Am inceput astazi sa creez o lista de cuvante problematice in limba romana din punctul de vedere al traducatorului (vezi jos, stanga: Romanian-English transferral problems; My pet translation difficulties). Mai multe dintre ele sunt cuvante culturale. Probabil trebuie sa fac si o lista asemanatoare de cuvante englezesti care nu pot fi tradusa in romana... Orice contributie este bine primita...
I today began to put together my list of Romanian words which pose problems for translators (See below, left: Romanian-English transferral problems; My pet translation difficulties). Most of them are cultural words. I should probably get a similar list together of English words which can't easily be translated in Romanian...
All contributions are gratefully received....
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
Monday, 16 February 2009
Word-for-word translation - a paradox?
Some weeks ago I had a minor contretemps with a Romanian translation client who wanted me to redo parts of the work. He knew a little English, and felt that I hadn't translated all the words and had changed his text. Well, I aim to please and so we talked. While I have to admit that some of his concerns were valid, this only came to light once we had discussed the text’s PURPOSE and READERSHIP – an issue which he had refused to go into when submitting the work – elsewhere I dug in my heels; to move any closer to the source text would have required a move away from the target language. The result would have been Romanglish!
Word-for-word translation is no translation at all, zic eu. I used the Bucharest Metro this weekend, and saw the following warning notice posted in the train:
‘Nu se recomanda stationarea calatorilor in zona burdufurilor de comunicatie intre vagoane’
Roughly translated:
‘Passengers are advised not to stand in the articulated sections between carriages’
Now, if we Romanglicise this with a word-for-word translation, we get:
'It is not recommended the parking of passengers in the zone of the sheep's bladders of communication between coaches'
Would YOU understand such a warning? Most likely not, at least if you were English!
In the Romanian, the folds of the ‘bendy bit’ linking the carriages are being likened to ‘burdufuri’; ‘bags’ like haggis skins – fashioned from ovine, caprine or bovine stomach sacs – in which a particularly pungent variety of traditional cheese is fermented. It doesn’t take sophisticated argument to justify omitting this word from the English version of the text, does it? (A bigger issue would be with what one should replace it! I have pulled 'articulated sections' out of thin air, but then I am not in the public transport industry. Boris Johnson speaks of ‘bendy buses’, but this is hardly technical language. I wonder if ‘burduf’ is…?)
‘Passengers are advised not to stand in the train’s bendy bits’
Of course, as in all things, context is critical. Should the term ‘burduf’ crop up in an historical novel, it would not be omitted. But would the author prefer it italicized with a footnote, explained with a parenthesis, or numbered for a glossary? Such cultural references and similes are just the tip of the iceberg, as far as translation difficulties go. There are practical issues too; should I translate the name of a medical establishment on an international health insurance claim form? Maybe yes if the reader needs to know what sort of a medical institution it is, maybe no if it is to be used as a return address, etc. Somewhere at the wide, hazardous sub-aquatic base of this iceberg are uncaring clients who think that if you ask too many questions you don’t know your job. To stretch an already failing nautical metaphor, if you don’t educate such people when you take the job on, you will be sunk. They will double your workload and then come back for more. ‘Can’t you just translate it?’ is their mantra, and the answer is often, sadly, ‘No, not without your instruction!’.
There is unfortunately a common tendency (not only in Romania, although it is certainly evident here) to regard translation as a simple exercise, of a scientific nature, in which there is A Correct Answer. It is not. Set 10 experts to work on one text, and you will see what I mean! Clients rarely understand the importance of briefing the translator, and in many cases the translator only gets a second-hand briefing via the agency supplying the work. The skill and time required to produce first-class work is almost universally underestimated (often by the translators themselves!). Sometimes the client is unable to tell you who they hope will read the text, other times, they inexplicably fail to mention that your commission is (for instance) installment one of four and do not stop to consider that, with months between installments (and sometimes changes of translator too), the final product will be inconsistent. When this happens, there is always comeback! A good translator is a consultant as well as a wordsmith.
Finally, on a lighter, but not unrelated note:
Nume de localitati romanesti traduse in engleza
(Romanian place names translated literally):
Afumaţi – Never sober
Bucureşti – Get happy!
Buhuşi - Boo!
Buzău - Really Fat Lip
Călăraşi - Daftly-dressed Folk on Horses
Constanţa - The Steadiness
Dor Mărunt - Miniature Melancholy
Huşi – Shoo!
Năvodari – Networkers
Mamaia – Grandma’s place
Oneşti - The Sincere Ones
Piteşti – You are hiding
Predeal – Not quite a hill
Satu-Mare - The Rather Roomy Rural Community
Slobozia - A Very Wrong Local Tradition
Târgu Frumos - The Aesthetically Pleasing Bazaar
Urlaţi – Gimme Some Noise!
