Masaryk University

Faculty of Arts

Department of English and American

Studies

English Language and Literature

Eva Vclavkov

Translation of Proper Nouns and

Neologisms in Harry Potter
B.A. Major Thesis

Supervisor: Mgr. Renata Kamenick

2006
 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently,
using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

..
Authors signature

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I would like to thank my supervisor Mgr. Renata Kamenick for her advice and comments on my work. I

would also like to thank my friends for lending me those Harry Potter books I do not possess, thereby

enabling me to complete this thesis.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................6

2. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE HARRY POTTER SERIES AND

ITS TRANSLATIONS .............................................................................................................8

2.1 GENERAL NOTES ON THE SERIES .............................................................................. 8

2.2 CRITICISM, PRAISE AND AWARDS .......................................................................... 10

2.3 TRANSLATIONS AND TRANSLATORS ...................................................................... 10

3. METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................................14

3.1 COLLECTION OF THE RELEVANT TERMS WITHIN THE SERIES .................................. 14

3.1 NOTES ON AND EXPLANATION OF THE TABLE ........................................................ 15

4. THEORETICAL BASIS ....................................................................................................19

4.1 NEWMARKS THEORY ............................................................................................ 19

4.2 INTRODUCTION TO THE INDIVIDUAL PROCEDURES................................................. 20

4.2.1 Literal translation ......................................................................................... 21

4.2.2 Transference ................................................................................................. 21

4.2.3 Naturalisation ............................................................................................... 22

4.2.4 Cultural equivalent ....................................................................................... 23

4.2.5 Functional equivalent ................................................................................... 23

4.2.6 Descriptive equivalent .................................................................................. 23

4.2.7 Synonymy ...................................................................................................... 23

4.2.8 Through-translation...................................................................................... 24

4.2.9 Shifts or transpositions ................................................................................. 24

4.2.10 Modulation.................................................................................................. 24

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 4.2.11 Recognised translation ............................................................................... 25

4.2.12 Translation label......................................................................................... 25

4.2.13 Compensation ............................................................................................. 25

4.2.14 Componential analysis................................................................................ 26

4.2.15 Reduction and Expansion ........................................................................... 26

4.2.16 Paraphrase.................................................................................................. 26

4.2.17 Other procedures ........................................................................................ 27

4.2.18 Couplets ...................................................................................................... 27

4.2.19 Notes, additions, glosses ............................................................................. 27

5. ANALYSIS ..........................................................................................................................28

5.1. NOTES RELATING TO THE TRANSLATION OF PROPER NOUNS AND NEOLOGISMS .... 30

5.1.1 Proper nouns................................................................................................. 30

5.1.2 Neologisms.................................................................................................... 31

5.2 ANALYSIS OF PROPER NOUNS AND NEOLOGISMS ................................................... 32

5.2.1 Proper nouns................................................................................................. 34

5.2.2 Neologisms.................................................................................................... 40

6. CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................46

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY ...............................................................................................................48

7.1 PRIMARY SOURCES ................................................................................................ 48

7.2 SECONDARY SOURCES ........................................................................................... 49

APPENDICES .........................................................................................................................51

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1. INTRODUCTION

[T]he chief difficulties in translating are lexical, not grammatical i.e. words,
collocations and fixed phrases or idioms; these include neologisms and unfindable
words (). (Newmark, 32)

Neologisms are perhaps the non-literary and the professional translators biggest
problem. (Newmark, 140)

Initially, the intended purpose of this work was to examine the use of various

translation procedures in the process of translation of new words and proper names that

occur in British fantasy literature. As the fantasy genre is very comprehensive and the

theme would be, therefore, too extensive for a bachelor thesis, I focused on one special

work, or set of works if you like, only: the Harry Potter series. The number of new

words and names in the series is extraordinarily large, because a new distinct world

needs to present itself to the reader. This provides a lot of material for examination and

a unique opportunity to explore the use of some translation procedures in this context.

I chose this direction for my thesis for various reasons. The main reason was

that I wanted to get a closer and more sophisticated look at the Czech translation of the

books, which generally meets a very favourable response. Furthermore, I genuinely like

the story and I am deeply interested in Rowlings use of names and newly invented

words and what is of great importance here in their translation into other languages,

because it is interesting to see how other translators dealt with problematic places and

whether or not they noticed and preserved the possible puns and allusions throughout

the text (that is why I went through the Slovak versions as well).

In this work, I will explore the means of translations of proper nouns and

neologism that occur within the six so far published books, i.e. on about 3500-4000

pages of text. The collected terms, that number nearly one thousand items, will be

divided into groups and subgroups according to several criteria and then analysed. For

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the analysis, Newmarks theory of translation procedures will be used as a theoretical

basis and a starting point. Apart from trying to find a system in the use of various

procedures in Harry Potter translation, I will also try to make account of the usability

of Newmarks theory in translation of fiction.

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2. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE HARRY POTTER

SERIES AND ITS TRANSLATIONS

2.1 General notes on the series

The Harry Potter books were written by British writer Joanne Kathleen Rowling. They

are an immensely popular1 series of fantasy novels depicting a world of witches and

wizards. Unlike other well-known fantasy worlds (Lewiss Narnia, Tolkiens Middle-

earth, Pratchetts Discworld, or Le Guins Earthsea), Rowlings world is both utterly

separate from and yet ultimately connected to our own world. () [It] exists alongside

[our world] and many of its institutions and locations are in towns, such as London, that

are recognisable to anyone (Wikipedia). Initially, the publishers targeted the books at

children from nine to eleven years of age, but as the time goes the story has gradually

won the hearts of adults as well and gained a worldwide fame during the decade of its

existence.

The series consists of seven books. However, only six have been published yet:

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (June 26, 1997), Harry Potter and the

Chamber of Secrets (July 2, 1998), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

(September 8, 1999), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (July 8, 2000), Harry Potter

and the Order of the Phoenix (June 21, 2003), and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood

1
The fourth book became the fastest selling book in history on the first weekend of its publication in

2000. The fifth book sold 317,400 copies in the first 24 hours - compared to 42,000 copies of the

fourth Harry Potter book, The Goblet of Fire, in its first week. BBC NEWS

More than two million copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince [the sixth book] were sold in

the first 24 hours in the UK. CBBC Newsround

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Prince (July 16, 2005). The title of the seventh book, which is to finish and complete

the story of the young bespectacled wizard, is still a secret and so is its publication date.

J.K. Rowling wrote two more books that are related to the series, though,

strictly speaking, not really part of it: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2001),

and Quidditch Through the Ages (2001). Both of them were mentioned in the series as

fictional books. The first purports to be written by Newt Scamander and it is a copy of

one of the textbooks used at Hogwarts school, the latter is presented as a work of

Kennilworthy Whisp tracing the history of the famous wizards game. These two books

were written to benefit the British charity Comic Relief (Wikipedia).

So far, the first four books were made into successful film adaptations produced

by Warner Bros. According to the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), they

rank number four (Philosophers Stone), eight (Goblet of Fire), ten (Chamber of

Secrets), and seventeen (Prisoner of Azkaban) in the list of all time highest-grossing

films. Over 400 additional products were licensed under the Harry Potter brand,

including five video games, a trading card game, and a board game. Some elements of

the story have even become part of the real world, for example the Bertie Botts Beans,

under which name the Jelly Belly company sells real sweets.2. What is interesting from

the linguistic point of view is the introduction of the word Muggle into English. It

has been accepted into the Oxford English Dictionary as a person who lacks a

particular skill or skills, or who is regarded as inferior in some way. (Wikipedia)

2
Nkter prvky pbhu se dokonce dostaly do skutenho svta, napklad Bertkovy fazolky, pod

jejich jmnem spolenost Jelly Belly prodv skuten bombny (sic). Seznam Encyklopedie

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2.2 Criticism, praise and awards

The Harry Potter series has become one of the most beloved but at the same time

most criticised works of childrens literature. At first the novels were incredibly

positively reviewed, with only a few critical voices being heard. However, following

the publication of the fifth book (Goblet of Fire) strong criticism aroused. The

complaints often aim at the fact that the books support occultism, Satanism, are violent

and contain motives that criticise family life.3 Some religious groups for example

criticise the books for pagan imagery, feminist circles for its supposedly patriarchal and

chauvinistic content, and A. S. Byatt virtually accused Rowling of plagiarism by calling

her universe secondary world, made up of intelligently patchworked derivative motifs

from all sorts of childrens literature (Wikipedia).

