Brazilian HP translator interview
Lia Wyler, the Brazilian Harry Potter translator, speaks in a new interview about how she got the coveted job and the process of translating some of the novel's unique words:"Initially the series was meant for children so I tried to convey the idea behind each of Rowling's creations. Quidditch, a game played with four balls, became 'quadribol' and 'Muggles' became 'trouxa' (fool), a lucky guess among hundreds of possible meanings."
Posted by Ciaran on Feb 28th |
46 Comments
Visitor Comments
yeah, #1 cool
I do like the way they translated that. It makes me want to translate them just to see what they mean.
I've read this before. It must be pretty hard to be a translator. Especially a translator for HP. No pressure...
TOP 5! I WOULD HATE THE JOB!!!
That would be a hard job. #5
Dude, I used to read the translated It kind of sucks she even translate names!
"""Buenos dios, Amigoes""" la mese ma merda
I think that's ridiculous - "quidditch" and "muggle" are made up words that should have stayed the same. There's no reason to change them as they don't have a meaning outside the context of the books anyways. Why would anyone translate them into words that have actual meanings in that language? Especially to change "muggle" into "fool". I just think it's really stupid. I would be annoyed if I were Jo. And nobody cares that you're first Col. Get a life
I'm going to have to agree with Kimba on this. There wasn't really any reason to change the names. The book would still make just as much sense in another language if the names were kept.
Finally, some interesting news that isn't about dan being naked!
I think that's ridiculous - "quidditch" and "muggle" are made up words that should have stayed the same. There's no reason to change them as they don't have a meaning outside the context of the books anyways. Why would anyone translate them into words that have actual meanings in that language? Especially to change "muggle" into "fool". I just think it's really stupid. I would be annoyed if I were Jo. And nobody cares that you're first Col. Get a life The above was copy and pasted... writer kimba999 I TOTALLY AGREE!!! WHAT A STUPID THING TO DO! if they are made up words why should they change. it is not like the meaning is different... my gosh... thats like changin the definatly made up word of Horcrux... THATS DEFINALY A MADE UP WORD AS JO SAID IT HERSELF... and if they change that they are total fools... The translaters must be really dumb!!!!!
hey guys lets not get personal here.. she's not dumb at all, actually she's smart enough for the Brazilian translation to be considered one of the best translations of the series worldwide. now, i get why you're saying that made up words and names should stay the way they are in the original version, but the thing is, some of the words are hard to pronounce if you speak Portuguese. Take the word Muggle for example: its not a hard sound for us Brazilians to pronounce, but you gotta speak English at least well enough to know how to pronounce that, 'cause in Portuguese it would sound completely different and, trust me, absolutely ridiculous. As for the names, you won't find any Lucius or something like that here, but you will find Lúcio, which is the Portuguese version of that name. William is Guilherme here, and that's why Bill translates to Gui. Believe me, names are translated all the time. Or did you think "Jesus" was how people would call him two thousand years ago? Anyway, I know it's not completely necessary but it makes the books more familiar to the Brazilian readers. Besides, she has stated that if she knew they would be making movies out of it, she would not have translated the names. But hey, it's not that bad, at least she kept the names of the main characters (Harry Ronald and Hermione)... There's another interview with her over at www.potterish.com. It's the Brazilian fan site that won the award from JK Rowling's official site. I believe the English version of the site is already working, so go check it out. If for some reason you're not redirected to automatically, then go directly to en.potterish.com. In the interview she talks about how she's gonna translate the seventh book title (and explains why she choose that with a VERY interesting theory). By the way, I'm the one responsible for that area of the site, so if you find something that's not well translated or something like that, feel free to let me know =]
hmm interesting! good i dont speak Portuguese! as long as i have harry potter books whenever i want and i can understand them im happy.
certainly puts the translation differences into something we can all understand, besides,, a muggle's a muggle, no matter what land you stand on....
If you don't have to read it, why does it matter. I'm sure they had thier reasons for changing the words...and I'm sure that Jo could have asked them not to.....(not positive on that)
hhhmmm...not a very interesting post compared to the other...but i think that it is great that people are translating the book for people in other countries so they can read it and the great books....
"she's not dumb at all, actually she's smart enough for the Brazilian translation to be considered one of the best translations of the series worldwide." If she is one of the best translators I am really sad for the other countries. I do not complain about the names that she translated. Some of them are really good. Some are terrible, but still. The thing I hate the most is when she just "misses" a whole paragraf (as happened in the second book), of mistranslates something (book six is full of this errors) or, in the same book, keeps changing the name of the characters. i.e. Katie Bell is one time Katie then Cátia, then Katie...
10-12 hours a day, reading and translating, reading and translating, day after day...that'd get pretty boring, but it IS Harry Potter, after all.
HPlegacy - i suppose though its something she enjoys so much otherwise she wouldnt do it.......... i love the books =)
I don't really understand why words created by the author should be changed when translating a book. 'Muggle' and 'quidditch' are as much gobbledegook to an English speaker as to a Brazilian. But that aside, I think working as a translator would be really, really cool. :)
It all depends in what language you started reading books...because when you read in different language you might have hard time getting used to on new words and names..for example, I'm very satisfied with croatian translators, because they left the names of people and translated only names of some pets, like Crookshanks, Buckbeak..etc. to emphasize their characteristics. And they invented new words for ''muggle'' and ''quidditch'' but the ones that give away the meaning. Like new word for muggle:it is combination of words ''without'' and ''strong'', and word for quidditch is combination of word ''broom'' and ''battle''....it might sound stupit to someone, but since a lot of kids read HP, this is almost necessary...
sorry but it isn't necessary - it isn't necessary in English so why should it be in another language? The words are defined within the text of the book. I understand using Portuguese equivalents for the names of people or Croatian translations that are equivalents for the descriptive animal names but for absolutely new words that only exist in Harry Potter there is no reason to change them. According to Mimapdx, her translating is pretty sloppy anyways.
Not necesseary? So let's pretend HP books were originally written in portuguese, and the author created the word 'quadribol'. It's an invented word, it doesn't exist neither in english nor in portuguese. Can you imagine a situation in wich some english-speker person would say "I was playing quadribol yesterday and..." Well, I can't, it sounds too portuguese to me, just like quidditch sounds too english in a portuguese-speaking situation! (yeah, i'm brazilian)
Lia Wyler's translations are great, I've to say that for her, I've read some of her work with Stephen King and they're good. So I was in no way worried when I opened up the brazilian version of SS and saw her name. Trouxa is not just fool in portuguese it can mean, in fact, a person who is just not meddled in something, if you look at it that way you'll see that it makes some sense, just as quadribol to be a name for a sport. I've to say I'm not a big fan of the translations, specially for the carachter name's change but for the rest of it I totally support her for doing it in an easy way that'll probably make it simpler for non-english speakers to understand. just for another example the house Slytherin in the translation is Sonserina and in a certain way it remembers an adjective called sonsa, which is, basically, an untrustworthy person, it is not completely necessary to change it but the reason for the translation IS to widen the number of people able to read the book.
That's interesting. Translators have a difficult job.
Quote from Duxx: 'Not necesseary? So let's pretend HP books were originally written in portuguese, and the author created the word 'quadribol'. It's an invented word, it doesn't exist neither in english nor in portuguese. Can you imagine a situation in wich some english-speker person would say "I was playing quadribol yesterday and..." Well, I can't, it sounds too portuguese to me, just like quidditch sounds too english in a portuguese-speaking situation! (yeah, i'm brazilian)' unquote. Actually, I don't think it would bother me if HP was portuguese and 'Quadribol' was a made up name of a made up sport played by made up characters who live in a made up magical world. And if HP was portuguese originally then Hogwarts would be set somewhere in Portugal and I would expect the characters to have portuguese names. In fact if i then found out that the English translator had messed around with the names, especially ones that had been made up by the origianl author, then I would be annoyed. If the Portuguese names are difficult to pronounce then I'd live with it. Perhpas the books could have indexes at the back to help with the harder translations? I don't know if that would be workable, but it's better than changing everything to suit. Some of the names have particular meanings in English, the way Jo intended them and should stay that way. Okay rant over! :)
if i tried to read a book in Spanish that's as long as HP, i wouldn't make it out of the first page
when i tried to click on the link earlier, it said this (i copied and pasted): ÷øùú w!1 AQaq"2ÂB⡱à #3Rðbrà $4á%ñ&'()*56789:CDEF GHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvw xyzâÆââ¦â â¡Ëâ°Å ââââ¢ââËâ¢Å¡Â¢Â£Â¤Â¥ ¦§¨©ª²³´µ¶·¸¹ºÃÃÃà ÃÃÃÃÃÃà ÃÃÃÃÃÃÃâãäåæçèéêòóôõö÷øùú ÿà ?þ 4žÆëýtRû??ÃåŸÃþ_Å¡=;Iê>Ÿà Wu-ŸÃò8 ÃÃþG¦é òÃñþµèRéþ/ ò%óüâ¢âþòüûoÃ}ùÃà uÃ{· §·gGÃó¨ÃwÃâ¦Ã¿ÃÂÃÅÃ÷Iv ÃPá^M=Þ Ãvà ½Šø#²ï[ôâVnÞ`¦úÃ*â¦Ã¢1¬ Ãâ³ÃÃ÷¶ì@V>|Ãî4 õâdøL!ÃþQÂ¥QD³¥7%D`§V{xx¨ >¬U¥ïÃ^à XÃà +aæêZ¥ö Ãà 5I¤kÃiloo«Ãâ°Â¾;wûÂâpK ,ùÃâ[ð'´CGäÃw;ìëÃÃéyç øÂûþË]Ã0>»±CÃ*ùkõXo Å1Ãt ùââ¹Å¸ÂºÃ´-ø&{ôåj â¦k?âÃç/ìZ>8¶Ã/3?I ^wéI øÃï ø{o[Bâ }âîºâ¦Ã¿Ã².wÃ}ÃuDÃ+¢T¥ë Hiâ¢Â²Ã¿R@ÃcÂ2Ãâ~9pÃ0D¾Ãâ Q¯ç~â}~/\ÃáðÃ2 »ÃÃ¥ â¬g Ã=áâðà ââÃÆ°,î¹ëò²3vÃAÃR â #ÆLÃðrÿò6KxjââÃÃÃOâÃsÅá LÃ&éÃÂ:à GÿÃÂH 8¶9dçH?èà ÃÃõ ³ÃÃà ±ÆÃÃ#vÂŽ ª¿ }sÃ,ìµ²Ãâ¹\âëãÆÃâ¢ÃwÿZ bìž,Ãm56vYÂâ ÃQ4ÿhQÃá Æ.;!üöà Ãx®VÃB ÷Y»±ñýâ¢Ã*Ë!ñxÃ[1úâ¬1âñ® ]§â {lE.(yî x2˺A槟}ëmä;-ãÃûÂòc:à ï@é0ö§p¡â¬@3â4£Xè¹ Ã"} ýà ñô Ã0Ãõâ&±Q#Ãâ=0q&Ãâ¢â ñ¡â ú1°ÂÃúF}ëèµñ6ôZ⺠âºÃ·1Ãâ þ Ã`üà Âì¶Ã®°Cø¼âÃÃwªà ¤ÃÃ#± ïëïïÃmWõz}u³ž¾â¢Ã¯SÃ8VÂà e âºVmââ°GÃÃâbˡðÃÃîâ²l ¢o»©>â ±ûêÂ|½>{Ãâ¬Gø|±,Ãà \â¬Ãéxì.ÂâºÃ®Â¬â*ëà ðâ°Â°eÃuÃ~ÂtžÃâ²âcÃâ {Ë Ã½H Ʊ ´tâtÃwOô %-HkhöÅúTÆâ ¶MðA ·Qâj¼½gÃ÷ ÿad wÂd¨=©Râ;ÅwÅRÅ2à â ⡠¯?