Common Challenges of Japanese – English Translation

1. 日本語- 英語
日本語- 英語
日本語- 英語
日本語- 英語
日本語- 英語
Common Challenges of Japanese – English Translation
日本語- 英語
日本語- 英語
日本語- 英語

2. CONTENTS
Subject Slide No
Getting the Basics of Translation Right 3-4
Common Confusions 5-7
What's missing when it comes to Japanese versus English? 8
Understanding What Not to Capture/ Replicate 9-10
The Comprehension Challenge 11-12
EXAMPLE: Comprehending “garagara ガラガラ” 12
Homonyms : When Kanji differentiates the meaning & Context
connects the dots!!
13
Missing Background Information & Native Clarity 14-15

3. Getting the Basics of Translation Right
• Language Structure
− Distinctly Different
• Literal translation with exactly same meaning
− Can cause the output to sound grammatically incorrect in English
Example
Taroo-ga Hiro-ga Hanako-ni zibun-no syasin-o miseta to omotte iru.
(Taro Hiro Hanako-to self-of picture showed that thinking is)
‘Taro is thinking that Hiro showed pictures of himself to Hanako.’
• Comprehension skills
− Hold maximum value for translating Japanese to English effectively
− Can only be developed to grasp the context correctly if the translator is a subject matter specialist

4. Getting the Basics of Translation Right
• Tenses
− Choosing the correct tense is an art
− There is no Future tense in the Japanese language
Example
Confused Translation:
They proofread after translation
Correct Translation:
They shall proofread after translation.
This type of translation is easier to identify
cross-checked, proofread and edited
version of translation sounds very native
Original Text:

5. Common Confusions
• The reason of confusion amongst many master translators
as well
− Many Japanese nouns can also be used as adjectives or adverbs
− Personal/possessive pronouns are used differently in the English
versus Japanese
Example
New in company translator  Translator who is new

6. Common Confusions
• Ability to Differentiate Grammatical Genders – (Nouns):
− Feminine
− Masculine
− Neuter
• Lack of familiarity with the nuances of the words can lead
to incorrect context of the translated manuscript
Did You
Know? Grammatical Genders vary from language to language

7. Common Confusions
• Ability to Differentiate Grammatical Genders – (Nouns):
− Feminine
− Masculine
− Neuter
• Styling of the script:
− Needs perfect interpretation and understanding of the language
− When the translator is not a subject area expert it may be difficult for
him to maintain the style
− Translators tend to interpret content in the style of their own area of
expertise
Did You
Know?
Example
The style of a legal document will be completely different than that of a fiction script

8. What's missing when it comes to Japanese versus English?
• The Japanese language needs massive restructuring and special measures for communicating
the following parts of English Grammar that are missing :
− Definite or indefinite articles (a/the)
− Prepositions as in English (at/by/in/to/from/with)
− Plural forms of words
− Verbs – Appear at the end of the sentence unlike English where verbs give direction to a sentence
− Subject – It is not necessary to have a subject in a sentence. It is normally a hurdle while comprehending the
meaning of a sentence for the Japanese
− Future Tense
− Relative pronouns
No Definite or
indefinite
articles
No
Prepositions
as in English
No Plural
forms of
words
Subject of a
sentence is
less
important
No Future Tense No Relative
Pronouns

9. Understanding What Not to Capture/ Replicate
• Capture the content, not the form
• There are a lot of classification symbols that are used in Japanese that cause redundancy in
English usage
• Many Translators are under-confident of letting go such symbols even though they are already
addressed in the output
Example
Original
Text
Confused Translation Perfect Translation
Population of ABC towns:
ABCville -10 people
ABCcounty- 13 people
Population of ABC towns:
ABCville -10
ABCcounty- 13
Here Population is understood
as people which in Japanese
may be denoted as 人
(10) as a classification symbol
but translating it twice into
English causes redundancy.
Population obviously means
people

