In the vast universe of languages, some pose a particular challenge for translators. Today at Aadimatiq we’re going to dig into the complexity of three of the hardest languages to translate: Chinese, Arabic and Hungarian.
Chinese: characters, tones and contexts
Chinese is famously tough because of its logographic writing system in which each character stands for a word or an idea. Consequently translators need to know thousands of these characters. Plus Mandarin, one of the most widely spoken Chinese languages, is a tonal language and so the tone in which a word is pronounced can completely change its meaning.
Arabic: flexibility and fluency
Arabic is another language which throws up unique challenges for translators. Its flexible grammar allows for a wide range of word orders while its writing system runs from right to left unlike many Western languages. Plus Arabic has a wealth of dialects which can make translation even trickier.
Hungarian: unique structure and vocabulary
Hungarian, a language in the Finno-Ugric language family, is very different from most European languages. It has a unique grammatical structure, an extensive case system and a vocabulary for which there are often no direct equivalents in other languages.
In short, each language has its own unique challenges and special features which makes translating into a complex and fascinating venture. While Chinese, Arabic and Hungarian are just three examples of languages which are tough to translate, the fact is that each language has its own distinctive complications and nuances. The rewards of connecting cultures and communicating ideas across language barriers are huge. Each language is a world of its own and translating is the key to unlocking these worlds.
