Alpha Omega Translations

Mandingo Language and Culture Through the Looking-Glass

Alpha Omega Translations — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 16:22:17 +0000

As the birthplace of humanity and the birthplace of human language, it is no wonder that Africa is the most linguistically diverse continent in the world, home to some two thousand extant languages, most identified with distinct ethnic groups. Of these, the continuum of languages or dialects collectively known as Mandingo has a unique history imprinted in its grammar, inflection, and vocabulary. Though I am neither linguist nor ethnohistorian, since I began to learn the Gambian dialect of Mandingo at Cornell University twenty years ago, I have picked up just enough of the language, and the culture and history behind it, to offer the interested reader some non-scholarly notes, which she is invited to follow up with further research.
The modern Mandingo originated in the Western Sahara region, around the border between the modern-day nations of Mali and Guinea. Their vast and wealthy empire, known in Mandingo (this and all italicized transliterations in the modern Gambian dialect) as Mandinkaduu, was at its height in the mid-14th century C.E. Already by that time, the king and most of his subjects had converted to Sunni Islam, the ethnic group’s dominant religion to this day. For a faithful transcription of an historical epic of this period, see D.T. Niane’s Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali (Longman, 1990).
Following the dissolution of the Kingdom of Mali, itinerant traders from such clans as Jammeh and Bayo (whose descendants bear these surnames) traveled far and wide throughout West Africa, founding communities in what is now Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Sierra Leone. Over the centuries, at least four major dialects evolved, in much the same way that the Romance languages evolved in the wake of the Roman Empire’s disintegration. These are: the Malinke (also known locally as Maninke, Bambara, or Dyula) of Mali, Ivory Coast, southeastern Mauritania, and western Niger; Mandinka Mooré or Moosi of Burkina Faso; Guinean/Liberian Mandingo/Mandinka of Guinea and Liberia (also known locally as Koniaka); and the Gambian Mandingo/Mandinka (also known locally as Soosé) of Gambia, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, and a handful of communities of Sierra Leone. In the context of interpreting, I am constantly bedeviled by this diversity of dialects, which must be explained anew to each new client so as to excuse my inability to interpret for a native speaker of one of the non-Gambian dialects. (They may not realize it, but French and Spanish interpreters are spoiled, since all the world recognizes the distinction between those two Latin dialects; yet Ivorian and Gambian Mandingo are no more alike.)
Focusing on the Gambian dialect, its dominant system of orthography was published in the 1980’s by an English Christian mission organization known as W.E.C. International (originally Worldwide Evangelisation Crusade). The W.E.C. translators devised an ingenious and largely consistent method of transcribing Mandingo phonemes using the Roman alphabet, which any literate speaker can master with a little practice. However, hardly any native speakers are acquainted with the written form of the language, since it is never taught except in a few isolated outposts of W.E.C. mission activity—unless, of course, you have internet access, in which case you can browse their splendid website, mandinka.org, to read and hear the latest news in Gambian Mandingo, including sports.
From the perspective of an English-speaking student, Mandingo certainly has its share of false friends: adopted English words like kalasoo (“glass” but also “ice”) and lemunoo (“orange”) that have taken on logical, though novel shifts in meaning. But from a Mandingo speaker’s perspective, the English language takes betrayal to a whole new level, introducing the false sister, brother, mother, and father!—i.e., English words whose Mandingo counterparts are more specific in meaning, yet broader in application. More specific in meaning, because there is no word for both an older (kotomaa) and a younger (doomaa) sibling; hence any translation must incorporate both. Broader in application, because it is customary for the Mandingo speaker to refer to any blood or adopted relative as older sibling, younger sibling, father, or mother as a term of endearment and respect.
Time and again, when a native speaker whose speech I am interpreting has referred to some relative as “father” or “sister” whom later questioning revealed to be an uncle or cousin, I have either been suspected of mistranslating or the native speaker suspected—and even accused—of lying. When possible and appropriate, either one of us has tried to explain this cultural disparity in the use of kinship terms to the English-speaking client. But often there is either no opportunity to do so, or the English speaker simply cannot understand how such an ironclad concept as “father” can be so flexible, that one can casually apply it to any beloved elder male relative whom one has known since childhood. But every Mandingo will attest that it is so.
This broad and fluid concept of kinship is not limited to contemporary Mandingoes born and educated in Africa. When Mandingo men, women, and children were sold into slavery in the New World during the 16th through 19th centuries (among them Alex Haley’s legendary ancestor, Kunta Kinte, said to have hailed from Juffure, the Gambia), they brought this heritage along with them, along with their language and a syncretic mix of their ancestral religion and Islam. Contrary to popular belief among African- and non-African-Americans alike, this heritage was not obliterated by slavery and never will be, so long as African-Americans refer to one another as brother or “bro” (Mandingo, baa), and so long as we all refer to the music they invented as jazz—likely, according to “Bound to Africa: The Mandinka Legacy in the New World” by Matt Schaffer, History in Africa 32 (2005), derived from the Mandingo jahaasi (“to mix up”), in turn borrowed from the Wolof.
But the most notable English loan-word from Mandingo has regrettably been degraded in meaning over the centuries since it was brought here by forced migrants, retaining barely a hint of its original meaning: mumbo-jumbo, a corruption of the name of perhaps the most potent and feared Mandingo kankurango, maamajomboo (ma’-ma-jōm-bō’’). Space and my own knowledge are too spare to expatiate upon the subject of the kankurango, more than to say that it any one of a pantheon of spirit beings that visit the community of mortals from time to time, protecting children from evil, resolving disputes among men and women, entertaining, prophesying (one power of maamajomboo), or simply wreaking havoc and terror—all at their own good pleasure. Spend enough time in the rural parts of the Gambia, and you will see one (and perhaps even be pursued by an angry, machete-wielding kankurang wulengo, as I was last year). Until then, to get a glimpse of kankurang wulengo, or the red kankurango, protector of boys during circumcision, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Su63W5xxzXY

