Do you feel that the Maltese language is losing its identity, through the introduction of new words?
No, I don't. For me language borrowing is an enrichment, as it contributes significantly to the development of Maltese. Without it our language would sound rather archaic and destitute. Maltese is a living language of a living people, and life demands change. Sometimes the Maltese spelling of borrowed words shock readers. They do not object to the borrowed term, but to its appearance. The problem, therefore, here is unfamiliarity not usage.
When languages come into contact with each other it is only natural that they influence each other. One usually makes a distinction between speech borrowing- when a borrowed word is used in speech - and language borrowing- when speech borrowing is integrated in writing. But it is a universally accepted fact that language borrowing is a very common process and that it reflects the linguistic needs of a community. Malta needs to catch up with the times and with the rest of the world and this demands the introduction of new words.
Besides, the local linguistic situation has always been based largely on borrowing. During the second millennium AD, Maltese borrowed extensively from Arabic, Sicilian, Italian, and English. And during all this time, the Maltese language has constantly confirmed and strengthened its identity especially through its powerful morphological system. Instances like demmem, tranġa, ġrajden, dmugħi, ġurdni, bwiez, iffolowja (borrowed in different periods of our history) show the supremacy of Maltese grammar over the borrowed terms.
Currently Maltese borrows from English and Italian for several reasons, among which are:
- to replace outdated or unfashionable terms (tokis is being replaced by cinema, skrin is replacing liżar), playdough (plejdow) is gradually replacing plastisin
- to satisfy the constant need for synonyms and near-synonyms in certain domains like clothes (libsa, dublett, miniskert), places of habitation (dar, flat, appartament, villa, bungalow, mażonett, terran), entertainment (għanja, kanzunetta, song), and food (ħobża, ħbejża, bezzun, sandwiċ, panina, baguette, ċjabatta) - there are people who hate the traditional termċigġiforu and prefer using logħob tan-nar tal-art.
- to make fine distinctions (spid-veloċità, inxurjat-assikurat, silġ-snow-borra, abjad-offwajt) to provide a name for new things and concepts (microwave, dehumidifier, Facebook, Twitter, Taser).
In writing children's books, authors need to consider seriously word connotations. Let's briefly take as an example the word snowman which has been around for generations, even in Maltese contexts. Discarding it as a word say, by coining a new incomprehensible word, would mean discarding connotations like playful, cheerful, friendliness, innocence... You see, the tradition a word gathers is important. On the other hand, translating it into Maltese as raġel tas-silġ, for instance, would ignore such associations and even present an ambiguity because back-translating raġel tas-silġ might give "iceman". And anyone who has watched Frozen knows that there is a great difference between "iceman" and "snowman". So the latter is an important form to retain (as it is) in Maltese: we need it in the Maltese language. And we can safely say: Olaf huwa l-akbar snowman minn tagħna li jterraq fil-muntanji ta' Arendelle.
What are the major challenges faced by translators?
The main challenges in translation relate to the concept of equivalence in the areas of language and culture. In addition, translators have to consider the purpose of their task and the intended readership. Translating adult literature and translating children's literature both involve confronting these problems. Now in the case of juvenile fiction, to know the intended audience implies understanding their world.
A literary translator tries to produce a translation that can be readily communicated to the target audience because what he produces is comprehensible and acceptable - it is a faithful translation which aims at rendering the original's contextual meaning, so that both content and language can be easily understood and approved by the target readers. This means identifying the target audience. It also implies accuracy which demands faithfulness with the source text and respect for the target readership, which might involve even moral issues together with linguistic matters.
The translator needs to reproduce the source meaning within the constraints of the target language and it is here that he faces one of the major challenges - culture. It is a well known fact that the translator mediates between the source culture and the target culture. I firmly believe that we are favoured with the type of bilingualism that we have because it has provided us with a significant word-formation process in Maltese, namely borrowing from English, and it has made us familiar with English culture. Furthermore, movies, television, and the social media have made it easy for everyone to share cultural concepts. All this helps in the foreignisation of readers, especially young readers, in translation.
Then a decision about readership has to be made. In translating children's literature, the translator has to find the language that is suitable for the intended age group. When I translated some of Enid Blyton's books I had to choose a language and a style that were readily acceptable and comprehensible to 10 to 12 year olds. So language and style had to be compatible with usage. Translating for a different age group would probably require a different approach.
How important is it for well-renowned stories to be retold using our national language?
It is essential. It helps to confirm further the national identity of Maltese which hinges on its continuous use in all spheres, including children's literature. On an abstract level, each story that is retold or translated in Maltese enters an ideological frame that constructs a national consciousness through the power of the mother tongue. On a practical level, it shows how pliable Maltese is in the creation or adaptation of words to explain strange or new ideas. This pliability defies the common misconception of rigidity of the Maltese language.
In translating the Geronimo Stilton books I experienced in writing how pliant Maltese was because it gave me the opportunity to use creatively words like ġrejden, famaws, ċuċu and to coin phrases like moħħ ta' ġobon, il-far abominabbli tas-snow, wiċċ ta' ċedar. It's a context that demands expressive language like ħaqq l-imsaren imdellka ta' qattus and ġismi ġurdni jqum xewk xewk.
Children read books differently from adults and meeting these expressions and forms in print portrays to them how vivid and graphic the Maltese language can be in works of imagination. I believe that children's books are instruments for shaping attitudes. Inevitably they influence children very subtly through the language used.
What is the distinction between adaptation and translation?
Adaptation is the process of re-creation of source text with modifications to fit the target audience - as I did with the stories of Robin Hood in Maltese. Translation, on the other hand is the process of replacing source text with equivalent target text - as I did with the Enid Blyton stories in Maltese. Adaptation may embrace several notions like rewriting and reinterpretation.
I do hope that from time to time there will be a reinterpretation of fairy tales to make them relevant to the changing times. But whoever undertakes to do this work must adopt a functional approach which involves respect for traditional values. And they must remember that we are accustomed to them in English - and that's how we've been seeing them even on the screen. What I mean to say is that we got used to hearing Snow White, Cinderella, Thumbelina, Pinocchio, and Peter Pan. As proper names they are household terms and do not need to be translated - they can, however, be given Maltese spelling (Snowwajt, Sinderella, Pinokkjo). Translating Snow White, say, as Bajda Silġ, or Pinocchio as Għajn l-Arżnu or Għajn Pineali, would lose the connotative meanings of the familiar names and the identities of the characters. Titles of tales is, however, a different matter although one always advises caution. For instance, "The Sleeping Beauty" finds its equivalence in Is-Sbejħa Rieqda, and probably "Puss in Boots" would be Il-Qattus bil-Buz. In the latter example, the connotations of "puss" is lost in Maltese, and one can't opt to use pejxubecause of its sexual connotations.
What projects are you currently working on?
The Gernonimo Stilton stories in Maltese, published about a month ago, have been a great hit and, therefore, the rights for the translation of the next set have been obtained. And I have started translating the next six which hopefully will be published later this year.
Another major project I've just finished is This Fair Land ,published by a London publisher in August 2014. This is a bilingual anthology of Maltese source texts and their English target texts which exposes the Maltese mind throughout the centuries and balances chronological with thematic organisation to present a framework of the evolution and expansion of the Maltese language that for centuries was neglected except for the determination of the simple uneducated folk that kept it alive despite all ideological and political barriers. This stimulated me to carry out intensive research on theoretical issues of Maltese translations. And this research is also one of my current projects.
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http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2015-02-02/newspaper-lifestyleculture/Maltese-a-living-language-of-living-people-and-life-demands-change-6736129905?utm_content=buffer7694b&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer