OK, time to leap over this lexical-freaking-gap like Evel Knievel. Nope (but hey, at least you picked up the smart-sounding term of lexical gap)! There is a notion that translators refer to as a "lexical gap." It refers to the occurrence of a fully developed term for a concept existing in one language but absent in another. Yes, I know, schedule?! That's not a promising start. The term traces back to the same root of the English word, schedule. If we look into the etymology of "zettel," we find something odd. In the context Luhmann was using it, the purest definition is "slip of paper." We need to find an English translation for such a concept-without it being a mouthful! Yet, a "note of paper" doesn't work perfectly either. You can't say, "I'm making a slip of paper of how much of a linguistic genius Scott is." Therefore, it's not a perfect translation. A "note" could be anything-even a metaphorical thing, like "I'm making a mental note of how much of a linguistic nerd Scott is." A "slip of paper" isn't used in such a way. The reason centers on the original definition of "zettel." Recall, the definition was a "slip of paper," not its slang usage of "slip." Hence, the appropriate translation wouldn't necessarily be "note" because it's too broad. No, Sah!Īlthough "note" is more fitting than "slip," it is not perfect. This source prefers the term "note" as the translation for zettel. The most widely used translation source, and arguably the best among all, does not hold "slip" as the correct translation for zettel. However, "slip of paper" doesn't appear to be the preferred entry (or main entry). And older entries for zettel define it as a "slip of paper." One such English-German dictionary consists of this entry. The reason "slip" is sometimes translated from "zettel" is because some translation dictionaries include multiple entries. But before I do, I want you to understand even why it was translated to "slip" in the first place. However, it's less fitting than the translation I will introduce soon. This translation is certainly not a member of the faux ami hall of fame. In the most popular translation of Luhmann's paper, "slip" falls into such a category. A faux ami is when a word of similar form but the dissimilar meaning is paired. Or perhaps you are, and regardless you could probably guess. See, the term zettel was translated to the English word "slip." This translation is a type of error known as a "faux ami." Assuming you're not a linguistic nerd (like I secretly yearn to be), you probably aren't familiar with that term. Yes, there's an issue with how Zettel is translated into the American English version of the paper. However, the translation error concerns the most important word. I wouldn't be writing about this unless it was necessary. OK, so why are we even discussing a translation error? It's not an issue with Luhmann's writing, but his paper's most popular English translation. Oh, yes, I needed to tell you about a glaring issue in Niklas Luhmann's paper on the Zettelkasten. You-but only if this page I wrote about You is true. (Also available in podcast format) TITLE: The Term "Zettelkasten" Does Not Mean What You Think It Does FROM: The Term "Zettelkasten" Does Not Mean What You Think It Does THE DAILY SCOTT SCHEPER 600 West Broadway, Suite 700
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