In the article entitled ‘New list of guidelines confusing translators’ (July 11), a “senior EU translator” is quoted as having objected to the use of in-Netherlands and Netherlandiż in Maltese, as published by the National Council for the Maltese Language. He believes that Netherlands should be il-Pajjiżi l-Baxxi in Maltese.

A competent translator normally takes into consideration the culture of the target audience. In Maltese, the term baxx is often considered derogatory. From everyday use we can quote as examples il-kamra l-baxxa (for the toilet), jitkellem baxx (in the sense of being vulgar) and bniedem baxx (referring to an ill-mannered person).

And from literature we can quote Fr Wistin Born’s novels which deal with human selfishness and conclude that mhux il-faqar ibaxxi lill-bniedem (it’s not poverty that denigrates man).

The use of in-Netherlands makes the term more historiographically and culturally relevant and correct. Still, the National Council for the Maltese Language makes it clear that common usage can refer to The Netherlands as Olanda (Holland).

But one must keep in mind that The Netherlands is a collection of 12 provinces, two of which are called North Holland and South Holland – the others being Utrecht, Limburg, North Brabant, Gelderland, Overijssel, Flevoland, Groningen, Zeeland, Friesland and Drenthe.

This means that Olanda is a synecdoche for the entire country. And therefore it can be used in informal contexts and in popular ones (like sports). Whereas in formal contexts in-Netherlands is more exact and unambiguous – something that a professional translator would normally appreciate.

The council’s list follows existing criteria. For instance, the point that the word in Maltese should not be left in its English form is a hollow argument since there are locally several cases where the original is retained (like Il-Pietà is left in its Italian form despite the fact that we can easily write it Il-Pjetà).