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dkniade · 9 months

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Localization: Tartaglia’s Title & In-Game Self Introduction

I feel that Tartaglia’s codename as a harbinger, “公子” (gong1zi3), is better translated to “Young Master” rather than “Childe” since the former is more easily understood and blends in with Liyue culture (more on that shortly). Does the English word “Childe” sound like a title or a name to the average player I wonder? Even though the title “childe” refers to “an archaic English word that refers to the son of a nobleman who has not yet attained knighthood” or so the etymology section on his wiki page says.

And I believe the name Tartaglia comes from the stock character in traditional Italian theatre, commedia dell’arte. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but “Tartaglia” translates to “the stutterer”, I think? I’m not familiar with Italian culture; I wonder if the stock character has any relations to being a childe.

The Chinese term 公子 understandably comes up often in Chinese 武侠/wuxia (Chinese martial arts) and 仙侠/xianxia (spiritual cultivation, fantasy with gods/immortals/etc) genres, so if Tartaglia really wanted to blend in with Liyue… I mean, if his title was “Young Master” then it wouldn’t be suspicious if in Liyue you hear someone be referred to as “Young Master”. It could be Xingqiu for all they know. Of course in the game the word “childe” is pronounced (?) like “child” but if said “child” sounds like a young man, wouldn’t the facade be broken easily…?

Zhongli and Traveler calling him 公子 all the time wouldn’t rouse suspicion if in English it’s just “Young Master”. “Young Master did this. Young Master was at that place,” sort of feel.

More importantly, his introduction:

Edit: Final line can be better translated as “Things like names are really just aliases” for a casual tone more fitting to the original

(Original Chinese)

？？？：你们可以叫我「公子」喔。

派蒙：哇…性格好糟糕，救过我们一次就把我们当仆人？

公子：哈哈，我没有那个意思。「名字」这种东西啊，只是代号而已。

(Official English Localization)

???: Call me Childe.

Paimon: Childe? What, so we're supposed to dote on you?

Childe: Haha, no no, not at all. It's an alias of sorts.

(Actual English Translation)

???: You can just call me “Young Master”.

Paimon: What kind of attitude is this?* You saved us once and now you’re treating us like servants?

Young Master: Haha, that’s not what I meant.** Things like “names”… are just aliases.***

* T/N: literally, “Wow, what a terrible personality you’ve got.”

**T/N: literally, “Haha, I don’t have such intentions”

***T/N: literally, “codenames”

#dusk analysis #Genshin translation #translation #Tartaglia #Childe #公子 #达达利亚 #原神 #genshin impact #English translation #chinese culture #commedia dell'arte

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antidotefortheawkward-art · 1 year

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妖族七大圣 Seven Great Sages of Yao Kind

[ID: A character line-up of the Seven Great Sages, left-to-right by seniority status and accompanied by their king title in seal script. They are all dressed in varying levels of armor in an overall red-orange-yellow color palette. Bull Demon King has one hand on his hip and the other hand holding half of a skull with two fingers up like a wine bowl. Jiao Demon King has one hand on his hip with the other on the hilt of his sword. Peng Demon King is standing, wings not folded but not outstretched, with his hands in mudra positions. Lion-Camel King is smiling with his eyes closed, one paw hooked onto his belt and the other resting within his off-the-shoulder outer shirt. Macaque King is standing with hook swords in each of his hands. Golden Snub-nosed King is leaning against a wolf's teeth staff. Sun Wukong is standing, arm slightly up and head tilted down, his staff held behind him. End ID]

