Spanish in the World

Posted On December 21, 2010By TranspanishIn Languages, Spanish Language, Tips for Translators, Translation Buyers/ No Comments

With approximately 400 million native speakers worldwide, Spanish is currently the second most widely spoken language, just behind Mandarin Chinese and ahead of English and Hindi/Urdu. Spanish is also the second most commonly used language on the Internet, trailing English. Most linguistic studies indicate that English, Spanish and Chinese will dominate as the languages of international communication and commerce in the 21^st century.

The image of the Spanish language seems to have undergone a makeover in the last few years, resulting in its growth as a language of international communication. Many now view Spanish as a practical, useful language thanks to its demographic power. The use of the language in over 20 countries as well as its foothold in key places such as the United States provides incentive for people to learn Spanish as an investment in their professional futures, especially in the case of young people.

The Spanish language continues to grow at an astounding rate in the United States. Each year more than 1.5 million new speakers join the ranks. Brazil has also seen tremendous growth in the number of students choosing to study Spanish. The governments of countries such as Brazil, the Philippines, France and Italy have invested in high-quality Spanish language education for their citizens, recognizing the growing impact and importance of the language.

The Future of Spanish in the United States

Posted On December 12, 2010By TranspanishIn Languages, Spanish Language, Tips for Translators, Translation Buyers/ 4 Comments

Many scholars and researchers agree that the Spanish language’s future in the United States looks promising, though it seems highly unlikely that Spanish will unseat English as the nation’s dominant language. There are those, however, who argue that Spanish faces the possibility of diminishing influence in the United States over time, the result of a language shift seen previously in other immigrant groups.

A study commissioned by Hispanic USA, a market resource firm targeted at Latinos, estimates that by the year 2025, the tally of Spanish-speaking Latinos in the U.S. will climb to some 40 million. The study challenges the notion that the use of Spanish will decline as future generations of Latinos are born and raised in this country in the coming years. The authors of the Hispanic USA study claim that, unlike other immigrant groups, those born in the U.S. to Latino parents will continue to speak Spanish in exceptionally large numbers.

In separate but related analysis, Linguist Steve Schaufele notes: “Given the current health of the U.S. Hispanic community and the level of its emotional investment in its distinctive culture, I would say that American Spanish as one of the principal vehicles of that culture has an excellent chance of surviving indefinitely.”

In addition, the pool of new Spanish-speaking immigrants favors the continued importance of the language in the United States. Over half of the legal immigrants who arrive annually hail from Spanish-speaking countries, and the percentage is even higher for undocumented immigrants.

With the emergence of the Internet as a tool for international communication, the increasing growth and importance of the global economy, and the sheer number of Spanish speakers worldwide, there are more chances to use the language in the United States and greater economic incentives to retain and promote the use of Spanish.

However, some are not as optimistic about the future of the Spanish language in the U.S. They point to conflicting studies that reveal a failure on the part of second- and third-generation Hispanics to preserve the language, a trend which is gradually diminishing the pool of Spanish speakers. Additionally, recent studies by sociologists indicate a rapid shift to English among the children of immigrants.

Only time will tell the fate of the Spanish language in the United States, but it appears that, by most accounts, Spanish is here to stay.

The RAE Discards Some Proposed Spanish Spelling Reforms

Posted On December 1, 2010By TranspanishIn Languages, Spanish Language, Spanish Translation, Tips for Translators, Translation Buyers/ 1 Comment

The Real Academia Española (RAE) recently announced a number of proposed changes to spelling conventions, causing quite a stir throughout the Spanish-speaking world. Many academics and writers scoffed at the RAE’s plans to introduce these spelling reforms, which, according to some, were bound to create unnecessary confusion.

Following the academy’s recent meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico, linguists approved an 800-page document describing the various newly adopted reforms. The following proposed changes – some of the most hotly debated – were discarded by the RAE’s 22 academics:

»Writers may choose whether the word “sólo” as well as demonstrative pronouns such as “éste” or “ésa” carry an accent. Previously, the RAE had suggested that the accent be eliminated.

