Harry Potter Translators Scaled Language Barriers to Adapt the Series

Those tasked with translating Harry Potter to sixty-plus languages met with challenges from basic slang to Rowling’s many invented words and phrases.

Translation is always a tricky game. Not only do you have to adapt the story, but also the spirit of the books in question. That means assuming a lot of authorial intention, and conveying it properly. Even then, you might not get it quite right. Generally speaking, translators don’t get a one-on-one with the author to double-check that–to paraphrase Inigo Montoya–that word really means what they think it means. The phrase “lost in translation” doesn’t exist for nothing.

Language and cultural barriers alike contribute to these struggles. It’s easy enough to swap another culture’s slang with your own, as evidenced by the first Harry Potter book. Sorcerer’s Stone replaced the UK’s original Philosopher’s Stone for US audiences. American children were more likely to associate magic with “sorcerer.” Therefore, they had a proper grasp of the Potter plot. While you can’t always judge a book by its cover, its title has to give you a little something to work with. Personally, I don’t know that ten-year-old me would have taken to a book with the word “philosopher” in the title. I wouldn’t have understood the correlation between that and anything to do with magic.

Vox took a deeper look into the woes of translating Harry Potter from UK English to scores of other languages. Check out the details:

While a phrase such as “Expecto Patronum” has a direct translation to “I await a guardian,” other Potterverse vernacular wasn’t so easy. For instance, “Quidditch” is an entirely made-up word. Unlike many of the spells, it boasts no Latin roots, or any whatsoever. Rather, J.K. Rowling created it by combining the names of the balls used in the game: Quaffle, Bludger, and Snitch. This offered no help to translators, though. Those words are all Rowling’s own inventions, too.

Rowling’s chosen character names are perhaps even more notable than “Quidditch.” Even if they don’t carry a heavy symbolic meaning, like Voldemort (“flight of death”), they tend to lean towards the whimsical and downright silly. Even Voldemort’s given name, Tom Marvolo Riddle, posed an obstacle to translators as they attempted to make the anagram work.

Image via Warner Bros.

Meanwhile, Snape’s surname has been translated to Piton (python) and Rogue (arrogance), respectively. While both convey key character traits, they lose Rowling’s famous alliteration. It may be a small price to pay for the sake of clarity. Still, it demonstrates what can be lost stylistically.

Another prime example of the aforementioned is Diagon and Knockturn Alleys. They are both plays-on-words: “diagonally” and “nocturnally,” which characterize the nature of these places. Not every language can accomplish such a feat. At least, not in the same way. Wordplay simply doesn’t work the same across the board. Acronyms like “O.W.L.s” (Ordinary Wizarding Levels) and “N.E.W.T.s” (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests) were often sacrificed as well.

On the whole, Harry Potter posed quite the problem area when it comes to translation. It seems that every obstacle that could crop up, did. It was a veritable Triwizard Tournament maze of issues. But in the end, we’re all reading the same story. Pottermania swept the globe for a reason. In fact, Harry Potter is a fine example of how one story can universally resonate. Harry’s journey transcends language barriers to create a bond among fans, regardless of cultural differences.

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Harry Potter goes to show that no matter how modified, the written word can make a difference. It’s lasted this long because it made an impact. Fans clamor to revisit that as often as we can. So however you reread Harry’s saga, Hogwarts, Poudlard, and Roxfort alike will always be there to welcome you home.