When translating the names of Canadian towns, beware not only of English and French, but also of a capricious use of Latin

Canada, as Belgium, has more than one official language. In most cases, the names of Canadian towns are simply transferred, not translated. This is the case of Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Winnipeg, and Regina, amongst others. This, however, does not always hold true in the eastern part of Canada, particularly in the Maritime provinces. The island of Newfoundland is known in French as Terre Neuve. It could be expected that in Spanish the translation would be Tierra Nueva, but it is not to be. Why make things easy if they can be made difficult? In Spanish, the name of the island is Terranova or Terra Nova as recorded in the early geographical books. This is rather surprising, as Spanish is not a language keen on borrowing Latin names without adapting them. It seems that places in the Canadian Maritime provinces that have English and French names keep the Latin names when rendered into Spanish. In the Maritimes we also find the province of Nova Scotia, and yes, this Latin term is the official name in English— New Scotland being rarely, if ever, used. In French, as can be expected, the province's name is Nouvelle Ecosse. As it is widely known, French speakers, especially in Canada, are particularly sensitive to the use of English words, even if they are, in fact, in Latin. In Spanish, unlike the case of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia's name is translated as Nueva Escocia. The term Nova Scotia is sometimes used, but is considerably less frequent.

Translate the following sentences making complex syntactical transformations while translating:

1. A hundred civilian jobs are likely to be lost following the announcement yesterday of a number of US military base closures as part of the accelerating strategic withdrawal that has followed the end of the Cold War.

2. The veil, which shrouded her whole face, was too thick for me to see more than the glitter of bright eyes and the hazy outline of what might be lovely face, but might also, unfortunately, be an equally unlovely one.

3. New York State trooper just finishing his night shift at 3 a.m. fled when his car flipped over after he fell asleep at the wheel.

4. Officials are considering making more prison cells available by making greater use of gymnasiums and other temporary space in jails, temporary conversion of underused young offenders institutions and increasing the number of prisoners sharing cells.

5. In the spring of 1880 he died alone in a furnished room in Washington. Died, neglected and despised by those who had filched millions from his land.

6. But there was no progress on the basic issues of Israel’s refusal to withdraw to its 1967 borders or to accept an independent Palestinian state on the West Bank.

7. French officials sources in Paris have said that it is not until next year that the pensioners will receive the increase provided for in the Budget.

8. Shortly thereafter, Bender flew to Los Angeles to observe Tailer as he put the finishing touches on his album.

9. He was solicitous during the pregnancy, he wanted to bring her spare ribs late at night, run out for ice cream, but she had none of these cliche whims, so he often brought her flowers instead, which before this he would have considered excessively romantic.

10. She stood there: slender, dark-haired, fair-skinned, and lovely in a peach-colored night robe whose high collar and decorous lines still set off her figure to advantage.

11. It was the first snow of the season and a decorative one, unlikely to last long enough to create the problems that arrived with every winter in the mountains.

TOPIC 18. LEXICAL REPLACEMENTS (continued)

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