Sciolism Rocks

Aller October 30, 2007

We’ve just released a French version of the software I work on. Because of some string handling routines, we had to look carefully at a translation of a button that, in English, is labeled “Go”. This button launches an iterative calculation routine (as opposed to its sister button labeled “Step”, which goes through the routine one iteration at a time.)

So, how should this button be translated? Anyone who has taken elementary French knows the verb aller, roughly equivalent to the English “to go”. So the translation that comes to mind initially is probably allez or vas, the two imperitive forms of aller.

But translation is seldom this easy. In fact, aller isn’t exactly “to go” in an one-to-one, onto sense. That is, if you look up “go” in an unabridged English dictionary, then do the same for “aller” in an unabridged French dictionary, you won’t be able to match up each of the entries one-to-one.

Aller is okay for generic, elementary sentences (“I’m going to the store”). It’s also correct for what the French call the futur prochain, meaning a near-future event that is certain to happen (“I’m going to the store in a few minutes”). 

However, for situations where we might say “on your mark, get set, go!”, aller isn’t correct. Saying what correct is more difficult and depends on context and who is doing the action. In our case, lancer is the correct verb. 

One interesting thing to note is that the French use the infinitive where one might expectan imperative. That is, JMP’s button really says “to launch” rather than “launch”. One of those vagaries of languages, I suppose, which is why we have professional translators.By the way, the translation of “On your mark. Get set. Go!” is more literal than I thought: “À vos marquées. Prêts? Partez!” I’m surprised by the literal-ness of the translation because within English-speaking countries we say this in different ways. In Great Britain, for example, it’s common to hear “Ready? Steady. Go!” 

C’était un Rendez-vous, bis October 27, 2007

I recently posted about the amazing French short film C’était un Rendez-Vous, which has more than its share of mystery and myths. To debunk them, I’ve doen a very ameteur translation of an interview with director Claude LeLouche.

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