Dialectal problems also constitute restrictions upon the form of a translation. They are of two distinct types. (1) external, and (2) internal. The external problems involve competing dialects and the inevitable difficulties of trying to determine just how to accommodate these complex linguistic facts. The internal problems are those posed by dialectal variations in the text itself. For example, in rendering Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, Procházka (in Garvin, 1955, p. 126) describes the problem of reproducing in Czech the Okie speech used by some of Steinbech's characters. To do so he chose an Eastern Bohemian dialect, the speakers of which are regarded as "a little clumsy, a little slow-thinking, but thoughtful and honest."

The "external" dialects are of two principal types, (a) geographical, and (b) social, with usually a good deal of overlapping, for some geographical dialects (e.g. those of the cultural centers) have a good deal more social status and prestige than others. The social dialects are basically those of the class structure, and often they are quite highly and overtly structured, as in Japanese and Thai.

In dealing with the problem of competing "geographical" dialects, onе of three courses can be followed: (1) employ the leading dialect of the cultural center, with the assumption that ultimately the other dialects will gradually conform (this has been the history of almost all national languages); (2) follow primarily the leading dialect, but make concessions from time to time to usage in other dialects, especially if these are known in the leading dialect (this is the usual procedure where a so-called primitive language may consist of a number of related dialects); oг (3) construct a composite language by selecting certain features from the different dialects, thus forming a "union dialect." This last solution is the one often advocated by colonial administrators, for it seems a natural type of "compromise." If there is a strong educational policy to enforce the use of this dialect for a number of years, there is some chance of a modicum of success. Essentially, however, this compromise approach to language development is both artificial and ill advised, for "nobody speaks that way.

To a considerable extent the problems of social dialects are even more complex than those of geographical ones. In Thai, for example, there are three social dialects: a colloquial standard employed by the average uneducated man, a socially "cоrrect" speech of the educated person, and an elevated speech of the nobility. A translation in the colloquial style of the uneducated man would be considered vulgar by the educated person, while a translation in the speech of nobility would be quite unintelligible to the common person. Similarly, a translation in the correct speech of the educated person would be too high for the uneducated or partially educated individual, while it would be judged undignified by the nobility. Similar types of problems exist in the Arabic-speaking world, where the literary language is quite different from colloquial speech, and where even within the literary language there are a number of grades, ranging from Koranic usage to modern newspaper and radio styles.

In view of such differences in social dialect, it is often necessary to produce more than one translation. In Arabic, for example, the Christian Scriptures have been traditionally published in colloquial as well as literary form. However, since anyone who is literate has learned to read the literary standard, not the colloquial, it has seemed preferable to concentrate on two levels of Arabic--one, a so-called Modern Standard Arabic and another, a simpler form of literary language. For Haiti, the Scriptures are published in Haitian Creole, which is essentially a colloquial dialect of French, and in two forms of French, standard and simplified. In the simplified form of French the grammatical forms and lexical usages are not incorrect; they are merely simplified. The same procedure is now being carried out in Spanish for Latin America and in English for such regions as Liberia.

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