{"id":27428,"date":"2015-05-10T21:59:38","date_gmt":"2015-05-11T01:59:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=27428"},"modified":"2015-05-10T21:59:38","modified_gmt":"2015-05-11T01:59:38","slug":"sonderling-sunday-harry-potter-with-bonus-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=27428","title":{"rendered":"Sonderling Sunday – Harry Potter with Bonus Language!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"German<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s time for Sonderling Sunday, that time of the week when I play with language by looking at the German translation of children’s books.<\/p>\n

I’ve recently begun corresponding with a man on a dating site whose first language is French. So I’m thinking it’s time to brush up my French. That means this week I’m looking at the one book I have in German and English and French<\/em> — Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen, Harry Potter \u00e0 l’\u00c9cole des Sorciers<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Note: I’m using the British edition, since that’s the original. I just noticed that there was a difference with one word I translated. Dudley’s first word, “Shan’t!” was “Won’t!” in the American edition.<\/p>\n

Last time I looked at these three books<\/a>, I left off on page 10 in the British edition, page 9 in French, and page 10 in German.<\/p>\n

I’ll start with “the last report on the evening news”
\n= la fin du journal t\u00e9l\u00e9vis\u00e9<\/em>
\n= das Neueste in den Abendnachrichten<\/em> (love those German long words!)<\/p>\n

“bird-watchers”
\n= Vogelkundler<\/em>
\n(The French version doesn’t use this word, just talks about “testimonials” = t\u00e9moignages<\/em>, but doesn’t say who gave them.)<\/p>\n

Another nice long German word:
\n(British): “the news reader”
\n(American): “the newscaster”
\n= der Nachrichtensprecher<\/em>
\n= le pr\u00e9sentateur<\/em><\/p>\n

“downpour of shooting stars”
\n= ganze Schauer von Sternschuppen<\/em>
\n= de v\u00e9ritables pluies d’\u00e9toiles filantes<\/em><\/p>\n

“Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early — it’s not until next week, folks!”
\n= Peut-\u00eatre s’agissait-il de feux de joie, bien que ce ne soit pas encore la saison.<\/em> (“Perhaps it was fires of joy [bonfires], but it was not yet the season.”)
\n= Vielleicht haben die Leute zu fr\u00fch Silvester gefeiert — das ist noch eine Weile hin, meine Damen und Herren!<\/em>
\n(“Perhaps people have too early New Year’s Eve celebrated [when Germans really do shoot off fireworks] — that is still a while yet, my ladies and gentlemen!”)<\/p>\n

I like this sentence, in each language:
\n“Mr Dursley sat frozen in his armchair.”
\n= Mr Dursley se figea dans son fauteuil.<\/em>
\n(“Mr. Dursley froze in his chair.”)
\n= Mr. Dursley sa\u00df starr wie ein Eiszapfen in seinem Sessel.<\/em>
\n(“Mr. Dursley sat stiff as an icicle in his chair.”)<\/p>\n

“Owls flying by daylight?”
\n= Eulen, die bei Tage flogen?<\/em>
\n= Des hiboux qui volent en plein jour?<\/em><\/p>\n

“Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place?”
\n= Des gens bizarres v\u00eatus de capes?<\/em>
\n= Allerorten geheimnisvolle Leute in sonderbarer Kleidung?<\/em>
\n(Ah! An appearance where sonder<\/em> means “special” in the sense of “strange.”)<\/p>\n

“It was no good.”
\n= Es hatte keinen Zweck.<\/em> (“It had no point.”)
\n= D\u00e9cid\u00e9ment, il y avait quelque chose qui n’allait pas.<\/em>
\n(“Decidedly, there was something wrong.”)<\/p>\n

“her lot”
\n= ihrem Kl\u00fcngel<\/em>
\n= sa bande<\/em><\/p>\n

“Mrs Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips.”
\n= Mrs Dursley retroussait les l\u00e8vres en buvant son th\u00e9 \u00e0 petites gorg\u00e9es.<\/em>
\n(“Mrs Dursley curled her lips drinking tea in little sips.”)
\n= Mrs. Dursley nippte mit gesch\u00fcrzten Lippen an ihrem Tee.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Was he imagining things?”
\n= Bildete er sich das alles nur ein?<\/em>
\n= Mr Dursley imaginait-il des choses?<\/em><\/p>\n

“His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep”
\n= Bevor er einschlief, kam ihm ein letzter, tr\u00f6stender Gedanke<\/em>
\n(“Before he fell asleep, came to him a last, comforting thought”)
\n= La seule pens\u00e9e qui le consola avant de sombrer enfin dans le sommeil<\/em>
\n(“The only thought that consoled him before finally falling asleep”)<\/p>\n

“How very wrong he was.”
\n= Wie sehr er sich t\u00e4uschte.<\/em>
\n= Et il avait grand tort de penser ainsi.<\/em><\/p>\n

There. I’ve gotten us finished with the Dursleys for now. The next scene will involve Albus Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall.<\/p>\n

It’s fun to see how the German and French translators differ, and now you know what to call it if you see Des gens bizarres v\u00eatus de capes<\/em> or geheimnisvolle Leute in sonderbarer Kleidung<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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