Editing Untranslatability (section)

===Vocabulary===
[[German language|German]], [[Dutch language|Dutch]] and [[Danish language|Danish]] have a wealth of [[German modal particle|modal particles]] that are particularly difficult to translate as they convey sense or tone rather than strictly grammatical information. The most infamous example perhaps is {{lang|de|doch}} (Dutch: {{lang|nl|toch}}, Danish: {{lang|da|dog}}), which roughly means "Don't you realize that . . . ?" or "In fact it is so, though someone is denying it." What makes translating such words difficult is their different meanings depending on intonation or the context.

A common use of the word {{lang|de|doch}} can be found in the German sentence {{lang|de|Der Krieg war <u>doch</u> noch nicht verloren}}, which translates to ''The war wasn't lost yet, <u>after all</u>'' or ''The war was <u>still</u> not lost.''

Several other grammatical constructs in English may be employed to translate these words for each of their occurrences. The same {{lang|de|Der Krieg war <u>doch</u> noch nicht verloren}} with slightly changed pronunciation can also mean excuse in defense to a question: ''. . . <u>but</u> the war was not lost yet (. . . so we fought on).''

A use which relies heavily on intonation and context could produce yet another meaning: "So the war was <u>really</u> not over yet (as you have been trying to convince me all along)."

Another change of intonation makes the sentence a question. {{lang|de|Der Krieg war <u>doch</u> noch <u>nicht</u> verloren?}} would translate into ''"(You mean) the war was <u>not</u> yet lost (back then)?"''

Similar difficulties occur with the Dutch words "even", "toch", and, especially, "[[gezellig]]".

Another well-known example comes from the Portuguese or Spanish verbs {{lang|es|ser}} and {{lang|es|estar}}, both being translatable as ''to be'' (see [[Romance copula]]). {{lang|es|Ser}} is used with essence or nature, while {{lang|es|estar}} is used with states or conditions, however. Sometimes this information is not very relevant for the meaning of the whole sentence and the translator will ignore it, whereas at other times it can be retrieved from the context.

When none of these apply, the translator usually uses a [[paraphrase]] or simply adds words that can convey the right meaning. The following example comes from Portuguese:
:"{{lang|pt|Não estou bonito, '''sou''' bonito.}}"
:Spanish equivalent:"{{lang|es|No estoy guapo; '''soy''' guapo.}}"
:Literal translation: "I am not (apparently/just right now) handsome; I '''am''' (essentially/always) handsome."
:Adding words: "I am not handsome today; I am always handsome."
:Paraphrase: "I don't look handsome; I '''am''' handsome."

Some South Slavic words that have no English counterparts are ''doček'', a gathering organized at someone's arrival (the closest translation would be ''greeting'' or ''welcome'', although a 'doček' is not necessarily positive); and ''limar'', a sheet metal worker.

====Family====
{{Main|kinship terminology}}
[[Kinship terminology]] often varies across languages. Terms are often too specific or too general to translate into another language. Some rules used for defining kinship terminology include the following:

'''Paternal or maternal'''. For example, [[Nordic languages]], [[Indo-Aryan languages]] and [[Chinese language]]s distinguish paternal and maternal relatives such as paternal grandmother and maternal grandmother. Conversely, son's son and daughter's son are also distinguished. Similarly, aunts and uncles are further divided in many languages.

'''Gender'''. Whereas English kinship terms make clear distinction between genders, many languages do not. For example, Thai does not distinguish between siblings by gender, but only by age. Thai also disregards gender when aunts or uncles are younger than their parents, and has one word for all nieces, nephews, and grandchildren. On the flip side, the English word ''cousins'' does not distinguish gender, but many languages do, included [[Romance languages]], [[Slavic languages]] and Chinese languages.

'''By blood or by marriage'''. For example, the English word ''uncle'' can refer to a parent's brother, or a husband of a parent's sibling. Many languages, such as [[Hindi language|Hindi]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] and [[Chinese language|Chinese]] distinguish these. This is also true for [[Latin language|Latin]] where e.g. {{lang|la|avunculus}} refers to one's mother's brother, but cannot refer to one's mother's sister's husband, named thus {{lang|la|materterae maritus}} (the husband of the maternal aunt).

'''Full or half sibling'''. In Arabic, "brother" is often translated into {{lang|ar|أخ}} ({{transliteration|ar|Akh}}). However, whilst this word may describe a brother who shares either one or both parents, there is a separate word - {{lang|ar|شقيق}} ({{transliteration|ar|Shaqīq}}) - to describe a brother with whom one shares both parents.