Voluntari - Town of Unpaid Assistants
Thanks to Andrei for most of these, have a great week! (Further contributions welcome)
Word-for-word translation is no translation at all, zic eu. I used the Bucharest Metro this weekend, and saw the following warning notice posted in the train:
‘Nu se recomanda stationarea calatorilor in zona burdufurilor de comunicatie intre vagoane’
Roughly translated:
‘Passengers are advised not to stand in the articulated sections between carriages’
Now, if we Romanglicise this with a word-for-word translation, we get:
'It is not recommended the parking of passengers in the zone of the sheep's bladders of communication between coaches'
Would YOU understand such a warning? Most likely not, at least if you were English!
In the Romanian, the folds of the ‘bendy bit’ linking the carriages are being likened to ‘burdufuri’; ‘bags’ like haggis skins – fashioned from ovine, caprine or bovine stomach sacs – in which a particularly pungent variety of traditional cheese is fermented. It doesn’t take sophisticated argument to justify omitting this word from the English version of the text, does it? (A bigger issue would be with what one should replace it! I have pulled 'articulated sections' out of thin air, but then I am not in the public transport industry. Boris Johnson speaks of ‘bendy buses’, but this is hardly technical language. I wonder if ‘burduf’ is…?)
‘Passengers are advised not to stand in the train’s bendy bits’
Of course, as in all things, context is critical. Should the term ‘burduf’ crop up in an historical novel, it would not be omitted. But would the author prefer it italicized with a footnote, explained with a parenthesis, or numbered for a glossary? Such cultural references and similes are just the tip of the iceberg, as far as translation difficulties go. There are practical issues too; should I translate the name of a medical establishment on an international health insurance claim form? Maybe yes if the reader needs to know what sort of a medical institution it is, maybe no if it is to be used as a return address, etc. Somewhere at the wide, hazardous sub-aquatic base of this iceberg are uncaring clients who think that if you ask too many questions you don’t know your job. To stretch an already failing nautical metaphor, if you don’t educate such people when you take the job on, you will be sunk. They will double your workload and then come back for more. ‘Can’t you just translate it?’ is their mantra, and the answer is often, sadly, ‘No, not without your instruction!’.
There is unfortunately a common tendency (not only in Romania, although it is certainly evident here) to regard translation as a simple exercise, of a scientific nature, in which there is A Correct Answer. It is not. Set 10 experts to work on one text, and you will see what I mean! Clients rarely understand the importance of briefing the translator, and in many cases the translator only gets a second-hand briefing via the agency supplying the work. The skill and time required to produce first-class work is almost universally underestimated (often by the translators themselves!). Sometimes the client is unable to tell you who they hope will read the text, other times, they inexplicably fail to mention that your commission is (for instance) installment one of four and do not stop to consider that, with months between installments (and sometimes changes of translator too), the final product will be inconsistent. When this happens, there is always comeback! A good translator is a consultant as well as a wordsmith.
Finally, on a lighter, but not unrelated note:
Nume de localitati romanesti traduse in engleza
(Romanian place names translated literally):
Afumaţi – Never sober
Bucureşti – Get happy!
Buhuşi - Boo!
Buzău - Really Fat Lip
Călăraşi - Daftly-dressed Folk on Horses
Constanţa - The Steadiness
Dor Mărunt - Miniature Melancholy
Huşi – Shoo!
Năvodari – Networkers
Mamaia – Grandma’s place
Oneşti - The Sincere Ones
Piteşti – You are hiding
Predeal – Not quite a hill
Satu-Mare - The Rather Roomy Rural Community
Slobozia - A Very Wrong Local Tradition
Târgu Frumos - The Aesthetically Pleasing Bazaar
Urlaţi – Gimme Some Noise!
Voluntari - Town of Unpaid Assistants
Thanks to Andrei for most of these, have a great week! (Further contributions welcome)
Wednesday, 7 January 2009
New link: Departamentul Muncii, versiunea engleza
Prietenilor si studentilor mei dragi,
daca va simtiti, de cand in cand, prost la engleza; daca vi se pare ca nu faceti progres deloc; daca sunteti de nivel intermediar sau mai sus, la engleza, este timpul sa aflati cum se descurca asa-numitul 'profesionist' in domeniu, la nivelul guvernamental...
Sunteti pregatiti? Bine, clichuiti atunci link-ul de jos, stanga, numit 'Department of Employment'.
Mai lesne este sa treaca camila prin urechile acului decat sa intre un traducator strain in Departamentul Muncii sa lucreze, atunci ca Englezul nenorocit care vine in tara, si care incearca sa se informeze, se va incurca imediat!