»Respecting the fact that the names of the letters “b,” “v,” “w,” and “y” vary among different Spanish-speaking countries, the RAE dismissed the suggestion of assigning just one name to these letters. For example, the name of the letter “b” will continue as “be alta,” “be larga,” or simply “be,” while the letter “y” will retain its historic designation as “i griega” alongside the newly admitted name “ye.”

The rest of the previously announced reforms remain in effect.

Medical Terminology: Prefixes and Suffixes in English and Spanish

Posted On November 29, 2010By TranspanishIn Languages, Spanish Language, Spanish Translation, Tips for Translators, Translation Buyers/ No Comments

Doctors and other medical professionals communicate information about their patients using medical terminology, the language of health care. A medical term is composed of 1) a root word, 2) a prefix, a group of letters attached to the beginning of the root word, and/or 3) a suffix, a group of letters attached to the end of the root word. Since virtually all prefixes and suffixes used in English and Spanish medical terminology are derived from Latin and Greek, the two sets of terms are extremely similar in many cases. Some would argue that the complexities of medical terminology are akin to those of a foreign language, but with a bit of knowledge and understanding of prefixes and suffixes, the vocabulary of medicine is greatly simplified.

We recently added a medical terminology section to the Transpanish website that includes prefixes and suffixes in both English and Spanish. Feel free to bookmark the page as a resource!

Some of the prefixes and suffixes you will find in our page:

gynec/o
-scopy
endo-
-gram

Visit our Glossary section for Medical Glossaries.

Project Management and Translation Vendors

Posted On November 22, 2010By TranspanishIn Languages, Spanish Translation, Tips for Translators, Translation Buyers/ No Comments

As a Project Manager you will be coordinating multiple projects – each project will have a minimum of two outside vendors (translator and editor) with the possibility of many more.

Your vendors will usually work off-site as independent freelance vendors who have agreed to work with your agency on an independent basis. Your agency in turn has agreed to work with the vendor and has ensured that they have completed the appropriate tax forms, signed the Confidentiality Agreement, submitted their resume, references and details of their past experience and in some cases have taken an evaluation test. The Purchase Order you issue to the vendor will act as the agreement for the job.

Keep in mind that your vendors will likely have entered into similar agreements with other agencies so you will be competing for their time.

Vendors you will be working with in a translation project

Translators will have the task to take the written text that your client provides and rewrite it in their native language, staying as faithful to the source text, source format and provided reference as possible. The translators you hire should be native speakers of the target language with subject area knowledge and they should have translation experience.

Editors will have the task of polishing the translation and making the language flow as smoothly as possible. They should also be responsible for confirming that the translation is complete and for verifying consistency of terms and adherence to any supplied reference or glossaries. The editors you hire should be native speakers with subject area knowledge and they should have translation experience.

Proofreaders focus on the details. They need to ensure that all text is faithfully reproduced. Though their knowledge of the target language can help verify the quality of the translation – or alert you to problems, proofreaders must be reminded that they are not to re-translate the text. If there are problems, the Project Manager should be told and the PM is responsible for contacting the translator and editor and developing the recovery plan. Ideally proofreading will be done by internal staff working closely with the PM.

Typesetters will be responsible for laying out the approved translation into the client-supplied source layout file. They will need to have the appropriate software application and good knowledge of typesetting in foreign languages. Remember language conventions vary! The Project Manager must be responsible for supplying them with the final source file and the translated file for typesetting. As clients can update files in the middle of the process and since the translation process involves multiple people, but sure to keep a close eye on the versions and always send the correct versions to the typesetter. If changes occur during the Desktop Publishing phase, be sure to communicate any changes to the typesetter and discuss it with them to make sure all instructions are clear.

