[native english] Translations - Fantasy Language

[Gez]

Usually, nouns that aren't words in English (like "drow" or "flumph") are never translated.

They may be adapted (like flumph would become Flumf in German, since German doesn't use the 'ph' diphtong -- a photo becoming a foto, etc.).

Nouns that actually exist (like goblin) are translated (so in French it becomes gobelin), unless this could cause a problem (in German, goblin is translated by kobold... but there's already a kobold).

I can't answer for Thanee as I'm not that good at German, but here are the words in French:
► Warlock: sorcier (as I said in the "D&D in your own words" thread, it's not a perfect translation, since it makes warlock the masculine form of witch, which it is not).
► Polymorph: métamorphose
► Disintegrate: désintégration (noun), désintégrer (verb)
► Beholder: that would be spectateur, but in fact it's not translated. Instead, Eye Tyrant is somewhat translated as tyrannoeil. (Lame, IMHO.)
► Mind Flayer: Flagelleur Mental. Not that flagelleur doesn't exist. (Should be flagellateur instead.)

 

[Ryltar]

They may be adapted (like flumph would become Flumf in German, since German doesn't use the 'ph' diphtong -- a photo becoming a foto, etc.).

Although the rest of what you said was true, this isn't . German uses lots of phs, for example in Photo, Physik, Delphin (et cetera ...).

But otherwise, I have to sort of back Thanee here. My campaign is a weird mixture of german roleplaying and english creature names, feats, spells, etc. However, this suits everyone just fine - mostly because the german translations sound just lame.

 

[Flyspeck23]

German translations:
Warlock: Zauberer / Hexenmeister
Polymorph: Gestaltveränderung
Disintegrate: zerfallen bzw. auflösen
Beholder: Betrachter
Mind Flayer: Gedankenschinder

They may be adapted (like flumph would become Flumf in German, since German doesn't use the 'ph' diphtong -- a photo becoming a foto, etc.).

In German, Photo changed to Foto only recently (well, if you think of 10-15 years as recently...), and as far as I know you could still use both and neither would be wrong.
Flumph wouldn't change to Flumf, as that'd would sound totally different (in contrast to photo vs foto); so I'd guess it'd still be written with the ph or just a p.

 

[Ravellion]

Drow instead of Dark Elf. Of course then you get in the whole Drow = cow or Drow= row.

Yeah, many a row has been started in gaming groups over pronunciation of that word

Flyspeck: Gedankenschinder and Hexenmeister sound way cool! I know just enough German to understand simple conversation and read the Wirtschafts Woche and Frankfurter Allgemeine (ie. my reading is a lot better than my speech and the undrstanding of the language when it is actually pronounced), but I could see myself use those in my game.

I used to think English sounded better than Dutch too. But then I started studying English, went to England for a year etc. Now I know that the grass is simply always greener on the other side.

Rav

 

[Desdichado]

► Warlock: sorcier (as I said in the "D&D in your own words" thread, it's not a perfect translation, since it makes warlock the masculine form of witch, which it is not).

Actually, in English warlock is the masculine form of witch, believe it or not.

 

[tarchon]

They may be adapted (like flumph would become Flumf in German, since German doesn't use the 'ph' diphtong -- a photo becoming a foto, etc.).

I don't see how anybody could resist translating it as "Pflumpf."

To me most of the monster names are fairly neutral, though I grew up with many of them. A couple tend to sound a little silly if you aren't already familiar with modern horror/fantasy jargon, like using the word "skeleton" to describe an animated skeleton is a bit goofy. The coinage of "polymorph" for shape-shifting has always bothered me too, since we have a half dozen other perfectly good terms for it already, and "polymorph" had a couple unrelated technical meanings beforehand.

And "doppleganger" and "kobold" are big WTFs but I'm sure they stand out to Germans already.

Several common D&D terms are almost never used in modern English outside of D&D and RPGs like dweomer, lich, halfling, cantrip, and orison.

Actually, a lot of non-gamers find the words "gamer" and sometimes the use of "game" as a verb strange, but that's changed a lot as "gaming" has been reintroduced by gambling interests as a subtle euphemism for "gambling."

"Warlock" was already well established as the male equivalent for a witch in common use before fantasy literature became popular, and "disintegrate" is commonly used as well.
"Flay" in "mind flayer" is only rarely used in contemporary English, and I'd bet many people who play D&D have no idea what it really means (abhäuten). I'm not entirely sure the guy who invented the monster name knew what it meant, come to think of it.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

► Warlock: sorcier (as I said in the "D&D in your own words" thread, it's not a perfect translation, since it makes warlock the masculine form of witch, which it is not).

Oddly enough, "warlock" in English is often used to refer to male witches.

1 : a man practicing the black arts

 

[John Morrow]

Beholder: Betrachter

By the way, the German version sounds cooler to me (a native English speaker) than the English in this case.

Mind Flayer: Gedankenschinder

That, on the other hand, doesn't sound nearly as cool.

 

[tarchon]

Actually, in English warlock is the masculine form of witch, believe it or not.

Yeah, that's definitely how it's used in contemporary English. In earlier stages of the language, there wasn't a gender-based warlock/witch dichotomy, but it's clearly established now. From time to time, neo-Pagans will assert something to the contrary (and maybe spell it "warlocke" or something), but one coven in Minnesota doesn't trump a half billion native speakers.

Just to make a slightly amusing point about neologisms, I should add that in Old English, the male/female witch dichotomy was expressed by wicca (m) and wicce (f), pronounced roughly "wicka" and "witcheh." The "weak" declension in OE has "-a" for masculine and "-e" for feminine, so if you take the root "wicc-" and stick the feminine inflection on it, the sound of the preceding consonant is mutated from "k" to "ch". There are other similar M/F pairs in OE, bicca and bicce for example, and you can probably guess the modern equivalent of the latter.

 

[Verequus]

German translations:
Warlock: Zauberer / Hexenmeister

The problem with this translation is, that Zauberer is used for wizard and Hexenmeister is used for sorcerer already. IMO, the translation of sorcerer is bad, but I'm not sure, if sorcerer had the correct meaning in English before the advent of 3rd edition.

In German, Photo changed to Foto only recently (well, if you think of 10-15 years as recently...), and as far as I know you could still use both and neither would be wrong.
Flumph wouldn't change to Flumf, as that'd would sound totally different (in contrast to photo vs foto); so I'd guess it'd still be written with the ph or just a p.

Actually, with the German spelling reform, a lot of words with "ph" are usable with "f", like "Delfin". But don't come ever with "Fysik" to a German teacher! And don't write Kek's, too!