language & translation, metaphors, poetry mojo
A fine and subtle way to depict a look which appears to express more than the person looking is capable of feeling. And I’ve always been struck when I come across commonplace proverbs and phrases in their original setting, and see how readily they are used by...
language & translation, metaphors
What a way to convey the invigorating presence of foreign words in a language. Even if imperfectly grafted, they add something of value, providing the same ‘rank zest’ that a wipe of garlic brings to a salad bowl. ‘There are, through this random...
language & translation, metaphors
Having just returned from Budapest, I was happy to rediscover this galloping description of the way it can sound to a foreign – or at least English – ear, with its agreeing vowels and harmonies. And he’s captured the rhythm perfectly – that...
a quote to note, language & translation
There are some marvelous characters in The Shadow of the Wind, several of them highly opinionated and articulate orators, who express uncompromising views in lapidary language. I liked this round dismissal of languages being dead, the failure being instead our dormant...
a quote to note, language & translation, print & publish
There’s such a zest to this account of the Armenian approach to dealing with invaders: translate everything you can get your hands on, regardless of your relationship with other nations or cultures. As for Mashtots, inventor of the Armenian alphabet, he should...
a quote to note, language & translation
Such a fresh image to describe how a foreign language makes you feel. Here, a refreshing, fragrant black tea chucked into a teapot. Doesn’t it make you want to invite some Armenians for tea and let them talk? ‘There was some fine water boiling in a pewter...
a quote to note, language & translation
A lovely way to signal a pride and enjoyment of one’s language, a linguistic version of jangling your Ferrari keys so everybody knows what a cool car you drive. ‘These are people who jangle the keys of their language even when they are unlocking nothing...
a quote to note, language & translation, poetry mojo
Where I have failed to appreciate some of the most enduringly esteemed works of literature, it has often been due to falling flat on my face in terms of the translation I happened to pick up. I’ve learned not to dismiss a work I read in translation if it has been...
a quote to note, language & translation, poetry mojo
Heaney conveys in a simple image the difficulty of translating poetry. Elsewhere, he refers to his progress as being ‘scriptorium slow’. If you have ever tried to translate anything of substance, you will know the slowness of ‘scriptorium slow’, and the...
