Some syntactic structures in the Welsh translation of Harry Potter more

Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Humanities Department of Linguistics Some syntactic structures in the Welsh translation of Harry Po>er Final assignment for course № 41140: “Problems in the Theory of Translation” Submi>ed to: Larissa Naiditch. Jehuda Ronen. Jerusalem ∙ Summer 2008 0 Introduction In his paper, “Translation as a Decision Process” (LQRS (1967)), Jeří Levý distinguish between definition of translation from a teleologi‑ cal point of view (which is a process of communication: to impart the knowledge of the original text in another medium) and from a prag‑ matic1 point of view (which is a decision process2 , suggesting a game‑ theoretic3 model for translation). From a semiologic (semiotic, structuralistic) point of view, these two processes can be seen as one, since communication is a process of decision making: choosing between mutually exclusive signs (i.e. a paradigm) which constitute a system. Thus, a translator should be regarded as the author (speaker, writer) of the translated text, since s/he is the one who chooses the signs in the target language, based on the original text. Schematically, this can be outlined as: writes writes abcdef → original text → cfaghiacef → translated text Those choices are regarded by Levý as consecutive. He compares the process of translation to a game (‘a game with complete informa‑ tion’4 ) in which ‘every succeeding move is influenced by the knowl‑ edge of previous decisions and by the situation which resulted from 1 2 I.e. the working situation of the translator. In his words (LQRS (1967, p. 1171)): a series of a certain numbers of consecutive situations — moves, as in a game — situations imposed on the translator the necessity of choosing among a certain (and very onen exactly definable) number of alternatives. 3 4 See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_theory. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complete_information. 1 them (e.g., chess, but not card games)’. As I see it, this holds for the receiver (hearer/reader) of the translated text, who decipher the text linearly, but not to its author (=translator) who – hopefully – doesn’t translate word by word or sentence by sentence, but in a “top‑down” manner, having knowledge of the text as a whole. As mentioned above, the author of a translated text is its transla‑ tor. The translation is made based on the original text, in the source language, but using literary‑linguistic devices provided by the target language. Thus, in my opinion a good translation is one who uses these devices wisely (that is, practicing a dynamic‑equivalence ap‑ proach; see Ntua (1964)). In this sense, the Welsh translation of the first novel in the Harry Po>er series5 is a good translation: it is a fluent Welsh text which uses native Welsh narrative devices in a natural seamless way. In the following pages I will examine some features of Welsh grammar in the text6 in order to justify this claim. These grammatical features are interesting subjects for examination, as they all have no exact equivalents in English: the translator, Emily Huws7 , had a richer (or, at least, different) system to choose signs from than the one of the source language. Schematically, this can be outlined as: English a b 5 Welsh c d e See Reyitgz (2003) and Reyitgz (2001) for translation and original, respec‑ tively. So far, only the first novel was published; a translation of the second one, ‘Harry Po>er and the Chamber of Secrets’, is said to be in progress. 6 Namely, the a+infinitive construction and the ti:chi distinction, and – to a lesser extent – constructions of nominal predication. 7 See http://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Huws (in Welsh). 2 Analysing what choices the translation has made has a ‘practical’ outcome: it offers not only a be>er understanding of the Welsh text, but improves the understanding of the original text as well, since the la>er is interpreted through the translator’s perception; just as passing a beam of light through a prism can reveal hidden qualities of the light, dispersing it into the rainbow of colours. 