ÃÃÂõ ; ï°ÂmYÃÃ2ÃsÃud¿ h@`¤ ðµùôøtÃ4 õupÃ=TLú[·e566ºëõîÃöâ¡zýÆè võÃoZÃúf³an&TǤ4KI¦è`h žÂg9¿ ýâ¬xÃ7oà âO(°¤LIà 㽬ªhOâ¹âÃdEâ¬Â²Ã â¦Å¡y~â¹ ÃgÃwR`1mì¾¥´ü âcâºÃÃÃé®ÅJ+TyKJð° ïâ? £]¹UÃ-âTâ¹{áâ¬jËÃKgø»â¬'^Â¥.M ¨ú$ÃN9gâ¹Ãâ¬Â®Ã¬Ëî/à xà ¦â°`Bºæf®9pâÃ>Ã6Ãa¢ nÃs ÃæP¸â-g[óÃWð$º#ôè^Ãn/à áš9à 3%ïîÃâ¿Ã¶Å°¸fa§Q½Âþl Ãê ¸hºâG9P/ 2¬ÃôA¨â°ÃµWâ_{ü Ã+Ã7ŸÃ|%øÃÃà ¯Rb4⪠®å |´#¸ñ-¾ñª&,î&µwâ±Ã!w¯³÷^à  y»QY Ãgù¦['ñÂW5Ãâ* ¬>ä(v+GÃñõÿžèÃnO.*øøn hRvÃ}º;jŽMGz3\ègsSÃââTR M»@_â¢t"üùâ¹â LçÃÃÿÃÃ@@ô ó|ý>Ãâ¬&wÃá¿Ÿé8 cñ!;Ãâ¡J Ga#¡oÃC?§ º¾0X/úñÃáÃâ¢Âº ±H&5r [gâ ?y²3|`ÃÂ'e¯à º¾ËâGî©yJÃÃî³Ã¾ŠŸaÃÂEP ânÃã¾´ì"rÃÃ]vÂ¥o/Ãs°æ¸(%lâ Â%ÃÃ_ÃÃ2gºWâ+%ÃçTÃÃAãÃâ¹ 'ÃÃt©ÃiúüÃm:ÃH>å¤^ù QÃâ¢Ã¨ÃŽ=§*þ¢ü£z|Aâ¹bÃÃâ 8:+[?°`vÃã`Ãâ¹sûtkâüð=¹ _4ãn,$éâ©},"Âz½\:êÅÃà µE â¬BÃTóe0Ãâ Ã$ðµ~à kaÃÃBâË0  ËÃÃotw1 ...
no joke, that really happened. i wonder wat language it's in? (gobbldegook, most likely)
Yes i agree not nessasery... d hebrew version is good bcause of ths it the only change was in the 1st 2 books harry was changed to ha-ari (im american... but i know hebrew so i read the books.)
I love to read Harry in Spanish. God, I love translations. I have a slight obsession with learning foreign languages, can't figure out what the relentless charm is, and have never met anyone with such a deep passion. I just love to express myself in other languages, communicate with foreign speakers in their mother tongues, and am well on my way to becoming bilingual. Sometimes I feel like I'm a bit strange, because I don't know anyone who feels the same way.
I meant 'MULTIlingual'. I speak English and Spanish.
I donât understand the need to use a word that means fools for muggles. Muggles are just folk with no magical ability.
Translating books must be really hard. I look at my second favorite book (second to Harry potter of course) and it was previously written in German. How do they make it such good writing when you have to cross languages?!
so many of JKR'S words have connotations in English that don't translate over into other languages if done literally. I guess it's a matter of preference whether you like the word translated or not. I'd rather have the word stay the same as the original, personally, but I admire how some translators can translate these particular words brilliantly. (I speak no Portuguese, so I can't comment on Lia Wyler's translating ability). Rowena_R: is it Cornelia Funke's books? I like her too. DecemberDrops: do NOT feel alone! I agree with you 100%. I'm learning Italian. I don't speak it very well yet, but I'm working to become fluent
It would be hard to change the words over, although, some of the made up words really don't need to be translated. Like Quidditch? Yeah, I understand how she did it, but not why. If JKR wanted it to be called 4balls she could have done it herself. Same thing with the word Muggle, she didn't put fool. Which, by the way, out of curiosity, since Muggle is in the new Webster's Dictionary and other countries have thier own words for it, will it start appearing in translators too? If so, that would be sweet.
