May 5, 2017 22:40
7 yrs ago
French term
amené à un état de fragilité pulvérulente
French to English
Art/Literary
Archaeology
ancient art
Hi yet again!
DOC: 1907 Museum catalog of ancient Egyptian mirrors. Catalog entry.
CONTEXT: 44047. Manche de miroir. - Ivoire. - (pl. XIII). CONSERVATION. Intact dans l'ensemble et parfaitement conservé au point de vue des formes, mais ***amené à un état de fragilité pulvérulente*** qui en rend le maniement difficile. Peu de fissures pourtant. Le rebord de la coiffure est écorné du côté gauche.
ATTEMPT: Largely intact and perfectly preserved from the point of view of the forms, but ***reduced to a state of powdery/pulverulent fragility*** which makes handling difficult.
ISSUE: What does this mean and how can I translate this intelligibly?
Thanks in advance!
DOC: 1907 Museum catalog of ancient Egyptian mirrors. Catalog entry.
CONTEXT: 44047. Manche de miroir. - Ivoire. - (pl. XIII). CONSERVATION. Intact dans l'ensemble et parfaitement conservé au point de vue des formes, mais ***amené à un état de fragilité pulvérulente*** qui en rend le maniement difficile. Peu de fissures pourtant. Le rebord de la coiffure est écorné du côté gauche.
ATTEMPT: Largely intact and perfectly preserved from the point of view of the forms, but ***reduced to a state of powdery/pulverulent fragility*** which makes handling difficult.
ISSUE: What does this mean and how can I translate this intelligibly?
Thanks in advance!
Proposed translations
(English)
| 2 +3 | in a very fragile condition that risks disintegration |
Tony M
|
| 5 | brought to a delicate powdery state |
Mardochée Tamafo
|
| 3 | (has become) liable to crumble |
ormiston
|
Proposed translations
+3
8 hrs
Selected
in a very fragile condition that risks disintegration
Since I doubt it would literally 'turn to dust', but rather 'break into many small pieces', perhaps 'disintegrate' would help you here? Remember if it did break up, it would no longer be 'intègre'.
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Note added at 8 heures (2017-05-06 07:35:31 GMT)
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Or 'is in danger of...'
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Note added at 8 heures (2017-05-06 07:35:31 GMT)
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Or 'is in danger of...'
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
writeaway
: see dbox.
2 hrs
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Thanks, W/A!
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| agree |
Daryo
: wait long enough and some of these finds might literally "turn into dust" when you touch them, as in: "A race is on to unlock more secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls before they turn into dust. ..." http://www.catholic.org/news/hf/faith/story.php?id=67517
4 hrs
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Merci, Daryo ! Yes, indeed...
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| neutral |
ormiston
: slight grammatical quibble : it's not its condition that 'risks disintegration', but the object itself
6 hrs
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Thanks! I was actually thinking of 'risks disintegration of the object if handled'; better 'risks the object's disintegrating if handled'.
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| agree |
Christopher Crockett
: "Friable" works, but it's not used all that often. Whats positive about "friable"? It's inherently weak and fragile, isn't it?
2 days 7 hrs
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Thanks, Christopher! Only personally ever encountered 'friable' with a positive connotation, never thought of it like this. / Gardening: "good, friable loam"
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you!"
15 hrs
(has become) liable to crumble
Or turn into dust as Daryo says
23 hrs
Mardochée Tamafo
Cameroon
Cameroon
Native in French
Cameroon
The best I offer is yours
Native in: French (Variants: Canadian, Swiss, Belgian, Cameroon, Standard-France, African) 
Works in: English to French, French to English, Spanish to French, and 1 more.
brought to a delicate powdery state
To a very fragile state so that only a touch managed wrongly, could spoil all the object
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Tony M
: 'powdery' suggests it is already covered in powder, and 'deicate' isn't really the right register for 'fragile'; and 'brought to' isn't at all idiomatic in EN; in fact, the use of 'amener' in FR is arguably the most problematic part of this sentence.
26 mins
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| neutral |
Christopher Crockett
: That's the sens of it; but, as Tony points out, the object is not *yet* in that state --it's only "potentially powdery" (if handled).
1 day 17 hrs
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Discussion
If you think this is a good translation, please feel free to propose it as an answer yourself as I need confirmation and someone should take credit for the guidance!
Friable = easily crumbled or reduced to powder; crumbly: friable rock.
Friability = the condition of being friable, describes the tendency of a solid substance to break into smaller pieces under duress or contact, especially by rubbing.
It does seem to be used for metals as well as stones and ores.