12 Translations for International Translation Day

To celebrate International Translation Day, we’ve invited translations of the following quote—about translation—by Andrés Neuman, the 2009 Alfaguara Prize-winning author and 2014 Puterbaugh Fellow. You can read the essay in which this line appears on WLT’s blog.

Thanks to WLT friends, we begin this project with translations into Assamese, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Kurdish, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Thai, and Turkish. Join us in celebrating International Translation Day by adding your own translations in the comments. We hope you’ll help us keep the celebration going long after September 30.

“Love and translation look alike in their grammar. To love someone implies transforming their words into ours.” – Andrés Neuman

“Prem aru anubad eke binakhya’r hadrikh. Kabak prem kora mane anyar xobdo bur nijor xobdot bhori luwa.” – Andrés Neuman
– Translation to the Assamese by Reecha Bharali

“L’amour et la traduction ont une grammaire qui se ressemble. Aimer quelqu’un, c’est transformer ses mots pour les faire nôtres.” – Andrés Neuman
– Translation to the French by Dinah Stillman 

“Liebe und Übersetzung sind bezüglich ihrer Grammatik ähnlich. Jemanden zu lieben heißt seine Worte zu unseren zu verändern.”
– Translation to the German by Mikael Konutgan

“Prem aur anuwaad vyakaran mein ek saman dikhte hain. Kisi se prem karne ka saraansh hai unke shabdon, ko apne shabdon mein dhaalna.” – Andrés Neuman
– Translation to the Hindi by Reecha Bharali

“L’amore e la traduzione si assomigliano nella loro grammatica. Amare qualcuno significa fare le sue parole diventare le nostre.”
– Translation to the Italian by Monica Seger

“愛と翻訳というのは、文法のようだ。誰かを愛することは、その人の言葉を自分たちの言葉に変えることを意味している。”
– Translation to the Japanese by Norie Minegishi

“Werger û hezkirin bi awayê rêzimanî dimînin hev. Ji yekî hezkirin, bi awayekî, gotinên wî li zimanê xwe wergerandin e. Selam çevirdim.”
– Translation to the Kurdish by Abdullah Kiran

“Cinta dan penterjemahan kelihatan sama dalam tatabahasa mereka. Untuk mencintai seseorang membayangkan mengubah kata-kata mereka kepada kita.”
 – Translation to the Malay by Jeremy Gan

“Amor e tradução parecidos em sua gramática. Amar alguém implica em transformar as palavras deles em nossas palavras.”
– Translation to the Portuguese by Mindi Powell

“Любовь и перевод похожи друг на друга в своей грамматике. Любить кого-то подразумевает перевоплощение их слов в наши.” – Андрес Неуман
– Translation to the Russian by Rachick Virabyan

“ความรักและการแปลดูคล้ายกันในแกรมม่า ในการที่เราจะรักใครซักคนในหมายความถึงการเปลี่ยนแปลงคำของเขาให้เป็นของเรา.”
– Translation to the Thai by Chin Rungsungthiwakorn

“Sevgi ve çeviri, dil bilgisi bakımından birbirine benzer. Birni sevmek, onun sözlerini bizim sözlerimize dönüştürmeyi ima eder.”
 – Translation to the Turkish by Natalie Konutgan