1 preterite a infinitive 1.1 Use in Welsh One important set of features of narrative text is its staging: the way the author chooses to put the events together in the text. These fea‑ tures are of prime importance in text‑linguistic analysis. In a trans‑ lated text the translator (re‑)stages the narrative according to the de‑ vices provided by the target language. Many of the text‑linguistic signs used for narrative staging are subtle in meaning, as they “fine‑ tune” the scene. Welsh has an exceptionally rich system of narrative tenses, con‑ sisting (partly) of many synthetic and periphrastic verb forms, con‑ verbs (verb form of adverbial paradigmatic privilege), •fQhQgca‑ ctRQ+•egRQf‚ complexes, the a+tgƒtgtctRQ form (which is the subject of this section) among others. Thus, translating a Modern English narrative, which in itself has a rich system of narrative tenses, into Welsh poses an interesting challenge. Sdthda‑HaiQR„ (1997, §1.1) gives an account of the syntagmatics and paradigmatics of the construction in question, which consists of and a verb in the preterite form, the conjunction a and an infinitive (e.g., pret. inf. literally, ‘He sat and (to) sing’). He gives the following five negative 3 statements about its syntagmatics (ibid., pp. 65–66): 1. Usually a single infinitive is combined with the finite verb phrase, never more than two. Thus, no concate‑ nation, nor a catalogic listing/piling of events are in ev‑ idence: the compound‑event form is constituted by two to three component lexemes. 2. No negativing, either of finite clause or of infinitive: the compound event is a form of narrative affirmation.8 3. No assertion of new agent with infinitive[,] no i‑agent9 at all; there is no theme‑switching. 4. Rare occurrence in the descriptive channels of the nar‑ rative (thus, the infinitive is considerably rarer in link‑ age to the imperfect, which is in my examples eventual‑ habitative rather than descriptive), or in the “narrator’s channel”; the compound event is a staging device of the Evolution, not of the Comment Mode in narrative. 5. The auxiliary bod10 is excluded from the compound‑ event infinitive inventory. Paradigmatically, it is opposed to preterite+preterite. Compare the two following examples: 1 From Re‚Qfch (1960); numbered 5 in Sdthda‑HaiQR„ (1997): 8 9 For negation in narrative as non‑event, see FiQth•d‰ag (1990, §4.1.4). [ J.R.] The thematic part of the ‘i cum infinitivo’ construction: a Welsh construction for man the sing which is comparable to some extent with the I.E. accusativus cum infinitivo. Typi‑ cally of substantival commutability (a ‘that‑form’), e.g. i’r dyn ganu, approximately ‘that the man sings’ (lit. ‘for the man (to) sing’). [ J.R.] 10 ‘to be’. Used in periphrasis (comparable, to some extent, with Mod. Eng. be in ‘be singing’). [ J.R.] 4 pret. sat by, with the by and Eisteddodd wrth y piano a play inf. chanu Noctwrn gan Chopin[.] 2 She sat down to the piano and played a Nocturn by Chopin. From Re‚Qfch (1972); numbered 24 in Sdthda‑HaiQR„ (1997): walked pret. in raised pret. purposive his to the lid played pret. Cerddodd yn fwriadus at y piano. pret. Cododd ei gaead. by him sat Eisteddodd wrtho. “Noctwrn Alfan”. Canodd She went purposefully to the piano. She raised its lid. She sat down at it. She played “Al‑ fan’s Nocturn”. The first one is an example of preterite+infinitive, and the second one is of preterite+preterite, with several preterite11 forms sequentially. Thus, writing narrative in Welsh, one has to choose whether to use the preterite or the infinitive form12 in every position in which the opposition exists.13 This is crucially important for our interest here, since the translator has to choose between these forms. Of the function of the construction in question Sdthda‑HaiQR„ (1997, §1.1.3) says:14 […] a complex and [indeed] compound narrative event, a spe‑ cial “micro‑episode” or condensed episode, in which the fi‑ nite verb expresses the (“main”) action anchored in the plot mainstream (precisely in the sense that a grammatical nucleus syntagmatically “anchors” its phrase as a paradigmatic word‑ class), while it is the infinitive that carries the semantic “main 11 12 -odd is the regular 3sg. pret. suffix. Or other forms, which are beyond the scope of this assignment. 