What linguistic challenges does your language pose. part 2
English to Portuguese
One says Portuguese is a very treacherous language! Apart from the difficulty in the pronunciation foreign people may feel (with ditongs like “ão” that should sound somewhat like “auum”or something like that) it’s really necessary to have a very good knowledge of the language in order to do a good translation. I’ll give 2 very simple examples:
The word “canto” in Portuguese has the following meanings:
1 - corner (the corner of a room)
2 - song
3 - It is still each part of the “Lusíadas” by Luís de Camões
The word “decorar” has the following meanings:
1 - to learn by heart
2 - to decorate
The problem is that the majority of Portuguese dictionaries don’t give definitions of the different meanings a word may have. They normally give synonyms. So if one doesn’t know the idiom well one can build some weird sentences!
Another difficulty is the difference between Portuguese from Portugal and from Brazil. For example in Brazil they say “cara” to mean “buddy”, “guy”. In Portugal “cara” means “face” or “expensive”. These type of “nuances” in the idioms may be a problem if one doesn’t have a solid knowledge of the language! But it may also be quite a challenge, and that’s the fun of it!
Check out our Portuguese Translation Services website.
Portuguese to English
Couldn’t agree more with previous forum comment in this respect - the main difficulty (apart from the sound of “ão”, although this is more for spoken Portuguese) is the difference of terms between Brazil and Portugal.
Example:
English: The left pocket of the brown suit.
Brazil: O bolso esquerdo do terno marron.
Portugal: A algibeira canhota do fato castanho.
English: The boy kicked the ball, scored a goal, and lay on the grass.
Brazil: O menino chutou a bola, fez um gol, e deitou na grama (= no gramado).
Portugal: O menino chutou o esférico, marcou um golo e deitou-se sobre o relvado.
Some situations are potentially embarrassing, like “bicha” which in Portugal is a queue, and in Brazil is a gay.
Another difficulty in Portuguese is that sometimes pairs of words can be inverted with a change in meaning: we have “homem grande” (big man) as opposed to “grande homem” (great man). In English we do have the same idea, but a lot simpler: “passenger train” (a kind of train) v. “train passenger” (a kind of passenger).
Check out our Portuguese Translation Services website.
In reply to comment about “ão”, a good tip for non-Lusophones is:
1. to say “ão”, say “ow” while holding your nose.
So: to say “não” (no), just say “now” while holding your nose.
2. to say “ãe”, say “I” while holding your nose.
So: to say “mãe” (mother), just say “my” while holding your nose.
3. to say “õe”, say “oin” while holding your nose.
So: to say “põe” (puts), just say “poin” while holding your nose (probably red by now after so much nose-holding!)
These tips are brought to you by Translation Services UK who also offer a free translation service on their website. Remember, if you are going to get your document(s) translated then printed please make sure you use people and NOT software.