Translating German, French, and Italian Chemical Literature

Translating German, French, and Italian Chemical Literature HENRY FISCHBACH

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The Language Service, New York, Ν. Y.

Recognizing English cognates of foreign technical terms greatly facilitates the translation of technical material. Vowel and consonant changes which fre quently occur are enumerated. Caution must be ex ercised in translating words which closely resemble English words, as they may have a different meaning. Examples are cited. Some typical prefixes and suf fixes are discussed. Complications which arise from inversions, compound words, the position of the verb, demonstrative pronouns, accents, and variations in form expressing decimal points, percentage, and ab breviations are also discussed.

The object of this paper is to outline briefly some of the major problems facing the translator of foreign chemical texts, and to offer a few practical suggestions for solving them. The intention is not to lay down any ironclad rules which will apply in all cases, but rather to recommend a few simple mental techniques calculated to facilitate the work of the chemist who may be called upon to translate from the foreign litera ture. Before embarking upon a discussion of specific translating procedures, a few words about the principles of technical translation in general might serve as an intro duction to the subject [borrowed from a valuable paper by Holmstrom (1)]. The primary principle of good technical translating is to translate ideas and not words. In translating scientific as distinct from literary material, forms of words are not an end but a means—admittedly an imperfect means—for transmitting the ideas from the mind of the foreign author to that of the English-speaking reader. If the foreign author's expression of these ideas is deficient or otherwise lacking in clarity, it is the duty of the translator to disentangle the author's possible intended mean ings and subsume them within an acceptable English rendition. It has been said before, and it is worth repeating here, that a technical translator must combine three faculties: 1. He must have a fairly extensive knowledge of, and be able to reason in, the subject matter of the translation—in this case, chemistry. 2. He must be able to read the language he is translating well enough so that he can grasp the author's intended meaning, even if poorly expressed. 3. He must himself be able to embody that meaning in lucid and straight forward English. Because of the principle that ideas rather than words should be translated, style is somewhat of a secondary consideration, except to the extent that it should always be appropriate to the subject matter at hand. Generally speaking, in techni cal English it is advisable to prefer the concrete word to the abstract, and the active 520

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and transitive verb to the passive and intransitive (4). A whole book c o u l d — a n d should—be written on the principles and problems of technical translation. A few of these problems have been selected here for comment.


Cognates Recognition. T h e ability to recognize English cognates of foreign technical terms greatly facilitates the translation of technical material for anyone who is faced with a foreign text i n his own field of specialization. Chemists who write i n G e r m a n , F r e n c h , and I t a l i a n — t h e only languages which will be considered here—are not only pro fessional colleagues whose minds are likely to work along the same scientific lines as that of A m e r i c a n chemists, but they are also to some extent terminological brothers under the skin. T h i s is more or less true of a l l fields of science, where specialized terminology has been evolved i n one country and just as q u i c k l y adopted i n another. Technical terminology generally keeps pace with scientific discovery, a n d as the results of i n d i v i d u a l and original research become k n o w n so do the new terms used to describe this research. Of course, b y the time they reach us many of these terms have already been anglicized. F a m i l i a r i t y w i t h a few basic principles enabling one to spot cognates automatically, as i t were, will obviate the need for much time-consum ing word hunting i n the many instances where the English cognates can be detected at a glance. The examples given below are not always applicable, and there are a number of linguistic pitfalls to be avoided—cases where apparent cognates can t u r n out to be "false friends." Perhaps the most useful aid i n recognizing cognates is a knowledge of the vowel and consonant changes which tend to recur frequently. T h e following enumeration of such changes makes no pretense at completeness, and although the cases illustrated will not be applicable always, they will be helpful i n most instances. T h e consonants b , and f, v, or w are sometimes interchangeable. T h u s , the G e r m a n word Silber is cognate to silver. Wismuth, on the other hand, is b i s m u t h . I n G e r m a n , the letter b will often reveal an English cognate when changed to f, as i n halb meaning half. In Italian, the letters c, ch, or cc will often hide a cognate. T h u s , caolino is kaolin, eccipiente is excipient, and chinino is quinine. I n G e r m a n , the letters ch w i l l fre quently become qu, as i n Chinaldin (quinaldine) and Chinol (quinol). I n F r e n c h , ch is also sometimes equivalent to qu, as i n cbinoline (quinoline). T h e letter k does not exist i n Italian, except i n a handful of foreign words— mostly proper names. F o r example, one of the standard Italian dictionaries (5), some what like the F r e n c h " L a r o u s s e , ' ' contains roughly 120,000 entries, but only about 50 of these appear under the letter k. Since ch i n I t a l i a n is generally pronounced k, such Italian words as chilometro and chilogramma are cognate to the English words kilometer and k i l o g r a m . Therefore, when confronted with a word containing the letters ch, one should mentally allow for the possibility that there is an E n g l i s h cognate where these letters will have changed to qu or k. A s often as not, however, the E n g l i s h will also be written with ch, but then there is no problem because the cognate is overt and not hidden. T h e combination cl or cr i n I t a l i a n will often stand for chl or chr i n E n g l i s h , as i n cloro (chlorine) and cromo (chromium). Conversely, English words written w i t h a c will often be cognate to G e r m a n words written w i t h a k, as i n kolloidal (colloidal), Koks (coke) and kalorisch (caloric). G e r m a n words ending i n cht are generally cognate to E n g l i s h words ending i n ght, as i n Licht (light) and Fracht (freight). T h e thing to remember, therefore, is that the letters c, ch, qu, k, and gh are to a large extent interchangeable, a n d when confronted w i t h a word containing a n y of these consonants one should be mentally prepared for the change. W i t h regard to the letter d, i n cognate words i t corresponds to G e r m a n t or th, as i n Tochter (daughter) a n d Tod (death). T h i s latter example shows that, con versely, G e r m a n d is sometimes cognate to E n g l i s h th, as also i n Bruder (brother). LITERATURE RESOURCES Advances in Chemistry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1954.


