Però el problema també es dóna en la traducció inversa. Pot haver-hi un missatge comercial pensat en català que, en traduir-lo a l'anglès, doni com a resultat una construcció massa llarga i poc comercial.
Ens ha fet gràcia veure com en un bloc anglès parlen sobre la millor traducció d'un missatge comercial del català a l'anglès.
Aquestes reflexions seran cada cop més habituals en un món global i multilingüe. Perquè el món serà cada cop més global. I multilingüe... ho espero!
Peter Harvey, linguist
A blog about language and languages, not forgetting the books I have written
20/01/2009 Take care!
The picture shows an advertisement for coffee in a bar-restaurant in Barcelona (Pg. de Gràcia / València). The Catalan says Cuida’t amb el nostre cappucino(Spanish Cuídate con nuestro cappucino). Fair enough, but the translation doesn’t work. It’s not an easy translation; if I were doing it – and I do do translation work for advertising – I would probably go for a free version: Treat yourself to our cappuccino. In any event, a more literal translation would be something like Look after yourself or even Take care of yourself, which might be too long for the available space. But the translation that has been published is simply wrong. The English word care has two meanings (COD):1 the provision of what is necessary for the health, welfare, maintenance, and protection of someone or something…2 serious attention or consideration applied to an action or plan. a feeling of or occasion for anxiety.
and it is the second, the idea of precaution, that is expressed in take care(COD again):
take care 1 be cautious; keep oneself safe.
So Take care with our cappuccino is not a proper translation of the original. In fact, it means Alerta al nostre cappuccino! or ¡Cuidado con nuestro cappuccino!
20/01/2009 at 13:59 | Permalink
25/05/2009 Barça can’t be bothered with translators
It is well known that in Romance languages the superlative form is made with the preposition de. If this flag which I saw in Barcelona the other day had been written in Catalan, it would have said El millor del món. In English it should say The best in the world, as any native speaker – let alone a professional translator – could have told Barça if they had bothered to ask. As it is, they have made a Great English Mistake.
25/05/2009 at 18:01 | Permalink
20/01/2009 at 13:59 | Permalink
25/05/2009 Barça can’t be bothered with translators
It is well known that in Romance languages the superlative form is made with the preposition de. If this flag which I saw in Barcelona the other day had been written in Catalan, it would have said El millor del món. In English it should say The best in the world, as any native speaker – let alone a professional translator – could have told Barça if they had bothered to ask. As it is, they have made a Great English Mistake.25/05/2009 at 18:01 | Permalink