A blog post/column by Dick Cavett got me wondering about the problems translators may have faced when trying to follow a certain vice presidential candidate's unpredictable syntax.
Or should I say: Reading there on the blog to me was kinda got me thinking more than when translators doing important translation of language between people especially their leaders also of cultures are just tryin' to do their best and criticism to them is made without relevance to the challenges which they face. I'm not complainin', but it's not fair. ;)
I handed this sample problem to an online translator, starting with the Wasillish version.
My concern has been the atrocities there in Darfur and the relevance to me with that issue as we spoke about Africa and some of the countries there that were kind of the people succumbing to the dictators and the corruption of some collapsed governments on the continent, the relevance was Alaska’s investment in Darfur with some of our permanent fund dollars.
Running the translated versions back into English produced statements that were marginally as comprehensible as the original. It's possible that literal software-driven translation may be more easily rendered.
French:
My anxiety was atrocities there in Darfur and pertinence to me with this edition as we speaks about Africa and about some of the countries there which were nice of people succumbing to the dictators and the corruption of some collapsed of governments on the continent, pertinence was the investment of Alaska in Darfur with some of our dollars of permanent funds.
Russian:
My anxiety was evil deeds there in Darfur and relevance to me with that problem as we spoke about Africa and some of the countries there which were kind from the people conceding to dictators and corruption of some disorganized governments on continent, relevance was investments of Alaska into Darfur with some of our constant dollars of fund.
German:
My worry has been the Gräueltaten there in Darfur and the relevance to me with this problem as we spoke over Africa and some of the lands there which were friendly from the people who succumb to the dictators, and the bribery of some governments on the continent broke down, was the relevance of Alaska investment in Darfur with some of our lasting fund dollars.
A human interpreter might be tempted to try something like this.
I was concerned about the atrocities in Darfur. Could Alaska help the situation by investing in the country? Given the corrupt dictators and collapsing governments on the continent, it was not an easy question to answer.
The only problem is, we wouldn't know for sure if that was what Gov. Palin meant.
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