‘When translated right, Tamil works will have a wider reach’

When translating complex scientific terms in English to Tamil, care must be taken to make it sound appropriate and in the right context too, said V.P. Jeyaseelan, Virudhunagar Collector, here on Wednesday.

Speaking at a conference on ‘Scientific Tamil in Agriculture’ organised by Community Science College and Research Institute with Agricultural College and Research Institute, he gave many examples.

 “In some cases, a single word in English, which cannot be translated into a single word in Tamil, takes additional words. Also, due to lack of proficiency in the language and expertise in translation, scholars give birth to inappropriate Tamil words, and sometimes in the wrong context too.  “During COVUID-19 pandemic, the Tamil media demonised the word ‘virus’ in such a way to mean all viruses to be harmful, forgetting there are good viruses too.  

Similarly, when computer was invented, it was called ‘kanipori’ in Tamil. But owing to confusion on whether to write it as a single word or two words, there came a new word ‘kanini’ which is in use now.

One must understand the etymology before coining a new word to avoid confusion in the minds of people by giving multiple words while translating into Tamil.  

Students must refer Tamil books written or translated on any given subject instead of relying on ChatGPT or Artificial Intelligence or Google translators as the number of words fed into digital system are not exhaustive.  “Many Tamil books written on complex subjects such as biotechnology or genetics have the appropriate Tamil terms for complex scientific terminologies,” Mr. Jeyaseelan said.  

In countries such as Germany, students of agriculture have to familiarise themselves with the glossary of about 80,000 German words related to the subject, he said.  

“In Tamil, we have only about 7,000 such words, so the glossary should be improved to bring in more words to improve the scope of learning in Tamil,” he said. 

Translators must prefer simple technical words, easy enough for conversation and discussion. For in-depth articles and research papers, complex words would be better to give the readers the exact meaning.  

It must be borne in mind that when a complex word is simplified for wider reach during translation, it might distort the purpose of usage and produce a completely different meaning. In such instances, additional Tamil words or used to describe a single word in English, resulting in confusion. 

Transdisciplinary understanding of a word is essential. “In English, a scientific term will be same in all fields such as medicine, agriculture and biotechnology. But a Tamil word may give different meanings in different fields. Though Tamil is versatile and can adopt new words, it should be done with care,” the Collector said.  

About 200 research papers translated from English were released. The organisers said the objective is to take all aspects of agriculture, even technical subjects, to farmers in Tamil.  When done right, they could get it wholesome.  

Earlier, V. Geethalakshmi, Vice-Chancellor, TNAU, delivered the inaugural address.  

Published - October 16, 2024 08:20 pm IST