English Words with a Spanish Pedigree

Over the centuries, Spanish has made a significant contribution to the English language.  When American settlers began exploring the west in the early 19th century, they crossed paths with an established Mexican culture that supplied the English language with a number of everyday words.  Merchants conducting trade in the Spanish-influenced Caribbean brought back not only goods but new words as well.  Novel foods introduced to us through exposure to Hispanic cultures have expanded both our menu options and our vocabulary.

Let’s explore some of the Spanish loan words that you probably use all the time but never gave a second thought as to their origins.

Chocolate – When the Spanish conquistadors took their first sip of xocolatl, a beverage made from the pods of the cacao tree, they knew the Aztecs were on to something.  The Spanish returned to Europe with their newfound chocolate, a word they derived from the Aztec language Nahuatl and later passed on to English.

Hurricane – With the constant threat of these severe storms looming over the tropics, it’s no surprise that the English word “hurricane” comes from huracán, a word picked up by the Spanish explorers from Taino, an indigenous language from the Caribbean.

Aficionado – Aficionado came into the English language from Spanish in the mid-1800s.  While the word was initially only used within the context of bullfighting, it later came to mean a “practitioner or enthusiast of any sport or activity.”

Rodeo – The word “rodeo” is derived from the Spanish verb rodear, which means “to surround.”  In the past, rodeo was used to refer to the pen where cattle were corralled and eventually to the informal events involving horses and livestock that took place there.  Related words like lasso, rancho, hacienda, bronco and even buckaroo passed to English from Spanish back in the days of the Wild West.

Tomato – This vegetable’s (or is it a fruit?) moniker comes from the Spanish word tomate, a corruption of the Nahuatl word “tomatl”.  A number of other fruits and vegetables that may grace your plate such as banana, papaya, jicama and potato have their roots, so to speak, in Spanish.

Will 90% of the world’s languages cease to exist?

A program in BBC radio reveals the following:

  • An estimated 7,000 languages are being spoken around the world. But that number is expected to shrink rapidly in the coming decades.
  • In 1992 a prominent US linguist stunned the academic world by predicting that by the year 2100, 90% of the world’s languages would have ceased to exist.
  • According to Ethnologue, a US organisation that compiles a global database of languages, 473 languages are currently classified as endangered.

What is lost when a language dies?

As globalisation sweeps around the world, it is perhaps natural that small communities come out of their isolation and seek interaction with the wider world. The number of languages may be an unhappy casualty, but why fight the tide?

“What we lose is essentially an enormous cultural heritage, the way of expressing the relationship with nature, with the world, between themselves in the framework of their families, their kin people,” says French linguist Claude Hagege.

“It´s also the way they express their humour, their love, their life. It is a testimony of human communities which is extremely precious, because it expresses what other communities than ours in the modern industrialized world are able to express.”

For linguists like Claude Hagege, languages are not simply a collection of words. They are a living, breathing organisms holding the connections and associations that define a culture. When a language becomes extinct, the culture in which it lived is lost too.

Cross words

The value of language as a cultural artefact is difficult to dispute, but is it actually realistic to ask small communities to retain their culture?

One linguist, Professor Salikoko Mufwene, of the University of Chicago, has argued that the social and economic conditions among some groups of speakers “have changed to points of no return”.

As cultures evolve, he argues, groups often naturally shift their language use. Asking them to hold onto languages they no longer want is more for the linguists’ sake than for the communities themselves.

Ethnologue editor Paul Lewis, however, argues that the stakes are much higher. Because of the close links between language and identity, if people begin to think of their language as useless, they see their identity as such as well.

This leads to social disruption, depression, suicide and drug use, he says. And as parents no longer transmit language to their children, the connection between children and grandparents is broken and traditional values are lost.

“There is a social and cultural ache that remains, where people for generations realize they have lost something,” he says.

What no-one disputes is that the demise of languages is not always the fault of worldwide languages like our own.

An increasing number of communities are giving up their language by their own choice, says Claude Hagege. Many believe that their languages have no future and that their children will not acquire a professional qualification if they teach them tribal languages.

Babbling away

Perhaps all is not lost for those who want the smaller languages to survive. As the revival of Welsh in the UK and Mouri in New Zealand suggest, a language can be brought back from the brink.

Hebrew, says Claude Hagege, was a dead language at the beginning of the 19th century. It existed as a scholarly written language, but there was no way to say “I love you” and “pass the salt” – the French linguists’ criteria for detecting life.

