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ligue 1

English translation: Ligue 1

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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

French term or phrase:	ligue 1
English translation:	Ligue 1
Entered by:	Helen Chauveau

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18:40 Jun 17, 2010

French to English translations [PRO]
Marketing - Sports / Fitness / Recreation / public relations brochure

French term or phrase: ligue 1

I'm translating a public relations brochure for a large insurance company keen to show its support of various sporting disciplines. I would like to translate "Ligue 1" with "Premier League" in the following sentence:

Ce partenariat, cohérent avec d’autres initiatives
européennes comme xxx ou encore le sponsoring
du xxx, permet un ancrage fort en ligue 1 et
s’inscrit dans la durée...

but am not sure if Premier League only applies to the UK. The company is already the official sponsor for a French soccer team and a German one, so perhaps I should simply use "League 1", which seems technically correct, but doesn't sound as good!

Your suggestions will be gratefully received!

Helen Chauveau KudoZ activity Questions: 47 (none open) (4 without valid answers) Answers: 16 France
Local time: 21:08

ligue 1

Explanation:
The names of national leagues are NEVER translated. All of them are now registered names and therefore don't change when used in English. Simply check English football websites and you'll see for yourself. (BBC Sports, Sky Sports, ESPN soccernet, fourfourtwo...). So "ligue 1" is "ligue 1", not even "league 1". Hope this helps!!!

Selected response from:

Alex Desbons
France
Local time: 21:08

Grading comment

Thank you Alex. I capitalised the L and it's perfect!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

5 +4

ligue 1

Alex Desbons

4 +2

the top French professional football league

Texte Style

major league/premier league/national league

Gad Kohenov

4 -1

Bundesliga

Steven Thom

first division

polyglot45

Summary of reference entries provided

Ligue 1 used in English

Lianne Wilson

Discussion entries: 2

Answers

7 mins confidence:

first division

Explanation:
might be more neutral if a little old-fashioned

polyglot45
Does not meet criteria
Native speaker of:

English,

French
PRO pts in category: 8

5 mins confidence:

major league/premier league/national league

Explanation:
I would go for major league since primer league is typical for England.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 42 mins (2010-06-17 19:23:20 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Premier League is used in Israel too.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 46 mins (2010-06-17 19:27:23 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

First Division (sport), a division of a sporting league, typically the highest. If you have no better alternative. According to Babylon.

Gad Kohenov
Local time: 22:08
Does not meet criteria
Works in field
Native speaker of:

French,

Hebrew
PRO pts in category: 8

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

the top French professional football league

Explanation:
You're quite right that Premier League sounds very English. While I don't list football as a speciality of mine I have done many translations about football for a TV client, and I have systematically given explanations rather than try to find an equivalent when a specifically French institution or organisation is mentioned (the audience being people all over the world who may have limited knowledge of both the French setup and any British equivalents).
Of course this may turn out to be too long but it is clear ;-) which is what my client wants at any rate!

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligue_de_Football_Professionnel

Texte Style
Local time: 21:08
Does not meet criteria
Native speaker of:

English

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): -1

Bundesliga

Explanation:
In Germany, the equivalent to the English premier league is the Bundesliga (as I don't know German I can't confirm whether this refers to the sponsor/advertiser). In the UK, the Spanish Premier Division is known as La Liga.

Steven Thom
Local time: 20:08
Does not meet criteria
Native speaker of: English

6 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +4

ligue 1

Olympique Lyon have signed France international striker Jimmy Briand from Stade Rennes on a four-year contract for 6 million euros, the Ligue 1 club said on Monday.
Former France international Claude Makelele has signed a one-year extension to his contract with Ligue 1 side Paris Saint Germain.

Reference: http://fourfourtwo.com/news/restofeurope/56778/default.aspx
Reference: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/league?id=fra.1&cc=5739

Alex Desbons
France
Local time: 21:08
Meets criteria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English,

French
PRO pts in category: 8

Grading comment

Thank you Alex. I capitalised the L and it's perfect!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

Lianne Wilson: I translate documents on football broadcasting all the time and things like 'La Liga' and 'Bundesliga' are always kept in the original language. You could put a short explanation with it though, for clarity.

6 hrs

-> not sure it needs an explanation. Of course the Ligue 1 is not as renowned as the Premiership or La Liga, but I think it's famous enough to avoid an explanation which would porbably make the text a bit "heavier".

agree

David Goward: You and Lianne are "on the ball"! I think I'd capitalize the L, though, as in your example sentences.

7 hrs

-> I agree. Sorry about that.

agree

Charlie Bavington: Definitely, possibly preceded by short explanation depending on readership (e.g. the top flight of Fr football, Ligue 1)

8 hrs

agree

xxxSMcG: The French first division (Ligue 1)

1 day12 hrs

Reference comments

12 hrs peer agreement (net): +1

Reference: Ligue 1 used in English

Reference information:
This wikipedia article uses "Ligue 1" the whole way through. Names like this are not translated.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 12 hrs (2010-06-18 07:26:54 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Incidentally, I work with texts regarding football broadcasting on a regular basis. Even in the source Japanese text the names are written in romaji as 'Bundesliga', 'Ligue 1', 'La Liga', etc.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligue_1

Lianne Wilson
United Kingdom
Does not meet criteria
Native speaker of:

English

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English translation: Ligue 1

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English translation: Ligue 1

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