#my art #journey to the west #jttw #xiyouji #sun wukong #monkey king #character design #hanfu #visual development #bull demon king #jiao demon king #peng demon king #lion-camel king #macaque king #golden snub-nosed king #JUST FYI my jiao demon king macaque king and golden snub-nosed king are all girls #king was a gender neutral title and ancient chinese used the same pronoun for everyone (他 or 佢 depending on region)#using he/him for them in english because that gn pronoun is now translated as he/him and also They Are Butch Icons #ourgh i was gonna post this alongside Erlang Shen's Seven Sages too but alas his is not getting done anytime soon #but it will come eventually #also i knoWWW they did seniority by how physically big they were isnt of their actual senioritiy #but you cant give me a dragon and expect me to not make them tall and lanky #so im gonna say their humanoid forms are not reflective and that Bull Demon's bull form is bigger than Jiao Demon's dragon form

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one-time-i-dreamt · 2 years

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I was talking to a famous Chinese celebrity in German. He was responding in English. The dream had Chinese subtitles. I do not read Chinese, but I knew the translation was wrong. You know, seeing as I still don't know how to read Chinese.

#dream #chinese #german #english #subtitles #translation #talking #celebrity

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freisende · 23 days

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Thousand Autumns English Volume Covers 1-5 Are Now Complete!

Thousand Autumns (Qian Qiu) have officially been taken and published by Seven Seas Publishing. Take a look, the volumes are all now complete. Special edition of the last volume (5th volume) are also available with limited supplies to pre-order.

They're so beautiful and I can't wait to stuff them all up in my bookshelves🥺❤

The arts were done so beautifully by Mimo.

The drastic change in the fifth volume compared starting from the beginning of the first volume is 😔💖

They're really closing the final curtain with the season autumn💛💛

Spring-Summer-Autumn-Winter; In the end, who can still remain eternal?

Look at the symbols on the side of the books! <3

Vol. 1: Shen Qiao's Bamboo pole

Vol. 2: Scroll (Zhuyang Ce)

Vol. 3: Ah-Qiao Tangren

Vol. 4: Shan He Tong Bei Sword

Vol. 5: Banbu Peak (Xuandu Mountain)

It's all related to our beloved protagonist Shen Qiao.

Please read Qianqiu if you haven't! Let's support the authors too by buying the official books if you can.

#千秋 #qianqiu #thousand autumns #yan wushi #shen qiao #yanshen #meng xi shi #text post #english translation #chinese novel #book cover #cover #digital art

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kitorin · 1 day

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I WANNA GET HIS NUMBER

#sou's thoughts #hi here to give context down here #i've been going to this badminton club #and there's this super sweet guy who i admire sm #bc i don't speak chinese at all and people keep assuming i do but never remember that i don't #BUT HE REMEMBERED I DON'T and even goes as far as speaking english for me and translating #like this lady started speaking to me in chinese and i was so lost BUT HE WAS NEARBY AND TRANSLATED FOR ME #school starts soon so tomorrow's my last day #since wechat won't work (mf won't let me sign up) i'm gonna ask for his number #also i wanna try do more small talk !!#idek his age yet and what he does i just know how long he's played #but he's super fun to play with so i want to invite him if i ever book courts during the term #he's literally my role model #i wanna make someone feel that welcome bc before i spoke to him i felt so left out #and kept telling myself that i should just push through and make use of being able to play with new people #now i've been so excited to go and speak to new people #anyways long ass ramble but wish me luck !!#ngl last time i made friends outside of school i did it by trading parent numbers #SO LIIIIIKE #i'm nervous

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tea-cat-arts · 1 year

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On my hands and knees begging the English translators to find a better word for “sworn siblings” other than just “siblings.” I get that sworn siblings aren’t a concept in western media (or at least not in the same way. I know we have found families), I get that they can’t just say these characters are dating because censorship laws, but like… there’s gotta be a better word for this.