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W h e n faced w i t h a foreign word containing the letter f, especially i n I t a l i a n , the E n g l i s h cognate (if there is one) w i l l immediately come to m i n d if the f is mentally changed to ph, as i n fenolo (phenol), asfalto (asphalt), and a less obvious example, because i t contains a double consonantal change, canfora (camphor). I n cognate words, E n g l i s h f m a y also correspond to G e r m a n v, which is understandable if one remembers that i n G e r m a n the letter ν is pronounced f. Here are two examples: Vater (father), vorwàrts (forward). A single or double g i n I t a l i a n will often give a clue to the E n g l i s h cognate when the g or gg is changed to j or dj, as i n getto (jet) and aggiustare (adjust). A l t h o u g h the letter h does exist i n I t a l i a n , it exists only as an expedient i n writing to differentiate between two words which are identical i n pronunciation but dissimilar i n meaning (as between anno, year, and hanno, they have), or else as part of a con sonantal group such as ch or cch. I n I t a l i a n , the letter h has no consonantal standing of its own. W h e n i t occurs b y itself, other t h a n i n such cases as just illustrated, i t is as part of a foreign word, proper name, or place name. T h e standard I t a l i a n d i c t i o n a r y mentioned earlier lists only about 80 words under the letter h. T h i s there fore presents a problem since a large number of I t a l i a n words w i l l be recognized as cognates only if a n h is mentally added. F i r s t of a l l , there are a l l the words con taining such radicals as hydro and hypo, which i n I t a l i a n w i l l appear as idro and ipo. F o r example, rather t h a n reach for the dictionary, supply a n h i n such words as alcool (alcohol), idrato (hydrate), iposulfato (hyposulfate), aldeide (aldehyde), idrolisi (hydrolysis). T h e last four examples conveniently bring us to the vowel i. I n I t a l i a n , this vowel can probably hide more cognates t h a n any other single letter. Since I t a l i a n does not have the letter y at a l l , countless I t a l i a n words w i t h i are direct cognates to E n g l i s h words written w i t h y. T h e example of idrolisi (hydrolysis) is especially revealing because both the first and second i change to y. T h e same is true of idrossile (hydroxyl). Here are two more examples of this change: acetile (acetyl), amile (amyl). Therefore, when a n I t a l i a n word w i t h a n i, either at the beginning or i n the middle of the word, is suspected of being a cognate, the assumption can often be turned to certainty b y mentally substituting a y or hy for the i. TKe letter j i n E n g l i s h presents no problem i n F r e n c h to which i t is cognate. N o r does i t present a problem i n I t a l i a n for the very good reason that i t s i m p l y does not exist i n that language. I n G e r m a n , however, the j is sometimes cognate to our y or i, as i n Tahr (year), Jodid (iodide) and Jon (ion). T h e letter k was discussed above i n connection w i t h c, ch, and qu, and the letter 1 is generally cognate i n the foreign. M and n, however, are sometimes interchange able when preceding f and ph. W e have seen t h a t the E n g l i s h cognate of the I t a l i a n word canfora is camphor. T h e same is true of F r e n c h where, for example, the word confort is cognate to comfort. T h e vowel o, notably i n F r e n c h and I t a l i a n , may be cognate to u, as i n fonction (function) and pompa (pump). I n G e r m a n , pf is cognate to E n g l i s h p, as i n Hopfen (hops) and Tropfen (drops). Since the letters q and qu have already been discussed and since the consonant r generally presents no problem, we now come to the letters s, t, and ζ which do. I n Italian, the double ss is almost always cognate to our x, as i n complesso (complex), ossido (oxide), and reflusso (reflux). W h e n i t precedes p, the I t a l i a n s also becomes x, as i n espansione (expansion). I n G e r m a n and F r e n c h words con taining the letter s, the s generally remains unchanged i n the E n g l i s h cognates. T h e letter t i n Italian can also be an annoying but, as we shall see, transparent screen behind which a perfectly good E n g l i s h cognate will lurk, especially when one t combines forces with another. T a k e the word ottano (octane), or the words elettrico (electric), effetto (effect), contatto (contact). A s is evident, the double tt becomes ct. Here is one case where i t becomes pt : settico (septic). Since the letter h i n Italian is merely an auxiliary and does not have a n y standing of its own, i t is reasonable to expect that E n g l i s h words w i t h th w i l l , when we meet LITERATURE RESOURCES Advances in Chemistry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1954.


