how to say “translation” in Hebrew
תִּרְגּוּם, תַּרְגּוּם
Hebrew is a Semitic language, which means it’s based on a three-letter root system of verbs.
Some linguistic history
Some words, however, have a four-letter root. There’s usually a logical explanation for such anomalies, such as the root of the word for the active-intensive verb to translate – לְתַרְגֵּם
listen and repeat – whose root is ת.ר.ג.מ (t.r.g.m).
listen and repeat – whose root is ת.ר.ג.מ (t.r.g.m).This root appears across the Semitic languages, modern and ancient. In Ugaritic, a long-extinct language preserved in writings discovered in Syria by archaeologists in 1929, it seems that the letter ת (t) may have been added to a more primal root, ר.ג.מ, which meant speaking in Ugaritic.
Translation in Modern Hebrew
For example:
צָרִיךְ כִּשָּׁרוֹן מְיֻחָד לַעֲשׂוֹת תִּרְגּוּם סִימוּלְטָנִי.
One needs special talent to do simultaneous translation.
When speaking of a translation – not the act of translation, but rather of the product of that act – we use a slightly different word: תַּרְגּוּם listen and repeat.
listen and repeat.For example:
תַּרְגּוּם הַמִּלָּה speak הוּא לְדַבֵּר.
The translation of the word speak is לְדַבֵּר.
To say that something is translated, we use the passive-intensive form.
For example:
הַסֵּפֶר תֻּרְגַּם לַחֲמִשִּׁים שָׂפוֹת.
The book was translated to fifty languages.