to inform something
Kenji Takamoto
よく見られるto inform someone ofではなく、to inform somethingとなった場合、
informはどのような意味になるのでしょうか。
例えば以下の文例では、informはどのような意味で用いられているのでしょうか。
Based on last year's experience and the growing body of scientific knowledge
about WNV derived from that experience, we can anticipate that the following
"milestones" will be useful indicators of increasing human health risk which
should, in turn, inform and direct our response efforts:
http://www.health.state.ri.us/disease/communicable/wnv/actionplan.php
ENS represents a new tool that economic developers can use to inform and
direct their industry priorities.
http://www.deed.state.mn.us/lmi/publications/trends/1105/gaps.htm
Bryan A. Garner, "A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage" p.144では、次の通り記
述しています。
inform, in the sense "to determine, give form to, permeate" is somewhat
archaic", but it is common in scholarly legal writing.----
ということは、to inform somethingとは、「枠を決める」「具体化する」等々とい
うことを意味する???
それとも、現在では、to inform somethingは、to provide information aboutとい
うような意味でも用いられるようになっている???
それとも???
よろしくお願い致します。
Kenji Takamoto
Kobe, Japan
Benjamin Barrett
linguistics. Things like "the results of the pilot study were used to
inform the main study."
HTH
Benjamin Barrett
a cyberbreath for language life
livinglanguages.wordpress.com
Eric Tschetter
> Based on last year's experience and the growing body of
> scientific knowledge about WNV derived from that experience,
> we can anticipate that the following "milestones" will be
> useful indicators of increasing human health risk which
> should, in turn, inform and direct our response efforts:
> http://www.health.state.ri.us/disease/communicable/wnv/actionplan.php
"The experience and knowledge derived from that experience will allow our
future response decisions to be [well] informed."
> ENS represents a new tool that economic developers can use to
> inform and direct their industry priorities.
> http://www.deed.state.mn.us/lmi/publications/trends/1105/gaps.htm
"ENS is a tool that will allow the industry priority decisions made by
economic developers to be [well] informed."
In other words, these things are offering some sort of information/advice
which provide helpful clues for future decisions/actions. It informs the
person who is acting so that they can make an informed decision. "Bill uses
his experience to inform his decisions" is probably synonymous with "Bill
uses his experience to make informed decisions."
> ということは、to inform somethingとは、「枠を決める」「具体化する」等々と
い
> うことを意味する???
I don't really like 枠を決める or 具体化する, but I can't really think of
anything I do like so I can understand your problem.
Hope this helps...
--Eric Tschetter
er...@nii.ac.jp
Mika Jz
we can anticipate that
the following "milestones" will be useful indicators
of increasing human health risk
which should, in turn, inform and direct our response efforts:
（下記のリストは、人体へのリスクを判断するための段階的目安を示しており、
これはすなわち）
対策を（講じる際の）情報材料となり、（同時にその対策の）方向付けをも示し
てくれる、と想定（期待）できる。
これでは冗長で読みにくいですから、つまるところ、
「対策内容と、その方向付けを示す判断材料となるであろう。」
ぐらいかな？
ENS represents a new tool that economic developers can use
to inform and direct their industry priorities.
ENS はeconomic developersが
業界における優先順位を決める際の情報材料
として利用できる、新しいツールである。
こんなところで、どうでしょう？
Mika Jarmusz
Salem, Oregon USA
flyingkiwi
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/inform I like the MW as a guide to what's
alive rather than what's fascinating.
The two relevant entries are listed as "obsolete" - to guide/direct
something, to be the essential characteristic of something. These usages are
not obsolete in academic writing, as you can see by checking the Michigan
Corpus of Spoken Academic English. This looks to be a pretty small darned
corpus, but it helpfully profiles speakers, showing that a female senior
academic, no doubt of mature years, used "inform" in this sense.
http://micase.umdl.umich.edu/m/micase/
>>Based on last year's experience and the growing body of scientific
knowledge
about WNV derived from that experience, we can anticipate that the following
"milestones" will be useful indicators of increasing human health risk which
should, in turn, inform and direct our response efforts:
http://www.health.state.ri.us/disease/communicable/wnv/actionplan.php <<
Anybody else think the "which" should be "and" - it's not the "risk" but the
"milestones" which are going to "inform ... our response", I assume?
