4 ms·
As a South Korean, it is interesting to me that their translation of the technical terms which originate from English is quite different to ours. In general, th
by barosl 12y ago
As a South Korean, it is interesting to me that their translation of the technical terms which originate from English is quite different to ours. In general, the loanwords in North Korean tend to follow the meaning of the original words, whereas those in South Korean follow the pronunciation of the words.
For example, "system memory" is translated as "시스템 메모리" in South Korean, which is basically a transcription that reads as [siseutem memori]. In contrast, the same word is translated to "체계기억기" in North Korean, which is composed of 체계(=system), 기억(=remembering), 기(=machine), as shown in the last figure.
And also, they tend to use less word spacing in general. "관리자가입정보설정" in North Korean would be written "관리자 가입 정보 설정" in South Korean. It's much alike German word compound vs. English word composition (Bundesverfassungsgericht vs. Federal Constitutional Court).
- Svip 12y agoI know this might be an irrelevant comment, but I prefer translations that translates the meaning, not the sound. And I feel it goes for my native language, Danish, as well, which has unfortunately been heavily populated with English loanwords, whose pronunciation has not changed. Which creates an unfortunate circumstance for the language, wherein a speaker has to know how a word is pronounced, and cannot necessarily guess it from its spelling.
- ptaipale 12y agoMore irrelevance, but I beg to differ. My mother tongue is a small language (Finnish) and much of the time this kind of translations don't really work for me. To convey a meaning, you often need new words and concepts. And when translations try to use "native" words which are new, not established and not widely understood (even if they are approved by the official body that recommends new words), they are not any more understandable - vice versa. Translations that just use slang, typically derived from English, are more understandable. This phenomenon is so strong that I actually prefer to use English versions of operating systems and applications, because the translations that make up their own words to "explain meaning" are complete gibberish. My wife often asks me to help with translated Microsoft software, and I tend to be at loss about what they're trying to say. If it is in English, there's no problem. If someone says it in slang that relies on words that come from the sound of English words, there's no problem.
- Svip 12y agoThis is my reasoning for using the term 'polluted'. I primarily use English interfaces (except for the select few times I'm handed a Danish one), because English at least maintains one thing I like: Consistency. The sad thing is there are decent technical terms translated into Danish, but no one uses them, because they never gained traction, so instead English words are used instead. I generally avoid these words when speaking, because I honestly don't like them. Most particularly, the word 'computer' bothers me like no other when speaking Danish, that I always avoid it. Usually I use »maskine« (machine) or the original Danish word for computer, »datamat«, if I feel so inclined.