Without a Doubt: Dealing with Ambiguity in Japanese Documents

Japanese documents are often marked by a higher degree of ambiguity than is normally found in English documents. This characteristic forces the J-to-E translator to either recreate that ambiguity in the translation or provide information that must be gleaned from other places in the document or from other sources. The first option may be unsatisfactory for the reader; the second option may be risky or timeconsuming for the translator. In a business environment in which deadlines are becoming tighter and clients are becoming increasingly conscious of costs, the J-to-E translator cannot afford to spend a great deal of time resolving this dilemma. The speaker will present examples that illustrate options for dealing with different kinds of ambiguity in Japanese documents. Audience participation is encouraged.