most translated book;
- The commemoration of the International Translation Day is on 30 September;
- French, German, Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic are on the list of the most popular target languages of translations when paired with English.
Linguwiz does not stop there. We have compiled more facts that will leave you astonished. The following are the top 15 explorations of translation facts in the eys of the history:
Fact 1: Four Periods of Translation
There are four periods of translation that consist of:
- The age of Cicero’s and Horace’s works concerning translation. The age end with the publication of Alexander F. Tyler’s “Essay on the Principles of Translation” in 1791.
- The age of Valery Larboud’s “Sous I’inovation de Saint Jerome” in 1946.
- The age of the first paper publications on machine translation, which spanned from the 1940s until the 1960s.
- The period of the 1960s, which is still ongoing.
Fact 2: Word-for-Word vs. Sense-for-Sense Translation
The first theorists who distinguished between word-for-word and sense-for-sense translation were Cicero and Horace.
Fact 3: Geoffrey Chaucer’s Recognition
Geoffrey Chaucer is recognized as the most well-known translator in history. In 1374, King Edward III awarded Chaucer with a gallon of wine a day for the rest of his life as the prize for his literary works and translations. The measure of a gallon a day equals four and a half liters.
Fact 4: Dona Marina, Translator for Herman Cortes
Dona Marina, also known as La Malinche, worked as a translator for over ten years for Herman Cortes during the Span’s conquest in Mexico. La Malinche was brought to Spain in 1519 and was depicted as the embodiment of treachery as well as the quintessential victim or the symbolic mother of the new Mexican people.
Fact 5: Roger Bacon’s Translation Philosophy
In the 13th century, an English scholar Roger Bacon believed that a translator’s adequate knowledge of both the source language and target language was the key to producing quality translations. He also mentioned that a translator should also master the area of discipline of the materials being translated. His belief was then embraced by academicians eight centuries later, making his idea flourish up to nowadays.
Fact 6: St. Jerome and the Vulgata
In the year 382, Pope Damasus commission St. Jerome, who was known as the leading biblical scholar at that time, to translate the Holy Bible. His success in producing the canonic Latin version of the Bible, which was called Vulgata, made him distinguished as the patron saint of translators and scholars. The Vulgata is still utilized by the Catholic church currently.
Fact 7: William Tyndale’s Execution
There was a time when translation became a vulnerable and dangerous profession. A historical record mentioned that a translator William Tyndale was executed in Holland in 1536 due to his translation work of the Bible from the Hebrew and Greek texts into English.
Fact 8: Lucius Livius Andronicus, Early Translator
Lucius Livius Andronicus (circa 284–205 BC) is recognized as the earliest translator in the western world. He was also a poet and dramatist. His translation works ranged from Greek into Latin and were regarded as the origin of Latin literature.
Fact 9: The “Treaty of Kadesh”
The age of the 13th century before the common era recorded the production of the first bilingual legal document after a war between the Egyptians and the Hittites. The belligerents eventually inked a peace agreement known as the “Treaty of Kadesh”. The treaty is mentioned as the first diplomatic regional agreement as well as the oldest prevailing written treaty.
Fact 10: Early Translation in Mesopotamian Period
The earliest translation was performed during the Mesopotamian period, in which the work of the Sumerian poem “Gilgamesh” was translated into Asian languages in the second millennium before the common era.
Fact 11: The Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone was one of the most popular works of translation regarded as the archetypical symbol of a translator. It was found on a granodiorite by French soldiers in 1799 during Napoleon Bonaparte’s Egypt campaign.
Fact 12: Mistranslation and the Hiroshima Bomb
The Hiroshima bomb was not merely due to the feud of the allied armies. There was a press interview when Japanese Prime Minister Kantaro uttered the word mokusatsu in response to the question regarding Japan’s plan to surrender. The word indeed means “no comment”. However, it was mistranslated into “not worthy of comment” by the international press, resulting in a provocation among the English forces. As a result, a bomb was dropped in Hiroshima ten days later.
Fact 13: Female Translators in the 19th Century
In the 19th century, female translators started signing their works with their real names. Before the time, women used pseudonyms to avoid ridicule or rejection of their work.
Fact 14: The Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials section is common in translation and interpreting studies. It two events, including the trials of Nazi war criminals and the beginning of simultaneous interpreting for standard diplomatic conferences. During the process, four languages were provided for interpreting, consisting of English, Russian, French, and German.
Fact 15: Romans and Translation Services
Romans were recognized as the investors of the first translation service initiative. Their incapability of literary production made them employ scholars, poets, and monks to translate various pieces of literature.
Bonus Fact: Most Translated Book
It is common to find out that lots of sources cite Bible as the world’s most translated book. There are a total of 698 languages used in the translation of the holy book. This fact is true since religious manuscripts are considered essential for humans’ spirituality.
Nevertheless, with the exclusion of religious books, “The Adventures of Pinocchio” by Carlo Collodi can be regarded as the most translated text into 260 languages since its first publication in 1883. that is top 15 fascinating facts about translation.
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