English equivalent of "pilares" in business
I'm translating a business-related article from Spanish to English. My author uses the word "pilar(es)" frequently throughout the manuscript in a figurative sense, e.g.
"los pilares de la dirección de personas...". This seems to me the equivalent of
"principles of human resource management", but I wanted to make sure there wasn't some better English word that would convey the sense of a fundamental, a supporting factor. Any suggestions for improvement, or is this good as is? Many thanks for any input!
4 Answers
Thanks to both of you! This is reassuring.
As the article I'm translating is going to be published along with others written in English by native English speakers, I should probably ask to see a few pages of some of the accompanying articles and get a sense of the vocabulary they are using before we consider my translation final, but for the time being I now feel more secure in what I'm doing.
Does it have to be one word? Why not combine both suggestions and use "fundamental principles (tenets)"'
Elsa:
Consider, for your purposes, such English words as :
axioms, canons, criterion, foundations, fundamentals, precepts, principles, standards and theorems.
These words all carry the idea of being "chief" or of first importance. Some may even convey a greater certainty than you want. For me, I like "principles". Stepen Covey refers to "habits" of successful business people.
I expect the list is not complete and there will also be other words conveying the same or similar meaning.
I wanted to make sure there wasn't some better English word that would convey the sense of a fundamental, a supporting factor.
Why not "the fundamentals of ...". Sounds very good (and "businessy") to me.
