Keyword: MARRIAGE | “Wife” in different languages

If you look for films, TV series, or books with “wife” as a keyword, you will have a lot to choose from. There are titles for all tastes. Whatever the title is, it is clear what “wife” means: a woman who has acquired a new social status after marrying. Such a woman can also be called “spouse”, although “wife” is most widely used.

So, a married woman is a wife. This “transformation” does not happen in other languages. For example, in German, a married woman is still a woman (frau). The same is true for Latin-based languages: femme (in French); moglie (in Italian); mujer (in Spanish); mulher (in Portuguese). In these languages, “wives” can also be called “spouses” in more formal contexts: épouse (in French); sposa (in Italian); esposa (in Spanish); esposa (in Portuguese). “Spouse”, and its direct translations, come from the Latin spondeo / sponsus, meaning “a promise to marry”. This word is valid both for women and men, with the appropriate masculine/feminine change.

In some film/tv series/book titles, the translation is quite straightforward. For example, “The Story of My Wife” can be translated as: “Die Geschichte meiner Frau” (in German); “L’histoire de ma femme” (in French); “Storia di mia moglie” (in Italian); “La historia de mi mujer” (in Spanish); “A História da Minha Mulher” (in Portuguese).

But things can get complicated very fast… For example, how to translate “The Good Wife”? If you translate “wife” to its usual translation as “woman”, “The Good Woman” can be either married or single. However, in this case, the fact that she is married is essential for the story. Therefore, the title has to reflect her social status. One option is to maintain the title in English and not translate it at all, which was what countries like Ecuador, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, and Sapin did. Another option is to change the title in some way:

In Brazil, they opted for a mix title: “The Good Wife: Pelo Direito de Recomeçar” [The Good Wife: For the Right to Start Over Again”].
In French Canada, they changed the title slightly: “Une femme exemplaire” [An exemplary wife/woman], which is very similar to the original title.
A similar option was used in Uruguay, but using the other possible word for “wife” (“spouse”): “La esposa ejemplar” [The exemplary spouse].

Changing the title entirely is another option, which was what they chose to do, for example, in the title “The Time Traveler’s Wife”. In many countries, this film was translated as “I will always love you”, focusing on time and not on the wife. This is interesting. There are many English titles like this: “The Zookeeper’s Wife”, “The Preacher’s Wife”, “The Bishop’s Wife”, “The Serial Killer’s Wife”, “The Astronaut’s Wife”, among others. Yet, in non-English speaking countries, the tendency is to choose a different title, more tuned with the story itself and not focused on the wife and whom she is married to.

“Wife” and “woman” have the same origin: Old English wif, meaning “human female”. “Wife” is connected to an expression meaning “a woman in a legal relationship” while “woman” is like a kind of “female man”. Nordic languages follow the same logic and they have the same distant origin, but have evolved differently. In French, “femme” comes from the Latin femina, meaning female, and, in the other Latin-based languages, the word originates from the Latin word mulier, meaning “woman”, especially “married woman”. “Frau” follows exactly the same logic. In Italy, “wife” can also be called “donna”, which comes from the Latin word domus, meaning “house”. Therefore, “donna” is the “mistress of the house” (her house as a married woman).

Therefore, in reality, a “woman” is a “married woman”. Unmarried women are usually called “girls”, assuming that only young women are unmarried. This is valid for the other languages here analysed. This situation is reflected in women’s titles in society: if single, they are called Miss, Fräulein, Mademoiselle, Signorina, Señorita, Menina; and if married they are called Mrs, Frau, Madam, Signora, Señora, Senhora.

We can see that the words to designate women are rooted in the patriarchal system: their destiny was to get married and take care of their home and children. Therefore, they had two statuses: girls (as children, thus, unmarried) or women/wives (married). Unmarried women were unheard of or did not make sense. Or they were witches. Or spinsters, who were not well regarded in society. Or they would become nuns. Or, at the beginning of the 20th century, they were considered hysterical and locked up in madhouses.

