Stratigraphic and Tectonic Names
Use of Tenses and Describing Past Events
Avoid the impersonal and do not be too passive
Link words at the beginning of a sentence
Decimals, Commas and Dates
Watch out for the different conventions in French for quoting decimals
and separating the thousands (0,25 for one quarter, and 25.000 for twenty-five
thousand). These rules are the opposite of those used in English-speaking
countries (0.25 and 25,000). To make the numbers easier to read, they may
be divided into groups of three by a space (i.e. 25 000). To add to the
confusion, calendar dates in American usage are generally given in a different
order compared with British English (for example, 9th November 2003 may
also be written as November 9th 2003, and is abbreviated as 09.11.03 in
the United Kingdom and 11.09.03 in the United States).
Scientific Units and Symbols
The symbols and prefixes used in the International System of Units
are codified by the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures; the official
Système International web site in France is:
http://www1.bipm.org/en/si/
For conversion tables, with symbols and abbreviations, see “A Dictionary
of Units” by Frank Tapson (Exeter University, UK), which is available on
line:
http://www.ex.ac.uk/cimt/dictunit/dictunit.htm
A summary table of the most frequently used conversion factors is given
as an annex to this present edition of our dictionary.
A common error in English is "many kms” (plusieurs km), which should
be written "many km" to avoid a conflict with kms = km per second. You
should also be very careful not to mix up the symbols for second and volt
with siemens (electric conductance: S) and sievert (dose equivalent: Sv).
Geographic Names and Locality
In French, l'océan Atlantique; in English: Atlantic Ocean (both
adjectival name and category noun get a capital letter).
Likewise: le bassin de Paris = the Paris Basin, NOT the Paris basin.
Translators sometimes need to consult a map to discover their bearings.
For example, is “au nord du bassin de Paris” within or just outside the
area defined by this sedimentary basin? This problem can be circumvented
by using “the northern part of” or “farther north than”, as the case may
be.
Although the left bank of the Seine is familiar to tourists, English-speaking
people find it more pragmatic to use compass directions (for example, the
South Bank of the Thames).
Stratigraphic and Tectonic Names
In French, Tertiaire inférieur = Lower Tertiary (both name and
adjective get a capital letter): vieux grès rouge = Old Red Sandstone;
Cretaceous System (and Period); Holocene Epoch. The rules of nomenclature
in English are standardized by the I.U.G.S. (see the International Stratigraphic
Chart, which can be downloaded from:
http://www.iugs.org/
Remember that intervals of geological time are subdivided into early,
middle and late, whereas the corresponding rock formations are referred
to as lower, middle and upper.
The names of orogenies are not formalized in the same way as stratigraphic
units, and the modern trend is to speak in terms of the objects (Variscan
belt and Variscides) rather than the episode (Variscan orogeny).
Hyphens
Hyphens are used in English to link together adjectives qualifying a
noun, for example: a grey-green sandstone. However, an adjectival modifier
will eliminate the need for a hyphen, e.g. a greyish green sandstone. When
hyphenated compounds are used very frequently (e.g. beach-ridge, ground-water,
land-mark), there is a natural tendency to combine them as single words.
In this way, we obtain beachridge, groundwater and landmark, which are used
both as adjectives and as nouns. Despite this, some familiar combinations
have remained separate, e.g. sea level and water table. In such cases, a
hyphenated adjective is used to qualify the type of phenomenon or object
involved (i.e. sea-level rise or water-table level).
Common Errors
Accident and accidenté (Fr.) refer to uneven relief or features
generally caused by faulting. Nevertheless, certain types of concretion
are known as “accidents” in French, while a terrain can be described as “accidenté”
even when no faulting is involved. To avoid any misunderstanding, the noun
should NEVER be translated as "accident” in the sense of a chance occurrence.
Actuellement (Fr.) signifies "at the present" or "now". "Presently"
is ambiguous in American English, meaning 'at the present moment", while
in British English, it has the connotation of "soon" or "maybe next week”.
For clarity, use "currently" or “now". The adjective actuel in French should
be translated into English as “current” or “present-day”.
Actual is used in English as an adjective to mean "real" or "true",
whereas the adverb actually is equivalent to “really" or ”in actual fact”.
Actualism in English and actualisme in French mean the same thing,
i.e. the philosophy of using the present as the key for interpreting the
past, but in geology is better to use the classic term “uniformitarianism”.
Altitude (Fr.) means height, elevation or altitude. Altitude (Eng.)
usually refers to atmospheric heights, not land features ("elevation");
e.g. a jet aircraft flies at 9 000 m altitude, over Mt Everest, which has
an elevation of 8 000 m.
