Untranslatability and Rob Brown (ice hockey): Difference between pages

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Revision as of 16:01, 20 July 2007

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'''Rob Brown''' (born on [[April 10]], [[1968]] in [[Kingston, Ontario|Kingston]], [[Ontario]], [[Canada]]) is a former [[professional]] [[ice hockey]] [[Winger (ice hockey)|right wing]] who played in the [[National Hockey League]] for eleven seasons between [[1987-88 NHL season|1987-88]] and [[1999-00 NHL season|1999-00]].

'''Untranslatability''' is a property of a text, or of any utterance, in one [[language]], for which no equivalent text or utterance can be found in another language.

Brown was drafted 67th overall by the [[Pittsburgh Penguins]] in the [[1986 NHL Entry Draft]]. His best statistical NHL season was the [[1988-89 NHL season|1988-89 season]], when he played on a line with [[Mario Lemieux]]; he set career highs with 49 goals, 66 assists, 115 points, 24 power play goals, 6 game-winning goals, and a +27 plus/minus rating.

Terms are neither exclusively translatable nor exclusively untranslatable; rather, the degree of difficulty of [[translation]] depends on their nature, as well as the translator's abilities.

==Career statistics==

Quite often, a text or utterance that is considered to be "untranslatable" is actually a ''lacuna'', or [[lexical gap]]. That is to say that there is no one-to-one equivalence between the word, expression or turn of phrase in the source language and another word, expression or turn of phrase in the target language.

{| BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="3" CELLSPACING="0" ID="Table3"

|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! ALIGN="center" colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" |  

! ALIGN="center" rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |  

! ALIGN="center" colspan="5" | Regular Season

! ALIGN="center" rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |  

! ALIGN="center" colspan="5" | Playoffs

|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! ALIGN="center" | Season

! ALIGN="center" | Team

! ALIGN="center" | League

! ALIGN="center" | GP

! ALIGN="center" | G

! ALIGN="center" | A

! ALIGN="center" | Pts

! ALIGN="center" | PIM

! ALIGN="center" | GP

! ALIGN="center" | G

! ALIGN="center" | A

! ALIGN="center" | Pts

! ALIGN="center" | PIM

|- ALIGN="center"

| ALIGN="center" | 1983-84

| ALIGN="center" | Kamloops Jr. Oilers

| ALIGN="center" | WHL

| ALIGN="center" | 50

| ALIGN="center" | 16

| ALIGN="center" | 42

| ALIGN="center" | 58

| ALIGN="center" | 80

| ALIGN="center" | 15

| ALIGN="center" | 1

| ALIGN="center" | 2

| ALIGN="center" | 3

| ALIGN="center" | 17

|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| ALIGN="center" | 1984-85

| ALIGN="center" | Kamloops Blazers

| ALIGN="center" | WHL

| ALIGN="center" | 60

| ALIGN="center" | 29

| ALIGN="center" | 50

| ALIGN="center" | 79

| ALIGN="center" | 95

| ALIGN="center" | 15

| ALIGN="center" | 8

| ALIGN="center" | 18

| ALIGN="center" | 26

| ALIGN="center" | 28

|- ALIGN="center"

| ALIGN="center" | 1985-86

| ALIGN="center" | Kamloops Blazers

| ALIGN="center" | WHL

| ALIGN="center" | 69

| ALIGN="center" | 58

| ALIGN="center" | 115

| ALIGN="center" | 173

| ALIGN="center" | 171

| ALIGN="center" | 16

| ALIGN="center" | 18

| ALIGN="center" | 28

| ALIGN="center" | 46

| ALIGN="center" | 14

|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| ALIGN="center" | 1986-87

| ALIGN="center" | Kamloops Blazers

| ALIGN="center" | WHL

| ALIGN="center" | 63

| ALIGN="center" | 76

| ALIGN="center" | 136

| ALIGN="center" | 212

| ALIGN="center" | 101

| ALIGN="center" | 5

| ALIGN="center" | 6

| ALIGN="center" | 5

| ALIGN="center" | 11

| ALIGN="center" | 6

|- ALIGN="center"

| ALIGN="center" | '''1987-88'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''Pittsburgh Penguins'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''NHL'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''51'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''24'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''20'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''44'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''56'''

