Linguist and translator are two professions that
involve many of the same skills, but are not the same thing. First, let's
take a look at the definition of the terms and the different meanings:
translation | process of translating words or text from one language to
another; spoken or written version of the meaning of a word or text in
another language;
translator | individual who translates from one language to another,
especially as a profession.
linguistics | is the scientific study of a language and its structure,
including the study of grammar, syntax and phonetics.
linguist | individual specialized in several foreign
languages; individual who studies languages or linguistics.
Thus, it is
possible to conclude that the translator is a linguist in
its simplest sense, that of scholar of several languages. Other than that,
the two activities are completely different.
The role of the translator/interpreter is
to transfer from the original language to the target language the full content
of the text or speech respecting fidelity with the original, adopting the
appropriate registration and terminology, in a way that message is quickly
understood by the reader/listener of another language.
Technical issues of text
or discourse, such as grammar and syntax, language figures and normative rules
help guide the elaboration of translation, which must excel in the cultured
norm of both languages.
However, the approach is
different. The translator focuses on the semantic value
of words, emits judgment about its meaning and makes choices, using in his
office several abstract aspects such as coherence, clarity and cultural
adequacy, and at the same time observing the limitations and challenges
imposed by the guidelines of the medium to which it is translating or interpreting,
book, video, audio, among others.
Linguistics in turn is
the scientific study of human language. It is based on the observation of
the facts and refrains from proposing any choice between them, remaining
impartial. The linguist only observes and thoroughly
studies what is said, the living and current language.
His approach to the text
is purely pragmatic, he looks at the content from the perspective of the
discourse divisions, the order of words, and the markers and discursive
particles. Among the specific branches of linguistics are
sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, dialectology, comparative linguistics,
computational linguistics and structural linguistics.
And by involving such a
wide range of knowledge, the linguist has to choose several
career options besides that of researcher, such as a foreign language teacher,
lexicographer, reviewer, trainer or editor.
For the universe of
translation, the importance of linguist's work is mainly
in the development of corpus linguistics, an indispensable tool for translator
research.
In addition, the various
electronic tools that today guarantee greater consistency and give more agility
to translation, such as voice
recognition and translation memory software,are the result of
research and development of information technology experts, certainly with
the contribution of linguists.
Whatever the look, the right thing is that translators and linguists are
equivalent to respect for words and love for foreign languages. Here
at Aliança Traduções,the work and perspectives of the two
professionals complement each other, and the result is excellence and quality
guaranteed. Here is the full information: Translation services
