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Translation question
Reading Tissot's Traité des Nerf et leurs maladies (1800) originally published in the 18th century I came upon this clause: "que ces tuyaux charient le fluide préparé dans le cerveau. While the meaning seemed clear from the context I was not able to find the word charient or what I took to be its infinitive charir in any of the online dictionaries that I consulted. It seems clearly related to chariot and easily translates as carries. Is anyone familiar with this word? I am curious as to whether I made a mistake in searching for it, whether it has changed spelling, or simply disappeared. Thanks for your consideration.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Chantal Savignat on -
Hello
it is the verb "charrier" that means "carry", in the context it is the best verb, but there are 2 "R" in "charrier".
I think "charier" is an old spelling of the same word.
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Permalink Reply by Edward Brown on
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Thank you. That answers my question.
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Permalink Reply by Vedas on -
A la seule idée qu'on pourrait me priver de cette satisfaction, il me semble que mes veines charrient de la bile au lieu de sang, mon pauvre ami !
Villiers de L'Isle-AdamL'air était frais; le ciel charriait des nuages (…)Hugo, Notre-Dame de ParisRegardez tout ce qu'une civilisation charrie derrière elle, le bon, le mauvais.Martin du Gard, les Thibault
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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on -
If you needed to translate "to carry" from English to French you would not think of using "charrier" even though the two words are clearly very closely connected and are practically identical in form if you take into account they are being used in different languages.
If you type "carry" into Google English to French translate it offers you more than 20 alternative words or phrases but does not show "charrier"
Clearly there is more to "charrier" than "to carry" but I think "carry" does seem to be pretty close .
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Permalink Reply by Vedas on
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the text is markedly imbued with a mechanistic bias and to carry is a generic term so maybe it could be rendered by to flush through or to transfer as to keep the specific usage of "charrier" .
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Permalink Reply by Edward Brown on
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The context is certainly mechanistic. The subject of the clause, however, is tuyaux, which is why 'carry' seemed right. I wonder if the meaning of the word, like its spelling, has has shifted some over the centuries.
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Permalink Reply by Vedas on
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yes but French is more anismist that English so you could also use a passive sentence:
fluids/liquids are flushed through....
I didn't find anything about the shifting of the spelling...yet charrier is the most common spelling today.
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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on -
anismist ???
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Permalink Reply by Vedas on
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well maybe it's a bit religious but what I meant is that French is more likely to use a verb of action with a notion, a concept or an abstraction as a subject.
It tends to endow ideas, objects with power or willingness, some sort of anthropomorphism if you like.
the passive form is sometimes a way to translate such sentences
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Permalink Reply by Edward Brown on
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I don't know how to reply to your other post. I think channeled is a good choice in context, since it is ambiguous as to what or whom is the agent of moving les esprits animaux.
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Permalink Reply by Edward Brown on
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A bit more context. The tuyaux were nerves which were considered to be hollow tubes. The fluide, referred to as les esprits animaux, was thought to carry sensations to the brain and commands from the brain. The system was generally understood hydraulically, but 'flushed' doesn't seem to have sufficient dignity for the task
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