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Maestría Oncología Molecular
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Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

el flanco Norte de la propia infantería

English translation:

the northern flank of the infantry

Added to glossary by Ruth Ramsey
Jan 3, 2016 11:32
8 yrs ago
Spanish term

el flanco Norte de la propia infantería

Spanish to English Art/Literary Military / Defense Military Text Cuba)
Military Text (Cuba)

I may be missing something but this sentence doesn't seem complete and I'm not entirely sure what it's referring to.

Literally, it seems to be saying "on the opposite side, the Northern flank of the infantry itself" which doesn't make much sense. Is it referring to the mounted forces who are on the opposite side (Northern flank) but are facing south?

Thanks very much in advance.

"La infantería española se situó a lo largo de lo que constituía el frente del batey, mirando hacia el Oeste. Inclinadas hacia el Sur, delante de la infantería, las fuerzas montadas. Por el lado opuesto, el flanco Norte de la propia infantería. El cañón y el grueso de la fuerza con XXX, junto al arroyo Basulto, que los protegía...".
Proposed translations (English)
4 +3 the northern flank of the infantry

Discussion

Charles Davis Jan 3, 2016:
Maybe I'm missing something too, but it seems clear to me. "Estaba(n)" or some equivalent verb is understood in each sentence after the first. The Spanish infantry was lined up on the eastern side of the battlefield, facing west. Toward the southern end of the Spanish line was the cavalry, in front of the infantry (as you would expect). The other (northern) end of the Spanish line was composed of the northern flank of the infantry itself, in other words, without cavalry in front of it. The literal translation makes perfect sense to me here.

Proposed translations

+3
2 mins
Selected

the northern flank of the infantry

I don't think that anything added by "propia" in the Spanish needs to be explicit in the translation. However, let's see what our colleagues have to say about it.

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Note added at 3 mins (2016-01-03 11:35:41 GMT)
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= the infantry's northern flank..

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Note added at 3 mins (2016-01-03 11:36:24 GMT)
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NB: I don't perceive anything "missing" in the original text either.

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Note added at 20 hrs (2016-01-04 07:58:15 GMT)
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Having seen the discussion and comments now, I agree that it most likely means the infantry on its own, without any cavalry deployed alongside/ahead of it/them.
Note from asker:
Thanks Neil. Is it referring to the position of the mounted forces mentioned in the previous sentence? Otherwise it sounds kind of out of context.
Thanks everyone. Your comments have helped to make this clearer.
Peer comment(s):
agree Wendy Streitparth : Nicely neutral. IMO the "northern flank" could be referring to the bulk of the Spanish infantry or to the "home" forces, depending on the context.
45 mins
agree Charles Davis : See discussion. No problem in my view, and "itself" could and IMO should be included.
1 hr
agree philgoddard
2 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you, Neil!"
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