But with the “strong will” of Israeli Jews, he says, the language was brought back into everyday use. Now it is undeniably a living breathing language once more.

Closer to home, Cornish intellectuals, inspired by the reintroduction of Hebrew, succeeded in bringing the seemingly dead Cornish language back into use in the 20th Century. In 2002 the government recognised it as a living minority language.

But for many dwindling languages on the periphery of global culture, supported by little but a few campaigning linguists, the size of the challenge can seem insurmountable.

“You’ve got smallest, weakest, least resourced communities trying to address the problem. And the larger communities are largely unaware of it,” says Ethnologue editor Paul Lewis.

“We would spend an awful lot of money to preserve a very old building, because it is part of our heritage. These languages and cultures are equally part of our heritage and merit preservation.”

Some Statistics

  • 6% of the worlds languages are spoken by 94% of the world’s population
  • The remaining 94% of languages are spoken by only 6% of the population
  • The largest single language by population is Mandarin (845 million speakers) followed by Spanish (329 million speakers) and English (328 million speakers).
  • 133 languages are spoken by fewer than 10 people

SOURCE: Ethnologue

The Use of Neutral Spanish for the U.S. Hispanic Market

There is little doubt about the growing influence of the Hispanic demographic in the United States.  According to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Latinos comprise 14.8% of the population for a total of 44.3 million people.  What’s more, Hispanics are projected to account for almost 25% of the total U.S. population by the year 2050.[1]  The incredible cultural and linguistic diversity of the U.S. Hispanic population presents a challenge for retailers and other businesses who want to reach out to the Latino segment and harness the economic potential within that group.  So, how does one effectively communicate with and market to an audience consisting of cultures from across the Spanish-speaking world?  The answer lies in the use of neutral Spanish.

When creating advertising campaigns, website content, or other materials geared toward the U.S. Hispanic audience, companies are wise to consider the use of neutral Spanish, which avoids regionalisms, colloquial language, and certain verb tenses and conjugations that hint at a particular dialect.  Translators and writers employing neutral Spanish seek to produce a text that is universally understood by Spanish speakers.  Given the dynamic nature of the Latino community, a translator should have contact with the Hispanic market in the U.S. in order to make the best decisions regarding word choice.

The use of neutral Spanish for Latino audiences is gaining traction in television and radio as well.  The rise in popularity of neutral Spanish on the airwaves signals a real change in how U.S. Hispanics view themselves as a unique community apart from their respective countries of origin.  Ilan Stavans, Professor of Latin American and Latino culture at Amherst College in Massachusetts, notes, “It is a widespread trend that is quite significant because it says much about how Latinos in the U.S. are consolidating their own identity.”

Though neutral Spanish lacks an equivalent in the real world (think Received Pronunciation in the U.K. or Standard American English in the U.S.), erasing traces of a telltale accent from spoken Spanish or country-specific slang from the written word serves to avoid confusing or even offending the audience and goes a long way in appealing to the broad Hispanic demographic in the United States.

References:
[1] Hispanic Population of the United States, U.S. Census Bureau

 

British companies relying too much on the English Language

English may be the leading international business language and UK companies may still have a head start in the 53 Commonwealth countries where English is spoken, but the National Centre for Languages says that three-quarters of the world’s population speak no English and 94% of English speakers do so only as their second language. Chinese is the most widely-spoken language, followed by Spanish and then English.

When the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) asked almost 3,500 of its members for reasons why they did not export to Europe, 11% cited language barriers and 5% cultural barriers.

Isabella Moore, former president of the BCC and managing director of Leamington Spa-based Comtec Translations, says the survey showed that on average small businesses were losing up to £250,000 a year in orders due to a lack of language skills.

“You have a school of thought that you manage in English. But when you look at our export successes, we do best where English is spoken widely,” she says. “Then you look at countries like Spain and Italy, where we don’t do as well proportionately. Look at South America and it’s only a fraction of our overall export figures.”

Prof Foreman-Peck also found that British exporters are not benefiting from others’ willingness to learn English to the extent that they may believe. Analysis in the US found that online buyers with poor English were six times less likely to make a purchase than those with good English. The research also showed the customers were willing to pay more if the website was in their native language.

The BCC research found that the main reason why companies choose a particular export market is because they know there is
potential demand and feel able to secure sales, but 14% said they were attracted because of linguistic and cultural similarities to the UK.

However, businesses in the same survey did not see securing better language skills as a priority. Only 5% of the companies polled said they would welcome subsidised language training.