Helen Hanae, back reading Honyaku again.
Tadao Kageyama
At 11:14 AM +0900 11/06/06, Kenji Takamoto wrote:
......
> よく見られるto inform someone ofではなく、to inform somethingとなった場合、
> informはどのような意味になるのでしょうか。
辞書に的確な訳語がないことははざらにあります。そのようなとき
私は用例（英文）をたくさん集めて、最大公約数的な解釈を引き出して
います。学問ではなく実務ですから、それでいいのだと思っています。
To inform effortsという活用は無数に見つかりました (HighBeam
Reseach = 貧乏人のLexisNexis = を利用)。ただしそのcontextは
ほとんど「お堅い」ものばかりです。見つけた用例を六つほど末尾に
挙げます。
> to inform somethingとは、「枠を決める」、「具体化する」等々と
> いうことを意味する???
以下の用例を眺めていると、このご指摘は正しいと思われます。同じ
努力するにしても、やみくもに動き回ったり、手当り次第に何かする
のではなく、的を絞った／的確な／効果的な／効率的な努力を可能にする、
というような意味に、ザックリ粗削りには、なりそうです。実際の訳出に
あたっては、前後関係を織り込んで、さらに手を加えることはもちろん
ですが。
Efforts以外のsomething（somebodyではなく）を目的語にする
informの例はないか、ざっと探したところ、activitiesとlessonsがそれぞれ
極く少数見つかりました。これも参考までに末尾に載せておきます。では。
～～～～～～ Tadao Kageyama, Norwalk, CT ～～～～～～
◆To inform efforts
Although organizers say the conferences grew largely out of a desire to help European policy-makers peacefully manage the immigration of non-Whites into European countries, they expressed hopes that Black Americans and other American minorities would seek experiences in European societies that could **inform efforts** to address racism and discrimination in the United States.
（Black Issues in Higher Education, November 7, 2002）
They were welcomed to the conference by Stormont minister Tony Worthington who congratulated them on tackling the issue and expressed his hope that their deliberations would help to better **inform efforts** to combat sectarianism, both at an individual level and among the political parties.
（The News Letter (Belfast, Northern Ireland), September 29, 1997）
A study of patients visiting two Canadian STI clinics found an overall prevalence of HSV-2 of 19% (Singh et al., 2005). Recent research has helped to clarify the natural history of HSV-2 and to **inform efforts** to reduce transmission.
（The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, September 22, 2005)
These syntheses present a review of what is known about the supply and demand problem, provide a research base to help **inform efforts** to address the shortage problem, and suggest research questions needing study.
（Journal of Special Education, March 22, 2004)
To launch this book, a panel of the authors will explore the problems of Americans' decreasing involvement in public affairs and show how scholarship, such as the work of APSA's Committee on Civic Education and Engagement, can **inform efforts** to revive our ailing democratic life.
（U.S. Newswire via COMTEX, September 5, 2005)
Even less widely known are two other facts that should **inform efforts** to help families without enough money.
（Conscience, September 22, 2006)
◆To inform activities
The categories are listed in order of importance, but the recommendations relate to and support one another and should be considered as an integrated whole. For instance, the availability of better data about technological literacy and how people learn about technology will **inform activities** in the education sector.
(The Technology Teacher, September 1, 2002)
◆To inform lessons
Children benefit when parents sit with children, listen to their stories, or otherwise help them with reading-related or other activities. Besides the help that teachers receive, parents also benefit by learning more about the classroom and the process of education. Ideas learned from teachers can **inform lessons** that parents teach as classroom volunteers in school. Classroom volunteering also enables parents to better review or teach skills and concepts with their own children at home.
