Dec 23, 2018 17:47
5 yrs ago
Portuguese term

balbuciantes teorias da liberdade

Portuguese to English Art/Literary General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters In A 19th-Century Novel
Context:

A mocidade estudiosa, em grande parte, simpatizava com as balbuciantes teorias da liberdade, mais por pressentimento, que por estudo.

After the above is a mention of the French Revolution.

A couple of people seem to think that I should translate the phrase as "babbling theories of liberty", which doesn't sound quite right to me, but I don't know if there would be a better way of expressing it.

Obrigada,

Barbara

Discussion

airmailrpl Dec 26, 2018:
babble babble

babble noun [ U ]
us ​ /ˈbæb·əl/
talk or speech that has no meaning:

babble verb
uk ​ /ˈbæb.əl/ us ​ /ˈbæb.əl/
babble verb (TALK)
[ I or T ] to talk or say something in a quick, confused, excited, or silly way

babble verb [ I/T ]
us ​ /ˈbæb·əl/
to speak quickly, in a confused, excited, or foolish way
Muriel Vasconcellos Dec 24, 2018:
Babbling is not appropriate here! I don't want to be mean-spirited, but the fact that "balbuciante' in Portuguese has been extended to refer to early infancy in general does not mean that 'babbling' transfers in the same manner in English.
Muriel Vasconcellos Dec 24, 2018:
Babbling theory I read your link, but it's on an entirely different subject. It's a theory about the origin of language.
Muriel Vasconcellos Dec 23, 2018:
freedom v. liberty Here's what Thomas Jefferson said about the difference:
"One should distinguish between the terms "freedom" and "liberty." Speaking generally, Freedom usually means to be free from something, whereas Liberty usually means to be free to do something, although both refer to the quality or state of being free. Jefferson's use of the terms almost always reflected those meanings." http://eyler.freeservers.com/JeffPers/jefpco26.htm

Proposed translations

+3
5 hrs
Selected

inchoate theories of liberty//theories of liberty still in their infancy

For starters, I think it's referring to theories in their infancy, as yet unsolidified. See Linguée:

P: [...] caracterizadas designadamente por uma governação mundial ainda balbuciante, por tentações hegemónicas e crescentes tensões entre [...] eur-lex.europa.eu

E: [...] conditions, characterised, inter alia, by: a form of global governance which is **still in its infancy**; temptations to pursue [...]

Merriam-Webster definition of inchoate:

: being recently begun or undertaken : INCIPIENT : being partly but not fully in existence or operation : INCOMPLETE: as a : imperfectly formed or formulated : DISORDERED, INCOHERENT, UNORGANIZED *the general plan is inchoate and incoherent, and the particular treatments disconnected— Hilary Corke* *the solar system T far out from the hub of this great wheel of stars and inchoate dust and gas— L.C.Eiseley* *vague consumer longings and inchoate needs— J.S.Gambs* b of a legal right or instrument or interest : not yet perfected : not yet made certain or specific : not yet vested : INCIPIENT, EXPECTANT, POTENTIAL, CONTINGENT, IMPERFECTED *an inchoate right of dower* *an inchoate equity* *an instrument that the law requires to be recorded is an inchoate instrument until it is recorded— Besse May Miller*
–in£cho£ate£ly adverb
–in£cho£ate£ness noun -es
Peer comment(s):

agree Ana Vozone : I like yours better ;)
9 hrs
Thank you, Ana!
agree Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
9 hrs
Thank you, Teresa!
agree Margarida Ataide
1 day 9 hrs
Thank you, Margarida!
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+2
9 mins

babbling theories of freedom

suggestion
Peer comment(s):

agree Oliver Simões : If "balbucionar" means "babbling", and there is such a thing is "babbling theory", why not "babbling theory of freedom"? In cases like this, literal is better IMHO. I'll post a link on the discussion board.
6 hrs
Thanks Oliver :) Merry Christmas
agree Spiridon : yes
14 hrs
Thanks Spiridon :) Merry Christmas!!
neutral Muriel Vasconcellos : 'Babbling' is what toddlers do. The 'babbling theory' that was cited is a theory about the origin of language. I'm tempted to post a Disagree, but I won't.
15 hrs
Merry Christmas Muriel !!
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+2
10 mins

fledgling theories about freedom

My understanding is that the author means that these theories were not really based on study and experience, and were only beginning to develop in young minds.
Peer comment(s):

agree Muriel Vasconcellos : I agree, Ana. I came up with a different answer, but yours is good, too. For the matter in question, I think 'liberty' would be more of a subject to theorize about. See my comment in the discussion, per Thomas Jefferson.
5 hrs
Thank you, Muriel!
agree Margarida Ataide
1 day 15 hrs
Obrigada, Margarida!
Something went wrong...
1 hr

murmuring theories of freedom

Sugestão
Something went wrong...
5 hrs

clamoring theories of freedom/popular outcry

suggestion
Something went wrong...
3 days 5 hrs

liberty theory babble

balbuciantes teorias da liberdade => liberty theory babble

babble noun [ U ]
us ​ /ˈbæb·əl/
talk or speech that has no meaning:

babble verb
uk ​ /ˈbæb.əl/ us ​ /ˈbæb.əl/
babble verb (TALK)
[ I or T ] to talk or say something in a quick, confused, excited, or silly way

babble verb [ I/T ]
us ​ /ˈbæb·əl/
to speak quickly, in a confused, excited, or foolish way
Something went wrong...
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