Speaking The Language of International Development

Alpha Omega Translations — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 16:07:25 +0000

Language is a crucial consideration in international development. In communities around the world, language diversity is common, and bilingualism of individuals is vital to business and social life. Language diversity raises issues in education that must be addressed, because they underlie many other important social issues. For example, choices about the language in which children begin schooling and become literate are fundamental to ensuring equal educational opportunity. Education is central to reducing poverty and enabling social and economic development.

International sustainable development promotes a cross-disciplinary understanding of economics, law, sociology, political science, anthropology and language, in the context of sustainable or environmentally friendly positive social and economic change.

The terminology of international development is constantly evolving as new socioeconomic concepts emerge. In over 25 years of experience in translation for global development we have witnessed the appearance of a number of neologisms, either entirely new or established terms used with a different meaning in such organizations as USAID, the IDB, World Bank, the United Nations Development Program, etc.

Translating into dialects can be challenging due to cultural references and limited vocabulary in the scientific domain. For instance the Ilocano (Philippines) language’s lexical inadequacy is observed in the profession. Another major challenge in Ilocano translation stems from the fact that Ilocano is a predicate initial language. When a translator attempts to follow the syntax of the source language in order to maintain accuracy or fidelity, the resulting translation often lacks natural flow and cohesiveness, undermining transparency.

Likewise translating and interpreting for the Chuukese language (islands of Chuuk) s also challenging, especially due to major cultural differences between the islands and the mainland United States. The Chuukese language usually does not have its own words for legal, scientific or modern socio-economic terms. The Chuukese number system also poses one of the greatest challenges to an interpreter. The Chuukese language has a completely different numbering system for objects of different sizes and shapes: long objects, round objects, meats and certain vegetables, people, weapons, etc. The Chuukese dictionary lists two pages of such variants!

Translators need to work around these challenges to achieve a balance in accuracy, fidelity, transparency, equivalency, and cultural appropriateness of the translation.

