Untranslatability refers to expressions that cannot be translated due to cultural or linguistic differences. Linguists use various techniques such as adaptation, borrowing, compensation, calque, and paraphrasing to bridge the gap.
Untranslatability refers to utterances in a given language that simply cannot be translated into other languages. It can be a single word or phrase, written text or verbal expression. Sometimes, the barrier is that of idiom or metaphor, something that only makes sense in the context of that particular language, or that country’s deeply ingrained cultural experience. Other times, there may be no literal or dictionary translations of the words that make up the expression. The best translation efforts can also be counterproductive and can tend to confuse the original meaning.
Linguists who study the structure and mental mechanisms of language usually do not explain untranslatability as a “lexical gap”. The lexicon is the set of vocabulary of a language represented by the equation “one concept = one word”. The gap occurs when two languages, formed by their respective cultures, do not share a particular common concept. In these cases, there are no equivalent words. Many untranslatable expressions are linked to the conception of time, states of being and social relations of a culture.
Almost all languages have some cases of untranslatability. Languages must also have some means of effective translation. There are several techniques. The grossest of these is adaptation – to loosely translate “a potato” as “a grain of rice” on the grounds that they are the respective main staple foods of the two languages. Another prevalent method is borrowing, which forgoes translation altogether and adopts the foreign word as its new vocabulary.
Compensation is another way of expressing the untranslatability of linguistic conversion. Many languages of the world have different words for the same thing. An example is the formal sie versus informal du in German, for the pronoun “you”. To compensate, a translator or interpreter might use the words “sir” or “friend,” respectively, to convey their different shade of formality.
One way to deal with untranslatability is the calque. Calque attempts to parse, or separate, an expression into its components. The readily available translation of its individual elements is often hyphenated, quoted, or otherwise made clear that the translation is of uncertain creation. The hope is that the totality of these intertwined words conveys the alien concept of the foreign expression. Calquing often doesn’t make sense, but it can be the preferred translation because it’s an attempt to be literal.
Paraphrasing is an effective way of expressing what is not translatable into another language. Replaces a word or phrase in one language with a completely unequal word or phrase in translation. Equivalence comes when the meaning is strictly the same. For example, the English idiom for death, “to kick the bucket,” is best translated into German by paraphrasing it into its equivalent, “to bite the grass.” With this technique, there is not only an attempt to bridge a lexical gap, but also to bridge a cultural gap and find human commonality in different languages.
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