Author Topic: Short passage translation help  (Read 5987 times)

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maggie_targaryen

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Short passage translation help
« on: October 10, 2013, 06:47:15 pm »
Hi Dothraki Speakers,

I need a translation of a short passage of a Harry Potter book into Dothraki - it's for a particular round of a Harry Potter trivia night I'm helping out with. I'd love to do it myself but my Dothraki just isn't good enough yet. It can be from any of the seven HP books and it just needs to be a few lines or so. I don't need an IPA transcription or pronunciation help or anything, I can do that myself. It's just the straight translation I need.

Any help would be much appreciated!!

Hrakkar

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Re: Short passage translation help
« Reply #1 on: October 10, 2013, 07:50:34 pm »
Do you have a passage in mind?
Don't tell Khal Drogo I am here ;)

maggie_targaryen

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Re: Short passage translation help
« Reply #2 on: October 10, 2013, 07:55:34 pm »
Not really - it can be any part of any book; it doesn't affect the question we're using it for :)

Qvaak

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Re: Short passage translation help
« Reply #3 on: October 10, 2013, 08:23:11 pm »
I don't have the books (though I have read them - in English even), but Wikiquote at least seems to have a fair selection of snippets from books. Mostly dialogue, of course. I might manage something and have fun while trying. Won't absolutely promise, but I think it's at least likely I'll manage.

It would be more an inspiration that a limitation, if you threw a small selection (three or five?) of candidate passages for the translation. It's hard to choose.
Game of Thrones is not The Song of Ice and Fire, sweetling. You'll learn that one day to your sorrow.

maggie_targaryen

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Re: Short passage translation help
« Reply #4 on: October 13, 2013, 01:12:44 am »
Right, sorry for the delay, busy weekend.
Here are a couple of passages I like. I'm not sure what sort of text you want; if you'd like anything different, please let me know :)

"Tears came before he could stop them, boiling hot and then instantly freezing on his face, and what was the point in wiping them off, or pretending? He let them fall, his lips pressed hard together, looking down at the thick snow hiding from his eyes the place where the last of Lily and James lay, bones now, surely, or dust, not knowing or caring that their living son stood so near, his heart still beating, alive because of their sacrifice and close to wishing, at this moment, that he was sleeping under the snow with them."

"Then, six feet above the ground, Katie let out a terrible scream. Here eyes flow open but whatever she could see, or whatever she was feeling, was clearly causing her terrible anguish. She screamed and screamed; Leanne started to scream too, and seized Katie's ankles, trying to tug her back to the ground."

"'Let’s stay here for now,' Harry said.
Looking relieved, Hermione sprang to her feet.
'Where are you going?’ asked Ron.
'If we’re staying, we should put some protective enchantments around the place,' she replied, and raising her wand, she began to
walk in a wide circle around Harry and Ron, murmuring incantations as she went."

Qvaak

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Re: Short passage translation help
« Reply #5 on: October 13, 2013, 02:09:43 pm »
Making a half decent translation of even one sentence is still a fair work, so the first one is a bit long for my tastes. The middle one should be doable, but it has some evocative expressions and tricky syntaxes to emulate, so translation might turn a bit lukewarm. I think the last one is the easiest one. I'll try it.
Game of Thrones is not The Song of Ice and Fire, sweetling. You'll learn that one day to your sorrow.

Qvaak

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Re: Short passage translation help
« Reply #6 on: October 14, 2013, 02:16:04 pm »
Alright. At some points I might have tried harder (tried harder to go close to the original, that is) and at other points might have tried less (tried less to make lively and clever translation, that is), and this would definitely benefit from more proofreading, but I have something:

Ast Hari ki, 'Vikovarerates jinne vi ajjinaan.'
Hormaioni nemo akkovar ki venikhi meme samveno athahhaqar.
Qaf Ron ki, 'Finnaan yer ee?'
Elz me ki, 'Hash kisha vikovareraki, hash kisha jif moveki loy athmovezari qisi gache,' majin kash me ayyatho korikh mae, kash ev ifat fir ovaha qisi ma Hari ma Ron. Ma kash me e, kash asto asmove ki athchakari.

Word-to-word-ish translation:
Said Harry thus: Let's stay here through now.
Hermione stood herself up with a semblance that she had surpassed a frustration.
Asked Ron thus: Where do you go?
Answered she thus: If we stay, then we should create some magic near-about the place. And so as she rised the stick of hers, as started to walk a wide circle near-about both Harry and Ron. And as she went, as she spoke magic words silently.

Peer critique, questions and so forth would be much appreciated, as always.
« Last Edit: October 14, 2013, 07:04:26 pm by Qvaak »
Game of Thrones is not The Song of Ice and Fire, sweetling. You'll learn that one day to your sorrow.

maggie_targaryen

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Re: Short passage translation help
« Reply #7 on: October 14, 2013, 04:35:57 pm »
Thank you very much!!
In terms of proof-reading, even if you think this is rough, for my purposes it's absolutely fine; I can guarantee there won't be a Dothraki speaker in the room - they're Harry Potter fans after all, not ASoIaF. And the idea is for them not to understand any of the passages we're reading in other languages. But I totally get that you want feedback for your own purposes!

Thank you again - I owe you big time!!