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them i n Italian, have lost the h en route. Such Italian words w i l l read like perfect E n g l i s h if the h is restored i n its familiar place behind the t, as i n catodo (cathode) and metano (methane), or, for those who prefer a somewhat more challenging mental exercise, here is a n example of another double change: etile (ethyl), i n which the t becomes t h and the i becomes y. T h e last example of vocalic and consonantal changes i n I t a l i a n is the I t a l i a n name of a chemical compound which requires seven letter changes before i t becomes recognizable i n English, namely, esaossicicloesane. B y restoring the two missing h's, changing a l l the s's to χ and a l l the i ' s to y, we finally get hexaoxycyclohexane, or, of course, hexahydroxycyclohexane. I n F r e n c h and G e r m a n , the letters t and t h are a help rather t h a n a hindrance i n recognizing cognates, except that occasionally one will find a n extra h after the t as a form of antiquated spelling i n G e r m a n , as i n Theil for Teil (part). T h e letter ζ is the last of the changes selected for illustration. Here, the diffi culty is i n connection w i t h the ζ i n G e r m a n , which m a y become c or s i n the E n g l i s h cognate, as i n Kalzium (calcium) and Zucher (sugar). Those who agree that translating is made easier if one becomes proficient at the game of " c o g n a t e - h u n t i n g " (or, if y o u prefer, at the practice of mnemonics) m a y find Table I of value. T h i s table is far from complete. I t is merely a guide and includes only some of the many possible vocalic and consonantal shifts which occur i n G e r m a n , French, and I t a l i a n words as compared to their E n g l i s h cognates. B y and large, the letters listed will change only occasionally as i n d i c a t e d ; where they do not change, the cognate letter is generally the same, and the word therefore presents no problem.

