Metaphrase is a term referring to
literal translation
Literal translation, direct translation or word-for-word translation, is a translation of a text done by translating each word separately, without looking at how the words are used together in a phrase or sentence.
In translation theory, anoth ...
, i.e., "word by word and line by line"
translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...
. In everyday usage, metaphrase means
literalism
Literalism may refer to:
*Biblical literalism, a term used differently by different authors concerning biblical interpretation
*Qur'anic literalism, see Bi-la kaifa
*The principle of aiming at a literal translation
Literal translation, direct ...
; however, metaphrase is also the translation of poetry into prose.
[Andrew Dousa Hepburn, ]
Manual of English Rhetoric
', BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2008, , p.18 Unlike "
paraphrase
A paraphrase () is a restatement of the meaning of a text or passage using other words. The term itself is derived via Latin ', . The act of paraphrasing is also called ''paraphrasis''.
History
Although paraphrases likely abounded in oral tra ...
," which has an ordinary use in literature theory, the term "metaphrase" is only used in
translation theory.
[Baker, Malmkjær, p. 154]
Metaphrase is one of the three ways of transferring, along with
paraphrase
A paraphrase () is a restatement of the meaning of a text or passage using other words. The term itself is derived via Latin ', . The act of paraphrasing is also called ''paraphrasis''.
History
Although paraphrases likely abounded in oral tra ...
and imitation,
[Baker, Malmkjær, p. 153] according to
John Dryden
''
John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate.
He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the p ...
. Dryden considers paraphrase preferable to metaphrase (as
literal translation
Literal translation, direct translation or word-for-word translation, is a translation of a text done by translating each word separately, without looking at how the words are used together in a phrase or sentence.
In translation theory, anoth ...
) and imitation.
The term "metaphrase" is first used by
Philo Judaeus (20 BCE) in ''De vita Mosis''.
[ ]Quintilian
Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician from Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quintilia ...
draws a distinction between metaphrase and paraphrase in the pedagogical practice of imitation and reworking of classical texts; he points out that metaphrase changes a word, and paraphrase, a phrase: a distinction that is also followed by Renaissance scholars.[
]
References
Sources
*{{cite book, first1=Mona , last1=Baker , author-link1=Mona Baker , first2=Kirsten , last2=Malmkjær , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T8Mt8ObEBOQC , title=Routledge encyclopedia of translation studies , publisher=Routledge , year=1998 , isbn=0-415-09380-5
Translation studies