Capitalization and Abbreviation in Spanish Translation
Capitalization and abbreviation in Spanish translation raise some peculiar problems because of the distinctive natures of the English and the Spanish languages.
Differences in Capitalization for Spanish and English
Let us begin by identifying how Spanish capitalization differs from English capitalization:
- In the first place, capital letters are used more frequently in English than in Spanish.
- In the second place, English capitalizes all the main words in the title of a book while Spanish capitalizes only the first word of the title. Thus, in English, we write 鈥淕one with the Wind鈥 while in Spanish we write 鈥淟o que el viento se llev贸鈥.
- In the third place, the Spanish equivalent of the English personal pronoun 鈥淚鈥, 鈥測o鈥, is not capitalized.
- In the fourth place, the names of the days of the week and the months are not capitalized in Spanish.
- In the fifth place, Spanish does not capitalize the adjectives derived from nationality and race.
- In the sixth place, in poetry, Spanish capitalizes only the first word of the first line instead of the first word of every line.
In the above cases, when translating from Spanish to English and vice versa, it is customary for the translator to follow the rules of the target language. This varies only in the case of poetry where, especially in bilingual editions, it is customary for the Spanish translator to follow the rules of the source language.
Translation of Abbreviations
Spanish translation of abbreviations and acronyms also deserves special care. The Spanish translator must make an effort to discover the meaning of the abbreviation in the source language. Retaining the source language abbreviation in the target language can give rise to errors in meaning. Translators often use the example of the Spanish abbreviation 鈥楾M麓, which stands for 鈥榯oneladas m茅tricas麓, to warn against this error.
The Spanish 鈥楾M麓 cannot be retained as 鈥楾M麓 in the English translation because in English, 鈥楾M麓 stands for 鈥榯ons per minute麓. Some words that are abbreviated in the source language need to be spelled out in the target language to make understanding easier. For example, the Spanish translation of ‘Washington, D.C.’ should be spelled out as ‘Washington, Distrito de Columbia.’
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Translating Acronyms
Acronyms in Spanish translation demand similar discretion on the part of the translator. They may be kept if the target language readers are familiar with them. Otherwise, they need to be translated in full. Hence, 鈥楥IA麓 may be written as 鈥楥IA麓, or it may be translated as 鈥楲a Agencia Central de Inteligencia麓. However, international organizations are represented in the acronym of the target language. UNO, therefore, becomes ONU in Spanish.
The translator may choose to attach an explanation to an acronym he or she has kept in the source language. In extreme cases, he or she may write the acronym, translate it and explain it as well. However, the translator does not have the freedom to create his or her acronym in the target language.
When working with capitalization and abbreviation in Spanish translation, a translator will find it useful to have some knowledge about the socio-political and cultural scenario in both the source and target language.