Spanish to English Translation

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Spanish to English Translation

Posted On : May-17-2011 | seen (686) times | Article Word Count : 553 |

Both Spanish and English are among the world’s most widely-spoken languages, but surprisingly, non-professional translations often seem awkward, due to the different syntactical structure of the two idioms. For that reason it is essential that the translator and editor of the Spanish translation service be native speakers of English in order to make the final product acceptable to the client.
Part of the explanation, of course, is that English is a Germanic language, and Spanish is a romance tongue, derived from Latin. True, English received a major injection of Latin influences with the Norman Invasion in 1066, and modern, educated English uses a high percentage of words of Latin origin. Nevertheless, basic vocabulary (referring to tangible things rather than abstractions) still stays true to its Germanic roots. This distinction is perhaps more subtle, but equally important in the way sentences are structured. For example, English expresses many phenomena directly, whereas Spanish uses an indirect approach. For example, idiomatic English would say, “I like you,” whereas in Spanish, the expression would be “Me gustas,” (or “You are pleasing to me.”) Again, English would say “Life is getting complicated” and in Spanish it would be “Me complica la vida” (“The life is complicating to me.”) In English the same verb, “be,” is used in many different senses, with the meaning clarified only by context: “I am hungry, I am married, and I am on 42nd Street.” In Spanish, each phrase would use a completely different verb.
Certain prepositions pose special issues in Spanish to English translation. “En el plato hondo” would be “in the bowl,” but “en el plato” would be “on the plate.” Spanish makes “en” do double duty, whereas English draws a distinction. On the other hand, “por” and “para” are both rendered as “for” in English, but “por” also means “by.” So the three words “por sus pecados” could be either “for his sins” or “by his sins,” depending on the author’s intentions.
The other pitfall in Spanish to English translation is the large number of false cognates – misimpressions about how a word in Spanish might be rendered in English. Idiomatically, “Me encantas” does not mean “you enchant me” (in the literal sense) but rather “I really enjoy [being with] you.” A non-native English speaker might translate “no puedo soportar el ajo” as “I cannot support garlic,” imagining that “soportar” in Spanish (tolerate) is rendered as “support” in English. The most notorious false cognate is “embarazarse.” The sentence, “es embarazada” does not mean that she is embarrassed; it means that she’s pregnant.
A final consideration of a Spanish translation service is a factor found in most modern language pairs: the difference between formal writing and elevated speech on the one hand, and colloquial or informal methods of speaking on the other. In English, the verb “get” is used in a dozen or more senses (as in “I don’t get it”; “Get lost”; “I have got to go;” and “He got to go with mom.”) In educated English prose, “get” is discouraged, as there is always a more precise verb that will serve better. Spanish into English translation require the “ear” for the target language that can sort out informal or imprecise expression from that which most clearly will express the meaning of the writer of the source text.

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<h1>Spanish to English Translation</h1> Author: <a href='http://www.articleseen.com/profile_Christopher Grey.aspx'>Christopher Grey</a> Both Spanish and English are among the world’s most widely-spoken languages, but surprisingly, non-professional translations often seem awkward, due to the different syntactical structure of the two idioms. For that reason it is essential that the translator and editor of the Spanish translation service be native speakers of English in order to make the final product acceptable to the client.
Part of the explanation, of course, is that English is a Germanic language, and Spanish is a romance tongue, derived from Latin. True, English received a major injection of Latin influences with the Norman Invasion in 1066, and modern, educated English uses a high percentage of words of Latin origin. Nevertheless, basic vocabulary (referring to tangible things rather than abstractions) still stays true to its Germanic roots. This distinction is perhaps more subtle, but equally important in the way sentences are structured. For example, English expresses many phenomena directly, whereas Spanish uses an indirect approach. For example, idiomatic English would say, “I like you,” whereas in Spanish, the expression would be “Me gustas,” (or “You are pleasing to me.”) Again, English would say “Life is getting complicated” and in Spanish it would be “Me complica la vida” (“The life is complicating to me.”) In English the same verb, “be,” is used in many different senses, with the meaning clarified only by context: “I am hungry, I am married, and I am on 42nd Street.” In Spanish, each phrase would use a completely different verb.
Certain prepositions pose special issues in Spanish to English translation. “En el plato hondo” would be “in the bowl,” but “en el plato” would be “on the plate.” Spanish makes “en” do double duty, whereas English draws a distinction. On the other hand, “por” and “para” are both rendered as “for” in English, but “por” also means “by.” So the three words “por sus pecados” could be either “for his sins” or “by his sins,” depending on the author’s intentions. 
The other pitfall in Spanish to English translation is the large number of false cognates – misimpressions about how a word in Spanish might be rendered in English. Idiomatically, “Me encantas” does not mean “you enchant me” (in the literal sense) but rather “I really enjoy [being with] you.” A non-native English speaker might translate “no puedo soportar el ajo” as “I cannot support garlic,” imagining that “soportar” in Spanish (tolerate) is rendered as “support” in English. The most notorious false cognate is “embarazarse.” The sentence, “es embarazada” does not mean that she is embarrassed; it means that she’s pregnant.
A final consideration of a Spanish translation service is a factor found in most modern language pairs: the difference between formal writing and elevated speech on the one hand, and colloquial or informal methods of speaking on the other. In English, the verb “get” is used in a dozen or more senses (as in “I don’t get it”; “Get lost”; “I have got to go;” and “He got to go with mom.”) In educated English prose, “get” is discouraged, as there is always a more precise verb that will serve better. Spanish into English translation require the “ear” for the target language that can sort out informal or imprecise expression from that which most clearly will express the meaning of the writer of the source text.

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