1. Preliminaries to translation as a product:

2. Translation can be seen as a process and a product
Translation can be seen as a process and a product. As a process means what the translator actually does. The evidence we have for a process is a product such as gist translation or exegetic translation.

3. To look at translation as a product we need to look at two opposed degrees of freedom of translation: extreme SL bias and extreme TL bias Degrees of freedom of translation 1.Interlinear translation: Interlinear translation is at the extreme SL bias. Here the TT does not respect TL grammar, but it has grammatical units corresponding as closely as possible to every grammatical unit of the ST.

4. اللي فات مات The/ What passed died
Example,
اللي فات مات The/ What passed died
As can be seen from this example, Interlinear translation is used where the purpose of the translation is to shed light on the structure of the ST, e.g. descriptive linguistics and language teaching.

5. 2. Literal translation As a form of ST bias, literal translation focuses on the denotative meaning of the word (out of context). However, in literal translation the TL grammar is respected. Literal translation involves grammatical transposition: the replacement of given parts of speech in the ST by other parts of speech in It’s sunny الدنيا شمسthe TT, e,g.

6. Literal translation involves grammatical transposition: the replacement of given parts of speech in the ST by other parts of speech in the TT e.g. It’s sunny الدنيا شمس

7. 3. Free translation At the opposite extreme of TL bias
3. Free translation At the opposite extreme of TL bias. Here there is only global correspondence between the textual units of the ST and those of the TT. For example a possible translation of اللي فات ماتwould be ‘Let bygones be bygones’ Here the grammar is completely different and the metaphor ‘dying ’ is lost.

8. يوم لك ويوم عليك you win some, you lose some Here the grammar and the vocabulary are different.

9. 4. Communicative translation: It is produced when in a given situation the ST uses an ST expression standard for that situation, and the TT uses a TT expression standard for an equivalent target culture situation. For example, Let bygones be bygones is a translation of اللي فات مات

10. This translation (Communicative translation) is in many situations mandatory. This is also true of many culturally conventional formulae that do not invite literal translation such as proverbs, public notices, and conventional clichés.

11. ممنوع التدخين No smoking (public notice) ضرب عصفورين بحجر واحد To kill two birds with one stone(Standard Arabic proverb) لا شكر على واجب Don’t mention it (conversational cliché)

12. From interlinear to free translation
In assessing translation freedom, it is useful to situate the TT on a scale between extreme SL bias and extreme TL bias, with notional intermediate points schematized as in the following diagram.

13. By an idiomizing translation, we mean one that respects the ST message content, but prioritizes TL ‘naturalness’ over faithfulness to ST detail; it will typically use idioms or familiar phonic and rhythmic patterns to give an easy read, even if this means sacrificing nuances of meaning or tone

14. Note that ‘idiomizing’ is not synonymous with ‘idiomatic’: throughout this course we use the term ‘idiomatic’ to denote what sounds ‘natural’ and ‘normal’ to native speakers – a linguistic expression that is unexceptional and acceptable in a given language in a given context.

15. The five points on the scale – as well as the rarely used interlinear translation – can be illustrated by the following translations of the phraseمثل هذه الاشياء عليها إقبال كثير الآن 

16. [INTERLINEAR Like these things to them demand much now.]
LITERAL The likes of these things have much demand now.
FAITHFUL Things like these are in great demand now.
BALANCED This kind of thing’s in great demand at the moment.
IDIOMIZING This type’s all the rage.
FREE This one’s dead trendy.

17. Note that the last four TTs are all idiomatic, but only one of them is an idiomizing translation.