# en la lejana capital del seny...



## Silueta

Hi!

From a novel written in Spanish set in Barcelona in the 1970s. What is the meaning of "seny"? Is it Catalunya? But it doesn't have a capital letter... Thanks!


"desde mi destierro andaluz veía constantemente el jardín y la torre de mis primas en la lejana capital del _seny_... "


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## Fernando

I do not speak Catalan, but "seny" is commonly known even by Spanish speakers.

I think it could be translated as "common sense", wisedom, serenity. Catalan speakers will tell you better.

By the way, the capital of Catalonia is Barcelona (Seville for Andalusia, Mérida for Extremadura, and so on).


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## Silueta

Yep, I know the capital of Catalonia is Barcelona which is why I thought seny was Catalonia 

Thanks anyway


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## Fernando

Sorry for the misunderstanding, but you said 





> ...Catalunya. But, it doesn't have a capital...


.


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## Dixie!

Hi,

_Seny _is not easy to translate  I hope TPS appears soon and tells us because I'm sure she's dealt with this word more than once!


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## Silueta

Fernando said:


> Sorry for the misunderstanding, but you said .


 
Sorry, I meant capital letter (seny appears in the text in lower case). I have amended my post!


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## Fernando

I understand now.  I am quite sure that "la capital del seny" is Barcelona, since "seny" is considered a quality specially linked to Catalans.

Wait for a native to explain you the meaning of "seny", anyaway.


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## Dixie!

We usually say "Seny i rauxa!". Still wondering how they could be translated.


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## Lumia

Here you have an explanation about the _seny_, and its equivalences in English, by an English speaker person:

"(...) Catalans have the reputation of being hard-working and money-loving, not necessarily in that order, enterprising and inventive, and the most flattering thing you can say about a Catalan is that he has _seny_. An approximate translation of this noun could be "cleverness," but the closest English words to _seny_ I know are the North British _nouse_, which shares the Catalan sense of "getting things right," or the adjective _canny_, particularly in its Northumbrian meaning, which includes the idea of anticipation."

(spainforvisitors dot com/sections/catalonia.htm)


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## Silueta

Thank you. Translating this is going to be interesting!


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## TraductoraPobleSec

Hi everyone! Yes, Dixie! We're known for "el seny i la rauxa" which is a combination of wisdom/seriousness with "joie de vivre". As it's been said, Catalans have always been known for being enterpreneurs and organized but, being Mediterranean, with a strong sense of the arts, lovers of good food, etc.

The adjective for seny (tenir seny) is to be assenyat/assenyada.
The adjective for rauxa is to be arrauxat/arrauxada

I consider myself a true personification of this concept, and I guess that many of the Catalans participating in this forum do as well.

By the way: *Wisdom* teeth: Queixals del *seny *(and our brothers and sisters from Valencia say "de l'enteniment")


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## panjabigator

So does this word have the same meaning in Catalan and Spanish?


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## TraductoraPobleSec

panjabigator said:


> So does this word have the same meaning in Catalan and Spanish?


 

Hi, Panja, and welcome to Catalonia if you've alreday arrived!

As for *seny* and *rauxa *as concepts, I'd say these are terms very much associated with the Catalan character and to Catalonia as a society.


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## Fernando

panjabigator said:


> So does this word have the same meaning in Catalan and Spanish?



The word is Catalan. In the rest of Spain is widely known. If you google "seny" in Spanish-speaking sites you will find 163k hits.

As TPS has said better than me, the "seny" is alleguedly the essence of Catalan way of living (according Catalans, of course). Of course, it is a positive concept. All of us would like to have wisedom, common sense and Many times they say "seny i rauxa" to explain the times they derail from the nice objective of being a seny-beholder.


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## TraductoraPobleSec

It just hit me that *seny* can be found within the Spanish _enseñanza _and I am sure that it is present in many other words in Spanish and other Latin languages.

I've also remembered that in Catalan there is the adjective *forassenyat* which would literally translate as out of one's mind.

I've just looked for the Ethimological origin of the word at the Alcover Moll (sorry, no links allowed) and it does not include it, although it says it corresponds to the Spanish *sentido*. This leads me to think that a good translation for *seny* could be *common sense*... What do you guys think?

- - -

By the way, my current read is a biography called _Tío Alberto: vida, secreto y fiesta de Alberto Puig Palau_. Alberto Puig was a businessman from Barcelona (this would be the "seny" bit) who loved and sponsored many flamenco dancers such as La Chunga or Carmen Amaya, hanged out with bullfighters like Manolete and Ava Gardner and Gaudí were among his friends (that would definitely be the "rauxa" bit!)


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## ampurdan

I think it really depends on the context.

For instance, "posar seny" means "to mature", "to become a sensible person".

"Ser una persona de seny" means "to be sensible", "to have common sense", although sometimes it means "to be responsible for a patrimony" too.

"El seny dels catalans" means "the common sense of Catalans".

"Ser assenyat" means "to be sensible", "to be reasonable".


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## TraductoraPobleSec

Those are very good explanations, Ampurdan.


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## TraductoraPobleSec

Here is _seny_ within a context that you might find interesting. It's by Andrés Trapiello (El País Digital) on El Quadern Gris by Josep Pla: 

¿Y por qué es tan bueno? En parte por su argumento, al alcance de cualquiera. Pocos vienen a este mundo para ser protagonistas de _La cartuja de Parma_ o _Guerra y paz,_ pero todos llevamos encima nuestro cuaderno gris particular. ¿Con qué argumento? Cualquier vida, si no es absurda, tiene uno. El de este libro es la vida del autor y la de unos cuantos amigos, conocidos y saludados suyos, así como un considerable número de estampas minuciosas, de paisajes locales y guisos de la región. Nada extraordinario. Lo insólito es el tono humorístico y fino de Pla, su retranca, y esa prosa envolvente y persuasiva que parece nueva, un híbrido de Baroja y Azorín, con una pizca de Xènius y de _seny_.


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