Similarly, demand for an “Export box” all-in-one starter package launched by UK Trade & Investment in June, which included translation services, has been slow.

The package included subsidised website translation and redesign to target a foreign-language market, a Google adwords campaign, logistics from Royal Mail and subsidised banking services from HSBC.

Mr Wheeldon says there were plenty of inquiries, but a “much smaller number” had actually then bought the service, which costs £3,000. “I knew that we were not great at exporting, but I didn’t appreciate the fear and anxiety and the time it takes for people to do it,” he says.

source: Telegraph.co.uk

 

Machine Translation or Human Translation?

CNN published an article explaining the different approaches from Google and Facebook to translating their webs. Below you will find some highlights:

Facebook aims to translate the Web using an army of volunteers and some hired professional translators. Meanwhile, Google plans to let computers do most of the work. Which method will ultimately prevail remains to be seen.

But for now, here’s a look at the latest language features from both companies, and some background on how their translation services work. (Feel free to add your own Internet translation tips — and fun translation bloopers — in the comments section at the bottom of the story):

Facebook’s human translation

Many tech bloggers think Facebook’s method of human translation seems promising. After all, the American-born social networking site introduced non-English languages for the first time only in January 2008. Now about 70 percent of Facebook’s 300 million users are outside of the United States.

How it works: Real people are at the heart of Facebook translation plan. They suggest translated phrases and vote on translations that others have submitted. These crowd-sourced edits — which work kind of like Wikipedia — make Facebook’s translation service smarter over time. Go to Facebook’s translation page to check it out or to participate.

Size: More than 65 languages function on Facebook now, according to Facebook’s statistics. At least another 30 languages are in the works, meaning Facebook needs help working out the kinks on those languages before they’re put to use.

What’s new? Facebook announced in a blog post on September 30 that the social network has made its crowd-sourced translation technology available to other sites on the Web. The update allows sites to install a translation gadget on their sites through Facebook Connect, a service that lets Facebook users sign in on other Web pages.

Facebook also added some new languages, including Latin and “Pirate,” which translates the Facebooky word “share” as “blabber t’yer mates!”

Pros and cons: People are good at knowing idioms and slang, so Facebook tends to get these right, but there are limited numbers of multi-lingual volunteers who want to spend time helping Facebook translate things.

Also, Facebook’s site is available in many languages, but its human translators don’t touch wall posts, photo comments and other user-submitted items, which is a big con if you want to have friends who don’t share a common language with you. People who use Facebook Connect to translate their sites can choose which text they want users to help translate, according to Facebook spokeswoman Malorie Lucich.

Craig Ulliott, founder of whereivebeen.com, said he’s excited about Facebook’s translation application, but it would be too much to ask his site’s users to translate user-submitted material.

Google’s ‘mechanical’ translation

Google uses mathematical equations to try to translate the Web’s content. This fits in line with the company’s mission, which is to organize the world’s information and make it useful and accessible to all.

How it works: Google’s computers learn how to be translators by examining text that’s already on the Web, and from professional Web translations posted online, said Franz Och, a principal scientist at Google. The more text is out there, the more Google learns and the better its translations become. The search-engine company currently translates documents, search results and full Web pages.

Size: Google claims to be the largest free language translation service online. It covers 51 languages and more than 2,500 language pairs. The site’s interface has been translated, with the help of Google users, into 130 languages.

What’s new?: Google recently created a widget that any Web developer can put on his or her page to offer up Google translations. So, say you’re a blogger who writes about music. You might get some Brazilian readers if you offered up a button to translate your site into Portuguese.

Google also recently unveiled a translation service for Google Docs, which lets anyone upload a document to the Web and have it translated into a number of languages for free. And there’s a new Firefox add-on from Google to help people translate the Web more quickly.

Och said real-time translation of Internet chats is on the horizon, as are more languages and increased quality as Google’s computers get smarter.

Pros and cons: Google’s computerized approach means it can translate tons of content — and fast. But computers aren’t quite up to speed with ever-evolving modern speech, so reports of translation errors are fairly common.

On the plus side, the service has been vastly improved in the last five years, Och said. Also, Google lets people spot translation errors, suggest new wordings and translate its interface into languages Google’s computers don’t speak just yet.