Some of our latest translation projects for International Development:
• Road and Water Investments in Uzbekistan
• Strengthening the Judiciary in Lebanon
• Rural Development Initiatives in Afghanistan
• Democracy Enhancement and Good Governance Initiatives in South America
• Water and Sanitation Program in Angola
• Supporting Democratic Governance in Egypt
• Expansion of the Provincial Roads Management Facility in the Philippines
• Support to the Education Sector in the Philippines
• Support to Road, Energy and Natural Resource Management in Malawi
• Country-level annual reports for NGO programs
• NGO purchasing procedures in the field
• Malaria Protocols in developing countries
• Blood transfusion protocols in the field in Ivory Coast
• Schools and educational programs in South America
• Guide to Sexual and Reproductive Health in Francophone West Africa
• Social networks and family planning in Mali
• HIV/AIDS in Cote d’Ivoire
• Water use program in Congo
• Gender based violence in sub-Saharan Africa
• Role of entrepreneurship to reduce poverty in Morocco
• Global Fund HIV/AIDS program in Mali
• Policy for Sexual and Reproductive Health Programs in Africa
• Country-wide immunization programs West Africa
• HIV/AIDS and retroviral protocols
• NGO human resources policies and procedures
• Open Budget Survey material and E-newsletters – Africa
• Training material and Reports South America
• Command Assessment and Training in Argentina
• Transparency Standards in Peru: Strengthening the Culture of Integrity
• Intellectual Property Policy in South America
• Addressing the needs of girls at risk of early marriage and married adolescent girls in Burkina Faso
• Piloting a safe spaces, asset-building program for adolescent girls in urban Ghana
• Expanding safe spaces, financial education, and savings for adolescent girls in Kenya
• Ending Child Marriage in Ethiopia
• Growth and Productivity in Agriculture and Agribusiness
• The Rise, Fall, and Recovery of the Microfinance Sector in Morocco
• The Cotton Crisis and Diversification of Crops in Cameroon
• Institutional and Capacity Challenges in Agricultural Policy Reforms in DRC
• Expanding Family Planning Options in Africa
• Care and Support for People Living with HIV/AIDS in Côte d’Ivoire
• Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS in the Democratic Republic of Congo
• Nutritional Support of Orphans and Vulnerable Children in the Context of HIV/AIDS in Côte d’Ivoire
• Fertility Awareness for Young People (various African countries)
• Social Networks Project in Mali
• Commodity Prices on World Markets
• Government Support to the Cotton Industry in the USA, China, Turkey, India, the European Union, Brazil and Columbia
• Cotton Price Trends on World Markets
• Immunization Coverage Survey in Mayotte, etc.

The Brief History of the Slovak Language

Alpha Omega Translations — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 21:23:41 +0000

The language of all Slovans was the Praslovan language. This was before the eight century and all Slovan languages, including the Slovak language, have developed throughout the centuries from this old original language. Although there are no written documents from these times, by comparison with certain words from different Slovan languages, linguists were able to identify the vocabulary of the old Praslovan language with high certainty. It is very interesting that some of the words from the old language survived the centuries of cultural and political changes to be part of the current literary Slovak language. Only the simple and shortest words survived and they describe nature (Hora = Mountain, Zem = Earth, Blato = Mud), family ties (Syn = Son, Otec = Father, Ujo = Uncle), parts of the human body (Hlava = Head, Ruka = Arm, Noha = Leg) and quite naturaly the words for the most common tasks from agriculture (Orať = Plough, Žať = Crop, Siať = Sow). When you pronounce these words you can feel the taste of the past.
The past has seen many changes. One of the most important past events that had a huge impact on the culture and religion at the territory of Slovak Republic (in that time Great Moravia) was the visit of the two missionary brothers from Thessaloniki, Saints Cyril and Methodius. From today’s perspective, they can be considered very successful in spreading the Old Church Slavonic language in this region through the translation of Bible and its promotion. The language itself consisted of the Glagolitic alphabet which was based on the small letters of the Greek alphabet and served as the foundation of the first written documents, including the first Slavic Civil Code. The Old Church Slavonic language was used as the official language until the 10th century which has seen the collapse of Great Moravia and the language was substituted by the Latin language. The region became a part of the Ugrian and later Austrougrian state and Latin was used as administrative, liturgical and literary language until the 14th century.
The period from the 14th to 16th century was marked by the renaissance of the native languages. Under the influence of the newly established university of Prague, the Husit army and reformations which supported the use of native language rather than the Latin, the slovakized Czech language was used as the official language at the territory of Slovakia. The language mix of Slovak and Czech language was used until the 18th century, when the first literary Slovak language was legitimized by Anton Bernolák. The grammar of the language was purely phonetic and it did not distinguish between the letters “y” and “i”; moreover, instead of the letter “j” the language used the letter “g” and it included the letter “w”. It was based on the western dialect which was later amended by Ľudovít Štúr, who has based the new version of literary Slovak language on the dialect of the middle Slovakia. Although this can be considered a huge step from the slovakized Czech language, the major amendment was ratified by M. Hodža and M.Hurban. The Slovak language became less phonetic and there were new strict rules for the letters “y” and “i”. These rules are the biggest challenge for the Slovak children learning the language still today.
Finally, when we are looking at the history from the perspective of a language service provider, the most important year is the year 1995. The Slovak government passed the Slovak State Language Law under which all the foreign companies which want to sell their products on the Slovak market have to translate the user guides and manuals into the Slovak language. This law increased not only the volume of translated text into Slovak language, but also the attractiveness of the business. The increased competition resulted in improved quality of services, more competitive prices and innovative approach. Slovakia has entered the 21st Century as an attractive market for all language service providers willing to compete for the businesses and institutions that need to localize their documents into Slovak language.

