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Words that have rich cultural connotations and overtones often cause problems for translators because such words may not have a direct or concise translation in the target language. Words hardest to translate was a list of words compiled by Today Translations, attempting to identify some of the words that are hardest to translate. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Untranslatability is a property of a text, or of any utterance, in one language, for which no equivalent text or utterance can be found in another language. ... The word culture, from the Latin colo, -ere, with its root meaning to cultivate, generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. ... The connotation of a word or other expression in a language may be one of several aspects of its meaning. ... Translation is an activity comprising the interpretation of the meaning of a text in one language—the source text—and the production of a new, equivalent text in another language—the target text, also called the translation. ...

The list by Today Translations

Words hardest to translate (Today Translations, June 2004) was a list of words reported as being the world's most difficult words to translate. The British company surveyed 1,000 linguists to create the list. According to Jurga Zilinskiene, head of Today Translations, the difficulty in translating the words identified by the survey is not finding the meaning of these words, but conveying their cultural connotations and overtones. Not all of the words on the list were legitimate. Some of them turned out to be mistakes and hoaxes. 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December See also: June 2004 in sports Deaths in June • 28 Anthony Buckeridge • 26 Naomi Shemer • 26 Yash Johar • 22 Bob Bemer • 22 Thomas Gold • 22 Francisco Ortiz Franco • 16 Thanom Kittikachorn • 10 Ray Charles • 5 Ronald Reagan... The World in plate carrée projection The World In English, world is rooted in a compound of the obsolete words were, man, and eld, age; thus, its oldest meaning is age or life of man. Its primary modern meaning is the planet Earth, especially when capitalized: the World. ... The word culture, from the Latin colo, -ere, with its root meaning to cultivate, generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. ... The connotation of a word or other expression in a language may be one of several aspects of its meaning. ... An overtone is a sinusoidal component of a waveform, of greater frequency than its fundamental frequency. ... A hoax is an attempt to trick an audience into believing that something false is real. ...

The following list present the words hardest to translate as claimed by Today Translations. Daggers (†) lead to the definition of the word in the wiktionary project. The first is the absolute list, containing the ten words hardest to translate all over the world, independent of linguistic context: Wiktionary logo Wiktionary[1] is a Wikimedia Foundation project intended to be a free wiki dictionary (including thesaurus and lexicon) in every language. ...

1. Ilunga: Bantu language of Tshiluba for "a person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time, but never a third time." However, there is no independent evidence that the word actually means what the translation company claims. When asked for confirmation by one reporter, representatives of the Congo government recognized the word only as a personal name. Furthermore, the translation company failed to respond to inquiries regarding the survey.
2. Shlimazl (שלימזל): Yiddish for a chronically unlucky person. (Cf. Schlemiel). (NOTE. In colloquial Italian, it is very common to use the word sfigato with exactly the same meaning, in Dutch and German one says pechvogel, also used in colloq. German is the word schlamassel, if you are in an unlucky situation)
3. Radiostukacz: Polish for a person who worked as a telegraphist for the resistance movements on the Soviet side of the Iron Curtain. It is not a real word, only a mistake or a hoax.
4. Naa (なぁ or なー): Japanese word only used in the Kansai (関西) area of Japan, especially in Osaka (大阪府), to emphasize statements or agree with someone.
5. Altahmam (التهمام) †: Arabic for a kind of deep sadness.
6. Gezellig †: Dutch for cosy (room, house, chair, etc.), pleasant (evening spent with friends), friendly (atmosphere).Gesellig German for spending time with friends.
7. Saudade †: Portuguese for a certain type of longing.
8. Sellaadhiroopavar † (செல்லாதிருப்பவர்): Tamil for a certain type of truancy.
9. Pochemuchka (почемучка): Russian for a person who asks a lot of questions (usually a kid).
10. Klloshar †: Albanian for loser. Could be derived from French clochard.

The following list shows the ten English words supposed by the same company to be the hardest to translate: Ilunga is a relatively common personal name in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ... Map showing the approximate distribution of Bantu (dull yellow) vs. ... Contents // Categories: Bantu languages | Languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo | Language stubs ... Yiddish (Yid. ... The first telegraph links in Europe Telegraph and telegram redirect here. ... State motto (Russian): Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) (Translated: Workers of the world, unite!) Capital Moscow Official language None; Russian (de facto) Government Federation of Socialist republics Area  - Total  - % water 1st before collapse 22,402,200 km² Approx. ... Europe at the time of the Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain (Eiserner Vorhang in German, Železná opona in Czech, Железный занавес (Zhelezniy zanaves) in Russian, Vasfüggöny in Hungarian, Jernteppet in Norwegian, Å»elazna kurtyna in Polish, Cortina de fier in Romanian, Желязна завеса in Bulgarian , Rautaesirippu in Finnish ) is a Western term referring... The Kansai (Japanese: 関西) region of Japan, also known as the Kinki region (近畿地方, Kinki-chihō), lies in the middle of Japans main island, Honshu. ... Osaka Prefecture (大阪府 ÅŒsaka-fu) is part of the Kinki region on Honshu island, Japan. ... Arabic (; , less formally, ) is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... In everyday language depression refers to any downturn in mood, which may be relatively transitory and perhaps due to something trivial. ... Saudade (pron. ... Tamil (தமிழ் ) is a classical language and one of the major languages of the Dravidian language family. ... Truancy (also known as wagging or skiving) is a term widely used to describe an unexcused absence from compulsory schooling. ... A pochemuchka (Russian: почемучка) is a person, often a child, who asks a lot of questions. ...

1. Plenipotentiary †
2. Gobbledegook †
3. Serendipity †
4. Poppycock †
5. Googly †
6. Spam †
7. Whimsy †
8. Bumf †
9. Chuffed †
10. Kitsch †

However, plenipotentiary has perfect equivalents in several Romance languages (e.g., Portuguese plenipotenciário and French plénipotentiaire), as it is common with words of a Latin origin. Finnish uses direct calque from Latin as täysivaltainen. Serendipity has originated equivalents in some other languages (e.g., Portuguese serendipicidade and French serendipicité). Spam has somehow become an international word, keeping its English form. Kitsch is itself a German word that has spread to many other languages and is still in common use in the German-speaking countries. The term plenipotentiary (from the Latin, plenus + potens, full + power) refers to, as a noun, a person who has, or as an adjective that confers, full powers. ... Gobbledygook or gobbledegook is a term used to describe nonsensical language, or sound that resembles language but has no meaning, or encrypted text. ... Look up Serendipity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary For other uses, see Serendipity (disambiguation). ... Nonsense is an utterance or written text in what appears to be a human language or other symbolic system, that does not in fact carry any identifiable meaning. ... In cricket, a googly is a type of delivery bowled by a leg spin bowler. ... Look up Spam in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Spam may mean: Spam (food), canned meat sold by Hormel. ... An odd or fanciful or capricious idea; the theatrical notion of disguise is associated with disaster in his stories; he had a whimsy about flying to the moon; whimsy can be humorous to someone with time to enjoy it [syn: notion, whim, whimsey] 2: the trait of acting unpredictably and...     Art in questionable taste is sometimes referred to as kitsch Kitsch is a German term that has been used to categorize art that is considered an inferior copy of an existing style. ... The term plenipotentiary (from the Latin, plenus + potens, full + power) refers to, as a noun, a person who has, or as an adjective that confers, full powers. ... The Romance languages, also called Romanic languages or New Latin languages, are a subset of the Italic languages, specifically the descendants of the Latin dialects spoken by the common people in what is known as Latin Europe (Italian/Portuguese/Spanish Europa latina, Catalan Europa llatina, French Europe latine, Romanian Europa... Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... In linguistics, a calque (pronounced [kælk]) or loan translation (itself a calque of German Lehnübersetzung) is a phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word translation. ... Look up Serendipity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary For other uses, see Serendipity (disambiguation). ... Look up Spam in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Spam may mean: Spam (food), canned meat sold by Hormel. ...     Art in questionable taste is sometimes referred to as kitsch Kitsch is a German term that has been used to categorize art that is considered an inferior copy of an existing style. ...

Theory

Objects unknown to a culture can actually be easy to translate. For example, in Japanese, わさび is a plant (Wasabia japonica) used as a spicy Japanese condiment. Traditionally, this plant only grows in Japan. It would be unlikely that someone from Brazil (for example) would have a clear understanding of it. However, the easiest way to translate this word is to borrow it. Or you can use a similar vegetable's name to describe it. In English this word is translated into wasabi or Japanese horseradish. In Chinese, people can still call it わさび by its Japanese sound, or pronounce it by its Kanji characters 山葵 (pinyin: shān kúi). Horseradish is not usually seen in Eastern Asia; people may parallel it with mustard. Hence, in some places, yellow mustard refers to imported mustard sauce; green mustard refers to wasabi. Divisions Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants Adiantum pedatum (a fern... Binomial name Wasabia japonica Wasabi (Japanese: 山葵 or 和佐比; scientific name Wasabia japonica (syn. ... A condiment is a substance applied to food, usually in the form of a sauce, powder, or spread, to enhance or improve the flavor. ... Vegetables // Western Brassicas Broccoli (Brassica oleracea Italica group) Brussels sprout (Brassica oleracea Gemmifera group) Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea Botrytis group) Cabbage (Brassica oleracea Capitata group) Kale (Brassica oleracea Acephala group)) Rapini (Brassica rapa)) Oriental Brassicas Chinese broccoli (Brassica rapa var. ... Binomial name Wasabia japonica Matsum. ... Binomial name Armoracia rusticana P.G. Gaertn. ... Japanese writing Kanji 漢字 Kana 仮名 Hiragana 平仮名 Katakana 片仮名 Uses Furigana 振り仮名 Okurigana 送り仮名 Romaji ローマ字 Kanji ( (help· info), literally Han characters), is a Japanese writing system which is derived from Chinese characters (Hanzi). ... Hanyu pinyin (Simplified Chinese: 汉语拼音; Traditional Chinese: 漢語拼音; Hanyu Pinyin: , lit. ... East Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... Mustard being spread on bread. ...

