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English translation: a tree growing in water / standing in water
GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:
un arbre d'eau
English translation:
a tree growing in water / standing in water
07:33 May 4, 2020
The asker opted for community grading. The question was closed on 2020-05-07 14:54:16 based on peer agreement (or, if there were too few peer comments, asker preference.)
French to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - Forestry / Wood / Timber / Description of a painting
French term or phrase:un arbre d'eau
Ceci est une description d'un tableau / This is a description of a painting :
"Un arbre d’eau qui résiste aux tourments du fleuve grâce à ces profondes racines."
Le probleme est que "water tree" ne marche pas, car cela designe un arbre special, qui est rempli d'eau. The thing is a "water tree" doesn't fit here, because that actually designates a special kind of tree, which is full of water.
Any idea how to translate "arbre d'eau", which here means a tree that lives in water?
"Le saule recherche avant tout l’humidité." Although this article is speaking of riverside trees, it seems that 'arbre d'eau' indicates a particular love of water.
I know it's not yours, sorry. I'm just trying to find out what would be the best option... As I feel your objections are relevant, I would like to know what formulation you would propose.
Please don't misquote me. I never said any of that. No "alps, cottonwood, aspen, melting snow, granite boulders", all of which is over-translation. Nor "tortured waters" Yeuch! As for the word-for word "translation"!
Like Lisa and Yvonne have stated, this is a tree tortured by water, probably a cottonwood/aspen in the high alps, bent over after the melting snow among white granite boulders, maybe some one should put that as an answer, (Ignore all words, translate only emotion may be a theory on Panpsychisme Koulye a, mwen vire sou imel mwen epi yo pa pral gade nan repons
Ouch! That sounds so horribly French! And it's not even grammatically correct: it isn't the 'water' 'which is...', it is the 'tree that is...' — hence to resolve that issue, it needs restructuring to suit EN grammar rules. "A deep-rooted tree able to resist the caprices of the river in which it stands." might be a good starting point... at least it's EN!
Looks like they are trying to be poetic rather than factual anyway. May I point out that swampland trees that grow in water have SHALLOW (long lateral) roots, NOT deep ones. So it seems whoever wrote this is not too expert. (Trees send deep tap roots in search of water, obviously not the case here.)
If you don't know the location or type of tree I suggest you just describe what you see. I agree you can't say "water tree". Just say what the tree is doing rather than what it is, since you don't seem to know what it is. How are you planning to translate "tourments du fleuve"? You need to rephrase the entire sentence to make it look like English
"water-loving" might seem OK to you and the client but not to me. A "water-loving tree" is a tree that likes to be watered, NOT necessarily one that stands in water or even wants to grow in water. There are only a few species of trees that are particularly suited to growing in the water of swamps and marshes, e.g the mangroves of the Everglades. However, we'd say these trees are water-tolerant or water-resistant rather than trees that "love" water! Other trees such as alder, birch, cypress, can tolerate being flooded for various periods but don't want to GROW in water all the time and so are more suited to the riverbanks (getting flooded occasionally) rather than the river itself. So, is this a painting of a river in flood? a swamp? A marsh? Where?
As Hugues said, the tree has resisted the storms, just an idea River channel tree growing against the flow, like mountain peak trees against the wind, twisted and bent.
Have you seen the actual painting? I'm wondering if this is simply a tree right on the river bank, or actually something like a mangrove that grows directly in the water?
peer agreement (net): +4