Every language has its own characters that create some differences among them. The differences in language structure and other language features should make some problems for a new translator or even the experienced one.
The demands to understand booth source and target language deeply are the greatest challenge for a translator to reach the top of his career. Therefore, for a newbie, learning the difficulties might be helpful so they know how to overcome them.
Language structure
Every language is governed by certain rules that are sometimes very different from one to another. This structural problem often comes when a translator faces language pairs that come from different roots. For example, English has a specific rule for phrase arrangements, but for another language like Arabic, the phrase has a different syntactic structure. There are many examples of structural differences that might involve the understanding of language features as well.
A translator should be ready with the differences. The best theory for this case is to limit the expertise to only one or two language pairs. The more languages a translator feels himself can handle will result in surface comprehension that can create implications in translation results. Therefore, a deep understanding of language structure should be maintained to keep the sense of the meaning of the source language.
Idioms and Expression
Cultural differences and contexts can change someone’s perception of a thing which will make different people behave or talk differently. Idiom and expression are the product of interaction which lies in a certain background of understanding. Not only for translators, but even linguistic experts will also find idioms and expressions are difficult items in translation.
Compound words
In English, the compound word can have at least three variations which can be predicted from the words that construct them. The first variation is a compound which meaning is familiar like seahorse, sunset, and crosswalk. This first variation is the easiest form whose meaning can be guessed by the meaning of each word there. However, there are also other variations that for a language learner or non-native will sound unfamiliar like pineapple and butterfly.
In a certain translation with difficult language pairs, the compound words can provide a serious challenge, For example, an English ‘deadline’ which clearly is clearly not related to the death and a certain line. There are other examples in different languages, thus the solution is to not merely hold on to literal translation.
Sarcasm and Figurative language
Figurative language consists of a different set of categories that is sometimes hard to find equal meaning. One that is often used today is sarcasm which is a style of expression that means the opposite. It can be harsh and rude, but it can also be sharp but thoughtful. To deal with this, you might need to ask the fellow translator or ask the expert about the in-line terms.
