The cover of Harry Potter en de Steen der Wijzen (Harry Potter and the Stone of the Wise Men) – the Dutch language translation of the first book, jointly published by De Harmonie and Standaard.

The Harry Potter series of fantasy novels by J. K. Rowling books have become some of the most widely-read works of children's literature in history, with readers of all ages and in many countries. Worldwide sales of Harry Potter books are estimated at over 300 million copies.^[1] As such, some or all of the books have been translated from the original English into other languages. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (886x1290, 208 KB) Summary Front cover of Harry Potter en de Steen der Wijzen, published in 2001 by De Harmonie in the Netherlands and Standaard in Belgium. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (886x1290, 208 KB) Summary Front cover of Harry Potter en de Steen der Wijzen, published in 2001 by De Harmonie in the Netherlands and Standaard in Belgium. ... Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people, mainly in the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname, but also by smaller groups of speakers in parts of France, Germany and several former Dutch colonies. ... This article is about the Harry Potter series of novels. ... Joanne Jo Murray, née Rowling OBE[1] (born 31 July 1965),[2] who writes under the pen name J. K. Rowling,[3] is a British writer and author of the Harry Potter fantasy series. ... Childrens books redirects here. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

Translation process

For an authorised translation, the publisher must first negotiate and sign a contract with the authors' agents, the Christopher Little Literary Agency ^[2]. A full list of authorised publishers can be read on J. K. Rowlings website ^[3]. Translators are selected locally by the publishers.

Translators were not granted access to the books prior to their official release date in English, hence translation could only start after the English editions had been published, creating a lag of several months before the translations were made available. This necessary delay has boosted the sales of English language editions of the books to impatient fans, in countries where English is not the first language. Such was the clamour to read the fifth book that its English language edition became the first English-language book ever to top the bookseller list in France.^[4] In Italy, impatient Potter fans organised "Operation Feather", deluging the publisher Salani with feathers (reminiscent of Hogwarts' messenger owls) to demand expedited publication for the Italian translation of the seventh and final book in the series. ^[5] The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

Another result of the huge public demand for instant translations of the books, is the proliferation of "pirate" translations. Unauthorised translations can often be produced much faster than official translations, for several reasons: quality can be compromised, and less time is spent on editing and proofreading; the translation can be produced as a collaborative process, with several people working in parallel on different sections of the book; pirate translations can be published online, eliminating the time spent on printing and distributing official hard copies. This makes it very tempting to engage in a pirate translation, rather than wait several months for an authorised translation to be issued. However, for the very same reasons stated above, pirate translations are usually inferior to the official translations.

The high profile and demand for a high-quality local translation means that a great deal of care is often taken in the task. In some countries such as Italy, the first book was revised by the publishers and issued in an updated edition, in response to feedback from readers. In countries such as China and Portugal, the translation is conducted by a group of translators working together so as to save time. Some of the translators hired to work on the books were quite well known prior to their work on Harry Potter, such as Viktor Golyshev, who oversaw the Russian translation of the series' fifth book. Golyshev was previously best known for translating William Faulkner and George Orwell ^[6] and was known to snub the Harry Potter books in interviews and refer to them as inferior literature. The Turkish translation of books two to five was undertaken by Sevin Okyay, a popular literary critic and cultural commentator.^[7] Viktor Golyshev (born 1937) is a well known English-to-Russian translator. ... William Cuthbert Faulkner (born William Falkner), (September 25, 1897–July 6, 1962) was an American author. ... George Orwell is the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903[1][2] – 21 January 1950) who was an English writer and journalist well-noted as a novelist, critic, and commentator on politics and culture. ... Sevin Okyay (Istanbul, 1942) is a Turkish literary critic, journalist, author, regular columnist and a prolific translator. ...

List of authorised translations by language

The original British English versions of the book were published in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury. Authorised editions exist in the following languages (including the original): British English (BrE, BE, en-GB) is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere in the Anglophone world. ...

Not listed in this table is the long-planned translation into Scots Gaelic; initially scheduled for release in December 2006, it has been indefinitely delayed.^[13][14] Some sources refer to translations "from Arabic to Zulu", but the books have never officially been translated into Zulu; most likely the origin for this rumor was a journalist's quip. Slovenian or Slovene (slovenski jezik or slovenščina) is an Indo-European language that belongs to the family of South Slavic languages. ... Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. ... Sevin Okyay (Istanbul, 1942) is a Turkish literary critic, journalist, author, regular columnist and a prolific translator. ... Urdu ( , , trans. ... Welsh redirects here, and this article describes the Welsh language. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... // Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. ... Zulu (called isiZulu in Zulu), is a language of the Zulu people with about 10 million speakers, the vast majority (over 95%) of whom live in South Africa. ...

Some translations, such those to the extinct Latin and Ancient Greek languages, were done as academic exercises, to stimulate interest in the languages and to provide students of those languages with modern reading texts. The Ancient Greek version, according to the translator, is the longest text written in that language since the novels of Heliodorus of Emesa in the 3rd century AD,^[15] and took one year to complete. An extinct language is a language which no longer has any native speakers, in contrast to a dead language, which is is a language which has stopped changing in grammar, vocabulary, and the complete meaning of a sentence. ... Heliodorus of Emesa, from Emesa, Syria, was a Greek writer generally dated in the 3rd century of the Common Era, and is known for the ancient Greek romance or novel called the Aethiopica (the Ethiopian Story) or sometimes Theagenes and Chariclea. According to his own statement, his fathers name...

Note that in some countries, such as Spain and India, the book has been translated into several local languages (see section on publishers); 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 for Portugal).

In the Republic of Macedonia, Publishing House Kultura has announced that translations of books 6 and 7 would not be published due to low sales. They refused an offer of free translation from a teenage girl.^{[citation needed]}

Unauthorised translations

From the first book in the series onwards, individuals have illegally produced unauthorized "pirate" translations of the novels, some of which have been released far ahead of the official translation in some languages.^[16] One notable example occurred in Venezuela in 2003, when an illegal translation of the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, appeared soon after the release of the English version and five months before the scheduled release of the Spanish translation. The pirate translation was apparently so bad that the translator added messages, including "Here comes something that I'm unable to translate, sorry," and "I'm sorry, I didn't understand what that meant" in some sections. Two people were arrested in connection with the pirated version.^[17] OotP redirects here. ...

Another notable example was an internet fan translation community, Harry auf Deutsch, formed to translate the Harry Potter books into German more rapidly ^[18]. After being prevented by the German publisher from openly releasing their translations, they converted their project a community site which (1) translates the books for the enjoyment of their own members (thus avoiding copyright issues, apparently)^{[citation needed]}, (2) translates fan fiction, (3) discusses discrepancies in the official translations, and (4) creates their own lexicon.^{[citation needed]} Fan translation refers to the unofficial translation of various forms of media by fans, usually into a language in which an official translated version is not available. ...

The agents representing J. K. Rowling have stated in the past that they cannot and do not intend to prevent individuals from translating Rowling's books for their own personal enjoyment, as long as the results are not made available to the general public.^[19]

In some countries, there have been no authorised translations into the local language, but translations not sanctioned by J. K. Rowling have been prepared and published. Such is the case, for example, in Sri Lanka, where the books have been unofficially translated into Sinhala and possibly into Tamil. ^[20] Sinhalese or Sinhala (සිංහල, ISO 15919: , pronounced ], earlier referred to as Singhalese) is the mother tongue of the Sinhalese, the largest ethnic group of Sri Lanka. ... Tamil ( ; IPA ) is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamils in India and Sri Lanka, with smaller communities of speakers in many other countries. ...

In Iran, several unauthorised translations of the Harry Potter books exist side by side. Iran is not a member of the Universal Copyright Convention, so publishers are not prosecuted for publishing foreign books without respecting copyright or paying royalties. ^[21]. The Universal Copyright Convention (UCC), adopted at Geneva in 1952, is one of the two principal international conventions protecting copyright; the other is the Berne Convention. ...