Nevertheless, J. K. Rowling and her books received a lot of various prestigious

awards. They include:

four Whitaker Platinum Book Awards (all of which were awarded in 2001),

three Nestl Smarties Book Prizes (1997-1999), two Scottish Arts Council Book

Awards (1999 and 2001), and the WHSmith book of the year (2006), among

others. In 2000 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was nominated for

Best Novel in the Hugo Awards while in 2001 Harry Potter and the Goblet of

Fire won said award. (Wikipedia)

2.3 Translations and translators

The series is also popular in its many translations. According to the article Harry

Potter in Translation available on the Wikipedia website, the books have been

3
Stnosti smuj asto k tomu, e knihy podporuj okultismus, Satanismus, jsou nsilnick a obsahuj

motivy kritizujc rodinn ivot. Seznam Encyklopedie

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translated into 66 languages, including Latin and Ancient Greek, which were done as

academic exercises. [I]n some countries, such as Spain and India, the book has been

translated into several local languages (), sometimes the book has been translated

into two different dialects of the same language in two different countries (for example,

separate Portuguese versions for Brazil and Portugal).

The official translation of Harry Potter books as well as films into Czech is

done by Vladimr and Pavel Medek. Vladimr translated the first, second and fourth

book as Harry Potter a Kmen mudrc (2000), Harry Potter a Tajemn komnata

(2000), and Harry Potter a Ohniv pohr (2001) respectively. Pavel translated the

third, fifth and sixth book as Harry Potter a Vze z Azkabanu (2001), Harry Potter a

Fnixv d (February 29, 2004), and Harry Potter a Princ dvoj krve (December 19,

2005). He translated also the two additional fictional books that were published under

the titles of Famfrpl v prbhu vk (2001), and Fantastick zvata a kde je najt

(2002).

Into the Slovak language the books were, coincidentally, translated by two

women: Jana Petrikoviov did the first two books: Harry Potter a Kame mudrcov

(2000), and Harry Potter a Tajomn komnata (2001). Oga Kraloviov translated the

rest of the books: Harry Potter a Vze z Azkabanu (2001), Harry Potter a Ohniv

aa (2001), Harry Potter a Fnixov rd (2003), and Harry Potter a Polovin princ

(2005) plus one of the fictional books (Fantastick zvery a ich vskyt published in

2001). However, the second fictional book Metlobal v priebehu vekov (2001) was

translated by another translator: Martin Kasadra.

In an enquiry, which took place in Czech libraries and on the Internet during the

year 2004, Czech readers voted Harry Potter the most popular book. (Seznam

Encyklopedie). A list of various prizes and awards is available on the website of the

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International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) in the Czech Republic. The

Harry Potter books (in Czech translation) were awarded several prizes in the readers

research called SUK All of us read (SUK - teme vichni). The table below with

its listing speaks volumes about the popularity of the story and, implicitly, about the

quality of the translation.

Childrens award
Book Other
(Cena dt)

"Award of the librarians of the Club of children's

1st in 2000 libraries SKIP" (Cena knihovnk Klubu

Harry Potter a Kmen
dtskch knihoven SKIP) 1st in 2000
mudrc
"Award of the Night with Andersen (Cena Noci s
8th in 2002
Andersenem) in 2002

4th in 2000
Harry Potter a Tajemn Award of the Night with Andersen (Cena Noci s
5th in 2002
komnata Andersenem) in 2002
4th in 2003

2nd in 2001

Harry Potter a Vze z 6th in 2002 Award of the Night with Andersen (Cena Noci s

Azkabanu 8th in 2003 Andersenem) in 2002

16th in 2004

1st in 2001
Harry Potter a Ohniv Award of the Night with Andersen (Cena Noci s
2nd in 2002
pohr Andersenem) in 2002
1st in 2003

Harry Potter a Fnixv

1st in 2004
d

Harry Potter a Princ dvoj

1st in 2005
krve

Table 1: Awards for the books in Czech

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In 2000, of the twenty award-winning books only four were translations: two Harry

Potter books, Astrid Lindgrens The Six Bullerby Children (13th-14th), and a book by

Christiane Gohl (18th). The top ranking Czech originals were Zdenk Milers Krtek a

raketa (2 nd) and Milo Macoureks Mach a ebestov na cestch (3 rd). In 2001, it was

ten original works to ten translations (the top two being Rowlings/Medeks works,

followed closely by another work by Gohl and Lindgrens Pippi Longstocking and

Bullerby Children). In 2002, with two Harry Potter movies and two Lord of the Rings

movies having been released, the awards were presented to four Harry Potter books

and three Tolkiens works (Hobbit 7th, Fellowship of the Ring 3rd, and Two Towers

16th). Total number of the translations on the list was eleven in that year. In 2003,

only six of the books were Czech originals the top one was Zdenk Svrks work

(Jak je to asi v udu) that ranked number two. The 2004 list included thirteen

translations comprising again books about Harry Potter, and Enid Blyton and Astrid

Lindgrens works (these two authors were awarded a prize almost every year). In 2005,

only three books were awarded: Harry Potter a princ dvoj krve, Ji Kahouns Vel

medvdci od jara do zimy, and C. S. Lewiss Letopisy Narnie: Lev, arodjnice a sk

(Lion, the witch and the wardrobe). I believe that these awards illustrate the trends in

children literature and it might be, therefore, interesting to have a look at this in a few

years time to see, whether the popularity of the books was caused by their quality or by

the media propagation and marketing strategy only.

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3. METHODOLOGY

3.1 Collection of the relevant terms within the series

For the purpose of research and analysis a collection of relevant data was needed.

These I gathered from the six books on Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling (for the list see

chapter 2) and their respective translations into Czech. For the purpose of comparison I

also explored the Slovak translations made by Jana Petrikoviov and Oga

Kraloviov. I wanted to include data from the two fictional books as well, because the

Fantastic Beasts [describe] 75 magical species found around the world (Wikipedia),

and that means a lot of new words from one field with which the translator had to deal.

The Quidditch book would have been a great asset too, I believe, because it delves into

the history of the sport and, if I am not mistaken, that would bring a lot of previously

unknown terms into the light: for example the origins of the word quidditch are

explained. Unfortunately, these two books seem to be impossible to get in the Czech

Republic; the English originals are available only via foreign internet shops and, as far

as I know, the Czech translations are out of stock and another publication is not

planned any more.

In the process of collecting the data I did not use any special research method; I

simply read through the books and when I spotted a word meeting my requirements I

noted it down. The requirements were as follows: it was a name of a person (and I also

included pet names) or a place; or given by the fact that I was looking for neologisms

it denoted a creature, plant, magical object, potion or spell. I also excerpted a group

of book and magazine titles, because their number in the books is large and they are

worth noting. When looking for the equivalents in translations, I compared the context

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of the original with that of the translation; therefore, I am confident that each threesome

of terms in the table is 100 percent correct.

3.1 Notes on and explanation of the table

All the data I collected for and used in the work is to be found in the extensive table

appended at the end of my thesis. The table consists of several columns for the original

term, Czech translation, and Slovak translation. Next to these, I also provided the page

numbers for easy reference. Generally speaking, I tried to write down the first

occurrence of the term in the series. I suppose I managed to find majority of the terms

in the books that were relevant to me. However, I admit that a few terms could have

passed unnoticed.

To facilitate orientation, comparison, and analysis I divided the data into several

categories: names of people, names of places, titles of books, magical items, and

miscellaneous. These I labelled with general words for the purpose of further

specification and division (see Table 1 below). The boundary between groups (and

subgroups in particular) was not always clear and some of the terms were hard to

pigeon-hole; take Eldred Worple (Half-Blood Prince), for example, who is introduced

to the reader as professor Slughorns former student and the famous author of a book

about vampires.

