Mother tongue principle
The mother tongue principle is the view that language mediators (translators) should translate or interpret from a foreign language (source language ) into the respective mother tongue (target language) . The background is the assumption that texts can only be produced in the mother tongue that are linguistically, culturally and textually inconspicuous. The use of the mother tongue principle in the translation of literary and appellative texts (advertising, etc.) is largely undisputed. For other text types and subject areas, other factors may be decisive for the translation quality.
A generally valid statement about the correctness of the mother tongue principle fails because, on the one hand, the term "mother tongue" cannot be clearly defined, on the other hand, translations and interpreting can serve many different purposes for which different text properties have priority. (See also Translatology .)
The mother tongue principle is not a silver bullet for good translations and interpreting. In addition, a high level of foreign language, translation and technical competence is required in every case. The mother tongue principle makes sense if value is placed on the target text being linguistically particularly demanding, appealing or simply inconspicuous. However, when it comes to capturing content-related details from a source text that is difficult to understand, it can be just as useful to employ a translator or interpreter whose mother tongue is the source language. It is also noticeable that the mother tongue principle is seen as the gold standard, especially in those countries in which foreign language skills are relatively low among the population and in which translator training is designed from the outset to comply with the principle. The English-speaking countries in particular should be mentioned here. In countries where a high level of foreign language competence is traditionally expected of translators and where specialized and high-quality training courses are standard, the mother tongue principle is less important. This also includes Germany, for example. The mother tongue principle can thus prove to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Scientific studies on the quality differences between translations by native speakers of the target language and non-native speakers are still pending. However, results from smaller studies indicate that the quality of translations by well-trained translators is determined by their expertise and experience rather than by their native language.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rückert, Karen: “ A new rule of law? ” In: The Linguist 52/1, February 2013. The article is based on the results of a study by the author: The native speaker principle and its place in legal translation .