Lavengro

Translated by Bing

This is a Spanish sentence that I saw on Facebook with an automatic translation by Bing.

Me considero marxista. Digamos que tras⁽¹⁾ los presupuestos⁽²⁾ teóricos⁽³⁾ y de comunicación de Podemos⁽⁴⁾ hay una lectura muy específica⁽⁵⁾ de⁽⁶⁾ Gramsci⁽⁷⁾.

I consider myself Marxist. Let us say that after the budgets theorists and communication of we can there is a reading very specific gramsci.

My translation would be:

I consider myself to be a Marxist. Let us say that behind the theoretical and communication premises of Podemos there is a very specific reading of Gramsci.

1) Tras often means after, following, in the wake of but here it means behind.

2) Presupuesto is the noun from presuponer, which is English presuppose. It means a budget or an estimate for work to be done, but here it is used with its literal meaning of a presupposition, assumption or premise.

3) Teórico means theoretical and is the adjective that qualifies presupuesto. For some reason the translator has taken it in its meaning as a noun, theoreticians.

4) Podemos is the name of a political party. It is the Spanish for We Can and is modelled on Obama’s slogan Yes We Can. The translator has failed to recognise it as a proper noun despite the capital letter.

5) The translator has failed to put the adjectives before the noun although the difference in usual adjective position is a fundamental distinction between Romance and Germanic languages,

6) It is unclear why the de has been omitted.

7) Gramsci is a proper noun and is always capitalised. I cannot understand why the capital letter has been changed. After all, Marxist has been capitalised although it rightly has a lower-case m in Spanish.

Intoxicated

It’s a frightening example of how translation can go wrong..

Willie Ramirez was taken by ambulance to a South Florida hospital in a comatose state. He became quadriplegic as a result of a misdiagnosed intracerebellar hemorrhage that continued to bleed for more than two days as he lay unconscious in the hospital. In the course of the law suit, it was asserted that Willie could have walked out of the hospital had the neurosurgeon been called in earlier. No neuro consult was ordered for two days because the Emergency Room physician and the doctor covering Willie in the ICU erroneously believed that Willie had suffered an intentional drug overdose and had treated him accordingly. The misdiagnosis was based on the physical exam which initially pointed to a drug overdose, and on complete confusion regarding the medical history. At the heart of this confusion, was the Spanish word “intoxicado” which is NOT equivalent to the English word “intoxicated.”

Among Cubans, “intoxicado” is kind of an all encompassing word that means there’s something wrong with you because of something you ate or drank. I ate something and now I have hives or an allergic reaction to the food or I’m nauseous. On the day Willie’s intracerebellar bleed began, he had lunch at a fast food restaurant, the newly opened Wendy’s. His mother and his girlfriend’s mother assumed that the severe headache he experienced that night was related to eating a bad hamburger at Wendy’s – that Willie was “intoxicado.”

In Spain, intoxicación is used to mean food poisoning, and I warn students about this, mentioning the occasional (and increasingly rare) cases of people being found to be ‘intoxicated’ in old people’s homes.

Note: in English intoxicated can mean poisoned in medical usage but is usually understood to mean drunk. It’s one of those not-quite false friends where the meanings overlap bot don’t coincide.

H/T Trevor

German type sexual harassment

Victor Mair explains this on the Language Log.

I'am Barcelonian

http://www.gettingcontacts.com/en/events/view/iambarcelonian

I'am Barcelonian

Welcome to Barcelona, a vibrant and creative business city

And also a city where the Council can’t be bothered to get its English-language material aimed at expats corrected by a proper translator or proofreader.

The event, that will take place at the Museu Marítim de Barcelona, will provide all the information and services the city offers you for landing, doing business and having fun.

For those who may not know, Barcelonian is a totally invented word. It is a word I have never heard or seen in over 30 years’ residence in this city. If this had come to me, I would have certainly recommended I’m from Barcelona.

http://www.gettingcontacts.com/en/events/view/iambarcelonian

Presidents and ministers

On 13 January 2014 the White House press office issued this press release (my emphasis):

Remarks by President Obama and President Rajoy of Spain After Bilateral Meeting

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Let me say it’s a great pleasure to welcome my friend, Prime Minister Rajoy, to the Oval Office … I should note that the World Cup is coming up. Spain is the defending titleholder, but the United States is rapidly improving -- (laughter) -- and so perhaps if the Prime Minister has some advice for us in terms of how we can win a title at some point, it would be most welcoming.

