Language

Language was the initial purpose of this site : highlighting pitfalls between Dutch and English : both in transposing similar looking English words for Dutch ones on the assumption they’d have the same meaning, and in different meanings for words.

Examples include agenda and diary, allergy and intolerance. Agenda refers to a sheet with points for a meeting in both Dutch and English, and a diary is a day-by-day record of what was done, but in Dutch the ‘book’ with what is to be done is an agenda, a diary in English. Similarly, an allergy in Dutch refers to any agent which triggers the immune system (intolerance overwhelms the enzymes) while in English an allergy is life-threatening while the intolerance is not – irrespective whether it triggers an immune response or overwhelms the enzymes.

Eventually, given enough time, these pages will again show the points and pitfalls on Dutch and English and Flemish and American usage. For now, one book is mentioned:

Dutch Translation in Practice, written by Jane Fenoulhet (Professor of Dutch Studies at UCL) and Alison Martin (Reading University, alumna of UCL Dutch Studies), published by Routledge, available from your favourite booksellers – or from amazon.co.uk for approx. GBP 27 at the time of adding this note.

“Dutch Translation in Practice provides an accessible and engaging course in modern Dutch translation. Taking a highly practical approach, it introduces students to the essential concepts of translation studies, heightens their awareness of the problems posed in Dutch translation, and teaches them how to tackle these difficulties successfully. Featured texts have been carefully chosen for their thematic and technical relevance, and a wide range of discursive and grammatical issues are covered throughout.”

Added 2015.02.11, based on an e-mail from the UCL Centre for Low Countries Studies.

 

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