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Humour in translation can be caused by translation errors, due to irregularities and discrepancies between certain items that translators attempt to translate. This could be due to the ignorance of the translator, as well as the untranslatability of the text as a result of linguistic or cultural differences.〔Alam, Q.Z. (1989). Humour and Translation: Evidence from Indian English. Translators' Journal, 34(1), 72-78. Retrieved October 11, 2014, from érudit.〕 In addition, translation errors can be caused by the language incompetence of the translator in the target language, resulting in unintended ambiguity in the message conveyed. Translation errors can distort the intended meaning of the author or speaker, to the point of absurdity and ludicrousness, giving a humorous and comedic effect. Translation errors can cause accidental humour, which is similar to intentional humour. Like intentional humour, accidental humour is also a combination of linguistics and culture-specific features, with humour generating devices (like words and phrases) embedded in it, and is just as competent in conveying humour. Most translation errors are due to the untranslatability of the language and the failure of linguistic domestication and foreignization processes. For instance, idiomatic expressions of Chinese like 多多少少 ( (duɔ ʃaʊ ʃaʊˈ ) ) means ‘to an extent’ in English. However, if literally translated, the same phrase can mean ‘many many few few’, losing its original meaning and creating a ludicrous expression of meaning. A case of untranslatability is evident when Coca-Cola first entered the Chinese market in 1928. Initially there was no official representation of Coca Cola’s name in Mandarin, and random phonetic translation of Coca Cola using random Chinese characters of similar phonetics were used, resulting in the name conveying ridiculous meanings like "female horse fastened with wax" or "bite the wax tadpole" when read. There was hence a need to find four Chinese characters with pronunciations and phonology approximated the sounds "Coca Cola" without producing a nonsensical or adverse meaning when combined into a written phrase. This brand blunder was eventually solved when the Chinese words 可口可乐 were used instead; meaning to be translated as "to allow the mouth to be able to rejoice," but conceptually acceptable.〔Allman, N.F. (1957). Transliteration of 'Coca-Cola' Trade-Mark to Chinese Characters. Coca-Cola Overseas, pp. 10-11.〕 Hence the combination and translation of words expressed must conform to the target culture and literal language interpretation or it would result in hilarious misunderstandings. Prime examples of such errors comes in the form of poorly translated sign posts, notices and menus that fails to cater the intended meaning to both foreign and local speakers. Translation errors have been used widely for commercial and entertainment purposes (intentional humour). A prominent example is the comedy video, “Japanese Titanic” by the YouTube comedy duo, Smosh. Garnering more than 8.5 million views to date, the farcical video script was produced by translating the original dialogue of the movie Titanic into Japanese dialogue via an online translator application, then translating the Japanese dialogue back into English. The result was an absurd and hysterical portrayal of the classic movie scenes of Titanic.〔SMOSH. (2013, June 28). JAPANESE TITANIC (file ). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds2Ai6HAo7Y〕 == Translation difficulties == Colloquial expressions and conventions in the source language, can cause humour or result in a strange interpretation from the listener or reader in instances when they are not translated into equivalent expressions or conventions in the target language, and instead are translated mechanically or word-for-word. Difficulties with translation can arise from differences in word order, or due to culture-bound expressions, and often also because of the inflexibility of machine translation. Also, it is partly due to the existence of multiple cultural, linguistic and semantic factors that machine translation often requires the aid of a human translator to convey the intended message of the source text. Translation difficulties can, therefore, cause translation errors, which can result in humour. A more specific elaboration of various causes of translation errors will be discussed in the following section. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Humour in translation」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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