Table 1. Table of Cognate Correspondences German

French

Italian

ch

c cc ch

b

ch cht d

f g gg i i k η ο Pf

t V

w ζ

η ο

English ν or f k or ch xc k or qu ght th Ph j dj y or hy y or i c m u Ρ

s or sa tt

X

et or pt d f b c or s

Phonetic Versus Etymological Spelling. T h e reason for a l l these divergent spellings of cognate words i n various languages is that some languages have adopted etymological spelling and others phonetic spelling. K . A . Jensen of Copenhagen dealt w i t h this question i n the paper which he delivered at the A . C . S . meeting i n N e w Y o r k i n 1951 (1). H e r i g h t f u l l y pointed out that i n the last century most philologists were of the opinion that the written language should, as far as possible, be a phonetic rendition of the spoken language. B u t since languages differ from one another i n pronunciation, and since the phonetic value of a given letter is not always the same i n different languages, the adoption of phonetic spelling has tended to isolate these languages from each other. A n alternative to phonetic spelling, so certain modern philologists contend, is etymological spelling, i n accordance w i t h the LITERATURE RESOURCES Advances in Chemistry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1954.

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derivation from a parent language, such as L a t i n or Greek. Phonetic spelling tends to v a r y from language to language, whereas etymological spelling will generally be constant. M o s t of the changes discussed above are due to the fact that cognates are spelled differently i n various languages for phonetic reasons. Therefore, a very important asset to anyone who is called upon to translate from the foreign is a k n o w l edge, however rudimentary, of how the words i n the particular foreign language are pronounced. I would consequently recommend that those who are interested i n translation spend some time familiarizing themselves with the pronunciation of the language from which they are translating.


False Friends N o w a word of caution which should dampen anyone's excessive enthusiasm for cognate-hunting. There are many words, especially i n the Romance langu ages, the spelling of which so closely resembles that of certain English words that one may be tempted to translate them literally. A l t h o u g h similar i n form, these words are frequently different i n meaning, and the chances are against any passage being correctly translatable by simply substituting the apparent—but false—cognate. T h i s is an important pitfall to avoid, and such "false friends," as professional trans lators call them, should never be taken at face value. T h i s problem is particularly acute when translating from F r e n c h . A consider able number of F r e n c h words have found a secure place i n the E n g l i s h language i n almost unchanged form. However, the meaning of some of these words has evolved along different lines, so that a word which crossed the English C h a n n e l at the end of the eleventh century, let us say, and had the same meaning on both sides of the water at that time, may have a different meaning today. T h e phrase, "cette expérience a été d'intérêt" contains two false friends. I t does not necessarily mean " t h i s experience was of interest," although i n some contexts i t may. I n technical, and especially i n chemical texts, i t means, " t h i s experiment was useful" or " t h i s experiment was of value," or even " t h i s was a significant experiment." Another example: "Cette réaction a pratiquement donné du cuivre" does not indicate that the "reaction practically yielded copper," but rather t h a t i t yielded copper " i n practice," or more smoothly rendered, " t h i s reaction actually yielded copper." Another F r e n c h word which should not always be translated literally, especially i n technical texts, is the word important. I n addition to its obvious abstract meaning of " i m p o r t a n t , " it also has the concrete meaning of large or substantial, as i n this example: "Nous avons obtenu une quantité importante de Vacide" which should correctly be translated as, "we obtained a substantial q u a n t i t y of the a c i d . " Here are two more F r e n c h words which should be carefully interpreted on the basis of the context: une lecture is not " a lecture," but a reading. Sans doute m a y mean " w i t h o u t d o u b t , " but more often i t means just the opposite, namely, probably or perhaps. Y o u can readily see how a translation of the phrase, "ne me dérangez pas!" would be somewhat lacking i n accuracy were i t rendered as " d o not derange me!" Translating from F r e n c h presents many such pitfalls. A n example of a false friend in Italian is the expression, temperatura ambiente which should not be translated as "ambient temperature," needless to say, but as "room temperature." Y o u w i l l also encounter a number of false friends i n G e r m a n , although less fre quently so. A few examples which may be regularly found i n technical texts have been selected. T h e expression, Technische Hocbschule, does not, a l l appearances to the contrary, mean "technical high school." It stands for "institute of technology" or "polytechnic institute." I n G e r m a n , a Hochschule is a university. A n o t h e r false friend i n G e r m a n is one which a l l of us have w a r m l y embraced at one time or another. I a m referring to the word eventuell. Neither i n its adjectival nor i n its adverbial form does i t mean " e v e n t u a l " or " e v e n t u a l l y . " I n G e r m a n , this word denotes contingency i n the sense of our own noun " e v e n t u a l i t y . " According to Webster, the corresponding f


