Which language pair do you think translates most easily?

《Colette Sun Jan 18, 2009 2:02 pm GMT
Spanish-Portuguese》
I hear that the Spanish and the Portuguese can have conversations with each other without much difficulty. Is that true?

<<linguist Sun Jan 18, 2009 3:08 pm GMT
Two similar languages are sometimes very difficult to translate. All syntax and vocabolary may be mixed up. So the question is a bit senseless >>
It is just claim.
Plz prove it!

<<bohemien Sun Jan 18, 2009 3:28 pm GMT
British English- American English
American Spanish - European Spanish>>
This answer is quite alternative!
Anyway, they are of the same language, or varieties of the same language. It is not a valid answer to the question which has to do with translation across different languages.

<<Sullenberger Sun Jan 18, 2009 3:41 pm GMT
German - Swiss German>>
Aren't German and Swiss German the same language?

<<JPT Mon Jan 19, 2009 5:42 am GMT
in my experience Czech-Slovak. Vocabs are about 85% same or very close, and orthography is very similar. The one thing Czech speakers need to remember is that H in Czech is often G in other Slavic languages.>>
If that is the case, I'd rather call them varieties of the same language.

<<KLAX Mon Jan 19, 2009 9:56 am GMT
Esperanto is based on the Indo-European languages. Esperanto grammar may be quite hard for a Chinese>>
I figure that the majority of the Chinese even haven never heard of such a language as Esperanto.

<<posaderas Mon Jan 19, 2009 10:00 am GMT
It depends highly on what you're translating. If you're translating a normal book with normal language then any languages can be translated. If you're translating a book with a lot of idiomatic or language based humour then the task could be arduous, and you're more likely to have success with closely related languages.>>
No, the question has little to do what you are translating.
Say the subject matter of a translation piece is the same for dozens pairs of languages, which language pair transalates most easily?

<<Invité d'honneur Sun Jan 18, 2009 11:43 pm GMT
Linguist: «Esperanto-Japanese-
Esperanto-Chinese
NO WAY!
Maybe Esperanto- a latin language or an indo-European language but I'm not sure»



No way?
OK.
Prove it then.

Esperanto is flexible like almost no other language in the world, allowing to create sentences and even words very close to the original.


- As for Chinese, I won't get into details because It's getting late but let's just say that this language and Esperanto have an important feature in common: all words are derived from regular roots following a 100% predictable pattern. Claude Piron used to give the example of how the word "foreigner" is formed in Chinese and Esperanto:
In Chinese: Waiguoren -> Wai-guo-ren -> Outside-land-human
In Esperanto: Eksterlando -> Ekster-land-ano -> Outside-land-human
Claude Piron also used to say that both languages are so regular that if you know how to say "one" you don't need to learn how to say "first", you form it yourself. Same thing with "ox", "cow", "calf" and "bull" wich in Chinese and Esperanto are all formed from a single root.>>

Good point you've made!
Chinese is extremly productive and concise in expressing news ideas through the numerious combination of characters and root characters.

I 'd like to enrich the examples you gave a bit more.
The word 人 (ren, meaning "person") can be viewed as a root characeter or root word, which can be used to refer to just so many different 人, or persons:

男人 nanren>nan-ren>male-person = man
女人 nvren>nv-ren>female-person = woman
成人 chengren>cheng-ren>grown-person= adult
美国人 meiguoren>mei-guo-ren> America-country-person= American
法国人 faguoren>fa-guo-ren> France-country-person= Frenchman
中国人 zhongguoren>zhong-guo-ren>zhong-country-person= Chinese (referring to the people of China)
北京人 Beijingren>Beijing-ren>Beijing-person= Beijinger
上海人 Shanghairen> Shanghai-ren> Shanghai-person= Shanghainese
工人 gongren>gong-ren> work-person= worker
主人 zhuren>zhu-ren> mastering-person= master
商人 shangren>shang-ren>business-person= businessman

The list can go endllessly.......

There are also some other characters which have similar meanings to the character 人 (person), such as 员，手，者，家, all of which can be used to form new words just like 人.
In this way, the Chinese language displays extreme economy in terms of the sum number of the characeters actually used in real life.
That property is all the more noticeable in comparison with English!

English-Dutch :|)

{{<<posaderas Mon Jan 19, 2009 10:00 am GMT
It depends highly on what you're translating. If you're translating a normal book with normal language then any languages can be translated. If you're translating a book with a lot of idiomatic or language based humour then the task could be arduous, and you're more likely to have success with closely related languages.>>
No, the question has little to do what you are translating.
Say the subject matter of a translation piece is the same for dozens pairs of languages, which language pair transalates most easily? }}


It has a lot to do with it. Try translating this into a dozen languages and see which is easiest.


"Being in politics is just like playing golf: you are trapped in one bad lie after another."

"Question: Why do we still have troops in Germany? Answer: To keep the Slovaks in Czech."

"A fight broke out in a kitchen. Egged on by the waiters, two cooks peppered each other with punches. One man, a greasy foie gras specialist, ducked the first blows, but his goose was cooked when the other cold-cocked him. The man who beet him, a weedy salad expert with big cauliflower ears, tried to flee the scene, but was cornered in the maize of tables by a husky off-duty cob. He was charged with a salt and buttery. He claims to look forward to the suit, as he's always wanted to be a sous-chef."

<<<posaderas Mon Jan 19, 2009 9:26 pm GMT
{{<<posaderas Mon Jan 19, 2009 10:00 am GMT
It depends highly on what you're translating. If you're translating a normal book with normal language then any languages can be translated. If you're translating a book with a lot of idiomatic or language based humour then the task could be arduous, and you're more likely to have success with closely related languages.>>
No, the question has little to do what you are translating.
Say the subject matter of a translation piece is the same for dozens pairs of languages, which language pair transalates most easily? }}


It has a lot to do with it. Try translating this into a dozen languages and see which is easiest.


"Being in politics is just like playing golf: you are trapped in one bad lie after another."

"Question: Why do we still have troops in Germany? Answer: To keep the Slovaks in Czech."

"A fight broke out in a kitchen. Egged on by the waiters, two cooks peppered each other with punches. One man, a greasy foie gras specialist, ducked the first blows, but his goose was cooked when the other cold-cocked him. The man who beet him, a weedy salad expert with big cauliflower ears, tried to flee the scene, but was cornered in the maize of tables by a husky off-duty cob. He was charged with a salt and buttery. He claims to look forward to the suit, as he's always wanted to be a sous-chef." >>>
You just missed the point!

European Portuguese - Brazilian