Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
la couleur n'intervient qu'à l'état de
English translation:
colour only appears / is only used in the form of
French term
intervenir à l'état de
DOC: 1907 Museum catalog of ancient mirrors -- Introduction, section about materials used for mirror handles.
CONTEXT: Bois. - [....] Le sycomore et le cèdre sont généralement employés pour les manches de miroir purement funéraires, tels que les GLYPH, recouverts d'une couche d'ocre jaune, tandis que l'acacia se passe aisément de couleur, l'usage et le temps lui donnant sous le poli une patine qui se suffisait à elle-même. La couleur, en pareil cas, ***n'intervient qu'à l'état de*** mastic bleu ou de pâte d'incrustation.
ATTEMPT: In such specimens, the only coloring that comes into play is in the case of blue mastic or of paste inlay.
ISSUE: Suggestion from WordReference.com: "The only coloring to be found on these might be that of blue mastic or of paste inlay." But am not completely comfortable with it, so I'd appreciate some other opinions.
Thank you in advance!
| 4 +3 | colour only appears / is only used in the form of |
Tony M
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| 4 | [the only color] is that of the blue mastic |
Christopher Crockett
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Aug 26, 2017 18:29: Yolanda Broad changed "Term asked" from "intervenir à l\\\'état de" to "intervenir à l\'état de "
Aug 27, 2017 06:01: mchd changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"
Sep 3, 2017 10:18: Tony M Created KOG entry
PRO (1): Christopher Crockett
Non-PRO (3): writeaway, Rachel Fell, mchd
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Proposed translations
colour only appears / is only used in the form of
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Note added at 1 jour20 heures (2017-08-28 14:57:05 GMT)
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Christopher has raised an interesting point in his response to my peer comment. Taking the sentences as a whole: "La couleur, en pareil cas, n'intervient qu'à l'état de mastic bleu ou de pâte d\'incrustation.", my instinctive reading was that 'any use of colour was confined to..."
I think I read it this way because of:
a) the use of 'en pareil cas', which it interpreted as 'in cases like these' (instead of 'dans ces cas...'), which seemed to me to suggest some uncertainty as to whether ALL cases are involved — but maybe it's just the dated FR construction that led me to over-think it!
and
b) the use of "n'intervient que", specifically the choice of the verb 'intervenir', seemed to me to hint again at an occasional rather than systematic occurrence.
It seems to me that generally, colour might have been used for decorative purposes, whereas in these instances, its use only arose for these 2 specific reasons.
| agree |
Yolanda Broad
: I'm glad to see you corrected the term to "la couleur n'intervient qu'à l'état de" If added to the KOG, it should appear as you have written it.
1 hr
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Thanks, Yolanda!
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| agree |
Daryo
2 hrs
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Thanks, Daryo !
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| agree |
Louisa Tchaicha
1 day 15 hrs
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Merci, Louisa !
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| neutral |
Christopher Crockett
: How can "colour" only be "used in the form of" something? Surely the sense has to be that the blue mastic/paste is the only source of the colour?
1 day 18 hrs
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Thanks, Christopher! Whence my initial suggestion of 'only appears in the form of'; but I do also think we can talk about "using colour in the form of a narrow border" etc.
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M.A., Ph.D. Historian/Art Historian
Native in: English 
Works in: French to English, English
Discussion
2) is inadvisable, as the use of 'may' could seem to imply permission, which is clearly not applicable here!
I don't think they are ALSO "covered with yellow ochre" — where did you get that idea from? The French says:
« Le sycomore et le cèdre sont ... recouverts d'une couche d'ocre jaune, tandis que l'acacia se passe aisément de couleur, l'usage et le temps lui donnant sous le poli une patine qui se suffisait à elle-même. »
So sycamore and cedar wood are covered with ochre, "while acacia (wood) can easily do without colour..."
Again, I find it unclear whether it means that acacia ALWAYS manages without colour, or just may do on occasions; whence the notion of 'any' (or not!).
Only Asker and chosen answerer can subsequently edit the glossary entry — other than mods and site staff, of course!
1. Any color that does appear on these is in the form of either blue mastic or paste inlay.
2. The only coloring that may appear on these is in the form of blue mastic or of paste inlay.
I really like "in the form of" for "à l'état".
It's weird also that these are covered with yellow ochre, yet the author is not counting this as "la couleur". Perhaps I should open another post?
This is hardly a technical question: it is simply an issue with the interpretation of a basic grammatical construction that might be encountered in any field. No specialist technical knowledge is required.