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English adjective and adverb originally had the same meaning, but this meaning is now obsolete. I n G e r m a n , the word eventuell can variously mean, " i f necessary," " i n certain cases," or just " p e r h a p s . " L e t me illustrate: "Diese Ergebnisse werden eventuell veroffentlicht werden" does not mean that the "results w i l l eventually be published," but rather that they may be published or that they w i l l " p e r h a p s " be published. T h e words neben and durch are two more examples which should not be taken at face value. A l t h o u g h neben can mean next to, i t is often preferable to translate it as in addition to. T h e word durch m a y have to be translated as through in some contexts, but i n others i t is more properly rendered as by or by means of. Thus, durch Erhitzen is not " t h r o u g h h e a t i n g , " but by heating. Carbonsaure is another case i n point. It is properly rendered as carboxylic acid, not "carbonic a c i d , " which i n German is Kohlensaure.

Prefixes and Suffixes A less elusive subject is that of prefixes and suffixes. I have selected a few t y p i c a l ones i n G e r m a n , F r e n c h , and Italian, and shall indicate their E n g l i s h equivalents, which may sometimes be cognate, but just as frequently not. I n G e r m a n , the prefix unter- often becomes hypo-, sub-, or i n f r a - , i n addition to the more obvious under-, as i n the following examples: unterphosphorig (hypophosphoric), Untereinheit (subunit), and unterbelichten (underexpose). T h e antonymic prefix uber- can become per-, super- (or supra-), hyper-, a n d u l t r a - , i n a d d i tion to over-. Sometimes, it must be rendered b y the word, excess: Uberoxyd (peroxide), iïber-basisch (superbasic), uberelastisch (hyperelastic), Ubermikrometer (ultramicrometer), uberlaufen (overflow or flow over), Uberhitze (excess heat). A useful rule to remember is that, generally but b y no means always, uber i n chemical compounds is per- and i n verbs over-. Conversely, unter- is hypo- i n chemical compounds and under- i n verbs. T h e F r e n c h and Italian prefixes corresponding to those mentioned are fairly easy to identify and need not be discussed. T h e same is true of the Romance-language suffixes -able, -ible and -uble (in French) and -abtle, -tbile, and -ivile (in I t a l i a n ) . These correspond to the G e r m a n suffix -bar, which, i n E n g l i s h , is generally -able, -ible, or -uble. F o r example, G e r m a n haltbar equals F r e n c h stable and Italian stabile (English : stable). T h e corresponding nouns—that is, those which i n E n g l i s h end i n -ity (e. g., stability)—as a rule have the following endings i n the other three languages: G e r m a n , -keit (as i n , Bestandigkeit); F r e n c h , -itè (as i n , stabilité); and Italian, -ità (as i n , y

stabilita.

A chemical suffix which may be difficult to equate is -ure i n F r e n c h and -uro i n I t a l i a n . These suffixes denote a salt and are rendered as -ide i n English—e.g., chlorure or cloruro is chloride. I n the introduction to his invaluable " F r e n c h - E n g l i s h D i c t i o n a r y for C h e m i s t s " (8), A u s t i n M . Patterson mentions some very helpful hints for the translation of organic compounds from F r e n c h , where the prefix or suffix is the key to the correct translation. T h e y are quoted here, w i t h his k i n d permission, because as a rule they also apply to Italian. 1. Translate oxy- b y hydroxy- when i t designates h y d r o x y l , as is commonly the case i n organic names. W h e n oxy- designates the ketonic group (CO) i t is pref erably translated oxo- or keto-. 2. Translate names of compounds the chief function of which is alcoholic or phenolic so t h a t the name ends i n -ol ; as, glycerol, resorcinol, m a n n i t o l , pinacol (not pinacone). 3. W h e n the French ending -oZ does not indicate h y d r o x y l i t should be trans lated -ole (as, anisole, indole), or i n the case of a few hydrocarbons -ene (as benzol, benzene; toluol, toluene; styrol, styrene). LITERATURE RESOURCES Advances in Chemistry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1954.

