Glossary entry (derived from question below)
German term or phrase:
konstruieren (sich)
English translation:
construe and construct
Added to glossary by
Susan Welsh
Oct 28, 2016 19:25
7 yrs ago
1 viewer *
German term
konstruieren (sich)
German to English
Social Sciences
Psychology
philosophy
This is about stages of ego development:
Menschen, die Ebene E7 und E8 erreichen, beginnen immer mehr zu realisieren, wie sie die Welt interpretieren und inwiefern dies durch ihren persönlichen und kulturellen Hintergrund beeinflusst ist. Insofern nehmen sie die Subjektivität ihrer eigenen Sichtweise zunehmend in Betracht. Sie **konstruieren sich** und die Welt dabei als weitestgehend stabil, sind sich aber der Bedeutung dessen, wie sie diese Vorstellung **konstruieren,** zunehmend bewusst.
Can this word sometimes mean "construe" rather than "construct"? That would make more sense in this context, but I find no such definition in Duden. Linguee's own dictionary gives "construe" as a meaning, but the example they give is wrong in English:
DE: "Weil er Angst hatte, die Wahrheit zu sagen, konstruierte er eine wilde Geschichte."
EN: "Because he was afraid to tell the truth, he construed a wild story."
One does not "construe" a story; at most, I guess one could construct one, but better would be "made up."
I'm beginning to think the usage to mean "construe" is a case of German native speakers using a false cognate, when the German word really means "construct." But then, in post-modern linguistic/philosophical lingo, anything is possible...
What do you think?
thanks!
Susan
Menschen, die Ebene E7 und E8 erreichen, beginnen immer mehr zu realisieren, wie sie die Welt interpretieren und inwiefern dies durch ihren persönlichen und kulturellen Hintergrund beeinflusst ist. Insofern nehmen sie die Subjektivität ihrer eigenen Sichtweise zunehmend in Betracht. Sie **konstruieren sich** und die Welt dabei als weitestgehend stabil, sind sich aber der Bedeutung dessen, wie sie diese Vorstellung **konstruieren,** zunehmend bewusst.
Can this word sometimes mean "construe" rather than "construct"? That would make more sense in this context, but I find no such definition in Duden. Linguee's own dictionary gives "construe" as a meaning, but the example they give is wrong in English:
DE: "Weil er Angst hatte, die Wahrheit zu sagen, konstruierte er eine wilde Geschichte."
EN: "Because he was afraid to tell the truth, he construed a wild story."
One does not "construe" a story; at most, I guess one could construct one, but better would be "made up."
I'm beginning to think the usage to mean "construe" is a case of German native speakers using a false cognate, when the German word really means "construct." But then, in post-modern linguistic/philosophical lingo, anything is possible...
What do you think?
thanks!
Susan
Proposed translations
(English)
3 +2 | construe and construct | Paul Cohen |
3 +2 | construe themselves | Michael Martin, MA |
Proposed translations
+2
1 hr
Selected
construe and construct
Konstruiren can have many meanings:
Langenscheidt: konstruieren Verb/transitiv (bauen) construct (a. Mathematik u. Gedankensystem etc.); Linguistik construe; (herstellen) create; (erfinden) fabricate
Of course, you’ll have to pick the words in English that fit the meanings in your text.
The text reads:
"Menschen, die Ebene E7 und E8 erreichen, beginnen immer mehr zu realisieren, wie sie die Welt interpretieren und inwiefern dies durch ihren persönlichen und kulturellen Hintergrund beeinflusst ist. Insofern nehmen sie die Subjektivität ihrer eigenen Sichtweise zunehmend in Betracht."
As I see it, this section of the text has to do with how they increasingly gain an understanding of the mechanisms that they use to interpret the world around them. Since construe can mean to understand (or interpret), I think "sich konstruiren" means (here) to "construe themselves" and the world around them, as Michael has translated it.
But the text goes on to talk about how they increasingly gain an awareness of how they "construct" the notion of a stable world, which would, in my opinion, be a more appropriate translation of "... der Bedeutung dessen, wie sie diese Vorstellung konstruieren, zunehmend bewusst." So perhaps you need to translate the text using both "construe" and "construct," (as Phil has suggested), i.e. something along the lines of: "Indeed, they construe themselves and the world around them as predominantly stable, but are increasingly aware of the significance of how they construct this notion."
