5.1 The prototypical communicative translation conveys an SL message in the TL for the benefit of another individual, a group of people, or a community that does not understand the SL. By contrast, the atypical mental literal translation is a communication survival strategy by which language learners fill their L2 lexical gaps with verbatim L1 equivalents. This mode also aims to overcome a language barrier, except that the beneficiary is the very “translator” and not another individual, a group of people, or a community. Any kind of translation or interpreting performed without a client in need of language mediation, financial consideration, due date, corrective actions, publication, copyright issues, etc., is atypical. Pedagogical translation and interpreting are carried out by language learners to develop their reading and writing skills and by translator and interpreter students to practice language mediation. A final translation or interpreting project is a graduation requirement for BA and MA students in a number of countries. A test translation is one that a (usually trained) professional submits to a government agency, a company, or a language service provider to win a contract. A hobby translation is mostly practised by retired intellectuals and artists to kill time, overcome feelings of futility, and even delay dementia. Translation and interpreting typically aim to facilitate communication in languages that the participants do not speak and understand. At the same time, both activities can serve atypical purposes. Some clients only hire a consecutive interpreter to act as their “spokesperson” at a meeting as they claim to understand everything in the foreign language but cannot speak it with the desired degree of fluency, accuracy, and eloquence. In such situations, consecutive interpreting only flows one way and not two. Interpreting is also atypical each time it involves languages that are mutually intelligible by the communicators. For example, interpreting at a negotiation between the president of Portugal and his Spanish counterpart is provided for reasons of protocol. Nowadays, the translation of business and legal documents from English is not a reading comprehension aid for most of the Hungarian professionals concerned but an act of courtesy or a matter of legal compliance. Similarly, dubbing and subtitling any Czech content for a Slovak audience is only a means of convenience or a political gesture. Adding the Spanish translation Prohibido fumar to a No smoking sign in El Paso is also a gesture as the majority of the Mexican population in Texas speaks or at least understands English, especially when it comes to such simple messages. Translation can atypically have the aim of introducing a genre, a style, a register, or a terminological domain in the TL. This is how Hungarian fiction adopted French and German models in the 17th and 18th centuries, and Hungarian scholars became familiar with the US-based psychology and sociology in the 1960s, and their translations developed a variety of the Hungarian language that allowed them and subsequent generations to discuss topics in both disciplines.

 

5.2 As stated in 4.11, the typical finalised/definitive translation is fit for a variety of purposes without any further alteration in length, refinement, or concision. All of this applies to translation as a TT. However, a translation can turn into raw material, i.e. be used as an ST, for an ultimate TT any time. The atypical intermediary translation is a starting point for a new goal, such as St. Jerome’s Vulgate (cf. 3.8), a late 4th century Latin translation of the Bible that has been the ST for a wide range of translations instead of the Hebrew and Greek originals up until today. The spoken counterpart of this is relay interpreting, performed at multilingual conferences, primarily in English, to save the time, space, and costs taken by the use of all potential language combinations. Relay is even more atypical when it is only listened to by the interpreters in the adjacent booths but is unavailable for the audience.

 

5.3 The vast majority of translations are accepted for their intended purpose with the tacit assumption that they are in full conformity with the ST. Even though most scholars agree that it is impossible and indeed unnecessary to strive for overall equivalence and identical effect, it is usually believed that translations are reliable due to the translators’ acceptance of responsibility. As impeccable accuracy can be vital for a number of specialised texts, especially those administered in formal procedures, public authorities often require the atypical certified translation, one recognised by the government or a professional body.