Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Oksa Pollock
& Translation
Ideas for small group activities in Years 6 and 7 (P6/P7),
or library reading groups
Wheredostoriescomefrom?
Thinkofthestoriesyouenjoyedasachild,inChristmaspantomimesand
cartoonsaswellasinbooks.Ifyoucanonlyrememberthecharacters,write
theirnamesdown.
Areanyofthesecharactersonyourlist?
Beauty(BelleintheDisneyfilm)fromBeautyandtheBeast)
TheLittleMermaid(ArielintheDisneyfilm)
PrincessAurora(TheSleepingBeauty)
AladdinandJafar
SnowWhite
Cinderella
TheSnowQueen
Pinocchio
RedRidingHood
Weonlyknowaboutthesecharactersbecausethestoriestheyappearin
havebeentranslatedfromanotherlanguage,althoughtheyaresowell
knownintheUKthatwethinktheybelongtousjustlikeRobinHood,a
traditionalEnglishfolkhero.
Today,wecanonlyenjoystoriesfromaroundtheworldbecauseatsome
point(perhapsaverylongtimeago)atranslatorhasworkedonhowto
expresstheirmeaninginEnglish.
Translatorsareinvisiblestorytellers.Thankstothem,writersandreaders
aroundtheworldcanfindeachother.
Whatdoestranslationinvolve?
Onemeaningofthewordtranslationistocarrysomethingfromoneplace
toanother.Totranslateastoryyouneedtogivethenewreadersthewhole
meaningofthestory.
Howdoyoudothis?Youmightthinkonewordatatime:butitisntthat
simple.
Whynotonewordatatime?
IfyoulookupeverywordintheOksaPollockbooksinaFrenchdictionary
andputthemtogether,youstillwouldnthavethestory.Andifyoutriedto
translatethemontheinternet,itwouldntworkeither.Somanythingscan
affectthemeaningsofwords.
Herearesomeoftheissuesa
translatorhastothinkabout:
#1 Somewordsmeansomethingdifferenttoeveryone
whohearsthembecausetheycreateapictureinthe
readerorlistenersmindbasedontheirexperience.
Trythisexerciseinasmallgroup:
Writedownwhatyouthinkofwhenyoureadthefollowingwords(one
wordatatime):
School
Home
Bed
Toy
Taketurnsforeachmemberofthegrouptoreadoutwhattheyhave
writtenandseehowdifferentitis.
#2 Alllanguageshaveexpressivephrasesthatmean
somethingmorethantheysay(idiom).
WhatdothefollowingexamplesofEnglishidiommean?
Torefusetotakesomethinglyingdown
Totakesomeonedownapegortwo
Tohavesomethingonthetipofyourtongue
Saycheese!
Thelastexampleisaparticulargoodexampleofchallengesfortranslators,
imaginewhattheschoolphotographswouldlookinlikeinFranceif
everyonesaidFROMAGE!(=cheeseinFrench).
Canyouthinkofanymoreexamplesofidiom?
#3 Somewordsbelongtoaparticularregioninthe
originalcountrybutthetranslatorhastomakesure
everyoneunderstandsthem.
Forexample,inthenorthofEnglandginnelmeansalleywayor
passageway.SoapersonfromthesouthofEnglandmightnotunderstand
that.Afishandchipshopiscalledachippyinsomeplacesandachipper
inothers,soalthoughyouwouldunderstandbothversionsyouwoulduse
thewordthatislocaltoyouwithouteventhinkingaboutit.
Whatwordsdoyousaythatsomeonefromanotherpartofthecountry
mightnotunderstand?
#4 Everylanguagehassomewordsthatyoumightnot
sayinschoolorwithyourolderrelatives.Thetranslator
hastoknowallthevariouslevelsofthelanguage,polite
orformalandlesspolite.
Arethereanywordsyouarenotallowedtosay(besidesswearwords)?
Someofthesemightbethesameasyourlocaldialectwords,above,orthey
mightcomefrommusicortelevision.
Howmightatranslatorfindoutthebestequivalentwordsfortheslang
wordsintheoriginallanguage?
Thesequestionsabouthowthecharactersmightspeakmightbeanswered
bythecontextofthestory:arethecharactershighupinsocietyortryingto
soundasiftheyare?Whereisthestoryset?Arethepeopleinaroyal
palace,anarmycamporahousingestate?
Whentheworldofthestoryis
completelyimaginary,asthe
worldofOksais,thenthe
translatorsjobbecomeseven
moreinteresting.
