Generalitat de Catalunya

Departament d’Interior,

Relacions Institucionals i Participació

Secretaria de Seguretat

EUROSTAT GRANT, TRANSLATING AND TESTING

A VICTIMISATION SURVEY MODULE

TRANSLATION REPORT

DECEMBER, 2008

Introduction

The Ministry of Institutional Relations and Participation of the Generalitat (Autonomous Government) of Catalonia is presenting two translations of the survey: one in Catalan and one in Spanish. Due to the fact that one part of the population of Catalonia prefers to express themselves in Catalan while the other part prefers to express themselves in Spanish, it has been necessary to have two translations, in accordance with the agreement. Nevertheless, for comparative purposes, it has been decided that the translation into Catalan is to be as similar as possible to the oneinto Spanish which was translated by the National Statistics Institute (INE) of Madrid. The two versions are practically identical, the only difference being the question order (the Catalan version is closer to the initial order) and some question modifications according to regional or autonomous differences.

  1. General questions

In this section, some general featuresare included that are necessary to take into account before undertaking any translation and which have been markedly important in this particular case.

a) Form of address. We have to decide how we are going to address the reader. There is only one option in English, so it is our job to choose the form of address. Once chosen, it is necessary to be consistent and to use the same form throughout the text. In this case, we opted for the polite singular form vostè, a form often used in these types of texts in Catalan.

b) Use of personal pronouns. In English, it is necessary to use a pronoun before each verb. In Catalan, however, we must avoid repeating unnecessary and awkward pronouns when it is clear who we are referring to from the verb form. The use of unnecessary personal pronouns has been avoided during this survey.

c) Gender distinction. In contrast to English where noun distinction is rarely made regarding masculine and feminine gender, it is necessary to make this distinction in Catalan whereby we need to clarify whether we refer to a male,a female, or males and females. All of the questions and answers in the survey have the four options (when applicable): feminine singular, feminine plural, masculine singular and masculine plural.

Examples: (words) married – casat/da, friend – amic/ga, widowed – vidu/a, divorced – divorciat/da, respondent – entrevistat/da, interviewer – enquestador/a; (phrases) single and never married – solter/a i mai heu estat casat/da, fear of going out on your own – por de sortir sol/a.

  1. Specific features of the EU victimisation Survey translation

a) Translating crime types- On many occasions, it was necessary to develop the translation to adjust it completely to the original; on other occasions,we had to use a word from the same semantic family to distinguish between various terms.

Examples:

  • Crime – delicte. While ‘crim’ is a correct translation, in the majority of cases we found that ‘delicte’ was the more suitable option and more widely used in Catalan. Nevertheless, we chose ‘crim’ when referring to ‘prevenció del crim’ (prevention of crime).
  • Offender – delinqüent. This form is much more widespread and standard than its synonym ‘ofensor’.
  • Misuser.In this context, the translation would be ‘delinqüent’; nevertheless, in the two cases that it appears in the text, we were able to omit it to avoid the unnecessary use of two subjects in one phrase.
  • Burglary – robatori a la llar. In this case, it was necessary to provide more information to clarify the crime type.
  • Burglar – lladre. When this term was used, it was not necessary to be more explanatory as it was clear from the context that the offender had broken in to houses. (D7).
  • Robbery – robatori. This term is as general in the Catalan as it is in the English version (section D).
  • Theft – furt. This is a more minor robbery (wallets, handbags, etc.), which is why we found a term that would make this difference even if it is from the same semantic group.
  • Pickpocketing – furts de carteres; following the same guidelines as above (C54).
  • Pickpocket – carterista
  • To touch sexually – fer tocaments. In Catalan, it already has a sexual connotation and does not need to be explained in more detail (Q1).
  • Stalk – vigilar. This verb means to watch someone; nevertheless, it is not very clear and we chose ‘vigilar’ instead which, in the context, leaves no doubt that it refers to a type of assault.

b) Translating cultural references- In the text, there are educational, legal and social references from the country of the source language that do not make sense in our country. In these cases, we adapted the term or simply omitted it.