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4. T h e ending -ine or -in should be translated -ine i n the case of basic substances and - i n elsewhere; as, aniline, glycine, palmitin, a l b u m i n . Exceptions are benzine (meaning benzene) and the names of alcohols and phenols [see (#)]. 5. T h e form amido- should be so translated only when i t denotes combination with an acid group. U s u a l l y i t is to be translated amino- ; as, acide amidoproprionique, aminoproprionic a c i d ; amidophénol, aminophenol. T h e same holds for imido-, anilido-, etc. 6. I n such combining forms as bromo-, cyano-, chloro-, nitro-, etc., when they denote substituting radicals, the connective ο is to be used i n v a r i a b l y ; as chlorobenzène or chlorbenzène, chlorobenzene; acide chloracétique, chloroacetic acid. T h i s usage is by no means universal, but those who cannot reconcile themselves to such spellings as "bromoacetic" should at least avoid the G e r m a n forms bromphenol, acetphenitidine, etc., b y using the connective ο before consonants* (French litera ture does not contain so many of these objectionable forms as does the German.) 7. T h e F r e n c h ending -ane should be translated -ane if i t is the name of a hydrocarbon (or parent heterocyclic compound) which is fully saturated; otherwise, -an. E x a m p l e s : methane, menthane, tolan, furan, pentosan. 8. Names of acids ending i n -carbonique are translated -carboxylic, not -car bonic.

Miscellaneous Inversions. W e now come to the question of inversions, which are characteristic of F r e n c h and Italian, and which m a y present somewhat of a problem. A l t h o u g h i n G e r m a n the adjective generally precedes the noun, as is usually the case i n E n g l i s h , this is not true of F r e n c h and Italian where, as a rule, the adjective follows. Here are some examples: une solution concentrée (a concentrated solution), acide nitrique (nitric acid), net campo spéciale (in the special field), carbonato sodico (sodium caronate), etc. F r o m where the E n g l i s h translator sits, F r e n c h and Italian invert the words i n chemical compounds, occasionally connecting them w i t h the preposition o f — i . e., di i n I t a l i a n and de'in F r e n c h . B y reading them i n inverted sequence, and forgetting about the preposition, the E n g l i s h equivalent immediately becomes apparent. F o r example, bromure de calcium (calcium bromide), acide de tartre (tartaric acid), acetato di alluminio (aluminum acetate), bagno di olio (oil bath), etc. I n certain cases, however, the cognate is not as easily detected, even after the inversion has been mentally made. T h u s , acide chlorhydrique (hydrochloric acid), aldeide formica (formaldehyde). B y locating the hydro radical—or, as a colleague once put i t , " l o o k i n g for the hidden w a t e r " — i n the foreign name of the compound, one will often be able to translate i t at a glance. T h e fact that the F r e n c h and Italians call sodium chloride chlorure de sodium and cloruro di sodio explains why one will occasionally find equations where N a C l appears as C I N a . T h i s is true of so many compounds that some chemical equations i n F r e n c h and Italian often look as if someone just jumbled a l l the chemical symbols. Another thing worth remembering is that when an adjective following two or more nouns is i n the plural, i t applies to a l l the nouns and, i n E n g l i s h , should therefore precede a l l the nouns, not just the last. F o r example, " à une température et une pression élevées" means " a t a high temperature and pressure." Likewise, acido nitrico, sulfurico e idrofluorico concentrât? means "concentrated nitric, sulfuric, and hydrofluoric acids." Such inversions as generally occur i n F r e n c h and Italian may occasionally also occur i n G e r m a n , especially i n a composite word designating a chemical compound i n which the basic element is at the end. W h e n translated, the elements must be inverted, as i n Kohlenwasserstoj/jf (hydrocarbon), Tetrachlorkohlenstoff (carbon tetrachloride), SchwefelkohlenstojJ (carbon disulfide), Chlorwasserstoff (hydrogen chloride), etc. u

1

Inversions such as the above also extend to dates. W h e n , i n a foreign text, y o u see, β.2,52, what is meant is F e b r u a r y 6,1952, not June 2,1952. LITERATURE RESOURCES Advances in Chemistry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1954.


