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sing in the meaning of the term “literal”, with one aspect of the term prevailing in the courts and public administrations, and another in
our profession and in linguistics (not to mention psychiatry).
According to the OED, the term “literal” means: “Of a translation, version, or transcript: representing the very words of the original; verbally
exact”, which is exactly and precisely what the courts and public administrations are seeking in translation. In other words, a translation
akin to a hyper-realistic “visual representation” of the source that would be “exactly or faithfully copied”, stylistically “free of exaggeration,
figures of speech or allusion”, all of which intends to define the term “literal” as meaning “precise and exact”.
On the other hand, the OED also mentions that the term “literal” is etymologically derived from the Middle French term “letters” and by
extension “literature, letters or the epistles”, in this sense as opposed to “numerical”. And more importantly for our own purposes, the
OED includes volition in the meaning of literal: “Of a person, the mind, etc.: apt to take words literally; characterized by an inability to
recognize metaphor or understand humorous exaggeration, irony, or the like; lacking imagination; prosaic, literal-minded”. In other words,
this is the sense of the term “literal” as epitomized, for example, by Amelia Bedelia or Becassine, two popular characters in children’s
literature, and as is often invoked in smart alec translation engines as a source of errors, although the error in that particular case is that
Alec is hardly a person or mind.
In any event, there are many scholars who have examined the notion of literal meaning, and the importance of metaphor as a structuring
principle of reality (e.g. Ricoeur 1978, Lakoff 1987), so there is much more to say about what it means to “strip language naked”, to its
“original forms”.
But for patent translation, and the “literal, word for word” injunctions coming from the courts and public administrations, we are lucky
to have an interpreter among us who has clearly translated the courts’ and public administrations’ “literal, word for word” translation
requests into terms that translators can all agree upon, and strive to satisfy.
Now liberated from the real pitfalls of understanding “literal” as the possibility of translating like Alec (the machine), Amelia Bedelia or
Becassine, it is possible to start the difficult task of translating patents very literally, meaning precisely and exactly (i.e. with no additions,
subtractions or permutations, and without sacrificing meaning or the rules of proper English) according to Cross’ six rules of literal patent
translation, and in compliance with the courts’ and public administrations’ requests!
Smile, Charlie Brown!
References
Amelia Bedelia
http://www.ameliabedeliabooks.com/
Becassine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9cassine
California Medical Board Licensing Program - Translation of Foreign Academic Credentials http://www.mbc.ca.gov/Forms/Applicants/
translation
int academic.pdf Cross, M. (2007) Literal translation of patents. The Patent Translator’s Handbook. Alexandria, VA: ATA - American
Translators Association, pp. 19-28.
Lakoff, G. (1987) Women, fire and dangerous things: What categories reveal about the mind. Chicago, Ill: Chicago University Press.
Ricoeur, P. ( 1978) The metaphorical process as cognition, imagination and feeling, Critical Inquiry, Vol 5(1), 143-159.
http://www.humanities.uci.edu/poeticshistorytheory/user
files/Ricoeur.pdf OED - Oxford English Dictionary - Article on Literal (adj. & noun) . Online version.
Translation Journal - July 2015 | 107
our profession and in linguistics (not to mention psychiatry).
According to the OED, the term “literal” means: “Of a translation, version, or transcript: representing the very words of the original; verbally
exact”, which is exactly and precisely what the courts and public administrations are seeking in translation. In other words, a translation
akin to a hyper-realistic “visual representation” of the source that would be “exactly or faithfully copied”, stylistically “free of exaggeration,
figures of speech or allusion”, all of which intends to define the term “literal” as meaning “precise and exact”.
On the other hand, the OED also mentions that the term “literal” is etymologically derived from the Middle French term “letters” and by
extension “literature, letters or the epistles”, in this sense as opposed to “numerical”. And more importantly for our own purposes, the
OED includes volition in the meaning of literal: “Of a person, the mind, etc.: apt to take words literally; characterized by an inability to
recognize metaphor or understand humorous exaggeration, irony, or the like; lacking imagination; prosaic, literal-minded”. In other words,
this is the sense of the term “literal” as epitomized, for example, by Amelia Bedelia or Becassine, two popular characters in children’s
literature, and as is often invoked in smart alec translation engines as a source of errors, although the error in that particular case is that
Alec is hardly a person or mind.
In any event, there are many scholars who have examined the notion of literal meaning, and the importance of metaphor as a structuring
principle of reality (e.g. Ricoeur 1978, Lakoff 1987), so there is much more to say about what it means to “strip language naked”, to its
“original forms”.
But for patent translation, and the “literal, word for word” injunctions coming from the courts and public administrations, we are lucky
to have an interpreter among us who has clearly translated the courts’ and public administrations’ “literal, word for word” translation
requests into terms that translators can all agree upon, and strive to satisfy.
Now liberated from the real pitfalls of understanding “literal” as the possibility of translating like Alec (the machine), Amelia Bedelia or
Becassine, it is possible to start the difficult task of translating patents very literally, meaning precisely and exactly (i.e. with no additions,
subtractions or permutations, and without sacrificing meaning or the rules of proper English) according to Cross’ six rules of literal patent
translation, and in compliance with the courts’ and public administrations’ requests!
Smile, Charlie Brown!
References
Amelia Bedelia
http://www.ameliabedeliabooks.com/
Becassine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9cassine
California Medical Board Licensing Program - Translation of Foreign Academic Credentials http://www.mbc.ca.gov/Forms/Applicants/
translation
int academic.pdf Cross, M. (2007) Literal translation of patents. The Patent Translator’s Handbook. Alexandria, VA: ATA - American
Translators Association, pp. 19-28.
Lakoff, G. (1987) Women, fire and dangerous things: What categories reveal about the mind. Chicago, Ill: Chicago University Press.
Ricoeur, P. ( 1978) The metaphorical process as cognition, imagination and feeling, Critical Inquiry, Vol 5(1), 143-159.
http://www.humanities.uci.edu/poeticshistorytheory/user
files/Ricoeur.pdf OED - Oxford English Dictionary - Article on Literal (adj. & noun) . Online version.
Translation Journal - July 2015 | 107