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| ALIGN="center" | '''1988-89'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''Pittsburgh Penguins'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''NHL'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''68'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''49'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''66'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''115'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''118'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''11'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''5'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''3'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''8'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''22'''

|- ALIGN="center"

| ALIGN="center" | '''1989-90'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''Pittsburgh Penguins'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''NHL'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''80'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''33'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''47'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''80'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''102'''

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| ALIGN="center" | '''1990-91'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''Pittsburgh Penguins'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''NHL'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''25'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''6'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''10'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''16'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''31'''

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

|- ALIGN="center"

| ALIGN="center" | '''1990-91'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''Hartford Whalers'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''NHL'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''44'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''18'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''24'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''42'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''101'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''5'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''1'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''0'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''1'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''7'''

|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| ALIGN="center" | '''1991-92'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''Hartford Whalers'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''NHL'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''42'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''16'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''15'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''31'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''39'''

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

|- ALIGN="center"

| ALIGN="center" | '''1991-92'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''Chicago Blackhawks'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''NHL'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''25'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''5'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''11'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''16'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''34'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''8'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''2'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''4'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''6'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''4'''

|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| ALIGN="center" | '''1992-93'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''Chicago Blackhawks'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''NHL'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''15'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''1'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''6'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''7'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''33'''

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

|- ALIGN="center"

| ALIGN="center" | 1992-93

| ALIGN="center" | Indianapolis Ice

| ALIGN="center" | IHL

| ALIGN="center" | 19

| ALIGN="center" | 14

| ALIGN="center" | 19

| ALIGN="center" | 33

| ALIGN="center" | 32

| ALIGN="center" | 2

| ALIGN="center" | 0

| ALIGN="center" | 1

| ALIGN="center" | 1

| ALIGN="center" | 2

|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| ALIGN="center" | '''1993-94'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''Dallas Stars'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''NHL'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''1'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''0'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''0'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''0'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''0'''

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

|- ALIGN="center"

| ALIGN="center" | 1993-94

| ALIGN="center" | Kalamazoo Wings

| ALIGN="center" | IHL

| ALIGN="center" | 79

| ALIGN="center" | 42

| ALIGN="center" | 113

| ALIGN="center" | 155

| ALIGN="center" | 188

| ALIGN="center" | 5

| ALIGN="center" | 1

| ALIGN="center" | 3

| ALIGN="center" | 4

| ALIGN="center" | 6

|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| ALIGN="center" | 1994-95

| ALIGN="center" | Phoenix Roadrunners

| ALIGN="center" | IHL

| ALIGN="center" | 69

| ALIGN="center" | 34

| ALIGN="center" | 73

| ALIGN="center" | 107

| ALIGN="center" | 135

| ALIGN="center" | 9

| ALIGN="center" | 4

| ALIGN="center" | 12

| ALIGN="center" | 16

| ALIGN="center" | 0

|- ALIGN="center"

| ALIGN="center" | '''1994-95'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''Los Angeles Kings'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''NHL'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''2'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''0'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''0'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''0'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''0'''

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

| ALIGN="center" | --

|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| ALIGN="center" | 1995-96

| ALIGN="center" | Chicago Wolves

| ALIGN="center" | IHL

| ALIGN="center" | 79

| ALIGN="center" | 52

| ALIGN="center" | 91

| ALIGN="center" | 143

| ALIGN="center" | 100

| ALIGN="center" | 9

| ALIGN="center" | 4

| ALIGN="center" | 11

| ALIGN="center" | 15

| ALIGN="center" | 6

|- ALIGN="center"

| ALIGN="center" | 1996-97

| ALIGN="center" | Chicago Wolves

| ALIGN="center" | IHL

| ALIGN="center" | 76

| ALIGN="center" | 37

| ALIGN="center" | 80

| ALIGN="center" | 117

| ALIGN="center" | 98

| ALIGN="center" | 4

| ALIGN="center" | 2

| ALIGN="center" | 4

| ALIGN="center" | 6

| ALIGN="center" | 16

|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| ALIGN="center" | '''1997-98'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''Pittsburgh Penguins'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''NHL'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''82'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''15'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''25'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''40'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''59'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''6'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''1'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''0'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''1'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''4'''