#honkai impact #genshin impact #bronseele #cynonari #Mihoyo they already kissed each other on the mouth- please stop calling Bronya and Seele siblings #we all know Cyno and Tighnari are married and Collei is their kid- don’t pretend they’re all just siblings now #i was told there was also an example in hoyo’s dating sim game but I haven’t actually played that so no comment #I feel like the easiest way of fixing this problem would be to just use the actual chinese word #there’s just some things that can’t be directly translated #or they could just describe the relationship without putting any label on it #but I feel like this would help make a bigger distinction between romantic sworn siblings and actual adopted siblings #and maybe put an end to the Kaeluc debate #reminder that this is all directed at the English translation and not the main writing team

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fwoopersongs · 1 month

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[Book Rec + Reaction/Thoughts] The Lantern and the Night Moths 灯与夜蛾 by Yilin Wang

An anthology of translated poems by five modern or contemporary poets and accompanying essays by the translator, @yilinwriter.

You can find the pronunciation guide and list of corrections here!

The cover art, a beautiful expression of the tone of this collection, is by Taiwanese artist Ciaoyin (check out her gorgeous insta!). I'm looking forward to the arrival of the physical book as my tab absolutely does not do it justice xD

Anyway! The official release date is 02 April 2024 though there have been some very thoughtful reviews by early readers already. Here, here, here and here.

(It was an ARC that I received too… though in the time it took to put this together, the ebooks have already gone out to readers >.< typical snail yj!)

Instead, I’ll tell you who I think would be interested in this book or might benefit from reading it, then share things that are cool about it from the perspective of a bilingual hobbyist translator + lover of ancient poetry and lyrics.

Who should read it?

If annotations, translator’s notes and reflections spark joy for you...

If you’ve ever read poetry translations and been intensely curious about what goes on under the hood...

If you’re a translator yourself wanting to hear another voice...

Definitely check this out!

Also if you’re CN+EN bilingual and have ever read something in English that references Chinese terms and concepts etc. except ONLY in English, pinyin or wade-giles and been utterly frustrated by the ensuing guessing game (like me) Fear Not.

That will not be a problem here.

I really appreciate how Chinese words are used naturally where needed for concepts and quotes - they are also translated for those who can't read Chinese so no one is left out. It made this book of and about translation (and more) super comfortable to read! The solution is so simple, so direct, so rarely used that I am amused.

Oh, but do note that the Chinese characters are in simplified though!

The poems are organised by their writers who are listed here by order of birth year, not appearance in the book:

秋瑾 (Qiu Jin, 1875 to 1907)

废名 (Fei Ming. 1901 to 1967)

戴望舒 (Dai Wangshu, 1905 to 1950)

小西 (Xiao Xi, 1974 to _)

张巧慧 (Zhang Qiaohui, 1978 to _)

Altogether, that covers nearly the last 150 years up to now. I’ve never really been into poetry by poets in such relatively recent times, in part because I’d been holding on to this stereotype of them spurning Classical Chinese and ancient poetry in the first half of the 20th century (not entirely true, as I came to realise xD). It made sense and was understandable, but felt sad.

Yet am I the target audience for this book?

Very much so.

In ways I didn’t think I would be too! It was so much fun to experience this both as a reader and a translator that I thought I’d share it here, where we are appreciating Chinese poetry together.

If you didn’t think you’d enjoy modern Chinese poetry, hey, give it a chance!

Oh yeah - on the way home a while back, I was talking to a friend about translation and was surprised to hear that her impression was that it ought to be a straightforward process. Like isn’t it a 1:1 conversion? At some point, ‘what’s the difference between something google translate might return, and how you would say it?’ was asked, and oh that was a delightful question to my ears! I showed her one of my comparison sheets where an original text is laid out alongside multiple translations line-by-line, briefly explaining some common and unique choices and how the people who had translated those probably arrived at the various interpretations. She was pretty amazed to see that the answer to her question was: very different. Hey, it’s a complicated process!

But there’s only so much one can explain in the space of a train ride. That’s why The Lantern and the Night Moths is a book I would also rec to someone like this friend of mine - open minded and curious but never having the chance to think about or encounter the craft of translation.

Like Yilin says, ‘the meaning of a word cannot be fully expressed in one single translation, nor through a series of translation attempts’. She then explains why with great attention to detail and some solid examples from one of the poems with word choices loaded with subtle connotations :D

What's interesting about it?

