Two terms I could use help with: Falzamente & Morosa

Question

Hi there,

I am working on translating a Borges? short story for fun and am running into problems. I translated the following sentence and had two adverbs that threw me off.

'El espejo inquientaba el fondo de un corredor en una quinta de calle gaona, en Ramos Mejía; le encyclopedia falazmente se llama The Anglo-American Cyclopedia (New York 1917) y es una reimpresión literal, pero también morosa, de la Encyclopaedia Britannica de 1902.?

So I was stumped for 'falazmente? until I typed in the translation 'misleadingly? and got back 'falasmente? ? So is it common to change the "s" to a "z" in this word? Is it a regional derivation of Argentina?

The other word that threw me in this sentence was 'morosa.? I couldn't find it anywhere and then looked it up in reverse to get 'laggardly.? So, somehow the translator saw morosa and got laggardly. The closest word I could find was 'Moro,? which means Moor. Ok so here is where I jump to silly conclusions. The only conclusion I could come to was that this was a derogatory terms for Moors being slow?

Clarification on these two terms would be much appreciated.

Once I finish my translation I look it up in an English version. The one I have reads:

'The mirror troubled the far end of a hallway in a large country house on Calle Gaona, in Ramos Mejía; the encyclopedia is misleadingly entitled The Anglo-American Cyclopedia (New York 1917) and is a literal, but also laggardly, reprint of the Encyclopaedia Britannica of 1902?

Thank you for your time and input.

Best,
AJF

Answer 1

I agree with ricardo, chewing is not such a good idea, do not hesitate to post any question you like.

Answer 2

An interesting problem is always welcome so don't chew on them in excess!

Answer 3

Much appreciated Ricardo.

I will do my best to only pester you with problems I have chewed on for quite a while.

Best,
AJF

Answer 4

Your thoughts on the Spanish to Spanish are certainly true.

I think you will have more queries.
I don't (unfortunately) have the time to check the site daily so if you have another of those questions you are welcome to come to me direct. ( I think that if you leave a comment I will know it's you.) Argentinian Spanish is not so different but just in case. I actually think that Borges wrote in a very Castillian way, ie no slang, but some uses of the vocabulary may be local.

Answer 5

Thank you for such a friendly and thoughtful response.

When I translated it myself the first time I wrote "Gaona Street." I think the translator chose to keep the Spanish in there to imbue it with some flavor...I can't say I agree with his choice. I have another copy of Ficciones banging around here somewhere, and I will look at that translation as well.

I figured I am in way over my head. However, I think the project will be rewarding if I just keep it fun, translating only one sentence a day tops.

I am sure I will have more questions, so perhaps I will talk to you soon. I have a lot to learn.

Thanks again!

PS- I get the feeling using a Spanish to Spanish dictionary alone will improve my vocabulary exponentially.

Answer 6

THe word 'falazmente' and 'falsamente' are different and it is not an Argentine custom to change a z into an s.
(Note the different spelling. one is az and the other is sa).
Falazmente means with deceit, through cheating. Also misleadingly
(Falsamente is just falsely.)

Morosa ia a Spanish word used for a debtor that is in default, ie she is behind in her payments. Also sometimes laggard. By extension it is used for something that is behind the date it was supposed to be on.
(It has nothing to do with Moro.)

BTW Calle Gaona is Gaona Street

so back to Borges. You are very brave to translate Borges. His Spanish is very erudite (ie very rich and with a varied extensive vocabulary.) He himself was very wary of translators and translated his own books into English.

Well good luck with the assignment!

If you do more Borges use the Royal Spanish Academy Dictionary;

[url=http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltConsulta'TIPO_BUS=3&LEMA=s]http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltConsulta'TIPO_BUS=3&LEMA=s[/url]

It is Spanish to Spanish but you will find there both falazmente and morosa.