Skills to look for when contracting translators and editors:

Native speakers
Subject area experience
Experience with Translation Memory software (Trados, Wordfast, etc)
Up-to-date on technology
They should be willing to do basic research as necessary for a project (projects requiring extensive research should have the research phase included in the work flow both for scheduling and cost)
They should ask questions when needed and should point out problems in the source text when they find them
They should produce accurate and complete translations, while adhering to their deadlines
They should deliver on time and alert you to any potential delays as soon as they are aware of them

Also read Project Management in the Translation Industry.

New Spanish Spelling Reforms from the RAE

Posted On November 9, 2010By TranspanishIn Languages, Spanish Language, Spanish Translation, Tips for Translators, Translation Buyers/ 2 Comments

Spanish Spelling Rules Get a Makeover

Change is coming to Spanish orthographic conventions courtesy of the Real Academia Española (RAE), the organization that defines Spanish language standards. Last week, the RAE announced a number of planned changes prepared by 22 linguists from both Spain and Latin America. If all goes well, the changes to the Spanish language will be officially adopted on November 28 at the academy’s next meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico.

The following is a summary of some of the most important changes that are about to be implemented:

»The letters “ch” and “ll” have been considered a part of the Spanish alphabet since the 19^th century, but no more. The Spanish alphabet will now consist of 27 letters.

»The names of the letters “b,” “v,” “w,” and “y” previously varied among different Spanish-speaking countries. The RAE seeks to further unify the language by assigning just one name to these different letters, e.g. the name of the letter “b” will change from “be alta” or “be larga” to simply “be.”

»The accent will be eliminated from the word “sólo” except in cases where its omission may lead to ambiguity. Previously, “sólo” was used to distinguish between the adverbial form of the word meaning “only” and the adjectival form “solo” meaning “alone.” Demonstrative pronouns such as “éste” or “ésa” will also cease to carry an accent.

»The RAE plans to eliminate “q” when it is used to represent the phoneme “k.” As such, Iraq will be written as “Irak” and quórum will become “cuórum.”

» Prefixes such as “ex” and “anti” will be joined to the word they precede. For example, ex-husband will appear as “exmarido” instead of “ex marido,” as it is currently written. Prefixes will continue to be written with a space when they precede two words, as in the case of “pro derechos humanos.”

»Words such as guión, huí, riáis, Sión o truhán will be considered monosyllabic, and therefore, will no longer be accented.

»The conjunction “o” used to be written with an accent when it appeared between two numbers (e.g. 3 ó 4) to avoid confusion with 0, but this rule will be eliminated.

Please read The RAE Discards Some Proposed Spanish Spelling Reforms for the latest changes.

When was the first Spanish Grammar Book published?

Posted On November 8, 2010By TranspanishIn Did you know?, Languages, Spanish Language, Spanish Translation, Tips for Translators, Translation Buyers/ 4 Comments

In 1492, Antonio de Nebrija published Gramática de la lengua castellana, the first grammar book of the Spanish language. Works had previously been published on Latin usage, such as Lorenzo Valla’s De Elegantiis Latinae Linguae (1471), but Gramática was the first book to focus on the study of the rules of a Western European language besides Latin.

Digital version of Gramática de la lengua castellana.

Differences between Spanish and Portuguese

Posted On November 5, 2010By TranspanishIn Portuguese Language, Spanish Language, Tips for Translators, Translation Buyers/ No Comments

Both Spanish and Portuguese are Indo-European languages derived from Latin, and they developed on the Iberian Peninsula during roughly the same period. Though the two languages are closely related, important differences exist between Spanish and Portuguese, which can create problems for those acquainted with one of the languages when they try to learn the other.

Despite the fact that the Spanish and Portuguese lexicons are very similar, the languages differ significantly in terms of pronunciation. Phonetically, Portuguese bears greater resemblance to French or Catalan while Spanish pronunciation is much closer to Italian. Portuguese includes a greater phonemic inventory than Spanish, which may explain why it is generally more difficult for Spanish speakers to understand, in spite of the strong lexical similarity between the two languages.

Linguistic differences between Spanish and Portuguese appear more pronounced in the written language than in the spoken one due to differences in spelling conventions; however, the two languages do share a great deal of vocabulary that is spelled either exactly the same (but may be pronounced rather differently) or almost the same (but may be pronounced in more or less the same way).

