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Naissent alors

English translation: Thus, they emerge, come into being, ...

18:00 Nov 23, 2018
French to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
French term or phrase: Naissent alors
This appears to be a turn of phrase sometimes used at the beginning of a sentence. Some examples:

Naissent alors des images aux couleurs éclatantes, qui de façon détaillée ou plus abstraite, reflètent les sentiments et les émotions liées au vécu de l'artiste.

Naissent alors les ghettos : Harlem à New York, le South Side à Chicago où, malgré des conditions de vie très dures, la culture afro-américaine se réinvente à travers le jazz et la littérature.

Naissent alors des compositions chromatiques saisissantes, alliant magistralement fureur et finesse, noirceur et acidité.
mattsmith
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:57
English translation:Thus, they emerge, come into being, ...
Explanation:
[possibly] develop, arise.

There are various contexts here, all dependent on what precedes the sentences in question.

Selected response from:

Helen Shiner
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:57
Grading comment
Thanks again

4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +5Thus, they emerge, come into being, ...
Helen Shiner
4 +1Then came / Then come
Carol Gullidge
3so then are created some/the...
Barbara Cochran, MFA


Discussion entries: 6





  

Answers


9 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
so then are created some/the...


Explanation:
My interpretation.

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Note added at 12 mins (2018-11-23 18:13:08 GMT)
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http://context.reverso.net/translation/french-english/naître

Barbara Cochran, MFA
United States
Local time: 08:57
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 16
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
Thus, they emerge, come into being, ...


Explanation:
[possibly] develop, arise.

There are various contexts here, all dependent on what precedes the sentences in question.



Helen Shiner
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:57
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 72
Grading comment
Thanks again

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Elisabeth Gootjes
9 mins
  -> Thanks, Elisabeth
agree  katsy
28 mins
  -> Thanks, katsy
agree  writeaway
3 hrs
  -> Thanks, writeaway
agree  Charles Davis: All excellent options. The phrasing, as you say, needs to be tailored to each case and preferably varied. Agree with katsy that the subject really has to come first. "Alors" could be temporal, in principle: "then". Whole context needed to decide that.
4 hrs
  -> Thanks, Charles. Yes, I reduced the various subjects to ‘they’ in my suggestion and it does, indeed, come first. ‘Thus’ sits happily where it is. ‘Then’ may be placed elsewhere if the cadence of the sentence requires it.
agree  Rachel Fell
13 hrs
  -> Thanks, Rachel
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21 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Then came / Then come


Explanation:
Then came/come the images...
Then came/come the ghettos...

I'm assuming here that the source texts are written in the Historic Present tense, as is so often the case when narrating historical events, but more so in French than in English. My personal preference is to turn it into a past tense in English, although our use of the historic present seems to becoming more and more frequent, especially in academic texts or documentaries. A lot depends on the register of the each particular text

Carol Gullidge
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:57
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 80

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Charles Davis: This could well be the sense of "alors". On the historic present: are you finding it a lot in academic texts? I have seen the odd example, but it seems deplorable to me. It's OK in journalism, but the immediacy it lends is essentially cheap, in my opinion
2 hrs
  -> Thanks Charles!... The historic present is used quite frequently in Radio-4 documentaries by Melvyn Bragg and his panelists. I have to say it makes me squirm somewhat, but the programmes are usually otherwise riveting!
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