"How Wide Asunder? Diachronic Translation and Linguistic Distance"

Abstract

This paper aims to define diachronic translation within a network of related concepts, such as intra-lingual translation, inter-lingual translation, rewording, historical stylization, substitutive adaptation, transformative transubstantiation, and modernisation. It also demonstrates the concept of diachronic translation using key examples from Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales translated into Contemporary English. The author proposes two perspectives on diachronic translation: one as intra-lingual translation (transformative transubstantiation) and the other as inter-lingual translation (substitutive adaptation). To highlight the concept of linguistic distance, the paper compares passages from Middle English (specifically Chaucer’s work) with their Contemporary English versions and applies the idea of diachronic translation to this process of modernization. The paper argues that diachronic translation is an appropriate concept in this context, advocating for its use. Although this paper is somewhat preliminary and requires further evidence and examples, it raises awareness of the relatively underexplored phenomenon of diachronic translation. Whether viewed as intra-lingual (transformative transubstantiation) or inter-lingual (substitutive adaptation), diachronic translation can stand on its own if granted the proper epistemic recognition. It serves as a valuable resource for readers interested in the past, providing its insights in a modernized form. This paper calls for the formal acknowledgement of diachronic translation.