13 Just as someone writing a Slavic language has to choose an aspect for (theoret‑ ically) every verb. 14 For a general survey of juncture features in Welsh, see Sdthda‑HaiQR„ (2003). 5 event”, the semantic core in the staging of narrative develop‑ ment (in its own complex, the infinitive is of course a closing boundary signal). The finite verb, for its part, while still gram‑ matically nuclear, is in this respect subsidiary or tributary, a support for the sequel. Two or at most three “constituent acts” are signalled here as significantly belonging together; a spe‑ cial significance being signalled by their very conjunction as constituents of a single “hyper‑event”. 1.2 Examples from the text Let us now go through the following examples.15 As one can see, the construction occurs about once a page; it is clearly a marked form, with the concatenating preterite as the unmarked form. 3 10/4: pulled pret. the professor lace out and wipe, dry inf. Tynnodd yr Athro McGonagal handkerchief pocket her eyes hances boced les allan a sychu of(f) under her spectacles ei llygaid o dan ei sbectol. […] Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. […] The pulling of the handkerchief (•fQcQftcQ) is subsidiary to the wip‑ ing of her eyes (a+tgƒtgtctRQ) using it. These two ‘sub‑events’ are signalled — as Shisha‑Halevy puts it — as significantly belonging together, as constituents of a single ‘hyper‑event’. 4 11/2: 15 I use the pa>ern X /Y for indicating references in Reyitgz (2003): X indicates the page, and Y the paragraph. 6 opened her mouth mind the professor but swallow inf. Agorodd yr Athro McGonagal changed and say inf. pret. her ei cheg, ond newidiodd ei meddwl, llyncu a dweud, ‘[…]’ […] Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, “[…]” […] One action leads to the following one, consisting together a complex event of three parts, in which the main and final event is Professor McGonagall’s speaking. The following examples are self‑evident: they are all of the same basic type and have similar properties. 5 12/14: by coat dry pret. his eyes on sleeve his on back wake air the by Gan sychu ei lygaid ar lawes ei jumped and give, put kick to rised tothe inf. gôt, neidiodd Hagrid ar gefn y motorbike engine motor‑beic apret. cic i ddeffro ’r rhoi peiriant. Cododd i ’r awyr gan roar and disappear inf. Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself on to the mo‑ torbike and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night. tothe night ruo a diflannu i ’r nos. 6 13/1: turned pret. and Trodd inf. walk Dumbledore aback down a the cherdded street and out pull inf. yn ôl corner the i lawr stopped pret. y silver on the stryd. Ar y gornel arhosodd Put-Outer Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put‑Outer. a thynnu ’r Diffoddwr arian allan. 7 7 14/5: rolled remember about be in pret. on his what back and was he inf. try Rowliodd ar ei gefn a cheisio after cofio am beth roedd o wedi dream bod yn breuddwydio. 8 15/5: got up in his slow and socks start inf. pret. He rolled on to his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. fromthe bed […] Cododd Harri o ’r gwely search about, for yn araf a dechrau chwilio am ei sanau. […] […] Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. […] It is worth noting that all occurrences of a+tgƒtgtctRQ are trans‑ lations of non‑initial verbs with no independent (pro)noun as their subject. The other direction, of course, isn’t true: not all occurrences of these forms are translated with a+tgƒtgtctRQ (most of them are translated with a+•fQcQftcQ). 