Untranslated notes (was: Poll by Email No. 7)

--- Christophe wrote:

> But it's still definitely a lack of respect of the
> reader. I remember a few linguistic articles I've
> tried to read a few years ago, but I couldn't
> understand anything of them since the key points
> were all untranslated quotes from German articles!
There is only one explanation I can imagine:

When you write a text, the basic questions you have to
ask yourself, are: whom am I writing for, and what
basic knowledge can be expected from them?
When you write an article for a linguistic paper, you
don't bother to explain such things like "gerund" and
"labiodental fricative", because you can expect that
the small audience who will read it knows such things
already. Perhaps, you can assume as well, that the
small circle of people you write your article for,
knows German, French, or whatever other language...
In Dutch scientific texts it is accepted not to
translate notes from English, German, and French
(exceptions are there, or course, but those are
specific cases); in more popular editions, you
translate everything.

Jan


=====
"You know, I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair. Then I thought,
wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair, and all the terrible things that
happen to us come because we actually deserve them? So, now I take great
comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe." --- J.
Michael Straczynski

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