The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-06-09
POOR TRANSLATION
KILLS MANY SALES
Too Frequently Writers Of
Catalogues Use "Book Span
ish," With Bad Results.
BILINGUISTS ARE NEEDED
Their Language Is Sensitive
Point With South Ameri-
can Merchants.
Specially uritten for the Latin Ameri-
CON Section Of THE SUN.

Specially tcrittes for the Latin Amert-
CON Section Of THE SUN
ny J. n. DE Ia TORRE-BUEyo.
English as she is spoke" is serious
literature compared with the farcical |
note Of Spanish as she is wrote" Eng
llsh, simple and unaffected Language. |
does not present the endless opportunity |
Tor making bulls" that Spanish offers |
with its diversified forms of nouns and |
| verbs, varying in gender, number. per- |
son and tense, n perfect maze OF pit |
rails to nearly all those not native born. |
And to further complicate this there
are hfteen separate and -independent
spanish speaking nations with peculiar |
| national idioms and words from the
aboriginal languages; in all, many iittle>l
localities have linguistic specialties all
their own. Thus the translator Is be-
tween two difficulties: insufficient IA
miiiarity with one language or the other
| may lead him astray into sldesplittinx
solecisns of Grass grammatical errors:
or too facile acquaintance with local
or national forms may betray him into
proNincialisms equally ludlcrous. Much
| translation work of to-day bears the
hallmark Of the school. On the face OF
1t the awkward. stiff, stilted style re-
veals the language learned from books,
not part OF the man but put on for
the occasion and fitting as III as a bor-
| roWed coat. Too much catalogue mat
Ter Tor foreign readers Is sheer English
tand not always good at thaU, in Span
| ish words.
To send such inferior work to a peopIe
In general much impressed by grace,
ease and nuency In language, Is an enor-
nous tactical blunder; in the purest
| Newyorkese II gets the American mer.
chant in bad. with the possible Latin
| customer. The exporters matter il
sneered at and thrown into the w.pb,
10 which 1t should have been consigned
before it was permitted to deface fair
1 paper.
| Two main causes have been noticed
Tor such absurdities and waste OF money
and loss of prestige. One is insufficient
acquaintance with one or the other lam
guage. which makes the translator I'M
| able TO appreciate and render in exact
| equivalent the finer shades of meaning;
| ana the other unacquaintance with the
subject and a consequent too slayish
following OF the dictionary, which is A
Useful tool. but one not adapted for use
IN place OF an informed and d!scrim-
mating mind.
The Ideal Translator.
In translating It is a great advantage
to be true bilingual-to have. as n
were. two mother tongues l!sped in baby
mood and used in manhood in business
and pleasure Not to everyone IS Il
| given to speak two languages fuently.
automatically. up to the minute and with
grammatical correctness. and to think In
either at Will The fortunate possessor
| or this gift Is able to produce hirh
| grade TRANSACTIONS. even OF literary dis
tinction. But to the average man re-
suits come only through hard. painstak-
4 ing labor and minute care.
The ordinary commercial translation,
be II letter, advertisement or booklet.
| preserts no difficulties to the man we'll
equipped for the work. 1t may be die
tated into good commercial Spanish or
English from the other language, some-
times literally to preserve some peculiar
| mannerism or form OF expression sus-
ceptible Of more than one Interpretation.
| In this type. as in all other TRANSACTIONS,
where necessary. weights. measures and
| other quantity expressions are indica ted
in parenthesis in the other units OF meas
ure as well. Legal papers may also be
dictated, but merely as a rough draft for
| later and thorough revision.
| Technical TRANSACTIONS, including cata-
logues OF machinery and apparatus and
other special lines, present much greater
difficulties than commercial or legal
work. The Technology OF law is thor
oughly crystallized; its forms have de-
scended through the long ages Of mans
civilization. and in consequence legal
terms have. with rare exceptions, exact
equivalents in most languages.
| Where d!ssimilarities In law, practice
or forms exist. these are we'll known,
and descriptive terms are available. 1t
Is not so with technical work. The con-
| stantly shifting progress Of science. arts
and manufactures daily gives birth TO
| new words to express new things, or TO
| changed usages to cover new concepts.
The translator In frequently compelled to
coin new terms 10 cover new mechanical
inventions. new apparatus, heretofore
| unknown processes.
| Here indeed a working knowledge of
the principles involved Is Indispensable
at least there sholSd be an adequate ac-
uuantance with the subject in hand.
This can of course be acquired from
texts, but a broad foundation Of gen
ersl education is necessary to appreciate
and understand the technical points.
How 10 Translate.
The hrst step in any technical trans
latlon Is to make a rough draft with
out recourse TO the dictionary. This should
be literal and terms not readily remem-
bered should be inserted in the original
language in their proper places This
draft is now gone over and checked
with the original for sha les OF meaning
and to supply any omissions from the
dictionary.
II is now in the new language and II
must once more be criticised for quality.
form and lucidity of expression. This
done, the translation is typed In its final
form for printing. The product OF such
careful labor becomes an allurement to
prospective purchasers and its finished
form reveals by its excellence the high
quality OF the product the translation
describes. In itself II Is strong tes-
timoninl to the character of the firm that
puts IL out.
Such painstaking and worthy work 10
. costly, but It's effectiveness exceeds the
ratio Of its cost One order lost through
a poor translation will many times more
than offset some small economy In Its
price. Cheap work Is abundant and
cheap. 1t discredits the article and kills
sales.
Here Is what a translator did to an
. English speech turned into Spanish:
, "Succeso consiste Ell hacer las cosas
comunes de la vida con rara habilidad,"
, which,, being brought back into English
exactly as written means: Event con-
sists In doing the common things OF life
with scarce ability"
What John d. Rockefeller. Jr., did
say was; Success consists In doing
the common things OF life uncommonly
we'll" In Spanish; "El buen exito con-
1