2 ti:chi:(chdi) While the previous section belonged inherently to the evolution mode16 of the narrative texteme, this one belongs with literary‑ linguistic units that share characteristics with the dialogue: the di‑ 16 Sdthda‑HaiQR„ (1998, p. 234) defines it in a terminological glossary as: Evolution Mode (in narrative grammar): a major constituent of the macro‑structure of narrative. Markedly diegetic, dynamic and vec‑ tored, it carries the course and unfolding of the plot as a succession or sequelling of narrative events (the ‘foreground’), or concomitant information on situational or eventual framework of such succession. 8 alogue per se or references to a true or ‘imaginary’ (=grammatical?) interlocutor in the comment mode17 (see §2.2.1 and §2.2.2). The second person in Welsh makes a ‘T‑V distinction’ that shares some similarities with that of French: ti is the informal/familiar singu‑ lar second person personal pronoun (compare with French tu) and chi covers the formal singular and the plural (which doesn’t distin‑ guish formality; compare with French vous). Colloquial Northern Welsh has a third form, chdi (pronounced /χtiː/), which seems like combination of chi + ti;18 ; I have found no occurrences of chdi in the corpus, although a more comprehensive search may show some oc‑ currences. As far as I know, this topic — the (socio‑)linguistic valeur of these signs in Welsh — was never thoroughly described. This distinction is of special relevance to our issue here. Con‑ temporary Modern Literary English does not make a T‑V distinc‑ tion. Therefore, the translator has to interpret the social relations between characters and to decide how one character will address another one every time she or he addresses an interlocutor (using the English only contemporary form you). Decisions like this add infor‑ mation that was not provided by the original text. 17 ibid., p. 233: Comment Mode (in narrative grammar): It is extrinsic to the plot (but onen internal to the narrator, in the sense of ‘internal informa‑ tion’), and elaborates, comments, resumes, explains, gives reasons for acts and states of the plot and information on prior and anterior action, or meta‑narrative statements, such as reasons for narrative statements made or summing‑ups. 18 See Tde‰ah (2005, §4.129.c). 9 2.1 You-Know-Who The primary antagonist of the Harry Po>er series is Lord Voldemort. The name ‘Voldemort’ is so feared in the wizarding world that most of the characters call him ‘You‑Know‑Who’ or ‘He‑Who‑Must‑Not‑ Be‑Named’. The former is relevant to our interest. In English, this name is one undividable unit19 , but in Welsh the ‘you’ element in ‘You‑Know‑Who’ varies according to the social relation between the you know you who ti ti speaker and the hearer in the scene: Wyddost-Ti-Pwy uses the infor‑ you know chi you chi who mal/familiar form, and Wyddoch-Chi-Pwy is the formal one. Let us consider some of the occurrences of ‘Wyddost-Ti-Pwy’ and ‘Wyddoch-Chi-Pwy’: • Wyddost‑Ti‑Pwy: – Professor McGonagall → Dumbledore. (8/6, 8/10, 8/12 (‘Wyddost‑Ti — O! […]’)) – Dumbledore → Professor McGonagall. (8/11) – Hagrid → Harry Po>er. (43/1, 43/2, 43/5, 62/10) – Harry Po>er → Hagrid. (43/7, 62/11) Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore use the ti form when talking with each other; so do Harry Po>er and Hagrid. It would be extremely interesting to map all the ti‑chi relations between characters, and find whether there are equivalence classes20 of characters (students and teachers?). 19 See Sdthda‑HaiQR„ (1989) for more about the syntactic features of the proper name. 20 See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equivalence_class. 10 • Wyddoch‑Chi‑Pwy: – A man in a violet cloak → Vernon Dursley. (4/3) as the case is here. – Harry Po>er → Dumbledore. (236/10) Dumbledore is of a superior social rank to Harry’s. The chi form is usually used when addressing a stranger, 2.2 Examples from the text As in other languages making a similar distinction, the ti‑chi rela‑ tion between characters is not necessarily fixed: for example, two persons who are ‘ti‑persons’ in private may use chi in a formal situa‑ tion. In the limited extent of this examination I have found no such case, but it may probably be a ma>er of extending the corpus to the whole book to find such a case. 2.2.1 The narrator → the reader In the first chapter the author/narrator addresses the reader (or a generic you) twice. The chi form is used, possibly due to a similar reason for its use when the stranger addresses Vernon Dursley in Ex. 12: the reader is unknown to the author/narrator. 