Translation vs Interpretation
Does a sentence in another language sound funny or strange in your own language when you translate it word by word? Same true for vice versa. You can see that in glossing but their language and yours are both natural. Let's look at the continuum of translation and interpretation.
| direct translation | translation-interpretation | interpretation |
Direct translation (known as transliteration) is what grammatical structure and vocabulary of a language is translated word by word (e.g. glossing) to another language. Whereas, interpretation involves the translation of a concept and meaning accurately. The example below shows an illustration in English and Ameslan (ASL).
Give me a straight answer.
This English sentence is translated into ASL in word order (word by word). This communication method is known as Signed English, but it sounds awkward (and also grammatically incorrect) to Ameslan. It is not common that hearing people learn ASL words (vocabulary) on their own without learning grammar and other rules (e.g. different signs in different contexts for the same English word). For example, the signed English sentence above is interpreted in ASL as "Give-you me a straight (incorrect sign in this context) answer." The following example illustrates how Signed English feels to native Ameslan.
German: Wenn wir mehr Geld haben, kaufen wir ein großes Auto.
This German sentence is translated word by word into English as follows:
English GLOSS: When we more Money to-have, to-buy we an big Car.
This German grammatical structure is natural to Germans, but this grammar sounds strange in English (and vice versa). Every language has their own (logical) grammatical rules.
The interpretation in English is: When we have more money, we will buy a big car. It is as accurately interpreted as the German version. If we translate this English sentence back into German (glossing), it might sound strange in German.
There is a difference between direct translation and interpretation of one language to another. Language, culture, and perception are intertwined. If the example above helps, one can see how Signed English is unnatural to Ameslan/ASL natives who, many of them, are fluently bilingual in English and Ameslan. ASL is a language as distinct as French, German, or Japanese.
The phrase give me above is a direct translation in English word order. Two individual ASL words give and me are inflected to give-me as shown below. It is similar to how we inflect an English word give within a sentence (e.g. gave, given, etc.).
Now we will try to interpret the English sentence Give me a straight answer into ASL below.
Roughly translated in ASL (GLOSS): give-me answer with a firm tone.
It is still partly translated and partly interpreted. The phrase give-me is somehow not conceptually accurate in ASL but it is understandable.
GLOSS: inform-me answer clear
It is approximately translated as Tell me your answer clearly. Concept and meaning including contexts are the key to interpret from one language to another. It is what foreign language interpreters do. It is not an easy task as everyone has different cultural-lingual perception.