Nowadays, more and more women are choosing not to get married and actually having a professional career. There are those who do not marry and just get together. Therefore, the concept of “woman” in all these languages is changing. It is not equivalent to “married woman” any more and women are becoming persons by themselves, not existing as a “wife/woman” of a man. Maybe new words were needed, but we have to work with what we have…

Sources:

This article is part of the BRINGING ACROSS series

“Translation” in different languages comes or is based on the meaning of two similar Latin words which convey the idea of transferring something from A to B… “bringing across”. Every month, a translation challenge is presented according to a keyword.

The work, le travail, die Arbeit, el trabajo

“I declare the first gathering of The Foreign Lands’ Explorers open,” said Jack and everyone clapped and cheered. “The topic for today is ‘the work’.”

“’El trabajo’, in Spanish; ‘il lavoro’, in Italian; ‘o trabalho’, in Portuguese,” said Leo.

“’Le travail’, in French”, said Elizabeth.

“’Die Arbeit’, in German”, said Michael.

“’Arbejdet’, in Danish; ‘arbeidet’, in Norwegian; ‘arbetet’, in Swedish”, said Sophia.

“’Trabajo’, ‘trabalho’, and ‘travail’ come from Latin. The original word, at the time, was related to a torture instrument with three stakes. I have no idea how it progressed, but we can assume that there was a connection made somewhere by common people between ‘work’ and ‘torture’…”, explained Leo. “The Italian word comes from the Latin word ‘labor’, which was the official and standard word for ‘work’ at the time. In Spanish, French, and Portuguese a similar word also exists with a similar meaning, but usually is used in handcraft work or in the farming context. It makes sense because at the time most of the work was related with agriculture. In English, we can also see this word being used in some contexts, like in ‘labour market’.”

“Actually, there is a similar situation in German. The word ‘Werk’ also means work in a more formal manner, but it is mostly related with factories and the like. Both words ‘Werk’ and ‘work’ have the same origin. In English language the word ‘labour’ can be used, but it’s more commonly used in the farming context”, added Michael.

“Then, there is ‘job’, which can mean a task or an employment”, said Jack.

“In Spanish and in Portuguese the word is the same, but there is also the word ‘empleo’ and ‘emprego’, respectively, for ‘employment’, which is similar to English”, informed Leo.

“Yes, ‘employment’ was adopted to English via French, whose word is ‘emploi’. In French slang you can also say ‘boulot’”, added Elizabeth.

“Ok, what about ‘unemployment’? In Swedish is ‘arbetslöshet’, in Danish is ‘arbejdsløshed’, and in Norwegian is ‘arbeidsledighet’”, said Sophia. “Basically it means ‘without work’”.

“In German is not so different: ‘Arbeitslosigkeit’”, added Michael.

“In French is ‘chômage’”, said Elizabeth.

“’Chômage’?! Where that came from?”, asked Jack.

“It comes from the Latin word ‘caumare’, which means to take a break during the heat”, explained Elizabeth.

“That doesn’t seem to make much sense…”, laughed Sophia.

“Well, try working during the heat and you’ll probably start to see some sense…”, commented Jack. “We all have to learn the ropes with those who came before us.”

“Learn the ropes? What do you mean?”, asked Leo.

“It’s an idiomatic expression that means learning to do a job”, answered Jack. “It was used when new sailors had to learn how to tide the ropes in sailing boats.”

“As they say in Germany: ‘die Arbeit, die uns freut, wird zum Vergnügen’. This means ‘the work that we enjoy becomes pleasure’”, said Michael.

“Unless you ‘tombes dans le panneau’”, said Elizabeth. As everyone stared at her, she explained: “You can fall into a trap”. Then everyone went “Ahhhh”.

“You can always take a ‘föräldrapenning’, as the Swedish say. Or ‘foreldrepenger’, in Norwergian. Or ‘forældreorlov’ in Danish”, said Sophia.

“What exactly is that?”, asked Leo.

“Parental leave”, clarified Sophia.

“Oh, ‘congé parental’, in French”, said Elizabeth.

“’Permiso parental’ in Spanish; ‘congedo parentale’, in Italian; and ‘licença parental’, in Portuguese”, said Leo.

“’Elternurlaub’, in German”, said Michael.

“Well, you would have to have a child first…”, commented Elizabeth.

“I declare the first gathering of The Foreign Lands’ Explorers open,” said Jack and everyone clapped and cheered. “The topic for today is ‘the work’.”

“’El trabajo’, in Spanish; ‘il lavoro’, in Italian; ‘o trabalho’, in Portuguese,” said Leo.

