Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
invention formelle
English translation:
structural innovation / innovation of form
French term
Social sciences, development & fiction
Native in: English 
, French
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English, English, and 1 more.
invention formelle
I could do with some help understanding the meaning of formelle in this context. I'm not sure that it is as simple as just 'formal'? I have included the context below:
Cette abondance de richesse permet l’organisation de grands cycles d’échanges et de cycles cérémoniels pour lesquels sont produit un nombre considérable d’objets, objets dont "l’invention formelle" est déroutante, étrange, fascinante.
A similar example comes up later in the text:
Cette variété de groupe, chacun possédant ses propres traditions, explique partiellement "la diversité formelle" des objets produits.
Thanks your help!
Sarita
| 4 +1 | structural innovation / innovation of form |
Helen Shiner
|
| 4 +4 | formal invention |
Evans (X)
|
| 4 | actual invention |
B D Finch
|
| 3 | formal introduction / origination |
DLyons
|
Apr 4, 2012 10:26: Sarita Mardon changed "Language pair" from "English" to "French to English"
Apr 9, 2012 07:14: Helen Shiner Created KOG entry
Non-PRO (2): Yvonne Gallagher, Yolanda Broad
When entering new questions, KudoZ askers are given an opportunity* to classify the difficulty of their questions as 'easy' or 'pro'. If you feel a question marked 'easy' should actually be marked 'pro', and if you have earned more than 20 KudoZ points, you can click the "Vote PRO" button to recommend that change.
How to tell the difference between "easy" and "pro" questions:
An easy question is one that any bilingual person would be able to answer correctly. (Or in the case of monolingual questions, an easy question is one that any native speaker of the language would be able to answer correctly.)
A pro question is anything else... in other words, any question that requires knowledge or skills that are specialized (even slightly).
Another way to think of the difficulty levels is this: an easy question is one that deals with everyday conversation. A pro question is anything else.
When deciding between easy and pro, err on the side of pro. Most questions will be pro.
* Note: non-member askers are not given the option of entering 'pro' questions; the only way for their questions to be classified as 'pro' is for a ProZ.com member or members to re-classify it.
Proposed translations
United Kingdom
Arts/Academic translator - Art historian
Native in: English
Works in: German to English, French to English
structural innovation / innovation of form
formal invention
One of the many meanings of 'formel' that matches in both languages.
| agree |
Yvonne Gallagher
8 mins
|
|
cheers, gallagy2
|
|
| agree |
Letredenoblesse
46 mins
|
|
cheers, Agnes
|
|
| agree |
Paul Hirsh
: formal inventiveness
5 hrs
|
|
Yes, I agree formal inventiveness may be the best option. Thanks, Paul.
|
|
| agree |
Phong Le
1 day 5 hrs
|
formal introduction / origination
actual invention
An even more emphatic use (not recommended for non-ironic, non-verbal use) would be "your actual proper XX", pronounced "yer akshul proppa XX".
Reference comments
Netherlands
M.Sc. in Architecture, B.A.
Native in: Dutch
Works in: Dutch to German, German to Dutch, English to Dutch, and 5 more.
http://www.bibliomonde.com/auteur/harry-martinson-1250.html
Discussion