May 31, 2010 15:19
13 yrs ago
Deutsch term
wissenschaftlich
Deutsch > Englisch
Naturwissenschaften
Wissenschaft (allgemein)
Does anyone else have problems with translating 'wissenschaftlich' and also 'Wissenschaft'. I often find that the usual options like scientific, academic or scholarly sound awkward and silly and so struggle around to think how we would express the idea in English. I think the root of the problem is that the German 'Wissenschaft' covers a broader field than 'science'. Science to me is first and foremost Natural Science, but in German it can also mean literature, languages and much more besides. Is perhaps the way out to make more use of 'knowledge' which is also 'Wissenschaft'.
A classic example which regularly stumps me is the phrase 'wissenschaftlich begleitet'. 'Scientific or academic monitoring really doesn't always fit.
Sometimes I use expressions like 'expert' or 'knowledge based' to try and make a text sound more English and less like a translation from German.
Any bright ideas out there?
A classic example which regularly stumps me is the phrase 'wissenschaftlich begleitet'. 'Scientific or academic monitoring really doesn't always fit.
Sometimes I use expressions like 'expert' or 'knowledge based' to try and make a text sound more English and less like a translation from German.
Any bright ideas out there?
Proposed translations
(Englisch)
3 | many options | Johanna Timm, PhD |
3 | scientific | Rolf Keiser |
Change log
May 31, 2010 15:23: Steffen Walter changed "Field" from "Sonstige" to "Naturwissenschaften" , "Field (specific)" from "Allgemeines/Konversation/Grußworte/Briefe" to "Wissenschaft (allgemein)"
Proposed translations
7 Tage
Selected
many options
I am answering this late and only upon special request! As indicated in the discussion box, there are a plethora of options to translate this term, and I am listing a few for the glossary:
-scholarly
-systematic
-academic
-supported by scientific evidence
-based on scientific evidence
-scientifically validated
-academically monitored
-methodological
-scholarly
-systematic
-academic
-supported by scientific evidence
-based on scientific evidence
-scientifically validated
-academically monitored
-methodological
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks Johanna, also for the Gademer link, which I found very useful."
19 Min.
scientific
all the same, I would stick to the term "scientific" for "wissenschaftlich".
I recall my academic years studying economics and business administration in the 60's when the term "scientific management" was "in"; a term which has absolutely nothing to do with science in the sense of natural science.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2010-05-31 17:03:10 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
just came to mind: political science, social science
I recall my academic years studying economics and business administration in the 60's when the term "scientific management" was "in"; a term which has absolutely nothing to do with science in the sense of natural science.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2010-05-31 17:03:10 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
just came to mind: political science, social science
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Thayenga
: War auch mein erster Gedanke, Rolf. :)
1 Stunde
|
Danke, Elke
|
|
neutral |
Eleanore Strauss
: I've struggled with this usage myself. The asker is looking for an alternative. And correctly indicates that wissenschaftlich is a broader term than simply scientific.
1 Stunde
|
disagree |
Kim Metzger
: Wissenschaftlich is only occasionally 'scientific.'
2 Stunden
|
neutral |
Jim Tucker (X)
: Only for the natural sciences; otherwise it sounds like a 19th-century usage. // You suggest that "scientific management" was a trend of the day -- and therefore not a "normal" or universal usage -- QED.
2 Stunden
|
vde. my comment on "scientific management"
|
Discussion
We have to look at the sentence in front of us to find the equivalent. If you ever have some time, read the translator’s preface to Gadamer’s “Wahrheit und Methode.” (Truth and Method). He touches on the translation of various philosophical terms (Bildung, Erlebnis, Erfahrung…), including “wissenschaftlich”(on page XVIII of the preface).
http://shortify.com/10358
I would very much like to know whether other native speakers also understand 'science and 'scientific' as basically natural sciences. There is, after all, a distinction between an Arts Degree (BA or MA) and a Science Degree (MSc, BSc). A degree in Economics is also a BA and yet in Germany I'm sure they would talk of the 'wissenschaftliche Kompetenz' of an economist. I would probably translate that as 'expertise' or something. Am I seeing problems where there are none?
In my current assignment they talk of the Pfegewissenschaft. Surely long-term care is not a science?
systematic, methodical, measurable, rational, precise etc.