French to English translations [PRO] Genealogy / birth certificate, Laos
French term or phrase:rang de femme
A birth certificate in Laotian (or so the client would have me believe), lists the usual things like time and place of birth. Under the section for the mother, after her name, age, and occupation, the text reads "rang de femme." Does this indicate whether she was the first or second, etc. wife? Why is that important for the child? Inheritance reasons? This is a pre-printed form and I can't read the answers on my copy. The client says they are handwritten in very light ink. Thanks very much in advance.
Explanation: African Families and the Crisis of Social Change - Google Books Result
by Thomas S. Weisner, Candice Bradley, Philip ... - 1997 - Social Science - 369 pages
The mean values for the various types of houses by rank of wife, shown in the last column, support the hypothesis that rank of a wife is reflected in the ...
books.google.co.uk/books?isbn=0897894731...
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 13 hrs (2008-07-25 07:59:42 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
"First-rank wife" gets a few ghits and would corroborate liz's answer - also given that polygyny is not uncommon in some parts of Laos it would make sense...
It would help enormously to know what the cert. says after this heading: is it a number? words? - if so what word(s)? If you can't read your copy I suggest you ask your client to tell you what it says on her original.
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1 hr confidence: peer agreement (net): +4
rank of wife
Explanation: African Families and the Crisis of Social Change - Google Books Result
by Thomas S. Weisner, Candice Bradley, Philip ... - 1997 - Social Science - 369 pages
The mean values for the various types of houses by rank of wife, shown in the last column, support the hypothesis that rank of a wife is reflected in the ...
books.google.co.uk/books?isbn=0897894731...
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 13 hrs (2008-07-25 07:59:42 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
i.e. they don't all have the same status!
liz askew United Kingdom Local time: 17:29 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 4
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peer agreement (net): +4