How Translating a Language Can Create New Words

Translating language is a delicate job that falls somewhere between the realms of art and science, requiring both technical attention to detail and a touch of imagination.

In fact, it’s not uncommon for resourceful translators to get creative and add new words to a language’s lexicon when a term in the source language doesn’t exist in the target language.

The Evolution of a Word: From Birth to Dictionary

Every living language is in a constant state of evolution, as new words, phrases and even spelling rules are constantly being added or modified. When it comes to changes in a language’s lexicon, everything from pop culture trends to foreign language influences can result in the addition of a new word to the dictionary.

The most recent edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, for example, includes a plethora of new words that have entered the English language only recently. The updated vocabulary list includes terms such as “Yogalates” (“a fitness routine that combines Pilates exercises with the postures and breathing techniques of yoga”), which have become common catchphrases due to cultural trends of the past decade.

Changes like these keep the makers of dictionaries and grammar books in business — and such evolution is going on all the time, in all types of languages all over the world.

How Translators Add New Words to a Language

So just how can translators simply add new words to a language’s standardized vocabulary? It’s a long process. First, it’s essential to confirm that the appropriate equivalent word doesn’t already exist in the target language by consulting references like dictionaries, other translators and linguistic institutions.

If this yields no results, a translator may turn to the Internet to see if there’s an appropriate equivalent being used online. These days, loads of new words are put into common use by bloggers and other Internet users before becoming mainstream.

If the translator has no success finding the proper word, it’s time to get creative. The original word may be adopted from the source language as a direct loan-word, such as the Chinese use of the English “DVD,” or the translator may choose to adapt the original word to the target language, such as the Spanish verb “reciclar,” which was adapted from the English verb “recycle.”

Using new words like these when translating languages encourages others to start using the word. Finally, once enough people start using a new word, it’s very likely that the word will be added to future dictionaries.

Of course, it’s not only the English language which adds words to other languages. Just recently, the Merriam-Webster online dictionary accepted two new English words submitted by a Russian translator.

Do New Words Challenge Linguistic Purity?

Critics of the addition of new words to languages via translation have pointed out that adopting words from other languages can threaten linguistic purity.

The preservation of languages is certainly important, and it’s true that many languages are becoming increasingly infiltrated by foreign words due to the great cultural and linguistic exchanges enabled by globalization. Ultimately, however, it’s important to accept the fact that languages are ever-changing.

What’s more, the influence languages have on one another can be mutually enriching. The christening of new words through the translation of languages allows us to broaden the horizons of different languages rather than limit them.