9 1/1 (absolute beginning): bragged four and their number be Broliai Mr a Mrs Dursley, rhif pedwar Privet Drive, eu bod they in thank family whole, absolute normal big right to you chi nhw’n deulu cwbl normal, in Mr and Mrs Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. diolch yn fawr iawn ichi. 11 10 13/4 (the epilogue of the first chapter): the place […] Privet Drive […], y lle last chi in the world to that you would be thing olaf yn y byd y byddech you in astonishing expect any chi’n disgwyl i unrhyw beth happen […] Privet Drive […], the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. […] syfrdanol ddigwydd. […] Note that in these two examples the second person has no actual referent: in the first one the author/narrator doesn’t actually thank the reader, and in the second one the use is as a generic pronoun21 . 2.2.2 Vernon Dursley’s free indirect speech The following example is of more complex nature than the others: it has no evident addresser or addressee. It seems as if it is a kind of ‘free indirect speech’ (discours indirect libre, Erlebte Rede; see BagƒtQiu (1982) and FiQth•d‰ag (1990, §7.3)). 11 2/5: couldn’t Fr. pas Fedrai suffer, bear unusual Mr dioddef pobl a wisgai ddillad the kind things people rel. Dursley wear clothes ddim rel. anarferol — y fath bethau a you see chi youabout, on people young chi Mr Dursley couldn’t bear people who dressed in funny clothes — the get‑ups you saw on young people! welwch chi am bobl ifanc! Who is the speaker of this u>erance (‘y fath bethau a welwch chi am 21 In Russian, on the other hand, only the (homonymic) informal singular ты serves as a generic pronoun; as far as I know, there is not generic Вы/вы. 12 bobl ifanc’ / ‘the get‑ups you saw22 on young people!‘)? Who is the addressee? A comprehensive description of the ti‑chi distinction in such ut‑ terances may not only benefit our understanding of the ti‑chi dis‑ tinction, but also of the Welsh free indirect speech in general, using excplicit signs in order to clarify its structure and function. 2.2.3 A man in a violet cloak → Vernon Dursley 12 4/3: chi ‘Peidiwch sir neg. imp. with because apologise ag ymddiheuro, couldn’t I today Fr. pas syr. world my oherwydd fedrai dim agitate because you chi byd fy nghynhyrfu i heddiw! rejoice! chi Llawenhewch, is go you know at last chi oherwydd who after should be mae Wyddoch‑Chi‑Pwy wedi mynd o’r diwedd! even in celebrate the this Muggles day like you chi ‘Don’t be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You‑Know‑ Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!’ Dylai happy hyd yn oed Myglars fel chi fod yn dathlu ’r diwrnod hapus, happy hapus hwn!’ 2.2.4 Vernon Dursley → Petunia Dursley Here Vernon Dursley addresses his wife using a ti form. In spoken Welsh, however, partners can address one another using chi without 22 The tense here is especially curious: why past? 13 an emotional distance, even in private. As mentioned above, this topic requires further research. 13 5/5: ‘er’, ‘‫’אהמ‬ ti dear you in ti ‘Ym — Petiwnia, cariad — you heard sister something recent by, from your glywaist ti rywbeth gan dy chwaer yn ddiweddar?’ 14 5/10: well some, certain thought maybe be by it (by him) with that I made I something you know ti ‘Er — Petunia, dear — you haven’t heard from your sister lately, have you?’ ‘Wel, rhyw feddwl wnes i… ella… fod ganddo rywbeth do toits (his) you ti ‘Well, I just thought… maybe… it was something to do with you know… her lot.’ i ’w wneud efo… wyddost ti… ei chriw hi.’ 2.2.5 Petunia Dursley → Harry Potter The Dursleys, of course, address Harry Po>er using ti. 15 14/3: Get up! the ti minute here ‘Cod! Y munud yma!’ 16 14/7: you’re shouted ti ‘Up! Get up! Now!’ after get up now ‘Wyt ti wedi codi bellach?’ gwaeddodd. ‘Are you up yet?’ she de‑ manded. 14 17 15/1: hurry! after the dare ti I’m want foryou and ti ti look youwith ti ‘Wel brysia, dwi isio i ti edrych backon let ar ôl y cig moch. A phaid ti â for it (=him) burn neg. imp. meiddio gadael iddo losgi; […] ‘Well, get a move on, I want you to look aner the bacon. And don’t you dare let it burn, […] 2.2.6 Vernon Dursley → Harry Potter 18 16/2: put! was ti comb his through your greeting ti hair really ‘Rho grib drwy dy wallt, wir!’ oedd ei gyfarchiad boreol. morning (adj.) ‘Comb your hair!’ he barked, by the way of a morning greet‑ ing. 3 Nominal predication (working notes) This topic requires a further research in Welsh itself; therefore, I give here only a preliminary sketch of it in translated Welsh. Sdthda‑HaiQR„ (1998, §3) gives an account of some aspects of nominal predication in Welsh. This account doesn’t cover all of the structures used for nominal predication; it knowingly excludes a de‑ scription of the forms which contain ‘(r)oedd’23 (as opposed to yw/ydi and mae). Shisha‑Halevy distinguish the nominal sentence (which have some (sub‑)pa>erns) from the ‘yn nominal rhemes’. Explaining the structure and function of these is far beyond the extent of this as‑ signment, but the proposed difference between these is, in general, that the nominal sentence predicates a noun inherently (compara‑ 23 Generally translatable by Mod. Eng. was, but of a different nature. 15 ble with Spanish ser), while the ‘yn‑structure’ (which is based upon the adverbial clause‑model, that is a clause with an adverb as its rheme, here with a circumstantially (=adverbially)‑converted noun as its rheme) — when predicating a noun — is of incidental nature (comparable with Spanish estar). Both structures are used to translate the English nominal predi‑ cation with be (e.g. ‘he is a man’). Thus, the translator has to choose between these structure when translating those English u>erances. If the inherent‑:incidental‑predication distinction truly holds24 to ‘(r)oedd’‑structures, examples 19 and 26 has an interesting (and amusing!) meaning in Welsh: • Ex. 19: One would expect a person’s profession to be incidental (aner all, one can leave one profession for another), but — as said above, if the distinction here is truly ‘inherent:incidental’ — Vernon Dursley’s profession as a director of a firm which makes drills is signalled as inherent. The alternative one would expect should be ‘Roedd Vernon Dursley yn gyfarwyddwr cwmni cynhyrchu driliau o’r enw Grunnings’ (an ‘yn’‑structure). • Ex. 26: One would expect the fact that two persons are sisters to be an inherent one (in our culture, a person cannot cease to be one’s kin), but the fact that Lily Po>er and Petunia Dursley are sisters is signalled as an incidental one. The alternative: ‘Chwaer i Mrs Dursley oedd Mrs Potter’. These two examples can be explained by the story itself: Vernon Dursley is portrayed as a dull person, a person to whom being a 24 As far as I know, there is no relevant research on this topic except Sdthda‑ HaiQR„ (1998, §3). 16 director of a firm which makes drills may be a significant charac‑ ter; Petunia Dursley alienates herself from her sister, pretending she doesn’t have a sister at all (therefore, she is not her sister inherently). This explanation makes sense, but (as said above) this topic requires a fuller description in Welsh before one can make conclusions on translations into Welsh. I will now present a classification of some examples aner the di‑ vision made by Sdthda‑HaiQR„ (1998, §3): 3.1 oedd ‘nominal sentence’ 19 1/2: director company drills was fromthe Cyfarwyddwr produce cwmni name cynhyrchu driliau o ’r enw Grunnings oedd Dursley, […] 20 Vernon Mr Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. […] 10/4 (on Dumbledore’s golden clock): watch she strange right was […] Oriawr ryfedd iawn oedd hi. […] […] It was a very odd watch. […] 3.2 Copular pattern (?) 