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17th Translation Contest: "The Sounds of Silence" » English to Swahili

Competition in this pair is now closed, and the winning entry has been announced.

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Source text in English

A theme of the age, at least in the developed world, is that people crave silence and can find none. The roar of traffic, the ceaseless beep of phones, digital announcements in buses and trains, TV sets blaring even in empty offices, are an endless battery and distraction. The human race is exhausting itself with noise and longs for its opposite—whether in the wilds, on the wide ocean or in some retreat dedicated to stillness and concentration. Alain Corbin, a history professor, writes from his refuge in the Sorbonne, and Erling Kagge, a Norwegian explorer, from his memories of the wastes of Antarctica, where both have tried to escape.

And yet, as Mr Corbin points out in "A History of Silence", there is probably no more noise than there used to be. Before pneumatic tyres, city streets were full of the deafening clang of metal-rimmed wheels and horseshoes on stone. Before voluntary isolation on mobile phones, buses and trains rang with conversation. Newspaper-sellers did not leave their wares in a mute pile, but advertised them at top volume, as did vendors of cherries, violets and fresh mackerel. The theatre and the opera were a chaos of huzzahs and barracking. Even in the countryside, peasants sang as they drudged. They don’t sing now.

What has changed is not so much the level of noise, which previous centuries also complained about, but the level of distraction, which occupies the space that silence might invade. There looms another paradox, because when it does invade—in the depths of a pine forest, in the naked desert, in a suddenly vacated room—it often proves unnerving rather than welcome. Dread creeps in; the ear instinctively fastens on anything, whether fire-hiss or bird call or susurrus of leaves, that will save it from this unknown emptiness. People want silence, but not that much.

The winning entry has been announced in this pair.

There were 10 entries submitted in this pair during the submission phase, 4 of which were selected by peers to advance to the finals round. The winning entry was determined based on finals round voting by peers.

Competition in this pair is now closed.


Entries (10 total; 4 finalists) Expand all entries

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Language variants:
Entry #22583 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Kenyan
Winner
Voting points1st2nd3rd
4210 x41 x20
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.543.54 (13 ratings)3.54 (13 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 4 users entered 4 "like" tags
  • 1 user disagreed with "likes" (1 total disagree)
kupata utulivu
Good term selection
Ngunga Tepani
Binadamu wanajiangamiza wenyewe kwa kelele na wanatamani hali iwe tofauti-iwe porini, baharini au katika sehemu maalum zilizotengwa kwa ajili ya utulivu na umakinifu.
Flows well
The truth ​that is ha​ppening in​ the curre​nt world.
Shabdin Abwasi
-1
1
akiwa mafichoni katika eneo la Sorbonne,
Good term selection
good trans​lation of ​concept(no​t literal)
samuel muiruri
yanamakiniki
Flows well
It is perf​ect. I lik​e it
George Kihanda
Entry #22480 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Dalmus
Dalmus
Kenya
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
111 x42 x23 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.963.18 (11 ratings)2.73 (11 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 3 "like" tags
  • 1 user agreed with "likes" (2 total agrees)
+1
ilivyokuwapo
Flows well
Grammatica​lly correc​t ilivyoku​wapo not i​livyokuwep​o
George Kihanda
+1
Kipo kitendawili
Flows well
Good word ​for parado​x, thank y​ou. Ukweli​ kinzani h​as an attr​ibute of b​eing a kit​endawili
George Kihanda
kelele
Flows well
You may ad​opt and na​turalize i​t by sayin​g susuriko​ za majani​ au msusur​iko wa maj​ani yaani ​majani yan​asusurika.
George Kihanda
Entry #22328 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Tanzanian
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
81 x41 x22 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.333.33 (9 ratings)3.33 (9 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #24179 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
111 x43 x21 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.953.10 (10 ratings)2.80 (10 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 4 "like" tags
wakifanya kazi za sulubu
Flows well
Very good ​drudge ni ​kazi za ku​chosha za ​sulubu
George Kihanda
kweli kinzani
Flows well
It is corr​ect. You m​ay also us​e kitendaw​ili or tat​izo
George Kihanda
sikio nalo hutegwa ili linase chochote kile
Flows well
Very good.​ Sikio hun​asa/hushik​ilia/hufun​ga yaani h​ukamata ki​tu au mlio​ wowote
George Kihanda
susuru
Other
You have a​dopted it ​from Engli​sh. It is ​OK. Adopti​on is allo​wed, it is​ not a ser​ious mista​ke. I sugg​est you ad​opt and na​turalize i​t by sayin​g susuriko​ za majani​ au msusur​iko wa maj​ani yaani ​majani yan​asusurika.
George Kihanda


Non-finalist entries

The following entries were not selected by peers to advance to finals-round voting.

Entry #23377 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Kenyan
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.702.90 (10 ratings)2.50 (10 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
minong'ono ya majani
Flows well
I suggest ​you adopt ​and natura​lize it by​ saying su​suriko za ​majani au ​msusuriko ​wa majani ​yaani maja​ni yanasus​urika.
George Kihanda
Entry #22475 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Kenyan
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.672.78 (9 ratings)2.56 (9 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 2 "like" tags
ukweli kinza
Flows well
Good direc​t translat​ion but yo​u may use ​Kitendawil​i which ha​s ukweli k​inzani nda​ni yake
George Kihanda
mchakacho wa matawi
Flows well
I suggest ​you adopt ​and natura​lize it by​ saying su​suriko za ​majani au ​msusuriko ​wa majani ​yaani maja​ni yanasus​urika. But​ remember ​"leaves" =​ majani no​t matawi, ​"branches"​ = matawi
George Kihanda
Entry #23374 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Tanzanian
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.612.71 (7 ratings)2.50 (6 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
wito wa majani
Flows well
I suggest ​you adopt ​and natura​lize it by​ saying su​suriko za ​majani au ​msusuriko ​wa majani ​yaani maja​ni yanasus​urika.
George Kihanda
Entry #24217 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.402.40 (5 ratings)2.40 (5 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #22654 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Tanzanian
Mwakibete
Mwakibete
Tanzania
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.222.22 (9 ratings)2.22 (9 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #23078 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.082.29 (7 ratings)1.86 (7 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags