Incorrect Translations Can Bring Us To The Brink Of War

Qualified Translators are Key for US

November 26, 2002 - It is surprising how frequently improper translations from one language to another occur in critical and important world situations. Take, for example, the North Korean radio report from last Sunday that appeared to be an admission that it had built nuclear weapons that may have been reported in error. The confusion stems from a single word-South Korea says they are uncertain if the North Korean radio announcer said they "have come to have nuclear weapons ('kajigaedutta')" or that they are "entitled to have nuclear weapons ('kajigaedu-oh-itda')". Big difference.

After 9/11 there was a call for Arabic translators to work for the FBI and CIA. The organizations' inability to translate both properly and quickly may have been a detriment to our receiving advance warning of an attack.

Elizabeth Elting, President and CEO of TransPerfect Translations, a leading translation company that works for Fortune 500 companies around the world, commented: "Accurately conveying the meaning when translating from one language to another is absolutely critical. Depending upon the subject matter, sometimes this can mean sticking closely to the source text and other times it requires a looser translation in order to best get across the central meaning. A good translator knows this and that understanding and ability can make all the difference between getting your message across the way you intended and having your message misconstrued."

Recent events make it increasingly apparent that the need for trustworthy and well-trained language experts is critical. Translators, linguists and technical experts recently determined that an audiotape contained the voice of Osama bin Laden. Linguists are often needed to work in conjunction with computers to obtain the most accurate voice analysis results.

Liz Elting continues, "Good translations can help the intelligence community as in the example of the bin Laden tapes, just as bad translations or improperly conveyed subtleties of language can create problems. Take for example the following words dealing with war that could have extreme consequences if improperly translated":

• In Japanese, "shimasu" and "shimashita" could result in an aggressive war stance because the former means "will do" while the latter means "did". So, for example, "shinheiki wo hatsumei shimasu" means, "we are going to invent a new weapon", while "shinheiki wo hatsumei shimashita" means "we invented a new weapon". When spoken, if the speaker isn't clear just as was the case in the North Korean situation, this can obviously create a problem.
  
• In English, the word "ordnance" (military weapons) could be poorly translated into French as "ordonnance" (an order or regulation or a medical prescription).
  
• The U.S. and China had a standoff about a grounded spy plane in 2001; the United States' use of "wan xi" (deep sorrow and regret) instead of "daoqian" (a formal apology that accepts blame) caused much tension between the two nations.
  
• The Russian word "mir", depending on the context, could mean "peace" or "world". Therefore, the expression "borba za mir", i.e., "struggle for peace" might be mistranslated as "combat for the world."
  
• A displaced comma in Russian can reverse the meaning in this sentence:

1. means execute (the criminal), do not pardon (him)
2. means do not execute (the criminal), pardon (him)

• "Rounds" (bullets) in English could be translated incorrectly into French as "ronds" which means "round" or "plump."
  
• In Arabic, the word "Al-qaeda" can mean "base" or "foundation" and can be confused with the meaning "the rule" and the word "rasa'el" can mean "written letters" or "messages" and confused with "missions."
  
• In German, improper translations of "Wir wollen lhre Unterlagen verlegen" could be translated:
• • "We wish to publish your documents"-the correct translation
  • "We wish to move your documents"
  • "We wish to lose your documents"
    
• In Japanese, the word "senjou" when written has a clear meaning. However, when spoken it could mean "in the war zone" or "on the ship" because both sound the same.

Liz Elting concludes: "Global tensions are at an all time high. It is imperative, as you can see from some of these examples as well as recent events, to have qualified, competent translators engaged in this important work all around the world. Keeping the peace could depend on translators as much as soldiers."

About TransPerfect
With revenue of over $250 million, TransPerfect is the largest privately held language services provider in the world. From offices in 66 cities on 5 continents, TransPerfect offers a full range of services in over 100 languages to multinationals worldwide. With a global network of over 4,000 linguists and subject-area specialists, TransPerfect is the largest translation company to be fully ISO 9001:2008 and EN 15038:2006 certified. TransPerfect is headquartered in New York and has regional headquarters in London and Hong Kong. For more information, please visit our website at www.transperfect.com.