Intercultural communication problems relating to translation from English into Sesotho
Abstract
In this article, certain translative communication problems associated with the linguistic
and stylistic differences between English and Sesotho are identified and discussed. With
a view to help improve translation between the two languages where inaccurate and
stilted communication frequently occurs, issues of equivalence, fidelity/faithfulness and
the purpose of translation are delved into. It is furthermore argued that in South African
multilingual contexts, like legal courts, criminal cases/hearings and hospitals clinics and
similar health establishments, inaccurate translation and/or misinterpreting can lead to
serious miscarriages of justice and poor service delivery. The reasons for such
unfortunate eventualities sometimes relate to the translator-interpreter’s poor
understanding of the cultural factors behind the English or Sesotho message. As such,
emphasis is lain on the need for a translator-interpreter’s cultural understanding of the
source language/text (SL/T) and target language/text (TL/T) to deliver an accurate
version (in the target language or text – TL/T) of the original message. It is furthermore
shown that one cause of social and legal injustice is closely related to the translatorinterpreter’s
insufficient knowledge of both the English and Sesotho culture as it exists in
grammatical forms, idiomatic structures, collocation patterns and stylistic patterns of the
SL/T and the TL/T.