Saturday, May 21, 2011

How do you say "Hogwarts" in French?

I'm well into the french translation of The Philosopher's Stone, though in French it's called Harry Potter a L'ecole des Sorciers which translates into "Harry Potter at the School for Sorcerors".

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the novel is just as fun and exciting in French as it is in English.

I feel entitled to feel surprised, though, that the translator, Jean-Francois Menard, has chosen to "translate" some of J.K.'s made up words as well. For example, "Hogwarts" has been changed to "Poudlard" and "Muggles" is "Moldus" in French.

Menard could have simply left them as is: not changed them at all. After all, "Harry" is still "Harry". And I'm told by French-speaking friends that neither "Poudlard" nor "Moldus" has any real meaning in French, at least no meanings that are related to the novels.

Interesting.

1 comment:

  1. Great post.I really think that French was as hard as other languages.I might say that learning other languages such as French translation would be harder especially when it was not your native languages.We would always give emphasis on the importance of a technical translation being accurate and efficient can indeed not be overstated. Especially in the ever faster moving world of globalized business, successful information and technology transfer within multinational businesses can make the difference between win or lose.

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