‘When translated right, Tamil works will have a wider reach’

Virudhunagar Collector emphasizes importance of accurate translation of scientific terms from English to Tamil for proper context.

When translating complex scientific terms in English to Tamil, care must be taken to make it sound appropriate and in the right context too, said V.P. Jeyaseelan, Virudhunagar Collector, here on Wednesday.

Speaking at a conference on ‘Scientific Tamil in Agriculture’ organised by Community Science College and Research Institute with Agricultural College and Research Institute, he gave many examples.

 “In some cases, a single word in English, which cannot be translated into a single word in Tamil, takes additional words. Also, due to lack of proficiency in the language and expertise in translation, scholars give birth to inappropriate Tamil words, and sometimes in the wrong context too.  “During COVUID-19 pandemic, the Tamil media demonised the word ‘virus’ in such a way to mean all viruses to be harmful, forgetting there are good viruses too.  

Similarly, when computer was invented, it was called ‘kanipori’ in Tamil. But owing to confusion on whether to write it as a single word or two words, there came a new word ‘kanini’ which is in use now.

One must understand the etymology before coining a new word to avoid confusion in the minds of people by giving multiple words while translating into Tamil.  

Students must refer Tamil books written or translated on any given subject instead of relying on ChatGPT or Artificial Intelligence or Google translators as the number of words fed into digital system are not exhaustive.  “Many Tamil books written on complex subjects such as biotechnology or genetics have the appropriate Tamil terms for complex scientific terminologies,” Mr. Jeyaseelan said.  

In countries such as Germany, students of agriculture have to familiarise themselves with the glossary of about 80,000 German words related to the subject, he said.