|- ALIGN="center"

| ALIGN="center" | '''1998-99'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''Pittsburgh Penguins'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''NHL'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''58'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''13'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''11'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''24'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''16'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''13'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''2'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''5'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''7'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''8'''

|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| ALIGN="center" | '''1999-00'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''Pittsburgh Penguins'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''NHL'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''50'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''10'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''13'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''23'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''10'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''11'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''1'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''2'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''3'''

| ALIGN="center" | '''0'''

|- ALIGN="center"

| ALIGN="center" | 2000-01

| ALIGN="center" | Chicago Wolves

| ALIGN="center" | IHL

| ALIGN="center" | 80

| ALIGN="center" | 24

| ALIGN="center" | 53

| ALIGN="center" | 77

| ALIGN="center" | 99

| ALIGN="center" | 16

| ALIGN="center" | 4

| ALIGN="center" | 13

| ALIGN="center" | 17

| ALIGN="center" | 26

|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| ALIGN="center" | 2001-02

| ALIGN="center" | Chicago Wolves

| ALIGN="center" | AHL

| ALIGN="center" | 80

| ALIGN="center" | 29

| ALIGN="center" | 54

| ALIGN="center" | 83

| ALIGN="center" | 103

| ALIGN="center" | 25

| ALIGN="center" | 7

| ALIGN="center" | 26

| ALIGN="center" | 33

| ALIGN="center" | 34

|- ALIGN="center"

| ALIGN="center" | 2002-03

| ALIGN="center" | Chicago Wolves

| ALIGN="center" | AHL

| ALIGN="center" | 59

| ALIGN="center" | 15

| ALIGN="center" | 48

| ALIGN="center" | 63

| ALIGN="center" | 83

| ALIGN="center" | 9

| ALIGN="center" | 1

| ALIGN="center" | 6

| ALIGN="center" | 7

| ALIGN="center" | 6

|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="3" | NHL Totals

! ALIGN="center" | '''543'''

! ALIGN="center" | '''190'''

! ALIGN="center" | '''248'''

! ALIGN="center" | '''438'''

! ALIGN="center" | '''599'''

! ALIGN="center" | '''54'''

! ALIGN="center" | '''12'''

! ALIGN="center" | '''14'''

! ALIGN="center" | '''26'''

! ALIGN="center" | '''45'''

|}

==International play==

A translator, however, can resort to a number of translation procedures to compensate.

*Played for Team Canada in the 1988 World Junior Championships.

'''International Statistics'''

==Translation procedures==

{| BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="3" CELLSPACING="0"

The translation procedures that are available in cases of lacunae, or lexical gaps, include the following:

|- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! ALIGN="center" | Year

===Adaptation===

! ALIGN="center" | Team

An '''adaptation''', also known as a '''free translation''', is a translation procedure whereby the translator replaces a social, or cultural, reality in the source text with a corresponding reality in the target text; this new reality would be more usual to the audience of the target text.

! ALIGN="center" | Event

! ALIGN="center" | GP

For example, in the [[Belgium|Belgian]] [[comic book]] ''[[The Adventures of Tintin]]'', Tintin's trusty canine sidekick ''Milou'', is translated as ''Snowy'' in [[English language|English]], ''Bobbie'' in [[Dutch language|Dutch]], and ''Struppi'' in [[German language|German]]; likewise the detectives ''Dupond'' and ''Dupont'' become ''Thomson'' and ''Thompson'' in English, ''Jansen'' and ''Janssen'' in Dutch, ''Schultze'' and ''Schulze'' in German, ''Hernández'' and ''Fernández'' in [[Spanish language|Spanish]], and {{lang|zh|杜本}} and {{lang|zh|杜朋}} (''Dùběn'' and ''Dùpéng'') in [[Chinese language|Chinese]] — the Spanish and Chinese examples not being quite so faithful translations since the pronunciation of the two names is different, and not just the spelling.

! ALIGN="center" | G

! ALIGN="center" | A

Similarly, when [[Quebec]] playwright [[Michel Tremblay]] adapted [[Nikolai Gogol|Gogol]]'s play ''Revizor'' (''[[The Inspector General]]''), as {{lang|fr|''Le gars de Québec''}}, he transposed the setting from [[Russia]] to his home province.

