People tend to assume that being able to understand a phrase in two languages is the same thing as being able to translate it. It’s definitely wrong to assume that when it comes to English and Serbian.
There are numerous differences between these two languages that a Serbian translation service should have knowledge about. We’ll mention three obvious ones.
1. Serbian and English belong to different language groups.
Bearing in mind that Serbian is a Slavic language while English has Germanic origin, it’s understandable that there are many differences in the grammatical structure of the two languages. These make it a waste of time to even try to translate word for word.
Fixed word order is one of the distinctive features of English, while a Serbian sentence has a widely flexible word order. This means you can almost put any word anywhere in the sentence, depending on which part you want to emphasize. This is thanks to the extensive case system of the Serbian language. It has seven cases, which apply to all nouns, pronouns, adjectives and numbers.
Regarding verbs, English has more tenses than Serbian, so it’s often tricky to determine which tense you should use in Serbian to transfer the same meaning into a professional Serbian translation.
2. Words often have no equivalents in the target language.
Due to differences in natural and cultural environments, numerous words can’t be translated simply because they don’t exist in the target language.
In such cases, translators have to be creative and find the best solution to transfer the meaning without losing the subtle nuances of the original word. Translators often come across this problem when translating titles of books and movies.
Serbian has a different word for each and every family member. So, if you want to translate the word “aunt” to Serbian, the translator will need to know if she is the sister of your mother or father or, perhaps, the wife of your uncle from your mother’s or father’s side.
Another problem occurs when translating new words that emerge with technological progress. Sometimes a translator must invent a new word in the target language.
3. Cultural stereotypes cause headaches for translators.
It’s difficult to communicate the exact meaning of a word or phrase related to a topic that’s widely familiar in the source language, such as the language of national minorities. For example, some Italian words in English express nuances that are unrecognizable in Serbian. A professional Serbian translation service will make sure these problems are solved in the best possible way.
Looking for a professional, native-speaking Serbian translator who can avoid all the pitfalls?
Hiring a professional Serbian translation service is the best solution to successfully overcome all the above difficulties. Our highly skilled and experienced Serbian translators will be glad to help you!