One of the most difficult words to translate... - Krystian Aparta

Translator: Mateja Peršolja Reviewer: Matej Divjak

Which is the hardest word to translate in this sentence?

Katero besedo v tem stavku je najtežje prevesti?

"Know" is easy to translate.

"Know" je lahko prevesti.

"Pep rally" doesn't have a direct analog in a lot of languages and cultures,

"Pep rally" v številnih jezikih in kulturah nima direktne ustreznice,

but can be approximated.

ampak se lahko približamo pomenu.

But the hardest word there is actually one of the smallest: "you."

Najtežja beseda pa je pravzaprav ena najmanjših: "you."

As simple as it seems,

Čeprav deluje preprosto,

it's often impossible to accurately translate "you"

je pogosto nemogoče pravilno prevesti "you,"

without knowing a lot more about the situation where it's being said.

ne da bi bolje poznali okoliščine, v kateri se pojavi.

To start with, how familiar are you with the person you're talking to?

Za začetek, kako dobro poznaš osebo, s katero govoriš?

Many cultures have different levels of formality.

Številne kulture poznajo različne stopnje formalnosti.

A close friend,

Dober prijatelj,

someone much older or much younger,

nekdo veliko starejši ali veliko mlajši,

a stranger,

tujec,

a boss.

šef.

These all may be slightly different "you's."

Pri vseh teh je "you" malce drugačen.

V številnih jezikih zaimek odseva te razlike

In many languages, the pronoun reflects these differences

through what's known as the T–V distinction.

prek različnih oblik naslavljanja.

In French, for example,

V francoščini, na primer,

you would say "tu" when talking to your friend at school,

bi rekli "tu", če govorimo s prijateljem v šoli,

but "vous" when addressing your teacher.

in "vous," če bi naslavljali učitelja.

Even English once had something similar.

Celo angleščina je nekoč poznala nekaj podobnega.

Remember the old-timey "thou?"

Se spominjate staromodnega "thou"?

Ironically, it was actually the informal pronoun

Ironično je, da je bil to pravzaprav neformalen zaimek

for people you're close with,

za ljudi, ki so ti blizu,

while "you" was the formal and polite version.

medtem ko je bil "you" formalna različica.

That distinction was lost

Prenehali so razlikovati,

when the English decided to just be polite all the time.

ko so se Angleži odločili, da bodo ves čas vljudni.

But the difficulty in translating "you" doesn't end there.

Težave pri prevajanju "you" se ne končajo tukaj.

In languages like Hausa or Korana,

V jezikih kot sta hausa ali korana,

the "you" form depends on the listener's gender.

je oblika zaimka "you" odvisna od spola poslušalca.

In many more, it depends on whether they are one or many,

V še več primerih, je odvisno, če je poslušalec en ali jih je več,

such as with German "Du" or "ihr."

kot je v nemščini "Du" ali "ihr."

Even in English,

Celo v angleščini

some dialects use words like "y'all" or "youse" the same way.

se v nekaterih dialektih uporablja "y'all" ali "youse" na isti način.

Some plural forms, like the French "vous"

Nekatere množinske oblike, kot francoski "vous"

and Russian "Вы"

ali ruski "Вы,"

are also used for a single person

se lahko uporablja za eno osebo,

to show that the addressee is that much more important,

s čimer pokažeš nagovorjeni osebi, da je veliko bolj pomembna,

much like the royal "we."

podobno je s kraljevim "we."

And a few languages even have a specific form

Nekaj jezikov celo pozna posebno obliko

for addressing exactly two people,

za naslavljanje točno dveh oseb,

like Slovenian "vidva."

kot je v slovenščini "vidva."

If that wasn't complicated enough,

Kot da to ni že dovolj zapleteno,

formality, number, and gender can all come into play at the same time.

je včasih potrebno hkrati upoštevati formalnost, število in spol.

In Spanish, "tú" is unisex informal singular,

Španski "tú" je neformalen, edninski zaimek za oba spola,

"usted" is unisex formal singular,

"usted" je formalen, edninski zaimek za oba spola,

"vosotros" is masculine informal plural,

"vosotros" je neformalen, množinski zaimek moškega spola,

"vosotras" is feminine informal plural,

"vosotras" je neformalen, množinski zaimek ženskega spola

and "ustedes" is the unisex formal plural.

in "ustedes" je formalen, množinski zaimek, ki se uporablja za oba spola.

Phew!

Uf!

After all that,

Po vsem tem nam je morda v uteho to,

it may come as a relief

da nekateri jeziki pogosto izpustijo zaimek za drugo osebo.

that some languages often leave out the second person pronoun.

In languages like Romanian and Portuguese,

V jezikih kot sta romunščina in portugalščina,

the pronoun can be dropped from sentences

se lahko zaimek izpusti iz povedi,

because it's clearly implied by the way the verbs are conjugated.

ker je jasno izražen že z načinom, kako so glagoli spregani.

And in languages like Korean, Thai, and Chinese,

In v jezikih, kot so korejščina, tajščina in kitajščina,

pronouns can be dropped without any grammatical hints.

se zaimek lahko izpusti, ne da bi slovnično to na kaj namigovalo.

Speakers often would rather have

Govorci bi pogosto raje videli,

the listener guess the pronoun from context

da poslušalci uganejo zaimek iz konteksta,

than use the wrong one and risk being seen as rude.

kot da uporabijo napačnega in tvegajo, da izpadejo nevljudni.

So if you're ever working as a translator

Torej, če boš kdaj delal kot prevajalec

and come across this sentence without any context:

in boš naletel na tole poved, brez kakršnegakoli konteksta:

"You and you, no, not you,

"You and you, no, not you,

you, your job is to translate 'you' for yourselves" ...

you, your job is to translate 'you' for yourselves" ...

Well, good luck.

No, vso srečo.

And to the volunteer community who will be translating this video

In skupina prostovoljcev, ki bo prevajala ta video

into multiple languages:

v številne jezike:

Sorry about that!

Žal mi je za to!