Giving a new meaning to translation....or how to reinvent it?

Have you ever wondered if translation as we know it could be applied to an entirely different field? A field that has seemed to be beyond our understanding until recently?

It's not surprising that we have no idea that a new kind of translation has arisen-"animal translation". Where linguistic translation is a major tool in globalization, "animal translation" more refers to an internal, spiritual and sensory world. 

You will probably wonder, does this "animal translation" concept even exist?

Obviously, this article doesn't aim to propose a comparative study on the extreme complexity of animal species translation in different languages. Instead, we will focus on the parallelism that can be observed between traditional translation and the theory of "animal translation". It may seem to be quite an unclear and tricky notion, but it is one that merits further investigation! 

This theory relies on translating animal behaviour with the purpose of establishing optimal communication between a dog and its owner or, more generally, between humans and wild animals. Identifying the signs animals transmit allow us to understand animal needs or warnings and then adjust our response to them. What is it that makes this growing field so worthy of interest? The most important thing we have to aware of is that both animal lovers and haters can be affected by the progress made in this field. For instance, pet training could rely on this new practice. You can't expect your dog to show you respect if you don't respect it because one can't have mutual respect without mutual understanding. That's a fact. However, dogs and humans don't belong to identical ethical worlds and some would say, does a dog have an ethical world at all? Who really can prove it? But what we do know is that the one who is aware of that fundamental difference is also the one who has to adapt to the other's reality.
In other words, having been through the translation process, humans reach a better communication with the animal. This can be the trigger for unprecedented progress not only in the pet-owner relationship but also in the field of human healthcare. In fact, many advances have been observed due to the development of animal-assisted therapy. Dogs, cats, birds, horses and numerous other animals already provide aid in the field of mental health, especially with regards to children and the elderly. Furthermore, many animal attacks have happened and will happen as a violent response from an animal to fear or stress. A better knowledge of animal behaviour is the way to avoid such dramatic events for both parties and even achieve wonderful moments like this:

Knowledge is power.

What is the extent of the connection between our understanding of animal behaviour and the process of translation?

Linguistics encompass a wide range of fields ranging from terminology to stylistics, from semantics to phonology. However, to understand which of these can be useful in the process of translation of animal language, we have to go back to the very essence of translation. 

We translate from the source language into the target language. This process is enabled by equating source language words with words in the target one. Now, how do we find the equivalent word? Well, by understanding the meaning in the source language. Starting from this point, understanding animal behaviour and/or language (which is a polemical notion) allows us to provide a translation. Identifying the behavioural signs and equating them to concepts or even words is what makes it so similar to linguistic translation. This raises the question which has sparked a controversy over the last decade: 

Of course we are not going to answer such a polemical question straight away. Let's focus on the 3 pillars of qualities often associated with language:

1) Do animals exhibit signs to communicate ideas?

    Yes.

2) Do species share a common language as a part of their social interactions?

    Yes, otherwise they wouldn't be able to interact at all.

3) Do species have a unique and normalised use of their language?

    Yes, because it's a matter of instinct.

It's important to point out that such qualities don't apply to every species on earth as there is still a lack of knowledge on many them. Nevertheless, if there is language, we can apply analytic methods.

Lexicology is a branch of applied linguistics and refers to the description and analysis of the lexicon. Empirical studies have showed that monkeys, prairie dogs and whales use their own lexicon and this discipline can therefore be applied to ethology (the study of animal behaviour), enabling the process of translation in itself. Thus, lexicography is a common component in both translation of human and animal language. Ethograms (classification of animal behaviour) can be seen as an inherent form of dictionary. 

On the other hand, at this stage, some branches such as syntax or grammar can't be considered as relevant methods for the process of animal language translation. It can be either because they absolutely don't exhibit in the animal language or because humans are not able to detect them yet.

In summary, having a vast knowledge of a given species' language pattern allows the specialist to translate this language. This suggests that every animal behaviourist is a potential future translator specialised in ethology. 

The growing demand and number of ethological empirical studies spurs the development of this new field of translation. In fact, there are already "human-to-cat" translators on the market.

 Human-to-Cat translator by Electric French Fries

As such, this new approach could be considered as an integral part of the field of translation alongside the technical, legal and other translation fields.

But is translation even limited to words at all?

Lorène M