Military Translation

Alpha Omega Translations — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 22:51:39 +0000

Military language has developed through centuries. The documentation of military history begins with the confrontation between Sumer (current Iraq) and Elam (current Iran) c.2700 BCE near the modern Basra, and includes such records as the Hebrew Bible. Since then military sphere has developed tremendously, and even nowadays military terminology and language structure is growing day by day. A military translator has to keep up with the pace of changes. The content of the terminology of modern military and defense technology is not permanent. It is constantly changing. Various terms evolve due to the rearrangement of military force, appearance of new types of armament and military technique, new methods of warfare.

The formation of military terms is carried out in accordance with the rules of English word-building: morphological, with affixation (racketeer, maneuverability, missilery), word formation (warhead, nuclear-powered), conversion (to mortar, to officer), abbreviation (radar, FRBA), lexico-semantic shift changes (to land originally was used to denote disembarking on land, now it means carrying out landing on any (including water) surface), borrowings from other languages (maneuver, coup d’état, aide de camp, bunker).

Military translation is a very specific discipline. It sometimes requires a detailed knowledge of military science, hierarchical structures in the army. At times a translator has to deal with an audience composed of people of diverse military, educational and cultural background. Therefore, he has to take it into consideration and be understandable and multicultural. Moreover, a military translator should have a huge sense of responsibility. Sometimes an erroneous translation of one word can lead to a lack of understanding, even a fatal misunderstanding. Wrong translation of military technical manuals can lead to weapon misuse. Therefore, a military translator should be careful and proficient, and he has often to be specialized in technical and even legal issues.

Thorough knowledge of military terminology is a must for a military translator. All military texts abound in specific military and technical terms, abbreviations and idioms. Many of these terms and definitions can be diverse, i.e. they can have a huge variety of interpretations, depending on the context. (For example, in the case of the words unit and command: Unit:1) any military element whose structure is prescribed by a competent authority. 2) An organization title or a subdivision of a group in a task force, etc. Command: 1) The authority that a commander in armed forces exercises over subordinates by virtue of rank. 2) An order given by a commander, 3) A unit/units, an organization or an area under the command of an individual, etc)

Armies have differences. The latter are mostly observed in rank names. (eg. the British rank field marshal. Some nations use the title of marshal instead, while some might use field marshal general). NATO has agreed on common standards for translating of the ranks in its document STANAG 2116.

There can also be a case, when there is a necessity of translating idiomatic military expressions and slang. In this case one has to rely on a dictionary, as well as his own skills. A sentence like ,,Drilled sergeants have smoked (or dogged) the recruit”, can give a headache to a translator not being used to military jargon, otherwise who would have thought that a ,,donkey kick” would mean the bottom section of PRC-25/77 radio antenna?

Military abbreviations are another challenge for a translator, and a huge challenge. There is a whole ocean of abbreviations and one can get lost in it. However, if you work in a specific field, it would be helpful to know those of that concrete field. Various dictionaries of military abbreviations can help.

Apart from a vast terminology, there is also one feature characteristic of military translation: its accuracy and laconism in the absence of figurative and emotional expression. It does require experience and skills as well as profound knowledge of one’s native language. A translator should be aware of the organizational structure of the armies of the relevant foreign states, their strategy and tactics, armaments and defense technique.

Due to the internalization and global character of some military trainings and operations, it is important that military knowledge (as well as the military language) does not retire its own shell. The military field requires knowledge of world military structures. Therefore, proficient translation in this field is quite important. Apart from modern literature, it is also useful to have classic books of warfare translated in one’s language, as these masterpieces provide the history of the development of modern military arts and can even be a contribution to modern tactics.

Translating into Slovak

Alpha Omega Translations — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 14:14:25 +0000