! ALIGN="center" | Pts

! ALIGN="center" | PIM

This is particularly notable in the translation of the names of [[Disney]] characters, as many names employ similar vocal sounds or [[puns]].

|- ALIGN="center"

| ALIGN="center" | 1988

Adaptation is often used when translating [[poetry]], works of [[theatre]] and [[advertising]].

| ALIGN="center" | Canada

| ALIGN="center" | WJC

===Borrowing===

| ALIGN="center" | 7

'''Borrowing''' is a translation procedure whereby the translator uses a word or expression from the source text in the target text [[wiktionary:holus-bolus|holus-bolus]].

| ALIGN="center" | 6

| ALIGN="center" | 2

Borrowings are normally printed in italics if they are not considered to have been naturalized in the target language.

| ALIGN="center" | 8

{{see also|Loanword}}

| ALIGN="center" | 2

===Calque===

'''[[Calque]]''' is a translation procedure whereby a translator translates an expression (or, occasionally, a word) literally into the target language, translating the elements of the expression word for word. For example, the German word "[[:de:Alleinvertretungsanspruch|Alleinvertretungsanspruch]]" can be calqued to "single-representation-claim", but a proper translation would result in "[[Exclusive Mandate]]". Word-by-word translations usually have comic value, but can be a means to save as much of the original style as possible, especially when the source text is ambiguous, or undecipherable to the translator.

===Compensation===

'''Compensation''' is a translation procedure whereby the translator solves the problem of aspects of the source text that cannot take the same form in the target language by replacing these aspects with other elements or forms in the source text.

For example, many languages have two forms of the second person [[pronoun]]: an informal form and a formal form (the French {{lang|fr|''tu''}} and {{lang|fr|''vous''}}, the Spanish {{lang|es|''tú''}} and {{lang|es|''usted''}}, the German {{lang|de|''du''}} and {{lang|de|''Sie''}}, to name but three), while most modern-day dialects of English no longer recognize the [[T-V distinction]], and have retained the ''you'' form only. Hence, to translate a text from one of these languages to English, the translator may have to compensate by using a [[first name]] or [[nickname]], or by using [[syntax|syntactic]] phrasing that are viewed as informal in English (I'm, you're, gonna, dontcha, etc.), or by using English words of the formal and informal [[Register (linguistics)|register]]s.

===Paraphrase===

'''Paraphrase''', sometimes called '''[[periphrasis]]''', is a translation procedure whereby the translator replaces a word in the source text by a group of words or an expression in the target text.

An extreme example of paraphrase can be found in the [[BBC]] reports of [[June 22]] [[2004]] of the identification of the "most untranslatable" word. The word chosen is {{lang|lua|''[[Ilunga]]''}}, a word supposedly from a language in the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]]. The BBC article states that "Ilunga means 'a person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time, but never a third time'."

Incidentally, the word {{lang|lua|''Ilunga''}} is of questionable provenance, as some Congolese (notably the Congo government) claim that it is simply a name, without additional connotations. See the article {{lang|lua|[[Ilunga]]}} for more information.

Another example of paraphrase is the [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] word {{lang|pt|''[[saudade]]''}}, which is often translated at a loss into English as "missing a person who is gone".

===Translator's note===

A '''translator's note''' is a note (usually a [[footnote]] or an [[endnote]]) added by the translator to the target text to provide additional information pertaining to the limits of the translation, the cultural background or any other explanations.

Some translation exams allow or demand such notes. Some translators regard resorting to notes as a failure, although this view is not shared by most professionals.

==Examples==

In the case of translating the English word ''have'' to [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Finnish language|Finnish]], [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[Hindi language|Hindi]], [[Irish language|Irish]], [[Japanese Language|Japanese]], [[Turkish language|Turkish]], or [[Urdu language|Urdu]], some difficulty may be found. There is no specific verb with this meaning in these languages. Instead, for "I have X" these languages use a combination of words that mean ''X is to me'' or (in Turkish) ''my X exists'' or (in Hebrew) ''there is X to me''. In the case of Irish, this phrasing has passed over into [[Hiberno-English]]. A similar construction occurs in Russian: here, the verb is replaced by a phrase that literally means ''at me there is''. (Russian does have a word that means "to have": {{lang|ru|иметь}} (''imet''') — but it is rarely used by Russian speakers in the same way English speakers use the word ''have'').

