Translating the Untranslatable: A gateway into different cultures and languages
“Ah, there’s no translation for it in English.”
As a multilinguist or translator, chances are you might be familiar with this phrase. Indeed, there are words, phrases and concepts that do not exist in another language — often deemed as “untranslatable”.
Untranslatable moments occur when a vocabulary or word cannot encapsulate the cultural context of a particular word from another language. In other words, the equivalent word or idea does not exist in another language.
But before you begrudgingly groan at the hassle of translating an impossible word, I’d like to offer the perspective that untranslatable words are what make languages unique and worth the arduous attempts of translation.
There is so much that we can gain from navigating the jungle gym of the untranslatable word.
Rethinking the “untranslatable” roadblock: Why it matters
Imagine how boring it would be if there was an exact translation for every word in every language, or if there were no culturally specific references attached to a word.
For instance, if every language had an exact equivalent for “easy as pie” or “piece of cake,” it would imply that every country’s dessert repertoire contains only pies and cakes! More importantly, the phrase becomes devoid of any linguistic and cultural uniqueness — rendering different languages or cultures pointless.
Thankfully, every culture serves more than just pies and cakes (a win for dessert lovers, and yes, for linguistic uniqueness!). In fact, over 7,000 languages in the world account for the varying breadths, depths and nuances of our existence and way of life.
Because of our diversity, certain phrases are therefore specific and require more effort and thoughtfulness to translate. The act of translating an untranslatable word is not just a technical concern to convey specific ideas and context behind a word. It can also unravel a plethora of meaning behind a culture.
Let’s take a look at how two translation techniques allow us to appreciate such specific cultural nuances.
1. Adaptation: The resident cultural expert
Adaptation — also called “free translation” — is when the translator uses other words or phrases in the target language deemed appropriate to convey the context and essence of the original phrase. There are many instances when a translator might use this technique — namely when the direct translation doesn’t give contextual meaning, or when there is no direct translation for the word.
So what can we learn from adapting a word?
Let’s look at the Thai proverb, “ปิดทองหลังพระ” (“pid tong lang pra”) which literally translates to “putting gold behind the Buddha”. As you’ve probably realised, this literal translation means nothing in the English context.
But in Thailand’s religious and cultural landscape, it is common practice to apply gold leaves onto Buddha statues when visiting the temple. This is to receive merits for upkeeping the statues. Temple-goers usually place gold leaves at the front of the statue so that other worshippers can see their contribution. However, placing the leaves at Buddha’s back means you are doing something good without seeking attention. Thus, the translation of the Thai proverb “pid tong lang pra” can be adapted to “doing a good deed without seeking acknowledgement”.
Translating this proverb through adaptation can help us appreciate such nuances of Thai culture that might have otherwise gone amiss.
2. Adoption: Getting creative with vernacular
When literal or free translation fails, translators often turn to borrowing words from other languages to best illustrate the word.
For example, the Thai word “ซุปเปอร์” (“super”) refers to “supermarket” — so you could say “ฉันไปซุปเปอร์” (“chan pay super”) for “I am going to the ‘super’”. As we examine the adoption of this word, we can deduce that the concept of a supermarket was probably a foreign one in a country where fresh and local markets (or “ตลาด” “talad”) were the norm.
Similarly, the words for “apartment” and “condo” are also the same in Thai (“อพาร์ทเมนต์”/“คอนโด”). This is probably because there is no word to capture the structure of these modern day constructions in a country dominated by Thai-style houses and villages.
There is no clear consensus on how these words were incorporated into the Thai language, but words are usually adopted when the concept or idea does not already exist in that language or culture.
In another instance, when I struggled to change under a towel at a beach, my Indian friend laughed and called out, “jugaad!”. He explained that this Hindi-Urdu concept is understood as “winging it, thinking outside of the box or finding innovative fixes”. I was pleasantly surprised when later the Oxford English dictionary incorporated and adopted this term in 2017, under the definition of “a flexible approach to problem-solving that uses resources in a limited way”.
It is always exciting to see word adoption into another language when the essence of a word is so unique that it cannot be captured otherwise.
The act of adopting a word can therefore implore us to consider how translations can be creative and reflect a community’s understanding of foreign concepts.
The “untranslatable” as entry to other cultures
When I come across an “untranslatable” word myself, I never fail to learn something new about the culture or people pertaining to the language.
For example, I found that the Vietnamese word “đi nhậu” (pronounced “di neow”) refers to meeting friends on the street for cheap beer and small plates of foods — or as some described, “the art of eating and drinking for no particular purpose”. From learning about this term, I can infer that eating, drinking and meeting with friends are integral to Vietnamese culture.
There is so much meaning and subtlety embedded within languages, which can make the process of translation a fulfilling and thoughtful one.
The next time you come across a word, phrase, or idea that cannot be directly translated, take a pause to celebrate these moments and embrace the untranslatable word as a chance of sharing and unveiling a part of one culture to another.
Written by Toffy Charupatanapongse
