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Translation of song title

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szappala
April 12, 2011, 02:09 PM
A Spanish song sung by Il Divo is called: "Un regalo que te dio la vida."
This title occurs in the song on the line that goes, "... conocerla fue un milagro, un regalo que te dio la vida." It seems to me that this line is ambiguous and could mean either: (1) "knowing her was a miracle, a gift that life gave you" or (2) "knowing her was a miracle, a gift that gave you life." What was the meaning originally supposed to be according to the authors?

Luna Azul
April 12, 2011, 02:43 PM
A Spanish song sung by Il Divo is called: "Un regalo que te dio la vida."
This title occurs in the song on the line that goes, "... conocerla fue un milagro, un regalo que te dio la vida." It seems to me that this line is ambiguous and could mean either: (1) "knowing her was a miracle, a gift that life gave you" or (2) "knowing her was a miracle, a gift that gave you life." What was the meaning originally supposed to be according to the authors?

I understand it as "knowing her was a miracle, a gift that life gave you".

"...a gift that gave you life" would be said "un regalo que te dio vida" (without the article 'la')
;)

pjt33
April 12, 2011, 02:45 PM
It's a very loose translation of the Bryan Adams song "Have you ever loved a woman?" but there's no line anything like that in the original lyric. I don't think anything in the Spanish lyric serves to disambiguate, so I think it has to be a matter of personal interpretation.

Edit: but take Luna's opinion over mine because I'm not a native speaker.

szappala
April 13, 2011, 09:50 AM
How about the translation, "a gift that gave you your life" for "un regalo que te dio la vida"? Would that be another possible interpretation?

Luna Azul
April 13, 2011, 12:11 PM
How about the translation, "a gift that gave you your life" for "un regalo que te dio la vida"? Would that be another possible interpretation?

I guess so, but doesn't that mean the same as "a gift that gave you life"?

Each language has their own nuances that only someone who masters it can detect. That's why, even though your translations could be more or less accurate, I would rather understand it the way I perceived it the first time I read the sentence. In very few instances a native will make a mistake understanding an expression.

Of course, it doesn't mean natives are infallible:o

Perikles
April 13, 2011, 01:00 PM
Each language has their own nuances Singular subject. Each language has its own nuance(s). :)

Luna Azul
April 13, 2011, 01:33 PM
Singular subject. Each language has its own nuance(s). :)

You're so right. When there is gender uncertainty the tendency has been to substitute "their" in place of a specific gender reference. Now I'm doing that for almost everything... ooohh.. my mistake. Thanks a lot!!!!! ;)