The adverbs:
La (French) - there (English)
Ici (French) - here (English)
are included/embeded when composing "demonstratives" words, which include an indication/meaning of proximity/distance. For instance:
"ce-la" - "that" (English) - there is an implying of "there"
"ce-ci" - "this" - there is an implying of "here"
The use of the addition of "la" in slang/colloquial French sentences, with a meaning/implying of locality (in space or time) relative to the speaker, is quite similar if not identical to the use of proximity/distance qualifiers in other languages, particularly those deriving from, or having a strong Latin influence.
For instance, I would put in that category in the CVR, the
PF's: j'ai plus the vario la
Captain's: doucement avec le pallonier la
But, in the case you pointed to, as that particular use of "la" is IMO, a "shorter "ce-la", which translates into "that", which makes the English translation into "that one" IMO quite correct.
Even, if his response is relative to someone pointing to the screen to to two items, to which he refers to by their location on the screen, in which case, it would be "there, that one", and "there, that one", the meaning of the translation is still correct.
Lastly, it is reflecting "casual talk", but I would definitely NOT add any association of meaning a degree of responsibility to it...
Originally Posted by vanHorck;6608783, Post #1101
In my post #952 I wrote:
this in my view should be read as 2 separate statements made by the captain
CAP: Là je sais pas
That one I have no idea of
CAP: là ça descends
That one indicates a descent
....
By adding "Là" if taken on it's own it is almost an expression of non-responsability in the sense of "don't ask me" (!!) or at the very least a form of very casual talk, not likely in this situation.
Is this explanation correct?
In French "Là ... et Là ..." is often used to point at different subsequent things.
I am not accusing any pilot just trying to get to the cockpit management issues at hand