Of smurfs and translations
Feb. 10th, 2005 10:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yesnotoasterOn the bus, this afternoon, I saw a girl wearing a bright blue plush-y coat. If she'd been wearing a white hat, she'd have looked like a plush smurf. And that's the thought that started my curiosity about translations.
In French, a smurf is called a schtroumpf. Who decided that it'd be called a smurf in English? Then I started to think of weird words that weren't even real words, but had been translated differently in French or English. The first words that came to mind were Harry Potter terms. Hogwarts becomes Poudlard (I hate that word) in French, muggles becomes Moldu. I understand that some invented words are translated to become easier to pronounce in another language. I also understand that nicknames have to be translated to make sense (Moaning Myrtle --> Mimi la Geignarde). Translating names is kinda weird though. I mean, in Harry Potter, the story takes place in England, it makes more sense to let Oliver Wood keep his name and not change it to Olivier Dubois. But, hey, if they want to change it, it's fine.
I have a problem, though, with changing words that shouldn't have to be translated. They translated Malfoy to Malefoy. Isn't Malfoy supposed to come from old French? Why did they add and "e"? And then, there's Draco. They changed it to Drago. Draco is *latin* for dragon, for god's sake. Why did they felt the need to change it? Because the comparison wasn't obvious enough? Are French speaking people supposed to be dumb or something?
Another thing that bugs me is how latin/greek/roman words/name sometimes aren't the same in French and in English. Platon/Plato, Apollon/Apollo, Narcisse/Narcissus,... There's not a big difference, but it's there and I don't know why.
Right, so I don't have anything more to say, I'm just curious.
P.S.
In French, we have Les Calinours et Les Bisounours. I have no clue about what is the difference between the two. Is there an other kind of Carebears in English too? If so, what's the difference between the them?
In French, a smurf is called a schtroumpf. Who decided that it'd be called a smurf in English? Then I started to think of weird words that weren't even real words, but had been translated differently in French or English. The first words that came to mind were Harry Potter terms. Hogwarts becomes Poudlard (I hate that word) in French, muggles becomes Moldu. I understand that some invented words are translated to become easier to pronounce in another language. I also understand that nicknames have to be translated to make sense (Moaning Myrtle --> Mimi la Geignarde). Translating names is kinda weird though. I mean, in Harry Potter, the story takes place in England, it makes more sense to let Oliver Wood keep his name and not change it to Olivier Dubois. But, hey, if they want to change it, it's fine.
I have a problem, though, with changing words that shouldn't have to be translated. They translated Malfoy to Malefoy. Isn't Malfoy supposed to come from old French? Why did they add and "e"? And then, there's Draco. They changed it to Drago. Draco is *latin* for dragon, for god's sake. Why did they felt the need to change it? Because the comparison wasn't obvious enough? Are French speaking people supposed to be dumb or something?
Another thing that bugs me is how latin/greek/roman words/name sometimes aren't the same in French and in English. Platon/Plato, Apollon/Apollo, Narcisse/Narcissus,... There's not a big difference, but it's there and I don't know why.
Right, so I don't have anything more to say, I'm just curious.
P.S.
In French, we have Les Calinours et Les Bisounours. I have no clue about what is the difference between the two. Is there an other kind of Carebears in English too? If so, what's the difference between the them?