Slovak (Slovenčina) is the official language of Slovakia. It is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic Languages. More than 5 million people speak Slovak in Slovakia. This language is also spoken in the United States (1, 200 000), the Czech Republic (320 000), Serbia (60 000), Ireland (30 000), Romania (22 000), Hungary (20 000), Poland (20 000), Canada (20 000), Croatia (5 000), Australia, Austria, the United Kingdom, Ukraine and Bulgaria. There are around 29 dialects of Slovak, which are subdivided in three large groups (western, central and eastern dialects).
Slovak is related to other West Slavic languages, but mostly to Czech. Since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993, Slovakia has been an independent country and the Slovak and Czech languages have started to drift apart, though they are still more or less mutually comprehensible. Most Czechs and Slovaks are able to read in both languages or conduct a conversation, each speaking his/her own language, without any difficulty.
The elements of spoken Slovak language appeared before the 18th century. Slovak developed as a standardized national language in the late 18th and the early 19th century. In 1787 Anton Bernolák published his Dissertatio Philologico-critica de litteris Slavorum along with orthography rules, in which he codified a Slovak language standard. In the middle of the 19th century Ľudovít Štúr and his associates created a monumental work on the Slovak language. The codification version used by Štúr became a real language reform. The Bible was translated in the literary Slovak language in 1750. With the establishment of Czechoslovakia in 1918, the Slovak language was saved from probable extinction and became an official language for the first time in history along with the Czech language. Slovak literature flourished between 1918 and 1938 when the Slovak-speaking area became part of Czechoslovakia. When after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia Slovakia became a sovereign state, the influence of Czech language somewhat diminished. With the development of economy and tourism in Slovakia, translation from and to Slovak has gained momentum.
Compared to English, Slovak is easy to read correctly, because you write as you hear. On the other hand, the grammar is relatively irregular and differs from the English grammar, which has gone far beyond its Indo-European roots. In Slovak one can come across peculiarly Slavonic grammatical and lexical characteristics. Declension is less prominent in English. English nouns decline to distinguish singular from plural (eg., a pen vs. pens). There exist seven cases of nouns and adjectives in Slovak: nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, locative, instrumental and vocative. The latter has nearly disappeared. Like other Slavonic languages, Slovak has composite inflections for its nouns and adjectives. Slovak syntax can be far more flexible than English, which has largely abandoned the Indo-European inflectional case. This feature and the opportunity of using a huge number of inflections, suffixes and prefixes, can provide a skilled literary translator toiling over a novel with a vast field of action for translation into Slovak, so that he can choose from a broad spectrum of appropriate nuances he wishes to convey. On the other hand, it can be a headache as well, especially for the beginners. One has to consider a never-ending stream of prepositions peculiar to this or that case. In this connection, things are far more easy for the speakers of other Slavic languages, possessing a similar grammatical case system.
The major difficulties in translating from English to Slovak are: verbal aspects, verbs of motion, syntax, nominal and adjectival declension, vocabulary.
Although English and Slovak are not cognate languages, there can be observed a certain semantic shift in the words of similar origin and identical sound, i.e. they can turn into the so-called ,,false friends”, seemingly denoting the same meaning in two different languages (because of the common morphological forms).
There are parallels in the English and Slovak languages with regards to family members (Slov. Sistra vs Eng. Sister, etc.) However, there can be also observed an absolute absence of similarity in the names of relatives. For example, different words can be used to denote paternal or matrilineal kinship line. in Slovak there can be distinguished an uncle on one’s father side (Slov.) strýc, and an uncle on one’s mother side (Slov.) ujo.
There can exist established word combinations, shedding light on the frequency of lexical units in communication. For example, if we consider a Slovak saying: Aký otec, taký sy’, it fully coincides with the English expression: Like father, like Son. Such linguistic comparison can help in understanding the mentality of language bearers.
No culture and, therefore, no language can be developed in isolation. Nowadays adoption is one of the most widespread ways of enriching a language vocabulary. There are many verbs with –ova- suffix in Slovak. This group is the second largest. This form has entered in many spheres of life: sports, art, television. For example, an English verb to surf has developed into surfovat in Slovak, and the verb (Eng.) to skate has transformed into (Slov.) skejtovat. The same is the case with the Slovak verbs ,,koncertovat” (perform), režírovať (to direct), nominovať (to nominate).
There can be observed interesting phraseological parallels in the English and Slovak languages. braniť sa [niečomu] zubami- nechtami — to fight tooth and nail; precediť [slová] cez (pomedzi) zuby — to say through set teeth. It is also worth mentioning Slovac and English phrases: Láska je ako prsteň, konca kraja nemá. — (Engl.) Love is a ring, but a ring has no end, (Slov.). Láska nehnevaná nie je milovaná. — (Eng.). Lovers’ tiffs are harmless.

Languages might differ and there might be cases that cultural specifics sometimes seem ,,untranslatable”. However, translators should face these challenges. All languages are the carriers of cultural nuances and all of them have one thing in common- they are a means of communication. This means is increasingly important in the modern world of globalization and intercultural connections.

Different words, one meaning

Alpha Omega Translations — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:34:13 +0000

One of the most widely spoken languages in the world, hated by some and loved by others, Spanish has evolved from a rich blend made up of languages as different as Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, French, Italian and other European expression systems into our European Spanish and Latin American Spanish of today, where each country and province has its own set of lingos, slang and idioms that identifies each of them.

