UNIT 423-4: PUBLIC NOTICE LANGUAGE: PROBLEMS OF TRANSLATION

(English to Hindi)

423.4.0  : AIMS, OBJECTIVES & STRUCTURE

     The present unit is divided into two major sections. The first section aims to explain the types of public notices classified on the basis of their information content. Particular attention is paid to the public notices in the Indian context drawing examples from the central government offices' public notices. A specific feature of the notices found in the offices of central government of India is that most of these notices are originally written in English and then translated into Hindi and other regional languages. This leads us to the second section of the unit which focuses on the problems related to the translation of these notices. The objective here is not to provide a theory of translating public notices but merely to draw attention of the readers to the problems related to the issue.

This unit will have the following structure:

423.4.1  : INTRODUCTION

     English is a legacy of the colonial past of India. For many years it has occupied an important position in various domains of official communication. A major reason for the presence of English in various communication networks even after forty-three years of India's independence is the multilingual nature of the Indian subcontinent. Since various languages used here are mutually incomprehensible English continues to play the role of link language both within and outside India. Ever since India's independence there have been movements to promote traditionally and literally rich Indian languages to gradually take over the communication within the national scene.

     A certain section of educators and linguists in India strongly feel that with some effort Indian languages can fully take over the role played by English thus far. A major effort in this direction is to adequately equip the Indian languages in scientific and technical terminology and other modern items. Availability of translations of latest scientific texts found on the international scene and important task that promoters of Indian languages have taken up.