Spanish-English translation problems

Spanish is a language with a rich heritage of idiomatic expressions, folk sayings, word plays, puns and other "untranslatables" which can pose a considerable challenge to the translator.

Introduction

Translation theory suggests that it should be possible to move from the source language's surface level (words, grammatical structures) down to the semantic "deep meaning" and then transfer that deep meaning into the target language using the appropriate words and structures of that target language. Another theoretical principle, that of "equivalent impact", assists the translator with the notion that even though exact equivalences may not be possible, there should be a way of achieving the same impact on the reader in the target language as intended by the writer in the source language.

A language is perhaps the most fundamental expression of a culture, and we need to keep in mind that translation involves not only moving between languages, but also between cultures and the historical contexts of those cultures. These neat theoretical assumptions begin to show their limitations as we examine some of the knotty problems involved in Spanish-English and English-Spanish translation. (The examples given below will be explained for the benefit of the non-Spanish-speaking reader.)

The rich historical legacy of Spain and the Hispanic culture in the New World make its presence known with expression such as:

"Hay moros en la costa" (literally: "there are Moors on the coast"). This is a reference to the 700-year period in Spanish history during which the Christian knights fought against the invading Muslims who came across from North Africa. An appropriate translation ("watch out") cannot tap this historical legacy without a lengthy explanation.

"Poner la iglesia en las manos de Lutero" (literally: "to put the Church in the hands of Luther") comes out of the Counter-reformation's struggle between Catholic Spain and northern European Protestantism. An appropriate translation which loses the religious and cultural reference: "to let the fox guard the chickens".

Political

A specific political culture produces concepts and words which can be translated only with difficulty and sometimes only with required explanations. Such is the case with the Spanish word "junta", which has to some extent been incorporated into English to describe a de facto coup government. But the deeper meaning of "junta" derives from the notion of a joint unelected government by all of the armed forces of a nation, especially after the removal of an elected civilian government. The connotation suggests the military (army, navy, air force and police) presenting itself as a coordinated and united front to take power and "save the nation from the incompetence or excesses of corrupt civilian politicians".

An example of the problem with the word "junta" comes from early 1942, when the U.S. State Department pressed the American military departments to create a coordinating body that would improve communication and cooperation between the military establishments of the American Republics. The resulting organization was known in English as the Inter-American Defense Board, but unfortunately was rendered into Spanish as "Junta Interamericana de Defensa". To this day the organization still struggles against the suspicion that it is some sort of an anti-democratic coordinating body ("junta") between the US and politicized Latin American military officers.

Geographical

Geographic realities and concepts can also cause translation problems. In some parts of mountainous tropical latitude Latin America (Bogotá, for example) there is little season variation of climate such as experienced at higher latitudes with winter and summer. But there frequently is a wet season, and this is sometimes known as "invierno" (i.e., winter) even though it has a different meaning from the US notion of that season. A Central American word play (sometimes resented by Guatemalans) is contained in the expression "las cosas fueron de Guatemala a Guatepeor de la noche a la mañana", which should be translated as "things went from bad to worse overnight", a translation which makes no attempt to include the word play of "mala" (bad) and "peor" (worse). Sometimes a perfectly good English word which is a valid cognate cannot be effectively used in translation because it is not an every-day term. The Spanish word "austral" is in common use, especially in southern countries such as Argentina and Chile, which argue that their country extends into Antarctica to the South Pole. However, the translator would be advised to render "austral" as "southern" in order to avoid mystifying the English reader with the far less common English word "austral". Likewise, perhaps because South America has two landlocked countries (Bolivia and Paraguay) the term "mediterráneo" is frequently used to describe their condition, but should be translated as "landlocked", and not "Mediterranean", which in English would mean bordering on that European landlocked sea.

Culinary

From the culinary world comes the Spanish phrase "dar gato por liebre" (literally "to give a cat for a hare or rabbit"; figuratively: "to cheat"). The phrase makes sense in a culture where rabbits are frequently eaten, and the reference is to the fact that a skinned cat minus head, tail and paws can be passed off as a hare to an unsuspecting customer.

Marketing and Advertising

Translation of advertising copy has produced a number of howlers, sometimes too late to avoid corporate damage. Frequently the problem is in the brand name itself, apparently selected without consideration of the impact in Spanish. Some examples include Robo carwashes (Spanish "I steal"); Colgate toothpaste (Argentine Spanish: "go hang yourself"). Then there is Braniff's goof regarding traveling on its leather seats. The first Spanish translation "viajar en cuero" really means to travel naked. But perhaps a more blatant example of cross-cultural insensitivity was displayed by Continental Airlines, which put its logo (repeated) along the length of its silverware. The resulting Spanish word CACA is baby talk for excrement.

Literature

A classical example of the translator's skill comes from "Martín Fierro", the epic gaucho poem of Argentina. The scene is a dance in a small town on the Argentine pampas, and the slightly drunk hero Martín Fierro wants to provoke a fight as a rival enters the dance hall with his girlfriend. So Martín Fierro says "Va..ca..yendo gente al baile". Enunciated one way it innocently means "people are arriving at the dance". But Martín Fierro runs the first two syllables together to produce the word "vaca" (cow), and the fight begins. The noted Anglo-Argentine translator Walter Owen rendered the phrase as "It's a bit..chilly tonight". The principal of equivalent impact solved the translation problem.

References

*"Cassell's Colloquial Spanish", NY: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1980.
*Jack Child, "Introduction to Spanish Translation". Lanham: University Press of America, 1992.
*Holt, Marion, "110 Pitfalls in Spanish". NY: Barron's Educational Series, 1997.