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Single Idea 3083

[filed under theme 19. Language / F. Communication / 6. Interpreting Language / b. Indeterminate translation ]

Full Idea

There are many predicates of a given language that resist translation into another language, …so it is unlikely that there is a basic set of underlying structures common to all languages.

Gist of Idea

Many predicates totally resist translation, so a universal underlying structure to languages is unlikely

Source

Gilbert Harman (Thought [1973], 5.4)

Book Ref

Harman,Gilbert: 'Thought' [Princeton 1977], p.81

A Reaction

Not convincing. 'Structures' are not the same as 'predicates'. Once a language has mapped its predicates, that blocks the intrusions of differently sliced alien predicates. No gaps.

The 19 ideas with the same theme [full translation may be a logical impossibility]:

6318 The doctrine of indeterminacy of translation seems implied by the later Wittgenstein [Wittgenstein, by Quine]
18963 Indeterminacy translating 'rabbit' depends on translating individuation terms [Quine]
1631 You could know the complete behavioural conditions for a foreign language, and still not know their beliefs [Quine]
1632 Translation of our remote past or language could be as problematic as alien languages [Quine]
3988 Indeterminacy of translation also implies indeterminacy in interpreting people's mental states [Dennett on Quine]
6311 The firmer the links between sentences and stimuli, the less translations can diverge [Quine]
6312 We can never precisely pin down how to translate the native word 'Gavagai' [Quine]
6313 Stimulus synonymy of 'Gavagai' and 'Rabbit' does not even guarantee they are coextensive [Quine]
6317 Dispositions to speech behaviour, and actual speech, are never enough to fix any one translation [Quine]
6270 The correct translation is the one that explains the speaker's behaviour [Putnam]
6283 Language maps the world in many ways (because it maps onto other languages in many ways) [Putnam]
14206 There are infinitely many interpretations of a sentence which can all seem to be 'correct' [Putnam]
6399 Criteria of translation give us the identity of conceptual schemes [Davidson]
6179 Should we assume translation to define truth, or the other way around? [Blackburn on Davidson]
3495 Shared Background makes translation possible, though variation makes it hard [Searle]
3083 Many predicates totally resist translation, so a universal underlying structure to languages is unlikely [Harman]
3698 Indeterminacy of translation is actually indeterminacy of meaning and belief [Bonjour]
2763 There is an indeterminacy in juggling apparent meanings against probable beliefs [Dancy,J]
6341 Right translation is a mapping of languages which preserves basic patterns of usage [Horwich]