Okay, for one, Yilin shared a playlist of music that she listened to while working on this book. Here is the link to the spotify one and the one on youtube. Check them out! They sure put me in the mood to read xD (favs: 别知己, 小神仙 & 去有風的地方) Afterwards, this made so much sense like - ah! an audio moodboard.

She's also putting together these adorable mini profiles of each poet along with a cmedia and tea rec to match their vibes. Go see them on her instagram xD

Now to business...

structure

What really helped keep the reader’s focus was the way each section is organized, how the poems and accompanying essay were presented and finally the short bio of each person right at the end.

The poets are first introduced through five or six of their poems, works well suited to this purpose. Their voices, distinct through the vision, ambition and emotion of their words, are brought across by Yilin’s sensitive, thoughtful and poetic translations into English. These translations were also creative and transformative in a way that made so much sense after reading one of her reflections on the process, how she ‘must guide it with gentle hands to ensure its spirit is kept alive and intact during this transformative, and often excruciating process’. A rebirth into another language!

Personally, I’ve come to think of reading translations as looking at a work through another’s eyes. So it’s delightful when the translator’s presence is discernible, and even more so when the reader is given insight into their intention and process via commentary.

Yilin’s essays coupled with the poets’ bios at the end provide a means to go back and appreciate their works in context of their circumstance and inspirations. Similarly, to read the translations with a changed perspective.

I don’t know how much of a thing this is with translated poetry anthologies in English - can count the number I’ve read with both hands lol, and they’re all of the ancient chinese poetry variety - but I really like this design.

drawing on poets who came before them

Remember how we’re always recognizing traces of inspiration from ancient works (to them) in poetry of the various dynasties? 李商隐 Li Shangyin of Tang for example, was influenced by 楚辞 Verses of Chu and folklore and mythology such as that in 山海经 Classic of Mountains and Seas, 李白 Li Bai frequently references poets and history of the 魏晋 Wei-Jin era, and 王维 Wang Wei was clearly familiar with Buddhist scriptures which were translations themselves!

Just like the late Táng poets whom he praised for boldly deviating from the voices before them, Fei Ming used popular references and tropey shorthands ‘in contexts utterly different from the original, reimagining them anew’. Dai Wangshu, too, ‘boldly re-envisioned what modern poetry could look like by revisiting the classics’. In fact, in his very relatable ‘To Answer the Visitor with Classical Imagery’, I see Li Bai’s 春夜宴桃李园序, Qu Yuan’s 离骚 and lots of - as the title says - classical imagery, as if pulling out painting after painting to describe a feeling.

And Dai Wangshu’s faith in the translatability of poetry, that ‘poetry isn’t what is lost in translation, but rather, what survives it’ reminds me of what a friend, @xiakeponz, said that I agree with so much - because readers can ‘experience something in their own individual way through (your) shared humanity rather than language alone’.

poetic tradition and beyond

Between the lines of contemporary poets Zhang Qiaohui and Xiao Xi, I can really see the charm of plain vernacular, how it can be beautiful, incisive and clever in turns. Even as it seems to have moved further than ever from the structure and language of literary Chinese, the themes that inspired common motifs remain a part of life. Mother and divinity, homesickness, finding oneself, tributes to admirable spirits and the issues that trouble society - just in a new form and with different ways of expression.

Qiu Jin

So many FEELINGS about what Qiu Jin was doing - ‘I awaken the spirits of women, hundreds of flowers, abloom’. I would love if she could see the world now. So many things for her to rouse and fight against, but at the same time just as many to be proud of. I am so in awe of her, but now hearing her loneliness and struggle there is a soft spot in my heart for those too.

conclusion

So so so…

Qiu Jin’s admirable fire and lonely resolve. Zhang Qiaohui’s precious ability to express beauty in the mundane and in pain. Fei Ming’s utter delight! He is having so much fun and when* I’m vibing, I feel it too. Xiao Xi’s critical eye and keen observation of the world. Dai Wangshu’s whimsical charm and passion for translation. Finally, Yilin Wang, the connecting thread wound through them all, bringing them together so that we may be acquainted.

