{"id":305,"date":"2019-05-21T20:03:59","date_gmt":"2019-05-22T00:03:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/LawD\/?p=305"},"modified":"2024-10-04T13:24:22","modified_gmt":"2024-10-04T17:24:22","slug":"ata59-session-recap-subtle-flavors-of-the-law-filler-words-in-german-legal-texts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/LawD\/ata59-session-recap-subtle-flavors-of-the-law-filler-words-in-german-legal-texts\/","title":{"rendered":"ATA59 Session Recap: &#8220;Subtle Flavors of the Law: Filler Words in German Legal Texts&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-494 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/LawD\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Screen-Shot-2020-04-21-at-2.58.05-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"338\" height=\"244\" \/>By Heike Holthaus<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Gummi bears. Juicy, flavorful gummi bears. Albeit void of nutritional value, who can resist?<\/p>\n<p>What does this have to do with filler words, you rightfully ask? Well, as Michael and Sabine point out, filler words, too, are void of \u201cnutritional value\u201d \u2013 they have no inherent meaning \u2013 but they can add a flavorful punch to a sentence.<\/p>\n<p>Let me explain. You are happily translating away on some legal correspondence when the flow is interrupted by a sentence like this one:<\/p>\n<p><em>Dies will Ihr Mandant <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">nun aber wieder auch<\/span> nicht so verstanden wissen, hat er uns <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">doch<\/span> seine revidierte Meinung gleich zweimal schriftlich kundgetan.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u2026nun aber wieder auch\u2026 = \u2026now but again also\u2026 Nope. That can\u2019t be it! But what <em>is <\/em>the attorney saying?<\/p>\n<p>These little, unassuming words (for example: ja, eben, wohl, doch, auch, vielleicht, dabei, gerade, wobei, schon, so) have important functions: They tell you about intention and attitude. Or about the relationship between the parties. At other times they express assumptions about common ground, shared knowledge and agreement. And so they set the tone of the conversation.<\/p>\n<p>Michael offered this as an option for capturing the meaning of \u201cnun aber wieder auch nicht\u201d from above:<\/p>\n<p><em>This, <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">however, is not how<\/span> your client wishes us to understand this either; he <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">indeed<\/span> let us know his revised opinion in writing twice.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Michael explained that filler words or modal particles<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>derive their meaning mostly from context<\/li>\n<li>express the speaker\u2019s mood or attitude to the sentence\/sentences<\/li>\n<li>do not change the truth value of a sentence<\/li>\n<li>cannot be negated<\/li>\n<li>cannot be connected with \u201cund\u201d or \u201coder\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Here are some more of the examples Michael and Sabine shared with the audience:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Das ist <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">s<\/span><\/em><em><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">chon<\/span> vom Grundsatz her falsch.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">very<\/span> principle is wrong.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Das ist <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">schon<\/span> richtig, doch hat der Mandant eines dabei vergessen.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>T<\/em><em>rue<\/em> <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><em>enough<\/em><\/span><em>, but your client forgot one thing.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Das hat mir <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">gerade noch<\/span> gefehlt.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>That\u2019s <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">just<\/span> what I needed.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Easy enough, right? Well, let\u2019s try this one:<\/p>\n<p><em>Es ist <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">vielleicht schon<\/span> ein starkes St\u00fcck, uns am Tag vor der Verhandlung noch einen Nachtrag zu servieren. Jetzt fehlt <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">nur noch<\/span>, dass der Verhandlungsort <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">auch gleich<\/span> in eine andere Zeitzone verlegt wird.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>By itself you might translate <em>vielleicht<\/em> as <em>perhaps<\/em> or <em>maybe<\/em>, for example. During the presentation, Sabine and Michael explored with the audience, how adding <em>schon<\/em> lends an entirely different meaning to <em>vielleicht<\/em> \u2013 and how it shows the attitude of the author. Sabine had a closer look at how <em>Jetzt fehlt nur noch<\/em> could be translated:<\/p>\n<p>In its literal sense, it would mean there is only one thing missing to complete something or continue with something. Here it expresses exasperation about the situation and the presenters offered this solution:<\/p>\n<p><em>They <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">really<\/span> have a nerve sending us a yet another postscript the day before the hearing. <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">All we need now<\/span> is for the venue to be changed to one in another time zone.