(English) Terminology Note: Normative Language in German Ist/Soll/Kann
The Translator’s Task
...I see the translator's job as being similar to that of a judge. There is a clear analogy to be drawn between statutory construction and translation. Unlike an author or a legislator, who is writing on the tabula rasa,[...]
Alemán, Derecho, Terminología, Translation
(English) Terminology Note: Normative Language in German Ist/Soll/Kann
Problems tend to arise, however, in attempting to distinguish in translation between "wird erteilt", "ist zu...", "soll", and "kann". The distinction here is quite central to statutory construction in Germany. One of the fundamental questions one asks when construing a statute is whether it is an Ist-Vorschrift, a Soll-Vorschrift, or a Kann-Vorschrift. The answer to this question - readily determinable from the statutory language - has wide-ranging consequences.
The Translator’s Task
...I see the translator's job as being similar to that of a judge. There is a clear analogy to be drawn between statutory construction and translation. Unlike an author or a legislator, who is writing on the tabula rasa, the translator, like a judge, is not expressing her own ideas. Instead, the first task of translators and judges is to figure out exactly what the author (legislature) meant...
