LANGUAGE DIVERSITY :THE SOLUTIONNARY TRANSLATOR

Issue 1: A PUZZLING INEQUALITY

Talking about language diversity refers to discussing the plurality of languages in the world .Languages vary in their origin ,hence in their nature. They also vary in their syntax that is, the grammar rules proper to each of them. Languages differ phonetically from others as well for some sounds that are common in some languages do not completely exist in others .Plus some words that are present in many languages may be differently pronounced depending on the cultural background of the speaker.

The current discussion is going to put an interest in the impact languages ' diversity has on the translation work.. Therefore in order to raise an interest for further essays on this topic and for purpose of efficiency , emphasis is going to be put on two European languages notably, English and French .

In these languages some words such as demonstration pronouns do not convey similar message all the times.. An instance is the french sentence that reads : "Les concernés devront apposer leurs signatures sur ce document et l'envoyer au directeur après coup."

This sentence harbours the demonstration pronoun " ce" that is the English counterpart of "this "or "that".. However a word by word English translation of this sentence will be confusing .The English reader for he or she might wonder where then is that document since in English "this " always indicate the position of something or somebody

In this case therefore the right translation of that demonstration pronoun will rather be a phrase  .  As the French demonstration pronoun of the above mentioned example pertains to the file that the reader holds in his or her hands , then the right English translation will be :" The assigns should lay their signatures on the current file and they should send it tho the manager thereafter."

Another illustration that portrays the importance of  first assessing what lays in the speaker's mind is the following sentence :"the topic herein discussed is two-folded."

Given this sentence should be translated in French. The qualified translator should remember that demonstration pronouns in English are not always translated by their French counterparts otherwise the meaning of the sentence will be blurred.

Plus some nouns are used as verbs in English while in French the rule is quite different. Hence the following appropriate french translation :"Ce sujet de discussion comporte  deux  volets ."

From the foregone translating from one language to another requires a perfect knowledge of both languages that is , their history and their evolution through ages.

Happy upcoming Translation Day to all !