Distractii placute! (Sper ca acum nu veti mai uita ca-i 'subject-verb-[object]'la propozitii afirmative in limba engleza!)
(An invitation to dispirited students of English to see another example of Romanglish from 'professionals' - this time from the Romanian Department of Employment [i.e. work & pensions] - no wonder so few English work in Romania! Click the link below left, under 'Real Romanglish', and enjoy!)
daca va simtiti, de cand in cand, prost la engleza; daca vi se pare ca nu faceti progres deloc; daca sunteti de nivel intermediar sau mai sus, la engleza, este timpul sa aflati cum se descurca asa-numitul 'profesionist' in domeniu, la nivelul guvernamental...
Sunteti pregatiti? Bine, clichuiti atunci link-ul de jos, stanga, numit 'Department of Employment'.
Mai lesne este sa treaca camila prin urechile acului decat sa intre un traducator strain in Departamentul Muncii sa lucreze, atunci ca Englezul nenorocit care vine in tara, si care incearca sa se informeze, se va incurca imediat!
Distractii placute! (Sper ca acum nu veti mai uita ca-i 'subject-verb-[object]'la propozitii afirmative in limba engleza!)
(An invitation to dispirited students of English to see another example of Romanglish from 'professionals' - this time from the Romanian Department of Employment [i.e. work & pensions] - no wonder so few English work in Romania! Click the link below left, under 'Real Romanglish', and enjoy!)
Wednesday, 24 December 2008
Stop Press! Robot translation threatens jobs...
Well here's a funny thing...
(oh, before I forget: Merry Winterval/Solstice/Christmas/Hannukakah etc.,whatever floats your boat!)
...I was saying; something funny happened the other day. I posted some pictures of the local winter PET crop the other day (you'll find them under 'My life in Romania and UK' with some agriculture-related title or other) and the weirdest thing happened; I clicked to save an explanatory comment which I had just finished writing and - to my disbelief - as the screen renewed, a bizarre translation appeared below my comment. Take a look - I'll see you back here in 2 minutes!
Ah, welcome back! Enjoy that? Odd, innit?! It cannot be described as pure Englanian since it's syntactically more akin to Babelanian or Yahoonian. I suppose it must be Googlanian but this is my first encounter with it in the wild, and certainly the first time that I have ever heard of it making an unprovoked attack on a member of the cybercommunity.
The big question of course is how to stop it taking over. My attempts to delete its work have been without success, and I fear it may put an end to my translation career should any clients or colleagues pass by, see its writings and attribute them to me. I could try to domesticate it, I suppose, and put it to work as a subcontractee, but in the unlikely event that I ever succeeded in such an improbable endeavour, there is a finite chance that it might set up its own agency and price me out of the market!
Such a 'rise of the machines' is of course probably a long way away (and will most likely start with digital telephone systems and robot operators, which are already getting way too smug for my liking): translators and linguists probably have less to worry about than secretaries and factory workers. The unsolicited intervention of translation software is a new phenomenon, and exceptionally annoying, but for now I recommend we take no direct action towards the termination of the Connor family. Hasta la vista!
STOP PRESS! WITHIN ABOUT 72 HOURS OF THIS POSTING, THE MYSTERIOUS AUTOMATIC TRANSLATION DISAPPEARED AS IF IT HAD NEVER BEEN! COULD IT POSSIBLY BE THAT THIS ANONYMOUS ROBOT TRANSLATOR CAN ALSO READ MY POSTS AND EXPERIENCE SHAME, EMBARRASSMENT, SELF-LOATHING, GUILT.....? (MAYBE WE REALLY ARE IN TROUBLE!)
(oh, before I forget: Merry Winterval/Solstice/Christmas/Hannukakah etc.,whatever floats your boat!)
...I was saying; something funny happened the other day. I posted some pictures of the local winter PET crop the other day (you'll find them under 'My life in Romania and UK' with some agriculture-related title or other) and the weirdest thing happened; I clicked to save an explanatory comment which I had just finished writing and - to my disbelief - as the screen renewed, a bizarre translation appeared below my comment. Take a look - I'll see you back here in 2 minutes!
Ah, welcome back! Enjoy that? Odd, innit?! It cannot be described as pure Englanian since it's syntactically more akin to Babelanian or Yahoonian. I suppose it must be Googlanian but this is my first encounter with it in the wild, and certainly the first time that I have ever heard of it making an unprovoked attack on a member of the cybercommunity.
The big question of course is how to stop it taking over. My attempts to delete its work have been without success, and I fear it may put an end to my translation career should any clients or colleagues pass by, see its writings and attribute them to me. I could try to domesticate it, I suppose, and put it to work as a subcontractee, but in the unlikely event that I ever succeeded in such an improbable endeavour, there is a finite chance that it might set up its own agency and price me out of the market!
