Name: 【TED-Ed】最難翻譯的一個詞...- Krystian Aparta (【TED-Ed】One of the most difficult words to translate... - Krystian Aparta)
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T06:28:59.000Z
Duration: 4 min

Which is the hardest word to translate in this sentence?

究竟地表上最難翻譯的字是什麼呢?「Do you know where the peprally is?」

情態副詞

"Peprally" doesn't have a direct analog in a lot of languages and cultures,

「Pep rally」在許多語言和文化中並沒有相對應的字

But the hardest word there is actually one of the smallest: "you."

最難翻譯的居然是你我皆知的字：「you」(你/妳)

it's often impossible to accurately translate "you"

without knowing a lot more about the situation where it's being said.

原因在於無法確切知道「you」指涉時的情境

To start with, how familiar are you with the person you're talking to?

先問個問題，你和目前說話對象有多熟呢？

Many cultures have different levels of formality.

許多文化面對正式程度有不同對應用語

These all may be slightly different "you's."

這些「you」的指涉對象都有所不同

In many languages, the pronoun reflects these differences through what's known as the T–V distinction.

在一些語言中，代名詞會反映出這些差異，也就是所謂「親疏尊卑稱謂」

you would say "tu" when talking to your friend at school,

和校內朋友聊天時，你會用「tu」(中文：你)

但在和老師說話時會用「vous」(中文：您)

以前其實英文也有一樣的稱謂情形

還記得早期英文「thou」這個字嗎？

Ironically, it was actually the informal pronoun

諷刺的是，在古代是個非正式代名詞

while "you" was the formal and polite version.

when the English decided to just be polite all the time.

But the difficulty in translating "you" doesn't end there.

但翻譯「you」這個字的困境並未就此結束

在豪薩語(北非)、科拉納語(南非)中

the "you" form depends on the listener's gender.

「you」字的形式取決於聽者性別

In many more, it depends on whether they are one or many,

some dialects use words like "y'all" or "youse" the same way.

一些方言會用「y'all」或「youse」來表示 也是同樣的道理

Some plural forms, like the French "vous"

to show that the addressee is that much more important,

And a few languages even have a specific form

formality, number, and gender can all come into play at the same time.

正式程度、數量、性別可一律通用

In Spanish, "tu" is unisex informal singular,

西語的「tu」是單數非正式男女通用的字

「usted」則是單數正式男女適用的字

「vosotros」是複數非正式陽性字

「vosotras」則是複數非正式陰性字

and "ustedes" is the unisex formal plural.

而「ustedes」是複數正式男女通用字

it may come as a relief that some languages often leave out the second person pronoun.

現在或許可以鬆一口氣了 因為有些語言已捨棄第二人稱代名詞

In languages like Romanian and Portuguese,

the pronoun can be dropped from sentences

because it's clearly implied by the way the verbs are conjugated.

因為與之相對應的動詞形式已清楚標示了

And in languages like Korean, Thai, and Chinese,

pronouns can be dropped without any grammatical hints.

代名詞在沒有任何文法提示下就可以直接省略

Speakers often would rather have the listener guess the pronoun from context

說話者常傾向聽者從文意中自行猜測指涉對象

than use the wrong one and risk being seen as rude.

18th-century scholar Wang Xihou was executed, along with his family,

18世紀時一位清朝文學家王錫侯，連同他的家人一併遭處決

simply for referring to the Emperor in a too familiar way.

只因為他用太過親暱的方式稱呼君王

So if you're ever working as a translator

and come across this sentence without any context:

遇到以下的句子且沒有任何前後文可判斷

you, your job is to translate 'you' for yourselves" ...

而是妳，妳的職業是為了妳自己而翻譯「你」

And to the volunteer community who will be translating this video into multiple languages:

至於需要將這部影片譯成各種不同語言的譯者志工群