The use of loan words in the source
text poses a special problem in translation. Quite apart from their
propositional meaning (dictionary literal meaning) loan words such as chic, au
fait (French) and alfresco (Italian) in English are often used for their
prestigious value, because they can add an air of sophistication to the text or
its subject matter. This is often lost in translation because it is not always
possible to find a loan word with the same meaning in the target language.
Examples:
-
This is an in camera meeting.
-
This session was adjourned sine
die.
NB:
Loan words also pose another problem for the unwary translator, namely the
problem of “les faux amis”
(false friends). False friends are words of expressions which have the same
form in two or more languages but convey different meanings.
Example:
An apology for
culture.
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