This site uses cookies.
Some of these cookies are essential to the operation of the site,
while others help to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used.
For more information, please see the ProZ.com privacy policy.
Spanish to English translations [PRO] Science - Geography
Spanish term or phrase:litoral del Paraguay
Hi,
I can't find any English references to this area in Paraguay and hoping someone can help me. :o)
litoral del Paraguay
Una de las características geográficas del Chaco es la presencia del litoral del Paraguay, una franja de hasta 100 km de anchura, la cual engloba parte del departamento Alto Paraguay.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 1 day53 mins (2014-08-01 09:31:34 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
the strip of land up to 100 Km wide bordering the Paraguay River
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 1 day56 mins (2014-08-01 09:34:20 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
I didn't want to use "floodplain" because if this is the area I think it is, then half the floodplain of the river would be in Brazil as the Paraguay is forming the border. You could say the same about "banks" as the opposite bank would be in another country
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 7 days (2014-08-07 12:04:09 GMT) Post-grading --------------------------------------------------
*Keep in mind*: If you look at the map, more than half the river runs through the middle of Paraguay, so I don't think it's worth worrying about the Brazilian side on the north. And it's still a floodplain in that case, just the western half of it.
If no one wants to post this answer, I will. I think it's the best of all that have been suggested (and I read the entire thread).
I know its no longer relevant, but what bothers me is that in Donal's reference it says ""El Chaco es una llanura plana de formación aluvional," and then in the next sentence "que es plana y boscosa, relativamente alta y no sujeta a inundaciones." Or is it just no longer subject to flooding?
As someone who supported the option you've finally chosen, I think it's Gallagy's call, since she said it first, albeit initially as an explanation rather than an answer. Opinions vary on whether second thoughts count, but one feasible option would be to select Gallagy's answer and put the chosen translation ("bordering" rather "banks of") as the glossary entry. Personally I think that would be fair. Or Gallagy could post another answer.
Firstly, thank you all for the effort you have put in on this. :o) In the end I've decided to steer clear of littoral and coast as the main aim of the text is to be accessible and understandable to the widest possible audience, and this may cause confusion. For this reason I'm plumping for your "bordering the river" suggestions. However, nobody has actually put this forward as an option. If someone would like to do so, I will be very happy to award them the points, although, in this case I wish they could be given to everyone who has spent time on the question.
Seriously psychic! I was typing just that at same time. Back to the future since that's what I started with. Also see my reservations about floodplain which I did consider at the very beginning but decided against...
That last quotation casts serious doubt on "floodplain" as a translation here. I thought it seemed risky. I wonder whether something descriptive like "strip of land bordering the Paraguay River" is the way to go. Or just "area bordering...".
Nothing in what you have quoted indicates that the Chaco extends east of the Paraguay river, and it definitely doesn't. About 61% of the territory of Paraguay lies west of the river and the rest lies east of it.
The drainage basin of the Paraguay river is definitely much more than 100 km wide. It can't mean that.
So they're talking about the Paraguayan part of Chaco (b) in my list: the whole of Paraguay west of the Paraguay river, comprising Alto Paraguay, Presidente Hayes and Boquerón.
As I say, I think it's quite likely that "litoral" here means floodplain, and I came close to posting "floodplain of the Paraguay river" as an answer, but what held me back is that I would have thought the floodplain of the Paraguay is more than 100 km wide, so it may be that "litoral" is not the whole of the floodplain but just the part near the river. Maybe "litoral" with an explanatory note is the only way out of this.
In other words, Chaco (c) was the southern bit of present Alto Paraguay, adjoining the Paraguay River.
3. El Paraguay can be either the country or the river. I am virtually 100% certain that here it means the river. So on that I agree with Gallagy, who is the only person who has interpreted it in that sense.
It seems unlikely that "Litoral del Paraguay" is a toponym; if it were, I think one of us would have found it by now. (Donal's Litoral Central eco-region doesn't fit the context, in my opinion.) So I think it's being used generically, and means the litoral (in the Paraguayan/Argentine/Uruguayan sense) of the Paraguay river.
What to call it? If it's up to 100 km wide it's not the bank; it's much, much more extensive than that. As I say, I don't think you can call it the littoral, and you certainly can't call it the coast. I'm inclined to think Wendy's right and that it's the floodplain, but I can't prove that it's precisely that.
1. "Litoral", of course, normally means a coastal zone, that is, an area by a sea. But in this part of South America it means: "I. m. Py, Ar, Ur. Orilla o franja de tierra al lado de los ríos" (Diccionario de americanismos). Littoral, in English, means what litoral normally means in Spanish: a an area adjoining a sea or lake. I agree with you, Chris, that properly used it can't be applied to an area adjoining a river.
2. Chaco: this can denote: (a) a province of Argentina; (b) a large area of South America bounded by the Andes to the west and the Paraguay river to the east, including a bit of Mato Grosso in Brazil, a lot of Bolivia, the whole of western Paraguay and a biggish chunk of north-eastern Argentina. This is the Gran Chaco, subdivided into Chaco Boreal, Chaco Central and Chaco Austral. The Chaco Paraguayo is the whole western part of Paraguay, consisting nowadays of the departamentos of Alto Paraguay (north), Presidente Hayes (south-east) and Boquerón (west). The first two adjoin the Paraguay river; the third doesn't. (c) Chaco is also the name of a former departamento of Paraguay, incorporated into Alto Paraguay in 1992. (Continued.)
It seems to have lost the general "next to" idea as used in Latin languages. The text I am working on is from the EU aimed at a global audience. For this reason I question the use of "coast" in English, as I am not even sure what the "coast" of a river includes - the banks? The floodplain, as Wendy suggests?
FYI I have now come across references to the "litoral" of the Rio Uruguay, as well. I think this may be a cultural issue as to what we understand by coast, or littoral zone. As a UK geologist, I immediately think of the seaside. :o/
Again, I thank you all for your input and hope I can be of equal help some time. :o)
Haha, after the extensive reading of wiki's take on LAC that I've done over the last few weeks, I know there's a lot out there that needs editing! ;o)
For this particular publication only SCI journal refs will do! :o)
In all seriousness, I thank you all for fighting your respective corners, that's very healthy, but I'm going to wait for Paraguay to come on line before I make any decisions.
I tend towards the opinion that "littoral" is automatically associated with the sea, and if I use it I will mention the fact that here it isn't. However, I just came across the line "En esta zona se encuentra el estero más extenso del Paraguay: el estero Patiño." Again, I though estuaries emptied into the sea...
Whoever wrote this clearly needs a week in Marina D'Or. :o)
Paraguay doesn't have much of a littoral area to speak of except for the rivers, and it's often just lumped in with Argentina. The wikipedia refs are reputable enough for me... but it's not my call.
Normally I wouldn't hesitate to use this word, but we're talking a strip 100km wide. Also, I haven't managed to find a single reference in English to the littoral zone in Paraguay (or similar)... :o/
Find me one reputable reference and I'll go for it! :o)
By the looks of it, not just the River Paraguay but an area that comprises other rivers that are part of the same system. It's not a province or district, but an unofficial designation.