'''Age relative to oneself or one's parent'''. For example in [[Bengali language|Bengali]], father's elder brothers are called {{transliteration|bn|Jethu}} ({{lang|bn|জ্যাঠা}}), while younger brothers are called {{transliteration|bn|Kaku}} ({{lang|bn|কাকু}}). Their wives are called {{transliteration|bn|Jethi-ma}} ({{lang|bn|জেঠি-মা}}) and {{transliteration|bn|Kaki-ma}} ({{lang|bn|কাকি-মা}}), respectively. Another common issue is translating ''brother'' or ''sister'' into Chinese or Japanese, which have separate words for older and younger ones.

'''Relations by marriage'''. There is no standard English word for the Italian "{{wikt-lang|it|consuoceri}}", Yiddish "{{transliteration|yi|makhatunim}}",<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/05/06/1297124/-Daily-Kos-Elections-Morning-Digest-Ollie-Koppell-launches-campaign-against-turncoat-Dem-Jeff-Klein
|title=Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest: Ollie Koppell launches campaign against turncoat Dem Jeff Klein: PA-13
|publisher=Daily Kos
|last=Nir|first=David  
|date=May 6, 2014|access-date=May 6, 2014}}</ref> Latin ''{{lang|el|συμπέθεροι/συμπεθερές}} '', ''{{lang|es|consocer}}'', Spanish "{{lang|es|consuegros}}" or Portuguese "{{lang|pt|consogros}}": a gender-neutral collective plural like "co-in-laws". If Harry marries Sally, then in Yiddish, Harry's father is the "{{transliteration|yi|mekhutn}}" of Sally's father; each mother is the "{{transliteration|yi|makheteyneste}}" of the other. In Romanian, they are “{{lang|ro|cuscri}}”.  In Bengali, both fathers are {{transliteration|bn|beayi}} and mothers, {{transliteration|bn|beyan}}. Bengali has {{transliteration|bn|dada}}/{{transliteration|bn|bhai}} for ''brother'' and {{transliteration|bn|jamai-babu}}/{{transliteration|bn|bhagni-pati}} for ''brother-in-law''; {{transliteration|bn|chhele}} for ''son'' and {{transliteration|bn|jamai}} for ''son-in-law''.

Spanish and Portuguese contrast "brother" with "brother-in-law" ("{{lang|es|hermano}}/{{lang|pt|irmão}}", "{{lang|es|cuñado}}/{{lang|pt|cunhado}}"); "son" with "son-in-law" ("{{lang|es|hijo}}/{{lang|pt|filho}}", "{{lang|es|yerno}}/{{lang|pt|genro}}"), and similarly for female relatives like "sister-in-law" ("{{lang|es|cuñada}}/{{lang|pt|cunhada}}") and "daughter-in-law" ("{{lang|es|nuera}}/{{lang|pt|nora}}"). Both languages use "{{lang|es|concuño}}" (Sp.) or "{{lang|es|concuñado}}/{{lang|pt|concunhado}}" (varying by dialect), as the relationship between two men that marry siblings (or two women, using the feminine "{{lang|es|concuñada}}/{{lang|pt|concunhada}}" instead). In the English language this relationship would be lumped in with "{{lang|es|cuñado}}/{{lang|pt|cunhado}}" (sibling's husband or spouse's brother) as simply "brother-in-law". This distinction is reflected also in Italian, with {{lang|it|fratello}} for a brother, {{lang|it|cognato}} for a brother in law; etc. In Latin, the distinction between children and children-in-law is also present, with {{lang|la|filius}} for one's child, {{lang|la|privignus}} for one's spouse's child that is not ours, {{lang|la|gener}} (and {{lang|la|nurus}} in feminine) for one's child's spouse.

[[Serbian language|Serbian]] and [[Bosnian language|Bosnian]] have specific terms for relations by marriage. For example, a "sister-in-law" can be a ''"snaha/snaja"'' (brother's wife, though also family-member's wife in general), ''"zaova"'' (husband's sister), ''"svastika"'' (wife's sister) or ''"jetrva"'' (husband's brother's wife). A "brother-in-law" can be a ''"zet"'' (sister's husband, or family-member's husband in general), ''"djever/dever"'' (husband's brother), ''"šurak/šurjak"'' (wife's brother) or ''"badžanak/pašenog"'' (wife's sister's husband). Likewise, the term ''"prijatelj"'' (same as ''"makhatunim"'' in Yiddish, which also translates as ''"friend"'') is also used. Bengali has a number of in-law words. For example, ''Boudi'' (elder brother's wife), ''Shaali'' (wife's sister), ''Shaala'' (wife's younger brother), ''Sambandhi'' (wife's elder brother/Shaali's husband), ''Bhaasur'' (husband's elder brother), ''Deor'' (husband's younger brother) ''Nanad'' (husband's sister), ''Jaa'' (husband's brother's wife), etc. This is also true for Latin, with words such as {{lang|la|levir}} (husband's brother), {{lang|la|glos}} (husband's sister), {{lang|la|ianitrix}} (husband's brother's wife), yet none for the wife's part of the family tree.