Related Articles:
Machine Translation vs. Human Translation: Pay Less, Get Less
Google Translate and the Struggle for Accurate Machine Translations
Google Strikes Deal to Translate European Patents
When Never to Use Google Translate

Lunfardo: The Slang of Buenos Aires

Argentine Spanish is peppered with words and phrases from Lunfardo, a vast vocabulary developed on the streets of Buenos Aires in the second half of the 19th century.  Criminals and other shady characters looking to keep their activities under wraps developed Lunfardo by borrowing and twisting words from the melting pot of languages that surrounded them, allowing them to communicate with each other even in the presence of the police or prison guards.  While initially used by the more unsavory element of Argentine society, Lunfardo was later popularized through the tango, literary art forms, and upwardly mobile immigrants and has become a part of everyday, informal speech regardless of social class.  Today, the use of Lunfardo is most prevalent in Argentina (particularly in and around Buenos Aires) and Uruguay, though some elements have been adopted by neighboring countries such as Chile and Paraguay.

Lunfardo was largely a product of the great wave of European immigration to Argentina that took place from the late 1800s through the mid-1900s.  The huge influx of immigrants hailing from Spain, Italy and France, many of whom spoke non-standard regional dialects or languages, greatly influenced the development of Lunfardo.  Certain words also arrived via the gauchos from Argentina’s interior as well as from native groups like the Guaraní, Quechua and Mapuche.

One of the features of Lunfardo is the use of vesre, a form of wordplay that involves reversing the order of syllables in a word.  The term “vesre” is derived from the Spanish word “revés” (in reverse/backwards).  Examples of vesre include café → feca (coffee), pantalones → lompa (a truncated form of the word for pants) and hotel → telo (a pay-by-the-hour love motel).

In addition to vesre, Lunfardo also employs words based on metaphors such as tumbero, a slang term for “convict” that originates from the Spanish word “tumba” meaning grave.  Another example is the word “campana” (Spanish for “bell”), which describes the lookout man ready to sound the alarm should the police suddenly arrive on the scene.

For those of you looking to add a splash of color to your Spanish, the following website has compiled an extensive list of Lunfardo words and phrases: Diccionario de Lunfardo.

Some Lunfardo words added to our blog:

Meaning of “guita

Lunfardo: Money Talk

Meaning of Atorrante

See also: Linguistic Features of Rioplatense (River Plate) Spanish

The History, Culture and Importance of Hispanic Americans

By Swapna Kasturi

Hispanic America or Spanish America refers to the region which constitutes American countries that are inhabited by Spanish speaking people. There are several places that are dominated by Spanish speaking populations and as such, a common thread runs among these inhabited places and Spain mainly because of the fact that all these places were formerly colonies of Spain. In almost all these countries, the pre-dominant language is either only Spanish or Spanish along with several other local languages. The countries that make up Hispanic America are Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Chile, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Hispanic Americans are related to Spain and comprise 15.1% of the total population of the United States of America. In fact, Hispanic Americans constitute the second largest ethnic group in the U.S. Hispanic Americans are the second fastest growing community in the U.S and have been around since 1565 when St. Augustine in Florida was founded. The term “Hispanic” was first used by the U.S government, during the Presidency of Richard Nixon and has stayed on from then. From 1950, when there were less than 4 million Hispanics to today, when the total number of Hispanics in the U.S is 45 million, Hispanic Americans have come a long way. Hispanic Americans have emerged from the shadows and proved themselves as a force to reckon with.

Their contribution to America is outstanding. Hispanics have actively contributed and participated in the American War of Independence, Civil War, Cuban War, World War I and II and the Vietnam War. They have also made major contributions to the fields of art, science, entertainment, politics, business, fashion, literature, technology and sports. Most of the Hispanics can speak Spanish. Another aspect that connects all Hispanic Americans is the problems that they face. Common issues such as education, poverty, unemployment, Hispanophobia have been and are faced by Hispanics. Hispanic Americans are working very hard to eliminate all these problems and an active improvement in trends concerning these issues can be observed. Thus, Hispanic Americans will definitely pave the way to a brighter future and contribute their part in strengthening and improving America’s resources, finances and culture.

¿HABLAS ESPAÑOL? Officers practicing Spanish to improve communication with Hispanic residents

The language barrier in St. Joseph between English- and Spanish-speaking communities is being broken down in small steps.

St. Joseph Police Department training officer Marla Wilson said in an effort to bridge the cultural gap, 15 officers, as well as other officials and members of the community, recently participated in a three-day Spanish language training course at the Buchanan County Law Enforcement Center.

Ms. Wilson said she brought the class to the LEC after seeing an increasing need for police officers to become more familiar with the language. It worked out so well, she said, that she’s looking into booking a second, advanced-language course.

“It was a very, very good class. I’m sure all of the (police officers) got a lot out of it,” she said.