10. Understanding What Not to Capture/ Replicate
• Sentence formation Position of numbers and letters Level of translation experience
• Wrong sentence formation Incorrect meaning
• The sentence formation that may be correct in Japanese may not be exactly correct in English
Example
Japanese Wrong Translation Correct Translation
C 大学C University University C
1 論文1 Paper Paper 1

11. The Comprehension Challenge
• The sound-symbolic words of Japanese are the most tricky to translate. They can be
classified as follows :
Sound-symbolic
words in Japanese
Phonomime or
onomatopoeia
(擬声語Giseigo or 擬音語
Giongo)
words that mimic actual sounds.
Giseigo refers to sounds made by
living things, while Giongo refers to
sounds made by inanimate objects
Phenomime (擬態語Gitaigo)
words that depict non-auditory
senses
Psychomime (also called 擬態
語Gitaigo or 擬情語Gijōgo)
words that depict psychological states or
bodily feelings
Confused? Take a case in the next slide that is sure to answer your questions!

12. Example
Comprehending “garagara ガラガラ”
• The translation of this word “garagara ガラガラ” can take multiple literally correct forms and
yet be incorrect. How?
• It is the context that changes the entire meaning of the word
子供はガラガラを持っています。
Kodomo wa garagara wo motteimasu.
The child is holding a rattle.
If we try interchanging rattle, empty, raspy as translation of the same word in different sentences; it
could turn into a blunder. This is exactly where nativity and comprehension skills of a translator come
into play
電車はガラガラです。
Densha wa garagara desu.
The train is empty.
私は声がガラガラです。
Watashi wa koe ga garagara desu.
My voice is raspy.

13. Homonyms : When Kanji differentiates the
meaning & Context connects the dots!!
There is something known as homonyms in the Japanese language. These are words that are pronounced
the same way but have different meanings, which raise caution for careful understanding and usage
Pronunciation Meaning Same
Pronunciation
Different
Meaning
kinen 記念commemoration kin'en 禁煙no smoking
san'en 三円three yen sannen 三年three years
maki 巻scroll makki 末期last period
hako 箱box hakkou 発行publish
soto 外outside sotto そっとsoftly
soto 外outside sotou 粗糖unrefined sugar
soto 外outside souto 僧徒Buddhist disciple
yuki 雪snow yuuki 勇気courage
kinyuu 記入fill out kin'yuu 金融finances

14. Missing Background Information & Native Clarity
• Translator MUST know purpose of the document
• Knowing the purpose aids the translator in addressing the target audience through translation
effectively
• Nativity of a translator carries immense value
• A non native Japanese Translator may not know many culture driven aspects of the language
• Some words cannot be translated in other languages due to the (cultural/religious) derivation
behind it

15. Missing Background Information & Native Clarity
Did You
Know?
Japanese like most languages has unintelligible variations of it,
which could take all you have to master it.
Kanto-ben
(関東弁– Kanto
Kansai-ben
(関西弁– Kansai
Dialect)
Tohoku-ben
(東北弁– Tohoku
Dialect)
Kyushu-ben
 Tokyo dialect
 Considered as
standard Japanese
 Why? Tokyo being
center of mass
of Japan
 Usually flat with less
intonation
 Japanese language
learners being with
Kanto-ben
 #2 dialect of Japan
 Spoken in Osaka
Kyoto and
throughout the
south-western area
of Honshu
 Spoken faster with
much more
intonation than
Kanto-ben
 Examples of
words: okini (おお
に– thank you)
honma (ほんま-
really?)
 It’s also called zuu
ben because of the
mumbling way
speakers talk
 When Tohoku-ben
speakers appear on
TV, there are
 Tohoku speakers also
use sa, sometimes
substituting it for
particles e (へ)
に)
 Kyushu is the southern
westernmost island of
Japan
 Other Japanese speakers
find it difficult to
understand few dialects
Kyushu
 The –i at the end of
adjectives changes to –
ka (for example,
amuka rather than
samui means cold)
 Variations in dialects
sometimes confuse to an
extent that natives of

16. Thank- You
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