JaneTranslates (asker) Sep 26, 2006:

I think we're both wasting our time. JoséN, you have no idea what research I have done away from this site. Closing a question here does not necessarily mean that I have quit on the question, and the fact that the only shown reference is to Wikipedia does not necessarily mean that that is the only reference I've seen. I'm satisfied that, whether I like it or not (and I don't), "department" is the proper term here. If you think translators are always free to be creative, I hope you don't do legal translations! Sorry, but I'm not going to continue this discussion. Got to find a bunch of false cognates to toss, in my indolence, into all my current translation jobs.

JoseAlejandro Sep 26, 2006:

expedience and indolence, ultimately...and, of course it's up to you to be creative...by definition, a translator must be creative...finally, I don't know if I have solid enough references that can stand up to wikipedia...hazme el favor!

JoseAlejandro Sep 26, 2006:

I think JaneMisunderstands...it's never about freely tossing about terms...it's about accuracy and normalization...you only prove my point with your Free Associated State example...false cognates are a veritable plague...a crutch borne out of phonetic....

JaneTranslates (asker) Sep 26, 2006:

NotUpToMe José, we can't just freely toss about terms for geopolitical divisions. The U.S. and México have states/estados; France has regions; Canada has provinces. Illinois has counties, Lousiana has parishes (that have nothing to do with the church). Puerto Rico has municipios, which are similar to Illinois's townships. You have to use the official term, and that includes whatever the local government officially uses in other languages. For instance, it's wrong to translate Puerto Rico's official designation, "Estado Libre Asociado" as "Free Associated State" because the official term in English is "Commonwealth of Puerto Rico." It's not up to me to be creative and use some more imaginative term; I have to use what an English-speaking Honduran government official would use. As far as I've been able to determine, here and elsewhere, that's "department." I do appreciate your interest and would be glad to read any reference that you have found for "state" or "territory." Thank you.

JoseAlejandro Sep 26, 2006:

no offense to anyone, but this seems like a big, fat, stinky, false cognate...why not "state" or "territory"?, to name just a few viable options...c'mon, JaneTranslates, let's think outside the box...How about JaneChangesHerMind?