On translating Harry Potter into Hebrew
Sep. 7th, 2007 12:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
conuly
"
As an example, Bar-Hillel points to a conversation at the beginning of Book Seven, in which Mrs. Weasley orders her son, Ron (Harry’s good friend), to clean his room. Chafing at the order, Ron starts to say, “Why in the name of Merlin’s saggy left …” before he is interrupted by his father, who scolds him not to talk to his mother like that. We never find out what noun Ron was going to use at the end of the sentence. The omission creates a problem for Bar-Hillel because in Hebrew, adjectives are placed after the nouns they modify. Without knowing exactly what item or body part of Merlin’s was saggy and on the left, Bar-Hillel will be hard-pressed to translate Ron’s question without using judicious guesswork.
“I’ll either have to decide on a noun or completely rearrange what he was going to say in some creative way,” Bar-Hillel predicted."
Okay, now, come one now, everybody, 'fess up. I think we all know exactly what item or body part of Merlin's was saggy and on the left, don't we? Indeed, I do believe this is time for a well-placed poll!
[Poll #1051453]
As an example, Bar-Hillel points to a conversation at the beginning of Book Seven, in which Mrs. Weasley orders her son, Ron (Harry’s good friend), to clean his room. Chafing at the order, Ron starts to say, “Why in the name of Merlin’s saggy left …” before he is interrupted by his father, who scolds him not to talk to his mother like that. We never find out what noun Ron was going to use at the end of the sentence. The omission creates a problem for Bar-Hillel because in Hebrew, adjectives are placed after the nouns they modify. Without knowing exactly what item or body part of Merlin’s was saggy and on the left, Bar-Hillel will be hard-pressed to translate Ron’s question without using judicious guesswork.
“I’ll either have to decide on a noun or completely rearrange what he was going to say in some creative way,” Bar-Hillel predicted."
Okay, now, come one now, everybody, 'fess up. I think we all know exactly what item or body part of Merlin's was saggy and on the left, don't we? Indeed, I do believe this is time for a well-placed poll!
[Poll #1051453]
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no subject
Date: 2007-09-07 05:37 pm (UTC)