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 Group Subgroup Group Subgroup

Student Periodical

Staff Titles of Books Law

Writer (other)

Fictional Figure Plant

Names of People
Ghost Creature

Nickname Magical Items Potion

Pet Spell

(other) Formula

Address Miscellaneous Food, Broom

Facility
Names of Places
Educational Institution

(other)

Table 2: Division of the terms into groups and subgroups

I think it is necessary to explain what the particular subgroups contain and why.

Let me start with the proper names, where I included names of people and places. The

Student subgroup is rather self-explanatory; it contains names of students of magic:

Harrys contemporaries as well as ex-students. By the term Staff I labelled people

working in the Hogwarts school, people working for the Ministry of magic and/or for

the Order of the Phoenix (i.e. secret organization working against the dark side

alongside the ministry), deatheaters (i.e. supporters of the dark side), and people who

own or work in a magical facility such as a shop or a pub. The third category

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Fictional Figure includes names of various figures appearing in books, pictures or

as statues; they are supposed to be part of the history of the magical community and

they help to create the atmosphere of the world of wizards and witches. I decided not to

include the names of authors of books into this subgroup, but rather establish a separate

group for them (Writer), because their names have special connotations usually

referring to the subject of the book they name as well as mean. The remaining

subgroups under the Names of People heading are rather narrow and I would say it is

obvious what they contain: Ghost, Pet, and Nickname. These three subgroups

were created mainly because the names did not fit into any other category, but still I

thought they should be distinguished from the rest of names of people that appear only

once or twice in the story and do not play any significant role (for example muggle

i.e. nonmagic TV broadcaster, or professor Gilderoy Lockharts fans). Under the

heading Names of Places, there are the following categories: Address (villages,

streets and other places that can appear in the address), Facility (anything providing

some sort of service: pubs, shops, candy store, bank), and Educational Institution

(in other words names of schools, magical as well as nonmagical).

The second large group is that of neologisms. The Magical Item group

consists of five subgroups: Plant, Creature, Potion, Spell, and Formula. I

believe that these terms do not need any particular explanation as it is evident what they

are used to label. However, it should probably be noted that the word Spell labels the

names of spells (e.g. Killing Curse), whereas Formula is the actual wording of the

spell (in this case Avada Kedavra). The rest of the terms that come under the

neologisms can be found in the Miscellaneous group (mainly labelled as magical

objects). However, apart from the terms that definitely classify as neologisms (horcrux,

pensieve), this group includes also various words that did not fit into the other groups

17
and subgroups and, strictly speaking, are not new in the language, such as trade names

of Fred and George Weasleys products. Unlike in other groups, the subdivision of this

category where available does not serve the purpose of further specification (there

are not enough similar terms to justify establishment of separate subgroups), but exists

rather to give the reader at least a slight notion of what the term means.

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4. THEORETICAL BASIS

4.1 Newmarks theory

I will base the analysis of the collected data on Peter Newmarks theory of translation,

because though he might be looked down on by some people for trying to introduce a

pragmatic theory into a field of study, which seems to be based to a large degree on

intuition and a natural taste in language as far as I know, he is the only one who

provides in his work a list of various translation methods and procedures; and that is

what I was looking for, because I needed a base for my research and such a complex

scale seemed to be a very good start.

In the introductory chapter of A Textbook of Translation Newmark stresses that:

[a] translator has to have a flair and a feel for his own language. There is

nothing mystical about this sixth sense, but it is compounded of intelligence,

sensitivity and intuition, as well as of knowledge. This sixth sense, which often

comes into play during a final revision, tells you when to translate literally, and

also, instinctively, perhaps once in a hundred or three hundred words, when to

break all the rules of translation (). (4)

With this I cannot but agree; especially in the field of translation of fictional literature,

where (unlike in technical translation) the exactitude is not the most important criterion

but where the readability and authenticity in the target language come to play important

roles. It is here where the difference between a translator with excellent knowledge of

the foreign language but rather poor sense of his or her mother tongue and a translator

with a natural feeling for words would be probably most obvious with the latters

work being definitely more enjoyable for the reader.

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 Considering this, it seems that fictional works cannot be analysed using a set of

procedures. However, I believe that every translator, when translating, has a concept or

scheme in his or her mind of how he/she would deal with various issues that may occur

in the process, such as new words or characters names; even though this might be only

subconscious and not planned beforehand. [The translator] is intuitively or

consciously following a theory of translation, just as any teacher of grammar teaches a

theory of linguistics (Newmark, 8).

In his Textbook Peter Newmark deals with both translation methods and

translation procedures. He says in the book that while translation methods relate to

whole texts, translation procedures are used for sentences and the smaller units of

language (81). Therefore, I will not discuss the translation methods at all and focus on

the procedures only, because my thesis deals with the translation of individual words

(neologisms and proper nouns) not with the analysis of whole sentences or the general

quality of translation. Below, I will provide a few pieces of information on each of the

procedures.

4.2 Introduction to the individual procedures

In chapters 7 and 8 (68-93), Newmark discusses the following procedures: literal

translation, transference, naturalisation, cultural equivalent, functional equivalent,

descriptive equivalent, synonymy, through-translation, shifts or transpositions,

modulation, recognized translation, translation label, compensation, componential

analysis, reduction and expansion, paraphrase, other procedures (equivalence and

adaptation), couplets, and notes, additions, glosses. Let us, then, move to the individual

procedures and make projections about whether they are of any use in translation of

fiction and whether the translators of Harry Potter books used them. All the facts in the

following sections (notes on the individual procedures) are based on Newmarks A

20
Textbook of Translation even though it may not be explicitly stated in the relevant

paragraphs.

4.2.1 Literal translation

As Newmark says, literal translation is the basic translation procedure, both in

communicative and semantic translation, in that translation starts from there. However,

above the word level, literal translation becomes increasingly difficult. When any kind

of translation problem arises, literal translation is usually out of the question. On the

other hand, literal translation above the word level is the only correct procedure, if the

[source language (hereafter SL)] and [target language (hereafter TL)] meaning

correspond, or correspond more closely than any alternative; that means () that the

words not only refer to the same thing but have similar associations and appear to be

equally frequent in this type of text. Literal translation ranges from one word to one

word to sentence to sentence, includes single-word metaphors, extended plural-word

metaphors as well as proverbs (all that glitters is not gold, nen vechno zlato, co se

tpyt). Newmark extends literal translation also to correspondence such as un bilan

sanguine, a blood check, since it can be flexible with grammar whilst it keeps the

same extra-contextual lexis.

4.2.2 Transference

First of the procedures alternative to literal translation is transference, in other words

transcription. It is the process of transferring a word from a SL to a TL. In this way the

word then becomes a loan word. Newmark claims that in principle, the names of SL

objects, inventions, devices, processes to be imported into the TL community should be

creatively () translated, if they are neologisms, although brand names have to be

21
transferred (81). Among other things that are normally transferred are names of living

people and most dead people, and geographical and topographical names.

This procedure is often used in the Harry Potter translation and examples are

Jim McGuffin, Rubeus Hagrid, or Adalbert Waffling, where no change in the

spelling occurs. It should be noted that the pronunciation of some of the names in

Czech differs from that in English (which is caused mainly by the Czech readers

unawareness of the correct pronunciation). Owing to this, such names could qualify

as members of the naturalisation group (see definition below). However, I believe that

translators are not responsible for the way foreign-looking names are pronounced in the

target languages by the readers, because speaking about written documents they do

not have many (if any) means of influencing it. Therefore, I will not deal with such

border cases in this work and will treat the names without any change in the spelling as

transferred names.

4.2.3 Naturalisation

Naturalisation succeeds transference. It is the adaptation of the SL word to the normal

pronunciation of the target language and then to its normal morphology.

Again, this procedure is used abundantly in the series. All female names

(surnames) would fit in here due to the ov suffix traditionally used in the Czech

language (e.g. Molly Weasley translated as Molly Weasleyov, or Susan Bones

as Susan Bonesov). Where a combination of letters unnatural for the target language

Czech in this case occurs (th, ph, etc.), naturalisation usually takes places, resulting

in pairs such as BathildaBatylda and Nymphadora Nymfadora.