Arctic and Antarctic (Eng.) are commonly misspelt in the US as "Artic"
and "Antartic" (where the middle "c" s not pronounced).
Datation (Fr.) should be translated as "dating" in English. In fact,
"datation" is an example of an incorrect loan translation. Other words falling
into this category are “alimentation” and “basculating”, which are erroneously
used in geology instead of “supply” and “tilting”.
Disposer de in French means “to have” or “to keep”, and NOT “to dispose
of”.
Défendre must not be taken to mean “defend” when it really means
“forbid”.
Estimer is often mistranslated as “to estimate”, but it also means “to
consider”.
Eustatisme (Fr.), Eustasy (Eng.): although the suffix -ism often occurs
in philosophical and political terms (e.g. Marxism, Existentialism and
conservatism), it is more rarely used in geology (e.g. Neptunism, Plutonism,
uniformitarianism and metamorphism). Eustasy is based on the Greek word
"stasis" (as in isostasy, which gives the adjective isostatic), so words
with this suffix should NEVER be spelt with a "c", there being no such letter
in the Greek alphabet. Also for reasons of etymology, the noun “analysis”
gives rise to the verb “analyse”, but many authors (and automatic spell checkers)
persist in using “analyze”.
Evidence, évident and évidemment (Fr.) are tricky to handle,
since they imply the existence of an obvious fact. However, English is more
prudent, simply requiring some evidence (often translated as “preuves” in
French) before coming to a conclusion. Bear in mind that nothing is ever
obvious in science, so the reader will prefer to see a statement with “evidently
or clearly” rather than “of course”.
Extension (Fr) in tectonics refers to the distension or stretching suffered
by rocks in a tensional regime. In geography, however, the correct translation
into English is “extent”.
When employed in a geological context, important (Fr.) means "thick",
"considerable". "voluminous " or "major" (practically NEVER “important"
in the English sense).
Intérêt (Fr) should only be translated as “interest” when
dealing with financial matters. In other contexts, it can be taken as meaning
“advantage” or “importance”. For example, a method can be described as “of
interest” if it offers certain advantages. Be careful to translate the antonym
“inconvénient” as “disadvantage” and not “inconvenience”.
Permettre (Fr.) can be translated in many different ways according to
context, but most commonly can be taken in English as “to make possible"
or simply “to lead to": note that “to enable", "to allow" and “to permit”
are more difficult to master, so be prudent.
Présenter (Fr.) may be used in the sense of “to exhibit” a characteristic,
while “to present” a symptom is only used in medicine.
Pétrole (Fr.) is normally the equivalent of petroleum, but can
also be used to designate the refined hydrocarbon fraction known as paraffin
in British English and kerosene in American English. To make matters worse,
petrol in British English is called “gas” in American English.
Precise is not a verb in English: préciser (Fr.) should be translated
as "to specify", “to detail", “to stipulate", or even “to determine”, according
to the context.
Prétendre (Fr.) is a classic false friend, and can NEVER be translated
as “to pretend”. In fact, it means “to claim” or “to maintain”. The correct
translation of “pretend” in French is “faire semblant”.
Réaliser (Fr.) normally means “to carry out,” while “to realize”
refers to the state of becoming aware of something.
Vaste (Fr.) in geology means "broad", "wide", "widespread" or “extensive”
(hardly ever “vast", which is only appropriate for astronomic distances,
or a voluminous amount of material).
Use of Tenses and Describing Past Events
Although the present tense can make history come alive, it is usually
clearer to use the simple past when describing a sequence of events. For
example: “the sediments were laid down during the Cretaceous, when dinosaurs
roamed the Earth”.
The translation of “depuis” poses a considerable problem, because it
can be rendered as “since”, “from” or “for” according to how the event is
defined (from a specific point in time, or over a given duration). Thus,
we should say: “No dinosaurs could be found because they had been extinct
since the end of the Cretaceous”. When the event takes place intermittently
or over some interval of time, it is more logical to use “during” (“pendant”
or “au cours de” in French) as in the example: “Dinosaurs roamed the Earth
during the Cretaceous”. However, “dinosaurs began to roam the Earth from Jurassic
times onwards” is translated as “les dinosaurs ont commencé à
errer sur la Terre à partir du Jurassique”.
Avoid the impersonal and do not be too passive
The author(s) of a scientific article in English accept responsibility
by using the first person, and should not hide behind the passive voice.
Use the passive voice when the agent is unknown, or if you prefer to remain
vague about the responsibility.