In [[Russian language|Russian]], fifteen different words cover relations by marriage, enough to confuse many native speakers {{citation needed|date=May 2020}}{{dubious|discuss|date=May 2020}}. There are for example, as in Yiddish, words like "{{lang|ru|сват}}" and "{{lang|ru|сватья}}" for "co-in-laws". To further complicate the translator's job, Russian in-laws may choose to address each other familiarly by these titles.

In contrast to all of the above fine distinctions, in American English the term "my brother-in-law" covers "my spouse's brother", "my sibling's husband", and "my spouse's sibling's husband". In British English, the last of these is not considered strictly correct. {{Citation needed|date=August 2010}}

====Work and school relations====

Japanese has a concept, ''[[The Anatomy of Dependence|amae]]'', about the closeness of parent-child relationship, that is supposedly unique to that language and culture as it applies to bosses and workers.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Electronic Journal of Sociology |year=2000 |url=http://www.sociology.org/content/vol005.001/smith-nomi.html |title=Is ''Amae'' the Key to Understanding Japanese Culture? |author=Herman W Smith and Takako Nomi |access-date=2022-10-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140220062826/http://www.sociology.org/content/vol005.001/smith-nomi.html |archive-date=2014-02-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Japanese, Chinese, and Korean have words for classmates and colleagues of different seniority and/or gender. The most well-known example to English speakers is probably the Japanese word {{lang|ja|先輩}} ({{transliteration|ja|senpai}}), referring to a senior classmate or colleague.

There are also times when the same concept exists but the practice is different, such as [[homeschooling]] in Spanish and its practice in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Latin American countries. Translators must discern whether the existing terms convey the same concepts.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last1=Pan |first1=Yuling |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780429294914/sociolinguistics-survey-translation-yuling-pan-mandy-sha-hyunjoo-park |title=The Sociolinguistics of Survey Translation |last2=Sha |first2=Mandy |date=2019-07-09 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-429-29491-4 |location=London |pages=41–43 |doi=10.4324/9780429294914 |s2cid=198632812}}</ref>

====Foreign objects====
Objects unknown to a culture can actually be easy to translate. For example, in Japanese, ''[[wasabi]]'' {{lang|ja|わさび}} is a [[plant]] (''[[Wasabia japonica]]'') used as a spicy [[Japan]]ese [[condiment]]. Traditionally, this plant only grows in Japan. It would be unlikely that someone from a country such as Angola would have a clear understanding of it. However, the easiest way to translate this word is to ''borrow'' it. Or one can use a similar [[list of vegetables|vegetable's name]] to describe it. In English this word is translated as ''[[wasabi]]'' or ''Japanese [[horseradish]]''. In Chinese, people can still call it ''wasabi'' by its Japanese sound, or pronounce it by its [[Hanzi]] characters, {{lang|zh|山葵}} ([[pinyin]]: ''shān kuí''). However, wasabi is more frequently called {{lang|zh|芥末}} ({{transliteration|zh|jiè mò}}) or {{lang|zh|绿芥}} ({{transliteration|zh|lǜ jiè}}) in China and Taiwan, meaning [[Mustard (condiment)|mustard]]. One may specify ''yellow mustard'' and ''green mustard'' to avoid confusion.

Another method is using description instead of a single word. For example, languages like Russian and Ukrainian have borrowed words ''Kuraga'' and ''Uruk'' from Turkic languages. While both fruits are now known to the Western world, there are still no terms for them in English. English speakers have to use "dried [[apricot]] without core" and "dried apricot with core" instead.

One particular type of foreign object that poses difficulties is the proper noun. As an illustration, consider another example from [[Douglas Hofstadter]], which he published in one of his "[[Metamagical Themas]]" columns in ''[[Scientific American]]''. He pondered the question: "''Who is the first lady of Britain?'' Well, first ladies reside at the prime minister's address, and at the time, the woman living at 10 Downing Street was [[Margaret Thatcher]]. But a different attribute that first ladies have is that they are married to heads of government, so perhaps a better answer was [[Denis Thatcher|''Denis'' Thatcher]], but he probably would not have relished the title."

====Concepts====
Concepts unknown or less known to a culture are difficult to translate because there are no corresponding [[lexeme]]s. When translating US-specific concepts such as [[mobile home]] and [[Foster care|foster children]], translators cannot simply [[calque]] but find ways to adapt the translation such as using a descriptive phrase.<ref name=":2" />