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Originally Posted by Shaggy
Exactly. There really isn't such a thing as a literal word-for-word translation. If such works existed, they probably wouldn't make a whole lot of sense anyway.
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Definitely wouldn't make sense, unless both the source and the target languages were very closely related or at least very structurally similar. Otherwise it can easily end up a cryptic mess.
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Példának okáért vegyük ezt a pár magyar mondatot, s nézzük meg mi is történik, ha--szó szerint--szóról szóra lefordítjuk az angol nyelvre. S hogy ne csak nyelvi témát foglaljon magába példám, megemlítem, hogy a zsiráfnak hosszú nyaka jó arra, hogy az akácfák zsengébb lombjait elérje, a tüskék ellenére is.
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Word for word:
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For example's for purpose we should take this the pair Hungarian sentence, and we should watch done what too happens, if--word according to--from word to word we translate the English to language. And that do not only language subject should hold in itself my example, I mention, that the for giraffe long neck good for that, that the acacia trees more tender its foliages it should reach, the thorns in opposition too.
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Proper translation:
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For example, let us take these few Hungarian sentences, and let us examine what happens when we--literally--translate them word for word into English. And just so my example does not solely use linguistic topics, I will note that the long neck of the Giraffe makes it possible for him to reach the more tender leaves of the Acacia tree, despite the thorns.
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Obviously one could make a translation that is slightly less literal than the first one, but not as sensible as the second one... nonetheless the point is that going "word for word" is translation only in the most technical sense, and the most literal translation is necessarily just short of incomprehensible.
- Ahi