Another example is family members. English has different words for ''nephew'', ''niece'', and ''cousin'' (note the use of ''cousin'' for both sexes). Romance languages distinguish between the latter, but not always between the former: for example [[Italian language|Italian]] {{lang|it|''cugino''}} and {{lang|it|''cugina''}} for ''cousin'' (male) and ''cousin'' (female), but {{lang|it|''nipote''}} (nephew/niece) for both genders. Moreover, {{lang|it|''nipote''}} can also mean ''grandchild'' (a distinction between male and female can, however, be made by adding the male or female article before the noun). Dutch, on the other hand, distinguishes gender: {{lang|nl|''neef''}} (male) and {{lang|nl|''nicht''}} (female), but it does not have different terms for ''nephew'' and ''cousin''. That is, both a son of a sibling and a son of an uncle are called {{lang|nl|''neef''}}. ''Sibling'' is another word for which German has an expression ({{lang|de|''Geschwister''}}) but Dutch does not.

In Arabic, there is a special word for an uncle who is the mother's brother: Khal. There is also a special word for an uncle who is the father's brother: 'am. Such words are untraslatable into English. The closest translation is "uncle," which is gives no indication as from which parent's side he is related to the individual. Similarly, in Arabic, there are specific words for the father's sister, mother's sister, a person whose father died, a person whose mother died, and an array of words that describe specific actions by animals and humans that do not have a direct translation into English.

Conversely, in Arabic, there is no word for "cousin", either; you must say "mother's brother son" or an equivalent. Similarly, in Japanese there are separate words for "older brother" and "younger brother", and likewise "older sister" and "younger sister". Swedish has words ''tant'' for "auntie" or ''lady'' in general, ''moster'' for maternal aunt and ''faster'' for paternal aunt.

The distinction between maternal and paternal uncles has caused several mistranslations; for example, in [[Walt Disney]]'s ''[[DuckTales]]'', Huey, Dewey, and Louie's [[Scrooge McDuck|Uncle Scrooge]] was translated ''Roope-setä'' in Finnish (Paternal Uncle Robert) before it was known Scrooge was Donald's ''maternal'' uncle. The proper translation would have been ''Roope-eno'' (Maternal Uncle Robert). Uncle Scrooge is "Farbror Joakim (Paternal Uncle Joachim) in Swedish.

Conversely, English is entirely lacking some grammatical categories. For example, there is no simple way in English to contrast Finnish {{lang|fi|''kirjoittaa''}} (continuing, corresponding to English ''to write'') and {{lang|fi|''kirjoitella''}} (a regular [[frequentative]], "to occasionally write short passages at a time"). Another example for a tricky English construct would be: How would you ask a boy who has several brothers "which" (or "which-th") son of his parents he is, such that his reply would be something like: "I am the third son"? ("Which in order of number?") This is a straightforward construct in some other languages, which have an exact word for "which-th", such as Finnish {{lang|fi|''mones''}}, [[Latin]] {{lang|la|''quotus''}}, German {{lang|de|''wievielte''}}, Dutch {{lang|nl|''hoeveelste''}} or Chinese 第幾. Further examples derive from the fact that English has fewer tenses than Romance languages. As in Latin, Italian has for example two distinct declined past tenses, where {{lang|it|''io fui''}} ({{lang|it|passato remoto}}) and {{lang|it|''io sono stato''}} ({{lang|it|passato prossimo}}) both mean ''I was'', the former indicating a concluded action in the (remote) past, and the latter an action that holds some connection to the present. The "{{lang|it|passato remoto}}" is often used for narrative history (for example novels). The difference is nowadays also partly geographic. In the north of Italy (and standard Italian) the "{{lang|it|passato remoto}}" is rarely used in spoken language, whereas in the south it often takes the place of the "{{lang|it|passato prossimo}}".

