Το παρακάτω είναι μέρος του κειμένου που υπάρχει σήμερα στη σελίδα της Wikipedia με τον τίτλο untranslatability. Το μεταφέρω χωρίς αλλαγές (ενώ σε άλλες περιπτώσεις δεν αποκλείεται να κάνω περικοπές ή και διορθώσεις). Το υπόλοιπο θα ακολουθήσει κάποια άλλη μέρα. Όπου το θεωρώ σκόπιμο, προσθέτω την ελληνική απόδοση κάποιων όρων. Η προσπάθεια γίνεται στο πλαίσιο συλλογής όρων της μετάφρασης μέσα από κείμενα για τη μετάφραση (δείτε εδώ).
Untranslatability [η μη μεταφρασιμότητα, το αμετάφραστο] is a property of a text, or of any utterance [εκφώνημα], in one language, for which no equivalent text or utterance can be found in another language.
Terms are, however, neither exclusively translatable nor exclusively untranslatable; rather, the degree of difficulty of translation depends on their nature, as well as on the translator's abilities.
Quite often, a text or utterance that is considered to be "untranslatable" is actually a lacuna, or lexical gap [λεξικό κενό, λεξιλογικό κενό]. That is, there is no one-to-one equivalence between the word, expression or turn of phrase in the source language [γλώσσα-πηγή] and another word, expression or turn of phrase in the target language [γλώσσα-στόχος]. A translator can, however, resort to a number of translation procedures to compensate for this.
Translation procedures
N.B.: The majority of examples and illustrations given below will involve translating to or from the English language.
The translation procedures that are available in cases of lacunae, or lexical gaps, include the following:
Adaptation [Προσαρμογή]
An adaptation, also known as a free translation [ελεύθερη μετάφραση], is a translation procedure whereby the translator replaces a social, or cultural, reality in the source text [κείμενο-πηγή, πρωτότυπο] with a corresponding reality in the target text [κείμενο-στόχος, μετάφρασμα]; this new reality would be more usual to the audience of the target text.
For example, in the Belgian comic book The Adventures of Tintin, Tintin's trusty canine sidekick Milou is translated as Snowy in English, Bobbie in Dutch, Kuttus in Bengali, and Struppi in German; likewise the detectives Dupont and Dupond become Thomson and Thompson in English, Jansen and Janssen in Dutch, Jonson and Ronson in Bengali, Schultze and Schulze in German, Hernández and Fernández in Spanish, and 杜本 and 杜朋 (Dùběn and Dùpéng) in Chinese. [Στα ελληνικά: Ντυπόν και Ντιπόν.]
This is particularly notable in the translation of the names of Disney characters, as many names employ similar vocal sounds or puns.
Adaptation is often used when translating poetry, works of theatre, and advertising.
Borrowing [Δανεισμός]
See also: Loanword
Borrowing is a translation procedure whereby the translator uses a word or expression from the source text in the target text unmodified.
In English text, borrowings [δάνεια] not sufficiently anglicised are normally in italics.
Calque [Μεταφραστικό δάνειο, έκτυπο]
Calque entails taking an expression, breaking it down to individual elements and translating each element into the target language word for word. For example, the German word "Alleinvertretungsanspruch" can be calqued to "single-representation-claim", but a proper translation would result in "Exclusive Mandate". Word-by-word translations [κατά λέξη μεταφράσεις] 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 [αμφίσημο, ασαφές] or undecipherable [μη αποκρυπτογραφήσιμο, παντελώς ακατανόητο] to the translator.
Compensation [Αναπλήρωση]
Compensation is a translation procedure whereby the translator solves the problem of aspects [πτυχές, όψεις, διαστάσεις] 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, namely an informal form and a formal form. This is known as T-V distinction, found in French (tu vs. vous), Spanish (tú vs. usted), Russian (ты vs. вы), Dutch (jij vs. u) and German (du vs. Sie), for example, but not contemporary English. 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 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 registers, to preserve the level of formality.
Paraphrase [Περίφραση, περιφραστική απόδοση]
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 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 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 Ilunga for more information.
Another example of paraphrase is the Portuguese word saudade, which is often translated at a loss into English as "the feeling of missing a person who is gone". Yet another example, similar to the Portuguese "saudade", is "dor" in Romanian, translated into English as "missing someone or something that's gone and/or not available at the time".
An example of untranslatability is seen in the Dutch language through the word gezelligheid, which does not have an English equivalent, though the German equivalent Gemütlichkeit is sometimes used. Literally, it means cozy, quaint, or nice atmosphere, but can also connote time spent with loved ones, the fact of seeing a friend after a long absence, or general togetherness. Such gaps often lead to word borrowing, and have done so historically.
