Author: Prof. ’Raheem Adebayo LAWAL
Date: 20/02/2026
Translation has become a strategic instrument for national development in multilingual societies of the twenty-first century. This paper examines translation and interpretation as applied-linguistic practices that mediate education, governance, healthcare, agriculture, commerce, and religion. Drawing on pragmatic models of language analysis, the study conceptualises translation along a continuum ranging from literal, form-based rendering to idiomatic and creative message-based translation. The paper analyses three major constraints in translation practice— mistranslation, distranslation, and untranslatability—and illustrates their implications with examples from literary and scriptural texts. It further demonstrates how translation facilitates the Sustainable Development Goals through inclusive communication, cultural preservation, and knowledge transfer. The paper concludes that professional training, ethical standards, and context-sensitive deployment of technology are essential for leveraging translation for sustainable national development.
Keywords: translation, national development, applied linguistics, untranslatability, multilingualism, Nigeria
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