Peter K. answered • 10/09/24
Latin Tutor | Classical Languages Major
This answer is a little late, but it's one I find particularly interesting, given my profession as a coder. I hope it's still relevant to you or others on this site!
There are a few aspects to your question that need addressing: (1) the lorem ipsum text, (2) the subjective difficulty translating Latin for learners, (3) the objective difficulty of translating languages in general.
(1) Lorem ipsum isn't actually pseudo-Latin (though it is based on Latin). It's more like pseudo-text. It's a placeholder that designers can use to see what their websites or print publications might look like. It's a very clever convention because collaborators don't get distracted nitpicking about what is being displayed. Rather, by using this meaningless text, they can focus on how the text looks aesthetically.
Now let's move on to your question about the difficulty in translating Latin.
(2) Translating Latin can be challenging for many reasons. Often, this difficulty is the difficulty of learners. You might hear students complaining about their upcoming Latin exams or the struggles they have with their homework. The fact of the matter is that many students begin their journey into foreign languages with Latin. It's great for middle or high school students to prepare for aptitude tests due to the root vocabulary it provides for speakers of English (which uses many French words that are, in turn, often derived from Latin words). Learning a foreign language for the first time is hard. Learning vocabulary, verb forms, and being able to put it all together into sentences is really unlike anything else. The only other experience to match it is when you first learned how to speak, read, or write in your own language as a child, which is a pretty monumental step in life!
Moreover, even if Latin isn't your first foreign language, it is often taught in a very grammatical style. Most classrooms don't even teach colloquial Latin; reading (and some composition) is usually the main focus. In other languages like French or Spanish (particularly in middle or high school) the early days are often spent with an eye to speaking, and the grammar is kept pretty lightweight. When students first encounter Latin, they often feel like they have to learn English grammar on top of Latin just to keep up with their Latin vocabulary! Of course, any language is going to come with grammar prerequisites, but Latin is one where most classrooms demand a good handle on grammar just to begin.
All that's to say Latin is a particular force to be reckoned with for beginning students.
(3) Finally, let's talk about translation in general. Translation can be tough in general because languages have different capabilities and flexibilities. Latin has some particular grammar rules which give the language a lot of flexibility when it comes to word order. English doesn't have these same rules and is pretty restricted in terms of word order. In English, the sentence "The dog eats the food" and the sentence "The food eats the dog" carry very different meanings. (Of course, English has its own rich grammar that would make translations from English into Latin challenging, but we'll punt on that for now.) Let's take an example from Latin literature. In Virgil's Latin poem, the Aeneid. In Book 3, on line 34, our hero Aeneas describes himself as follows: "nymphas venerabar agrestis." The first two words are fairly simple to translate: "I begged the nymphs." However, the last word is an adjective (meaning "rural") whose form and meter can apply either to the nymphs or to the subject of the verb (I, that is, Aeneas). In a typical English translation, you need to make a choice: either "I begged the rural nymphs" or "I, a rural man, begged the nymphs." If you study the context of the passage, either makes sense, since there are certain nymphs associated with trees and with the woods and since Aeneas is describing himself as harvesting the greenery of the ground to make an altar. Merely reading the Latin allows you to ponder the ambiguity and appreciate Virgil's artistry in perhaps associating both Aeneas and the nymphs together (after all, the nymphs tend to guide and protect Aeneas in the Aeneid, and Aeneas does in fact share with them an family tree that traces back to the divine primordial beings). However, as a translator, you tend to need to make a choice, even if that choice might be to translate one way and have a footnote about Virgil's artful ambiguity (though using notes in a translation is a distinctive choice all its own). Perhaps now you can appreciate the Italian phrase "traduttore, traditore" ("translator, traitor").
To whomever is reading this post, I hope these considerations shed some light on the great treasure that Latin (and any other language's) literature is. I wish you the best of luck on your language journey, and please comment to share any translational ambiguities you've happened across in your linguistic travels!