The Portuguese speakers on here keep implying that "quidditch" and "muggle" have some kind of meaning in English outside of the HP books. They don't. They are completely made up words that would make no sense if they weren't defined in the book. It doesn't make sense to call quidditch "four ball".
God, I hate Lia Wyler so much. I'm Brazilian and I've made it my hobby to find blatant erros in her translations. One of the most famous one is when pile of spellbooks fell on the characters while they were on the bookstore in Diagon Alley. She translated spellbook interpreting the word "spell" in the grammar meaning instead of a synonym for "charm", as in books that teach you how to spell words. I mean, is she even READING the book? Also on the second book, she didn't include the whole paragraph of dialogue where Aragog tells Harry and Ron the Basilisk killed a girl in a bathroom, so when Harry thinks later on of Moaning Myrtle it looks like he came up with it out of the blue. On the fifth book, in the Hog's Head, she erased the paragraph where Ron gets angry at Smith for using the word "weasel", as it was a clear pun on his name. The names change a lot, Gwenog to Guga and back to Gwenog. Katie to Cátia and back to Katie. Roger to Rogério and back to Roger. In the same book, I mean. Draco was Drago in the first book. In the sixth book, Ron calls his bespectacled friend Jerry. The translation of the names is very tricky. She said she was told to translate the most foreign-looking names. But this is very pointless, since most characters are alluded to by their lastnames, which are even harder to pronounce. In the second book, whenever a character said Professor McGonagall, the Brazilian version had it just plain "Minerva". The House names were translated, and that is one of the only things I kind of admire her for, because that was a pretty bold thing to do. The House names carry so much meaning in their sound that would be disappointing to have them almost unreadable. I mean, c'mon, Gryffindor is almost a hieroglyph for a non-English-speaking Brazilian child. The houses are called Grifinória, Sonserina, Lufa-Lufa and Corvinal and they all DO carry meaning in their sounds and references. But, again, it is kind of pointless, since Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slyther...
Oops, ran out of space... "But, again, it is kind of pointless, since Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin had their names unchanged."
Wow Radek - she sounds like a horrible translator. Leaving out how paragraphs??? That's amazing. I doubt very much that JKR knows how sloppily her books are being translated.
Well, I know a few brazilian fans that wrote to JK telling all about this "Wyler's errors" but never got an answer back. Sad.
Somebody Else: Thanks. That's comforting to know. But the particularly strange tendency of mine is that which involves hurling myself into language after language after language, no matter which one it is.
Celo (12th comment, above) recommends reading an interview with Wyler on en.potterish.com and so I had a look. I'm afraid it just highlights her inadequacies to me. She says stupid things like this: "in the original English title the word was written with its first letter capital and that helps to build the mystery of his identity" (regarding translating the title "Half Blood Prince".) Doesn't she know that all the words of a title should be capitalized except articles and prepositions? What kind of writer is she? Or she says things like this: "Have you noticed that the object worshiped by Gryffindor is the sword and that it was kept in Dumbledoreâs office?" ...which tells me plainly that she completely misunderstands important concepts in the books. And clearly, as people above have said, it is unnecessary (and even foolish) to translate non-real words that she doesn't understand into words with a meaning, about which she might be wrong. She even agrees, with the example: "the name I chose for Quidditch was Quadribol [where Quadri = Quatro, meaning âfourâ, and \"bol\" meaning ball.], because the game is played with four ****, but later I found out, reading another book from the author in which she tells the story of the game, that in the beginning it was played with only one ball. And it wasnât even a ball, it was a bird â and a make-believe bird." If I was Brazillian, I'd be more than a bit insulted by someone assuming I wouldn't understand the concept of a sport unless it was called "Four ****". For crying out loud! I am SO glad I speak the same language as the ORIGINAL author!
lol. Mugglenet blocks out the plural of "ball".
its the same with japanese stuff. Why do you need to change the names of everything? *cough*PS/SS*cough*
lol interusting interview
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