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That view only makes sense if you view translation as purely an encoding process: "let's express in language B exactly the same meaning as in language A". Then
by Al-Khwarizmi 6y ago
That view only makes sense if you view translation as purely an encoding process: "let's express in language B exactly the same meaning as in language A". Then sure, you can always do it (as far as I know) if you are willing to accept an unbounded encoding length. Even in a language from an isolated tribe who has never seen a train, you could painstakingly describe all the details of a plain.
However, that seems to me like an over-reductionistic view of translation. Typically, in all except highly technical contexts, you don't only want to convey meaning, you want to keep at least a modicum of naturalness, the feeling that your translated sentence is something that a native speaker of language B might really say.
With that in view, I think it makes sense to say that there are words that are untranslatable in practice. Meaning is not lost, naturalness is.
For example, to say "facepalm" in Spanish you would have to say something like "I place my hand on my face in frustration". Does that convey the meaning? Sure. Has any Spanish speaker ever said it? I highly doubt it, except for the joke of trying to translate something that just doesn't lend itself to it.
- kqr 6y agoRight, but it feels like you're already moving the goalposts slightly. The word "facepalm" is rarely meant to convey the literal act of slapping the forehead, but rather to communicate the resigned frustration associated with it. Surely, also Spanish people have ways to express resigned frustration?
- Al-Khwarizmi 6y agoI think it's quite frecuently meant to convey the literal act. If I search for the word in the news, I get lots of examples of it (this is just the first: https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-trump-retweeted-clip-of-fauci-face-palming-behind-him-2020-3?IR=T https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-trump-retweeted-...). Obviously, if you are using it in an internet forum you're probably not literally facepalming, just as if you use "lol" you're not laughing out loud, but even in these cases, I don't think that means that you can entirely decouple the word from the gesture. At least for me, when I read the word, what I imagine is someone facepalming. There are several other ways to express resigned frustration (a sigh, a shake of the head) but they are not the same even if they are ways of expressing the same.
- leobabauta 6y agoIt's very rarely used to convey the literal act. The link you posted is an exception, and is noteworthy exactly because of that. When the word is used, it's almost always meant to convey the feeling.