We all know the difference between translating (dealing with written communication) and interpreting (dealing with spoken communication), even though people need to be reminded about it sometimes ;-)
But where do these terms come from? I am quite curious
about etymology, it’s a key to look deeper into the meaning of words and,
ultimately, into our origins. So I did a bit of research and thought I’d share it
here.
The word translation
derives from the Latin translatio, where trans means “across” and latum
is the supine form of fero, meaning
“to bring” (therefore translatio = to
bring across).
As for the modern Romance languages, the various words
for translation often derive from the Latin traducere, from trans (“across”, as mentioned above) and
ducere which means “to lead” (therefore
traducere = "to lead
across"). For example, in Italian it is traduzione, and in Spanish it is traducción.
For the word interpreting/interpreter, things seem to
be more complex. Interpreter comes from the Latin interpres,
where inter means “between”, but the second part pres appears to be of uncertain origins. Some suggest it may be
related to the Sanskrit prath-, “to
spread abroad”, and to the PIE (Proto-Indo-European language) root –per meaning “sell”, maybe in the broad
sense of “give equal value for”; this, in turn, may be related to Latin pretium, “price”. This seems to suggest
the primary acknowledged role of the interpreter as a mediator in commercial negotiations
between people speaking different languages. A connection has also been
suggested with Ancient Greek φράζειν (phrazein, meaning
“to
point out, explain, declare”), φράσις (phrasis, “speech”), and
φραδή (phrade, “understanding”).
Of course this is just a simplified overview; tracing back the history
of words takes you along endless threads, paths and crossroads in a fascinating journey where you’re assured you’ll learn a lot. Hope you enjoyed taking
a glance at it!
