The CBB

German
Kyouko ist das Mädchen ganz rechts, sie hat blonde Haare, sie ist das zweitgrößte Mädchen und sie ist 1,56 m groß.
kyouko ist das Mädchen ganz rechts, sie hat blond-e Haar-e, sie ist das zweitgröß-t-e Mädchen und sie ist 1,56 m groß.
kyouko COP.3.SG.PRS DEF.N.SG.NOM girl totally right, 3.SG.F.NOM have blond-PL.NOM hair-PL.NOM, 3.SG.FEM.NOM COP.3.SG.PRS DEF.N.SG.NOM second_tall-COMPAR-N.SG.NOM girl and 3.SG.FEM.NOM COP.3.SG.PRS 1,56 m big
Kyouko is the rightmost girl, she has a blond hair, she is the second tallest girl, and she is 156cm tall.

Yui ist die das zweite Mädchen von rechts, sie hat schwarze Haare, sie ist das größte Mädchen und sie ist 1,60 m.
yui ist das zweit-e mädchen von rechts, sie hat schwarz-e haar-e, sie ist das größ-t-e mädchen und sie ist 1,60 m
yui COP.3.SG.PRS DEF.N.SG.ACC second-SG.N.NOM girl from right,
Yui is the second-rightmost girl, she has a black hair, she is the tallest girl, and she is 160cm tall.

Akari is the third-rightmost girl, she has a red hair, she is the third-tallest girl, and she is 153 cm tall.

Chinatsu is the leftmost girl, she has a pink hair, she is the shortest girl, and she is 149 cm tall.

I'd say "She has blonde hair", or "She's the one with blonde hair" instead of "She has a blonde hair".

Khemehekis wrote: ↑11 Apr 2020 17:32 I'd say "She has blonde hair", or "She's the one with blonde hair" instead of "She has a blonde hair".

"She has" and "she's the one with" aren't equivalent in function - and I don't believe anyone can't say "she has blonde hair" in their dialect!

You are of course right, however, that the English is "blonde hair", not "a blonde hair". [I suppose some languages would have the plural there, instead of the mass noun?]

Salmoneus wrote: ↑12 Apr 2020 00:26

Khemehekis wrote: ↑11 Apr 2020 17:32 I'd say "She has blonde hair", or "She's the one with blonde hair" instead of "She has a blonde hair".

"She has" and "she's the one with" aren't equivalent in function - and I don't believe anyone can't say "she has blonde hair" in their dialect!

Of course, they aren't equivalent in function. But either would be appropriate here, as there is only one girl with each hair color, and they are being identified by their hair colors and heights.

You are of course right, however, that the English is "blonde hair", not "a blonde hair". [I suppose some languages would have the plural there, instead of the mass noun?]

Yes. French, for instance, has the plural "cheveux".

Khemehekis wrote: ↑12 Apr 2020 00:45

Salmoneus wrote: ↑12 Apr 2020 00:26

Khemehekis wrote: ↑11 Apr 2020 17:32 I'd say "She has blonde hair", or "She's the one with blonde hair" instead of "She has a blonde hair".

"She has" and "she's the one with" aren't equivalent in function - and I don't believe anyone can't say "she has blonde hair" in their dialect!

Of course, they aren't equivalent in function. But either would be appropriate here, as there is only one girl with each hair color, and they are being identified by their hair colors and heights.

But when translating, you should try to keep close to the original meaning! In particular, it's probably not wise to replace a less marked translation (that's also closer in meaning) with a more marked translation (that's also further away in meaning).

In any case, they're very much not the same in this instance. Your translation assumes that, as you say, there is only one girl with blonde hair, but there's no way to know that that's the case - the original post does not specify how many women there are (other than that there are at least four).


Creyeditor: sorry about the arguing. It's a very interesting translation challenge!

Actually, I am sorry for posting this. This is not my translation challenge, but it is one from an older version of the forum, that must have gotten deleted. I saw a draft that I had for it and I must have accidentally clicked submit instead of save after editing it. Very sorry for that.

Well then, if you don't mind, as nobody else has translated it, I'll post my own variant of this shortly, as I think we can use it to address a couple of interesting issues...

I would be very happy about that. IIRC, this was originally k's challenge, but I am not a 100% sure.

Salmoneus wrote: ↑12 Apr 2020 02:46 In any case, they're very much not the same in this instance. Your translation assumes that, as you say, there is only one girl with blonde hair, but there's no way to know that that's the case - the original post does not specify how many women there are (other than that there are at least four).

This is a good point. With no photo, we don't know for sure. However, given the Japanese names and the pink hair, this translation challenge seemed to be from a very anime-ish conworld. This, combined with the four different hair colors (including pink) for four girls implied to me this trope.