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English translation: alderman

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:échevin
English translation:alderman
Entered by: Juliet Haylor

15:19 Nov 16, 2011
French to English translations [PRO]
Law/Patents - Government / Politics / registrar of births/elected local official
French term or phrase: échevin
For a translation of a Belgian birth certificate, from Belgian French to UK English "Paul Lebrun (not real name) échevin, officier de l'état civil de la commune de x" I have found "alderman" or "deputy burgmaster" as possible choices but am unsure. Any help welcome.
Juliet Haylor
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:28
alderman
Explanation:
This is from a Canadian point of view.
Selected response from:

Jean-Claude Gouin
Canada
Local time: 07:28
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +1alderman
Jean-Claude Gouin
4 +1Deputy to the Mayor
Nigel Wheatley
4deputy mayor
piazza d
Summary of reference entries provided
alderman
Roy vd Heijden

  

Answers


13 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
deputy mayor


Explanation:
Harrap's.

in France, the word is archaic; it referred to a municipal magistrate
for alderman, I've found: officier d’état civil = registrar (of births, marriages and deaths);
hope it'll help!

piazza d
France
Local time: 13:28
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: French
PRO pts in category: 4
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4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
alderman


Explanation:
This is from a Canadian point of view.

Jean-Claude Gouin
Canada
Local time: 07:28
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Kirsten Bodart: or councillor, depending on the public.
19 hrs
  -> Merci. Right you are.
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10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Deputy to the Mayor


Explanation:
this roughly describes the job that an échevin does. I find "alderman" as bit out-dated as a term in UK English.

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Note added at 10 hrs (2011-11-17 01:51:56 GMT)
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Hal, Phil and writeaway raise some interesting points which I can't easily address in the 255 characters I have to reply to each of them! Basically, why did I suggest "Deputy to the Mayor" and not "Deputy Mayor". After all, there is a Deputy Mayor of London: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deputy_Mayor_of_London

Well, there are at least three reasons for my choice, which I admit is a personal one and not a matter of 'correct or incorrect'.

1. Eight years living in France has immunised me with the term 'député-maire' (transl. "Mayor and Deputy"), which is rather different to 'adjoint au maire' (transl. "Deputy to the Mayor")

2. The term "Deputy Mayor" exists in UK English, but it is not well known and so is not an 'obvious' translation

3. In UK English, there could only be one Deputy Mayor for a given place (most places don't have one at all, as far as I can gather). This is just the standard usage of Deputy XXX across all public and professional offices (in the UK: US usage is slightly different). However, there are usually several 'adjoints au maire' in France or 'échevains' in Belgium, and so the avoidance of ambiguity demands a different translation.

4. In this specific context, it is the responsability of the Mayor (in France or Belgium) to register births, marriages and deaths in his or her municipality. In most places, the Mayor delegates the routine responsibility, and the person who takes it on is then *deputising* for the mayor in that particular function.

Thanks for your comments, you've made me think, but I still stand by my suggested answer as slightly better than "Deputy Mayor" in this context. For me, "Deputy Mayor" is 'premier adjoint' or 'premier échevin', not the person who we usually get on birth or marriage certificates.

Nigel Wheatley
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:28
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks for this information, I think it explains to me what the échevin does as opposed to similar officials in other countries


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Hal D'Arpini: I would have preferred deputy mayor, but since Nigel is from the UK., and I'm not, I must defer to him. :)
3 mins
  -> Thanks! see my note above ;)

agree  philgoddard: Yes, deputy mayor is better - that's what they're called in the UK too.
1 hr
  -> Thanks! see my note above ;)

neutral  writeaway: then how do you explain that there are so many échevins in a community? All deputy mayors?
1 hr
  -> no, all deputies to the mayor. this is one of the reasons I prefer my longer version to the simple "Deputy Mayor"

disagree  Kirsten Bodart: Sorry, with writeaway. No deputy mayor, an échevin is a member of the council. That would be 'premier échevins' (I think).
23 hrs
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Reference comments


2 mins peer agreement (net): +3
Reference: alderman

Reference information:
see: http://www.proz.com/kudoz/french_to_english/government_polit...

Roy vd Heijden
Belgium
Native speaker of: Native in DutchDutch
Note to reference poster
Asker: This reference is greatly appreciated. Combined with the discussion here it has solved my problem.


Peer comments on this reference comment (and responses from the reference poster)
agree  Andrew Bruch: Yup.
4 mins
agree  writeaway: yes of course. everyday terminology for people who know Belgian French.
1 hr
agree  Evans (X)
2 hrs
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