Examples:

  • (A15)

1- Primary education

2- Lower secondary education

3- Upper secondary education

4- Post secondary education, non-university

5- University, first degree

6- University, second degree

1. Menys de 5 anys d’escolarització i sense estudis

2. Educació primària

3. ESO, Batxillerat elemental, i FP grau mitjà (o FP1)

4. Batxillerat superior o LOGSE (BUP, COU) i FP2

5. Cicles Formatius de Grau Superior; educació post secundaria no universitària

5. Estudis universitaris de primer cicle (diplomat, enginyer tècnic, arquitecte tècnic)

6. Estudis universitaris de segon cicle (llicenciat, enginyer superior, arquitecte superior)

  • (C3) moped, scooter or motorcycle – ciclomotor o motocicleta. These are the two variants that we have.
  • (C7) summer cottage – casa d’estiueig. ‘Cottage’ is in fact the traditional British country house and could be translated as ‘masia’. Nevertheless, this translation did not seem suitable to us in the context as it would be too restrictive.
  • (R17) health centre – ambulatori. This could also be translated as ‘centre de salut’, butwe considered ‘ambulatori’ to be the more widespread and standard term.
  • (D10) bank card –we did not translate this term as there is no equivalent in Catalan. We left it as just ‘targeta de crèdit’ and ‘targeta de dèbit’ (credit card, debit card).
  • (D30) criminal liability claim form – this would be ‘certificat d’antecedents penals’, but we did not translate the term as it does not correspond to the real situation in our country.
  • (E53) apply for a driving licence – treure’s el permís de conduir. Here we do not apply for our driving licences. We do an exam. As a result, we adapted the translation to our culture.
  • (Q5) landlord – el/la propietari/a de la casa on viviu. Here we developed the term as it was necessary to provide more information to include its full semantic content.
  • (Q32) written document – còpia de la denúncia. This was adapted to the process followed when reporting a crime.
  • (Q32) crime number – número de denúncia. This was adapted to the process followed when reporting a crime.

c) Others - There are cases when two terms in the source language were translated by one term in the target language simply because it was unnecessary to provide more information or because there is no equivalent in Catalan. In other cases, the situation was the reverse.

Examples:

  • city/town – ciutat
  • workmate or colleague – company/a de feina
  • client or customer – client
  • boat – barca, vaixell
  1. Cultural adaptations

For remaining adaptations, it was decided to modify the wording of the attached questions as an appendix to adapt them to the institutional and cultural environment in Catalonia:

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Generalitat de Catalunya

Departament d’Interior,

Relacions Institucionals i Participació

Secretaria de Seguretat

NOTES FOR THE EUROSTAT EU VICTIMISATION SURVEY TRANSLATION REPORT

QUESTION / ORIGINAL PHRASING / COMMENTS
A4/A6/E6 / In which country were you born?/ In which country were they born?/ Did this happen: / A quin país va néixer?/ A quin país van néixer?/ On li va passar?
  1. A Catalunya
  2. A la resta d'Espanya
  3. A l'estranger A quin país?......
/ The question was translated literally, but different answering options are provided to adapt it to the State’s political structure
A7 / What is your present country of citizenship? / Quina és actualment la seva ciutadania o nacionalitat?
  1. Espanyola
  2. Una altra. Especificar:______
  3. Ambdues

