| Pages in topic: [1 2 3] > | Country that doesn't exist anymore Thread poster: Mariam Osmann
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Mariam Osmann
Egypt
Local time: 02:00
Member (2007)
English to Arabic
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It is possible while translating to change for example The "Soviet Union" in country field into the current country in which the city in question is cited in the document?
Regards,
Mariam
| | | | Nicole Schnell 
United States
Local time: 17:00
English to German
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In memoriam | You have to. | Nov 10, 2010 |
I encounter such things a lot in my language pair EN>GER (hint: German Democratic Republic) and as long as the text doesn't refer to historical events but to the geographical location only, I am supposed to update the information.
| | | | Nesrin
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:00
English to Arabic
+ ...
| I suppose it depends though.. | Nov 10, 2010 |
As Nicole says, the text may be referring to historical events.. I find it hard to imagine us required to translate a document in 2010 in which the USSR was still mentioned in a non-historical way! Maybe you can give us some more information?
Also, there's the problem if you're talking about a "country field", namely that the Soviet Union didn't simply turn into Russia, but that it broke up into several countries (incl. Ukraine, Georgia etc) so one field would have to become several... See more As Nicole says, the text may be referring to historical events.. I find it hard to imagine us required to translate a document in 2010 in which the USSR was still mentioned in a non-historical way! Maybe you can give us some more information?
Also, there's the problem if you're talking about a "country field", namely that the Soviet Union didn't simply turn into Russia, but that it broke up into several countries (incl. Ukraine, Georgia etc) so one field would have to become several fields.
[Edited at 2010-11-10 20:36 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mariam Osmann
Egypt
Local time: 02:00
Member (2007)
English to Arabic
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
My case is ID documents
Thank you for your answers Nicole & Nesrin
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Nesrin
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:00
English to Arabic
+ ...
| I'm not sure... | Nov 10, 2010 |
Hi again Mariam,
Because I don't know the exact case, I'm not sure, but I feel that you should translate it as it is (as USSR). This isn't, I suppose, an ID that's still valid in any shape or form, so it is, I believe, a kind of historical document and should be treated as such.
| | | | Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 02:00
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
| Time reference | Nov 10, 2010 |
Does the part where they mention Soviet Union refer to some moment in the past, i.e. when Soviet Union still existed as such?
Other than the time reference, the author may be talking about a "region" referring ( wrongly, yes) to Soviet Union, and using that term for specific idiolect reasons.
| | | | Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 17:00
English to German
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In memoriam | A good question, indeed | Nov 10, 2010 |
I once had to translate a birth certificate for immigration purposes and I had to deal with a similar situation. I wrote: Germany (former German Democratic Republic).
| | | | | Do not change it | Nov 10, 2010 |
If you are translating an official document (obviously an old one), you should translate what is in the document. If it says that New York is in Uganda, then it is in Uganda!
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Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 18:00
Dutch to English
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| with Nicole but... | Nov 10, 2010 |
I agree with Nicole that something should be mentioned in parentheses but I would do it the other way around: leave the country as it used to be called in place and put in parentheses what it is called now.
| | | | Edward Vreeburg
Netherlands
Local time: 02:00
Member (2008)
English to Dutch
+ ...
| just translate it | Nov 10, 2010 |
If this person was born in what was then called the USSR, he was still born there at that time, that makes him a Russian, not something else , he was not born in Uzbekistan, Latvia, or Tsjetsnia - he is Russian, unless he renewed his passport and got whatever part of former Russia he now lives in...
Ed
| | | | Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 17:00
English to German
+ ...
In memoriam | Maybe we should differentiate | Nov 10, 2010 |
If the person is alive or is deceased, that is. In regard to the purposes of such papers (travel, immigration or legal issues), I would be hesitant to make a person stateless, so to speak.
| | | | Kunik
Local time: 02:00
English to Latvian
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| Don't invent | Nov 10, 2010 |
If it is an ID document, just translate what it says.
I remember, when I still had my old birth certificate and I had to translate it, that's what I did. I wrote: born ir Riga, LSSR, USSR.
Edward Vreeburg wrote:
If this person was born in what was then called the USSR, he was still born there at that time, that makes him a Russian, not something else , he was not born in Uzbekistan, Latvia, or Tsjetsnia - he is Russian, unless he renewed his passport and got whatever part of former Russia he now lives in...
Ed
Sorry, this is just plain stupid. No offence, I just cannot phrase it more diplomatically.
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LEXpert
United States
Local time: 19:00
Member (2008)
Croatian to English
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| Translate as written | Nov 10, 2010 |
It's also quite possible (indeed a situation I have come across) for a particular place to have briefly been part of a different (not superordinate) country for short period and then reverted back to the first one. In that case it can be a bit misleading to say someone was born in the second country.
Just translate as written, if you ask me... If it was part of the USSR when the person was born, he was born in the USSR, if that's what the certificate says. I think immigration offic... See more It's also quite possible (indeed a situation I have come across) for a particular place to have briefly been part of a different (not superordinate) country for short period and then reverted back to the first one. In that case it can be a bit misleading to say someone was born in the second country.
Just translate as written, if you ask me... If it was part of the USSR when the person was born, he was born in the USSR, if that's what the certificate says. I think immigration officials are smart enough to know that certain countries disintegrated at some point in the 20th century...
If you're truly in doubt, I think Tina's solution of a translator's note in brackets stating "now located in..." would be acceptable.
@Nicole -
If you think you've got it tough with the BRD/DDR thing, in my work, I have translated ID documents issued by "Croatia" during all of the following regimes:
Austria-Hungary
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Independent State of Croatia
Various iterations of immediate post-WWII political organization
SFRY
and of course the current country.
 ▲ Collapse
| | | | | a bit off-topic | Nov 11, 2010 |
Edward Vreeburg wrote:
If this person was born in what was then called the USSR, he was still born there at that time, that makes him a Russian, not something else , he was not born in Uzbekistan, Latvia, or Tsjetsnia - he is Russian, unless he renewed his passport and got whatever part of former Russia he now lives in...
Ed
Wow! Amazing!....
Could you please respectfully delete your comment in order to stop disseminating such a delusion?
Sorry but tinageta said it all...
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And back to topic: yes, you should leave everything as is in the original document in this case.
[Edited at 2010-11-11 01:42 GMT]
| | | | Kaspars Melkis
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:00
English to Latvian
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| I agree with Nicole's approach | Nov 11, 2010 |
If this person was born in what was then called the USSR, he was still born there at that time, that makes him a Russian, not something else , he was not born in Uzbekistan, Latvia, or Tsjetsnia - he is Russian
He-he, I must be a Russian too. But I do not take offense because calling all former Soviet Union citizens Russians is not much different (only in reverse) than calling all USians Americans. Or norteamericanos in Spanish.
I was indeed born in Latvia when it was a part of the USSR but I lost my original birth certificate. So, I went to the birth registry office and they issued me a copy. And voila, according to this document I am now born in Latvia.
The fact is that at least in Latvia the birth country is considered the actual country that is now in control of the territory where you were born and not the historical or even currently existing country that has lost this territory. It may be seem strange but it makes sense as it is the country which keeps records of your birth. Some Latvians born in Abrene (Pitalova) before the country got incorporated in the Soviet Union are now issued documents that states that their birth country is Russia because this territory now belongs to Russia.
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