When a pivotal idea gets lost in paraphrase and translation

[Joe Carillo]

I don’t want my media English watch to be accused of being insensitive to civic concerns by focusing on grammar and usage at this time that most Filipinos are in furious frenzy over the coming Philippine national elections. I am therefore taking a 10-day respite from doing critiques of the print media’s grammar and usage errors. Instead, from today until the run-up to the actual voting on May 10, I’ll be doing a media coverage watch focusing on (1) the quality of the language and semantics being used by the election protagonists as reported by the print media, and (2) the quality of the language and semantics being used by the print media itself as public information interface in the poll campaign.

For starters, I am posting “Lost in paraphrase, lost in translation,” an essay that I wrote for my weekly column in today’s issue (May 1, 2010) of The Manila Times:

Lost in paraphrase, lost in translation

As a long-time student of language, I came across a very instructive case study yesterday on how crucial statements during press briefings sometimes end up being reported inaccurately—if not mangled beyond recognition—in print, on TV or radio, and on the web. I am referring to Sen. Benigno Aquino III’s declaration of his abiding faith in his running mate, Sen. Manuel Roxas II, despite the latter’s being junked by a major Aquino endorser in favor of another vice presidential candidate.

Here’s the declaration of Sen. Aquino as directly quoted by GMANews.TV reporting from Tacloban City:

“‘Gusto ko iliwanag, sa akin kandidato ko kaisa-isa kong partner sa laban na ito, si Mar, dahil sigurado akong ipagpatuloy niya kung sakaling di ko kayanin (I want to make it clear that I have only one candidate and one partner in this fight, and that is Mar, because I am certain he will finish what I have begun),’ he said.”

I will neither dwell on the political implications of this statement nor make any psychological inferences from it. All I want to point out is the blatant unfaithfulness of the translation. By any measure, what’s meant by the English phrase “because I am certain he will finish what I have begun” is not what’s meant by the Tagalog “dahil sigurado akong ipagpatuloy niya kung sakaling di ko kayanin.”   

Those who know both their English and Tagalog well enough will probably agree with me that a more faithful translation of Sen. Aquino’s Tagalog would be any of these two statements: (1) idiomatic English: “I want to make it clear, to me I have only one partner in this fight, it’s Mar, because I’m sure that he will continue [the fight] in the event that I couldn’t hack it”; and (2) less idiomatic, more straightforward English: “I want to make it clear, to me I have only one partner in this fight, it’s Mar, because I’m sure that he will continue [the fight] in the event that I prove inadequate for the task.”

I initially thought that the mistranslation was likely the handiwork of the GMANewsTV reporter or editor, but then I saw the same statement and the paragraph following it in exactly the same words in a by-lined news story in the Philippine Star. It therefore looks like the Star’s story is simply a rehash of the GMANewsTV story; it’s also possible, though, that both are rewrites of a media release from Sen. Aquino’s media bureau, whose staff must have done the mistranslation—or rather corrective translation—themselves.

But even more intriguing is another version of that statement in a by-lined story in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. It directly quotes Sen. Aquino speaking in straight English: “Mar Roxas is my only vice president. A standard-bearer is free to choose a vice president. In my view, he is the most apt candidate that I can present to the nation if something happened to me. I want to make clear that my candidate and my one and only partner in this fight is Mar because I am sure he will continue our plans.”

If indeed Sen. Aquino spoke in mixed Tagalog-English during that press briefing, I wonder why the Inquirer reporter made direct quotes in English—and very elegant and more nuanced statements at that—of what’s obviously only a paraphrase of the actual remarks in Tagalog. These supposedly exact quotes also skirt Sen. Aquino’s Tagalog for “in the event that I couldn’t hack it,” replacing it with the phrase “if something happened to me” instead.

I think something pivotal was lost in both the paraphrase and translation of Sen. Aquino’s statement in that press briefing. Whether he made a slip of the tongue or not, I believe it’s a serious public concern why certain sectors of media would unilaterally fudge what he actually said and meant.

SHORT TAKES IN MY MEDIA ELECTION COVERAGE WATCH:   

(1) Philippine Daily Inquirer: Demolition job in a front-page photo caption (Internet edition)

Homepage photo caption:
MOUTHFUL Gordon talks his head off at a presidential forum in Davao City. Does Gordon realize he talks too much? He quips, “But I make sense, don’t I?”

My comment: If this caption isn’t a ruthless, unconscionable character demolition job on Sen. Richard Gordon, I don’t know what is. Can’t this mainstream broadsheet exercise at least a modicum of journalistic restraint even if it hates the guts of this presidential candidate?

(2) Manila Bulletin: Demolition job on the COMELEC (Internet edition)

Manual count junked

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) junked Thursday the proposed parallel manual count in the country’s first automated elections on May 10, on the pretext that it would only open up opportunities for cheating.

In its unanimous decision, the poll body ruled that the manual count is not the “only” way to validate the electronic results of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines, as pressed by religious leaders, IT experts, the Makati Business Club (MBC), and even some of the candidates themselves.

My comment: This broadsheet’s use of the word “pretext” in the lead sentence is malicious and semantically outrageous in what’s supposed to be an objective, straight-news story. It casts aspersions on the integrity and trustworthiness of the electoral body.

By definition, “pretext” means “a purpose or motive alleged or an appearance assumed in order to cloak the real intention or state of affairs.” It’s use by the broadsheet in this story is therefore a big slap on the COMELEC, one that the latter shouldn’t let pass if it is to maintain its self-respect—unless, of course, the broadsheet’s reporter and editors roundly apologize to the COMELEC and the paper’s readers by admitting that it simply mistook “on the pretext” for “on the ground.” The word “ground” here, of course, means “a basis for belief, action, or argument,” as in “ground for complaint” or “grounds for legal separation.”

So, in the interest of objective reporting, that lead sentence should have been written as follows:

“The Commission on Elections (Comelec) junked Thursday the proposed parallel manual count in the country’s first automated elections on May 10, on the ground that it would only open up opportunities for cheating.”

[hill roberts]

Philippine media>>Lost in translation, or lost in transaction?

It's hilarious how some of these journalists now think they can wield their pens without being detected. Somehow, there's someone at the English Forum called Mr Jose Carillo, the eagle-eyed detective who is meant to be the guardian of correct English language usage taking stock of what's going on in the minds of those journalists and Opinion Writers. To keep forgetting that they are the caretakers of a complex country like the Philippines would be folly. It seems, writing their own version of what they are reporting, or just taking the "micky" of somebody else would quickly justify their arrogant regard towards those they aren't inclined to endorse. The lack of decorum on their part also suggests that they have no basic respect for  their chosen profession after all. If they did, would they  be writing endless sweet-nothings about their favourite candidate, Sen. Nono Cuckoojuangco Aquino? (This surname was coined by my fb friend, Leslie Bocobo when I mentioned the film, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" on his page recently- -since a cuckoo is lazy, dependent, and a thief, and that's a fact, and I deliberately dropped the letter "y" to signify, too  my distaste for this presidential candidate.)
Now that the country is  about to choose their presidential candidate, since I voted for Mr Gordon, who happens to be an achiever--one has to review all those very old video tapes during and after the Mt Pinatubo eruption where he was "hands-on" to make Subic and the province what it is today.