“’Le travail’, in French”, said Elizabeth.

“’Die Arbeit’, in German”, said Michael.

“’Arbejdet’, in Danish; ‘arbeidet’, in Norwegian; ‘arbetet’, in Swedish”, said Sophia.

“’Trabajo’, ‘trabalho’, and ‘travail’ come from Latin. The original word, at the time, was related to a torture instrument with three stakes. I have no idea how it progressed, but we can assume that there a connection was made somewhere on the way by common people between ‘work’ and ‘torture’…”, explained Leo. “The Italian word comes from the Latin word ‘labor’, which was the official and standard word for ‘work’ at the time. In Spanish, French, and Portuguese a similar word also exists with a similar meaning, but usually is used in handcraft work or in the farming context. It makes sense because at the time most of the work was related to agriculture. In English, we can also see this word being used in some contexts, like in ‘labour market’.”

“Actually, there is a similar situation in German. The word ‘Werk’ also means work in a more formal manner, but it is mostly related with factories and the like. Both words ‘Werk’ and ‘work’ have the same origin. In the English language, the word ‘labour’ can be used, but it’s more commonly used in the farming context”, added Michael.

“Then, there is ‘job’, which can mean a task or an employment”, said Jack.

“In Spanish and in Portuguese the word is the same, but there is also the word ‘empleo’ and ‘emprego’, respectively, for ‘employment’, which is similar to English”, informed Leo.

“Yes, ‘employment’ was adopted to English via French, whose word is ‘emploi’. In French slang, you can also say ‘boulot’”, added Elizabeth.

“Ok, what about ‘unemployment’? In Swedish is ‘arbetslöshet’, in Danish is ‘arbejdsløshed’, and in Norwegian is ‘arbeidsledighet’”, said Sophia. “Basically, it means ‘without work’”.

“In German is not so different: ‘Arbeitslosigkeit’”, added Michael.

“In French it is ‘chômage’”, said Elizabeth.

“’Chômage’?! Where did that come from?”, asked Jack.

“It comes from the Latin word ‘caumare’, which means to take a break during the heat”, explained Elizabeth.

“That doesn’t seem to make much sense…”, laughed Sophia.

“Well, try working during the heat and you’ll probably start to see some sense…”, commented Jack. “We all have to learn the ropes with those who came before us.”

“Learn the ropes? What do you mean?”, asked Leo.

“It’s an idiomatic expression that means learning to do a job”, answered Jack. “It was used when new sailors had to learn how to tide the ropes in sailing boats.”

“As they say in Germany: ‘die Arbeit, die uns freut, wird zum Vergnügen’. This means ‘the work that we enjoy becomes pleasure’”, said Michael.

“Unless you ‘tombes dans le panneau’”, said Elizabeth. As everyone stared at her, she explained: “You can fall into a trap”. Then everyone went “Ahhhh”.

“You can always take a ‘föräldrapenning’, as the Swedish say. Or ‘foreldrepenger’, in Norwegian. Or ‘forældreorlov’ in Danish”, said Sophia.

“What exactly is that?”, asked Leo.

“Parental leave”, clarified Sophia.

“Oh, ‘congé parental’, in French”, said Elizabeth.

“’Permiso parental’ in Spanish; ‘congedo parentale’, in Italian; and ‘licença parental’, in Portuguese”, said Leo.

“’Elternurlaub’, in German”, said Michael.

“Well, you would have to have a child first…”, commented Elizabeth.

After this introduction to the topic, they decided to compare the name of some professions in different languages. They started with the firefighters.

While in the Anglo-Saxon and Nordic languages the focus is on fire (they are the people of the fire / those who fight the fire), in Latin languages the focus is on the pumps that were used at the beginning of firefighting (they are the people of the pumps).

Between ‘assistant’ and ‘host’ / ‘hostess’ or ‘steward’ / ‘stewardess’, there is not much difference.

In this case, except in the Spanish language, the expression is very similar to all other languages. “Journalism” was a term born in the 18th century in France and comes from “jour”, as in “report every day”. In Spanish, “newspaper” is “periódico”, hence the “periodista”.