Differences in vocabulary between the two languages evolved due to several reasons:

While Spanish retained a great deal of its Mozarabic vocabulary of Arabic origin, Portuguese’s Mozarabic substratum was not as influential. In many cases, Portuguese words of Arabic origin were eventually replaced with Latin roots.
During the languages’ development during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Spanish remained more autonomous, while Portuguese was more greatly influenced by other European languages, namely French.
Spanish and Portuguese incorporated differing influences from Amerindian, African and Asian languages.

Besides a number of “false friends,” Spanish and Portuguese share several cognates whose meaning is broader in one language than in the other. For example, Spanish makes a distinction between the adjective mucho (much/many) and the adverb muy (very/quite). Portuguese uses muito in both cases.

Generally speaking, Portuguese and Spanish grammars do not greatly differ, though minor differences do exist in terms of possessives, the use of pronouns, certain verb tenses, and prepositions.

For Portuguese Translation, visit our site Transportuguese .

Hispanic or Latino?

Posted On October 21, 2010By TranspanishIn Latinos, Spanish Language, Translation Buyers/ No Comments

The terms “Hispanic” and “Latino” are frequently tossed around by the United States government and the media. But, what exactly is the difference between these two labels?

The term “Hispanic” generally refers to any descendent from a Spanish-speaking nation of Latin America, while the term “Latino” refers to any descendent from a Latin American nation where the main language spoken is derived from Latin (Brazilians and Haitians, for example, speak Portuguese and French, respectively, which are both Latin-based languages).

It is important to note that the terms “Latino” and “Hispanic” do not denote a particular ethnicity or race. Instead, individuals who fall under the label “Latino” or “Hispanic” share a common cultural/language background.

A 2006 Pew Hispanic Center survey uncovered that 48% of Latino adults normally identify themselves by their country of origin first as opposed to Hispanic or Latino. In terms of a preference for the Hispanic or Latino label, a 2008 survey by the Center found that 36% of those questioned prefer the term “Hispanic,” 21% prefer the term “Latino,” and the rest stated no preference.

Tips for Using the Terms “Hispanic” and “Latino”

Although both terms are considered acceptable by most people, some individuals or groups may show a keen preference for either “Latino” or “Hispanic.” An effort should be made to identify and respect these preferences.

When possible, use specific references such as “Mexican” or “Cuban-American” or “Costa Rican immigrant.”

“Latino” and “Latina” may be used as both an adjective and a noun.

The New York Times style guide defines “Hispanic” as “descended from a Spanish-speaking land or culture.” However, there is debate over the definition and usage of this term. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “Hispanic” as “of or relating to the people, speech, or culture of Spain or of Spain and Portugal.” So, should Brazilians and Portuguese speakers be lumped into this category as well? Are Spaniards considered Hispanic, too?

In most cases, Brazilians are not categorized as “Hispanic,” but they may be accurately referred to as “Latino.” Spaniards are not generally considered Hispanic or Latino, since the use of these terms is normally reserved for descendents from countries in the New World. You can reduce ambiguity by using a more specific label, as previously stated.

Transpanish Blog’s Newest Feature: “Did You Know?”

Posted On September 28, 2010By TranspanishIn English Language, Languages, Tips for Translators, Translation Buyers/ 1 Comment

As American author and scholar William Lyon Phelps noted, “One of the secrets of life is to keep our intellectual curiosity acute.” So, in the interest of uncovering some engaging linguistic facts and promoting intellectual curiosity among our readership, here at the Transpanish blog we have decided to add a new feature titled “Did You Know?”

This new section of the blog will highlight interesting language and translation-related facts through a series of light, brief articles. With facts such as the current number of languages spoken in the world and information about the world’s oldest surviving language, you’re sure to learn something new each time you visit the Transpanish blog. Satisfy your curiosity and keep your eyes peeled for some interesting facts and tidbits from the world of linguistics and translation.

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