Author Topic: Minor quarrel  (Read 2323 times)

Offline Dina

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Minor quarrel
« on: October 12, 2015, 05:18:29 AM »
I loved this book, so please take things just as a minor criticism.

Why using the name "Espira"? That is the Spanish word for Spire, so if the book is translated to Spanish it will be confusing. So many names...was "Espira" really needed?  I know you cannot keep track of all the languages for not using anything weird in the names, but Spanish is quite a popular language in USA so the problem is easy to spot.

Unless, of course, there is a reason, like Folly's dream about a Spire falling actually meant Espira falling.

(oh, and I have to say it and this is a place as good as any other. I don't like the fact that Gwen is Gwendolyn Margaret and MArgaret LeFay is Margaret Gwendolyn. Hubby thinks it's a good wink from Spires to Dresden Files, but I don't like it at all)
Missing you, Md 

There are many horrible sights in the multiverse. Somehow, though, to a soul attuned to the subtle rhythms of a library, there are few worse sights than a hole where a book ought to be. Someone has stolen a book (Terry Pratchett)

Offline Second Aristh

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Re: Minor quarrel
« Reply #1 on: October 12, 2015, 01:30:54 PM »
Are you sure your translation is correct?  Google says spire in Spanish is chapitel.  Espira translated from Spanish to English is whorl.
We shall not fail or falter, we shall not weaken or tire...Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.--Winston Churchill

Offline Quantus

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Re: Minor quarrel
« Reply #2 on: October 12, 2015, 03:16:58 PM »
Dina lives in Argentina, so Im willing to bet on her translation.   :)

That being said, is there any colloquial usage at play here?  I know what we call "Spanish" near me is often the Mexican dialect in particular, which Ive been told can be all but incomprehensible in other parts of the Spanish speaking world. 


Espira as Whorl/Spiral does make a certain amount of sense on the face of it, at least.  And both come from a latin root Spire, though apparently in the latin there were two identical words: one meaning Breathe/Soul (ie spirit) and one meaning Cold and Twisted.
<(o)> <(o)>
        / \
      (o o)
   \==-==/


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"An entire life, an entire personality, can be permanently altered by just one sentence." -An Accidental Villain

Offline Dina

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Re: Minor quarrel
« Reply #3 on: October 12, 2015, 06:50:38 PM »
I've never heard "chapitel" but a "capitel" it's the highest part of a column. It wouldn't be my first translation. A "espira" it's an spiral but in my mind I had not problem in my mind translating "spire" to "Espira". I may accept that things can be different in other countries, I don't know. I thought they would translate spire as espira but I may be wrong.
Missing you, Md 

There are many horrible sights in the multiverse. Somehow, though, to a soul attuned to the subtle rhythms of a library, there are few worse sights than a hole where a book ought to be. Someone has stolen a book (Terry Pratchett)

Offline Second Aristh

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Re: Minor quarrel
« Reply #4 on: October 12, 2015, 07:12:59 PM »
I've never heard "chapitel" but a "capitel" it's the highest part of a column. It wouldn't be my first translation. A "espira" it's an spiral but in my mind I had not problem in my mind translating "spire" to "Espira". I may accept that things can be different in other countries, I don't know. I thought they would translate spire as espira but I may be wrong.
Fair enough.  Online translators are notorious for their lack of reliability. 
We shall not fail or falter, we shall not weaken or tire...Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.--Winston Churchill