In German and in the Nordic languages, the word refers to an instructor, someone who provides training for someone to acquire a skill, which has a similar meaning for “teacher”, although the root is different. The perspective is “to show how it’s done”. In Latin languages, the perspective is “someone who dominates an art and transmits its knowledge to their disciples”. In these languages, the teacher is regarded as a kind of “keeper of knowledge”. This is even more emphasised in Spanish, where the teacher is considered a “master”. Actually, in the other Latin countries, a teacher used to be called “master” and in some contexts it is still the case.

As it was getting late, they decided to wrap up. They could discuss and compare terms in different languages for hours, but they all had classes the next morning. However, when everyone was preparing to leave, Leo remembered something.

“Do you know the origin of the word ‘salary’?”

Everyone looked at Leo.

“Salt was extremely important during the Roman Empire. So, it was the reference to pay soldiers what was due to them. It was the ‘salt portion’ they could have. They still use that term in English, in Portuguese (‘salário’), in French (‘salaire’), and in Spanish in certain contexts (‘salario’).”

“If it’s a constant pay, for example every month, it’s ‘sueldo’. If it is an irregular pay it’s a ‘salario’”, said Elizabeth.

“Exactly”, confirmed Leo. “It’s similar in Italian: ‘salario’ is an hourly pay whereas ‘stipendio’ is a fixed pay”.

“That’s also similar in German. If it’s fixed it’s ‘Gehalt’ and if it’s variable it’s ‘Lohn’”, said Michael.

“Ah, in Swedish it’s ‘lön’, in Danish it’s ‘løn’, and in Norwegian it’s ‘lønn’”, added Sophia.

And, on that note, they reluctantly went back home.

Homeland, patrie, Heimat, patria, pátria

It is a well-known fact that Europe was devastated many times due to numerous wars throughout the centuries and, consequently, frontiers changed frequently. At that time, kingdoms and empires were really a collection of principalities and counties. The rulers of those territories would pledge their allegiance to the King or the Emperor and they were under their authority from then onwards. Common people didn’t feel they belonged to a country or that they had a nationality. They would feel they would belong to a religion or a region.

Nationalism is a political ideology that aims to make people believe they have a national identity superior to all others. This means that only a group of people (those who are part of a certain identity and possess certain characteristics) are part of a “nation”. On the other hand, patriotism is the love for one’s country and includes everyone who was born there (or acquired its citizenship) regardless of the characteristics they may have. The difference may be thin, but it does exist.

Below, we will discuss patriotism in a linguistic (and cultural) perspective.

In English (Homeland) and in German (Heimat), the country where people are born is considered their “home”. In fact, when they are abroad and they say they are going back to their own country they usually say they are “going home”. Latin languages like Spanish, Italian, French, and Portuguese use variations of the Latin word patria, which means “country of birth”. That is a fact. In some countries, like in Germany and in the Netherlands, homeland can be called as fatherland whereas in other countries, like in Latvia and in Russia, it can be called as motherland. In these countries, the homeland is seen as a parent who nurtures and takes care of them since they were born and it will always be there for them.

Each country has two main dimensions of action: inside the country and outside. Their designation depends on how they see the world.

1) These are the departments, offices or ministries related to matters inside the country

. USA | Homeland Security
. UK | Home Office
. Australia | Home Affairs
. Germany | Bundesministerium des Innern und für Heimat [Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community]
. France | Ministère de l’Intérieur et des Outre-mer [Ministry of the Interior]
. Italy | Ministero Interno [ Ministry of the Interior]
. Spain | Ministerio del Interior [ Minister for Home Affairs]
. Portugal | Ministério da Administração Interna [Ministry of Home Affairs]

As we can see, in English speaking countries, the department/ office/ ministry related to these matters are called “Home”. Once again, we can confirm that the country of birth is like home for them and they manage country matters as they manage their own home. In fact, one of the most important economic indicators, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), also refers to “domestic”, that is, home. In Latin countries the GDP is Gross National Product (word-by-word translation). They don’t use home-related words in any case.

Latin countries designate this ministry (all of them refer to them as ministry and not as a department or an office) as the Ministry of the Interior (with some differences), which also happens in Germany. Interestingly, in the latter, the Ministry is called “Federal Ministry of the Interior and for the Homeland” (word-by-word translation), but they are officially translated by “Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community”. For some reason, they decided to replace “Homeland” by “Community” in the English version. Here we again see that these countries tell exactly what the matters are about: the interior of the country.