Likewise, English lacks a productive grammatical means to show [[indirection]] but must instead rely on periphrasis, that is the use of multiple words to explain an idea. Finnish grammar, on the contrary, allows the regular production of a series verbal derivatives, each of which involves a greater degree of indirection. For example, on the basis of the verb ''vetää'' (to pull), it is possible to produce:

*''vetää'' (pull),

*''vedättää'' (cause something/someone to pull),

*''vedätyttää'' (cause something/someone to cause something/someone to pull),

*''vedätätyttää'' (cause something/someone to cause something/someone to cause something/someone to pull).

{| border="1" cellspacing="2" align="center"

|-

|style="background:#ffdead;" align="center"|'''Finnish'''

|style="background:#ffdead;" align="center"|'''English'''

|style="background:#ffdead;" align="center"|'''Translation/Paraphrase of boldface verb'''

|-

|align="center" style="background:#ffffee;"|''Traktori '''vetää.'''

|align="center" style="background:#ffffee;"|A tractor '''pulls.'''

|align="center" style="background:#ffffee;"|pulls

|-

|align="center" style="background:#ffffee;"| ''Ajomies '''vedättää.'''

|align="center" style="background:#ffffee;"|A driver '''operates''' the tractor

|align="center" style="background:#ffffee;"|causes something to pull

|-

|align="center" style="background:#ffffee;"|''Urakoitsija '''vedätyttää.'''

|align="center" style="background:#ffffee;"| A subcontractor '''directs''' the driver '''to pull''' with his tractor.

|align="center" style="background:#ffffee;"| causes someone to cause something to pull

|-

|align="center" style="background:#ffffee;"|''Ja firma '''vedätätyttää.'''

|align="center" style="background:#ffffee;"| The corporation '''assigns''' the subcontractor to have the driver operate '''to pull''' with his tractor.

|align="center" style="background:#ffffee;"|causes someone to cause someone to cause something to pull

|}

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{{succession box | before = [[Luc Robitaille]] | title = [[CHL Player of the Year]] | years = 1987 | after = [[Joe Sakic]]}}

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[[Category:1968 births|Brown, Rob]]

Another instance is the Russian word {{lang|ru|пошлость}} /posh-lost'/. This noun roughly means a mixture of banality, commonality and vulgarity. [[Vladimir Nabokov]] mentions it as one of the hardest Russian words to translate precisely into English.

[[Category:Calder Cup champions|Brown, Rob]]

[[Category:Canadian ice hockey right wingers|Brown, Rob]]

Another well-known example comes from the Portuguese or Spanish verbs {{lang|es|''ser''}} and {{lang|es|''estar''}}, both translatable as ''to be'' (see [[Romance copula]]). However, {{lang|es|''ser''}} is used only with essence or nature, while {{lang|es|''estar''}} is used with states or conditions. Sometimes this information is not very relevant for the meaning of the whole sentence and the translator will ignore it, whereas at other times it can be retrieved from the [[context]]. When none of these apply, the translator will usually use a [[paraphrase]] or simply add words that can convey that meaning. The following example comes from Portuguese:

[[Category:Canadians of British descent|Brown, Rob]]

:"{{lang|pt|Não estou bonito, eu ''sou'' bonito.}}"

[[Category:Chicago Blackhawks players|Brown, Rob]]

:Literal translation: "I am not (apparently) handsome; I ''am'' (essentially) handsome."

[[Category:Dallas Stars players|Brown, Rob]]

:Adding words: "I am not handsome today; I am always handsome."

[[Category:Hartford Whalers players|Brown, Rob]]

:Paraphrase: "I don't just look handsome; I ''am'' handsome."

[[Category:Ice hockey personnel from Ontario|Brown, Rob]]

[[Category:Kamloops Blazers alumni|Brown, Rob]]

[[Ancient Greek]] {{polytonic|φθάνω}} (phthánō), generally accompanied by a complementary verb, approximately translates "I do [something] before someone else realises that I'm doing it" or "I get away with [doing something]." In a similar vein, the syntactically equivalent verb {{polytonic|λανθανω}} (lanthanō), conveys the meaning of escaping the notice of others while doing something, and is often unsatisfactorily rendered by the adverb "secretly".

