Interpretation: Techniques and Exercises Untranslatability There is a grain of truth to the proverb Traduttore, traditore. o !atter ho" good the translation, so!ething al"a#s see!s to be lost. $t is that untranslatable residue of !eaning that %annot be brought out in the target language "hi%h leads so!e linguists to pro%lai! that in a theoreti%al sense translation is i!possible. &o"ever, it "ill help the translator or interpreter to re%all that untranslatabilit# is %hie'# due to the inherent features of %ultures and languages, not to the individual abilities of the translator or the li!itations of the %raft. The proble! of untranslatabilit# arises fro! the fa%t that di(erent %ultures divide up the universe in di(erent "a#s, and that their languages therefore %ontain ideas, "ords, and e)pressions to des%ribe those di(erent %on%epts and %ulture*spe%i+% features. To %ite so!e fa!iliar e)a!ples, the languages of desert peoples have !an# "ords for di(erent aspe%ts of a feature of the ph#si%al "orld that English spea,ers si!pl# %all sand, the $nuit language has !an# "ords for i%e, -ren%h has !an# "ords to des%ribe the .ualities of "ine /e.g. goule#ant and %harpent01, "hi%h %annot be ver# satisfa%toril# translated into English, et%. &o"ever, linguists have sho"n /e.g. "ith e)peri!ents on %olor per%eption1 that the vo%abular# of our native language onl# deter!ines "hat "e %an say about the "orld, not "hether "e %an perceive it. $f the "ord 2u%h3 did not e)ist, an English spea,er "ould still feel pain "hen hitting a thu!b "ith a ha!!er, but the English translator "ould have one less English "ord available to translate 4ut3 Conse.uentl#, spe%i+% realities singled out b# the sour%e language should not be treated as if the# "ere hopelessl# unre%ogni5able to spea,ers of the target language si!pl# be%ause spea,ers of the target language don6t have a "ord for it. 7ather, the interpreter should tr# to devise so!e "a# of getting the idea a%ross. $n so!e %ases, the proble! of untranslatabilit# reall# is insur!ountable, and the translator, after s%ouring through all the di%tionaries on the shelf, is +nall# redu%ed to leaving the "ord in the original language and inserting an e)planator# footnote or paraphrase, CE6 Translation Course 16/03/2012 "hile the interpreter is redu%ed to paraphrasing, des%ribing, ,eeping the untranslatable "orld in the original, or s,ipping the "ord. 8ut one !ust not %onfuse di9%ult# "ith untranslatabilit#. There are !an# "a#s to translate "ords and e)pressions that do not travel "ell fro! one language to another, and .uite often untranslatabilit# is a !isno!er, be%ause an e)a%t or %o!plete translation is not ne%essar#, and an appro)i!ate e.uivalent !a# be all that is needed in a given %onte)t. :ealing "ith the proble! of untranslatable utteran%es re.uires one to bear in !ind that the sa!e idea !a# +nd e)pression in di(erent "a#s fro! one %ulture to another. $t involves as,ing .uestions li,e the follo"ing; <hat a! $ translating= > "ord= >n idea= The na!e of a %on%rete ob?e%t or of an abstra%tion= The title of a person= The na!e of a %ultural institution or artifa%t= > te%hni%al ter!= > spe%iali5ed use of an ordinar# "ord= >n ar%hai% "ord= >n idio!ati% e)pression= The e)pression of an e!otion= >n i!age= > +gure of spee%h= > ne"l#*%oined ter!= @hould $ loo, for a di(erent part of spee%h /e.g. a noun rather than an ad?e%tive1= $s there an#thing in !# %ulture "hi%h o%%upies roughl# the sa!e pla%e or "hi%h pla#s roughl# the sa!e role= $s there an#thing in !# %ulture that is thought of or tal,ed about in a %o!parable "a#= $s the target audien%e e)pe%ting a %o!plete translation= :oes the %onte)t or the sub*te)t !a,e %lear the untranslatable i!pli%ations= @o!eti!es an apparent %ase of untranslatabilit# %an be solved b# +nding the e.uivalent register, or level of language. -or e)a!ple, the spee%hes of <inston Chur%hill !ight provide a good !odel to help #ou translate a spee%h b# Charles de AaulleB or, at the other end of the spe%tru!, >!eri%an urban rap or old Chi%ago gangster*slang !ight provide an e.uivalent register "ith "hi%h to translate a -ren%h s%reenpla# %ontaining Carseilles argot du !ilieu. 8e%ause !eaning is largel# %onte)tual, the %onte)t in "hi%h a "ord appears !a# at +rst !a,e the "ord see! untranslatable. 8ut this is often a proble! of not seeing the forest for the trees. The -ren%h "ord corde !a# variousl# !ean %ord or string or rope, but if #ou are translating the -ren%h e)pression $l pleut des %ordes, #ou need not "onder "hi%h to %hoose, be%ause "hat #ou are a%tuall# translating is a -ren%h %ollo.uial idio! %onve#ing the idea of ver# heav# rainfall, and the best translation "ould be the English or @panish idio! %o!!onl# used in that situation; $t6s raining %ats and dogs / Dlueve a %Entaros. $n the @panish e)pression rgimen carcelario the ad?e%tive !a# at +rst see! CE6 Translation Course 16/03/2012 untranslatable be%ause English does not have a spe%ial ad?e%tival for! %orresponding to the noun prison or ?ail, but if #ou fo%us on the sense of the "hole phrase rather than the "ord, #ou %an i!!ediatel# see that the best English e.uivalent is poli%e state. @i!ilarl#, e.uivalents %an often be found for see!ingl# untranslatable re%ent %oinages or neologis!s if one pauses to %onsider the so%ial %onte)t in "hi%h the# are used. $f a -ren%h spea,er tried to translate the %onte!porar# >!eri%an %oinage #uppie b# sear%hing for a one*"ord e.uivalent in -ren%h, he probabl# "ould never +nd one. 8ut if one as,s, <hat ,ind of person is a F#uppie6 in >!eri%a, and "hat do "e %all people li,e that in -ran%e "hen "e "ant to po,e fun at the!