La brunhara, svelta virino aspektis stude interesata pri la elmontro de kaheloj, en la luksa banĉambro-butiko en la strato Regent's Park de norda Londono. "Ĉu vi deziras helpon?" demandis la juna vira vendhelpisto, kiu esperis baldaŭ fermi la vendejon, ĉar estis preskaŭ la sepa horo vespere.

Liz Carlyle nur volis pasigi tempon. Ŝi surhavis ŝuojn atletikajn kaj ĝinzon dizajnistan, do similis al iu ajn juna virino kiu vagis inter la hejm-dizajnaj kaj alispecaj butikoj de ĉi tiu regiono de Londono.

Thanks a lot. I did not know the expression, and took it in its apparent literal sence (in the upper part of a market).

So, I would correct my draft this way:

"En la elita butiko de banĉambroj ĉe strato..."

The word "elita" might also be "altpreza", "luksa" or the like.

I still have to discover how to say "designer jeans" in Esperanto.

Also, "la maldika brunhara virino" could be simplified as "la maldika brunulino".

BTW, I keep erasing lines after I begin them. It often happens to me, when I'm writing a biligual text (such as this) that I write a paragraph in language A, then another (generally a quote) in language B, and then I should switch back to language A, but since I go on thinking in language B, I inadvertedly write in it instead of the former. It happened to me a couple of times in this very message. A language teacher once told me that this was a good sign that I actually think in the language I'm using. Yet, it's a bit annoying. Does this also happen to any of you?

Regards,

Daniel

sudanglo:Daniel, since you said you wanted to improve your English, 'upmarket' means de pli luksa speco - pli altaj prezoj pli monhava klientaro.

I see "trainers" are a kind of shoes. I thought they were some kind of clothes.

I didn't know the word "ĝinzo". Is it generally used or did you coin it for the ocassion?

Guess I'll learn both English and Esperanto in this translation competition. Definitively worth the effort.

Regards,

Daniel

T0dd:La brunhara, svelta virino aspektis stude interesata pri la elmontro de kaheloj, en la luksa banĉambro-butiko en la strato Regent's Park de norda Londono. "Ĉu vi deziras helpon?" demandis la juna vira vendhelpisto, kiu esperis baldaŭ fermi la vendejon, ĉar estis preskaŭ la sepa horo vespere.

Liz Carlyle nur volis pasigi tempon. Ŝi surhavis ŝuojn atletikajn kaj ĝinzon dizajniston, do similis al iu ajn juna virino kiu vagis inter la hejm-dizajnaj kaj alispecaj butikoj de ĉi tiu regiono de Londono.

danielcg:I see "trainers" are a kind of shoes. I thought they were some kind of clothes.

"Trainers" are the British word for what are called "sneakers" in the US.

I didn't know the word "ĝinzo". Is it generally used or did you coin it for the ocassion?

I don't think it's official, but I've heard/seen it used, and it's in ReVo. Note that in Esperanto, unlike English, it's used in the singular.

[quote=danielcg
Also, "la maldika brunhara virino" could be simplified as "la maldika brunulino"./quote]I think you'd want "brunharulino" rather than "brunulino", since the latter would suggest a brown-skinned woman. The author doesn't tell us anything about Liz Carlyle's skin color.

Maybe someone will Esperantize her name.

Just like "pantalono".

In fact, the Esperanto use is more logical than the English one, since it is a single garment, not two.

If we say "trousers" or "pants" because the garment has room for two legs, then we should also say "shirts" since a shirt has room for two arms.

Please don't think I'm bashing English. Little could I do that, considering that my mothertongue is, in this respect, even less logical. In fact, we say either "pantalón" or "pantalones" to refer to the same garment (trousers).

Regards,

Daniel

T0dd:I don't think it's official, but I've heard/seen it used, and it's in ReVo. Note that in Esperanto, unlike English, it's used in the singular.

That's what made me write "brunhara virino", but I think "brunulino" is also used to mean a woman with brown hair, even if she has white skin. In case the distinction is important, of course "brunharulino" or "brunhara virino" will be better.

Liz is short for Elizabeth, and this can be esperantized as Elizabeta, so Liz could be something like Elinja.

BTW, some people esperantize femenine names with -o (Elizabeto, in this case). I don't like it, but it could be influence of my mothertongue (where, with excepcions, masculine names end with -o and femenine with -a). I once read that, e.g., Elizabeta could be interpreted as "Elizabeta ino", where the last word is implied, therefore not being an exception to the rule about nouns ending in -o.

Regards,

Daniel

T0dd:[quote=danielcg
Also, "la maldika brunhara virino" could be simplified as "la maldika brunulino"./quote]I think you'd want "brunharulino" rather than "brunulino", since the latter would suggest a brown-skinned woman. The author doesn't tell us anything about Liz Carlyle's skin color.

Maybe someone will Esperantize her name.

danielcg:
BTW, some people esperantize femenine names with -o (Elizabeto, in this case). I don't like it, but it could be influence of my mothertongue (where, with excepcions, masculine names end with -o and femenine with -a). I once read that, e.g., Elizabeta could be interpreted as "Elizabeta ino", where the last word is implied, therefore not being an exception to the rule about nouns ending in -o.

... and why can't we just leave proper names as they are and avoid this kind of problems?

Anyway, if you use -nj, you definitely have to add -o.

In fact, I am not in favor of translating names at all, but in case we do it, I prefer that femenine names end in -a rather than in -o.

BTW, you can translate my Spanish (in fact, Hebrew) name Daniel to English if you prefer.

Regards,

Daniel

darkweasel:

danielcg:
BTW, some people esperantize femenine names with -o (Elizabeto, in this case). I don't like it, but it could be influence of my mothertongue (where, with excepcions, masculine names end with -o and femenine with -a). I once read that, e.g., Elizabeta could be interpreted as "Elizabeta ino", where the last word is implied, therefore not being an exception to the rule about nouns ending in -o.

... and why can't we just leave proper names as they are and avoid this kind of problems?

Anyway, if you use -nj, you definitely have to add -o.

My translation:
"En la riĉula banĉambrobutiko en Regent's Park Road en Norda Londono, la maldika brunharara virino montris fiksan intereson pri la dissterno da kaheloj. “Ĉu vi bezonas iun helpon?” demandis la juna vira asistanto, kiu vere volis fermi la butikon ĉar estis preskaŭ la sepa horo vespere.

Liz Carlyle sencele pasigis la tempon. Portante sportŝuojn kaj embleman ĝinzon, ŝi aspektis kiel iu de la riĉaj, junaj geedziĝintinoj kiuj en- kaj elmarŝadis la butikojn de endoma dizajno kaj de alta modo de ĉi-regiono en Londono."