Jun 16, 2019 08:28
4 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Japanese term
Italy
老いさらばえていく
Non-PRO
Japanese to English
Art/Literary
Cinema, Film, TV, Drama
Dear ProZ members,
a person in a cartoon is complaining about the fact that the economical situation is fine only in big towns. Than he says:
田舎はどこも老いさらばえていく
(Rural areas are dying everywhere.)
Instinctively, I'd say the meaning of 老いさらばえていく is similar to "die" used in a figurative way in English. Otherwise, I don't understand how rural areas could "become decrepit".
Is it so or is there some nuance I'm missing?
Thank you very much!
a person in a cartoon is complaining about the fact that the economical situation is fine only in big towns. Than he says:
田舎はどこも老いさらばえていく
(Rural areas are dying everywhere.)
Instinctively, I'd say the meaning of 老いさらばえていく is similar to "die" used in a figurative way in English. Otherwise, I don't understand how rural areas could "become decrepit".
Is it so or is there some nuance I'm missing?
Thank you very much!
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 | Dilapidate |
Vasil Copak
|
| 4 | rural population is getting old and villages are being deserted |
Yuki Okada
|
| 4 | withering away to bare bones |
Dale Ponte
|
Proposed translations
9 hrs
Vasil Copak
Slovakia
Slovakia
Specializes in field
Slovakia
Linguistics and translation (JP, EN, CZ)
Native in: Slovak (Variant: Czech) 
Works in: English to Slovak, Slovak to English, Czech to English, and 2 more.
Selected
Dilapidate
老い - old
さらばえる - Meaning from goo.ne.jp: やせ衰えて骨が目立つ (lit. 'Emaciated and weakened, it shows conspicuously its bones.') Note that さらば in different context can mean 'farewell'.
~ていく - present-to-future related change
When you compose it together, you can extract a beautiful metaphorical collocation that perfectly encapsulates the ruthless works of enthropy over the course of time. This is accentuated by the use of expression for 'old' in regards to animate objects. The flow of time, consequently, by the usage of ~TEiku 'change over time' form.
For above reasons, I believe the closest equivalent in English within given context to be the word 'Dilapidate', meaning of which is according to Merriam-Webster:
Dilapidate : to decay, deteriorate, or fall into partial ruin especially through neglect or misuse : to become dilapidated.
さらばえる - Meaning from goo.ne.jp: やせ衰えて骨が目立つ (lit. 'Emaciated and weakened, it shows conspicuously its bones.') Note that さらば in different context can mean 'farewell'.
~ていく - present-to-future related change
When you compose it together, you can extract a beautiful metaphorical collocation that perfectly encapsulates the ruthless works of enthropy over the course of time. This is accentuated by the use of expression for 'old' in regards to animate objects. The flow of time, consequently, by the usage of ~TEiku 'change over time' form.
For above reasons, I believe the closest equivalent in English within given context to be the word 'Dilapidate', meaning of which is according to Merriam-Webster:
Dilapidate : to decay, deteriorate, or fall into partial ruin especially through neglect or misuse : to become dilapidated.
3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you very much, it's been useful.
And thank you to Yuki Okada too!"
18 hrs
Yuki Okada
Canada
Canada
Native in Japanese
Canada
Engineering translator
Native in: Japanese 
Works in: English to Japanese, Japanese to English
Related KudoZ points
:
12
rural population is getting old and villages are being deserted
老いさらばえていく does not suggest death. People just get old and frail. Your "decrepit" sounds right to me.
I can see that this phrase could be confusing because 老いさらばえる is used only for people, while this phrase is about 田舎. I think the speaker is saying that residents are getting very old and young people are leaving, making rural areas weak and having no future prospect.
I can see that this phrase could be confusing because 老いさらばえる is used only for people, while this phrase is about 田舎. I think the speaker is saying that residents are getting very old and young people are leaving, making rural areas weak and having no future prospect.
11 days
withering away to bare bones
Vasil's observation about さらばえる meaning やせ衰えて骨が目立つ, particularly the 骨が目立つ component, deserves careful attention, I believe.
Now "moribund" in its idiomatic sense, which the Mac Dictionary gives as:
“• (of a thing) in terminal decline; lacking vitality or vigor: the moribund commercial property market.”
speaks perfectly to the "economic situation" you reference. In the idiomatic sense it's literal connotation of death shifts/fades into the background. Speaking of which, it seems to me (at this moment..) that the Japanese is actually faintly suggestive of terminal senescence. Personally, I would also wish to somehow bring across the imagery of bones as well.
Now "moribund" in its idiomatic sense, which the Mac Dictionary gives as:
“• (of a thing) in terminal decline; lacking vitality or vigor: the moribund commercial property market.”
speaks perfectly to the "economic situation" you reference. In the idiomatic sense it's literal connotation of death shifts/fades into the background. Speaking of which, it seems to me (at this moment..) that the Japanese is actually faintly suggestive of terminal senescence. Personally, I would also wish to somehow bring across the imagery of bones as well.
Example sentence:
Rural areas everywhere are withering to bare bones.
Rural areas everywhere are (on their way to) becoming skeletal and moribund.
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