Lost in over-translation

Two cases in which good translation is no translation

Looking at Hebrew translations for the digital media, we can see two common cases of over-translating. The results of over-translating are different for each case, but they are both about losing something: focus, coherence, or meaning.

Translating terms with no Hebrew version

The three most common workarounds when translation requires coining new terms

For Hebrew translators, terms that have no parallel Hebrew version are not rare, especially in the digital age. If the term is new in the source language, it’s not likely to have a Hebrew version. In these situations, Hebrew translators should consult The Academy Of The Hebrew Language. But, as these consultations are time consuming, and the process of coining new terms with The Academy may take a while, Hebrew translators rarely do that. What they do instead, is one of three workarounds:

• ignore the novelty of the term and use the closest dictionary translation
• omit the new term from the translation
• borrow the English term as is

To see how these three workarounds work, we can look at the way the term ‘feed’ (RSS) was ‘’translated’’ to Hebrew.

Consistency matters, but…

Translation databases cannot do translators’ job

Keeping a consistent terminology while translating (and writing), has always been a great challenge. Translation software with TM (Translation Memory) and glossary (terminology database) take a load off our memory, but they bring up another challenge: using these tools wisely, and not automatically.

Don’t forget the tone

Setting the right tone when translating digital content to Hebrew

When we speak about the ‘tone’ of a text, we speak about how the info is provided, and how the way it’s provided affects its hidden message. For example, when we want to instruct the users about what they should do when their log in doesn’t work, we can do it in many ways, each sending a different message:

Hebrew spelling – what about the vowels?

How to spell when localizing for Hebrew

 

  Basically, there are three ways to spell Hebrew words:

• Punctuated Spelling (Ktiv Menukad), some vowels are only used in the punctuation:
  We remove some letters that sound like vowels, and replace them with punctuation marksthat sound like vowels. This is the traditional spelling, used in dictionaries and children’s books. This spelling method is not common in modern texts. Maybe because most people wouldn’t know how to punctuate this way, and typing the punctuation marks is complicated.

• Plene Spelling (Ktiv Male), the vowels are in the letters:We use letters that sound like vowels, to replace vowels punctuation marks.
  This is the spelling method used in modern books and newspapers, often, with some exceptions. This is also the spelling the Hebrew Language Academy’s prefers, when Punctuated Spelling is not used.

• Deficient Spelling (Ktiv Hasser), some vowels are missing: We  remove the punctuation marks, but we don’t use the vowels that should replace them.
  This way, as you can imagine, scores the lowest usability mark and is not commonly used. 

So what’s the problem?

The male / female dilemma

No. 1 Hebrew translation challenge when addressing anonymous users

Verbs in Hebrew are conjugated according to the people they refer to. The conjugation is different for male, female, singular or plural. This turns into a real pain when you want to address an online anonymous user, whose sex is unknown.