Translation is related to language dynamics, and it is both a conduit of language policies and a condition for their success, but these links need to be explicitly recognized. Whereas translation inquiries often approach translation itself as a self-contained process, it surely emerges from multilingual contexts, but is also, at least partly, dependent on language policies. Translation adds to the preservation of linguistic diversity and societal multilingualism which are, reciprocally, dependent upon the practice of translation. This exploration validates the ongoing soundness of the fundamentals of Fishman’s approach to “language-in-society” and helps to judge some recent criticism toward key notions of classical sociolinguistics that Fishman helped evolve and spread, like multilingualism, which is questioned by current notions like “English as a lingua franca” and “languaging”. The very existence of translation as a social, economic and political practice proposes that societal multilingualism cannot satisfactorily be described without using classical sociolinguistic notions like “named” languages, mother tongue and domain, which are pivotal to successful policies and, hence, to the preservation of the linguistic human rights to which Fishman’s work has made such crucial contributions.