*Reading his poetry is like unwrapping a seamless, many layered present. A gift that keeps giving - if only you have a key 😅 Fortunately, Yilin has halved our struggle 🤣

I’ve had such a great time with them all. And if you come, I hope you will too!

#The Lantern and the Night Moths #chinese poetry #Yilin Wang #poetry in translation #灯与夜蛾 #Qiu Jin #Zhang Qiaohui #Fei Ming #Xiao Xi #Dai Wangshu #rambly reviews #i read from Fei Ming onwards on my kobo LOL but that one has no colour so...#i might do more of these review-y rambles about poetry things if y'all are interested?#i've been reading LOL #some are chinese some are english #all of them fun and enlightening

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yea-baiyi · 10 months

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makin my way through the new tgcf edition(!!!) and one thing i noticed that doesn’t come across in the english translation is how much the ghost groom plotline is clearly just meant to frame our first impression of hua cheng.

the phrase for ‘ghost groom’ is 鬼新郎 (gui xin lang)— the same 郎 in san lang (三郎). ‘red wedding palanquin’ is 红花轿 (hong hua jiao) — literally “red flower palanquin”. then obviously hua cheng appears and escorts xie lian out of the palanquin, and even begins to lift the veil. the villain turns out to not be a groom at all, so the entire point of the misdirect was to create this association

so when hua cheng rolls up five minutes later, dressed in red, and introduces himself as ‘san lang’, to the reader there’s a huge blinking sign over his head reading

HUSBAND!!!! GHOST HUSBAND!!!!

#tgcf #tgcf meta #hua cheng #my hyperfixation demon #rereading tgcf #like the thing is those are just the normal words for the things. groom. palanquin.#but it’s obviously chosen on purpose to create those associations #it’s so obvious and on the nose even in the english trans. but the identical words really. stands out. in the chinese #in a way i didn’t pick up on as strongly in the english #just thought this was a fun translation bit to share #my chinese is real bad guys but reading tgcf is so fun #meta stuff

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zishuge · 1 month

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The Spirealm 致命游戏 (2024) | Eps. 8 + 39

#the spirealm #致命游戏 #kaleidoscope of death #ruan nanzhu #lin qiushi #ling jiushi #xia zhiguang #huang junjie #cdrama #cdramasource #kodedit #userhanyi #*gifs:mine #i'm gonna fucking cry #the flippancy of the first answer vs. the care and weight of the second #the framing where both times nanzhu is facing away from lingling when he gives him his answer #nanzhu's look of disappointment in the first vs. wonder and almost reluctance to believe what he just heard in the second #he doesn't even dare to turn around #SOMEBODY HELP ME i am not well #translation notes: the second answer from lingling is “我愿意” which means “i'm willing” or “i'll do it”#notably “我愿意” is also the traditional marriage vow in chinese - the equivalent of the english “i do” at the altar SLDJFSLJFSLDJFLSDJF #anyway xia zhiguang's microexpressions ughhhhhh they hurt me

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treasurechestsubs · 1 month

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The Fantastical Beasts at World’s End Chapter 28 English Translated

Hello everyone~ ^v^ Chapter 28 of The Fantastical Beasts at World’s End novel by Mu Su Li now available~

Link (viewable and downloadable): >> Chapter 28 <<

!!!!Please note:!!!!! The cover for this novel that we shared in our previous announcement of chapters 24 and 25 is a fan-made cover. Please do not submit it anywhere (on sites like novelupdates). Since it is a fan-made cover by our team member, we just wanted to share it with everyone who follows us. Please do not share it or upload it on any novel reading websites.

Please also note: In case you try to open above link or any links from us on your phone and get an error message, please just try opening the link in your phone’s internet browser, go to the address bar and remove the “href.li” part and proceed to open the link.