22
4.2.4 Cultural equivalent

Cultural equivalent is an approximate translation where a SL cultural word is

translated by a TL cultural word (82-3). The use of such equivalents is limited, since

the translations are not accurate, but only approximate. The examples are following:

baccalaurat translated as (the French) A level, or Palais Bourbon as (the

French) Westminster.

4.2.5 Functional equivalent

This is a common procedure applied to cultural words. It requires the use of a culture-

free word, sometimes with a new specific term (83). This is according to Newmark the

most accurate way of translating a cultural word. A similar procedure is used when a

SL technical word has no TL equivalent. () For cultural terms, it is often combined

with transference (83) to such combination Newmark refers as a couplet.

4.2.6 Descriptive equivalent

This procedure is not explained in much detail by Newmark. He only notes that

description sometimes has to be weighed against function (83) and that description

and function are essential elements in explanation and therefore in translation (84).

4.2.7 Synonymy

Newmark uses the word synonym in the sense of a near TL equivalent to an SL word

in a context, where a precise equivalent may or may not exist. This procedure is used

for a SL word where there is no clear one-to-one equivalent, and the word is not

important in the text (84). Synonymy is used mainly for adjectives and adverbs of

quality, which are beyond the scope of my work.

23
4.2.8 Through-translation

Through-translation is Newmarks term for calque or loan translation, which is the

literal translation of common collocations, names of organisations, the components of

compounds () and perhaps phrases.

An example from the Harry Potter story is the translation of the name of the

French school of magic Beauxbatons as Krsnohlky, where the French

components of the word are translated literally: beaux meaning beautiful(krsn

in Czech), and batons meaning sticks, or wands in this case (hlky in Czech).

4.2.9 Shifts or transpositions

A shift or transposition is a translation procedure involving a change in the grammar

from SL to TL. Newmark lists four types of transpositions. One type, which does not

offer the translator any choice, is the automatic change from singular to plural, or in the

position of adjective. The second type is required when an SL grammatical structure

does not exist in the TL. The third type of shift is the one where literal translation is

grammatically possible but may not accord with natural usage in the TL. The fourth

type is the replacement of a virtual lexical gap by a grammatical structure. Newmark

claims that [t]ransposition is the only translation procedure concerned with grammar,

and most translators make transpositions intuitively. (88) This procedure is not used in

the process of translating neologisms and proper nouns.

4.2.10 Modulation

The term modulation was coined by Vinay and Darbelnet to define a variation

through a change of viewpoint, of perspective and very often of category of thought

(88). This procedure comprises several categories, but Newmark speaks about only a

24
few of them. It seems to deal with larger units of translation than individual words and

I, therefore, think it is not relevant for this work.

4.2.11 Recognised translation

Newmark emphasizes that it is important to use the official or the generally accepted

translation of any institutional term (89), because change of the term may cause

confusion, especially in official or serious informative texts. This procedure seems to

be rather problematic. I thought about placing some of the English names into this

group, because they have sort of equivalents in Czech (Petunia Petnie,

Celestina Celestna, or Alicia Alice). However, there are more possible

frames of reference; these names could be regarded as naturalised versions of the

foreign words, or cultural equivalents. It is not always obvious where the borderline

between the procedures is. Therefore, as it is probably rather an issue of consistency

within the translation, I will postpone the conclusion about the use of this procedure for

the time being.

4.2.12 Translation label

Translation label is a provisional translation, usually of a new institutional term, which

should be put, according to Newmark, in inverted commas that can later be discreetly

withdrawn. I believe that this way of translating a previously untranslated word is not

used in fiction very often, even if the word in question is an institutional term.

4.2.13 Compensation

This is said to occur when loss of meaning, sound-effect, metaphor or pragmatic effect

in one part of a sentence is compensated in another part, or in a contiguous sentence.

Presence of this procedure in the translation of Rowlings work would have to be

discussed in the larger context of the whole series (or book at least), with the stress on

25
the use of alliteration and puns. As I directed the focus of my thesis from the beginning

on individual words, I cannot explore this issue in satisfactory detail.

4.2.14 Componential analysis

Componential analysis in translation is not the same as componential analysis in

linguistics, where it means analysing or splitting up the various senses of a word into

sense-components, which may or may not be universals. In translation, the basic

process is to compare a SL word with a TL word, which has a similar meaning but is

not an obvious one-to-one equivalent, by demonstrating first their common and then

their differing sense components. (114) Componential analysis is useful in translating

neologisms, whether these are new words naming newly invented or imported objects

or processes, or new expressions that suddenly fill one of the innumerable gaps in a

language.

4.2.15 Reduction and Expansion

These are, as Newmark says, rather imprecise translation procedures (90), which are

practised intuitively or ad hoc. In simple terms, reduction implies omission of a word

from an expression, that word not being essential for understanding; whereas expansion

is a rather descriptive way of translating an expression and involves the use of a greater

number of words in TL than in SL.

4.2.16 Paraphrase

Paraphrase is an amplification or explanation of the meaning of a segment of the text.

It is used in an anonymous text when it is poorly written, or has important

implications and omissions. (90)

26
4.2.17 Other procedures

Under the heading Other procedures Newmark lists Equivalence and Adaptation. Both

of these terms were established by Vinay and Darbelnet. Equivalence seems to refer to

notices, familiar alternatives, phrases and idioms in other words, different ways of

rendering the clichs and standard aspects of language (91). Adaptation is the use of a

recognised equivalent between two situations. Newmark notes that though these two

procedures might be illuminating to some extent they are not usable.

4.2.18 Couplets

Couplets, triplets, and quadruplets simply combine two, three or four of the above-

mentioned procedures respectively for dealing with a single problem. The most

common use is for cultural words, the combination being transference with a functional

or a cultural equivalent.

4.2.19 Notes, additions, glosses

Lastly, Newmark makes some suggestions about notes and supplying additional

information in translation: The additional information a translator may have to add to

his version is normally cultural (), technical () or linguistic () and is dependent

on the requirements of his, as opposed to the original, readership. (91) I believe this is

rather clear and uncomplicated; therefore, I will not delve into it any longer. I would

like to add that the Czech translators of Harry Potter are not in favour of notes,

because, as one of them says, it shows that the translator could not cope with the

problem and it disturbs the smoothness of the text.

27
5. ANALYSIS

Czech translations of Harry Potter are thought very highly of not only by the readers,

who might be, to be honest, a bit partial, but also by people from literary circles.

Prof. Svatava Urbanov sums up why the Medeks works are so popular:

It is an excellent work, especially in the characters and places naming. The

Czech translation is extraordinary due to the limited use of foreign words, the

number of allusions, word plays and anagrams it contains, () the fact that the

translators skilfully invented name not only for the sport game Quidditch etc.,

that they keep the key words Latin for example used in charms, jinxes and

curses, so that a change of the meaning would not occur ().4

J. K. Rowling uses irony, satire, wordplay, and folklore very often in her books

and thus the Harry Potter series presents special challenges to translators. According to

the article Harry Potter in translation, these challenges are culture, language, invented

words, and proper nouns. The cultural environment of the book is decidedly English

() and many of the cultural nuances will be unfamiliar to readers in translation.

However, I do not think it is so dramatic; the story is not supposed to be changed to fit

completely the culture of the reader (Czech in this case), i.e. to look as if the story took

place in the readers country, and the translators, therefore, make only minor

amendments concerning the culture (some special types of English food are changed so

4
Jedn se o skvlou prci, zvlt v pojmenovvn postav a mst. esk peklad je vjimen v tom,

jak mlo cizch slov bylo vyuito, kolik obsahuje narek, slovnch hek a anagram, () jak

pekladatel umn vymysleli pojmenovn nejen pro sportovn hru famfrpl aj., jak ponechvaj klov

teba latinsk slova pouvan pi kouzlech, zakvadlech a kletbch, aby nedolo k vznamovmu

posunu (). CITARNY.CZ

28
that they are more familiar to the reader Yorkshire pudding, for example). As far as I

know, there is only one translators note in the series: in the first book, Vladimr Medek

made a note explaining the term prefect, because such a function is connected to

boarding schools and really is not known to Czech children.

