RE: RE: The Untranslatability of Ideas: Reading a Poem in Afrikaans and Reflections on Translation
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RE: The Untranslatability of Ideas: Reading a Poem in Afrikaans and Reflections on Translation

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5y

Thank you so much! I really appreciate it. Glad that you like it.

I think languages like German, Afrikaans, and Dutch are the best! Although I am a bit biased as I talk these languages, what they have is word bending to the next level. Other languages rely on syntax for meaning, I think Finnish as well to a certain degree? I.e. where the word is placed in relation to other words are important. Afrikaans (I think Dutch and German as well) do not rely on syntax but semantics. Words carry the meaning irrespective of where they stand in relation to other words. "Die kat sit in die boom" is syntactically correct, and "boom die kat sit in" is syntactically so wrong, but the meaning is in some sense the same. An Afrikaans speaker will see the second sentence as someone who doesn't know Afrikaans but he/she will understand the sentence. I think in some other languages if you change the position of words the sentence becomes nonsense. I hope this makes sense 😅

@fermentedphil: Thank you so | Ecency