Indeed, and just like other languages, Spanish has particular words in each country and location for the same item. Although the Diccionario de la Real Academia is one of the most respected places where you can find anything related to correct and approved Spanish words, sometimes these words are not used at all and other lingo is applied, which gives a unique Spanish expression dictionary to each country and province within that country.

In that sense, you will find local sets of words for each area of activities, such as vehicles, daily life, clothes, food, gangs, and many others. Therefore, do not be surprised if you get a strange feeling when you hear Spanish speakers from different countries having a conversation about cars (“coches”, “autos” and “carros” in Spain, Argentina and Venezuela, respectively) and their parts; European Spanish speakers say “neumático” (tire), and “volante” (steering wheel), while Cubans use “llanta” and “timón”. Likewise, a “coche” is driven by an adult person in Spain, but is used by a mother to carry her baby in Venezuela. The Mexican captain of a ship maneuvers with a “timón” while a “volante” is an advertising piece of paper distributed to a crowd — (the English equivalent to a steering wheel and a flyer, respectively).

Regarding parts of the human body, a “jeta” is a Colombian slang expression for mouth, which is not even close to the word “boca”, used in most of the countries. Always in Colombia, “torre” or “coco” are sometimes used for head (“cabeza”), and you will never hear an Argentinian using “guata” (belly) as it is used by most Chileans. Other words for parts of the body are: “greñas”, “bemba”, and “pompis” (hair, mouth, and buttocks, respectively, in Venezuela). “ñejos” means teeth in Colombia, and “chiva” is used for beard in Venezuela.

However, two Spanish speakers understand each other pretty well, and they will always have a way to get across the meaning of something. After having spent a few months in another Spanish speaking country, you will see — even if you are an English speaker — that it is not so hard to understand their word systems, and you will get used to them somewhere in time, thus enriching your Spanish vocabulary as well as your cultural mindset.

Literary Translation

Alpha Omega Translations — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:18:30 +0000

Imagine if Homer’s “Iliad”, Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina”, “The Diary of Anne Frank”, or Proust’s “Remembrance of Things Past” only existed in their original source languages? What if these works did not exist for English language readers? Gratefully, literary translators– with their keen ability to wordsmith such literary masterpieces– pave pathways to the literatures of different countries and cultures by translating foreign language novels, short stories, essays, poems, plays, children’s stories, and other genres.

How is literary translation different from general or technical translation? First, literary translation involves far more than translating a text word for word; a literary translator must be proficient in the written portrayal of emotions, cultural nuances, humor, and other subtleties. Conversely, in technical translation, word for word content is generally more important than form. It is also important for a literary translator to capture the original work’s subtext; therefore, a literary translator must possess an in-depth understanding of the social, historical, and cultural context of the original work. Then, it is important for the translator to read the original work with great attention to not only the text, but also the author’s intent- that is, the author’s reasons for choosing the words and images that they used. Furthermore, a literary translator must learn to differentiate between the author’s language conventions and the author’s style.

Literary translators would agree that there are unique challenges in their branch of translation. When the source and target languages belong to different cultural groups, the first problem faced by a literary translator is finding terms in their own language that adequately convey the meaning of certain culture-specific words (culinary traditions, for example) while still “sounding good”. Determining how to translate puns inter-linguistically is also a particularly difficult feat since puns are meant to be ambiguous. Titles of stories and novels are often intentionally ambiguous, too, so at times they are extremely difficult or even impossible to translate. Yet, despite these frustrations, literary translators cherish their field’s unique benefits-namely, a tangible end result of their work. Perhaps the greatest reward is seeing the novel they had laboriously translated on a library or bookstore shelf.

Without the great gift offered by these translators, many of the world’s literary treasures would be left undiscovered in far away lands, their pages never turned by avid readers continents away.

The thrill of translating techno-thrillers: Mission Possible

Alpha Omega Translations — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 14:08:43 +0000

For those who believe the translating world is divided in two domains, the literary translation and the commercial translation, translating techno-thrillers can be quite a risky adventure. Having translated several James Bond, science-fiction, and military action novels into French, I discovered that this enterprise requires military organization, scientific research, logistic capabilities and operational readiness; and, of course, intuitive writing skills.

The mission is indeed risky, and when you start to unfold the strategic map where the action is to take place, the terrain starts looking like a mine field. The traps are numerous and various in nature: technical descriptions of airplanes, radars, artillery sites, submarines, battle ships, computer systems, telecommunication systems. When your mission, as hard as it is, requires you to get basic training in these various existing defense and attack systems, it becomes an even more hazardous task when you have to get acquainted with newly invented spacecraft, genetic species and communication systems for which you have no name in French.
After you have assessed your capabilities and estimated the enemy forces, if you want to prevent your operation from getting off course, you must remember that you are, after all, translating a novel.

