Translating a Health Circular: Faithfulness, Terms, and Register
A school receives a one-page Kannada health circular about dengue prevention and must send a Tulu version to parents. The circular has six sentences and includes 'fever', 'larvae', 'dry day', and 'ASHA worker'. Three drafts are prepared in 90 minutes. Draft A keeps 'dry day' and 'ASHA worker' in English and explains them in Tulu brackets. Draft B translates 'dry day' literally as 'ಒಣ ದಿನ'. Draft C uses 'ನೀರ್ ಇಜ್ಜಂದಿನ ದಿನ' ('a day without water') and omits 'ASHA worker'. The parent group includes farmers, shopkeepers, and teachers. A parent who reads Draft B says 'ಒಣ ದಿನ' sounds like a day without rain, not a day for emptying water containers. The head teacher wants one version for all parents but is willing to add a glossary. The translation must be ready before the morning assembly.
1. Which draft would you send to farmers, shopkeepers, and teachers, and why?
Read the worked answer
I would not send one draft unchanged to all three groups. For farmers, Draft C's 'ನೀರ್ ಇಜ್ಜಂದಿನ ದಿನ' is closer to the intended action, but it still needs the official term 'dry day' in brackets and a short explanation about emptying containers. For shopkeepers, Draft A is better because it keeps 'dry day' and 'ASHA worker' visible and glosses them, which suits readers who deal with official notices. For teachers, Draft A is also suitable, with the glossary, because it preserves the official terms and the register. The decision rule is audience plus function: the circular must tell people what to do, so clarity of action outranks literal translation. A single version with a glossary is acceptable only if the glossary is on the same page and the action sentence is rewritten plainly.
2. What principle governs whether to keep 'ASHA worker' in English, and how would you apply it?
Read the worked answer
Keep a term in English when it is a proper role title with no stable, widely understood Tulu equivalent, and when removing it would make the notice harder to match to official services. 'ASHA worker' is a designation, so Draft A's approach is right: keep it, then gloss it in Tulu as the local health worker who visits homes. Do not invent a new Tulu title that parents will not recognise. The same test applies to 'dry day': it is not a person's title, and a literal translation misleads, so translate the action and keep the official term in brackets. The principle is: preserve official terms that people must recognise; translate actions and explanations into plain Tulu.
3. A parent says 'ಒಣ ದಿನ' means a day without rain, not a day for mosquito control. How would you revise Draft B?
Read the worked answer
Replace the literal phrase with an action-focused phrase and keep the official term as a label. For example: 'ಸೊಳ್ಳೆ ಪುಟ್ಟುನೆನ್ ತಡೆವರೆ, ವಾರೊಕ್ಕೊರ ಆಂಚೆದ ದಿನ ನೀರ್ ಇತ್ತಿನ ಪಾತ್ರೆಲೆನ್ ಒಣ್ಣು ಮಲ್ಪುಲೆ' ('to prevent mosquitoes from breeding, empty and dry water containers once a week'). Then add 'dry day' in brackets so parents can connect the notice to the official campaign. This revision names the action, the frequency, and the object, which the literal phrase did not. It also avoids the rain confusion because it says 'water containers', not 'day'. The parent's objection is evidence that the translation failed its purpose, so the revision should be tested on one or two parents before the assembly if time allows.