Such a 'rise of the machines' is of course probably a long way away (and will most likely start with digital telephone systems and robot operators, which are already getting way too smug for my liking): translators and linguists probably have less to worry about than secretaries and factory workers. The unsolicited intervention of translation software is a new phenomenon, and exceptionally annoying, but for now I recommend we take no direct action towards the termination of the Connor family. Hasta la vista!
STOP PRESS! WITHIN ABOUT 72 HOURS OF THIS POSTING, THE MYSTERIOUS AUTOMATIC TRANSLATION DISAPPEARED AS IF IT HAD NEVER BEEN! COULD IT POSSIBLY BE THAT THIS ANONYMOUS ROBOT TRANSLATOR CAN ALSO READ MY POSTS AND EXPERIENCE SHAME, EMBARRASSMENT, SELF-LOATHING, GUILT.....? (MAYBE WE REALLY ARE IN TROUBLE!)
Saturday, 13 December 2008
Polemica zilei...
Pozele pe care le-am afişat aici sub categoria 'British cuisine hits Constanța' au provocat un raspuns puternic din partea prietenilor mei de aici din ţara. Aş fi aşteptat comentarii de gen 'cum naibi puteți voi mânca aşa ceva de dimineață...' sau 'ce fel de plăcintă e asta?!', dar nimeni n-a scos niciun sunet despre asta. Polemica atunci, care este? S-a manifestat în primul rând sub forma unei simple întrebari pe care am auzit-o acum de nu ştiu câte ori (inclusiv aseară, când am trecut pe la magazinul non-stop din cartier fără să cumpăr nici o cutie a doua săptămână la rând) şi este urmatoarea:
'Cum adică, ai facut bere acasă?'
Domnilor şi doamnelor, a venit momentul să vă fac conştienți de ceva foarte foarte important. Bere, ca şi vin – fiți atenți, ca e important acest lucru - SE FACE!! Da, chiar se faaa-ce (epifanie, parca!). Credeți, mi se pare, că există copaci pe undeva în Ardeal său Germania in care cresc PET-uri şi doze preîncărcate cu pâine lichidă... sau o vrăjitoare de la Azuga (de mare popularitate, bineînțeles!) cu o baghetă magică sponsorizată de Interbrew.
Timp de 5000 ani (Iran) sau chiar 8000 de ani (Mesapotamia), oamenii au facut bere acasă. Din câte ştim, este băutura alcoolică cea mai veche documentată pe fața pământului. În plus, fiind legată de cultivarea organizată de cereale, producerea acestui produs de către civilizații antice este considerată o dovadă de cultură dezvoltată (nu prea sunt convins de această ipoteză, ca am vazut străzile oraşelor Angliei cum sunt vinerea pe seară....)
Ironic este faptul ca România, grădina Europei - dintre cei mai mari producători de cereale de pe continent - preferă să importe berea făcută în străinătate (probabil din malț de orz sau de grâu românesc!).
Cunosc numai un singur om în afară de mine - săracul de el - care face bere în zona Dobrogei. Ține un bar pe lânga Histria cu o pivniță....
'Cum adică, ai facut bere acasă?'
Domnilor şi doamnelor, a venit momentul să vă fac conştienți de ceva foarte foarte important. Bere, ca şi vin – fiți atenți, ca e important acest lucru - SE FACE!! Da, chiar se faaa-ce (epifanie, parca!). Credeți, mi se pare, că există copaci pe undeva în Ardeal său Germania in care cresc PET-uri şi doze preîncărcate cu pâine lichidă... sau o vrăjitoare de la Azuga (de mare popularitate, bineînțeles!) cu o baghetă magică sponsorizată de Interbrew.
Timp de 5000 ani (Iran) sau chiar 8000 de ani (Mesapotamia), oamenii au facut bere acasă. Din câte ştim, este băutura alcoolică cea mai veche documentată pe fața pământului. În plus, fiind legată de cultivarea organizată de cereale, producerea acestui produs de către civilizații antice este considerată o dovadă de cultură dezvoltată (nu prea sunt convins de această ipoteză, ca am vazut străzile oraşelor Angliei cum sunt vinerea pe seară....)
Ironic este faptul ca România, grădina Europei - dintre cei mai mari producători de cereale de pe continent - preferă să importe berea făcută în străinătate (probabil din malț de orz sau de grâu românesc!).
Cunosc numai un singur om în afară de mine - săracul de el - care face bere în zona Dobrogei. Ține un bar pe lânga Histria cu o pivniță....
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