The second problematic area is that of language, because language generally

reveals much about the various characters (Wikipedia). In my opinion, the biggest

problem is probably Hagrids manner of speaking he has to have a non-standard

pronunciation and lexicon, and, at the same time, one special dialect should not be

decipherable in his speech, so that it is not possible to connect him incorrectly with any

area in the Czech Republic for example. The two remaining instances, that is to say

proper nouns and invented words, will be discussed further in subchapters 5.1.1 and

5.1.2 respectively.

Finally, I would like to add one thing that influences the process of translation

and makes it more problematic: the time pressure exerted on the translators by

publishers and readers. As Pavel Medek says, this pressure is also the reason why there

are two Czech translators for one series, in fact:

when the fourth book was being published in English, mass hysteria broke out

and Albatros wanted to make up for the lag quickly. At that moment, we were

[translating] the second book; hence, it was necessary to translate the two

remaining books in a hurry.5

5
Kdy () vychzel v anglitin tvrt dl, vypuklo lenstv a Albatros to chtl honem dohnat. V tu

chvli jsme byli u druhho dlu, bylo tedy poteba v rychlosti peloit i zbyl dva. (Pevnost specil, 54)

29
5.1. Notes relating to the translation of proper nouns and neologisms

5.1.1 Proper nouns

Generally the translation of names is easier than that of neologisms. It is because the

name is only a label for a person, a sticker that helps us stay in the picture and follow

the storyline. Even when the name has a special meaning, it refers to the bearers

character only and, translated or not, does not influence the plot significantly; it simply

enhances the story and attracts the readers by supplying them with stuff to think about,

creating opportunities for possible associations and assumptions about the persons

qualities, shortcomings, temperament and character.

To translate proper nouns in the Harry Potter books seems to be risky, because

Rowling creates names that usually contain several meanings. All the books are

stuffed with these names and they provide some of the series greatest pleasures for

adult readers. Various sources, including Rowlings own website, state that she has a

semi-detailed plan of the storyline written since 1990, when the idea first occurred to

her. This plan includes the plots for each of the seven envisioned books, in addition to

an enormous amount of biographical and historical information on her characters and

universe (Wikipedia). This might prove to pose problems for translators, because

while the author knows why she devised such and such name for such and such

character, or whether a seemingly unimportant thing will become of major importance

further in the story, the translator is usually kept in the dark.

One problem of such nature concerning the real name of Voldemort might

possibly arise in the seventh book, if Rowling plans to play with the significant word

riddle. In the second book, the translators had to deal with the fact that the sentence

I am Lord Voldemort is an anagram of the said wizards full name Tom Marvolo

Riddle. In Czech, the name was changed to Tom Rojvol Raddle (J Lord

30
Voldemort) resulting in the loss of meaning of the surname. Nevertheless, this happens

in many languages, for example in French the name is Tom Elvis Jedusor. The

Slovak translator changed it to Tom Marvoloso Riddle (A som i Lord Voldemort),

thus retaining the possibility for future play on words open. (For examples of solutions

in other languages see the article Lord Voldemort on the Wikipedia site.)

This required change of name presents additional problems; for example Tom

Riddle should share his first name with Tom the bartender (Half-Blood Prince), but this

is not the case in all languages (his first name is Mark in Slovenian, Marten in

Dutch, and Romeo in Danish, for example). Moreover, in the case of Tom the

bartender, the name cannot be changed to be the same as Riddles, because he has

already appeared in the previous books.

5.1.2 Neologisms

Neologisms can be defined as newly coined lexical units or existing lexical

units that acquire a new sense. They usually attract everyone and most people like them

(140). Newmark stresses that in non-literary texts, translators should not normally

create neologisms. However, he also states when the translator has the right to do so:

Firstly, in a literary text, it is his duty to re-create any neologism he meets on

the basis of the SL neologism (). Secondly, when translating a popular

advertisement, he can create a neologism, usually with a strong phonaesthetic

effect, if it appears to follow the sense of its SL counterpart and is

pragmatically effective. Thirdly, he can transfer an SL cultural word, if for one

reason or another he thinks it important. (149)

As was already hinted, invented words are extremely difficult to translate. A lot

of words and phrases including spell and incantation formulations, magical items,

creatures and plants are the work of Rowlings imagination. Many of the spells, for

31
example, are drawn from or inspired by Latin, and have a certain resonance with

English speakers. For example, priori incantatem, (a spell which causes the last spells

performed by a wand to be reproduced in reverse order), would be familiar to many

English-speaking readers as the words prior (previous) and incant (recite, utter)

(Wikipedia). The Czech translators have created several new words themselves

(Repellentus for Impervius, Pulrexo for Scourgify, or evelissimo for

Muffliato), but usually they have resorted to transference.

5.2 Analysis of proper nouns and neologisms

When I was planning this thesis, I thought (rather naively, I must admit) that if I take

Newmarks theory as a base, it would be a smooth ride. I imagined dividing the terms

into groups by procedures used, counting the number of occurrences and drawing

conclusions from these results. However, as I started to delve into the theory more

deeply, I realised that it is not at all as systematic as it seemed at the first sight. Several

procedures overlap, and it is almost always possible to look at the terms in question

from various angles. I was, thus, forced to refrain from the envisioned method and had

to find an alternative. Finally, I decided to stick to the idea of creating a table, but

change the actual division into groups.

I tried to divide the terms by their appearance, i.e. whether and how they were

changed in the process of translation, if we compare the original and the Czech term,

rather then the procedures used, because, as I already said, the procedures were

sometimes overlapping and sometimes even impossible to recognise. I established

several categories to create a scale ranging from no change of the word at all to the

translation, which is not based on the original word, but on the meaning of the term

learned from the context. The scale is as follows: No change > Minor change >

Existing word translated literally > Existing word not translated literally >

32
Component meaning translated literally > Meaning equivalent. I was not sure about

where to place several terms, therefore, I included them in a separate group called Not

identified. When assorting the terms into these groups I usually checked the word in

Internet dictionaries (I used the OneLook Dictionary Search that works as a search

engine) to find whether they exist or not. In case they did not exist I always looked for

a possible component meaning. However, the borderline was not, again, always clear

and it is possible that some of the terms could be included in a different group than that

I included it in.

As for the distribution of procedures, it is difficult to say which procedures

specifically are used in the groups I would have to comment on each and every term

individually to explain and clarify what makes me think the translator used such and

such procedure; and that is virtually impracticable as I collected nearly a thousand of

various terms, not including about 100 of book titles. I can thus make only several

notes concerning what is quite clear. Obviously, almost all of the terms in no change

group will be transferred. Minor change will consist mainly of naturalised terms and

possibly recognized translations. Existing word translated literally would be

accounted for by literal translation. But in the remaining groups I am not sure, because

the procedures overlap and could probably be used in more of them. From what I have

experienced in the process of analysing the terms, I would say that descriptive

equivalent may be one of the procedures used when translating terms from the existing

word not translated literally group, while through-translation tends to dominate

component meaning translated literally group; expansion is, I believe, used mainly

for spell and potion names translation (e.g. Unforgivable Curses kletby, kter se

nepromjej). Nevertheless, I think that even if I managed to assign more of the

procedures to the groups, the list would never be exclusive.

33
5.2.1 Proper nouns

In the process of translation into Czech, approximately 47 % of the names of people in

the Harry Potter series are not changed at all, i.e. they are transferred. 30 % of the

names are only slightly changed, mainly as a result of the Czech -ov ending of the

female surnames; i.e. they are naturalised. However, the transference and naturalisation

procedures may not be the only procedures used here; for example, some of the names

of famous witches and wizards that appear on the Chocolate Frogs collectible cards

could be regarded as recognized translations, in fact. This would be the case of Merlin

and Morgana, both of whom are well-known figures from the Arthurian legends, or of

the astronomer Ptolemy.

The student subgroup is one of the largest subgroups of the names-of-people

group. 56.5 % of the names are transferred, and about 40 % are naturalised. All of the

sixty-one transferred names are names of boys. Thirty-six of the forty-three naturalised

names are girls names; of the remaining seven names one is actually a typo (Sebbins

instead of Stebbins; curiously enough, the Slovaks made a mistake too, resulting in

Stebbind), one is a result of transcription of a Bulgarian name (Poljakoff Poljakov)

and the rest can be accounted for by the fact that either an uncommon letter at the end

of the word or a combination of letters not common in the Czech language was present

(Barnabas Barnab, Theodore Teodor).

