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questionne (here)

English translation: which is pondered by/has them stop and think

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:questionne
English translation:which is pondered by/has them stop and think
Entered by: MatthewLaSon

13:43 Nov 28, 2011
French to English translations [PRO]
Social Sciences - Geography / Urban planning
French term or phrase: questionne (here)
Can't figure out the use of 'questionne' in the context below... help??!

En effet, les ruines sont des marqueurs de la mémoire urbaine qui véhiculent un message politique et social de manière très efficace, pour diverses raisons : la taille de la ruine la rend plus visible qu’un marqueur de risque plus limité (comme une ligne de hauteur de crue), le choix de l’édifice ruiné conservé se porte souvent sur un édifice doté d’une valeur patrimoniale préexistante (comme une église), la ruine urbaine constitue un élément non fonctionnel dans la ville qui **questionne** l’habitant…
Lorna Coing
France
Local time: 20:37
which is pondered by the residents
Explanation:
Hello,

That's how I read it.

I think it's a source of reflection for the residents.



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Note added at 4 hrs (2011-11-28 18:26:39 GMT)
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In other words, it gets them thinking.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2011-11-28 18:27:19 GMT)
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I think the plural of "habitant" works best in English.

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Note added at 5 hrs (2011-11-28 18:50:18 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I'm afraid the meaning may not be overly clear, hence your problem!

The idea, imho, is still about the urban ruins making people stop and think, as it serves no practical purpose.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 hrs (2011-11-28 18:52:56 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

In informal contexts, "ça me questionne" can be translated as "it has me wondering", etc.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 hrs (2011-11-28 22:08:49 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Imho, it is not so much that it elicits a response as it is that it makes them (that's to say "the residents") think about what this urban ruins may represent by being left standing.
Selected response from:

MatthewLaSon
Local time: 14:37
Grading comment
I ended up using 'stop and think'; thank you very much for the suggestion!

3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +4seeks to elicit a reaction/response from
Colin Rowe
4challenges
Hilary Wilson
4which rings a bell (see below)
piazza d
4reaches out and grabs
Bourth (X)
3"that calls into question"
WAMPFLER Mawuena
3looks for an answer
Theodora OB
3which is pondered by the residents
MatthewLaSon
3puzzles
Dr Lofthouse
2raises questions about (its inhabitants)
Teresa Quinn


Discussion entries: 3





  

Answers


7 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +4
seeks to elicit a reaction/response from


Explanation:
might be one possibility (or rather two!)

Colin Rowe
Germany
Local time: 20:37
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
Notes to answerer
Asker: I think you might have something here! Thank you!


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Joshua Wolfe
27 mins
  -> Thanks!
agree  philgoddard: Good answer - though I think you could leave out "seeks to", as the ruin isn't actively seeking a response (even if the original building was).
4 hrs
  -> Thanks!
agree  emiledgar
5 hrs
  -> Thanks!
agree  Nikki Scott-Despaigne: Yes, or "turns to". Otherwise, I agree with Phil.
7 hrs
  -> Thanks!
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10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
"that calls into question"


Explanation:
Je pense qu'ici "questionne" a le sens d'interpeller,remettre en question...

WAMPFLER Mawuena
France
Local time: 20:37
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench, Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Colin Rowe: I'm not quite sure what "calling the habitant into question" would mean. It sounds like doubting the existence of the habitant.
4 mins
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12 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
looks for an answer


Explanation:
which looks to the citizen/townspeople for an answer

it would be easier if we had the phrase that follows it

Theodora OB
Local time: 19:37
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in DutchDutch, Native in EnglishEnglish
Notes to answerer
Asker: Phrase which follows is: D’autre part, les ruines conservées font évoluer le paysage urbain, nécessitent parfois une modification des circulations, et plus généralement remodèlent une identité urbaine, au point que certaines deviennent des symboles urbains extrêmement forts, comme par exemple la Frauenkirche de Dresde, aujourd’hui reconstruite après avoir été conservée comme ruine pendant un demi-siècle ... not sure it helps much, though!

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21 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
raises questions about (its inhabitants)


Explanation:
another suggestion ...

Teresa Quinn
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:37
Native speaker of: English
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56 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
challenges


Explanation:
.

Hilary Wilson
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:37
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
which rings a bell (see below)


Explanation:
or perhaps: which is likely to ring a bell for residents...
just a suggestion!

piazza d
France
Local time: 20:37
Native speaker of: French

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Colin Rowe: Only if the ruin in question is a bell-tower ;-)
18 mins
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4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
reaches out and grabs


Explanation:
You could equally well use interpeller here - indeed, it would be more usual -, which is what the police do. When I was interpellé in 1996 by a seasoned CRS to whom I had politely made the remark that he was racist because while he had used vous to me and my blond, blue-eyed Canadian cousin, he had used tu to my cousin's equally Canadian but-of-Asian-origin friend, he not only reached out and grabbed me but threw my head against the wall of the metro and punched me, turned my arm up my back and marched me upstairs to the waiting black maria. On the way up, younger members of force asked, goggle-eyed, "C'est un quoi que t'as là?", to which I replied "Ce qu'il a là, Messieurs, est un sujet de sa gracieuse Majesté". I knew I had him worried from the moment I next saw him, without his matricule. I subsequently got my own back on him during a strip search in the toilets of the commissariat in the 18ème arrondissement by humiliating him - while he was attempting to humiliate me - by suggesting in front of his colleagues that it would be unwise for me to remove my underpants lest I turned him on. I waited for the blow but it never came.

Bourth (X)
Local time: 20:37
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 56
Notes to answerer
Asker: Wow, that's quite a story! Thanks for your suggestion!

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4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
which is pondered by the residents


Explanation:
Hello,

That's how I read it.

I think it's a source of reflection for the residents.



--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2011-11-28 18:26:39 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

In other words, it gets them thinking.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 hrs (2011-11-28 18:27:19 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I think the plural of "habitant" works best in English.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 hrs (2011-11-28 18:50:18 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I'm afraid the meaning may not be overly clear, hence your problem!

The idea, imho, is still about the urban ruins making people stop and think, as it serves no practical purpose.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 hrs (2011-11-28 18:52:56 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

In informal contexts, "ça me questionne" can be translated as "it has me wondering", etc.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 hrs (2011-11-28 22:08:49 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Imho, it is not so much that it elicits a response as it is that it makes them (that's to say "the residents") think about what this urban ruins may represent by being left standing.

MatthewLaSon
Local time: 14:37
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 7
Grading comment
I ended up using 'stop and think'; thank you very much for the suggestion!
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks very much for all of your thoughts! I may end up using 'stop and think', as it seems to translate people's common concensus of the meaning here, and sounds like proper English too!

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9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
puzzles


Explanation:
why keep a ruin in a city?

Dr Lofthouse
France
Local time: 19:37
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in ItalianItalian
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you! I think this is on the right track, and your question is pretty much the question the research paper I'm translating asks!

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