21 10/6 — Dumbledore (on the Dursleys): they that is left […] Nhw ydi’r unig deulu by him since that ≈is the only family sydd ar ôl ganddo erbyn hyn.’ 17 […] They’re the only family he has len now.” 22 13/7: the only about thing his that look liked himself was Yr unig beth yr hoffai Harri the ynghylch ei olwg ei hun oedd scar fine fine on form y graith fain fain ar ffurf lightning on his forehead mellten ar ei dalcen. 23 The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead which was shaped like a bolt of lightning. 13/7 (‘He had had it as long as he could remember —’): andthe could question first to that Aunt […] a ’r cwestiwn cyntaf y rememberhis (=its) ask was how gallai gofio ’i ofyn i Anti was afterher (=its) get she (=it) he Petiwnia oedd sut roedd o wedi ei chael hi. 24 […] and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had got it. 15/6 (‘Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise —’): that he mean […] — hynny yw, os nad oedd that got thresh ≈is if (that) not was o’nin golygu y câi ddyrnu someone […] — unless of course it in‑ volved punching somebody. rhywun. 25 200/16 — Ronan (‘Collwyn’ in the Welsh translation): innocent first in the ‘Y diniwed ydi ’r dioddefwyr he said time rel. was ≈is the victims so so past wasshe (=it) is cyntaf,’ meddai. ‘Felly bu hi yn yr amser a fu, felly y mae still ‘Always the innocent are the first victims,’ he said. ‘So it has been for ages past, so it is now.’ o hyd.’ 18 3.3 Circumstantially-converted nominal rheme 26 1/3: was to but in sister they were not Roedd Mrs Po>er yn chwaer i Mrs Dursley, ond doedden they Fr. pas after meet since nhw ddim wedi cyfarfod ers years and say the truth blynyddoedd; a dweud y gwir, impf Mrs. Po>er was Mrs. Durs‑ ley’s sister, but they hadn’t met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn’t have a sister, […] took on her that not by her sister cymerai Mrs Dursley arni nad oedd ganddi chwaer, […] 27 8/4 — Professor McGonagall (criticising the careless behaviour of the wizards): but isn’t that lose our in Fr. pas heads ‘Ond reason dydi for hynny’n ddim rheswm dros golli’n pennau. […] 28 “But that’s no reason to lose our heads. […] 8/5 — Professor McGonagall (on You‑Know‑Who): question is he in true his be he after […] Ydi o ’n wir ei fod o wedi go mynd, Dumbledore?’ 29 10/2 — Professor McGonagall: question […] I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?” is he question is he in professor ‘Ydi o — Ydi o ’n wir?’ asked the gofynnodd yr McGonagal. […] 30 Athro “It’s — it’s true?” faltered Pro‑ fessor McGonagall. […] 15/5 (Harry Po>er tries to remember a dream he had): 19 3sg. was in dreem good Roedd yn freuddwyd braf. It had been a good one. This example shows a translation of the ‘X had been Y ’ English struc‑ ture by the Welsh ‘yn’‑structure. 31 129/1: in true and since in that think was be Yn wir, erbyn hynny roedd Harri a Ron yn meddwl fod meet thedogthree head excellent after be cyfarfod y ci tri phen wedi bod in adventure yn antur ardderchog […] […] Indeed, by the next morn‑ ing Harry and Ron thought that meeting the three‑headed dog had been an excellent ad‑ venture […] Further examination In addition to the topics examined above, the following ones may be of interest with respect to the theory of translation: Idiolects: Rowling, as many modern authors, differentiate idiolects for different characters. One clear example is the speech of Hagrid, which is uniquely rough. It would be interesting to examine the way the translator chooses to portray the speech of each character. Moreover, it worth examining whether a di‑ alectological parallelism exists between the ‘dialects’ of the in‑ habitants of Harry Po>er’s ‘wizarding world’ and the dialects of Wales. Narrative tenses: The preliminary examination of the a+infinitive construction in the text is a part of an extensive examination of narrative tenses. The Welsh tense system has similarities, as well as dissimilarities, to the English one; this rises the ques‑ tion of how the English tenses are translated into Welsh. 