Words are fascinating!

One concept can usually be said in many different ways. The words that we use to express an idea can be formal or informal, they can be from a regional dialect or official language. The more I translate and work with languages, the more I am fascinated by the words and phrases that make up our languages.

I regularly muse over the origins of the English word ‘Pineapple’, for example. In pretty much ever other language in Europe it is ‘Ananas’, so where did we get pineapple from? I have a theory, but I am willing to be told that I am wrong on this!! I suspect that when the fruit was first brought to Britain, people thought it looked a bit like a large pine cone. The British had a penchant for using French words to describe foods, and the French for a pine cone is ‘Pomme de pin’ – literally translated as ‘Apple of the pine’, hence pineapple.

I also love finding out how languages use figures of speach. I once had to interpret between a French client who had broken her ankle (in my other role as a walking guide) and the helicopter winch man who was rescuing her from the Cairngorm plateau. At one point she told me that she had ants on her foot! I was stumped, I stood looking at her feet and could see no ants! Eventually found out that she had pins and needles in her foot! Both phrases make as much sense as each other.

Russian has some words that are beautifully onomatopoeic. Anyone who has heard a beginner trying to play the violin will understand where they get their word for violin – скрипка, pronounced skripka. Russian pigs say хрю – хрю (khrui – khrui), which makes far more sense than their English speaking counterparts! Who ever heard a pig saying oink oink?!

There are many more elements of language which I enjoy discovering, musing over and learning. For me, the playfulness, inventiveness and intricacies of language add a huge amount of joy to my translating work. Part of the joy of translating is helping people without a common language to communicate, building bridges between countries and cultures, but the languages themselves add a fantastically interesting layer to the process. I feel very privileged to have so many words at my disposal!