Only four names are not members of the no-change and minor-change groups.

The first is Lavender Brown (Levandule Brownov), which I decided to include in

the existing word translated literally group due to the translation of her first name.

The Second is Luna Lovegood, a term from the component meaning translated

literally group. The surname is a two-component compound and as such it was

translated into Czech. However, there is one reason why Luna is translated as

34
Lenka. As this character is thought to be a weirdo by Hogwarts students, she has

been given a nickname: Loony Lovegood. Because similar change is probably not

realizable in Czech, her first name was translated as Lenka to rhyme with Stelenka,

thus creating a nice and very likely nickname. In Slovak, this wordplay was completely

ignored and the name and nickname, for want of a better word, is the same (Luna

Lovegoodov).

The two remaining students names were included in the not-identified group,

but it is, actually, known why they were translated in such a way. One of the names is

Tom Marvolo Riddle, which I commented on at the beginning of this chapter and

whose translation was motivated by the anagram important for the plot. The second

name is Eileen Prince. In the sixth book, Harry finds a schoolbook with the following

inscription: This Book is the Property of the Half-Blood Prince (183), in Czech:

Tato kniha je majetkem Prince dvoj krve (161). The characters then speculate whose

book it might be, and, as gender is not distinguishable in English, it is suggested that

the owner could possibly be a girl. The translators needed to find a solution to preserve

this obscurity; the result in Czech is the creation of an alternative name Eileen Prince-

Lloydov. Though I appreciate how Messrs Medeks dealt with this issue, I cannot help

thinking that Princ-Lloydov would be even slightly better.

I believe that the reason for such distribution of procedures among the names of

students is that the story has an undoubtedly British setting and, as a result, also British

students. Thus, it would not be appropriate if the characters had Czech-like names,

especially as we know that they travel to school each year by a train that goes from the

existing Kings Cross Station in London.

The second large subgroup is that of the names of staff. The ratio is almost the

same as in the case of students: 42 % of names were transferred and 33 % naturalised

35
if we allow ourselves to ignore possible disputable instances and use these terms. The

only difference is the number of terms that are translated in the truest sense of the word

(twenty-eight of one hundred and fourteen terms). Three names are translated literally:

Albus Dumbledore (Albus Brumbl), his brother Aberforth Dumbledore and

Elphias Doge (Elfias De). The last seems to be rather easy actually, it is a

dictionary equivalent. What was the subject of many questions concerning the

translation of names in Harry Potter was why Dumbledore is translated as

Brumbl. I checked up on the once-heard information and can confirm that they are

both archaic expressions for bumblebee.

In the group existing word not translated literally I included seven names

consisting of words that exist in English, but which are translated loosely. An example

is Cornelius Fudge that translates as Kornelius Popletal. Here, the translator

decided to change the surname, so that it described the character. However, I believe

that Popletal is not the best choice. As is obvious in the later books, especially after

Voldemort returns, Fudge is very career-conscious and unwilling to endanger his

position as prime minister. Instead of dealing with problems, he dodges them; because

he is afraid of what would happen if Voldemort returned, he prefers to pretend that

nothing has happened. He is not a scatterbrain or a muddle-headed person as the Czech

surname suggests; he fudges6 the unpleasant situations and issues deliberately.

Next group (component meaning translated literally) includes compounds

whose component or components are translated literally. Good examples are a ministry

employee Proudfoot (Hrdonoka) and werewolf Fenrir Greyback (Fenrir

edohbet), where the through-translation procedure is actually used.

6
fudge (verb) to avoid making a decision or giving a clear answer about something.

36
 The last group on the scale is the meaning-equivalent group. Here are either

names whose English component is not translated literally, or names whose translation

is not based on the original word, but on the context. Cuthbert Mockridge (Cuthbert

Jakopec) and Madam Puddifoot (madame Pacinkov) would probably qualify as

examples of the first eventuality, while Mad-Eye Moody (Pouk Moody) and Rufus

Scrimgeour (Rufus Brousek) translations are definitely based on the context only. As

for Rufus Scrimgeour, Pavel Medek said that [it is] a name of some Scottish family

and, strictly speaking, it does not mean anything. Therefore, there is no reason to

translate it. But he adds: [s]till, as this minister succeeds Popletal [i.e. Fudge], it would

be very strange if it was all of a sudden someone called Scrimgeour 7. Unfortunately,

the character called Scrimgeour appeared in the fifth book already, and was left

untranslated. I do not know whether Mr Medek simply overlooked Scrimgeours first

appearance in the story, or whether he deliberately decided to ignore it and translate his

name in the sixth book, where the character plays a more important role; nevertheless, I

think that when the translator decides for some kind of solution, they should be

consistent with it as much as possible during the rest of the work.

Now, I will move to the much smaller groups of names I established: writers,

fictional figures, nicknames, pets and ghosts. None of these includes more than thirty

items and it is, therefore, impossible to draw conclusions concerning the use of

procedures. As a result, I will make only a few comments on things I found interesting

or important. The reason for excluding writers from the fictional-figures group and

establishing a separate group for them seems rather unfounded now. Initially, I thought

7
() jedn [se] o jmno njakho skotskho rodu a v zsad nic neznamen. Nicmn pokud tento

ministr nastupuje po Popletalovi, tak by bylo hrozn divn, kdyby to byl najednou nkdo jmnem

Scrimgeour. Pevnost specil

37
that the group of writers would be more prominent due to the fact that about a hundred

of various books are mentioned in the series; I also expected the majority of the names

to be translated. However, the group finally comprises only thirteen names and only

seven of them are translated. The only terms that support my hypothesis that names of

writers name as well as mean, because they refer to the subject of their books, are

Emeric Switch (Emeric Cvak), who wrote a transfiguration schoolbook; Phyllida

Spore (Phyllida Vtrusov), author of a book about herbology; and Newt

Scamander (Mlok Scamander), author of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them.

Half of the names from the fictional figure group are translated. These names

are of no real importance for the plot, but they are successful in creating the atmosphere

of an alternative world with its own history. Rowling very often uses alliteration when

creating a name, examples from other groups would be Parvati Patil, Filius

Flitwick, or three of the founders of the school: Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga

Hufflepuff, and Salazar Slytherin. In Czech translation, alliteration is not generally

preserved, because it is not commonly used in routine texts (unlike in English).

However, in the case of the names of fictional figures the translators had a rather free

hand as to what to do with these names and they often tried not only to translate the

comical meaning of the name, but they also kept the alliterative form. Thus, Urg the

Unclean becomes our pinavec, Lachlan the Lanky is Valerin Vyzbl, and

Wilfred the Wistful is translated as Zachari Zaduman. As I got on the theme of

alliteration here, it is also worth noting the name of the permanently bewailing ghost of

a girl called Moaning Myrtle that became Ufukan Urula in Czech.

Nicknames are usually translated using information from the context, as is quite

predictable. The best-known nicknames from Harry Potter books are: Moony, Padfoot,

Prongs, and Wormtail. As their bearers were able to change into animals at will, these

38
nicknames indicate what kind of animals they were. Moony (Nmsnk) is the

nickname of the werewolf Remus J. Lupin moon being the element that rules his life;

also note that the surname is actually a form of Latin word for wolf and Remus

refers to one of the founders of Rome that were nursed by a she-wolf. Padfoot

(Ticholpek) is a compound of pad and foot suggesting that the animal (dog

actually), whose shape Sirius Black can take at will, can walk very quietly. Moreover,

the name Sirius is the name of a star, also called Dog Star, found in the constellation

Canis Major. Prongs (Dvancterk) is the nickname of Harrys father James and is

translated rather freely into Czech; the term is also more specifying than the original.

Wormtail (ervek), a nickname for Peter Pettigrew, who changes into a rat, refers

to the actual similarity of a rats tail to a worm (earthworm comes to my mind). And

unless I am much mistaken, the surname could be regarded as a compound of a French

word petit meaning small and the English verb grow, thus telling us something

about the characters appearance and possibly also his mental character.

