09:27 Nov 29, 2011 

The idea is also to produce a text that will sound 'natural' to the target readership and fit snugly into the particular area of the Anglophone world that the text is intended for without drawing attention to the fact that it is a translation. I should think this is what most clients want anyhow. So it's about finding a balance. In my humble opinion, to the average UK reader, 'rector' jumps out as something a little odd, mainly because we have another much more frequently used term for the same concept but also because in the UK it has another more widely recognised meaning.

23:50 Nov 28, 2011 

There are anglocentric tendencies evident in many translators, whether European, North American or Australasian etc. I don't think it's political opr anyhting else dodgy. It just happens (see this site).
My take is this; if a term translates using literal rules into an intelligible term in the target language, then use that term. If it doesn't, try to find a syntactical, intelligible term that is not (as far as possible) "country specific". This approach (usually) works. It does in this case.

18:42 Nov 28, 2011 

I'm not sure if you're saying I'm being anglocentric, Phil, but if you are that's a pretty big assumption to make of someone merely for selecting the most common term for a concept in the target language variant specifically requested by the asker.

HM Revenue and Customs is a proper noun, so it's a completely different kettle of fish. 'vice-chancellor' is a generic term which has virtually the same semantic content as the Spanish 'rector'. It's a direct translation. I have no political agenda here, merely a linguistic one.

And 'prime minister' is not the UK equivalent of president by any stretch of the imagination. A president is a president.

18:27 Nov 28, 2011 

Just because you're translating into British English doesn't mean you should use British equivalents for things like job titles and institutions. You wouldn't translate "Internal Revenue Service" as "HM Revenue and Customs", or "president" as "prime minister". As an expat Brit, I sometimes feel the British are terribly anglocentric - but I suppose all nations are the same.

09:27 Nov 28, 2011 

It's a matter of producing a text in plain UK English. Within this context and within the universe of this particular variant of English, 'rector' is a calque and needlessly ambiguous.

09:05 Nov 28, 2011 

has a "Rector" carrying out the functions of what is (usually but not always) called a Chancellor Vice-Chancellor (opinions vary upon which term is right) in some (but not all) EN-speaking countiries.
"Rector" translates, intelligbly, to "Rector". End user of translation deduces for himself (or makes enquiries if not certain) what the functions of this "Rector" are.
We are not here to "molleycoddle" our end users.
Or to say that 2+2=5

00:16 Nov 28, 2011 

The asker does say "que tengo que traducir al inglés británico". Scottish universities mostly have chancellors and vice-chancellors, like English ones, by the way. They do have also have rectors (at least the old ones do), but the rector there is not the head of the university, and it could well be argued that if the translation were specifically for Scotland "rector" would be misleading here. The head of a university is rarely called the rector in English-speaking countries. But I'd still use it in this case.

00:00 Nov 28, 2011 

The simple fact is Spanish clients tend to want UK (i.e. European) English, just as Latin American clients tend to want US English.

23:48 Nov 27, 2011 

And why are we so fixated on what they're called in England (but not Scotland, by the way)? There are other countries in the world that speak English...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rector

20:20 Nov 27, 2011 

That depends entirely on the translator's remit for a given text. Our choices are not just driven by the source text, but also by the target readership's needs and expectations. If you ask the average person in the UK what a 'rector' is they will tell you it's a church figure, whereas 'vice-chancellor' is the bog-standard term for the person who runs a university.

20:02 Nov 27, 2011 

with Phil's comment. It's a translator's job to translate, not to "convert" terms into what is used in other countries. "Rector" makes perfect sense in English and therefore should be used here.

06:07 Nov 27, 2011 

I think this discussion is making things much more complex than they need to be. If they're called a rector in Spanish, they should be called a rector in English - it doesn't matter what they're called in the UK or anywhere else.

17:25 Nov 26, 2011 

And by the way, I've just checked my own certificates, and as Nigel says they don't mention either the Chancellor or the Vice-Chancellor; they just begin: "This is to certify that it appears by the Registers [...]".

The term "Chancellor" is used in Commonwealth countries such as Australia and Canada as well as in the UK. The head of a US university is most often called the President, in my experience, but this term is not used in the Britain (thought it is found in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland) and I can't see any good reason to use it here, in a translation for the UK. I think it should be either Rector (the most widespread international term and also the original term) or Chancellor (the standard British term).

17:18 Nov 26, 2011 

I am coming round to Lorena's view.

If we are going to use a UK term, I think Nigel is right: in this context, it should be the Chancellor, who is formally the head of the university. The Chancellor is normally not an academic. His/her executive functions are carried out by the Vice-Chancellor, who is usually a professor of the university. A Spanish Rector is both these things rolled into one.

To borrow a relevant (I think) example from Nigel's university, Cambridge, the university address to the Queen on her visit in 2009 begins: "We, Your Majesty's most loyal and devoted Subjects, the Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of the University of Cambridge" ( http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/news/special/20091119/ ). No mention here of the poor old V-C.

But internationally, "Rector" is really the standard term, and the UK is (as so often) the exception:

"The title is used widely in universities across Europe. It is also very common in Latin American countries. It is also used in Pakistan, the Philippines, Indonesia and Israel, all of which are strongly influenced by European traditions."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rector

It will be understood without difficulty, I think.

16:57 Nov 26, 2011 

that this would create some discussion, I am not basing my answer on the US system, for the contrary we rarely use the word rector here, I am going by what official sources use
José Ramón Busto Saiz
Rector of Comillas Pontifical University
http://www.upcomillas.es/eng/presentacion/pres_bien.aspx?niv...

Vilnius, October 24th. President Valdas Adamkus of the Republic of Lithuania met Rector Rafael Puyol of Madrid Complusente University (MCU) to discuss co-operation between Lithuania and Spain in the fields of education, culture and science.
http://adamkus.president.lt/en/one.phtml?id=3312

Professor Carlos Berzosa Alonso-Martínez




Rector of the Complutense University, Madrid

Professor Carlos Berzosa Alonso-Martínez became Rector of the Complutense University, Madrid, in 2003. He is Professor of Applied Economics and, prior to being elected Rector, he was Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Entrepreneurship for fourteen years. He has also been head of the Department of Applied Economics I.
http://www.europaeum.org/europaeum/?q=category/1/1/5

16:42 Nov 26, 2011 

Though I agree with your comment on trying to match systems, I don't see how rector is any more neutral than vice-chancellor; it's just the US equivalent. In the UK 'rector' is more commonly associated with an ecclesiastical position. If the translation is for a European client it makes more sense to go with the UK term (UK English is the variant used in official EU documents, after all).

16:35 Nov 26, 2011 

It looks like the answers don't necessarily clarify your dilemma. I have found that to try to match systems from one country to another is a daunting task and that it doesn't always work because they are not the same. I would use the word "rector". Anybody in the academic world reading the document will understand that it is the highest academic official of that particular university....after all, we are talking about the Spanish system even if you are translating it into English is still the Spanish system, in my humblest opinion....

16:23 Nov 26, 2011 

University of Cambridge degrees are awarded in the name of the Chancellor, although it doesn't say so on the certificate and the Chancellor when I was there (the Duke of Edimburgh) very rarely turned up for degree ceremonies. At least, I think that's what they were saying, the whole ceremony was in Latin...

If you're looking for the English equivalent of the person doing the same day-to-day job as a Spanish Rector, it is the Vice-Chancellor. If you want the equivalent of the position of the Spanish Rector as the formal head of the university, it is the Chancellor (only ever a figurehead in English universities).