[[Category:Kamloops Junior Oilers alumni|Brown, Rob]]

[[Category:Living people|Brown, Rob]]

[[German language|German]], especially colloquial German, has a wealth of small words, usually [[adverb]]s, that are particularly difficult to translate as they do not have a grammatical function, but rather convey a sense in which the message is meant to be understood. The most infamous example perhaps is ''doch'', which roughly means "don't you realize that...?", or "in fact it is so, though someone is denying it". Others are ''eben'' (roughly: "in a natural way and without much afterthought", or, just as roughly "That's what I said all along."), or even ''mal'' (from ''einmal'', roughly meaning "when it's convenient"). What makes translation of such words more difficult is the fact that they take on different meanings depending on ''how'' they are used; sometimes the meaning can only be derived from the intonation or the context. Once the entire sentence is understood; however, it is often possible to find analogous words of phrases in English: for example ''doch'' in the sentence ''Kommen sie <u>doch</u> '''mal''' her, bitte'' almost exactly translates to ''<u>why don't you</u> come here '''for a second''', please?''. In this case, there is no better translation for the word ''mal'' than ''for a second'', ''for a minute'' or ''for a moment'', etc. (depending on the tone of the text). Another common use of the word ''doch'' can be found in the sentence ''der Krieg war <u>doch</u> noch nicht verloren'', which translates to ''the war wasn't lost yet, <u>after all</u>''. These simple examples illustrate how a seemingly difficult word can be translated easily into its English equivalent if its meaning is well understood; several other grammatical constructs in English may be employed to translate these words for each of their occurrences. The '''same''' ''der Krieg <u>war</u> doch noch nicht verloren'' with slightly changed pronunciation can also mean excuse in defense to a question: ''...<u>but</u> the war was not lost yet'' (... so we fought on). And a use which relies heavily on intonation (and context, of course) could produce yet another meaning: "so the war was REALLY not over yet (as you have been trying to convince me all along)".

[[Category:Los Angeles Kings players|Brown, Rob]]

Another change of intonation makes the sentence a question. ''Der Krieg war <u>doch</u> noch <u>nicht</u> verloren?'' would translate into ''"(You mean) the war was <u>NOT</u> lost (back then)?"''.

[[Category:National Hockey League 100-point seasons|Brown, Rob]]

[[Category:Ontario sportspeople|Brown, Rob]]

The word ''eben'' as an expression spoken by itself usually means ''exactly'', when someone is reaffirming someone else's (to the speaker) seemingly obvious observation, for example:

[[Category:Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks|Brown, Rob]]

"we're going to have to build a bridge across the river in order to get our heavy equipment across." — "(My words) exactly." Although the phrase can be circumscribed with "that's what I've been telling you" or "you just made my point", it is usually possible to find a more fitting term in English which would be used in the same situation; the "untranslatable" word can thereby be translated into a single, equivalent word in the target language, even though the translation only applies to a particular situation; in a different context, another English construct may have to be employed. Luckily, the English language offers a wealth of such modifiers, which annotate a phrase to convey how it is meant to be understood, often relying merely on word order and/or the insertion of a single word or phrase.

[[Category:Pittsburgh Penguins players|Brown, Rob]]

[[Category:Chicago Wolves players|Brown, Rob]]

Languages that are extremely different from each other, like English and [[Chinese language|Chinese]], need their translations to be more like adaptations. Chinese has no [[tense]]s per se, only three [[Grammatical aspect|aspect]]s. Also, Chinese has specific words for "older brother", "maternal grandfather" etc. The English verb ''[[copula|to be]]'' [[Copula#Chinese|does not have a direct equivalent in Chinese]]. In an English sentence where ''to be'' leads to an [[adjective]] ("It ''is'' blue"), there is no ''to be'' in Chinese. (There are no adjectives in Chinese, instead there are [[stative verbs]] that don't need an extra verb.) If it states a ___location, the verb "zài" ({{lang|zh|在}}) is used, as in "We ''are'' in the house". And in most other cases, the verb "shì" ({{lang|zh|是}}) is used, as in "I ''am'' the leader." Any sentence that requires a play on those different meanings will not work in Chinese.

[[Category:People from Kingston, Ontario|Brown, Rob]]

===Poetry, puns and wordplay ===

The two areas which most nearly approach total untranslatability are [[poetry]] and [[pun]]s; poetry is difficult to translate because of its reliance on the sounds (for example, [[rhyme]]s) and rhythms of the source language; puns, and other similar [[semantics|semantic]] wordplay, because of how tightly they are tied to the original language — consider the Italian adage 'traduttore, traditore': a literal translation is 'translator, traitor'. The pun is lost, though the meaning persists.

That being said, many of the translation procedures discussed here can be used in these cases. For example, the translator can compensate for an "untranslatable" pun in one part of a text by adding a new pun in another part of the translated text.

[[Oscar Wilde]]'s play ''[[The Importance of Being Earnest]]'' incorporates in its title a pun (resonating in the last line of the play) that conflates the name Ernest with the adjective of quality, earnest. The French title of the translated play is "L'importance d'être Constant", replicating and transposing the pun; however, the character Ernest had to be renamed, and the allusion to trickery was lost. (Other French translations include "De l'importance d'être Fidèle" (faithful) and "Il est important d'être Aimé" (loved), with the same idea of a pun on first name / quality adjective.)

The [[Asterix]] comic strip is renowned for its French puns; its translators have found many [[Asterix#Lost in translation|ingenious English substitutes]].

Other forms of wordplay, such as [[spoonerism]]s and [[palindromes]] are equally difficult, and often force hard choices on the translator. For example, take the classic palindrome: 'A man, a plan, a canal: Panama'. A translator might choose to translate it literally into, say, French &mdash; 'Un homme, un projet, un canal: Panama', if it were used as a caption for a photo of [[Theodore Roosevelt]] (the chief instigator of the Canal), and sacrifice the palindrome. But if the text is meant to give an ''example'' of a palindrome, he might elect to sacrifice the literal sense and substitute a French palindrome, such as 'Un roc lamina l'animal cornu' ('A boulder swept away the horned animal').

[[Douglas Hofstadter]] discusses the problem of translating a palindrome into Chinese, where such wordplay is theoretically impossible, in his book {{lang|fr|''[[Le Ton beau de Marot]]''}} &mdash; which is devoted to the issues and problems of translation, with particular emphasis on the translation of poetry. Another example given by Douglas Hofstadter is the translation of the [[jabberwocky]] poem by [[Lewis Carrol]], with its wealth of [[neologism]]s and [[portmanteau]] words, into a number of foreign tongues.

===Foreign objects===

Objects unknown to a culture can actually be easy to translate. For example, in Japanese, [[wasabi]] {{lang|ja|わさび}} is a [[plant]] (''[[Wasabia japonica]]'') used as a spicy [[Japan]]ese [[condiment]]. Traditionally, this plant only grows in Japan. It would be unlikely that someone from [[Brazil]] (for example) would have a clear understanding of it. However, the easiest way to translate this word is to ''borrow'' it. Or you can use a similar [[list of vegetables|vegetable's name]] to describe it. In English this word is translated as ''[[wasabi]]'' or ''Japanese [[horseradish]]''. In Chinese, people can still call it ''wasabi'' by its Japanese sound, or pronounce it by its [[Kanji]] characters, {{lang|zh|山葵}} ([[pinyin]]: ''shān kúi''). However, wasabi is currently called 芥末 (jiè mò) or 绿芥 (lǜ jiè) in Chinese. Horseradish is not usually seen in [[Eastern Asia]]; people may parallel it with [[Mustard (condiment)|mustard]]. Hence, in some places, ''yellow mustard'' refers to imported mustard sauce; ''green mustard'' refers to wasabi.

==See also==

* [[Terminology]]

* [[Translation]]

==References==

* MacIntyre, Ben. [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/ben_macintyre/article472329.ece ''Why do Koreans say "a biscuit would be nice" instead of "I want a biscuit"?''], [[The Times]], [[August 21]], [[2004]].

==External links==

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3830521.stm BBC News: Congo word "most untranslatable"]

* [http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~loxias/harry_potter.htm Harry Potter in Ancient Greek]

[[Category:Translation]]

[[fr:Intraduisibilité]]

[[it:Intraducibilità]]

[[ru:Непереводимость]]