20 Presentatives: ‘Presentatives’25 is a grammatical feature which is absent from the (North‑)West European Sprachbund in gen‑ eral. English has no exact equivalent of the Welsh presenta‑ tives dyma and dyna (and dacw); yet they do occur in the Welsh translation of Harry Po>er. It is interesting to examine when the translator chooses to use presentatives, and finding out if there are any ‘triggers’ in the English text causing their use. See Sdthda‑HaiQR„ (2005, §3), Sdthda‑HaiQR„ (1998, p. 184ff.) and Sdthda‑HaiQR„ (1999, Appendix II). Terms and names of the wizarding world: Although this is not a linguistic ma>er per se, it is interesting to see which names and terms the translator chose to translate into Welsh (and how!) and which she chose to len untranslated (whether they are En‑ glish in origin or not). The Irish translation of Harry PoKer: A comparative typological look at the translations of Harry Po>er into Celtic languages26 can reveal some interesting parallelisms (and differences) in the choices made by the translators, as the Celtic languages share many common features. Expanding the discussed topics: As mentioned above, the a+infinitive construction has to be ex‑ amined in relation to other narrative tenses. The ti:chi:(chdi) distinction has to be more thoroughly exam‑ ined, mapping all (or, at least, a considerable amount of—) 25 Modern and Biblical Hebrew ‫( הנה‬vocalised híne/hiné and hinné(h)‑ respec‑ tively), Italian ecco and French voilà and voici are examples of presentatives. 26 At the moment a Welsh translation and an Irish one (Reyitgz (2004)) are in existence. 21 social relations between the characters with regard to this dis‑ tinction. Finding out whether the ti:chi relation is constant (i.e. doesn’t depend on the situation) or variable, as well as if the distinction is binary (ti:chi) or ternary (ti:chi:chdi), is needed. The topic of nominal predication needs to be more fully de‑ scribed in Welsh before describing its use in translation. 22 References BNOPQRST, Ann, Unspeakable Sentences: narration and representation in the language of fiction, (Boston: Routledge and K. Paul, 1982). FSRQXYZ[NO, Suzanne, Tense and Narrativity: from Medieval Perfor‑ mance to Modern Fiction, 1st edition. (University of Texas Press, 1990), Texas linguistics series, ISBN 0–292–78090–7. LR]^, Jiřı́ , ‘Translation as a Decision Process’, in: To Honor Roman Jakobson: Essays on the Occasion of his Seventieth Birthday (The Hague: Mouton, 1967), Janua linguarum 32, 1171–1182. NQTN, Eugene A., Toward a Science of Translating — with special ref‑ erence to principles and procedures involving in bible translating, (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1964). RdeRfgX, Kate, Y Lôn Wen, (Dinbych: Gwasg Gee, 1960), ISBN 9780000179913. Gobaith, (Gwasg Gee, 1972). RdiSQOj, J. K., Harry PoTer and the Philosopher’s Stone, (London: Bloomsbury, 2001). Harri PoTer a Maen yr Athronydd, trans. by Emily HkiX (Bloomsbury, 2003), ISBN 0–7475–6930–4. Harry PoTer agus an Órchloch, trans. by Máire NQY MZNdSmQO (Bloomsbury, 2004), ISBN 0 7475 7166 X. SZQXZN‑HNSR]n, Ariel, The Proper Name: Structural Prolegomena to its Syntax — a Case Study in Coptic, (VWGÖ, 1989), Beihene zur WZKM 15. 23 SZQXZN‑HNSR]n, Ariel, ‘Modern Literary Welsh Narrative Syntax: Two Features Decribed’, Journal of Celtic Linguistics, 6 (1997), 63–102. Structural studies in modern Welsh syntax: aspects of the grammar of Kate Roberts, (Münster: Nodus Publikationen, 1998), Studien und Texte zur Keltologie, ISBN 3–89323–612–0. ‘Structural Sketches of Middle Welsh Syntax (II): Noun Pred‑ ication Pa>erns’, Studia Celtica, 33 (1999), 155–234. ‘Juncture Features in Literary Modern Welsh: Cohesion and Delimitation ‑ Problematik, Typology of Exponents and Fea‑ tures’, Zeitschri\ für celtishe Philologie, 53 (2003), 230–258. ‘Epistolary Grammar: Syntactical Highlights in Kate Roberts’s Le>ers to Saunders Lewis’, Journal of Celtic Linguistics, 9 (2005), 83–103. TZd[NX, Peter Wynn, Gramadeg y Gymraeg, (Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru, Nov. 2005), ISBN 978–0708313459. Ariel Shisha‑Halevy’s articles can be found at: http://ling.huji.ac.il 24