But thank you so much for the visit.

PRESIDENT RAJOY: (As interpreted.) Good afternoon. I will be giving you that advice so that you can come in second at the World Cup, and I’m sure you will understand why. (Laughter.)

Obama’s speech is correct and the titling is wrong; Rajoy is the Spanish prime minister. So where has this confusion come from?

The head of the Spanish government has the title in Spanish of presidente del gobierno, which can be translated as president of the government. He presides over meetings of the government, and the Spanish gobierno corresponds to the British cabinet (the British government includes a number of junior ministers who are not in the cabinet). It is the committee of about 20 ministers who have the highest executive authority in the country and are members of, and are responsible to, the country’s parliament as is usual in the European system. His constitutional position corresponds exactly to that of David Cameron as the British prime minister or that of Angela Merkel in Germany, where this position is called Kanzler (chancellor).

The problem arises from the Spanish word presidente, which does of course mean president in English in the sense of a head of state of a republic, both as an executive president like US Barack Obama and as a figurehead president like President Joachim Gauck of Germany. However, it also corresponds to the English chairman. The presidente of a chess club or of a residents’ association would be called in English the chairman, or increasingly the chair, of that organisation. So, far from, being the Spanish president Mariano Rajoy is, I would say as a literal translation, the chairman of the Spanish cabinet, although the website of his own office calls him the President of the Government of Spain. Certain confusion is understandable but the White House should be able to get it right. Rajoy is clearly not the president of the country; Spain does after all have a king as head of state.

In Catalonia, however, there is a more complex situation. Artur Mas is in Catalan the President de la Generalitat. In fact, his position is similar to that of any prime minister. He is a member of the Catalan parliament and is responsible to it, and he chairs meetings of the Catalan govern, which like the Spanish gobierno is the committee of ministers, i.e. the cabinet. The linguistic problem arises because the Generalitat is more than just the cabinet or government; the name refers to all the public authority under the Catalan government, what would be called the state apparatus in a sovereign state. Normally, that doesn’t matter (government is often used in Britain to describe what is really the state) but in translating Mas’s title there is a problem: although his constitutional position is equivalent to any prime minister, his title refers to the Generalitat, which is more than just the cabinet or government. The Catalan government refers to him in English as the President of the Generalitat. Nevertheless, his constitutional position is clearly that of prime minister and, as it seems paradoxical to have a president in the English sense of a word as the head of a level of government that is subordinate to the state, it would seem reasonable for a translator to use prime minister to describe the head of the Catalan government in English, or perhaps first minister, which is the title of the head of the Scottish government, or premier, which is used for the heads of the governments in the states of Canada and Australia. I must say, however, that most English-language media follow the Catalan government’s style.

The president of the Spanish region of Catalonia (BBC)
Catalonia's president, Artur Mas; The Catalan president (BBC)
THE president of Spain’s powerful northeastern region of Catalonia (The Scotsman)
The president of the north-eastern Spanish region of Catalonia Artur Mas (Reuters)
Catalonia's president Artur Mas (picture caption); Catalan President, Artur Mas; Spain's prime minister (The Guardian)
regional President Artur Mas; Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (Bloomberg)

However, there is

The First Minister of Catalonia, Artur Mas (The Spain Report)
Artur Mas, president of Catalonia's regional government (Wall Street Journal). This is in a picture caption. The body text has: The leader of the Catalonia region and Catalan leader Artur Mas.

 

Bing strikes again!

Beyond my ken!

Click to enlarge.

Google strikes again

I have come across this Google translation of this Spanish newspaper article. It is about Pablo Iglesias, the leader of the new Spanish left-wing party Podemos which has entered the European Parliament. I don’t intend to parse it completely but some points are worth mentioning.

Pablo Iglesias search (1) controversy at its (2) premiere (3) at the European Parliament

His lengthy discourse bullfighter jumps to politely (4) and wins him the first scolding. "Never again," he warned (5).

