What linguistic challenges does your language pose part 1
English to Spanish
Polysemy. The main issue in translation from English into Spanish, or at least in my specialties (technical translation) is polysemy: one English word can mean many different things and have very different translations in Spanish. Let’s see a very simple example:
“Screen” (as a noun)
- “pantalla”: a display device
- “pantalla”: a protection device
- “tamiz”: a screen to filter gross contamination from a liquid
- “criba”: a screen to screen fragments of mineral of different sizes
- “biombo”: a movable piece of furniture to divide a room
- “tramado”: the matrix of dots used in printing
- “malla”: the porous fabric used in screen printing
- “depurador”: in paper pulp making, a device that removes impurities from the pulp
- “parabrisas”: “screen” as short for the windscreen of a car
The same thing happens with so many other words, like “shell”, “key”, “bar”… You really must know what the text is about in order to choose the right word.
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English to Spanish (1)
One of the most outstanding challenges of my native language, Spanish, is finding universality. Many times clients ask for a ‘universal’ Spanish, which must be a mixture of the Spanish spoken in Spain, Latin America, and even of the Spanish used in the United States.
Another issue that comes to mind is that when translating in my language pair, English to Spanish, the target text grows much bigger than the source, and that usually poses a big challenge for DTP work, an aspect that sometimes we are asked to keep in mind.
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English to Spanish (2)
There are many differences in syntax between English and Spanish that must constantly be dealt with. I do not have any problems solving that, it is just an ongoing task that has to be done every step of the way from start to finish, so it’s a lot of work. I suppose it is one of the bigger challenges in translating between those two languages.
These tips are brought to you by Translation Services UK who also offer a free translation service on their website. Remember, if you are going to get your document(s) translated then printed please make sure you use people and NOT software.
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