principletranslating
Principletranslating is a translational approach that centers on applying a defined set of guiding principles to carry meaning, function, and discourse across languages, rather than translating words in a strictly literal manner. It treats translation as a principled decision-making process aimed at preserving the purpose and effect of the source text in the target language.
The term appears in scholarly discussions in the 2020s as a way to describe practices that align
Core principles commonly associated with principletranslating include preserving communicative purpose, maintaining denotation and appropriate connotation, respecting
Practitioners typically follow a workflow that starts with analyzing the source text’s underlying principles, followed by
Applications span literature, legal and technical documentation, media localization, and subtitling. In evaluation, principletranslating informs metrics
Critics note that the approach can be subjective and challenging to systematize. Proponents argue that its