[Translators-l] Translate "Wikimedia Foundation" or not?

habj sweetadelaide at gmail.com
Sun Dec 31 15:56:38 UTC 2006


2006/12/31, Gianluigi Gamba <gigamb at tin.it>:

> In Italian it's left as it is most of the times, also for avoiding
> misunderstanding related to the slightly different legal definitions of
> a "foundation" is the US and a "fondazione" in Italy.
> Should it be translated, it should be more correctly specified that
> Wikimedia is a "foundation according the US law" ("fondazione di diritto
> statunitense").

Unlike you, most of us people who try to translate probably don't
really have a clue about what our local laws consider a foundation,
and how this differs to the US definition. I certainly don't. I get
this kind of problem over and over again, when we get to terms that
are financial or  legal, regarding the WMF - the systems are so
different in the different countries. Even if I ask a Swede who is
informed about the field in Swedish context, he or she might not be
able to help me choose the right word because there is no direct
equivalent. I guess this is the same for most of the European
countries; for the rest of the world I have no clue.


2006/12/31, Brion Vibber <brion at pobox.com>:

> Well, being a foundation and being a non-commercial company are not
> mutually exclusive.

That sounds strange to my ears - but then this is not my field at all.
You've explained in enough, I think, for me to use the translated
version more happily than I have (I have avoided it for some time).


2006/12/30, A. Özgür Erdemli <dbl2010 at gmail.com>:
> In Turkish I translated it but also wrote the original name in parenthesis
> only one tıme where ıt fırst appears. Like:
> Wikimedia Vakfı (Wikimedia Foundation)
> then
> "Wikimedia Vakfı" on rest of the text.

I really like this solution! and I will probably copy it, at least for
now. Since it clearly shows how the Turkish/Swedish/whatever name is
not the actual name but merely a translation, the conclusion that
there might possibly be some legal differences is there for the reader
to make if he or she is concerned about such matters.

/habj


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