It is not unusual for politicians to use interpreters when communicating with someone from another country – but usually this is because they don’t speak the same language. Rarely is it the case that an interpreter is needed because there is difficulty in comprehension between two speakers of the same language. However, the British parliament may say otherwise with it comes to needing a translation of a dialect or accent for their Scottish counterparts.
Translation of a Dialect | An Interpreters’ Job is to Break Down Language Barriers…for the Same Language?
Perhaps one of the biggest barriers to human interaction, aside from geographical ones, is the inability to speak the same language.
So many thoughts and ideas can be wrapped up within a culture’s sentence structure and vocabulary, that even when someone does learn a foreign language it can take time to fully appreciate and understand the breadth of things that can be explained using it.
When it comes to politics, a common language is essential to ensure diplomacy between foreign nations. Without it, language barriers prove a roadblock to innovation and progress with international policy.
Hence, the demanding job of UN, conference style interpreters was born – allowing politicians and citizens alike to stay at the forefront of current events when an understanding of a common language is not in play.
Rarely does it happen that politicians who speak the same language need an interpreter to help them understand one another, but the issue has been encountered – in the British parliament.
In recent cases the translation of a dialect or an accent, in the form of written correspondence as opposed to spoken, has been required so members of the United Kingdom can understand one another.
This can begin to make one wonder if there really is such a thing as “one, common language”. In order to break that down, it is helpful to first understand what a language really is.
What is Language?
Language is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as the method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way.
There are anywhere from 5,000 to 7,000 spoken languages around the world, which are consistently evolving and changing based on various cultural influences.
Communication across different languages and cultures has greatly improved thanks to the widespread study of foreign language and globalization. Moreover, the translation services industry has evolved tremendously, allowing for language to no longer be an impassable barrier.
From machine translation to professional translation and interpreting services, the inability to overcome communication barriers is considered somewhat a thing of the past.
Or is it?
While we would like to imagine that the days of almost universal understanding are not far off, there is still a long way to go.
This fact is all the more highlighted when speakers of the same language have trouble understanding each other.
How does this happen you may ask?
There can be so many variations within a language that even native-speakers of the same mother tongue can find it hard to understand each other at times. These variations take the form of accents, vocabulary, and even sentence structure.
Language is not a stagnant entity – it is constantly evolving, even within its own parameters. This begs the question of people sharing the same native language:
“DO we really speak the same language?”
As stated above, there are times when people do need translation of a dialect or accent of fellow native speakers in order to fully understand them – thus seeming to make the answer to that question rather gray.
Translation of a Dialect | Do We Speak the Same Language?
Alan Brown, an MP from the Scottish National Party (SNP), complained recently about the fact that he is being forced to “translate” his speeches for the official Commons record because some of his colleagues are not able to follow them.
In fact he says that he rarely gets an answer to his questions when speaking in the Commons because his ministers apparently cannot understand what he is saying, despite the fact that he is speaking in English.
Alan Brown is MP for Kilmarnock and Loudon, a small constituency from the Ayrshire region of Scotland known for having a very thick, particular Scottish accent.
He himself grew up in a small village in that region, and because he is very proud of his accent, he is not willing to change it, no matter how much trouble his colleagues have understanding him.
His reasons are quite fair.
He wants to remain loyal to the people that he represents. If he lost his accent, he states, his voters would probably revolt.
But when he gets up to speak in the Commons chamber, MP Brown says that he can see most of the ministers pressing their ears to the embedded speaker found on each of the chairs.
Furthermore, the Hansard, the transcript service for Parliamentary Debates, double-checks everything MP Brown says in the Commons chamber, even if it is just a short question, because they also struggle to understand what he is saying.
This isn’t the first time this has happened either – there have been many instances of MPs from Scotland who ran into the issue of members of parliament not understanding them.
In the case of one Scottish MP, a reporter was brought in who could understand his accent to act as a sort of pseudo-interpreter, relaying the MP’s message to the rest of parliament.
Some would blame the issues on the MP’s accents – but is it really just an accent?
A Dialect is Not the Same as an Accent
Dialects, accents, sociolects, regional variations … linguistics have come up with a number of terms in order to try to make sense of language use.
Although there are several different schools of thought on this subject, most linguists have come to the agreement that language is strongly tied to culture and the way different societies evolved.
However, it is still difficult to put these varieties into completely defined categories. For instance, take the example of the Scottish MP. It would be hard to specify if the variation of English he speaks is just a matter of an accent or if, in fact, it could be considered a dialect if he used various terminology and grammatical structures not common to the British parliament’s style of English.
But what is the real difference between and accent and a dialect anyway?
The Difference Between an Accent and a Dialect
Dialects are composed of variations in pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary, whereas an accent is just a phonological difference.
In other words – accents refer to the differences in pronunciation used by speakers of the same language, and dialects refer to the differences in the entire language structure and vocabulary used by speakers.
For example, American English and British English are different dialects, as they each have unique sentence structures and vocabularies, along with pronunciations.
However, if you take two people – one from Rhode Island and one from the Boston area – the differences in their use of English would be considered an accent, as the dropping of r’s common to the residents of Massachusetts’ capital (among other variations in pronunciation) is largely not done by other New England area natives.
When it comes to Scottish English (not to be confused with Scots or Scottish Gaelic, which are entirely separate languages) differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammatical structure make it more akin to a dialect.
However, it is likely the British parliament’s struggle to understand the MP comes down to his accent, rather than the use of Scottish English over British English.
As MP Brown states: “…my wife is actually American and I take the view if her family can understand my accent, the people in Westminster should be able to as well.” – The Daily Mail
How Do You Provide Translation of a Dialect or Accent?
These types of language variations are very important when it comes to looking for professional language services for your business or any other service you might need.
Along with foreign languages, interpreters need to be able to understand accents and dialects across related languages to ensure clear communication.
Translation professionals on the other hand, need to pay close attention to the translation of a dialect – as the varying structures and vocabularies of dialects can influence written languages.
For example, translating and/or localizing a webpage for Spain will require a totally different variation of Spanish than if you are targeting an Argentinian Spanish-speaking audience.
Locating professional language translation and localization services done by individuals that know the different dialects and cultural aspects of your target audience may appear to be a daunting task.
However, a language service provider (LSP) will make sure that they use the right translators and interpreters, proficient in the specific variation of the language that your potential client or audience speaks.
The job of professional language translators and interpreters is, after all, to ensure effective communication between any individuals – even those that speak the same language differently.
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Written by Laura Jiménez Bolé Marketing Intern at Language Connections
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