Fake translations

Whereas "pirate translations" are unauthorised translations of true Harry Potter books, "fake translations" have also appeared, which are published pastiches or fanfics that a foreign publisher has tried to pass off as the translation of the real book by Rowling. There have been several such books, the most famous of which is probably Harry Potter and Leopard-Walk-Up-to-Dragon which was written and published in China in 2002, prior to the release of the fifth book in Rowling's series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The word pastiche describes a literary or other artistic genre. ... Fan fiction (also spelled fanfiction and commonly abbreviated to fanfic) is fiction written by people who enjoy a film, novel, television show or other media work, using the characters and situations developed in it and developing new plots in which to use these characters. ... Photo of book cover Harry Potter and Leopard-Walk-Up-to-Dragon is the loosely translated title (see below) of an unauthorized Chinese 198-page book written and published in 2002. ... OotP redirects here. ...

Other fake Harry Potter books written in Chinese include Harry Potter and the Porcelain Doll (哈利・波特与瓷娃娃 or Hālì Bōtè yǔ Cíwáwa), Harry Potter and the Golden Turtle, and Harry Potter and the Crystal Vase.^[22] In August 2007, The New York Times noted that the publication of Rowling's Deathly Hallows had inspired "a surge of peculiarly Chinese imitations," and included plot synopses and excerpts from a number of derivative works, among them Harry Potter and the Chinese Overseas Students at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and Harry Potter and the Big Funnel. ^[23] In Bengali, Harry Potter in Calcutta (Harry Potter Kolkataye), written by Uttam Ghosh, has appeared.^[24] The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. ... Bangla redirects here. ...

Americanisation as translation

The differences between the British and American editions of the books have sometimes been referred to as "translation" into American English. The most noted example of this is the difference in the titles of the first book in the series: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in the UK, versus Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the US. A comprehensive list of differences between the American and British editions of the books was collated at the Harry Potter Lexicon website, here: ^[25] Whether these changes are enough to count as actual translation ultimately depends on one's definition of translation. The changes are mostly simple lexical switches to reflect the different dialects: an American would still have very little problem reading the British edition, and vice versa. Other changes cannot be explained as simple lexical adaptations, but may be an attempt to adapt the text culturally to a different market - for example, the addition of a sentence describing Dean Thomas as black - or may even have entered the text as publishers' corrections (or failure to incorporate agreed corrections). Changes of this sort are common when adapting any text from British to American editions and vice versa ^[26], but in the case of the Harry Potter books, this standard practice has occasionally drawn fire ^[27]. For other uses, see American English (disambiguation). ... The Harry Potter Lexicon is a fan-created online encyclopedia of the Harry Potter series. ... This is one of a series of articles about the differences between American English and British English, which, for the purposes of these articles, are defined as follows: American English (AmE) is the form of English used in the United States. ... This article is about minor Harry Potter characters who are Gryffindor students in the same year as Harry. ...

In an Associated Press interview, Rowling described how the alterations to the American editions came about: The Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ...

Rowling pretended to bang her head against the sofa in mock frustration. "SO much has been made of that," she groans, noting that it was only done where words had been used that really meant something very different to Americans. Her American editor pointed out that the word jumper — British for pullover sweater — means a kind of dress in American. She had had no idea. "He asked, 'Can we change it to sweater,' which is just as British?" That was fine with Rowling. ^[28]

Publisher Arthur Levine of Scholastic explained the changes in an interview in The New Yorker: For other uses, see Scholastic (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see New Yorker. ...

I wasn't trying to, quote, "Americanize" them... What I was trying to do is translate, which I think is different. I wanted to make sure that an American kid reading the book would have the same literary experience that a British kid would have." ^[29]

The same article, however, points out that some British dialect was retained in the books, and in some cases certain phrases were replaced with more stereotypical British phrases, such as "spanking good" for "cracking".

Americanisation of books is standard practice in the publishing business, and is not normally considered translation. No individual translator or editor is credited with the Americanisation of the Harry Potter books.

Issues in translation

As with many texts, the Harry Potter series presents some special challenges to translators:

Culture

The cultural environment of the book is decidedly British. The stories follow a familiar theme in British children's books, that of adventures at boarding school, and many of the cultural nuances will be unfamiliar to readers in translation. Such things require careful and creative translating. A boarding school is a usually fee-charging school where some or all pupils not only study, but also live during term time, with their fellow students and possibly teachers. ...