Pet and ghost names do not seem to contain anything particularly important to

note. The groups are too small to make any conclusion concerning the use of

procedures possible. What remains is the Other subgroup. These are mainly people

that do not recur in the story or serve only as a crowd, such as muggles, Quidditch

players, and distant relatives. Almost 54 % of these names are left untouched,

transferred; about 35 % are naturalised (or otherwise, slightly changed). The only term

I would like to point out here is the name of a house-elf called Kreacher (Krtura). I

cannot but like this name and its translation. Kreacher is homophonous with

creature and similarly the Czech equivalent Krtura is semi-homophonous with the

word kreatura. Apart from containing the pun the name is also descriptive, revealing

what this creature is like.

39
 When speaking about proper nouns I must not forget the names of places. There

is only about sixty of them in Harry Potter series. Most of them are either in the

address or facility subgroup. The first group does not seem to be interesting from

the translation point of view, as it includes either names of places that actually exist

(Charing Cross Road, Vauxhall Road, Norfolk) or places that can be freely translated or

not, because they are simply parts of an address and do not refer to anything particular

(Grimmauld Place, Magnolia Crescent, Wisteria Walk). The only two terms

particularly worth noting are the names of two streets situated in the magical part of

London: Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley. In Knockturn Alley, magic market

devoted to dark arts flourishes. The name suggests something beaten up or twisted,

and is also semi-homophonous with nocturnally, suggesting darkness and, by

extension, evil (Wikipedia). Similarly Diagon Alley is a homophone of

diagonally. This toponym translates into Czech as Pn ulice, which is simply

based on the meaning of the homophone, as there seems to be no possible way of

maintaining the pun present English.

What I personally find interesting are the names of various magical shops. The

shops are translated so that they look like possibly existing shops that want to attract

customers and the names suggest what kind of articles is sold in these shops. I believe,

this is where the translator can show what he/she is capable of and can let his or her

fancy roam, especially when the book is full of names such as Weasleys Wizard

Wheezes (Kratochviln kouzelnick kejkle), and Flourish and Blotts (Krucnky a

Kaoury).

5.2.2 Neologisms

The group of neologisms includes several subgroups; almost all of the terms are

translated somehow, except for those in the formula subgroup. The terms in this

40
subgroup are wordings of various spells and they originate mainly from Latin, or at

least imitate the look of Latin words (via -us ending, for example). Fifty-eight of the

sixty-seven formulas are transferred. Here, I am afraid, I cannot make objective

comments on how successful these words are in communicating the meaning to the

Czech reader, in particular the Czech child reader, because as I have an already good

knowledge of foreign languages (especially French), I can find the meaning in these

words easily. However, even if the words were absolutely unfamiliar to Czech readers,

I would not go for translating them, because their foreign look makes the text much

more interesting and their meaning is, in fact, usually clarified by the context. It is also

possible to translate and then foreignize these words as the translators did in the case of

Impervius (Repellentus) or Muffliatto (evelissimo), but this method does not

seem practicable in such a large text with so many terms. Three formulas are evidently

English: Obliviate, Stupefy, and Orchideous, and are therefore normally

translated into Czech as Zapomete, Mdloby na vs, and Orchidejovou

respectively. As for the last term, I prefer the Slovak idea of changing the word to

Orchideus, because it fits more in the text and it definitely sounds more like an

incantation.

The second large and interesting group is that of creatures. One third of the

terms were translated literally. These are real animals that have Czech equivalents (e.g.

tubeworm, and lacewing fly); mythical creatures known in both cultures, such as

werewolf, cockatrice, and sphinx; or animals that do not exist, but the words of their

names are normally used and can, thus, be easily translated (Fire Crab, or Common

Welsh Green). In the existing word not translated literally group can be found

names of creatures common in some cultures, but not in Czech (Red Cap is a type of

malevolent murderous creature found in British folklore; Kappa is Japanese folkloric

41
water imp; Grindylows are mythological creatures that originated from Yorkshire); or

names that are actually old words with new meanings i.e. the words refer to

something else possibly with no connection to the creature, such as porlock or

doxy (Porlock is a coastal village in Somerset; doxy is an archaic slang expression

for prostitute). Creatures that are completely products of Rowlings imagination are

translated via the meaning of the words components; examples are Flobberworm

(Tlustoerv - based on the part worm), or Nogtail (Drsnochvost based on

tail). The translation of about twenty percent of the terms is based completely on the

information given in context: Crup is said to look like Jack Russel Terrier with

forked tail and is then translated as hafo, a term that contains the Czech sound of

barking; Murtlap (Hrboun) is a rat with some sort of anemone on its back that

resembles a hunch.

The plant-names group is rather small. It includes thirty-five terms; fifteen are

translated literally. These are either existing plants, such as monkshood, lovage, and

sneezewort, or names compound of existing words that can be translated literally to

create an acceptable name for a plant (e.g. Devils Snare, Bouncing Bulbs, and Fanged

Geranium). The existing word not translated literally group contains terms of two

types: newly created phrases made of existing words that are translated loosely (the

word chomping in Chinese Chomping Cabbage, for example, does not mean

zubat), or names that are translated incorrectly, though in translation there is not

generally one correct solution. What I mean by saying incorrectly is that the

translator chose an existing Czech word, which is not an equivalent of the original

term. For example, Mr Medek translated wolfsbane, or aconitum lycoctonum, as

mordovnk, which is, however, a common name for a different type of aconite

(Aconitum Stoerkianum Reichb., or Aconitum napellus L.). The correct translation

42
would be vl mor. Also the term kchavice seems to be the Czech equivalent of

veratrum rather then hellebore, which I found out to be called emeice.

Nevertheless, I am not a botanist and it is possible that these plants are connected

somehow, though I did not find any such connection. As these terms are in no way

crucial to the plot, their translations, though imprecise, may be accepted without

reservation.

Several translations are based, again, on the meaning of a component; for

example gillyweed enables people to survive under water due to the gills they grow,

thus the Czech equivalent is abernk, reminding the reader of the word bry

(gill). I would like to comment on one term I included in the meaning equivalent

group. The term is earwiggy flower. Mr Medek translated it as uchotaska, while

Mrs Kraoviov created ucholakov kvet. Both these versions seem to be plausible

due to the different frame of reference the translators had. The Czech translator seems

to have divided the word into two components: ear and wiggly, while the Slovak

translator recognized the word earwig, which is a type of insect, and based the

translation of this term on it (ucholak is Slovak word for earwig). What remains are

the potion and spell names subgroups. As for these two, I do not think they include

anything specially challenging. The terms are usually descriptive and they reflect the

actual use, purpose, or effect of the potion or spell in question.

When I was collecting the terms and assorting them into groups according to

what they refer to, I established a group called Miscellaneous where I included all the

terms that did not fit in the other groups. As a result, it was not possible to analyse

these terms in the same way as the terms from other groups and I will, therefore, make

only several individual comments on those issues I found interesting. I will start with

the names of special types of products invented by the Weasley twins. These items

43
(food mainly) are always meant to be funny, though a bit dangerous. The names

generally follow the alliteration pattern common in Rowlings work and the Czech

translators (unlike the Slovaks) keep pace with it too. Examples are Ton-Tongue

Toffee (Jazyk jako jelito in Czech; Jazykoplaz karamelka in Slovak) that makes

your tongue grow enormously; Extendable Ears (ultradlouh ui; predlovacie

ui), which allow the user to hear far-away conversations; or Skiving Snacxboxes

(zkolck zkusky; ulievacie makrty) that hold variety of sweets to make the

consumer sick and enable him to bunk off classes these include Puking Pastilles

(dviv dortek), Fainting Fancies (omdlvac oplatky), and Nosebleed Nougat

(krvciv kokoska). There are eight Quidditch teams in the story (thirteen if the works

outside the Harry Potter series are included); all but one are in the alliterative form,

which is again maintained in Czech, see for example Holyhead Harpies

(Holyheadsk harpyje), or Pride of Portree (Pcha Portree).

Rowling created also a lot of new terms for newly invented objects, which are

particularly challenging in the process of translation and I must say that the Czech

translators dealt with them quite successfully. At random I can give the following.

