[B-Greek] translation strategies

Carl Conrad cwconrad2 at mac.com
Wed Jun 24 18:07:55 EDT 2009


On Jun 24, 2009, at 5:48 PM, Eddie Mishoe wrote:

>
> Carl concludes:
>
> One wonders (i.e. I wonder) how Greek-speakers who know no
>> English
>> ever succeeded in understanding spoken and written Greek
>> without ever
>> having first learned English so as to know what a spoken or
>> written
>> Greek expression means.
>
> I am assuming Carl is not serious, or he's showing early signs of  
> dementia :o )

Early, late, continuing ... whatever.
>
> The topic here Carl is translation, translation, translation... FROM  
> ONE LANGUAGE -- COMPLETELY OVER TO -- ANOTHER LANGUAGE, something  
> your native Greeks had no need of, unless of course they were  
> translating a text into English, which brings us back to the topic  
> of thread... "TRANSLATION" strategies.

I had thought your original proposition was: " ...  I think  
translation strategies are the key to explaining the GNT, no -- the  
only way to explain the GNT."
I suppose you mean to say that an English-speaker is helpless to  
understand and even to explain the GNT as a Greek text, without  
employing translation strategies as a means of explanation.

>
> But I like your approach. I think I'll tell my English teacher that  
> I can't understand her tests because I don't know Chinese :o p

But you will tell your Greek teacher that you can't understand Greek  
because you don't know how to turn it into English. I think that's  
what you really mean. And I continue to contend the contrary, that if  
you don't understand what the Greek means, you'll never be able to  
convert it into English.


Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)






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