(The Journal of Educational Research, May 1, 2004)
Mika Jz
言葉にできない、思考のレベルでは
to inform somethingを
「枠を決める or 具体化する」ととらえたとしても
あながち的外れではなかろう、という方向で私も同感です。
ただ、「枠を決める or 具体化する」という表現を
そのまま綴りこんで、訳の中に使うことができるか、
となると、Ｅｒｉｃさんの言われるように、
ちょっとずれが、ありませんか。
翻訳する私達は、的確な訳語がないときにも、
なんらかの訳をつけることを日々強いられるわけですから、
たとえばどんな風に訳せるでしょうか。
けなしあいにならないように、気をつけていれば、
いい話し合いができないかしら？
「的確な訳語がない」からこそ、訳を出さずに
意味を説明するだけにとどめておくのが、
奥ゆかしさなのかもしれませんが．．．
八つぁん： な、奥ゆかしさが足りねえんだよ。
みか： うるせ。
いかに原文に近いかは、特に日本語にする場合、
（単語を一致させるだけではダメなことが多いので）
訳文全体が、またその部分部分が
どれだけ「忠実に」原文を映すことができるか、ですよね。
無理にとはいいませんが、みなさん、
あればお聞かせくださいね～。
清水美香 Mika Shimizu Jarmusz
Salem, Oregon USA
Kenji Takamoto
一方的な宣言になり恐縮ですが、また、暴論だ、異議あり、と考えられる方もあると
予想されますが、今後、to inform somethingに出会うことがあれば、それはto
provide information about/on/concerning/as to somethingなどを意味する、と考
えることに致します。理由は、to give character to, to give form to, give
essence toなどと考えて訳す場合より、汎用性が高い（言い換えれば、大抵の文脈で
多分原意を大きく外さずに大過なく適用でき、便利であり、日本語への翻訳が楽であ
る=本音）ように思えるからです。
で、基本的には、今後以下のように翻訳を進めたいと思っています。
something 1 informs something 2.
↓
something 1はsomething 2に関するinformationを与える。しかし、多分、意味が通
じないので
↓
something 1により言外のsomeoneは、something 2に関するinformationを得る。それ
でもだめなら
↓
そのとき、考える。
Kenji Takamoto
Kobe, Japan
Marc Adler
> 予想されますが、今後、to inform somethingに出会うことがあれば、それはto
> provide information about/on/concerning/as to somethingなどを意味する、と考
Actually, the meaning is a bit broader than that. A few examples might
be easier to understand than a definition.
"John's background as the son of an unemployed miner informed his
socialist political beliefs."
"Tom's reading of Kuhn's 'Structure of Scientific Revolutions' informed
his interpretation of Popper's theory of falsifiability."
To attempt a definition, A informs B by acting as a background for B, or
contributing in some way to B's creation. In other words, （部分的にで
も）ＡによってＢが成り立つ might be one way of abstracting it.
However, it does not necessarily involve a provision of information in a
direct sense.
--
Marc Adler
ma...@adlerpacific.com
Bakea ez da diruz erosia.
Mark Spahn
Marc Adler
> Instead it means "give form to,
> give character to, be a formative principle of; give some specific
> quality or character, animate; form or shape".
That's it! That's the one!
> This "give form to" meaning is not in my active vocabulary
> (I would use some different wording to convey this meaning),
> and a desktop dictionary lists this meaning as "Obsolete" and
> "Rare". Indeed, "inform" has this "give form to" meaning only
> about 1% (?) of the time.
Well, it's certainly not obsolete or rare in certain fields, like
philosophy, where it's very common.
> "３［感情・精神・活気などを]‥に吹き込む、満たす
> inform a person with a new life = 人に新しい生命を吹き込む".
> This meaning comes directly from Latin: in- = into, forma = form.
Methinks this is different from the definition you gave above.
Specifically, this "inform" uses the preposition "with," whereas the
"inform" under discussion does not.
Rusty Allred
From: hon...@googlegroups.com [mailto:hon...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Mark Spahn
It means "give form to,
give character to, be a formative principle of; give some specific
quality or character, animate; form or shape".
A desktop dictionary lists this meaning as "Obsolete" and
"Rare". Indeed, "inform" has this "give form to" meaning only
about 1% (?) of the time.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
I hear this usage quite often by writers discussing how their experiences have informed their novels (plays, movies). In fact, I would say this usage is increasing in frequency, but it might just be the result of listening to the likes of Terry Gross…
Rusty Allred
Plano, Texas USA