From: garym@mcgath.com   
      
   On 4/21/24 4:16 PM, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:   
   >   And this story is a perfect example of the pitfalls or problems   
   > of translation.  Gilbert Alter-Gilbert's translation says, "I   
   > bought the ape at an auction of property," but then switches to   
   > "the lack of articulate language in monkeys," "monkeys once were   
   > men," and other references to monkeys, until he gets to "the   
   > chimpanzee (which is what Yzur was)."  My first reaction is that   
   > Lugones doesn't seem to know the difference between monkeys   
   > (tails) and apes (no tails), chimpanzees being apes.  But then I   
   > pause, and check, and in Spanish both "ape" and "monkey" are   
   > called "mono".  (When you get down to the species level, there   
   > *are* separate words for "chimpanzee", "orangutan", and "gibbon".)   
   >   When I check the Spanish, Lugones has used "mono" and   
   > "chimpance".  Alter-Gilbert, however, has decided to translate   
   > "mono" first as "ape" and then as "monkey", even though the latter   
   > is basically incorrect in English.  My feeling is that he should   
   > have translated "mono" as "ape" throughout, since I believe that   
   > Lugones was referring primarily to apes, not monkeys, though   
   > "primate" would be an acceptable substitute (albeit more   
   > scientific than literary).   
      
   German and French also use the same word for monkey and ape. This causes   
   problems in Discworld translations, where the Librarian (an orangutan)   
   will get violently offended if you call him a monkey.   
   --   
   Gary McGath    http://www.mcgath.com   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)