Translation and ambiguity

Question

Dear language friends,I am currently in progress of translating a text from Norwegian into English. However, there is one sentence in particular I find hard to translate. The text is about ambiguity, on how the sentence structure can be interpreted as having more than one meaning. When translating the sentence from Norwegian, I get two possible options. However, I am supposed to have only one which should be ambiguous. Option 1: A 62-year-old man from Nøtterøy was Wednesday convicted for murder by Agder Court of Appeals.Option 2: A 62-year-old man from Nøtterøy was Wednesday convicted for murder of Agder Court of Appeals.The question is, how can I re-write the sentence structure, or possibly use another word for "by" or "of", to make this an ambiguous sentence in which it will sound like the man was both convicted for the murder by the Court and killed the Court? Thank you very much for your time. ^_^Kamira, an eager English student.

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,
Welcome to the Forum.

I am supposed to have only one which should be ambiguous.

Option 1: A 62-year-old man from Nøtterøy was Wednesday convicted for murder by Agder Court of Appeals.
Option 2: A 62-year-old man from Nøtterøy was Wednesday convicted for murder of Agder Court of Appeals.

The question is, how can I re-write the sentence structure, or possibly use another word for "by" or "of", to make this an ambiguous sentence in which it will sound like the man was both convicted for the murder by the Court and killed the Court?

You could say
On Wednesday, a 62-year-old man from Nøtterøy was convicted of murder in the Agder Court of Appeals.

This leaves it somewhat unclear as to whether the conviction was in the Court of Appeals or the murder itself was in the Court of Appeals.

Best wishes, Clive

Avangi · Answer

Have you been assured that such a solution exists? This seems like a puzzle without a solution. I don't think the ambiguity can be preserved. But I wouldn't mind continuing the search if I had I little encouragement. - A.

Edit. Wow! Clive's is good, but it doesn't make the court the object of the murder - only the scene of it.

<< the man was both convicted for the murder by the Court and killed the Court >>

Just as an aside, although the above phrase sounds great, I don't think you can use a passive verb and then an active verb with "both" in exactly that position.

I think you'd have to say, "both was convicted and killed," but that sounds terrible. (How about, "was both convicted and killed by the court" ?) just kidding??

The other aside is about "convicted for" vs "convicted of." "Convicted of" is formally correct but I had decided to let "convicted for" slide since it's used casually:

They convicted him.
Why? For what? What for? (formal: Of what? )

Clive · Answer

Hi,
It's not at all natural to say someone murdered the Agder Court of Appeals.

What you'd say is that someone murdered the judges of/in the Agder Court of Appeals.

Clive

Translation and ambiguity

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