Like-Blog
Presenting you the most interesting translation solutions
Why Like-Blog? Now, first of all, this blog is a blog that you should like (and read regularly) – at least, if you are interested in translation. Then, the topic discussed here is one in which the meaningful likeness between a text and its translation in the language pair English-German plays a key role. On this page, I will take a close look at some interesting translation solutions that I have come across in the course of my work as a translator and translation scholar.
A translation solution is only as good as the arguments that support it. This means that any translation criticism, whether positive or negative, needs to be justified. The quality of a translation solution shows only when we compare it to other possible translation solutions in a given translation situation. Therefore, a translation critic should not only say why a translation solution is bad, but also demonstrate what a better solution might look like. I will try to stick to these principles of translation criticism. So if you have any questions regarding my line of argument or if you disagree, please, let me know your opinion by phone at +49 4171 6086525 or by e-mail to bittner@businessenglish-hamburg.de. So much for the introduction. I hope you’ll enjoy reading this blog!
A syntactic shift in meaning (October 2025)
In “Sold Down the River” by Eleanor J. Sterling and Merry D. Camhi (www.naturalhistorymag.com), we come across the following sentence:
“Fortunately, increased awareness of the environmental problems they cause has contributed to a slowdown of large-dam construction in the United States and Europe.”
The translation goes: “Glücklicherweise hat ein verstärktes Bewusstsein für die negativen Auswirkungen, die solche Dämme auf die Umwelt haben, in den USA und Europa zu einem eingeschränkten Bau von Großdämmen geführt.”
The problem in this translation may not be immediately obvious because the target sentence would probably be understood correctly in the context in which it occurs. Nevertheless, a syntactic change in the target sentence compared to the source sentence causes a shift in meaning which, if taken at face value, is not acceptable: the central grammatical object in the original is “slowdown” whereas the central grammatical object in the translation is “Bau”. This obvious difference in meaning cannot be evened out by modifying the German noun “Bau” with an adjective that corresponds semantically to the grammatical object of the original. The awareness of the negative effects has, then, not led to the construction (albeit restricted) of large dams, but to a slowdown of such construction. In the first case, construction of large dams would have only just begun; in the second case, existing or planned construction activities would be scaled back compared to previous levels.
A possible translation solution would be: Glücklicherweise hat ein verstärktes Bewusstsein für die negativen Auswirkungen, die solche Dämme auf die Umwelt haben, dazu geführt, dass in den USA und Europa Großdämme nur noch in eingeschränktem Umfang gebaut werden.