Animagus is a wizard or witch capable of turning into a particular animal and back at

will. The word is a compound of ani- referring to animal and magus, Latin word

for mage. It is translated as zvromg. Another interesting term is Omniocculars, a

special type of binoculars that work as a recorder and enable the owner to forward and

rewind the image. It consists of the Latin word omnia meaning all and the word

ocular. The Czech equivalent is vechnohled that resembles the word

dalekohled. Pensieve is a magical object in the shape of a bowl into which

memories and thoughts can be placed and then looked at from distance. The name is a

portmanteau of two words pensive, meaning musingly or dreamily thoughtful, and

44
sieve, a type of bowl with perforations through which fine particles of a substance (such

as flour) may be passed to separate them from coarser ones. (Wikipedia). The Czech

translators created a term based on a different word but used the same word-formation

procedure as Rowling: they joined the words mysl (mind) and slnka (salt cellar),

thus creating a new term myslnka. In the Order of the Phoenix, Harry has to attend

special lessons of Occlumency, that is the magical defence of the mind against

external penetration (Order of the Phoenix, 572). This term comes probably from the

Latin words occludere (to shut) and mens (mind). These words have certain

resonance with English readers, because their language knows words of these origins:

to occlude, and mind or mentor. As there are not such words in Czech, the word

was translated to sound more familiar and the result is Nitrobrana, defence of the

mind, spirit. The relating subject of Legilimency (legere to read) is translated as

Nitrozpyt, a compound of nitro (inside or mind), and zpytovat (an archaic Czech

expression for searching ones conscience).

There are many more terms that could be discussed in this way, but their

number is too large to do so in a bachelor thesis. I will therefore leave the discussion

here. I hope I managed to introduce at least a few interesting issues and to show the

complexity of the translation of Harry Potter books. As you might have noticed, I left

out completely the group of book titles. That is because though they are interesting

from the readers point of view, they are not actually specifically challenging

concerning the means of translation.

45
6. CONCLUSION

The aim of this work was to find out whether there exists some sort of system or pattern

in the translation of names and new words in the Harry Potter series. The theoretical

basis was provided by Peter Newmark; J. K. Rowlings work translated by Messrs

Medeks served as the case study. After the collection of specifically chosen terms,

whose number amounts to nearly one thousand, was completed, I divided the terms into

groups and tried to analyse them.

What I found out does not match what I had expected though, concerning both

the theory and the actual translation. As for the theory, I had the impression that it is

pragmatic and useful and that the terms I collected will be easily accounted for by the

translation procedures. However, as I focused on the analysis and delved into the

procedures I realized that the theory is not a strictly followed rule. It may look good on

paper and may possibly be helpful in the process of translating some types of text, but

cannot serve as a tool for analysis of an already translated fiction work.

As for the translation, I thought I would discover some special patterns in the

way of translating names and neologisms that appear in the Harry Potter series. I

imagined that there would be some system in the way the names are translated or

transferred, depending on the position of the bearer in the story; for example, that

students and staffs would be left as they are, because they are meant to be seen as

characters really dwelling in Britain, while writers and fictional figures would be

translated, because they are rather comical characters and their names are created with

the intention of amusing the readers.

Thus, I was a bit disappointed when I learned by reading an interview with

Pavel Medek that their system actually consists in translating those names that are

46
significant in some way: Technically speaking, () when the name has a meaning, we

tried to translate it adequately.8 The translators seem to translate the names on the

basis of whether or not the name includes any existing English word. To be honest, I

expected something more sophisticated and complicated than this.

Nevertheless, it does not seem to be important for ordinary readers whether

certain words are translated literally or not. I believe that as long as the work is

readable and the translators do not make any major changes that would affect the plot

significantly or change the story noticeably, there is no need to be critical. I must say

that from the point of view of a reader the translation is very successful and

entertaining.

8
V zsad jde o princip, e kdy m jmno njak vznam, snaili jsme se o jeho adekvtn peklad.

Pevnost specil

47
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY

7.1 Primary sources

Kraloviov, Oga, trans. Harry Potter a Fnixov rd. By J. K. Rowling. Bratislava:

Ikar, 2003. Trans. of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. London:

Bloomsbury, 2003.

---, trans. Harry Potter a Ohniv aa. By J. K. Rowling. Bratislava: Ikar, 2001. Trans.

of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000.

---, trans. Harry Potter a Polovin princ. By J. K. Rowling. Bratislava: Ikar, 2001.

Trans. of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. London: Bloomsbury, 2005.

---, trans. Harry Potter a Vze z Azkabanu. By J. K. Rowling. Bratislava: Ikar, 2001.

Trans. of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. London: Bloomsbury,

1999.

Medek, Pavel, trans. Harry Potter a Fnixv d. By J. K. Rowling. Praha: Albatros,

2004. Trans. of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. London:

Bloomsbury, 2003.

---, trans. Harry Potter a Princ dvoj krve. By J. K. Rowling. Praha: Albatros, 2005.

Trans. of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. London: Bloomsbury, 2005.

---, trans. Harry Potter a Vze z Azkabanu. By J. K. Rowling. Praha: Albatros, 2002.

Trans. of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. London: Bloomsbury,

1999.

Medek, Vladimr, trans. Harry Potter a Kmen mudrc. By J. K. Rowling. Praha:

Albatros, 2002. Trans. of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. London:

Bloomsbury, 1997.

48
---, trans. Harry Potter a Ohniv pohr. By J. K. Rowling. Praha: Albatros, 2002.

Trans. of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000.

---, trans. Harry Potter a Tajemn komnata. By J. K. Rowling. Praha: Albatros, 2002.

Trans. of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. London: Bloomsbury,

1998.

Petrikoviov, Jana, trans. Harry Potter a Kame mudrcov. By J. K. Rowling.

Bratislava: Ikar, 2000. Trans. of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone.

London: Bloomsbury, 1997.

---, trans. Harry Potter a Tajomn komnata. By J. K. Rowling. Bratislava: Ikar, 2001.

Trans. of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. London: Bloomsbury,

1998.

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. London: Bloomsbury, 2000.

---. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2001.

---. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. London: Bloomsbury, 2005.

---. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. London: Bloomsbury, 2004.

---. Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. London: Bloomsbury, 2000.

---. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. London: Bloomsbury, N/A.

7.2 Secondary sources

Newmark, Peter. A Textbook of Translation. London: Prentice-Hall, 1988.

All-Time Worldwide Boxoffice. IMDb. 30 October 2006. 5 November 2006

<http://imdb.com/boxoffice/alltimegross?region=world-wide>

Fanstastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 25

September 2006. 19 October 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Fantastic_Beasts_and_Where_to_Find_Them>

49
Harry Potter in translation. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 5 October 2006. 19

October 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_in_translation>

Harry Potter, Medek a esk pekladatelstv. CITARNY.CZ. 5 November 2006

<http://www.citarny.cz/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=415>

Harry Potter. Seznam Encyklopedie. 16 May 2006. 19 October 2006

<http://encyklopedie.seznam.cz/heslo/130418-harry-potter>

Harry Potter. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 17 October 2006. 19 October 2006

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_potter>

Lord Voldemort. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 16 November 2006

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Voldemort#Name_and_anagram>

Potter is fastest-selling book ever. BBC NEWS. 22 June 2003. 5 November 2006

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3005862.stm>

Quidditch Through the Ages. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 14 October 2006. 19

October 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quidditch_Through_the_Ages>

Worksheet: Half-Blood Prince sets UK record. CBBC Newsround. July 20 2005.

5 November 2006 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_4700000/

newsid_4701400/4701409.stm>

Cilkov, K. Rozhovor s Pavlem Medkem. Pevnost specil 2/2005: 54-5.

International Board of Books for young people. 5 November 2006

<http://www.ibby.cz/modules/multi/>

OneLook Dictionary Search. 16 November 2006 < http://www.onelook.com/>

50
APPENDICES

In the appendices, two tables are presented. In appendix A, there is the table of terms

that qualified as relevant according to the requirements stated in chapter 3. In appendix

B it is the table of terms divided into several groups on the basis of which procedure

was probably used.

51