Translator's note [Σημείωση του μεταφραστή]
A translator's note is a note (usually a footnote [υποσημείωση] or an endnote [σημείωση τέλους]) added by the translator to the target text to provide additional information pertaining to the limits of the translation, the cultural background [πολιτισμικό υπόβαθρο], 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.
Terms are, however, neither exclusively translatable nor exclusively untranslatable; rather, the degree of difficulty of translation depends on their nature, as well as on the translator's abilities.
Quite often, a text or utterance that is considered to be "untranslatable" is actually a lacuna, or lexical gap [λεξικό κενό, λεξιλογικό κενό]. That is, there is no one-to-one equivalence between the word, expression or turn of phrase in the source language [γλώσσα-πηγή] and another word, expression or turn of phrase in the target language [γλώσσα-στόχος]. A translator can, however, resort to a number of translation procedures to compensate for this.
Translation procedures
N.B.: The majority of examples and illustrations given below will involve translating to or from the English language.
The translation procedures that are available in cases of lacunae, or lexical gaps, include the following:
Adaptation [Προσαρμογή]
An adaptation, also known as a free translation [ελεύθερη μετάφραση], is a translation procedure whereby the translator replaces a social, or cultural, reality in the source text [κείμενο-πηγή, πρωτότυπο] with a corresponding reality in the target text [κείμενο-στόχος, μετάφρασμα]; this new reality would be more usual to the audience of the target text.
For example, in the Belgian comic book The Adventures of Tintin, Tintin's trusty canine sidekick Milou is translated as Snowy in English, Bobbie in Dutch, Kuttus in Bengali, and Struppi in German; likewise the detectives Dupont and Dupond become Thomson and Thompson in English, Jansen and Janssen in Dutch, Jonson and Ronson in Bengali, Schultze and Schulze in German, Hernández and Fernández in Spanish, and 杜本 and 杜朋 (Dùběn and Dùpéng) in Chinese. [Στα ελληνικά: Ντυπόν και Ντιπόν.]
This is particularly notable in the translation of the names of Disney characters, as many names employ similar vocal sounds or puns.
Adaptation is often used when translating poetry, works of theatre, and advertising.
Borrowing [Δανεισμός]
See also: Loanword
Borrowing is a translation procedure whereby the translator uses a word or expression from the source text in the target text unmodified.
In English text, borrowings [δάνεια] not sufficiently anglicised are normally in italics.
Calque [Μεταφραστικό δάνειο, έκτυπο]
Calque entails taking an expression, breaking it down to individual elements and translating each element into the target language word for word. For example, the German word "Alleinvertretungsanspruch" can be calqued to "single-representation-claim", but a proper translation would result in "Exclusive Mandate". Word-by-word translations [κατά λέξη μεταφράσεις] 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 [αμφίσημο, ασαφές] or undecipherable [μη αποκρυπτογραφήσιμο, παντελώς ακατανόητο] to the translator.
Compensation [Αναπλήρωση]
Compensation is a translation procedure whereby the translator solves the problem of aspects [πτυχές, όψεις, διαστάσεις] 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, namely an informal form and a formal form. This is known as T-V distinction, found in French (tu vs. vous), Spanish (tú vs. usted), Russian (ты vs. вы), Dutch (jij vs. u) and German (du vs. Sie), for example, but not contemporary English. 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 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 registers, to preserve the level of formality.
Paraphrase [Περίφραση, περιφραστική απόδοση]
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 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 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 Ilunga for more information.
Another example of paraphrase is the Portuguese word saudade, which is often translated at a loss into English as "the feeling of missing a person who is gone". Yet another example, similar to the Portuguese "saudade", is "dor" in Romanian, translated into English as "missing someone or something that's gone and/or not available at the time".
An example of untranslatability is seen in the Dutch language through the word gezelligheid, which does not have an English equivalent, though the German equivalent Gemütlichkeit is sometimes used. Literally, it means cozy, quaint, or nice atmosphere, but can also connote time spent with loved ones, the fact of seeing a friend after a long absence, or general togetherness. Such gaps often lead to word borrowing, and have done so historically.
Translator's note [Σημείωση του μεταφραστή]
A translator's note is a note (usually a footnote [υποσημείωση] or an endnote [σημείωση τέλους]) added by the translator to the target text to provide additional information pertaining to the limits of the translation, the cultural background [πολιτισμικό υπόβαθρο], 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.
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