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stranger
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stranger
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In a treatise on Chinese Medicine which I am translating from Spanish into English there is a very fundamental word for which I cannot find the proper translation into English. The word is a Spanish free translation of the Chinese phoneme "Qi" (or "Chi" depending on the transliteration used). I have translated it as SOUL, which is indeed acceptable in the more spiritual and philosophical contexts but rather awkward and even confusing when one come to talk of the "soul" of such or such organ or canal (meridian) (ej. "stimulate the soul in the Kidney channel by needling such or such acupunture point"). Other English translations could be vital spirit, vital force, vital breath, breath of life or energy.
The Spanish word that the author, Dr. José Luis Padilla, uses (and it is well off the beaten track of typical acupunture expressions in Spanish) to translate “qi” is “soplo” which has to do with the vital breath, with the breath that animates or gives life to a structure. "Solpo" in Spanish is derived from a verb (soplar)which could mean to blow or to inspire and is used in the Spanish Bible to express how God "blows" life into the earth or clay that he used to make Adam. This Biblical expression is what comes closes to the Chinese idea of Qi: it is the vital force that animates, gives vitality and spirit to all living things. That implies both philosphically, spiritually and mechanically-- which is what makes it a difficult term to find.
I could use any of the above translations (vital spirit, vital force, vital breath, breath of life) but they all are clumbsy since they are a term in two words..."Energy" is the commun translation for Qi, both in Spanish and other languages. If we use "soplo" instead of "energía", that is energy, it is because "energy" has too mechanical a connotation and the Chinese concept enters into much more considerations (philosophical, spiritual, etc) than just the mechanical. "Spirit" is no good since there is another Chinese phoneme which has the obliged tgranslation as spirit. "Soul" is also a problem since the soul, at least in the Chinese concept, is a manifestation of the spirit.
HELP!!!
Do you have any proposals for me? I would greatly appreciate any help or suggestions. .
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Perhaps you need to just borrow soplo from Spanish, provide a good definition, and explain you are using it because there's not good English equivalent.
(From "The Lazy Tech Writer's Survival Manual")
TEd
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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The other way would be to use chi, which is how it is normally termed in English description of acupuncture.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Trust mav to get straight to the point, eh?
TEd
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Quote:
Trust mav to get straight to the point, eh?
Yup. And use the spelling chi. It would also be OK to spell it ch'i, but the former is more common.
Good pun, TEd.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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> more common Dat's me  an I gots 2 acupuncturist clients
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Quit needling me about all the puns, he said pointedly.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Welcome, Spiii. Yes, do use chi or ch'i -- the word is fairly well known in English, especially to potential readers of your translation, I'd imagine. You could give it a definition (if the Spanish text doesn't already do so), but don't try to translate the word itself.
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stranger
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stranger
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Anna,
Thanks for your suggestions. I also am coming to think of combining the transalation as "soul" where it is appropiate and using "qi" in other circumstances. Qi since it is the now accepted "official" Chinese transliteration known as Pin Yin. I am using Pin Yin through out the translation. THe problem with this solution is that this cuts out all the connotations that the word "solpo" has in Spanish...
best,
Spiii
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Carpal Tunnel
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I add my voice to the chorus of chi votes. Here in NZ, we even have a carbonated soft drink called ch'i, as a play on words, since it claims that the name represents both the ch'i of the drinker and the sound made by opening the bottle for the first time.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Quote:
… this cuts out all the connotations that the word "solpo" has in Spanish...
best,
Spiii
Which would be lost on the typical anglophone reader anyway without a long explanation.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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If the text is popularizing, I'd go with chi, but since somebody or some editor made the decision to go with Pinyin romanization scheme, it would best be covered in the notes of the translator at the beginning. Many books which I have read make a compromise between official transliterations and using popular/common spellings. So, in a book on Russian culture, you might see names like Ejkhenbaum or Shklovskij, but Tchaikovsky (rather than Chajkovskij). Your publisher and/or their editorial board may have the last say.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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stranger
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stranger
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The question is not whether qi or chi or ch'i. The question is how to translate "solpo" which is the word used in the Spanish text which I am translating. For more clearer idea of "soplo" refer please to orginal post.
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stranger
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stranger
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So what do you all feel about words like "vital breath", which I mention in original post, to try and get the conotations of "soplo" in? Apparently I discard it for awkward but how dou you feel about it.
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Carpal Tunnel
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If soplo is being used merely as a translation of qi I would still say use chi. Translating a translation is just going to take you further from the original meaning.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Does the (collective) word form "vitality" avail itself enough?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Quote:
Does the (collective) word form "vitality" avail itself enough?
Only if we tr-avail mightily ...
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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