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Compound Words. A t this point I cannot escape mentioning a few basic charac teristics of G e r m a n compound nouns and compound verbe. A s y o u know, G e r m a n — especially scientific German—has many compound nouns. Since their number is practically unlimited and since most are not listed i n dictionaries, translators find i t helpful to remember the basic words i n the compound noun rather t h a n the compound noun itself. T h e question of G e r m a n compound verbs is not quite as simple. M a n y of them are formed b y a simple verb w i t h a prefix, as for example dampfen (to steam) and verdampfen (to evaporate). Some of these compound verbs are separable and some are inseparable—that is, i n the case of the latter the prefix is not separated from its basic verb, while i n the case of the former it often is. I n ordinary sentences con taining separable verbs, the prefix appears at the end, as for example i n Der Inhalt siedet uber (the content is boiling over), Der Schwefel nimmt an der Reaktion teil (the sulfur participates i n the reaction), etc. I n subordinate clauses, however, verb and prefix reunite at the end of the sentence, as for example i n Der Verfasser berichtet dass der Schwefel an der Reaktion tetlnimmt (the author reports that the sulfur par ticipates i n the reaction). Here I should like to draw your attention to an important warning. V e r y often a compound verb i n G e r m a n will have a different meaning t h a n the basic verb i n the compound. Before beginning to translate, therefore, one should always look at the end of the sentence or clause to see whether there is a prefix, as the prefix m a y deter mine the meaning. F o r example, i n the sentence, Die Temperatur nahm im Gefftss ab (or zu), there is no way of knowing whether the temperature decreased or increased if one does not read to the end of the sentence. A somewhat similar phenom enon also exists i n E n g l i s h , where compound verbs may have different meanings, depending on where the verbal component is placed with reference to the preposition. Thus, " t o oversleep" is hardly the same thing as " t o sleep over" and " t o look some thing over" is definitely not the same thing as " t o overlook i t . " Position of Verb. A few words about the position of the verb i n G e r m a n sentences might be i n order here. T h e verb does not occur at the end of the sentence quite as persistently as M a r k T w a i n would have us believe. Of course, when i t does occur at the end of the sentence, it is often flanked by two or more verbal assistants, especially where the sentence has a number of subordinate clauses. W h a t is gener ally not realized is that if the sentence begins with the subject, the position of the verb is the same as i n English : Das Gas stromte aus dem R'hrchen (the gas flowed out of the tube). If the sentence does not begin with the subject, the verb comes i m mediately before the subject: Im Ver such stromte das Gas aus dem Rohrchen (in the experiment the gas flowed out of the tube). A notable exception to this rule is that in subordinate clauses the verb appears at the end of the sentence: Der Verfasser sah das Gas aus dem Rohrchen stromen (the author saw the gas flow out of the tube). Demonstrative Pronoun. I n all the three languages here discussed, a sentence may often begin with a demonstrative pronoun referring to one or several nouns i n the previous sentence. These pronouns (dieser, diese, or dieses i n G e r m a n ; celui-ci, celle-ci, or ceux-ci i n F r e n c h ; and questo, questa, or questi i n Italian), whether i n their masculine or feminine form, translate as either this or these, since the E n g l i s h pro noun does not have the corresponding genders. Therefore, unless i t is perfectly clear which principal of the previous sentence is meant i n E n g l i s h , i t is often prefer able to replace the pronoun by the actual noun or nouns to which the foreign pronoun refers. Accents. Accents i n French and Italian, as well as i n other languages, often have more t h a n a phonetic function. I n G e r m a n , the umlaut is not a n accent but a diacritical mark which changes the vowel over which i t appears. Certain words will have different meanings depending on whether they are written w i t h or without accent or umlaut. Here are a few examples. I n G e r m a n , the verb for dem means to demand or to claim; with the umlaut— i.e., fordern—it is a n entirely different word meaning either to promote or to convey. LITERATURE RESOURCES Advances in Chemistry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1954.