Ron Strader, a warrant officer, said not being familiar with the language in his job is quite a challenge.

“If I run into a home where no one can speak English, I can’t do my job effectively,” he said.

Even though the department has one officer fluent in Spanish, as well as a list of translators on call, it’s more effective to cut out the middle man.

“We do have the resources,” he said. “Sometimes it’s not practical in the heat of it to say, ‘Hold on, I’m going to need to call my translator while you’re holding that gun.’”

Rachel McCoy, director of communications for Community Action Partnership, which works with Spanish-speaking individuals and families in St. Joseph, said the class is a positive action in bridging the cultural gap.

“We’re very encouraged they would be so progressive to put law enforcement in classes that teach Spanish,” she said.

Classes such as the one at the LEC are vital to St. Joseph’s community growth, Ms. McCoy said. Beyond just practicing a language course such as Rosetta Stone, she also reminds people that nothing is more useful than human interaction.

“There has to be a passion for the language. Without direct communication, so much is lost in the meaning of what people are saying,” she said.

Currently, Mr. Strader said police officers have been practicing courtesy phrases, as well as commands such as “let me see your license and insurance” and “I need you to stop.” Beyond the class, learning Spanish isn’t mandated by the department, but Mr. Strader said it’s something he realizes he needs to stay sharp on.

“It’s not something where we have to sit down every day and do. But I do practice the words because it’s one of those … perishable languages. If you don’t use it, you lose it,” he said.

Ms. McCoy said Community Action Partnership is looking into future programs to help English- and Spanish-speaking people meet and have a better understanding of each other’s cultures. She said she hopes the Police Department will be involved as well.

“So many other communities have come out and welcomed this culture,” she said. “St. Joseph is capable of giving, like so many other cities have.”

Source: http://www.stjoenews.net/news/2009/aug/23/hablas-espaol/?local

Police receptionist in Anderson helps break Spanish language barrier

ANDERSON — Nora Punales was happy to get a job at the Anderson Police Department as a receptionist.

Turns out, the police department got a bargain; Punales speaks fluent English and Spanish. Those skills have helped the department and Hispanic visitors or prisoners cross the language barrier nearly every day.

It’s not that she’s not needed as a receptionist – she does “a little bit of everything” in that job. But beyond some police officers with limited Spanish skills, she’s the only person staff members can call on to help translate.

Anderson, like most Southern towns, has seen the growth of its Hispanic population.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s three-year estimates for 2005-2007, about 2 percent, or 3,200, of Anderson County residents are Hispanic. But officials have long said the Census underestimates the number of Hispanics because they are reluctant to be counted.

The Pew Hispanic Center put the Anderson County number at 3,531 in 2007. The center reported that 2,500 Hispanics were living in Oconee County in 2007, about 4 percent of the population. In Greenville County, the number was more than 29,000 in 2007.

Punales, 53, was hired in November on a temporary basis, but officials have been able to find enough money to continue her job for another year. She moved here after her husband began a job as a welder.

Her daily duties involve answering the phones, filing, helping people with questions and other duties. But her translation skills now are put to use in “a good 40 to 45 percent” of the job, she said.

It may be helping someone who speaks little English who needs to know about visitation for an inmate, or translating an officer’s explanation of the charges against someone brought to the station. Or it could be simply giving someone directions to another government agency, such as Department of Motor Vehicles or to Social Security offices.

Punales, who moved to Anderson about a year ago, was not expecting to need her language skills much when she took the job. But that quickly changed.

“I was very surprised when I moved here there were so many Spanish-speaking people,” she said.

The three dialects she’s heard are from Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, she said.

She discovered there were a number of people coming to the police department front desk unable to explain what they needed.

“Some come in, and I notice they have a problem speaking,” she said. “When I talk to them, they say, ‘Oh God, thank you for having someone who speaks Spanish.’”

Some people bring their children to translate, but children may not know how to explain some words appropriately, Punales said.

Angela White, a medical assistant at the department, said Punales is able to put Spanish-speaking visitors or inmates at ease.

“Once she opens her mouth, and they realize someone understands what they are saying, they calm down,” White said. “That fear is gone.”

When a Spanish-speaking inmate needs medical help, Punales is called to translate for the inmate and the nurse.

Punales’ supervisor, Amy Sexton, said the staff members have done the best they could in the past, trying to write down information or find some common connection.

“We tried to talk ourselves, but usually they don’t understand,” Sexton said. “It’s made a great difference in being able to communicate.”