Specific examples

In the case of translating the English word have to Hebrew, Arabic, Finnish or Irish, some difficulty may be found. There is no specific verb with this meaning in these languages. Instead, for "I have X" they use a combination of words that mean X is to me. In the case of Irish, this phrasing has passed over into Hiberno-English. A similar construction occurs in Russian: here, the verb is replaced by a phrase that, literally, means at me/you/he/she/they there is. (Russian does have a word that means "to have": иметь (imet' ) — but it is rarely used by Russian speakers in the same way English speakers use the word have). Hebrew (עִבְרִית ‘Ivrit) is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by more than 7 million people, mainly in Israel, the West Bank, the United States and by Jewish communities around the world. ... Arabic can mean: From or related to Arabia From or related to the Arabs The Arabic language; see also Arabic grammar The Arabic alphabet, used for expressing the languages of Arabic, Persian, Malay ( Jawi), Kurdish, Panjabi, Pashto, Sindhi and Urdu, among others. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...

Conversely, English is entirely lacking some grammatical categories. For example, there is no simple way in English to contrast Finnish kirjoittaa (continuing, corresponding to English to write) and kirjoitella (a regular frequentative, "to occasionally write short passages at a time"). Another example for a tricky English construct would be: How would you ask a boy who has several brothers "which" (or "which-th"!) son of his parents he is, such that his reply would be something like: "I am the third son"? ("Which in order of number?") This is probably a straightforward construct in some other languages, which have an exact word for "which-th", such as Finnish mones and Latin quotus, or the German wievielte. In grammar, a frequentative form of a word is one which indicates repeated action. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...

Another instance is the Russian word пошлость /posh-lost'/. This noun roughly means a mixture of banality, commonality and vulgarity. Владимир Владимирович Набоков (Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov) mentions it as one of hardest Russian words to translate precisely into English. This page is about the novelist. ...

Another well-known example comes from Portuguese or Spanish verbs ser and estar, both translatable as to be. However estar is used only with temporary conditions, while ser is used with permanent conditions. Sometimes this information is not very relevant for the meaning of the whole sentence, and the translator will ignore it, some other times it can be retrieved from context. When none of these applies, the translator will usually use a paraphrase or simply add words that can convey that meaning. The following example comes from Portuguese: ConTEXT is a small, fast and powerful freeware text editor for software developers. ... Paraphrasing is the act in which a statement or remark is explained in other words or another way, as to clarify the meaning. ...

Não estou bonito, eu sou bonito.

Literal translation: I am not (temporarily) handsome, I am (permanently) handsome.

Adding words: I am not handsome today, I am always handsome.

Paraphrase: I don't just look handsome, I am handsome.

Ancient Greek φθάνω (phthánō) approximately translates like "I do something before someone else realises that I'm doing it". ([1]) Note: This article contains special characters. ...

Languages that are extremely different from each other, like English and Chinese, need their translations to almost be adaptations. Chinese has not tenses per se, only three "aspects". Also concepts like "brother", "sister", "grandmother" and "grandfather" don't really exist in Chinese, where they are always more specific: the words for brother and sister always specify whether it is the older or younger sibling, and the words for a specific grandparent specify whether it is the paternal or maternal one. Again, a concept just as "sister" that would englobe both older and younger sisters does not exist. Also, the English verb "to be" does not have a direct equivalent in Chinese. In an English sentence where "to be" leads to an adjective ("It is blue"), there is no "to be" in Chinese. (There are no adjectives in Chinese, instead there are "status verbs" that don't need an extra verb.) If it states a location, the verb "zài" is used, as in "We are on the bus". And in most other cases, the verb shì is used, as in "I am the leader of this group." Any sentence that requires a play on those different meaning will not work in Chinese.

See also

• Ilunga
• Mamihlapinatapai
• Translation
• Saudade
• Ubuntu (ideology)

Ilunga is a relatively common personal name in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ... Mamihlapinatapai (sometimes erroneously spelled mamihlapinatapei) is a word from Tierra del Fuego listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as the most succinct word. It describes a look shared by two people with each wishing that the other will initiate something that neither one wants to start. ... Translation is an activity comprising the interpretation of the meaning of a text in one language — the source text — and the production, in another language, of a new, equivalent text — the target text, or translation. ... Saudade (pron. ... Ubuntu (IPA: ) is a South African ethic or ideology focusing on peoples allegiances and relations with each other. ...

Reference

• MacIntyre, Ben. Why do Koreans say "a biscuit would be nice" instead of "I want a biscuit"?, The Times, August 21, 2004.

The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom. ... August 21 is the 233rd day of the year (234th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• BBC News: Congo word "most untranslatable"
• Today Translations