The problems of untranslatability in interpretation process

No matter how good the translation, something always seems to be lost. It is that “untranslatable” remain of meaning that cannot be brought out in the target language which leads some linguists to proclaim that in a theoretical sense translation is “impossible”. However, it will help the translator or interpreter to recall that “untranslatability” is chiefly due to the inherent features of cultures and languages, not to the individual abilities of the translator or the limitations of the craft. The problem of “untranslatability” arises from the fact that different cultures divide up the universe in different ways, and that their languages therefore contain ideas, words, and expressions to describe those different concepts and culturespecific features.

For example, conducting an interpretation process from English into Uzbek doesn’t seem as difficult as it is compared with interpretation process from Uzbek into English. However, it is very challenging and demanding task to interpret the words of an Uzbek language speaker into English. Generally speaking, holding an interpretation process from agglutinative languages into flectional ones bears a great deal of difficulties and obstacles for an interpreter, while conducting an interpretation process which are based on the same language families is not a big deal for interpreters. That is mainly because of the place of the verb in the sentence. In most languages of Turkish origin, such as Uzbek language the nominal part of speech verb comes at the very end of all kind of formal sentences whereas in flectional languages the place of the verb is the second in the sentence.

Therefore, simultaneous translators have to wait the whole sentence to be uttered and then they have to interpret. As we know, simultaneous interpretation occurs only in a very short period of time, so it is very arduous work to accomplish. The problem of insufficient personnel in the simultaneous interpretation is very common in many countries as the workload of the interpreters is very enormous. While interpretation process is being conducted from Uzbek into English, it is very important to be alert and highly focused. Besides that, interpreters must be quick in translating the sentences by keeping up with the pace of the speaker. In the following example, we now look some live instances:

“Mamlakatimiz Prezidenti tomonidan 2017-yil Xalq bilan muloqot va inson manfaatlari” yili deb e’lon qilindi” - “The year 2017 has been announced as dialogue with people and human interests by the President of our country”. As we can see in this sentence, the interpreter must wait until the speakers utter the verb of the sentence. Until the speaker says the verb, another sentence will already be spoken by the speaker. We can see this process into the following examples, as well: “O’zbekistonning rivojlanishi uchun o’zining bor kuchi bilan harakat qilish har bir o’zbek farzandining eng oliy maqsadidir” – “It is a duty of every single Uzbek citizen to share a contribution to the development of Uzbekistan”.

In other cases, there might be observed a few pauses which are created by the speakers themselves. That’s why predicting the following words and interpreting it without losing the meaning is regarded as the masterpiece of a simultaneous interpreter.

Another problem that can be observed commonly is fast speech of a speaker. Delivering fast speeches in an international conference may lead to several problems: First, mistranslation and loss of information. There is a maximum output that an interpreter can produce within a given time interval; the greater the input, the greater the chance of error and omission. Secondly, fast delivery makes comprehension difficult even when the audience is listening to a native language. Thirdly, English is a non-native language to many, if not most, international conference participants. Participants lose information when either the speaker or the interpreter speaks too fast. [1]

To ensure the proper functioning of the interpreter’s brain, the speaker must speak at an appropriate speed. Studies show that speech rate has a direct correlation with interpretation quality. Accuracy is reduced as the speech gets faster. Interpreters generally believe that, to ensure the quality of interpretation, a rate between 100 and 120 (English) words per minute (wpm) is optimal for speeches that are not read from a written text, although the figure may differ for different types of speech. Lederer suggested that for recited texts which are devoid of hesitation and redundancy that characterize official speeches, the maximum rate should be 100 wpm.

2.But one must not confuse difficulty with untranslatability. There are many ways to translate words and expressions that do not travel well from one language to another, and quite often “untranslatability” is a misnomer, because an exact or complete translation is not necessary, and an approximate equivalent may be all that is needed in a given context. Dealing with the problem of “untranslatable” utterances requires one to bear in mind that the same idea may find expression in different ways from one culture to another. It involves asking questions like the following: What am I translating? A word? An idea? The name of a concrete object or of an abstraction? The title of a person? The name of a cultural institution or artifact? A technical term? A specialized use of an ordinary word? An archaic word? Sometimes an apparent case of “untranslatability” can be solved by finding the equivalent register, or level of language. For example, the speeches of Winston Churchill might provide a good model to help you translate a speech by Charles de Gaulle; or, at the other end of the spectrum, American urban “rap” or old Chicago gangster-slang might provide an equivalent register with which to translate a French screenplay containing Marseilles “argot du milieu”. [3]

Thus, the word itself may seem “untranslatable,” but the idea is not. To help create the necessary associations in your mind to enable you to find such solutions, an exercise that the author has found helpful is to form the habit of writing out “strings” of related words and ideas. An interpreter should try always to have more than one way to express any given idea.