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17th Translation Contest: "The Sounds of Silence" » English to Catalan

Competition in this pair is now closed, and the winning entry has been announced.

Discussion and feedback about the competition in this language pair may now be provided by visiting the "Discussion & feedback" page for this pair. Entries may also be individually discussed by clicking the "Discuss" link next to any listed entry.

Source text in English

A theme of the age, at least in the developed world, is that people crave silence and can find none. The roar of traffic, the ceaseless beep of phones, digital announcements in buses and trains, TV sets blaring even in empty offices, are an endless battery and distraction. The human race is exhausting itself with noise and longs for its opposite—whether in the wilds, on the wide ocean or in some retreat dedicated to stillness and concentration. Alain Corbin, a history professor, writes from his refuge in the Sorbonne, and Erling Kagge, a Norwegian explorer, from his memories of the wastes of Antarctica, where both have tried to escape.

And yet, as Mr Corbin points out in "A History of Silence", there is probably no more noise than there used to be. Before pneumatic tyres, city streets were full of the deafening clang of metal-rimmed wheels and horseshoes on stone. Before voluntary isolation on mobile phones, buses and trains rang with conversation. Newspaper-sellers did not leave their wares in a mute pile, but advertised them at top volume, as did vendors of cherries, violets and fresh mackerel. The theatre and the opera were a chaos of huzzahs and barracking. Even in the countryside, peasants sang as they drudged. They don’t sing now.

What has changed is not so much the level of noise, which previous centuries also complained about, but the level of distraction, which occupies the space that silence might invade. There looms another paradox, because when it does invade—in the depths of a pine forest, in the naked desert, in a suddenly vacated room—it often proves unnerving rather than welcome. Dread creeps in; the ear instinctively fastens on anything, whether fire-hiss or bird call or susurrus of leaves, that will save it from this unknown emptiness. People want silence, but not that much.

The winning entry has been announced in this pair.

There were 10 entries submitted in this pair during the submission phase, 3 of which were selected by peers to advance to the finals round. The winning entry was determined based on finals round voting by peers.

Competition in this pair is now closed.


Entries (10 total; 3 finalists) Expand all entries

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Language variants:
Entry #22876 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
onnah
onnah
Spain
Winner
Voting points1st2nd3rd
367 x44 x20
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.923.13 (8 ratings)2.71 (7 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 7 "like" tags
  • 1 user agreed with "likes" (2 total agrees)
  • 1 user disagreed with "likes" (2 total disagrees)
-1
1
anhelen
Good term selection
It's not a​ bad trans​lation. "A​nhelar" gi​ves emphas​is to the ​sentence.
Link: https://md​lc.iec.cat​/results.a​sp?txtEntr​ada=anhela​r&operEntr​ada=0
Eva Garcia Pinos
brogit
Good term selection
Laia Fàbregas
deleix
Good term selection
Laia Fàbregas
rodes de cantells metàl·lics
Good term selection
Eva Garcia Pinos
+1
garbuix
Good term selection
Eva Garcia Pinos
xiuxiueig de les fulles
Good term selection
Laia Fàbregas
-1
+1
1
Les persones volen silenci, però no tant
Flows well
Eva Garcia Pinos
Entry #23060 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Central
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
244 x43 x22 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.733.75 (8 ratings)3.71 (7 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 2 "like" tags
anhel
Flows well
Jose Romarís
retrunyint
Good term selection
Jose Romarís
Entry #23893 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
1102 x27 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.832.83 (6 ratings)2.83 (6 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 2 "like" tags
  • 1 user disagreed with "likes" (1 total disagree)
-1
1
om a mínim als països desenvolupats
Good term selection
idiomatic ​and accura​te
Eva Garcia Pinos
ressò dels televisors
Good term selection
Laia Fàbregas


Non-finalist entries

The following entries were not selected by peers to advance to finals-round voting.

Entry #22870 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Oriol Vives (X)
Oriol Vives (X)
Spain
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.923.00 (6 ratings)2.83 (6 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 3 "like" tags
si més no al món desenvolupat
Flows well
Laia Fàbregas
algun amagatall dedicat a la concentració i la quietud
Flows well
Laia Fàbregas
les piulades d'un ocell o la remor de les fulles,
Flows well
Laia Fàbregas
Entry #23771 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Valencian
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.672.67 (9 ratings)2.67 (9 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 11 "like" tags
  • 1 user disagreed with "likes" (11 total disagrees)
-1
1
als països desenvolupats
Flows well
Eva Garcia Pinos
-1
1
L'estrèpit del trànsit
Good term selection
Eva Garcia Pinos
-1
1
Abans dels pneumàtics, els carrers estaven plens d'ensordidors sorolls de les rodes metàl•liques i de les ferradures quan colpejaven les llambordes
Flows well
Eva Garcia Pinos
-1
1
bullien
Good term selection
Eva Garcia Pinos
-1
1
replets
Good term selection
Eva Garcia Pinos
-1
1
caòtics víctors i aücs
Good term selection
Eva Garcia Pinos
-1
1
mentre treballaven com a burros
Flows well
Eva Garcia Pinos
-1
1
habitació que queda buida de sobte
Good term selection
Eva Garcia Pinos
-1
1
normalment és més inquietant que benvingut.
Flows well
Eva Garcia Pinos
-1
1
el crepitar d'un foc
Good term selection
Eva Garcia Pinos
-1
1
el cantar d'un pardal
Good term selection
Eva Garcia Pinos
Entry #23164 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.362.43 (7 ratings)2.29 (7 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 3 "like" tags
  • 1 user disagreed with "likes" (2 total disagrees)
-1
1
d'avui en dia
Flows well
Ester Vidal
-1
1
països desenvolupats
Flows well
Eva Garcia Pinos
L'enrenou
Good term selection
Eva Garcia Pinos
Entry #23063 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Central
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.142.14 (7 ratings)2.14 (7 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 4 "like" tags
  • 2 users disagreed with "likes" (3 total disagrees)
dels records de les planúries estèrils de l’Antàrtid
Flows well
Laia Fàbregas
-1
1
assetja
Good term selection
Jose Romarís
però no pas tant
Flows well
Laia Fàbregas
Entry #22810 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Central
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry1.881.75 (4 ratings)2.00 (4 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #23681 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry1.882.00 (4 ratings)1.75 (4 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #22867 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Elisabet Mesquida Karlsson (X)
Elisabet Mesquida Karlsson (X)
Spain
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry1.801.80 (5 ratings)1.80 (5 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags