Gallicisms: Translation Problems

(From an essay I wrote for a translation class - posting it here for anyone who might be interested in knowing more about the challenges that translators face. I really enjoy translation myself - it's like a challenging word-game.)

        A number of challenges face translators such as false friends, structural differences, missing terms, ambiguity, words that have several meanings and so on. One of the biggest stumbling blocks for French-to-English translators are Gallicisms. The Oxford Canadian Dictionary defines “Gallicism” as “A French word or usage, esp. one used in another language.” English-speaking people living in Quebec and surrounded by French often end up using Gallicisms. To run down to the “dep” instead of the corner store is one example. Another example is the use of French structure in an English phrase, or to literally translate a French expression instead of using the English expression already in use. “You’re in the moon” is one instance of a French expression being literally translated. The English version of “tu es dans la lune” is “your head is in the clouds” or “you’re on cloud nine.” It can be quite difficult to avoid Gallicisms while translating, especially if you have grown up around French or with a Francophone parent. You may not even realize that an expression such as “you’re in the moon” is in fact, not English because you have heard it said so often.  A translator may avoid the trap of Gallicisms letting a rough draft sit for awhile before going back to it, avoiding always going with the first word that comes to mind and checking phrases in a search engine. We will look at these below.

Once you have your rough draft completed, you may be tempted to go over it right away to correct errors and then send it off. However, the proximity of the original French, still in your head, may keep you from seeing problems in the translated text, such as French sentence structure or expressions. It is always better to let the rough draft sit for as long as possible, overnight if you have time, in order to come back to it with a fresh mind. After such a break, Gallicisms and any other problems in your text will stand out much better and it will be easier to identify them so they can be corrected.

When translating from one language to another, the first reaction when one word in the source text resembles a word in the target language is to use that word in the target text. Translating from French to English is no exception. For example, when seeing the phrase “Je suis actuellement à Paris” a translator’s initial reaction might be to translate this as “I am actually in Paris.” But “actuellement” and “actually” are false cognates or “false friends”. “Actuellement” means “in the current moment” while “actually” means “really” or “in fact.” The proper translation here would be “I am currently in Paris.” One way to avoid false cognates is to look up the words in a French-only or an English-only dictionary if you are not sure of the meaning. Letting your rough draft sit awhile, as previously mentioned, may also help you catch them, and so may checking your sentences in a search engine, as we will see.

A good way to find out if a phrase is colloquial is to copy it into Google or some other search engine, put quotes around it, and search. If you come up with only a few results, the phrase is probably not very common. If you get hundreds of thousands of hits, then your phrase is likely colloquial. You can also use a search engine to look up the subject you are translating. Check the vocabulary and expressions used in similar articles on the same subject. This will give you a good idea what phrases and terms are used in that context. 

Taking a break, thinking twice before using a similar word and using a search engine are all good ways to help avoid problems like Gallicisms in your French-to-English translation. Research is a big part of translation so do not hesitate to look things up and double-check yourself! Translation is like a puzzle and working through it to find the perfect phrase to express the same thing in your target language can be very fulfilling.