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If you like this story, then please consider supporting the author by directly purchasing the novel from jjwxc >> Here

A guide on how to purchase from jjwxc is linked at the top on >> this page

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Our ongoing projects: >> Link

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********* Happy reading~! :D

#the fantastical beasts at world's end #末世之凶兽 #novel #chapter 28 #english translation #fan translation #chinese danmei novel #mu su li #pure love #fantasy #drama #apocalyptic #supernatural beasts #treasure chest subs

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svsss-fanon-exposed · 5 months

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not a correction, just wanted to say thank you for organizing this blog so well. when i read svsss, it was neither the first EN fantranslation nor the original CN, so when i started interacting with the new western fandom, i was like what the hell is everyone talking about and referencing? turns out i had practically read an entirely different story and a lot of the 'facts' i thought i knew about svsss were wrong. good luck and be careful on your way. regarding so many languages it can be easy to step on other people's feelings without meaning to.

You're welcome! I do my best to be as thorough as I can.

The fact that there were fanTLs of earlier versions of the original SVSSS and the official TL being translated from the revised edition have caused quite a few of the misinterpretations I've encountered, in addition to the translations themselves having quirks. Of course, this is not meant to disparage the translators! Translation is something very difficult to do (at least, I find it very difficult), and it's hard enough to carry the meaning for someone who knows both the target and the source language, but even more difficult to translate the meaning for someone with no knowledge of the original language at all. Once you know something and are aware of it, the brain will often forget how it feels like not to know-- and for a translator with knowledge of both the source and target language, some details might be missed when translating since it's assumed to be common knowledge.

SVSSS isn't written with a western audience in mind, and there are a lot of in-jokes and the like related to specifically CNovel genre tropes and internet culture. These things don't need to be explained to CN readers, since it's common knowledge-- but to western readers it flies right over their heads, sometimes to the point where they don't even know there's something to read into. This goes for TL's in general, but especially where it has to do with modern everyday life and culture.

A personal and specific example of this would be, I study, sew, and collect Hanfu. When historical clothing is depicted or described, a simple visual description will tell me additional details about the character/time period/etc. without having to state anything more. This just happens naturally, and my mind will take it as something obvious-- meanwhile, someone who has not studied Hanfu won't necessarily see anything beyond the physical depiction. Still, those additional details and meanings aren't always easy to put into words in any sort of concise way, so it's hard to explain why to someone without that knowledge.

Like you, I also hadn't read the original fan translations. The first version I read was 7Seas Official TL, the second was the original CN version (not revised, as I had yet to find a site that hosted the revised version). To this day, I still wonder where some common fandom ideas originate from, and have found quite a few that come from these original fantranslations. Currently, I have EPUBs of the Revised CN and 7S TL, and those are what I use to write my analyses-- since I'm unfamiliar with the original fantranslations, I do rely on my followers quite a bit to provide quotes from those where necessary, as I can't jump to finding the quote in a copy as quickly as I can with the versions I have as EPUB.

This blog is, of course, particularly concerned with western EN fandom, as it is the only fandom I have any familiarity with (sadly, living in the USA makes it so I'm virtually locked out of cnet), and the EN translations-- I have little to no knowledge whatsoever about Korean/Thai/Viet/etc. translations, as I don't know those languages. I'm sure that the fandoms in these languages also have their own set of misunderstandings and misconceptions, but I can't speak on that at all. I'm just here trying to correct as much of the widespread misinformation in the western EN fandom as I can, with what knowledge and tools I have.

In the end, even when there are such misconceptions arising from it, I still have a lot of respect for translators. Language is so much more than just words, and I know from experience how difficult it can be to take something from one to another.

#answered #as someone who was a native chinese speaker #who is now relearning after L1 attrition #and who has struggled with speaking primarily english in a chinese-speaking established mental framework #without fluency in my native language for many years #translation and linguistics are something i am very passionate about and interested in #so i'm sorry this got so long #i just had to hyperfixate a bit #faq

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