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Quiz about The Art of Translation mainly German examples
Quiz about The Art of Translation mainly German examples

The Art of Translation (mainly German examples) Quiz


Formerly, translation was widely used in teaching foreign languages, and the more advanced pupils gained some idea of what translation is about. This is often no longer the case.

A multiple-choice quiz by bloomsby. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
bloomsby
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
362,219
Updated
Jul 23 22
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
459
Awards
Top 5% quiz!
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Question 1 of 10
1. Which of these best describes the purpose of translation? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. How do professional translators treat bilingual dictionaries (such as English-French and French-English dictionaries)? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Translation can strive to stay close to the original, or it can be much freer. The issue of relative 'closeness' or 'freedom' often depends to a large extent on the nature of the text translated. In which of these kinds of translations is a free version nearly always essential? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. The translator's first task is to understand the original correctly. What does the principle in German law 'Bundesrecht bricht Landesrecht' mean? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. You are translating a scholarly article on literature from German into English, and the original describes a particular novel as a "chronique scandaleuse" (in quotation marks in the German). What is the best solution or translation to adopt? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. In every language there are some well known sayings that are practically unknown to speakers of most other languages. Such sayings can cause translation problems. What would be a good translation of 'Nach Canossa gehen wir nicht' (used in a political context)? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Charlie Cleverclogs is aware that German compound nouns and verbs are often more 'transparent' than their English counterparts. So, when asked for the German for 'headmaster' he beams all over and replies, 'That's dead simple - it's "der Kopfmeister" '. What wrong with this? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. You have to translate a text into English which states the penalty that the Prussian Legal Code of 1794 prescribed as the maximum for homosexual acts. It was three years' penal servitude (four if done for payment) and, in addition, 'the [customary] greeting and farewell' ('Willkommen und Abschied'). Is a short note admissible to explain what this was?


Question 9 of 10
9. It is important to know whether you are translating something used in its most basic sense or whether a word or phrase is being used in one of its less common or figurative senses. Which of these best translates: 'Du hast eine ganze Reihe von Möglichkeiten'? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. When translating, what should one do with place-names, street-names and family names and the like? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Which of these best describes the purpose of translation?

Answer: To render the meaning of the original in another language

Contrary to a widespread misconception, translation is not a simple, mechanical process, just involving substituting one word for another. Different languages are structured in different ways - for example, while English very largely relies on word order to indicate the subject and direct object, many other languages (such as Latin and Russian), use a change in the noun endings instead. In Latin, for example, you can't change 'the dog bit the man' to 'the man bit the dog' by swapping the position of 'dog' and 'man'.

There are also matters of style, too. One should not translate something that is in a formal style in the original into something colloquial in the foreign language or vice versa.
2. How do professional translators treat bilingual dictionaries (such as English-French and French-English dictionaries)?

Answer: As guides or aids

Translators do in fact need to use dictionaries, sometimes just in order to get a list of alternatives. However, dictionaries vary enormously in quality. A good dictionary should include information about unusual uses of words and so on.

To regard a dictionary as an unquestionable authority is at best naive, at worst a recipe for problems. Even the best dictionaries have omissions and contain some errors and oddities.
3. Translation can strive to stay close to the original, or it can be much freer. The issue of relative 'closeness' or 'freedom' often depends to a large extent on the nature of the text translated. In which of these kinds of translations is a free version nearly always essential?

Answer: Verse into verse

Verse to verse translation is often extremely difficult, even if the translated text doesn't have to rhyme. Considerable freedom is essential, and the translation must not violate the normal stress patterns of the foreign language. If the verse is going to be sung (song lyrics) immense ingenuity is often required, but as a very last resort the occasional very small change to the music may be permissible.

For the translation of sacred texts, the publisher will normally have definite instructions which will be passed on to the translator(s).

In all cases it is important that the translation should not stick out as foreign or otherwise odd: it should be unobtrusive and shouldn't unnecessarily draw attention to itself. That said, fashions in literary translation change over time, and since the late 20th century the occasional, well chosen whiff of something slightly foreign or odd is often seen in a positive light.
4. The translator's first task is to understand the original correctly. What does the principle in German law 'Bundesrecht bricht Landesrecht' mean?

