Be or not be, here in which question.
Be or not be, such is the question.
That I am or that not I am, this is
the question.
Three literal translations from three
languages into English, effectively reversing the original
translation of probably the most famous and most translated phrase
ever uttered in English: To be, or not to be, that is the question.
(The languages and the original texts are given below – try to
guess first!) This shows how tricky it is to translate the essence of
one language into the essence of another, for that is essentially
what translation involves. You have to be as non-literal as you need
to be in order to render a translation faithfully. The art involved
is crucial.
This art is seen at its most critical,
pivotal and open to misinterpretation in the translation of the Greek
logos in the first line of
John's Gospel: In the beginning was the Word. Logos
had a variety of meanings from ancient Greek through to New Testament
Greek, depending on its use in vernacular, religious or philosophical
discourse. Suffice it to say that logos
could mean “word, thought, speech, account, meaning, reason,
proportion, principle, standard” or “logic”, among other
meanings; so which translation should a translator choose? What does
a translator want to express? The meaning in the mind of John could
have been “cause, reason” or it could have been “divine
intermediary”, or indeed, any other of the meanings
What
is clear is that the actual meaning has been argued over and
translated with widely differing terms since it was written. What is
also clear is that the translation, “word”, is most likely not
the intended meaning. The problem is, of course, that once a term has
been translated into a target language, it is generally accepted that
the meaning which the translator has given it is the true meaning,
especially as the likely reader will have limited or no understanding
of the original language and the meaning of the original word. Hence,
the expression “the Word of God” has a fundamentally different
meaning in the context of John's gospel to that of utterances God may
have actually said, if you believe in them, which is the way it is
generally understood today. Result – confusion, disagreement,
misconception and permanent misunderstanding.
So, what is the essential meaning of an utterance?
How can that meaning be rendered in another language with the same
intended meaning of the source language? Here's an example of such a
quandary: “the quick brown fox jumps over lazy dog”. What's so
special about this sentence in English is, of course, that it's the
most efficient sentence containing every letter of the English
alphabet. If you translated it into any other language, the literal
meaning of a speedy dun-coloured member of the vulpine family
launching itself over an immobile and indolent member of the domestic
canine family would be immediately clear, albeit somewhat puzzling.
What would be the point of it? In order to translate the essential
intended meaning of the sentence – namely that this sentence
contains every letter of the alphabet at least once – the
translator would have to find out or work out what the equivalent
sentence would be in the target language. This would mean that the
literal meaning of the original would be lost in its entirety and
only a restricted meaning of “here are all the letters of the
alphabet in one sentence” would be transmitted. The essence of the
message effectively transcends the medium through which the message
is sent - i.e., the words, syntax and grammar of the languages in
question.
How about “the cat sat on the mat”? Again, a
literal translation would be understood in any other language whose
speakers appreciate the past mini-carpet-occupying sedentary habits
of diminutive domesticated felines. However, the aim of the
utterance, to show minimum pairs (minimum triplets?) or practise the
pronunciation of /æ/ in
English, would be largely lost in translation, though appreciated by
the language students practising their pronunciation. In fact, the
surface meaning described above is most definitely not the intended
meaning of the utterance. Obviously, other languages would have their
own strategies for expressing this type of utterance and conveying
this type of pronunciation message.
So what does that tell us about understanding
meaning in different languages and rendering meaning from one to the
other? How can we successfully represent the meaning of a word or
phrase in another language, especially when there may be no direct
translation of a term, or when the concept in the original language
is absent from the target language? For example, if you look up the
Portuguese word ginga, the
translation will normally be “waddle, scull, sway”, but these
meanings are totally lacking in conveying the movement of a great
football player, an expert capoeirista
or a sexy Brazileira,
as the word does in its use in Portuguese, especially in Brazil.
Similarly, kefi
in Greek can be translated as “high spirits”, but while this goes
some way to describing the basic meaning, the essential “Greekness”
of the word is lost in translation and can only be understood by
being in a real Greek celebration. Which leads me to filotimo,
which can loosely be translated as “love of honour”. However,
this translation does little to express this amalgam of integrity,
pride, honour and courage, an essential and central element of Greek
life which has existed since ancient times. You would have to spend a
while living in the country and experiencing Greek culture to begin
to have an inkling of it. And throw timi,
“honour”, and dropi,
“shame”, into the
mix, and you have a combination of ideas which would need a thesis to
explain. And these ideas involve European languages, with similar
modes of thought throughout history. Think of the problems when
dealing with Indonesian, Chinese, Khoi-San, Inuit or Hopi.
So,
I'd like to finish up with a term which I think will require no
explanation; though it's expressed in a variety of ways, it's
understood in only one way (in languages that I have learnt or have
attempted to learn): feliz novo ano, feliz nuevo aňo,
kali protokhronia, bonne annèe,
s novym godom, selamat tahun baru, glückliches neues Jahr,
onnellista
uutta vuotta!
HAPPY
NEW YEAR!!!
PS.
Here are the original languages:
Greek:
Να
είμαι ή να μην είμαι, αυτό είναι το
ερώτημα
- That I am, or that not I am, this is the question.
Don't forget to visit http://www.blessthebuccaneer.com to find out about my book on word origins, Bless the Buccaneer with Barbecued Blood.
Don't forget to visit http://www.blessthebuccaneer.com to find out about my book on word origins, Bless the Buccaneer with Barbecued Blood.
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