Do "faux amis" cause you problems in translation? Thread poster: mpt_21 (X)
| mpt_21 (X) Local time: 20:27 French to English
I am doing my Master's dissertation in translation on "faux amis" and would be very grateful if you would answer this short questionnaire: 1) How frequently do you encounter "faux amis" in your translations? (Please state your source and target languages). 2) Do "faux amis" cause you problems in translation? 3) Do you feel that "faux amis" present more of a problem when translating medical and pharmaceutical text? Please give examples, if possible. ... See more I am doing my Master's dissertation in translation on "faux amis" and would be very grateful if you would answer this short questionnaire: 1) How frequently do you encounter "faux amis" in your translations? (Please state your source and target languages). 2) Do "faux amis" cause you problems in translation? 3) Do you feel that "faux amis" present more of a problem when translating medical and pharmaceutical text? Please give examples, if possible. 4) Do you think there is sufficient up to date publicised material available on medical/pharmaceutical "faux amis"? 5) As a translator do you keep a glossary of faux-amis? 6) How useful would a corpus or glossary of medical and pharmaceutical faux amis be to you as a translator? Many thanks for your assistance. ▲ Collapse | | | Faux-amis can be tamed | Aug 3, 2006 |
From my little experience in medical translations (mainly cardiology and clinical trials [ie statistics rather than medicine]) 1) very often (EN>FR) control to name but one: régulation, contrôle, commande, maîtrise... These are not synonyms in French 2) Yes, but they can be solved 3) No; whatever the field, one need to know about faux-amis. tender is a faux-ami I like v... See more From my little experience in medical translations (mainly cardiology and clinical trials [ie statistics rather than medicine]) 1) very often (EN>FR) control to name but one: régulation, contrôle, commande, maîtrise... These are not synonyms in French 2) Yes, but they can be solved 3) No; whatever the field, one need to know about faux-amis. tender is a faux-ami I like very much 4) a good reference: http://www.erudit.org/revue/meta/1999/v44/n2/003249ar.html 5) No. A faux-ami is something you never forget (as well as enemies) 6) Joker. Have a nice evening, Philippe ▲ Collapse | | | mpt_21 (X) Local time: 20:27 French to English TOPIC STARTER Thank you very much, Philippe | Aug 3, 2006 |
Philippe Etienne wrote: From my little experience in medical translations (mainly cardiology and clinical trials [ie statistics rather than medicine]) 1) very often (EN>FR) control to name but one: régulation, contrôle, commande, maîtrise... These are not synonyms in French 2) Yes, but they can be solved 3) No; whatever the field, one need to know about faux-amis. tender is a faux-ami I like very much 4) a good reference: http://www.erudit.org/revue/meta/1999/v44/n2/003249ar.html 5) No. A faux-ami is something you never forget (as well as enemies) 6) Joker. Have a nice evening, Philippe | | | If I didn't know them | Aug 4, 2006 |
I doubt that any translator who has problems with false friends knows it. Once we have mastered a particular false friend and become aware of it, then it is no longer a problem, as Philippe suggests in his point #5. The translator who is ignorant of a particular false friend will not be aware of his or her problem with it. 1) Impossible to say. It's not something one keeps track of. ES>EN. 2) See discussion above. 3) Not at all. In fact, I find I am most aw... See more I doubt that any translator who has problems with false friends knows it. Once we have mastered a particular false friend and become aware of it, then it is no longer a problem, as Philippe suggests in his point #5. The translator who is ignorant of a particular false friend will not be aware of his or her problem with it. 1) Impossible to say. It's not something one keeps track of. ES>EN. 2) See discussion above. 3) Not at all. In fact, I find I am most aware of their presence in general texts that contain little or no specialized terminology, but I can't say if that means that they're more prevalent in such texts (see #1). 4) Not qualified to judge. 5) No, but I keep a glossary and it no doubt contains some false friends. 6) A general glossary of terms in the field would be more useful; the purpose would be served by having some remark or flag that marks the false friends within it. Then one would not have to consult a separate and distinct glossary for false friends; after all if one does not know the correct translation of the term, one is not aware that it is a false friend.
[Edited at 2006-08-04 18:26] ▲ Collapse | |
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Kevin Fulton United States Local time: 15:27 German to English False English a problem | Aug 4, 2006 |
One of the problems German to English translators encounter is the coining of phrases in "English" which are meaningless or at best misleading in English. I recall seeing a Kudoz query regarding the "near food" industry. The term had to do with cosmetics or some similar product. I once translated an owner's manual for a luxury car. The vehicle offered a "Carjacking" mode. My query to the client was whether this were some sort of alarm. No ... it was a means of adjusting the suspens... See more One of the problems German to English translators encounter is the coining of phrases in "English" which are meaningless or at best misleading in English. I recall seeing a Kudoz query regarding the "near food" industry. The term had to do with cosmetics or some similar product. I once translated an owner's manual for a luxury car. The vehicle offered a "Carjacking" mode. My query to the client was whether this were some sort of alarm. No ... it was a means of adjusting the suspension so that one wheel could be raised from the road surface so that it could be changed. Fortunately that client had the good sense to come up with a better term. Not everyone has a reasonable client ... A colleague was confronted with a company motto that was in incomprehensible English. When he contacted the company to find out what German concept they were attempting to express, they were enraged and said that next time they'd find a translator who understood English. ▲ Collapse | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Do "faux amis" cause you problems in translation? Trados Business Manager Lite | Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio
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