=, one "ill probabl# hit upon the ironi% e)pressions ?eune %adre d#na!i.ue or possibl# 8C8A, both of "hi%h are %lose enough to the !eaning of #uppie; a #oung, a!bitious, st#lish so%ial*%li!ber. $f "e loo, in di%tionaries and thesauruses for a one*"ord English e.uivalent of the %onte!porar# Gapanese "ord ,aroshi /death fro! over"or,1, "e "ill probabl# not +nd one. 8ut if "e as, ourselves, <hat6s the phrase "e !ost often use in tal,ing about over"or,ed e)e%utives running the!selves into the ground=, "e "ill probabl# hit upon the ter! e)e%utive stress, "hi%h is "ea,er than ,aroshi but "ould probabl# be an ade.uate translation in !ost %onte)ts. $n ta%,ling an untranslatable "ord or e)pression, %onsider using other parts of spee%h, or +gures of spee%h. $n an entertaining boo, about untranslatable "ords, They Have a Word for It /Gere!# H. Tar%her $n%., Dos >ngeles, 1IJJ1, &o"ard 7heingold in%ludes the -ren%h "ord dirigiste. True, the "ord itself is not easil# translatable b# an# single English "ord. $ts !eaning is so spe%i+% that even English*spea,ing e%ono!ists !a,e no atte!pt to translate it and have in fa%t adopted it as if it "ere an English "ord. Thus, a re%ent <orld 8an, stud# on Datin >!eri%a b# an >!eri%an e%ono!ist in%ludes the follo"ing senten%e; > parti%ularl# i!portant issue is . . . "hether the refor!s are li,el# to be durable or "hether, on the %ontrar#, the# are li,el# to be reversed, plunging Datin >!eri%a ba%, into dirigisme, populis!, and ine.ualit#. &ere, the -ren%h "ord dirigis!e is apparentl# being used, b# an English*spea,ing spe%ialist, be%ause there is no English "ord that %onve#s all of the sa!e nuan%es. <e !ight therefore be te!pted to %on%lude that the "ord dirigis!e is untranslatable. 8ut a translation or interpretation does not have to use the sa!e parts of spee%h as the original. $f "e as, ourselves "hat English "ords are usuall# CE6 Translation Course 16/03/2012 used in the %onte)t of dis%ussions about govern!ent regulation of business, "e +nd at least one possible e.uivalent noun phrase; %o!!and e%ono!#, as "ell as t"o ad?e%tives, pres%riptive or dire%tive, "hi%h are fairl# %lose in !eaning. @o a phrase li,e une 0%ono!ie dirigiste %ould be translated as a %o!!and e%ono!# /and une r0gle!entation 0%ologi.ue trop dirigiste %ould be translated as an overl# pres%riptive set of environ!ental regulations1. $n so!e %ases, dirigiste %an probabl# be translated as regulator# if an intensi+er is added, e.g. un %ode de %onduite dirigiste K an aggressivel# regulator# %ode of %ondu%t. Thus, the "ord itself !a# see! !untranslatable, but the idea is not. To help %reate the ne%essar# asso%iations in #our !ind to enable #ou to +nd su%h solutions, an e)er%ise that !the author has found helpful is to for! the habit of "riting out strings of related "ords and ideas. >n interpreter should tr# al"a#s to have !ore than one "a# to e)press an# given idea. Exercises 1. Ca,e a list of the !ost untranslatable English and @erbian "ords or e)pressions #ou have heard or read, and tr# to translate the! "ith the approa%h outlined above. 8ring %opies of the list to %lass "ith #ou for dis%ussion. E)%hange these proble! lists "ith other students and see "hether a fresh perspe%tive on the proble! b# so!eone else %an %reate solutions. >l"a#s %onsider the possibilit# that an untranslatable "ord !a# si!pl# be a "ord "hi%h #ou have not heard before. Tr# as,ing a native spea,er of the language, or a spe%ialist in the +eld to "hi%h the "ord pertains. -or e)a!ple, the author, Ga!es olan, "as on%e stu!ped b# the "ords gouleyant and charpent in translating advertising %op# for -ren%h "ines. >fter as,ing several -ren%h!en and a "ine e)pert, it be%a!e %lear that these "ords "ere not untranslatableB the# %orrespond %losel# enough to mouthwatering and full-bodied. 2. 7ead the follo"ing list fro! an arti%le about the @a!e language of -inland. >re an# of the various @a!e "ords for sno" translatable into English or @erbian= The Lyricism of Same CE6 Translation Course 16/03/2012 To give you an idea of how beautiful and expressive Same can be here!s an abbreviated list of some lule-Same words for snow" #uotta $ snow in general Slievar $ new snow dry soft and powdery stirred by the wind Sa%%ih $ new snow with cold weather creating tough s%iing conditions &uvar $ powder snow on top of previously trampled paths Siebbor $ soft 'u(y snow in which s%is sin% deep resulting in di)cult s%iing with occasional icing underneath and snow accumulations on top of the s%is S%arta $ snow layers that were fro*en to moss and lichen in the fall resulting in inferior gra*ing conditions for reindeer Suorve $ snow that clings to ob+ects clothing and trees creating di)cult conditions and impeding movement ,alav $ deep soft snow to wade through Hable% $ snow falling in very large 'a%es -ieggat $ slush or snow mush that s%is sin% down in.