Abstract
SUMMARY The authors describe the difficulties of translating classifications from a source language and culture to another language and culture. To demonstrate these problems, kinship terms and concepts from native speakers of fourteen languages were collected and analyzed to find differences between their terms and structures and those used in English. Using the representations of kinship terms in the Library of Congress Classification (LCC) and the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) as examples, the authors identified the source of possible lack of mapping between the domain of kinship in the fourteen languages studied and the LCC and DDC. Finally, some preliminary suggestions for how to make translated classifications more linguistically and culturally hospitable are offered.
Highlights
Michèle Hudon points out that one of the problems traditionally associated with the construction of multilingual thesauri is that of stretching the language of the component vocabularies to make them fit a foreign conceptual structure to the point where they become barely recognizable to their own speakers.[1]
This means that traditional classifications, originally designed in a particular country, or even for a particular collection, are being stretched, in Hudon’s words, to cover cultural and linguistic artefacts and concepts quite different from those originally intended
In addition to these concerns, when dealing with classifications it is necessary to consider the differences in knowledge structures–that is, the way in which the classification scheme represents a set of terms and concepts, and how it comprises a pattern of relationships among those concepts
Summary
Michèle Hudon points out that one of the problems traditionally associated with the construction of multilingual thesauri is that of stretching the language of the component vocabularies to make them fit a foreign conceptual structure to the point where they become barely recognizable to their own speakers.[1]. Over the last few decades we have seen a move towards unification and standardization of bibliographic systems, not just in the United States, and globally This means that traditional classifications, originally designed in a particular country (such as the Dewey Decimal Classification), or even for a particular collection (such as the Library of Congress Classification), are being stretched, in Hudon’s words, to cover cultural and linguistic artefacts and concepts quite different from those originally intended. As classification schemes are being expanded and translated to “go global,”we are faced with many of the same problems encountered in translation in general: issues of vocabulary, syntax, and semantics In addition to these concerns, when dealing with classifications it is necessary to consider the differences in knowledge structures–that is, the way in which the classification scheme represents a set of terms and concepts, and how it comprises a pattern of relationships among those concepts.
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