The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #41674   Message #2804480
Posted By: Genie
05-Jan-10 - 10:11 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: A La Nanita - verses in Spanish
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: A La Nanita - verses in Spanish
That was a typo, Monique. I meant to type "sleepy." I'll see if a clone can fix it.

I found Rui seƱor printed as two words elsewhere and thought perhaps it was either correct or acceptable.   If it's supposed to be one word, I'll ask the "Elf" to fix that too.

No problem with word-for-word translation - sometimes. But most words have more than one connotation or synonym even in their own language, and the word in another language that sounds most like the one being translated doesn't always convey the meaning the best. "Delirio" translated as "delirium" would be a good example.   
Another good example is the word "treu" in the first line of O Tannenbaum. The English word "true" does not really convey all that "treu" means in that context.

You're right that sometimes we need a good thesaurus.

As I mentioned above, while "wallflower" may be a term familiar to most American florists and gardeners, it definitely has a more common, non-botanical association. Just saying that if we had another English word for that kind of flower, I'd probably prefer to use it. I just don't know that we do.

I'm wondering about the best translation of "Eucaristia" in the context of this song.
When I saw the lyrics posted, there was no question mark before or after the word "Eucaristia,"   Is the mother asking "What are you murmuring (whispering)? and then answering, "The Eucharist." Or is she guessing, "the Eucharist?"
And doed "Eucharistia" here mean the liturgy of the Communion sacrament (as in a Catholic mass) or does it mean "communicating with God?"