wordbyword

Wordbyword is a term used in linguistics and translation studies to describe an approach to rendering text that emphasizes a literal, word-for-word mapping from a source language to a target language. It is often discussed in contrast to more idiomatic or sense-for-sense translation, where meaning and fluency take precedence over exact lexical alignment.

In practice, wordbyword aims to preserve lexical items and, when possible, the word order of the source text. However, this can result in translations that are awkward, ambiguous, or difficult to understand in the target language due to polysemy, idiomatic expressions, or structural differences between languages. Critics argue that excessive literalness can obscure intended meaning and cultural nuance, while advocates view it as a transparent method for revealing how a translation is constructed.

Technologically, wordbyword appears as a concept in translation tools and language-learning resources. Some software and computer-assisted translation systems provide word-by-word glosses, alignments, or dictionary entries alongside primary translations to aid users in understanding the underlying linguistic choices. These features can be helpful for learners and professionals who require insight into lexical correspondences and sentence structure, though they may be toggled off when fluent, natural rendering is desired.

See also: literal translation, word-for-word translation, gloss, translation studies.