Problems With English Translation
Due to confusion with synonyms during translation, some of the animals depicted by the English words did not exist in ancient China. For example, 羊 can mean Ram, Goat, or Sheep. Similarly, 鼠 (Rat) can also be translated as Mouse, as there are no distinctive words for the two genera in Chinese. Further, 豬 (Pig) is sometimes translated to Boar after its Japanese name, and 牛 plainly means Cow or Ox, and not Water Buffalo, 水牛. 雞(Rooster) may mean chicken, hen, rooster, cock. However, Rooster is the most commonly used one among all the synonyms, same for 羊,鼠, etc.
Read more about this topic: Chinese Zodiac
Famous quotes containing the words problems, english and/or translation:
“The problems of society will also be the problems of the predominant language of that society. It is the carrier of its perceptions, its attitudes, and its goals, for through it, the speakers absorb entrenched attitudes. The guilt of English then must be recognized and appreciated before its continued use can be advocated.”
—Njabulo Ndebele (b. 1948)
“In an English dinner-party ... I have never known small-talk run short!”
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)
“Well meant are the wounds a friend inflicts, but profuse are the kisses of an enemy.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Proverbs 27:6.
KJ translation reads: Faithful are the wounds of a friend.