Free Versus Literal Translation

الملخص

This paper is about two extreme methods of translation: free and literal translations.  These two methods are important in differentiating between the different translated texts especially because there are numerous other methods between these two extremes.

This paper aimed at presenting a detailed explanation of two important methods of translation: literal and free. The aim is to show the difference between them, and which one is better for using in translating texts.

To do this, the researcher wrote three sections.  The first section introduced the concepts to be researched.  The second section reviewed the different methods of translation.  The third section showed the difference between the two major methods of translation, namely literal and free translation.

The study concluded that literal translation is risky because it ignores the target language.  It does not take into account the grammatical distinctions between the source and target languages, even if they may come from different language families. Conversely, in the context of free translation, the translator translates freely without constraints. He is not strictly constrained by the source language rules.  The type of text or context may sometimes entail the method of translation to be chosen by the translator.