Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Translation and Interpreting

Table of contents

Translation and Interpreting at Heriot-Watt University

Language: English Studies in English
Kind of studies: full-time studies, part-time studies
University website: www.hw.ac.uk
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Definitions and quotes

Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (not all languages do) between translating (a written text) and interpreting (oral or sign-language communication between users of different languages); under this distinction, translation can begin only after the appearance of writing within a language community.
Translation
Translation is at best an echo.
George Borrow, Lavengro (1851), Ch. 25, p. 151.
Translation
Translation it is that openeth the window, to let in the light; that breaketh the shell, that we may eat the kernel; that putteth aside the curtain, that we may look into the most Holy place; that removeth the cover of the well, that we may come by the water.
The King James Bible (Authorized Version, 1611), 'The Translators to the Reader'
Translation
Such is our pride, our folly, or our fate,
That few but such as cannot write, translate.
John Denham, To Sir Richard Fanshaw, Upon his Translation of Pastor Fido (1648), line 1.
When you think about the Earth’s oceans you probably imagine stretches of deep, dark water, exotic marine life and pristine waves. You probably don’t think of vast islands of plastic waste such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an expanse of rubbish which some say is bigger than the continental United States. It was feared that collections of plastic debris like this were growing in line with our increasing rates of plastic production over the past decades. However, scientists have recently discovered that these floating eyesores are mysteriously receding – and that’s actually not a good thing…
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