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In F r e n c h , the noun cote means quota or quotation; with the circumflex accent—i. e., cote—it means slope, coast, or rib; i f i n addition t o the circumflex accent over the ο there is also a n acute accent over the e—i. e., coté—the word means side. T h e word ou without a n accent is the conjunction or, and with a n accent—i. e.,—où, it is the adverb where. I n I t a l i a n , the letter e without an accent means and ; with a grave accent—i. e.—e, i t is the verbal form of " t o b e " and means is. The Decimal Point. T h e decimal point i n almost all foreign languages is not a period but a comma. W h e n a G e r m a n , F r e n c h , or I t a l i a n chemist writes that he added 18,050 grams to a solution i n a test tube, he does not mean that "eighteen thousand and fifty" grams were added, but that 18.050 were added; conversely, where we use a comma to set off every thousand group i n a figure, the foreign language will generally use a period. T h u s , 18.050 grams is not eighteen grams a n d fifty milligrams, but 18,050 grams. Sometimes, the custom is to use no punctuation at all to set off each thousand group, b u t merely to leave a space: 18 050. I n some German texts one may find a raised period t o indicate the division—i.e., 18Ό50. The Percentage Sign. T h e percentage sign i n the foreign is generally the same as i n E n g l i s h — i . e., % or, as acceptable variants, per 100, pour cent, per cento or even o/o. None of these present any particular problem, but what does are such signs as o/oo and o/oo to indicate per mill. I n such cases, i t is often desirable to convert into per cent. F o r example, Abbiamo usato soluzioni al l%o e al lo/oo (or 1 o/oo) dei sali, should preferably be rendered as " W e have used 1% and 0.1% solutions of the salts." Therefore, lo/oo should be converted to 0.1% and lo/ooo to 0.01%. Abbreviations. W e now come t o the problem of foreign abbreviations, and a considerable problem i t is, because the abbreviations used are sometimes of the author's own invention (in which case, the best we can hope for is that the context will indicate what they represent), and they may be of a local nature (either limited to a fairly small geographical area, or t o a rather restricted field or i n d u s t r y ) . W h e n abbreviations consist of several captial letters, one should mentally be prepared to invert the letters, as this may occasionally provide a clue. T h u s DML — i . e., dose minima létale—is M L D ( m i n i m u m lethal dose); S.N.C.—i. e., système nerveux central) is C . N . S . (central nervous system); etc. Foreign authors do not appear to adhere to any uniform or standard set of abbreviations for weights and measures. F r e n c h and Italian texts present the most flagrant evidence of this lack of uniformity. T h u s , to indicate cubic centimeters ( c c ) , we may find such a variety of abbreviations as cm3, ccm., cc.m., cm. cube (or cm. cubico), %m3, and occasionally even cc. T h e varieties of abbreviations for milligram (mg.) reflect a n even more fertile imagination. A t one time or another I have encountered: mm.g., mm.G., mmg., mmG., mmgr., mmGr., mm/G., G/mm (which should indicate "grams per m i l l i meter," but not always does), and even o/oo g. Where there are several possibilities, the context will have t o be relied upon to determine the correct meaning of the abbreviation. A n interesting set of abbreviations, found i n G e r m a n , is Jato for Jahrestonnen (tons per year) ; Moto for Monatstonnen (tons per month) ; and Tato for Tagestonnen (tons per day). T h i s completes m y brief outline of the problems involved i n technical transla tion. I t is very incomplete, even as a n outline. B u t the best I could hope to do was t o present some of the highlights, and to offer a few practical suggestions. Literature Cited (1) Holmstrom, J. E., 14th Conference of Association of Special Libraries and Information Bureaux, Cambridge, England, September 24 to 27, 1937. (2) Jensen, Κ. Α., ADVANCES IN CHEM. SER., NO. 8, 38 (1953).

(3) Patterson,A.M., "French-English Dictionary for Chemists," New York, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1921. New edition to be published in 1954. (4) Quiller-Couch, Sir A . T., "On the Art of Writing," New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1926. (5) Zingarelli, N., "Vocabolario della Lingua Italiana," 9th ed., Milan, Casa Editrice Bietti, 1938. RECEIVED June 15, 1953. Presented before the Division of Chemical Literature, at the 122nd Meeting of the

AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, Atlantic City, N. J.


Translating German, French, and Italian Chemical Literature

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