Link words at the beginning of a sentence
It is good style to place link words at the beginning of a sentence
- followed by a comma - when there is a clear relation with the preceding
sentence or a following clause (for example: However, … Moreover, … Finally,
… Thus, …). In English, “since” can express a logical or a time relationship,
which explains why some editors insist on replacing it with “as” to avoid
the perceived ambiguity. However, the context should indicate which sense
is intended, so it is better to choose “since” or “because” rather than risk
confusion with constructions using “as”.
Expressing possession
Genitives with apostrophes and idiomatic contractions should be avoided
in scientific discourse (except in technical terms such as Pelee's hair,
Stokes' law, etc.). So be careful to avoid the famous “electrocution’s danger”,
and remember that inanimate objects and abstract concepts prefer the construction
with “of”.
Abstract vs. concrete
A number of concepts in French are translated as objects in English
(e.g. "volcanisme" in French is often the equivalent of "volcanic rocks"
in English, but can be taken as meaning “volcanic activity” or even “volcanicity”).
This can lead to confusion between object and process, for example “magmatisme”
could be either a plutonic igneous suite or an episode of igneous activity.
An orogeny corresponds to a mountain-building episode that occurs in
some part of the Earth’s crust (such as the Variscan orogeny). In French,
this concept is translated by “orogenèse”, which covers not only
the general process itself but also the formation of specific mountain belts.
Strictly speaking, the process of mountain building should be called orogenesis
(or diastrophism), whereas the result is an orogenic belt or an orogen. The
outdated concept of the “orogenic cycle” is based on the theory of geosynclines,
and should now be avoided in translation. It is better to use terms such
as “deformational phase”, “tectonometamorphic event” or “tectonic activity”.
False friends
Beware of the difficulties caused by "false friends" in both languages.
For example, "schist" (Eng.) is equivalent to "schiste cristallin" (Fr.),
while "schiste" or “schiste argileux” in French should be translated as
"shale" in English. It is usually possible to avoid such pitfalls by referring
to the definitions of terms. In this dictionary, we give explanatory notes
to take account of this type of problem. From careful comparison of entries
in the English-French and French-English sections, it can be seen that "shaly"
does not have the same sense as "schisteux", and should be rendered as ''argileux".
An example of a double-crossing false friend is the term “phyllite” in
English, which designates a rock type corresponding to “phyllade” in French,
whereas “phyllite” in French denotes a mineral belonging to the sheet silicates.
Even within a particular subject area, the reader will find that some
words have several meanings in one language, but only one in the other.
For example, outside the domain of taxation, “abatement” in English refers
to methods for controlling or lowering some quantity. In French, on the
other hand, “abattement” can be the method for achieving this reduction as
well as the amount involved. Thus, we talk about noise abatement, but measure
the flux depletion (of nitrates, for example) due to pollution control.
During the different phases of revision of this dictionay, numerous terms were checked against records in a database (GEOBASE) developed by Dr M.S.N. CARPENTER. This database is available from "European Language Resource Association -Distribution Agency", 87, avenue d'Italie, 75013 PARIS
Main sources used for the compilation of terminological records:
CILF, Banque des Mots 8 et 25 (Géotechnique; Glissements de terrains) CILF, Banque des Mots 30 (Vocabulaire de la sismologie) CILF, Banque des Mots 37 (Erosion - Transport - Sédimentation : RAMPON) CILF, Banque des Mots 39 (Nodules polymétalliques : JÄGER) CILF, Banque des Mots 44 (Vocabulaire de la sismologie) CILF, Banque des Mots 44 (Vocabulaire de la tectonique: NICOLAS) CILF, Vocabulaire de l'Hydrologie et de la Météorologie, 1978 CILF, Vocabulaire de la Géomorphologie, 1979 CILF, Dictionnaire de l'Environnement, 1992 MERLE, 1994 - "Nappes et chevauchements..." Editions Masson ROUTLEDGE, 1994 - French Technical Dictionary, vol 1 French-English
ALLABY & ALLABY, 1990 - Concise Oxford Dictionary of Earth Sciences - Oxford University Press CARA, 1989 - "Géophysique", Editions Dunod FOUCAULT & RAOULT, 1995 - Dictionnaire de Géologie, Editions Masson GILLULY et al., 1968 - "Principles of Geology", Freeman GRAU, 1994 - Glossaire des principaux termes techniques de la prospection sismique, Éditions Technip HARRAP'S Science Dictionary, 1985 HILLS, 1963 - "Elements of Structural Geology", Methuen HOLMES, 1965 - "Principles of Physical Geology", Nelson LE PETIT ROBERT, 1972 - Société du Nouveau Littré LONGMAN Dictionary of the English Language, 1993 MOUREAU & BRACE, 1993 - Dictionnaire des sciences et techniques du pétrole, Éditions Technip MICHEL & FAIRBRIDGE, 1992 - Dictionnaire des Sciences de la Terre