Does translation result in the loss of some of the original essence?

[SoManyLanguages]

I do believe that when you translate something, it does lose it's essence in some ways. A lot of it has to do with culture, I think. A certain kind of humour might not translate very well into a new language, and even if it does, it might just not be funny to someone else. Usually, when I watch anime on occasion, it actually makes me uncomfortable sometimes because I just don't understand the humour when it is subbed. Also, there are a lot of words in different languages that mean something, that have no equivalent in another language. Each language kind of carries the essence of its culture, and when it's put into another language, you are kind of losing some of that.

[lecanard7]

That depends on a lot of things. I think poetry absolutely CAN NOT be translated. It just doesn't work. If it means exactly the same thing it might not have the same rhythm, and if it has rhythm it might not mean the same thing. Even if it has rhythm and meaning it's still not the same as it was. 

Literature however can be translated quite well. I really enjoy reading works from other countries and I believe if you have a good translator who has a good grasp of both languages you can get a pretty accurate translation. I guess some of it depends on how well the translator can get inside the authors head. Even when you have two people speaking the same language they can misunderstand the meaning behind what the other person is saying. I suppose you could have a very good technical translator who just wouldn't understand how the author thinks and that would result in a loss of the essence of the original work. 

I thought I've had on this is assuming all translations lose some of the original essecnce, is it better to have a reasonably good but still slightly imperfect translation of a book or to not have any translation at all. Personally, I would go for the imperfect translation every time. I'd rather enjoy those books than not have them at all. Besides, If I've never read the original text, I won't know I'm missing anything, right?

[gracerph]

I definitely agree with the majority here. I too would sometimes compare how my mother tongue is translated in English and I could not avoid noticing differences in them. I guess nothing really beats the original. Despite losing some of the original essence of the language being translated, I still find translations very helpful in helping people understand things even in their general form.

[17emilyhalko]

I always think that translating things will cause some meaning to be lost. I suppose that a lot of it depends on the translator, but no translator could ever craft anything with exactly the same sentiment that the original writer did. After all, while the denotation of translated words might be the same, the connotation might not be. Besides, there are many words that can't exactly be translated from one language to another, so many times, I believe, that a meaning is lost.