As with any military mission, you need to plan as much as possible in advance and provide for a back up plan for when the enemy shows up in a different place than expected. Now you attach your parachute, close your eyes and jump. You will have time to get scared after you return to your home base – if you return.

First and foremost, organizing the research and hiring experts in the various fields of activity is essential. Obtaining research material on military equipment is an adventure by itself, sometimes requiring intelligence capabilities. When one of the airplanes you have to describe at length in French is the B2, long kept secret Stealth bomber, your task starts looking like a spy mission. American and French military specialists joined the mission to assist me understand how various military airplanes, submarines, and battleships function, how they are organized and how they interact during military operations. French and American fighter pilots threw themselves into the battle to help me survive dog fights. When thermo-guided missiles started chasing Vertical Take Off and Landing Sea Harriers, I finally learned which button to push to launch flares and chaff decoys.

Science fiction novels tested my survival skills. Managing mining activities on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, with equipment for which I had to invent a French name, is exciting. Discovering blue skinned aliens and dealing with their psychology made me feel as if I was writing a script for the X Files. When the author decided to use a specialized enzyme as a “molecular knife” to isolate and snip specific genes to cross both human and alien species, I had to stop for a while and get a crash course in genetics, and call my doctor friends for help to review my work and keep my sanity.

After this operational stage was under way, the technical translation checked by experts and the texts reviewed for accuracy by consultants, I was left with a battlefield scattered with technical parts. Cleaning up the style and organizing the story was not a minor undertaking, either. Following the author’s thought like an elegant yet discreet shadow is an essential rule; however, since most action novels are read mainly by men, I had to make sure that the novels did not appear to be written by Barbara Cartland.
This is where my squad of pilots helped again. Since most dialogs were written in a jargon understood only by pilots, army soldiers, and navy seamen, translating US military slang used in the various branches into French slang spoken in the corresponding arms became a rescue mission.

Finally, as long as James Bond stuck to rescuing pretty girls from vicious enemy in his shining fighter plane, I was pleased to follow him, for I could finally find some humor and even light sex in this otherwise dry masculine literature. But when he decided he had to solve a riddle by referring to Dante’s Inferno to save himself from enemy fire, I became annoyed. Wasn’t he getting off line? Still, overcoming this genre-mixing hurdle, I retrieved my dusty copy of Divina Commedia in its original version and looked for an official translation to retrieve the names of all demons in French. Consumed by these hellish flames, in the end I rescued him and brought him home safely to Admiral M and Miss Monneypenny. Mission accomplished. Au revoir, James.

By Dimitra Hengen- Published in Capital Translator – February 1999

James Bond, Role of Honor by John Gardner. Translated into French and published in 1996
James Bond, Win, Lose or Die by John Gardner. Translated into French and published in 1996
Saturn’s Child by Nichelle Nichols. Translated into French and published in 1996
Nightstalker by Timothy Rizzi. Translated into French and published in 1997

Medical Interpreters in the United States

Alpha Omega Translations — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:24:29 +0000

Can you imagine having a severe medical emergency and not being able to communicate with or understand the physician treating you? Fortunately, there is a solution to this frequent conundrum: Medical interpretation services. Medical interpreters are also known as “healthcare interpreters”. They facilitate communications between health care providers and their patients with Limited English Proficiency. Medical interpreters work in hospitals, clinics, or medical offices, with greatest demand being in urban areas where the population tends to be more linguistically diverse. They may also work at conferences, in courtrooms, and other non-medical settings.

Many refugees and displaced persons with limited English proficiency might actually avoid situations where they are obliged to interact with native English speakers, like at the doctor’s office. This could lead to dangerous consequences if medical attention is not sought until after it is too late. Also, a single misinterpreted medical term could mean the difference between life and death. This is a risk most doctors and health care facilities are simply unwilling to take. Medical interpretation offers a valuable service to physicians, by lowering a physician’s malpractice liability. Furthermore, utilizing medical interpreters allows a physician to attract a broader patient base of international patients which otherwise might be inaccessible.

In the United States, between 15,000 and 17,000 people work as medical interpreters, and the number is expected to increase as hospitals and clinics add more medical interpreters to their staff. The International Medical Interpreters Association (IMIA) plays a crucial role in medical interpretation awareness. The IMIA is a US-based organization, whose online presence is a venue for recruitment, advocacy, and training/education related to this ever-growing field. Interpreters in this field need a strong foundation of cultural sensitivity, personal discretion, and ample knowledge of medical and colloquial terminology in both English and the foreign language in which they are fluent. Many US universities offer specialized certifications in Medical Interpretation, the course work for which sharpens the professional capabilities of these interpreters.

According to a Bureau of Labor and Statistics report, medical interpreters enjoy very high demand for their services as the country’s international population increases. The need for medical interpreters is expected to grow by 22% over the ten-year period ending in 2018, which is considered “much faster than average” and represents the addition of more than 11,000 new medical interpreter positions during this period. By law, any entity that receives federal funding, whether it’s Medicare reimbursement or research grants, must provide a patient with limited English proficiency an interpreter at no cost to the patient. In early 2009, California enacted a language-services law requiring all health plans and insurers to provide an interpreter for limited-English speaking patients at no cost to the patients. (Gerencher, Kristen. [5 November 2009] “When English becomes a Barrier to Care.” Retrieved from: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/demand-for-medical-interpreters-is-booming-2009-11-05?pagenumber=1).

The field of medical interpretation has certainly come a long way from the days when patients would rely solely on their minor children or when hospital staff would comb their ranks for candidates or ask if anyone in the waiting room spoke Polish, for example. (Gerencher).This niche industry will continue to grow along with the United States billowing number of non-native English speakers. All patients having access to complete and comprehensive medical care can be attained thanks in part to the role of medical interpreters.

A Glimpse into the Persian Language

Alpha Omega Translations — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 23:45:38 +0000

Persian is an Iranian language categorized on the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family of languages. There are an estimated 56 million Persian speakers in the world today. It is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzebekistan and, to some extent, in Armenia, Iraq, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Oman and Bahrain and throughout the Iranian diasporas in North America and Europe.

The Persian language is written in a Perso-Arabic script, which is an expanded version of Arabic script. There are three modern varieties of standard Persian: Iranian Persian, Afghan Persian, and Tajik Persian. Iranian Persian is the variety of Persian spoken in Iran, commonly referred to as “Farsi” (in Persian) or just “Persian” (in English). Afghan Persian (or Dari), is the Persian spoken in Afghanistan. It is also referred to as “Eastern Persian”, and officially as “Dari”. Tajik Persian (Tajiki) is the variety of Persian used in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Russia– but unlike the Persian used in Iran and Afghanistan, it is written in the Cyrillic script rather than the Perso-Arabic script. By and large, all spoken variants of Persian are mutually intelligible; however, the Persian that is spoken in Tehran is the standard by which all other Persian dialects are measured.

Persian is the first language of about 50 percent of the population in Iran, and is the country’s official language. It is the language of government, the media, and educational systems. In Iran, of the population that does not speak Farsi/Persian, 25 percent speak related Western Iranian languages (such as Balochi) and 25 percent speak Arabic, New Aramaic, Armenian, Georgian, Romany, and Turkic languages. (www.asiasociety.com)

Until recent centuries, Persian was culturally and historically one of the most prominent languages of the Middle East and Asia. For example, it was an important language during the reign of the Moghuls in India (1526-1858) where knowledge of Persian was cultivated and encouraged. A Persian Indian vernacular once flourished in India. In 1837, officials of the East Indian Company banned the use of Persian in Moghul courts; however, colonial British officers continued to learn their Persian from Indian scribes.

As illustrated by its influence on Moghul India, Persian language has left its mark on Southeast Asian languages, namely Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi and Bengali. Some Farsi loan words incorporated into the Urdu and Hindi language include: donya (“world” in English), garam (“warm” in English), ketab (“book” in English). Persian language has also impacted neighboring languages, particularly the Turkic languages in Central Asia, as well as Armenian, Arabic and other languages.

Having influenced the vocabulary of a multitude of other languages, the Persian language itself has also adopted many foreign words into its lexicon. Historically, Iran’s extensive contact with the Islamic world had led to a vast absorption of Arabic words. In fact, many Persian and Arabic words had once been interchangeable. Today, however, there are far less Arabic words found in colloquial Persian as most of them have been nativized. Since the nineteenth century and because of Iran’s colonial past, Russian, French, English and many other languages have also contributed to the technical vocabulary of modern Persian. Some Persian words borrowed from French, for example, include cinema, maillot (“swimsuit” in English), gendarme (“police” in English), and merci (“thank you” in English).

Overall, Persian is a colorful language that has broadly influenced and been influenced by Asian, Middle Eastern and European languages. Its place on the world language tree- as an Indo-European language– also confirms its linguistic affiliations to many regions of the world.