MeettheOksaPollock
translator
SueRosehasworkedontranslatingnovelsandpoetryfromFrenchto
Englishformorethan20years.Shehasalwaysenjoyedreadingfantasy,
includingtheHarryPotter,TwilightandGameofThronesseries,soshe
lovesexploringtheworldofEdefia.
Translatingnameswasoneofthemostfunandsometimesthemost
difficultpartoftranslatingtheOksabooks.HereiswhatSuesaysabout
someofthenamesshecreated.
ThenameswereoftenplaysonwordsinFrench,soIworkedhardtofind
namesthatoperatedonthesamelevelinEnglish thishadmewracking
mybrainsonsomeoccasions,butitwasveryrewardingwhenIcameup
withnamesthatIfeltworkedwell.
Next,trySuestwotranslation
challenges,thenreadmore
abouthowsheworks.
Challenge#1:whichwords/whichcontext?
Canyouguesswhichmeaningmatcheswhichword?
WhatSuethe
translatorsaid
Whatshecame
upwith
Frenchisacombinationofculbuter
(knockover,fallover)andgueulard
(loudmouth)
ThoughtAdder
Frenchisaninventedname,which
leftmefreetoexperiment.I
combinedthewordforoctopusin
Greekwiththewordforlighthouse
inGreek!
Caskinette
Frenchisacombinationoffourrer
(tostuff)andpense (thought)
Volumiplus
TheFrenchisaninventedname.
Thiscreaturewillchangeshapeand
speakallkindsoflanguages.Itis
alsoverychattyindeed.
Polypharus
TheFrenchisbasedonchuchoter
(towhisper)andisapowerwhich
enablessomeonetohearsomething
whisperedalongwayaway.
TumblerBawler
Frenchisacombinationofcoffre
(chest)andton (asuffixmeaning
smallish)
Poliglossiper
Challenge#2:howwouldYOUtranslate
this?
InFrench,theyrecalledGrenettes,combininggrenouille (frog)andette
(suffixmeaningsmall)
Yourtranslation:
TheFrenchisaplayonfeufollet (awillothewisp)withthesuffix
etto forsmall.
Yourtranslation:
InFrenchtheyrecalledDevinailles,fromdeviner (toforesee/guess).
Theyretruthteller/liedetectorsbutalsoverysensitiveandmakealotof
noiseabouttheweather.
Yourtranslation:
Suesfavouritenames
Lunatrix/a
TheFrench,whichisFoldingot/e,isacombinationoffoldingue (crazy)and
dingo (nutcase).Iwantedtousesomethingthatoperatedinthesameway,
andwhichcouldalsobevariedformaleandfemale.Iwasverypleased
whenIcameupwithLunatrix,whichplaysonloony(fortheireccentricity)
andtricks(fortheirquirkyabilitiesandthetrickstheyalwayshaveuptheir
sleeves).Theyalsohaveverylarge,moonlike,eyessothelunaraspect
wasapttoo.
Croakette
TheFrench,whichisGrenette,combinesgrenouille (frog)andthesuffix
ette,whichisusedforasmallversionofsomething.IlovedCroakette,
whichcombinescroak(thesoundafrogmakes)withette,whichworksthe
samewayinEnglish.Ialsoenjoyedthefactthatitsoundslikecroquette.
Gargantuhen
TheFrench,whichisGelinotte,referstoatypeofhen ahazelgrouseor
hazelhenofnormalsize,althoughtheGelinottes inthebookaresixfeet
tall.IwasveryhappywhenIcameupwithGargantuhen,whichcombines
henwiththeideaofsomethingenormousorgigantic.aplayonGargantuan
(whichmeansimmenseorgiganticandisalsoanodtotheFrenchauthor
Rabelais)combinedwithhen.
Polypharus
TheFrench,Trasibule,isaninventedname.Icombinedpolywhichreferred
toitsoctopuslikeformand11tentaclestheGreekforoctopuswas
Polypous,meaningmanyfeetandpharus,whichwasareferencetothe
Greeklighthouseorpharos,sincethecreaturehaslightsontheendofits
tentaclesandisusedspecificallyforlighting.
Ididleavesomenamesintheiroriginalform,whenitwouldhaveservedno
realpurposetofindequivalents.Forexample,theGetorix wasleft
unchanged,sinceitisareferencetotheGallictriballeaderVercingetorix,
whohadavoluminousmaneofhair.
TheseriescontinueVolume4TaintedBonds cominginAugust2015
Inthemeantime,keepintouchonoksapollock.co.uk.
PushkinChildrens,GeraldineBrennan
Thank you
for taking part!