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cadres territoriaux
pédieux
Mar 30, 2017 01:19
7 yrs ago
11 viewers *
French term

Hôtel Communal

French to English Social Sciences Government / Politics
This is from a document on decentralization in Haiti. It is listed in contrast to "Hôtel de ville," but I can only seem to find the same definition for both. How else could this be translated so that they are different?

 Différence entre Collectivité Communale et Mairie
 Différence entre Hôtel de ville et Hôtel Communal
 Organes de la CTC et leurs rôles
 Organisation et fonctionnement de l’Hôtel Communal

 Difference between Municipal Authority and Town Hall
 Difference between Town Hall (building) and Hôtel Communal
 CTC bodies and their roles
 Organization and functioning of the Hotel Communal
Proposed translations (English)
3 Municipal Office, Local Council Office
4 rural district council office
3 Rural Council Office
References
Dictionnaire géographique et administratif

Discussion

Nikki Scott-Despaigne Mar 30, 2017:
I think the solution lies in deciding what terms you are going to use for "ville" and "commune" and adapting those terms to fit. Indeed, you have already done so with "Collectivité Communale". As long as you are consistent throughout, your final translation will make sense.
Hôtel de Ville = Town Hall
Hôtel Communal = M.... Hall

Proposed translations

2 days 12 hrs
Selected

Municipal Office, Local Council Office

In my opinion, once you have used "municipal" with "authority" I think you need to use the same term for the "htôtel". I don't like "communal hall" though, as it depends upon your target reader knowing what a "commune" mean in this context. They may, they may not. "Municipal" or "Council" seem fairly clear. Also, I don't like "hall" which I had first suggested here, as "hall" for "hôtel" loses the notion of "office" as it could simply be a local hall that could back(mis)translate to "salle polyvalente".

On the choice of "rural" which has appeared in a couple of suggestions, there are "Hôtel Communal" which are not necessarily rural.

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Note added at 2 days12 hrs (2017-04-01 14:02:12 GMT)
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By way of example, check out this photo of a Hôtel Communal which is in the south of a town in Haiti https://www.facebook.com/312318759550/photos/a.1015019668393...

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Note added at 2 days12 hrs (2017-04-01 14:04:36 GMT)
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https://www.google.fr/search?q="hôtel communal" haiti&source...
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you. I used municipal office."
8 hrs

Rural Council Office

"Communal" is usually a village as opposed to a "town hall" but "village hall" sounds too Cotswolds. I would translate it as "Village Hall" for a group of Oxfordshire worthies.
Peer comment(s):
neutral B D Finch : The town I live in is the departmental capital, but we still have (besides the Hotel de Ville) the offices of the Communauté de Communes, i.e. our (town) commune and the communes of various surrounding villages.
6 hrs
neutral Nikki Scott-Despaigne : This is Haiti and there are photos of "Hôtel Communal" which are not in rural settings.
2 days 4 hrs
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1 day 7 hrs

rural district council office

"rural council office" is okay, but "rural district council office" would make it clear that the reference is to the main office of a rural district council rather than a council office which is in a rural area.
Peer comment(s):
neutral AllegroTrans : "rural district councils" (which were abolished in 1974) were a particularly British entity. I think it is wrong to try to "localise" in this fashion.
6 hrs
neutral Nikki Scott-Despaigne : "District council office" would probably be more accurate. The HC in Haiti are not necesarily in rural areas. Some are just simply on the outer edges of towns.
1 day 5 hrs
This makes good sense to me. "District council office" sounds right.
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Reference comments

38 mins
Reference:

Dictionnaire géographique et administratif

You may want to check this "Dictionnaire géographique et administratif universel d'Haïti illustré Tome 2"

https://issuu.com/scduag/docs/sch13009
Peer comments on this reference comment:
agree AllegroTrans
1 day 22 hrs
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