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>And then there is the juicy little gummi bear (ehm\u2026 word) <em>so. <\/em>What is its meaning? How should it best be translated? The unanimous answer from the audience: \u201cIt depends.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><em>S<\/em><em>o<\/em><\/span><em> hat Ihr Mandant <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">etwa<\/span> behauptet, dass der erste Anspruch nicht schutzw\u00fcrdig sei.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In this example<em>, so<\/em> is defined by the word <em>etwa. <\/em>Read together, one can interpret <em>so<\/em> as having the meaning of <em>for example<\/em>:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><em>F<\/em><em>or example<\/em><\/span><em>, your client alleged that the first claim is not worthy of protection<\/em><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In contrast:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><em>S<\/em><em>o<\/em><\/span>, hat unser Mandant <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">etwa<\/span> jemals behauptet, dass der erste Anspruch nicht schutzw\u00fcrdig sei?<\/p>\n<p>Can <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><em>so + etwa<\/em><\/span> be interpreted the same way? Of course not. It only took a comma and a question mark to alter the meaning of <em>so<\/em> in this example:<\/p>\n<p><em>Did our client <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">at any time<\/span> allege that the first claim is not worthy of protection?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In an exchange after the conference, Michael pointed out to me that, in patent translation, how to translate the word <em>wobei<\/em> depends on in which section of the patent the word is found:<\/p>\n<p>The proper translation of <em>wobei<\/em> in the patent specifications\/description uses the gerund:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2026wobei die Schlaufe hinter der Strebe gef\u00fchrt wird &gt; the loop being guided behind the strut <\/em><\/p>\n<p>in the claims it is <em>where(in)<\/em>:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2026where(in) the loop is guided behind the strut.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This session was a good reminder of how important it is to carefully analyze these roadblocks that can leave a sour taste in our mouth as they bring the translation process to a screeching halt. Seemingly needless words such as <em>gerade, \u00fcberhaupt, etwa<\/em>, and <em>wobei<\/em>, just to name a few, are actually powerful tools to express attitude, mood and intention.<\/p>\n<p>If you missed the session, don\u2019t fret. Michael and Sabine have generously agreed to make the slides available. You can request them via their website (see nutrition label).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-306\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/LawD\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Screen-Shot-2019-05-21-at-9.02.37-PM-170x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"170\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/LawD\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Screen-Shot-2019-05-21-at-9.02.37-PM-170x300.png 170w, https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/LawD\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Screen-Shot-2019-05-21-at-9.02.37-PM.png 518w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 170px) 100vw, 170px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>About the Author: Heike is a German &lt;&gt; English translator specializing in patents and patent litigation. She also works in the technical and legal field.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Heike Holthaus &nbsp; Gummi bears. Juicy, flavorful gummi bears. Albeit void of nutritional value, who can resist? What does this have to do with filler words, you rightfully ask? Well, as Michael and Sabine point out, filler words, too, are void of \u201cnutritional value\u201d \u2013 they have no inherent meaning \u2013 but they can [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":494,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"full-width-content","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[249,256,18],"tags":[29],"class_list":{"0":"post-305","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ata-conference","8":"category-ata-session-recap","9":"category-ata59","10":"tag-session-summaries","11":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/LawD\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Screen-Shot-2020-04-21-at-2.58.05-PM.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/LawD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/LawD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/LawD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/LawD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/LawD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/LawD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":498,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/LawD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305\/revisions\/498"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/LawD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/LawD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/LawD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/LawD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}