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

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

Discussion and feedback about the competition in this language pair may now be provided by visiting the "Discussion & feedback" page for this pair. Entries may also be individually discussed by clicking the "Discuss" link next to any listed entry.

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 11 entries submitted in this pair during the submission phase, 3 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 (11 total; 3 finalists) Expand all entries

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Language variants:
Entry #23728 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Winner
Voting points1st2nd3rd
449 x42 x24 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.702.75 (12 ratings)2.64 (11 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 4 "like" tags
  • 1 user disagreed with "likes" (2 total disagrees)
-1
1
օդաճնշման դողերի
Good term selection
Ann Barseghyan
-1
1
քաղաքների փողոցները թնդում էին խլացնող մետաղյա անիվների ձայնից և քարերին դոփող ձիապայտերից
Flows well
Ann Barseghyan
որը ներխուժում է լռության տարածքը
Flows well
Ann Barseghyan
Վախը ներս է սողոսկում
Flows well
Ann Barseghyan
Entry #22765 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Eastern
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
407 x43 x26 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry4.114.11 (9 ratings)4.11 (9 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 15 "like" tags
  • 1 user disagreed with "likes" (1 total disagree)
փափագում
Flows well
Araks Mnatsakanyan
թվային միջոցներով
Flows well
Araks Mnatsakanyan
համազարկ
Flows well
Araks Mnatsakanyan
լայնածիր
Flows well
Araks Mnatsakanyan
օղագոտիներով
Flows well
Araks Mnatsakanyan
խլացնող
Flows well
Araks Mnatsakanyan
Շարժական
Flows well
Araks Mnatsakanyan
ապրանքները
Flows well
Araks Mnatsakanyan
ուռաների
Flows well
Araks Mnatsakanyan
ներխուժել
Flows well
Araks Mnatsakanyan
Ուրվագծվում
Flows well
Araks Mnatsakanyan
մերկ
Flows well
Araks Mnatsakanyan
Սողոսկում
Flows well
Araks Mnatsakanyan
կառչում
Flows well
Araks Mnatsakanyan
Entry #22847 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Eastern
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
221 x47 x24 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.582.60 (10 ratings)2.56 (9 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags


Non-finalist entries

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

Entry #23669 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Western
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.322.44 (9 ratings)2.20 (10 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #23578 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.262.25 (12 ratings)2.27 (11 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #23666 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.112.00 (11 ratings)2.22 (9 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #23101 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Eastern
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry1.961.92 (12 ratings)2.00 (11 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #22958 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Eastern
Ashkhen Davtyan
Ashkhen Davtyan
Federación Rusa
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry1.901.89 (9 ratings)1.90 (10 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #22483 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Eastern
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry1.541.57 (7 ratings)1.50 (6 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #22928 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Eastern
Alla Sark
Alla Sark
Armenia
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry1.521.86 (7 ratings)1.17 (6 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #23447 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry1.471.60 (5 ratings)1.33 (6 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags