Abstract
The paper reviews publications by Latvian linguists looking at the main translation problems within the context of the EU between 2005 and 2010. The author analyses the publications from three aspects: general aspects of translation problems and practices within the EU context, particular translation problems, and methodological publications providing guidelines for translators working within the EU context. The author reveals discussions on the ways translation influences language in general, the role of the source language for the development of the target language, and the role and responsibility of a translator at the ‘historical crossroads’. The article discusses a number of EU-specific translation problems, including source language interference, problems of the translator’s visibility and a translation’s transparency, ‘false friends’, and linguistic and contextual untranslatability. The author briefly summarizes the contents of guidelines and manuals for translators working within the EU context, highlighting the main differences between English and Latvian written language practices, literal (word-for-word) translation and the translator’s relationship with the source text. The publications selected and analysed have been published either in conference proceedings or in academic journals from the leading Latvian institutions in the field of translation: Ventspils University College, the University of Latvia, the State Language Commission of Latvia and Translation and Terminology Centre of Latvia.
Highlights
The Latvian language, as the language of Latvian ethnos and the official language of the Republic of Latvia, belongs to the Baltic group of Indoeuropean languages and was consolidated in the 10th–12th centuries
The aim of the present paper is to review the publications on the main areas of translation and problems within the European Union (EU) context in Latvia between 2005 and 2010 and summarize the main problems revealed in them
Since terminology-related issues are not the object of the present paper, it suffices to say that the diversity of views and opinions on EU-related terminology in Latvia can be summarrised in the words of Valija Broka who raises a rhetorical question whether we should ‘really supply a translation for every conceivable term used at an international level, in this particular case, in the ‘Brussels vocabulary’
Summary
The paper reviews publications by Latvian linguists looking at the main translation problems within the context of the EU between 2005 and 2010. The author analyses the publications from three aspects: general aspects of translation problems and practices within the EU context, particular translation problems, and methodological publications providing guidelines for translators working within the EU context. The article discusses a number of EU-specific translation problems, including source language interference, problems of the translator’s visibility and a translation’s transparency, ‘false friends’, and linguistic and contextual untranslatability. The author briefly summarizes the contents of guidelines and manuals for translators working within the EU context, highlighting the main differences between English and Latvian written language practices, literal (word-for-word) translation and the translator’s relationship with the source text. The publications selected and analysed have been published either in conference proceedings or in academic journals from the leading Latvian institutions in the field of translation: Ventspils University College, the University of Latvia, the State Language Commission of Latvia and Translation and Terminology Centre of Latvia
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