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Catalan to English translations [PRO] Social Sciences - Social Science, Sociology, Ethics, etc.
Catalan term or phrase:caràcter pactista
I can't find any reference to this that doesn't reference Catalonia. There must be a more common term. TIA!!
Normes que, encara que van ser promulgades pel Poder Legislatiu o pel Poder Executiu en l'àmbit de la seva competència normativa, van ser gestades de comú acord amb les diferents confessions (caràcter pactista) o, almenys, van tenir en compte el seu parer.
Regulations that were administered by common agreement with the different relgions (pactism), or at least they took their opinion into account, although they were issued by legislative or executive branches in the area of their normative competence
Explanation: "Regulations, though proposed by the Legislature or the Executive branch (working within their areas of competence), were initially drawn up, in a spirit of compromise, by different faiths, or at least their views were taken into account in consulations".
I think that's what they are trying to say (in simpler English).
Thanks Bernie! I still haven't written the final draft, but I think this guy's goal in life is to coin a term (desacralisation, desecularisation, reconsecration, are some of his gems). It seems to be a kind of one-upmanship game in this field. So, I may try to help him out (and add an explanation to go with the word). I'll see how it sounds. Cheers! 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
When we have the phrase "good compromisers" already existing in the language, it seems redundant to adopt or coin the term "pactist". Also "pact" is a double edged sword. Has pact got negative or positive echoes in English? That depends entirely on the context in which it is used. "A pact among thieves" or "a political pact", generally have rather negative echoes, implying an agreement to exploit, for example. But: "It was a pact that sealed the friendship between the two sides" would be more positive. "Pactist" in itself would not tell me whether this was a quality to be admired or looked at warily. On the other hand, someone able to reach “a good compromise” is unequivocally a “good egg” – compromise being seen as a quintessentially English characteristic.
I did consider that, Montse. But in English, we don’t have the word "pactist" or "pactism", and the closest word (pacticious?) is only tangientialy related to the meaning that this word has in Spanish or Catalan. And, if you were to infer meaning from the morphemes, you would almost surely arrive at the wrong conclusion of what the word means. So, I think I have to include the term and the definition in order to provide meaning and to avoid ambiguity.
Maybe I'm wrong as I am not a native speaker of English but given the etymology of the term "pact", I do not think "pactist" would sound meaningless to the target reader of the text. Even if it is a new coined word, it is made up by "pact" (Middle English, from Old French, from Latin pactum, from neuter sing. past participle of pac sc , to agree) plus the suffix "ist", basically meaning "relating to or characterized by", which is a very common way to form adjectives in English. For instace, one can relate it to other adjectives such as "pacifist", "realist", "socialist", etc.
Unless there is evidence that a word like this has recently been adopted in English, as a newly minted buzzword of foreign origin, I always think it better to use plain English and not introduce a term into a text that is at best puzzling and at worse meaningless.
BTW I would prefer "faith" to "religion" in your texts. I tend to think we understand by "religion" the big nine (Christiantiy, Islam, Judaism, etc) and by "faith" we understand all the variations within the big nine (schisms, sects, cults, etc).
True, there are a lot of Google book hits. I still think it isn't word that is well-known, and is not at all self-explanatory, and it doesn't show up in any dictionary (including the OED). So to help to make it comprehensible to the reader I think I will put 'pactist' and then Berni's suggestion, or a very brief definition/description. Thanks, everyone!
Ben, if you search "pactist" in Google books, you'll see there are also references to Puerto Rico, Sweden, Bengal, Castile, Colombia, etc. Don't you think "pactist nature/character/tradition/movement" could work here?
I can't find any reference to this that doesn't reference Catalonia. Al terme "pactist" en anglès o "caràcter pactista" en català?
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Answers
2 hrs confidence: peer agreement (net): +1
in a spirit of compromise
Explanation: "Regulations, though proposed by the Legislature or the Executive branch (working within their areas of competence), were initially drawn up, in a spirit of compromise, by different faiths, or at least their views were taken into account in consulations".
I think that's what they are trying to say (in simpler English).
Berni Armstrong Spain Local time: 14:01 Works in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 12
Grading comment
Thanks Bernie! I still haven't written the final draft, but I think this guy's goal in life is to coin a term (desacralisation, desecularisation, reconsecration, are some of his gems). It seems to be a kind of one-upmanship game in this field. So, I may try to help him out (and add an explanation to go with the word). I'll see how it sounds. Cheers!
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