[Lexicog] When Semantics Doesn't Matter

[Hayim Sheynin]

Fritz -

So as I understand you agree with my points, and the word congenial doesn't change much. 

Greetings,

Hayim

Fritz Goerling <Fritz_Goerling at sil.org> wrote:                                          
  Hayim,
   
  Let me comment on a few of your points. 
   
  Fritz
   
  The statement was made:
   
  <<Shakespeare is better in German translation.>>
   
  Hayim responded:
  
 Let me share some thoughts relating to this generalization.
 <
 5. Do Shakespeare's witticisms and phraseology sound better in translation?
   
        Witticisms and puns can very rarely be reproduced. It is always better to read
        the author in the original. In a translation one can add a footnote explaining
        a pun in order not to lose the effect.
  
 6. Can anybody state that KJV of the Bible or German Luther's translation
 or any other translation of the Bible be better than Hebrew original.
   
        Of course, not. Translators of the Bible should know the original languages.
        A model is St.  Jerome, responsible for the Vulgata, who settled down in Jerusalem.
  
 7. Can anybody state that any translation of a classical work (I mean 
 one written in classical Greek or ancient Latin) be better than the original?  
   
        Never, but a translation can be “kongenial” ( I don’t know how to translate
        the German word into English because “congenial” seems to be a false friend;
        maybe “ideally matched”). An example would be the late Hans Wollschläger’s
        legendary translation of James Joyce’s “Ulysses” into German.
  
 8. There are many excellent translations from language A to language B,
 and how laudable they can be they never are going to be equal to the
 original.
   
       At best “kongenial.”
   
  <
 Hayim Sheynin  
 
 
 
  
      
     
                       

       
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