Answer: Federal law overrides state law

This is a general principle in federal states. This example also illustrates neatly one of the reasons why machine translation is often of limited usefulness. The usual, standard translation of 'brechen (bricht-brach-hat gebrochen)' is 'to break' and that is what many machine translations will come up with unless the programme has been 'instructed' to treat 'bricht' differently after 'Bundesrecht'.
5. You are translating a scholarly article on literature from German into English, and the original describes a particular novel as a "chronique scandaleuse" (in quotation marks in the German). What is the best solution or translation to adopt?

Answer: Leave it untranslated and put it in italics in the English version

The term 'chronique scandaleuse' is not widely used in literary scholarship. Presumably, the author of the original assumed that the French expression would be understood by German readers, and it is reasonable to assume the same of English-speaking literary scholars.
6. In every language there are some well known sayings that are practically unknown to speakers of most other languages. Such sayings can cause translation problems. What would be a good translation of 'Nach Canossa gehen wir nicht' (used in a political context)?

Answer: We won't eat humble pie

The saying relates to a confrontation in 1077 between Pope Gregory VII and Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV. The Emperor arrived at Canossa (in Reggio nell'Emilia) in order to apologize to the Pope and do penance, and the Pope kept him waiting for three days in the snow. In the 19th century some Protestant German historians portrayed this as the ultimate humiliation of a German emperor by a pope. (At the same time, some Roman Catholics saw it as the first papal victory over an overbearing secular power).

In the 1870s Bismarck used the expression in his own confrontation with Roman Catholicism - hence the modern meaning in German. (Note also the term 'der Canossagang' - no pl.).

This is a case where a machine translation might well give an inaccurate, word by word translation.

There are a few other languages (such as Italian) where 'going to Canossa' can have a similar sense, but without any specifically Bismarckian connotations.
7. Charlie Cleverclogs is aware that German compound nouns and verbs are often more 'transparent' than their English counterparts. So, when asked for the German for 'headmaster' he beams all over and replies, 'That's dead simple - it's "der Kopfmeister" '. What wrong with this?

Answer: It's complete nonsense in German

Charlie Clevercloggs has made a fool of himself ... The German for 'headmaster' is 'der Direktor' (pl. -en) or sometimes 'der Rektor' (pl. -en). In some schools it's 'der Oberstudiendirektor' (pl. - en).
8. You have to translate a text into English which states the penalty that the Prussian Legal Code of 1794 prescribed as the maximum for homosexual acts. It was three years' penal servitude (four if done for payment) and, in addition, 'the [customary] greeting and farewell' ('Willkommen und Abschied'). Is a short note admissible to explain what this was?

Answer: Yes

At the time it was a whipping on arrival and again just before release. Presumably, most readers could guess that it was something unpleasant, but a good translation should be reader-friendly.

Incidentally, Prussia was one of the first countries in Europe to abolish the death penalty for homosexual acts between consenting adults.
9. It is important to know whether you are translating something used in its most basic sense or whether a word or phrase is being used in one of its less common or figurative senses. Which of these best translates: 'Du hast eine ganze Reihe von Möglichkeiten'?

Answer: You have a whole range of possibilities

The basic meaning of 'die Reihe' (pl. -n) is 'row, line'. However, the word has other meanings, too. The usual meaning of 'eine Reihe von' is 'a number, range or variety of'.
10. When translating, what should one do with place-names, street-names and family names and the like?

Answer: Only translate them if there is an acknowledged translation in current use

So, normally 'Wien' is translated as 'Vienna', 'München' as 'Munich' and 'Köln' as 'Cologne'. The archaic 'Mayence' for Mainz and 'Lipsic' for 'Leipzig' are not used any more and may look prententious. Don't translate 'Neustadt'. Would you, incidentally, go for 'Newtown' or 'Newton'? Consider 'Ashford' in an English to German translation. Would you translate it as 'Eschenfurt'? Just imagine finding Weißenfels translated into English as 'White Rock' ...

It would be confusing, to say the least. Similarly, street names should never be translated. So if you have to translate a text about a riot in the 'Dragonerstraße' in Berlin leave it untranslated. One of the difficulties here is that 'Dragoon Street' sounds downright wacky in English, and draws attention and away from the subject matter of the text.
Source: Author bloomsby

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor stedman before going online.
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