Topics We (4) Pablo Iglesias European Parliament

Lora Macarena (Brussels) 01/07/2014

The leader can (6), Pablo Iglesias , premiered on the floor with a very long speech that earned him his first parliamentary brawl (7). For over a minute, the interim president of the European Parliament urged him to finish his speech, "courtesy with their fellow members." Deaf to the many invitations to close his speech - "I beg, I'll have to interrupt" insisted the president, Iglesias continued asking South deputies that "vote as Greek, Italian (...) , Portuguese or Spanish "against" the authoritarian drift of the troika. "

While Pablo Iglesias raised his voice from his brand new European seat - "the millions that you have said enough in the markets (8), I want to say that you are proud ..." - who served as president of the chamber, Giani Pitella, could not conceal their weariness. "I beg," Churches (9) urged him while still reading his lengthy speech quick-release, "out of respect for their (2) colleagues."

"Sorry, but I must interrupt you," insisted the interim president. "You must close your intervention," warned Pitella, unable to bring to heel an overwhelming parliamentary willing to finish reading the stack of sheets. "Finisco in Sixteen (10) secondi", Iglesias was justified (11) in perfect Italian parliamentary rules while jumping (12).

1. Spanish busca third person of buscar. Should be seeks.

2. A classic. In Spanish the polite verb form Usted takes the third person verb form. The possessive su can thus mean his, her, its, your or their. Google has guessed wrong.

3. He is not a film but Spanish has one word for a first appearance of any kind.

4. Iglesias is not a bullfighter nor was he speaking about bulls. Saltarse algo a la torera means to disregard or flout something. Iglesias overran the time limit  in his first speech in the European Parliament. A torera is the bolero jacket worn by bullfighters but here a la torera means bullfighter style.

5. He was warned. How le advierten (they warned him) has come out like this is anyone’s guess.

6. Podemos is the name of his party. It means We can. Say no more.

7. Bronca is a row, argument. It may perhaps develop into fisticuffs but not necessarily at all.

8. The original is plazas meaning squares. His party has its origins in the people who occupied squares in European cities a few years ago. As a socialist he is not proud of markets.

9. Iglesias does mean churches. It is also his surname!

10. Iglesias spoke an aside in Italian to the Italian President of the chamber saying he would finish in dieci (10) seconds. Google was still in Spanish mode and, presumably, thought it was dieciseis 11. This is se justificaba. The Spanish reflexive often does have a passive meaning but here Iglesias was justifying himself directly.

12. No, he was not jumping up and down in the parliament chamber. This is se saltaba las normas parlamentarias. He got round the rules. See (2). Saltar means jump.

This blog is about language, not politics. Language comments are welcome. Political comments are not.

Catch 22 and translating novels into English

Jerónimo Tristante is a Spanish author of historical novels. In a video chat held in Spanish (text here) he said (my translation):

Will your novels be translated into English?

I have no information about that at present. It’s a complicated move because a European publisher reads in any language: English, Spanish, French etc. but English-language publishers only do so in English, which means that it’s a big leap because translating a work without knowing whether you will get it published is very expensive and uncertain, so that at the moment it is a wall that many Spanish authors find it difficult to cross.

This is something that I knew nothing about, and it is very worrying. I knew that there was little publication in English of works written other languages but didn’t know that publishers wouldn’t even consider them without setting up a Catch 22 situation.

Is my book venal or not venal?

This morning I went to the Legal Deposit (the equivalent of the British copyright libraries) to get the registry number for Pearls of the English Language. The procedure went smoothly but when I look at the Deposit’s website I find (click to enlarge images):

Hardly a jewel of the translator’s art. But that is not all.

A glance at the Catalan reveals a blundering mistranslation.

Yes, venal does mean for sale in English but not quite in that sense!

Lost in Welsh

 

WalesOnline reports

Welsh-speaking cyclists have been left baffled - and possibly concerned for their health - after a bizarre translation mix-up.

For instead of a road sign telling them to dismount, the Welsh translation informs them that 'bladder disease has returned'.

My Welsh is rudimentary in the extreme but if Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (the Welsh Language society) can’t explain this, then nobody can.

This is not the first Welsh translation blunder although the previous one did have a rational explanation (BBC). In October 2008 Swansea council erected a road sign that was not what was intended. Instead of advising HGV drivers of lack of access it actually said in Welsh

I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated.

That suggests to me that the Welsh translator sent back a monolingual out-of-office reply. If so, that is a rather silly thing to do.