How do we deal with single words that have multiple meanings?

How do we deal with single words that have multiple meanings?

One of the difficulties in translating arise from multiple meanings of words. To resolve such problems, Steiner (1995) insists on referring to the context. The context can be immediate or in some instances, one has to refer to history. In one statement, George Steiner (1975, p. 28) says that “Certain elements will elude complete comprehension or revival. The time barrier may be more intractable than that of linguistic differences. Any bilingual translator is acquainted with the phenomenon of “false friends”-homonyms such as French habit and English habit which on occasion might, but also never do, have the same meaning, or mutually untranslatable cognates such as English home and German Heim. The translator within has to cope with treasons. Words rarely show any outward mark of altered meaning; they body forth their history only in a fully established context.”

From the text above, Steiner (1995) states that there are particular aspects of language that a translator may never understand mainly because of time-barrier. With homonyms and mutually untranslatable cognates, a translator has to deal with the possibility of committing ‘crimes’ during the translation. For Steiner (1995), one cannot tell the meaning of words without clearly establishing the context. By looking at the company by which a word keeps, one can tell which meaning needs to be activated at that instance. Even though when this appears as an undeniable fact, it may be surprising to note that context is often not problematic in linguistics.

In another statement, Steiner (1995, p30) states that “Art dies we lose or ignore the conventions by which it can be read, by which its semantic statement can be carried over into our own idiom…. In the absence of interpretation, in the manifold but the generically unified meaning of the term, there could be no culture, only an inchoate silence at our backs. In short, the existence of art and literature, the reality of felt history in a community, depend on never-ending, though never-ending, act of internal translation. It is no overstatement to say that we possess civilization because we have learnt to translate out time.” According to Steiner, some conventions must be followed when translating art and interpretation of the semantics is critical. It is essential to refer to history when translating art; otherwise, the meaning will be lost. Considering the historical context of the text is key to ensuring that the exact meaning of the original is conveyed.

For example, if one understands the general topic of the discourse such as chemistry, theology or folklore, he or she is likely to be aware that terms like matter, heart, person and spirit might have quite different correspondences in other languages. In some instances, the meaning is dependent on the immediate context. For instance, ‘she ran the man down’ could mean: she caught up with him after going after him; she spoke against him; and, she ran over him with a car. Whether to take the first or the third meaning depends on the immediate context. This is quite easy and straight forward, but what happens when words or phrases occur in isolation?

Reference

Steiner, G. (1975). After Babel: Aspects of Language Translation. Oxford: Oxford University

Press.