It’s less a question of style (not repeating the word “construe” in the same sentence, for example) and more a question of reflecting the underlying meaning of the German.
Hope that helps.
Langenscheidt: konstruieren Verb/transitiv (bauen) construct (a. Mathematik u. Gedankensystem etc.); Linguistik construe; (herstellen) create; (erfinden) fabricate
Of course, you’ll have to pick the words in English that fit the meanings in your text.
The text reads:
"Menschen, die Ebene E7 und E8 erreichen, beginnen immer mehr zu realisieren, wie sie die Welt interpretieren und inwiefern dies durch ihren persönlichen und kulturellen Hintergrund beeinflusst ist. Insofern nehmen sie die Subjektivität ihrer eigenen Sichtweise zunehmend in Betracht."
As I see it, this section of the text has to do with how they increasingly gain an understanding of the mechanisms that they use to interpret the world around them. Since construe can mean to understand (or interpret), I think "sich konstruiren" means (here) to "construe themselves" and the world around them, as Michael has translated it.
But the text goes on to talk about how they increasingly gain an awareness of how they "construct" the notion of a stable world, which would, in my opinion, be a more appropriate translation of "... der Bedeutung dessen, wie sie diese Vorstellung konstruieren, zunehmend bewusst." So perhaps you need to translate the text using both "construe" and "construct," (as Phil has suggested), i.e. something along the lines of: "Indeed, they construe themselves and the world around them as predominantly stable, but are increasingly aware of the significance of how they construct this notion."
It’s less a question of style (not repeating the word “construe” in the same sentence, for example) and more a question of reflecting the underlying meaning of the German.
Hope that helps.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Anne Schulz
11 hrs
|
Schöne Grüße nach Bayern, Anne.
|
|
agree |
Ramey Rieger (X)
: I beg to differ. the perceive themselves and the world/ aware of how they contruct...this is spot on
15 hrs
|
I see "construe (themselves)" as essentially meaning the same thing as "perceive (themselves)" in this context, so I think we're on the same page here.
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks everybody for the useful discussion. I had no idea that "construct" and "construe" shared a common root. I think dividing things up in the way Paul suggests is a good idea -- although I'm still somewhat in The Matrix with respect to what all of this really means."
+2
25 mins
construe themselves
I think that would work in English, too...
"Equipped with these capacities, human beings subjectively construe themselves in sophisticated but distinctive ways."
https://books.google.com/books?id=LkREWoAUrAUC&pg=PA306&lpg=...
"Equipped with these capacities, human beings subjectively construe themselves in sophisticated but distinctive ways."
https://books.google.com/books?id=LkREWoAUrAUC&pg=PA306&lpg=...
Note from asker:
Thanks Michael, but I'm beginning to think they really mean "construct." See Discussion. I appreciate your help. |
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Paul Cohen
: This can't be misconstrued.
24 mins
|
agree |
philgoddard
45 mins
|
neutral |
Ramey Rieger (X)
: But it can be, Paul, IMO// Not by you, Michael. I'm talking about the sorce text.
16 hrs
|
How could this be misconstrued, Ramey?
|
Discussion
Great resource (used it during my sociology studies).
Interestingly enough, the author specifically mentions "psychology" in his explanation of "construct" as a noun:
"1871 in linguistics, 1890 in psychology, 1933 in the general sense of 'anything constructed;'"
http://etymonline.com/index.php?term=construct&allowed_in_fr...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_constructionism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_constructivism
http://changingminds.org/explanations/research/philosophies/...
In social psychology, you have "construals":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Construals
In psychology, you also have Personal Construct Theory:
http://www.pcp-net.org/encyclopaedia/pc-theory.html
What you did not add as information is that the "ego development" discussed here is based on Cook-Greuters. Maybe that would have helped you in your quest.
Here it is:
http://www.cook-greuter.com/Cook-Greuter 9 levels paper new ...[1].pdf
All in English. The entire document uses "construe" once(!). What's been missing from the discussion is field-specific terminology; too much emphasis seems to have been placed on everyday language issues.
E.g.: "It is at this stage that infants first begin to construct a stable world of objects for themselves. In doing so, they separate themselves out as objects in the world as well. They can now refer to themselves as 'Bobby wants' or 'me'."
https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=cmGCate__tsC&oi=...