Just out of curiosity, what type of geographical or political area does a Wilaya represent?  I'm translating a document out of Algeria, and it figures as a title of what is obviously a type of region, and I'm sure it doesn't get translated.

Maxi

Maxi,

Here's your answer although I'm afraid it is in French, to read more about it (in French), follow this : http://www.lexalgeria.net/wilaya.htm#Chapitre%201%20D%E9finition,%20Nom%20et%20chef-lieu

And I confirm that Wilaya is does not translate to my knowledge.

TITRE I ORGANISATION DE LA WILAYA
Chapitre 1 Définition, Nom et chef-lieu
 

Article 1er. - La wilaya est une collectivité publique territoriale dotée de la personnalité morale et de l'autonomie financière.
Elle constitue une circonscription administrative de l'Etat.
Elle est créée par la loi.
Art. 2. - La wilaya a un territoire, un nom et un chef-lieu.
Art. 3. - La wilaya est dotée d'une assemblée élue dénommée << assemblée populaire de wilaya >>.
Art. 4. - Le nom et le siège du chef-lieu d'une wilaya sont fixés par décret pris sur rapport du ministre de l'intérieur sur proposition de l'assemblée populaire de wilaya. Toute modification intervient dans les mêmes formes.

Thanks so much, Lisa.  It is always with a sense of wry irony that I listen to a client on the phone asking for a special discount for transcripts because "there are only a few words on each page."  Invariably those few words will hold a few gems like our wilaya or some obscure Ph.D. thesis title - and of course 800 words scattered over 10 pages are just as many words as 800 words scattered over five.  I guess I like the human interaction of these little translations, and the human stories behind them.  Birth, death, marriage, relocations, milestones in someone's career path, and a strange word from halfways across the world that can't even be translated because its roots are so different from ours - now that's interesting.

(I'm waxing philosophical after bolting out of bed at 5:00 a.m. to the sound of a garbage truck and realizing nobody had taken out the garbage.  Can't tempt the squirrels like that.)

Maxi

Yo, definitely waxing philosophical ! What squirrels ?

Bah, I do see what you mean. It is like getting a glimpse a other lives. Like being invited to a family gathering or a cosy evening tea. Whoops, there goes that squirrel past my window...

I was woken at 1am with the sound of breaking glass, some young adult louts breaking something out on the street, I still don't know what it was and, hey, your garbage goes out on the same night as mine ! ROFL

Have a great day !

Lisa

Simple logical course of events.  You take a large field full of fruit trees and berry bushes and replace the whole thing with about 200 houses, displacing squirrels, rabbits, gophers, and two does and a buck in the process.  The gopher or groundhog relocates under someone's steps and is found sunbathing on front porches.  The deer trot down a main street at 5:00 a.m. and eventually find a bit of forest.  And the squirrels are reduced to eating buds of from trees (killing some of the trees), leaves, and chewing their way through garbage can lids, and chewing their way into houses.  If I miss the garbage man, I end up with a malodorous mess after a week.  I'll have to invest in one of those expensive metal garbage cans.  Oh, and one of said squirrels scurried out of the house (mid-living room) early one morning, and I had an eye-to-eye confrontation with a cute baby that was intent on entering my bedroom.  Those squirrels.

I was woken at 1am with the sound of breaking glass, some young adult louts breaking something out on the street, I still don't know what it was and, hey, your garbage goes out on the same night as mine ! ROFL

Thursday mornings, then?  Do you have the rules that if there has been a holiday, then all collection days are moved up one day?  I've never figured out whether the Friday-people then get a pick up on the week-end.  Exploding over-inflated bicycle tire in our place last week in the middle of the night down the stairwell that echoes dramatically.  You have to hear it to believe it.

I'm enjoying the purple.  Best week-end wishes,

Maxi

Originally written by Abdelouadoud El Omrani on August 30, 2004 7:47 AM Really sorry Maxi, Summertime is a busy season for me. I've seen that Lisa supported quite well your request. Indeed a Wilaya is an administrative division, it may be kept as it is or translated in French by "Gouvernorat" and in English probably as "Government district". It's headed by a Wali (in French Prefet) who's the highest and direct representative of the President. Best wishes and good luck Salaam, Ouadoud

I know that Wilaya is translated as Wilaya or wilaya (no capitals in Arabic, so how could one tell other than grammatically).  But if the Wali as prefect, couldn't a wilaya be reasonably translated as prefecture (at least I think that word exists)?

Maxi

Maxi,

I hope that this info sheds some light on what you are looking for. If you want to translate the United States into Arabic, you would say الوِلاياتُ الْمُتَّحِدَةُ . Now, the definition of وِلايَةٌ in Arabic is as follows:

 الْقَرَابَةُ kinship

الْخِطَّةُ والإمارةُ a district or a principality

السُّلْطانُ the ruler

الْبِلادُ التي يتسلّط عليها الوالي the nation (or land) which is governed by a ruler.

Then each country has its own usage within classical Arabic.

Hope this helps.

Well, that turns it in the other direction, John (English into Arabic).  I was musing about when "foreign" titles belonging to entirely different political systems should be translated into English, and when they should be left as they are.  Wilaya, of course, doesn't get translated into English.  But could it?  It's an academic question only.

Maxi

Hello Maxi & everyone,

Wilaya in bigger countries (with wider areas) is "Province", just like the provinces of Canada. The Wali here is the "Governor".

Wilaya = Province
Wali = Governor

in smaller Arab countries, there are no Wilayas but Governorates, and their ruler is also called Governor.

the States, as in United States, although named in Arabic as "Wilayat", yet they are legally-speaking not wilayat but states. That's the difference.

Hope this clears it out!