Translation Strategies in Thai Language Versions of Japanese Travel Guidebooks
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Abstract
Background and Objectives: According to the purpose of the target text, translators may adapt, add or omit certain information when translating Japanese tourism guide content into Thai language. However, relatively few studies have examined this issue. Therefore, this article aims to examine translation strategies used in translating Japanese tourism guide content into Thai language, with particular attention to the purpose of the translated texts and relationship to text types.
Methods: Data were collected from ten Thai-language travel books translated from Japanese, comprising 812 translation instances. They were analyzed for translation strategies by adapting, adding or omitting information, following Andrew Chesterman’s information change concept. Additionally, translation strategies and their correlation with text types were examined.
Results: Six primary translation strategies were identified: 1) transliteration with meaning translation or additional explanation; 2) alternative word or expression use; 3) sentence-level adaptation; 4) transcreation; 5) omission; and 6) addition. The most common observed strategies were 1) sentence-level adaptation and 2) alternative word or expression use. In addition, strategy choice correlated with text type involved. Changing sentence structure was used most frequently in translating headline information, merging or splitting sentences predominated in body text information, and transliteration with meaning translation or additional explanation was most common in specific information.
Application of this study: These findings may serve as guidelines for translating tourism-related materials and could also be applied to other types of translation with similar characteristics.
Conclusions: Most Japanese–Thai translation studies focus on equivalence between source and target texts. However, in certain fields, translators must select strategies by considering the target text’s purpose. This study analyzed translation of tourism guide content and revealed distinctive characteristics of translation strategies differing from those commonly observed in other types of written translation. The results highlight alternative word or expression use, sentence-level adaptation, transcreation, omission, addition, as well as strategy selection tendencies across different text types. These findings offer practical applications for translators working in related fields and contribute to research on purpose-oriented translation practices.
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