Linguist No. 6: Missandei (played by Nathalie Emmanuel) in the television series Game of Thrones
Thanks to the miracle of global TV broadcasting, today’s linguist must be even more famous than my previous one. And yes – I realize that I’m stretching the definition of “linguist” to include translators and interpreters here. So be it. A few observations:
Nobody speaks 19 languages. Not really. My very first post on this blog addressed the unreality of people claiming fluency in a large number of languages. On the other hand, this series is fantasy, featuring dragons, magic-induced resurrection, and the like. So, in the world Missandei inhabits, maybe she really does speak all those languages.
From my point of view, there are two scenes of special interest. In the first, which occurs in Season 6, Missandei tells a joke: “Two translators are on a sinking ship. The first says, ‘Do you know how to swim?’ The second says, ‘No, but I can shout for help in 19 languages.’”
This falls into the category of jokes about the limits of professional skills. It is somewhat similar to the “assume a can opener” joke about economists, except in this case, there is at least a small chance that someone nearby may hear and understand the cry for help, and render assistance. Whereas economists can assume 19 different can openers of different shapes and makes, and still be stuck on that island.
Later, in Season 7, Missandei makes an interpreting judgment call. After translating a prophetic phrase (“the prince that was promised”), she steps outside her strict interpreting role to point out that the prince could just as well be a princess, since the original word was gender-neutral and could have either meaning. (In the real world, many languages lack grammatical gender, so this is not an impossible situation.)
Codes of conduct for interpreters stress that they are to convey the meaning of the language faithfully, not adding or omitting anything, and certainly must avoid giving their own opinions or elaborations of what is being spoken. However, as languages are never entirely congruent with each other, sometimes a clarification is necessary. The State of Indiana’s Interpreter Code of Conduct puts it like this: “If the need arises to explain an interpreting problem (e.g., a term or phrase with no direct equivalent in the target language or a misunderstanding that only the interpreter can clarify), the interpreter should ask the court's permission to provide an explanation.” In the absence of a court, and given that this was a crucial piece of information, Missandei certainly made the right call.
The Essos scenes in Game of Thrones were largely filmed in Morocco. That was the country where the second linguist in this series was abducted and sold into slavery. He managed to escape, which means that Missandei and her friends may well run into this unfortunate traveler as he staggers through the desert.