Aug 15, 2009 08:49
14 yrs ago
Hungarian term

Béla Colony

Hungarian to English Art/Literary Tourism & Travel
I have an English text about Budapest, in which there are some names (most probably place names) with the word "Colony", e.g., Béla Colony, Bókay Colony, Erzsébet Colony, Ganz Colony, etc. Could someone help me with the word "Colony"? Does it mean neighborhood, community? Or is it something else?

Thank you.

Discussion

Henrik Pipoyan (asker) Aug 16, 2009:
You were very helpful Many thanks to everyone for help and interesting information.
Janos Fazakas Aug 15, 2009:
telep Indeed this a Hungarian, not an English word. There is no 100% equivalent word in English, but the French call it "cartier". Probably the English "neighborhood" comes closest to this
Henrik Pipoyan (asker) Aug 15, 2009:
Hi Katalin,

Thank you, but could you please explain what "telep" means? I don't seem to have heard such an English word. Maybe you could give some approximate match in English or Russian? If this is the Hungarian for "colony", than maybe I'd better use the word neighborhood.
László Zsák Aug 15, 2009:
János is right. it's a smaller, or bigger group of living quarters with same size, quality etc. Maybe a dwelling, a habitation community usually built, maintained and rented by the employer or the municipality.
Janos Fazakas Aug 15, 2009:
colony I think the Ganz name may hold the answer. In the old times, various companies (such as Ganz), built houses for their employees, so the text may refer to some of these. Still, the use of "colony" in this context seems strange to me. I guess the original text was some other language than HUngarian. Just a wild guess.

Proposed translations

+1
9 hrs
Selected

Béla telep - (housing) estate

The translation as "colony" is useless.

The English equivalent is estate, in the municipal, not rural sense. They were designed and built as a unit, (hence the sameness of the buildings and dwellings) for a company, municipality or charitable institution. Because of their planned development, they often show a distinct road pattern as well.

There are similar estates from the past in England, like the Peabody Estates in London, built by the Peabody Fund started in the 1860-s, now the Peabody Trust, or Bournville, a village built by the Cadburys of Cadbury chocolate fame for their employees.

Nowadays the council housing estates are built in similar fashion.

In Budapest, there are a number of these estates. The ones you mentioned are all there, but it is difficult to find relevant information about them on the internet.
The Ganz-telep is a spin-off; a garden suburb - "Ganzkertváros" - was established for the Ganz factory workers in the 1920-s, and those who did not manage to get a plot there, participated in the second wave of building on the area now called Ganz-telep.

Here is another well-known estate, Wekerle-telep.
hungarystartshere.com/Wekerle-Estate-Wekerle-telep-Budapest
with more pictures here:
www.sulinet.hu/eletestudomany/archiv/1998/.../wekerle.html
This estate has a distinct, centralised square layout
Peer comment(s):

agree Peter Szabo (X)
49 days
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you, you were very helpful!"
+1
5 hrs

Béla Settlement

Just a synonym for "colony", imho better fitting in this context than "neighbourhood".
Peer comment(s):

agree Peter Szabo (X)
49 days
Something went wrong...
+2
2 hrs

Béla-telep

Bókay-telep, Erzsébet-telep etc.


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 hrs (2009-08-15 16:27:03 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Erzsébet-telep, Béla-telep etc . are geographical names in Hungarian so they should not have been translated into English. In Russian it is ’posjolok’ or ’kolonia’.
Peer comment(s):

agree valderby
4 hrs
Köszönöm!
agree Peter Szabo (X)
49 days
Köszönöm.
Something went wrong...
+1
8 hrs

lakótelep

In English: apartment complex, condominium complex, (gated) community, subdivision, etc.
Peer comment(s):

agree Peter Szabo (X)
49 days
Something went wrong...
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search