3 ms·

It would be easy to translate any book into any other book (if every language was a one-to-one variant of each other with no differences in slang or metaphor or

It would be easy to translate any book into any other book (if every language was a one-to-one variant of each other with no differences in slang or metaphor or cultural backdrop that converts simple turns of phrases into a medley of aphorisms each deserving of their own short stories.) Other than that all you need is a camera, a computer and a dictionary.

bumby 5y ago
If that were true, we should expect to be able to feed that initial quote through multiple translations with minimal meaning loss. Here is the result of translating that entire phrase from English -> Greek -> Serbian -> Creole -> English with a popular translating tool: "put a Russian book at one end and an English book at the other, ”predicted Dr. Dostert." It completely loses its original meaning not to mention the latter half of the quote. I think the constraint of "if every language was a one-to-one variant" is too constricting to be of use in the real world. The reason why this is hard is because that rule rarely holds true. Language is more about communicating concepts than just words. Translating one-to-one concepts is much harder because you need to understand context.
- BizarroLand 5y ago
  Ok, I didn't think I was subtle but I was exceedingly sarcastic in my reply. I don't think any language is 1 to 1 with any other language, and expecting to be able to directly translate with a simple dictionary is patently absurd.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
jolmg 5y ago
Complications don't start at phrases. Being intimately familiar with a couple languages, I find it a bit frustrating how often single words can't be translated perfectly because of small differences in meaning. Google Translate also often gets confused with false friends.
- porknubbins 5y ago
  Yes and crossing language families often results in words your native language thinks of as atomic being divided into multiple more specific concepts (or vice versa). For example Japanese has no word for foot- they just say leg and use context to infer what part is meant. On the other hand they have 3 words for specific parts of the back/hip area we would usually just call back or lower back in English. This kind of thing causes no end of confusion.

bumby 5y ago

If that were true, we should expect to be able to feed that initial quote through multiple translations with minimal meaning loss. Here is the result of translating that entire phrase from English -> Greek -> Serbian -> Creole -> English with a popular translating tool: "put a Russian book at one end and an English book at the other, ”predicted Dr. Dostert." It completely loses its original meaning not to mention the latter half of the quote. I think the constraint of "if every language was a one-to-one variant" is too constricting to be of use in the real world. The reason why this is hard is because that rule rarely holds true. Language is more about communicating concepts than just words. Translating one-to-one concepts is much harder because you need to understand context.

BizarroLand 5y ago
Ok, I didn't think I was subtle but I was exceedingly sarcastic in my reply. I don't think any language is 1 to 1 with any other language, and expecting to be able to directly translate with a simple dictionary is patently absurd.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

jolmg 5y ago

Complications don't start at phrases. Being intimately familiar with a couple languages, I find it a bit frustrating how often single words can't be translated perfectly because of small differences in meaning. Google Translate also often gets confused with false friends.

porknubbins 5y ago
Yes and crossing language families often results in words your native language thinks of as atomic being divided into multiple more specific concepts (or vice versa). For example Japanese has no word for foot- they just say leg and use context to infer what part is meant. On the other hand they have 3 words for specific parts of the back/hip area we would usually just call back or lower back in English. This kind of thing causes no end of confusion.