2) These are the departments, offices or ministries related to matters outside the country

. USA | Department of State
. UK | Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
. Australia | Foreign Affairs and Trade
. Germany | Auswärtiges Amt [Federal Foreign Office]
. France | Ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires Étrangères [Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs]
. Italy | Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale [Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation]
. Spain | Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Unión Europea y Cooperación [Ministry for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation]
. Portugal | Ministério de Estado e dos Negócios Estrangeiros [Ministry of State and Foreign Affairs]

The names for the departments/ offices/ ministries related to matters outside the country have much more differences between them. The USA calls it “Department of State”, which is weird as they seem to not consider international relations as an international matter. In a way, UK also has a vision that it is their responsibility to develop the world, especially the countries belonging to the Commonwealth (the former British colonies).

Italy and Spain are also interested in international cooperation, not as their responsibility, but as a partnership. Spain and France consider the European Union and Europe (this difference is not by chance) important enough to be part of the name of the ministry.

In Portugal, the current government also linked the State with the Foreign Affairs. Interestingly, in Portuguese, the Ministry is called “Ministry of State and Foreign Business” (word-by-word translation), which means that this ministry is about international business. International trade is also a great concern for Australia.

Lawns, cherries, cows, and chickens

Proverbs or sayings are one of the best ways to get to know the culture of a country, or a language. A language is developed according to the place where it is born. That is why snowy countries have many words for snow and words and expressions related to the sea are common in coastal countries. Of course, with colonialism and the imposition of European languages in other parts of the world, this got a little distorted. However, European languages are evolving differently in each part of the world where they were introduced. This means that European languages are adapting themselves to other realities. That is why we have British English, American English, and Australian English, for example. It is the same language (English), but with specificities in each region. Even British English is not as harmonious as people might think.

As people are similar everywhere, some proverbs or sayings have the same meaning although they are presented differently, according to the reality of each language. On the other hand, there are those which are unique and don’t have a direct equivalence. When translating these, chances are they need to be explained rather than translated.

Let’s analyse a practical example, comparing an English proverb with its equivalent in French, Germany, Spanish, and Portuguese:

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

Gardens are very important in England, especially the private little gardens attached to individual houses. Together with the weather, gardening is the top topic of conversation. These gardens are usually limited by fences, which are also the boundary between gardens. It is part of human nature to compare what we have with what others have. Usually, we believe that other people’s lives are better than ours (partly because each person tries to show that their own life is better). So, by comparing the grass of their own garden with the neighbour’s grass, people are led to believe that the neighbour’s grass is greener, thus, more beautiful.

In French, the expression with the same meaning is:

L’herbe est toujours plus verte ailleurs.
TRANSLATION word by word: The grass is always greener somewhere else.

Basically, the metaphor is the same, but a little more wide-ranging. Instead of referring to the little garden next door, they talk about any grass anywhere else but there. It could be the grass from the nearest village or the grass on the other side of the country. Everywhere is better than where one is.

In Germany, the equivalent expression is:

Kirschen in Nachbars Garten schmecken immer besser.
TRANSLATION word by word: Cherries in the neighbour’s garden always taste better.

In Germany, the comparison is not about grass, but cherries. This means that German people have fruit trees in their backyards and value them more than gardens. Probably, the kids often go to other people’s property and steal fruit. Why cherries and not other fruit? As cherries like cold, the fact that it snows abundantly in Germany makes it perfect weather for them.

In Spain, it isn’t about grass or fruit trees, but animals:

Vacas ajenas dan mejor carne.
TRANSLATION word by word: Other cows give tastier meat.

Cows are very important in Spain. Besides fighting bulls, Spanish people like to eat beef. So, raising cattle is a popular activity and the quality of beef is very important.

Finally, in Portugal, the expression is also about farm animals, but a different kind of animal:

A galinha da vizinha é mais gorda que a minha.
TRANSLATION word by word: The neighbour’s chicken is fatter than mine.

In the Portuguese countryside, everyone has chickens. Everyone, no exceptions. So, chickens are very important as they provide eggs and meat. The aim is to get them fat because the fatter they are, the more meat will be there to cook.