Invented words and proper nouns

Several words and phrases in the books such as spells, incantations, magical words, items and place names were invented by Rowling. Many of the spells 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 incantation ("spell, charm"). To create a similar effect in the Hindi version, the Sanskrit language, typical in mantras, has been used for the spells. Some translators have created new words themselves, others have resorted to transliteration. . Manjul Publishing House Pvt. ... The Sanskrit language ( , for short ) is a classical language of India, a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ... For other uses, see Mantra (disambiguation). ... Transliteration is the practice of transcribing a word or text written in one writing system into another writing system. ...

Names such as Knockturn Alley and the Pensieve are extremely difficult to translate. The latter is a magical bowl into which memories and thoughts can be placed and examined at leisure, and is a portmanteau of two words: pensive, meaning "musingly or dreamily thoughtful", and 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. The name Knockturn Alley, an unsavoury area leading off Diagon Alley (the place where London's magic market is located), suggests something beaten up or twisted, and is also semi-homophonous with "nocturnally", suggesting darkness and, by extension, evil. Translators must use creativity and sensitivity in rendering such names, and some are more successful than others. If the words are simply transliterated, the shades of meaning are lost; but when new word-games are invented, they can end up sounding quite different from the original, and often reflect the translator's personal interpretation and preferences. For instance, the Turkish version of Pensieve is Düsünseli, which is a portmanteau of the words Düsünmek (to think, to imagine) and sel (a flood of water); the German version of Pensieve is Denkarium with denken meaning "to think" and aquarium the word could be something like "thinkarium"; the Swedish version of Pensieve is Minnessåll which means Memory's Sieve. The Spanish version of Death Eaters is mortífagos, from Latin morti (death) and fagos (eat); the Swedish version of Death Eaters is Dödsätare and is a working direct translation of Death Eaters. Knockturn Alley, a pun on nocturnally, is a fictional location in J. K. Rowlings Harry Potter series of novels. ... A portmanteau (IPA: ) is a word or morpheme that fuses two or more words or word parts to give a combined or loaded meaning. ... “The Leaky Cauldron” redirects here. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Beating up is systematic punching, or hitting with a blunt instrument, many times, with the design or effect of causing much pain. ... This article is about the term in linguistics. ... “Aquaria” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Latins and Latin (disambiguation). ...

Anagrams such as that of Tom Riddle's name that appears in the second book also do not make the transition easily into other languages. Translators have sometimes altered the names in the book in order to make the anagram work in that language. Sometimes translators manage to alter only one part of the name: Tom Riddle's middle name of Marvolo was changed to "Vandrolo" in the Hebrew edition, to "Marvoldo" in Turkish, to "Vorlost" in German, to "Sorvolo" in Spanish, to "Marvoloso" in Slovak and to "Orvoloson" in Italian. In other languages, translators replaced the name entirely for the sake of preserving the anagram: in French, Riddle's full name becomes "Tom Elvis Jedusor" an anagram of "Je suis Voldemort"; Dutch his name becomes "Marten Asmodom Vilijn", an anagram of "Mijn naam is Voldemort" (My name is Voldemort); in Czech, his name is "Tom Rojvol Raddle", an anagram of "Já, Lord Voldemort" (I, Lord Voldemort); in Icelandic his name becomes Trevor Delgome; in Swedish the name becomes "Tom Gus Mervolo Dolder", an anagram of "Ego sum Lord Voldemort", where "ego sum" is Latin, not Swedish, for "I am" (and poor Latin besides; it's a common practice to omit "ego" in such circumstances). In Finnish his name is Tom Lomen Valedro (Ma olen Voldemort), in Hungarian the name is "Tom Rowle Denem", which is the anagram of "Nevem Voldemort" - the 'w' in the name becomes two 'v's. These changes to the name created problems in later books: Tom Riddle should share his first name with Tom the bartender, but this is not the case in all translations. Tom Marvolo Riddle is a fictional character in the Harry Potter series of novels by J. K. Rowling. ... Tom is a fictional character in the Harry Potter universe. ...

