The concept of ‘translation unit’ revisited

Abstract

In translation studies, the theoretical concept of ‘translation unit’ has traditionally been a subject of debate. This paper will discuss different views of the concept, relating it to the dichotomy between product and process-oriented translation studies. It will be argued that ‘translation unit’ has two readings: ‘unit of analysis’ in product-based studies, and ‘unit of processing’ in cognitive translation studies. With the exception of literary translation, translation services may now be said to fall within the domain of the language industry, which calls for considering the relevance of ‘translation unit’ to machine translation (MT). From a historical perspective, the concept will be related to the main issues of system design and translation quality.