A8 / Are you currently:
1 Married or in a registered partnership,
2 Widowed,
3 Divorced, or
4 Single and never married? / Actualment està:
  1. Conviu amb parella (Casat/da o parella de fet)
  2. Vidu/a
  3. Divorciat/da / Separat
  4. Solter/a (i no conviu en parella)
/ Answering options are provided in accordance with the social situation in Catalonia
A12 / Are you at the moment:
…
5. Pupil, student, in further training, unpaid work experience,
…
8 In compulsory military or non-military service, / En aquest moment vostè és:
…
  1. Alumne, estudiant, en pràctiques o té treball no remunerat
…
  1. Servei militar obligatori o servei no militar
/ Option 8 was omitted as it does not correspond to the current situation
A16 / If you add up the income from work after deduction for tax, and other obligatory expenses, and the income from social benefits for all the members of your household, is your household’s combined monthly income below, above, or about / D'acord amb la mitjana d'ingressos de les llars de Catalunya, considera que la seva llar està per sota, per sobre o a la mitjana? / The question was simplified to make it more comprehensible
B2 / 10 Use car when go out / 10. Utilitza algun vehicle quan surt / The word car was substituted for a more general vehicle to include motorbikes, mopeds, etc.
C8 / Is the second home in <NAME OF THE COUNTRY IN WHICH THE INTERVIEW TAKES PLACE> or abroad?
1 In <NAME OF THE COUNTRY IN WHICH THE INTERVIEW TAKES PLACE>
2 Abroad. Which country? ______
3 Both in <NAME OF THE COUNTRY IN WHICH THE INTERVIEW TAKES PLACE> and abroad. Which country? ______/ Aquesta segona residència és a CATALUNYA, a la resta de l’Estat o a l'estranger?
(POSSIBLE RESPOSTA MÚLTIPLE)
  1. A CATALUNYA
  2. A la resta de l’Estat
  3. A l'estranger. A quin país? ______
(ESCOLLIR D'UN DESPLEGABLE FACILITAT AMB UN LLISTAT DE PAÏSOS) / Adapted to the social situation in Catalonia
Sections 1,2,3 / 1 THEFT OF CAR
2 THEFT FROM CAR
3 CAR DAMAGE / 1. Robatori del cotxe
2. Robatori de l’interior del cotxe
3. Destrosses al cotxe / While the survey is thorough, it does not include motorbike, moped and bicycle theft or damage.
R17/Q27/
Q53 / Did you visit a doctor, health centre or hospital because of the incident?
1 Hospital
2 Doctor, health centre or other health care institution
3 No / Va anar al metge, a un ambulatori o a un hospital?
  1. Hospital
  2. Metge, ambulatori o una altra institució mèdica
  3. No

D3 / (The last time) did this < CRIME TYPE> happen in your own home, near your own home, elsewhere in your city or local area, elsewhere in the country or did it happen abroad?
1 In your own home
2 Near your own home
3 Elsewhere in your city or local area
4 Elsewhere in the country
5 Abroad, in which country? ______
/ (L’última vegada) aquest <TIPUS DELICTE> va passar a casa seva, a prop de casa seva, a una altra part de la seva població, a una altra part del país o a l'estranger?
  1. A casa seva
  2. A prop de casa seva (al seu veïnat, pel seu barri)
  3. A una altra part de la seva població o del seu entorn
  4. A una altra part de Catalunya
  5. A la resta de l’Estat
  6. A l'estranger. Especificar: ______

D4 / Where did the last incident take place?
....
7 In a car / On va passar l'últim fet?
....
7. A un vehicle (cotxe, furgoneta, camió)
D10 / What item or items were actually stolen?
…
  1. Parts of dwelling or other building (e.g., windows, doors)
/ Quin/s objecte o objectes li van robar?
...
51. Parts de l'habitatge o altres edificis de l’edifici (p. ex. finestres, portes) / Option 51 was removed as it is considered to be the same as options 60-63
E20 / In the last five years has someone – when delivering a service to you – cheated in terms of quantity or quality of the services, or left you totally without the service you had paid for? / Durant els últims 5 anys, quan li han venut algun servei l’han estafat en termes de quantitat o de qualitat (per exemple l’han estafat en alguna reparació, o en la compra d’algun servei informàtic o d’un viatge), o no li han lliurat el servei pel qual havia pagat? / Service examples were added (in accordance with services specified in question E25) to make the question more comprehensible
G Violence / incident / incident / This refers to incidences that affect personal safety

The format, verb tenses and concepts used in all of the questions have been homogenised where they have the same formulation at different times or in different sections.

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