Eugene A. Nida

Bio: Eugene A. Nida is an academic researcher from American Bible Society. The author has contributed to research in topics: New Testament & Latin Americans. The author has an hindex of 30, co-authored 137 publications receiving 6658 citations. Previous affiliations of Eugene A. Nida include SIL International.

The theory and practice of translation

Abstract: The Theory and Practice of Translation, first published in 1982 and a companion work to Toward a Science of Translating (Brill, 1964), analyses and describes the set of processes involved in translating. Bible translating, the focus of this work, offers a unique subject for such a study, as it has an exceptionally long history, involves more than 2,000 languages, a vast range of cultures and a broader range of literary structures than any other type of translating. Not only of interest to Biblical scholars, therefore, this work explores issues of textual meanings and the procedures for communicating these meanings into other languages and cultures.

Toward a science of translating

Abstract: Toward a Science of Translating, first published in 1964, is still very much in demand today. Written by a linguist and anthropologist with forty years of experience in the field of language and religion, this work describes the major components of translating; setting the translating into the context of historical changes in principles and procedures over the last two centuries. With an emphasis on texts being understood within their cultural contexts, one of the reasons for its continuing relevance is the broad number of illustrative examples taken from field experience of translators in America, Africa, Europe and Asia.

Toward a Science of Translating: With Special Reference to Principles and Procedures Involved in Bible Translating

Abstract: PREFACEThis volume, Toward a Science of Translating, has been largelynprompted by the nature of field work in which I have been involvednduring recent years in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. An earlier book,nBible Translating (Nida, 1947a), though very useful to the Bible translator,nis essentially only a practical handbook, with a kind of rule-of-thumbnorientation. Increasingly it became obvious that in order to assistntranslators more satisfactorily it was necessary to provide somethingnwhich would not only be solidly based on contemporary developmentsnin the fields of linguistics, anthropology, and psychology, but would alsonrelate the specific area of Bible translating to the wider activity of translatingnin general. The present volume is an attempt to fill this need.As the title of this book implies, it makes no pretension to be andefinitive volume, for in the present state of development in the field ofnsemantics it is impossible to contemplate writing such a final work.nHowever, there have been a number of important and fruitful developmentsnin linguistics, both in the structural as well as the semantic areas,nand these have contributed very significantly to the organization ofnthis book.Though the scope of translation theory in this volume is all-inclusive,nthe illustrative data are drawn primarily from Biblical materials, andnespecially so in the later chapters. This is not as great a disadvantagenas it might appear at first glance, for no other type of translating hasnsuch a long history, involves so many different languages (at present morenthan 1,200), includes more diverse types of texts, and covers so manyndistinct cultural areas of the world. But though the examples are drawnnprimarily from Biblical data, this volume is not prepared with thenaverage Bible translator in mind, for it is rather too technical in orientation.nNevertheless, it should serve as an important help to such translatorsnas may have some background in present-day linguistic theory andnit will be the basis of other more simply written books now in preparation,nwhich will be aimed at teaching translation methods.n n n

The ethnographic interview

Abstract: Part I. Ethnographic Research: Ethnography and Culture. Language and Field Work. Informants. Part II. The Developmental Research Sequences: Locating an Informant. Interviewing an Informant. Making an Ethnographic Record. Asking Descriptive Questions. Analyzing Ethnographic Interviews. Making a Domain Analysis. Asking Structural Questions. Making a Taxonomic Analysis. Asking Contrast Questions. Making a Componential Analysis. Discovering Cultural Themes. Writing an Ethnography. Notes. Appendices: A Taxonomy of Ethnographic Questions. Developmental Research Sequence Writing Tasks. The Development Research Sequence Method. Bibliography. Index.

Back-Translation for Cross-Cultural Research

Abstract: Two aspects of translation were investigated: (1) factors that affect translation quality, and (2) how equivalence between source and target versions can be evaluated. The variables of language, content, and difficulty were studied through an analysis of variance design. Ninety-four bilinguals from the University of Guam, representing ten languages, translated or back-translated six essays incorporating three content areas and two levels of difficulty. The five criteria for equivalence were based on comparisons of meaning or predictions of similar responses to original or translated versions. The factors of content, difficulty, language and content-language interaction were significant, and the five equivalence criteria proved workable. Conclusions are that translation quality can be predicted, and that a functionally equivalent translation can be demonstrated when responses to the original and target versions are studied.

Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning

Abstract: All Rights Reserved. This publication may be downloaded and copied without charge for all reasonable, non-commercial educational purposes, provided no alterations in the text are made. I have had a great deal of help and feedback from many people in writing this book. Among the many scholars and friends I am indebted to are also would like to express my thanks to those scholars whose work has stimulated my own thinking in the early stages of the research reported on here: John Upshur, Leonard Newmark, and S. Pit Corder all recognized the reality of language "acquisition" in the adult long before I did. I would also like the thank Introduction This book is concerned with what has been called the "Monitor Theory" of adult second language acquisition. Monitor Theory hypothesizes that adults have two independent systems for developing ability in second languages, subconscious language acquisition and conscious language learning, and that these systems are interrelated in a definite way: subconscious acquisition appears to be far more important. The introduction is devoted to a brief statement of the theory and its implications for different aspects of second language acquisitions theory and practice. We define acquisition and learning, and present the Monitor Model for adult second language performance. Following this, brief summaries of research results in various areas of second language acquisition serve as both an overview of Monitor Theory research over the last few years and as introduction to the essays that follow. Language acquisition is very similar to the process children use in acquiring first and second languages. It requires meaningful interaction in the target language-natural communication-in which speakers are concerned not with the form of their utterances but with the messages they are conveying and understanding. Error correction and explicit teaching of rules are not relevant to language acquisition but caretakers and native speakers can modify their utterances addressed to acquirers to help them understand, and these modifications are thought to help the acquisition process (Snow and Ferguson, 1977). It has been hypothesized that there is a fairly stable order of acquisition of structures in language acquisition, that is, one can see clear 1 similarities across acquirers as to which structures tend to be acquired early and which tend to be acquired late (Brown, 1973; Dulay and Burt, 1975). Acquirers need not have a conscious awareness of the "rules" they possess, and may self-correct only on the basis of …

Speech and Language Processing

Abstract: is one of the most recognizablecharacters in 20th century cinema. HAL is an artificial agent capable of such advancedlanguage behavior as speaking and understanding English, and at a crucial moment inthe plot, even reading lips. It is now clear that HAL’s creator, Arthur C. Clarke, wasa little optimistic in predicting when an artificial agent such as HAL would be avail-able. But just how far off was he? What would it take to create at least the language-relatedpartsofHAL?WecallprogramslikeHALthatconversewithhumansinnatural

Motivational variables in second-language acquisition

Abstract: 1 During the summer of 2005, I discovered that there was not a copy of my dissertation available from the library at McGill University. I was, however, able to obtain a copy of it on microfilm from another university that had initially obtained it on interlibrary loan. I am most grateful to Vicki Galbraith who typed this version from that copy, which except for some minor variations due to differences in type size and margins (plus this footnote, of course) is identical to that on the microfilm. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1 The writer is grateful to Dr. J. T. McIlhone, Associate General Director in Charge of English Classes of the Montreal Catholic School Board, for his kind cooperation in making subjects available, and to the Principals and French teachers of each high school for their assistance and cooperation during the testing programs. advice on the statistical analysis. In addition, the writer would like to express his appreciation to Mr. K. Tunstall for his assistance in the difficult task of interviewing the parents of each student. Finally, the writer would like to express his gratitude to Janet W. Gardner for her invaluable assistance in all phases of the research program.