Re: profanity, translation, etc (Was: Dictionary)

Subject: Re: profanity, translation, etc (Was: Dictionary)
From: Dick Margulis <margulis -at- fiam -dot- net>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 10:41:21 -0400


Andrea,

Disclaimers: 1. I did not read the article. 2. I've never heard of "mat." 3. My exposure to linguistics consists of taking an introductory course in 1968 and reading a few books recently.

That said, to give you a partial answer to your question, linguists use the term _diction_ to mean the selection of vocabulary and syntax appropriate to a given situation. For example, in English (presumably in other languages also) we have slang, standard diction, and formal diction, among others. Yes, words migrate from street slang into standard diction, but they generally do so slowly, with an intervening stage or two. This isn't just a matter of "dirty words." "It is I" used to be standard usage, with "It's me" confined to the lower classes. Now we consider "It is I" to be stilted, appropriate only where formal diction is called for; and "It's me" is generally accepted as standard. I'm sure you can think of many other examples.

So translators, who, after all, ought to have a pretty good ear for subtleties of diction in their native tongues, should have no trouble translating technical material within the constraints of the chosen diction. Not to worry, in other words.

Dick

Andrea Brundt wrote:

This reminds me of an amazing article I read in the New Yorker yesterday
called "Dirty Words". It describes the history of a Russian "street
language" called "mat". I'm no linguist, but it sure got me thinking
differently about how language, culture, sexuality and politics relate to
one another. (Also, some of the English translations of Russian idioms are
hilarious, and I intend to use them...but not in my writing, and not on this
list! Warning: The language in the article will be offensive to many.)

Anyway, with regards to tech writing, it makes me very afraid of ever having
to be involved in localization or translation! Every language is a moving
target that even native speakers struggle to hit. Where's the line between
idiom and the rest of a language? How translators do what they do, I'll
never really understand.

Regards,
Andrea




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References:
RE: Dictionary: From: Allan Ackerson
profanity, translation, etc (Was: Dictionary): From: Andrea Brundt

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