Now, people who know Punales can help them will seek her out at the station.

“We have Spanish-speaking people call and ask for her,” said Sue Miller, a detention officer.

Punales, who is originally from Cuba, said her family spoke Spanish at home, and she spoke English at school. She believes people who come to the United States should adapt to the culture.

“You are coming to a place that’s not your place, so you have to learn … the culture,” she said.

The police department is a good place to work, she said.

“Ever since I started working here, I have really enjoyed it,” she said. “It is a very nice atmosphere.”

Source: http://www.independentmail.com/news/2009/aug/01/police-receptionst-anderson-helps-break-spanish-la/

Delicate work in translation

A letter to the New York Times Book Review complained that Gerald Martin, the biographer of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, had not given due respect to Marquez’s translators. Martin raves about Marquez’s “gorgeous sentences,” but the letter writer complains that he “neglects to mention whether he read those sentences in Spanish or English.” I have often wondered as I am reading a translation how much I am indebted to the original author, how much to the translator.

I’ve heard that the Prendergast translation of Proust’s Remembrances of Things Past is better than the old Moncrieff version, the one I own. When I finally get around to reading the novel, would my experience be heightened if I bought the new one?

I don’t know any language well enough to translate, but I did have a glimmer of the practice when I studied Russian for four years. Professor Pastuhova told me that I spoke Russian with a Boston accent and hinted that the only reason I passed her courses was that I could translate the literature into good English. She had been the tutor of Tolstoi’s grandchildren – her passion was Russian literature. I had to go word by word, using my Russian-English dictionary, but I found that I was reading the work with wonderful concentration. I fancied that I got further into its soul.

I inherited my grandfather’s interlinear New Testament and was so enthralled with it that I bought myself an interlinear Old Testament. Reynolds Price, in his book of essays, A Palpable God, explained why, as a novelist, he decided to translate some parts of the Bible, knowing no Greek or Hebrew. He convinced me to do the same. Scholars have suggested that some of the psalms might have been written by a woman in King David’s court. I looked for one that seemed to be from a woman’s point of view, chose 139, and using my interlinear Old Testament and, aided by commentaries, I translated it. Even though I was faithful to the text, I could give it a spin, emphasizing what a woman thinks of her body. I better understood the rhythm, form and certainly the meaning of the psalm.

My friend Jo-Anne Elder has published a book of short stories as well as poetry and essays, but she is better known as a translator. Two of her translations of Acadian literature have been nominated for Governor General’s Awards. How do juries choose between translations of very different kinds of books? Do they look for those that are unusually faithful to the original or for those that read as though they were originally written in the new language?

Herménégilde Chiasson invented a brilliant poetic form in his Beatitudes, hundreds of lines beginning “those who;” the reader supplies the “blessed are.” Elder translates one as “those who sing at the top of their lungs during storms.” Is the rhythm of the line as good in French, presenting the same vivid picture?

Elder at first translated Acadian poetry in collaboration with the poet Fred Cogswell. Cogswell told me that translating was like doing a crossword puzzle, a good activity while he was watching a baseball game. I’m sure it’s not that easy.

For my The Writing on the Wall project at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Nela Rio’s Spanish poem was translated into French by Elder and poet Rose Després and into English by Hugh Hazelton. Elder wrote me, “I noticed (I think!) that Hugh took a couple of liberties, so I did, too, for the rhythm, which was so strong in the poem. I’ve tried to make it contemplative, because that’s how I heard it.”

The NotaBle Acts theatre festival of New Brunswick plays opened with On and Off the Shelf, an Acadian play by Marcel-Romain Thériault translated by Elder. Translating plays must present a different set of problems from translating poetry. The dialogue has to sound authentic and yet has to convey more meaning than real speech does. The original title is Disponibles en librairie – “available at bookstores.” Why the change? The question is often asked: “What got lost in translation?” Even if you’ve learned another language so well you can translate it into your mother language, can you ever know the nuances and the emotions associated with words and phrases that a child learns instinctively? I frequently weep in church when we sing a hymn that was part of my childhood but never weep when we sing those I’ve been singing at Wilmot United for 44 years.

When I read Marquez, I am getting plot and characterization but not his actual words. We say that Shakespeare is all about language, but his plays have always been revered in other tongues. I think it must be that languages other than our own, although incomprehensible to us when spoken, have an essence we recognize.

Nancy Bauer is an arts columnist who lives in Fredericton. She can be reached at wbauer@nbnet.nb.ca.

Source: http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/salon/article/747157