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Translating 'cope' and 'manage' : preliminary enquiry

fra Miland,2008 12 18

Meldinger: 44

Språk: English

Miland (Å vise profilen) 2008 12 18 14:26:09

For all its faults, English is full of short useful words, and one of them is 'cope'. This is not used just for successfully handling a situation or problem (sukcese trakti pri situacion aŭ problemon) but for life in general , e.g. people who are depressed or have too many problems may feel that they 'can't cope' or 'can't manage'.

My question is: do people know words in major languages that correspond to this one, as it may provide an idea for a useful neologismo.

I suggest that we get a number of suggestions from different languages, and then and see whether any prove noticeably more popular. A poll thread could then be set up with the most favoured candidates.

erinja (Å vise profilen) 2008 12 18 15:08:49

I prefer to use existing Esperanto words when possible. I think it's important to exhaust the existing expressive capabilities of the language before bringing in foreign words.

In this case, I would probably say "sin teni" or "teniĝi" or "elteni". They are not exact single-word translations for "cope", but you could use them in a similar context, without using a lot of words.

You can read about the many literal and figurative meanings of "teni" here:
http://www.reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/ten.html

Some samples:

elteni (transitive) = to resist when confronted with an attack or difficulties; to tolerate paciently.

tenigxi = (figurative) to continue, not to fall apart, to be maintained

sin teni = to rest firmly in some kind of position in spite of opposing forces; [figurative] to firmly remain in the same spirits; [figurative] to conduct oneself in some way

"Lia logika spirito nelonge povis sin teni je altruditaj religiaj formoj" (this sounds to me like a situation where someone might use cope in English; "His logical spirit wasn't able to cope for long with the religious forms imposed")

mnlg (Å vise profilen) 2008 12 18 15:15:52

"mi ne (plu) povas elteni" is good enough. Other variations, although possibly inferior, could employ an appropriate use of "toleri", "elĉerpiĝi", "kapabli", "ced(em)i".

Miland (Å vise profilen) 2008 12 18 15:18:53

I was referring to actively managing a situation, or life in general, rather than endurance. Are there any words in French, German, Russian, or any Asian or African language known to users of lernu! that express such a concept?

erinja (Å vise profilen) 2008 12 18 15:43:34

Perhaps the British use of "cope" is not quite the same as the American. I would say that "cope" means to get on with your life, in the face of adversity, and I think this is well expressed by "teniĝi" or "sin teni", or suggestions that mnlg has given.

Miland (Å vise profilen) 2008 12 18 16:01:55

Sin teni seems to me to refer to the integrity of the self rather than activity, i.e. endurance.

I wish to know whether speakers of the other languages that I referred to - romance, germanic, slavonic, Asian or African - have equivalents in them to 'manage' or 'cope'.

mnlg (Å vise profilen) 2008 12 18 16:06:35

Miland: what about "subteni", "subporti", "mastrumi", "rezisti", "stari" ? See anything you like? okulumo.gif

Miland (Å vise profilen) 2008 12 18 16:20:01

mnlg:Miland: what about "subteni", "subporti", "mastrumi", "rezisti", "stari" ?
They might well work in specific situations, but 'cope' is more general. That may be a feature of Esperanto - that it tends to concentrate on sharply defined words, so that words like 'cope' can't be translated in general, only in specific situations.

But I would like to know how other languages have dealt with this problem, if indeed they have considered it to be one.

Frankouche (Å vise profilen) 2008 12 18 17:18:59

Miland:I was referring to actively managing a situation, or life in general, rather than endurance. Are there any words in French, German, Russian, or any Asian or African language known to users of lernu! that express such a concept?
In french :
- Mener sa vie : konduki sian vivon
- Faire face à la vie, au'x problèmes; affronter les problèmes : alfronti problemojn (?)
- Gérer les problèmes : administri..., tiu verbo tro ĝeneralas
- Manager les équipes : administri la teamojn (franglish not very used for the life)

Miland (Å vise profilen) 2008 12 18 21:32:25

Frankouche:affronter les problèmes : alfronti problemojn (?)
Yes, that sounds close to what I meant. Facing life's problems is 'coping' in general, so the verb alfronti may be one of the best verbs available. 'Would you know how to cope?'(with a given situation) could be Ĉu vi povus alfronti tion?, and 'The patient couldn't cope' could be La paciento ne kapablis alfronti la vivon. I suppose alfronti la vivon might be a suitable E-o idiom for 'cope', though not as short.

Maybe also there's a good short word in German, Russian or other languages that might be adaptable.

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