ABSTRACT
Multiple constraints Singable translations differ considerably from other kinds. On top of the normal considerations of meaning and naturalness, they require careful attention to ease of articulation, rhythm and often rhyme. These additional problems are created by the pre-existing music. In a singable translation the original melody, the tune which fitted the original words, will be re-used, virtually unchanged, but will be carrying different words – words in the TL largely derived from the ST. In many cases the music was composed with the ST as its starting-point, and so in a sense the translator has to work in the opposite direction, proceeding from the music in search of TL words.