Plot points

In some cases, English-speaking fans have sought clues to the story's mysteries by examining the way certain parts of the books have been translated in foreign editions. A case in point is the identity of a character mentioned by initials only in the book Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. The English initials R.A.B. could have belonged to several minor characters from the books, but variations on the initials in other languages gave evidence to the true identity of the mystery character: in the Dutch edition of the book R.A.B. was translated into R.A.Z., 'zwart' being Dutch for 'black'; in the Norwegian edition, R.A.B. translates to 'R.A.S.', svart being Norwegian for 'black'; and in the Finnish edition the initials were R.A.M., 'musta' being Finnish for 'black'. When Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows came out, the identity of R.A.B. was resolved, and indeed his last name was Black. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the yet-to-be released sixth installment in the Harry Potter book series written by J. K. Rowling. ... This article is about the character from the Harry Potter series. ... HP7 redirects here. ...

Similarly, the title for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix did not make it obvious whether Order referred to a group of people or to a directive. The information that it was a group of people was then determined by viewing the title in other languages. The same goes for "the Carrows", who in some translations was translated as "the siblings Carrow" and hence weren't a married couple, later Rowling revealed that it was the siblings Alecto and Amycus that were the Carrows. OotP redirects here. ... It has been suggested that Barty Crouch Junior be merged into this article or section. ...

Rowling released an alternative title for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for use by translators finding difficulty translating its meaning. The alternative title (in English) is Harry Potter and the Relics of Death.^[30][31] HP7 redirects here. ...

Earwax

In the French translation of the first volume of Harry Potter, Dumbledore's cry of "Earwax!" (the flavor jelly bean that he has the misfortune of tasting) is translated as: "De la cire pour les oreilles!" This literally means "Wax for the ears!" Of course, Earwax is not wax intended to be applied to the ears, but wax that is naturally produced as an secretion from the ears. It is remarkable that the translator did not know this, and that no one caught the mistake.

See also

• List of fictional books within the Harry Potter series
• Parodies of Harry Potter
• Harry Potter influences and analogues

This is a list of fictional books mentioned in the Harry Potter series. ... The immense popularity and wide recognition of JK Rowlings Harry Potter fantasy series has led to it being extensively parodied, in works spanning nearly every medium. ... // Writer J. K. Rowling cites several writers as influences in her creation of her bestselling Harry Potter series. ...

References

is the 266th day of the year (267th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 129th day of the year (130th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 129th day of the year (130th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them is a 2001 book written by English author J. K. Rowling to benefit the British charity Comic Relief. ... Quidditch Through the Ages is both a fictional book described in the Harry Potter series of novels by the English author J. K. Rowling, and a real book by that author, although her name is only stated in the book as the copyright holder of the Harry Potter-name. ... is the 329th day of the year (330th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article refers to the news department of the British Broadcasting Corporation, for the BBC News Channel see BBC News (TV channel). ... September 3 is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years). ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 156th day of the year (157th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 202nd day of the year (203rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Stanford redirects here. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 303rd day of the year (304th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 303rd day of the year (304th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... is the 191st day of the year (192nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 22nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ... is the 187th day of the year (188th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... For other uses, see New Yorker. ... is the 263rd day of the year (264th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events of 2008: (EMILY) Me Lesley and MIley are going to China! This article is about the year. ...

External links

• Article from "Translorial", Part I, Part II
• The Sphinx's Song in 13 Languages
• international cover gallery
• Harry Potter name and word equivalents in many different languages
• database of Harry Potter terms and chapter titles in different languages
• Dictionary of Dutch Harry Potter terms
• Dictionary of Norwegian Harry Potter terms and names
• Harry Potter in Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese Translation
• English - German Dictionary + Lexicon of Harry Potter terms and names
• Platform 9 3/4: Crown Publishing (Taiwan) site containing lists of names, books, spells, quidditch terms, etc. in Chinese and English
• Article about American English "translation"
• short article on translation differences in Harry Potter
• Harry Potter terms in Japanese
• Financial Times article
• article from The Guardian
• Petition to help publish an Esperanto translation of Harry Potter