A Thing I Noticed on the Spanish Forums

[Mat]

So, I just noticed that there is a link to the Spanish Brandon Sanderson site, with a forums similar to this one. (Though less populated, but that is to be expected.) My computer was nice enough to automatically translate the site, which it seemed to do decently well.

Then I found the topic about Knight Radiant Order Quiz results. With a poll.

This is what got translated:

So...  I'm not sure if the order names are just hard to translate, or if it's just my computer being dumb. I'm guessing the second, but either way this gave me a pretty good chuckle at technology.

Edited August 28, 2020 by Matrim's Dice

[Truthless of Shinovar]

The Elsecallers though

[Spren of Kindness]

I'm a Filo dancer.  What does that mean?   What is a Filo?  *questions universe*

[GudThymes]

19 minutes ago, Spren of Kindness said:

I'm a Filo dancer.  What does that mean?   What is a Filo?  *questions universe*

It's a very tasty Middle Eastern/Greek type of dough. I think Lift would want to try it.

[Spren of Kindness]

That looks good.

[+Doomstick]

well the dough itself is kinda bland, but the fillings are really good. its also really thin.

[I Am A Fish]

I've always wanted a career in sculpting.

[DramaQueen]

I'm really sad that Lightweavers stays the same... I wanted a cool, funny other name.

[Mat]

I'm basically a wind tunnel, so 'cool' is the operative word there  

Edited August 29, 2020 by Matrim's Dice
Hey I'm an Artifabrian :D

[Eluvianii]

My time has come.

In Spanish, the solution people came to while translating the order's names was separating them into two words.

Wind Corridors - Runner translates to "Corredor" in Spanish, which means both runner and corridor/hallway.

Dust Carriers - Bringer is an awkward word to translate. The closest we have is "Portador", which is someone who carries something. There are technically a word or two that correspond better to the English meaning but it would sound really bad.

Filo Dancers - This one's easy. "Filo" means Edge. I'm not sure why your computer didn't translate that.

Other Nominees - Alright, this is a weird one. The closest we have to Else is "Otro", which translates back to Other. Nominees on the other hand. Let me see. Caller would be really weird to translate. We don't have a single word that fits, it literally translates to "persona que llama" or person that calls. So they used "Nominador" which would be a person who designates someone/something? I'm not sure how to explain this one, but worst part is I'm not sure I would have been able to come up with anything better. Considering it has to make sense but still sound cool.

Sculptors of Will - We do have a word for Shaper, "Formador", which is what is being used officially (I think). It has "Escultor" (Sculptor) as a synonym but I'm not sure why your computer would make the jump.

Stone Custodians - They probably took Ward directly to Warden, which can be translated to "Guardián", which has "Custodio" as synonym, which in turn translates back to Custodian.

Link Forgings - Bond translates to "Vínculo", which is easier to translate back to Link. I think that's pretty understandable, even in English they're basically the same thing. As for Forgings. Well, logically they took Smith as in, someone who forges stuff. Like in a forge. What I don't understand is why your computer translated it as the verb and not the noun.

And that's it I believe. Everything else translates pretty neatly. (Actually, Windrunners translates neatly too but, polysemy)

[Mat]

4 minutes ago, Eluvianii said:

My time has come.

In Spanish, the solution people came to while translating the order's names was separating them into two words.

Wind Corridors - Runner translates to "Corredor" in Spanish, which means both runner and corridor/hallway.

Dust Carriers - Bringer is an awkward word to translate. The closest we have is "Portador", which is someone who carries something. There are technically a word or two that correspond better to the English meaning but it would sound really bad.

Filo Dancers - This one's easy. "Filo" means Edge. I'm not sure why your computer didn't translate that.

Other Nominees - Alright, this is a weird one. The closest we have to Else is "Otro", which translates back to Other. Nominees on the other hand. Let me see. Caller would be really weird to translate. We don't have a single word that fits, it literally translates to "persona que llama" or person that calls. So they used "Nominador" which would be a person who designates someone/something? I'm not sure how to explain this one, but worst part is I'm not sure I would have been able to come up with anything better. Considering it has to make sense but still sound cool.

Sculptors of Will - We do have a word for Shaper, "Formador", which is what is being used officially (I think). It has "Escultor" (Sculptor) as a synonym but I'm not sure why your computer would make the jump.

Stone Custodians - They probably took Ward directly to Warden, which can be translated to "Guardián", which has "Custodio" as synonym, which in turn translates back to Custodian.

Link Forgings - Bond translates to "Vínculo", which is easier to translate back to Link. I think that's pretty understandable, even in English they're basically the same thing. As for Forgings. Well, logically they took Smith as in, someone who forges stuff. Like in a forge. What I don't understand is why your computer translated it as the verb and not the noun.

And that's it I believe. Everything else translates pretty neatly. (Actually, Windrunners translates neatly too but, polysemy)

Oooh. That's interesting to know that there's an actual reason for the translations, thanks!

[Ghanderflaffle]

19 hours ago, Eluvianii said:

My time has come.

In Spanish, the solution people came to while translating the order's names was separating them into two words.

Wind Corridors - Runner translates to "Corredor" in Spanish, which means both runner and corridor/hallway.

Dust Carriers - Bringer is an awkward word to translate. The closest we have is "Portador", which is someone who carries something. There are technically a word or two that correspond better to the English meaning but it would sound really bad.

Filo Dancers - This one's easy. "Filo" means Edge. I'm not sure why your computer didn't translate that.

Other Nominees - Alright, this is a weird one. The closest we have to Else is "Otro", which translates back to Other. Nominees on the other hand. Let me see. Caller would be really weird to translate. We don't have a single word that fits, it literally translates to "persona que llama" or person that calls. So they used "Nominador" which would be a person who designates someone/something? I'm not sure how to explain this one, but worst part is I'm not sure I would have been able to come up with anything better. Considering it has to make sense but still sound cool.

Sculptors of Will - We do have a word for Shaper, "Formador", which is what is being used officially (I think). It has "Escultor" (Sculptor) as a synonym but I'm not sure why your computer would make the jump.

Stone Custodians - They probably took Ward directly to Warden, which can be translated to "Guardián", which has "Custodio" as synonym, which in turn translates back to Custodian.

Link Forgings - Bond translates to "Vínculo", which is easier to translate back to Link. I think that's pretty understandable, even in English they're basically the same thing. As for Forgings. Well, logically they took Smith as in, someone who forges stuff. Like in a forge. What I don't understand is why your computer translated it as the verb and not the noun.

And that's it I believe. Everything else translates pretty neatly. (Actually, Windrunners translates neatly too but, polysemy)

Adding on to this a little bit (and correct me if I’m wrong, but I should have this right after 11 years of Spanish)

The phrasing of Spanish is different to that of English. If you were to directly translate something without adjusting it to more modern English, it will sound strange. For example, Uso una mascara en la escuela is I wear a mask in school. Translated directly, it would add in an extra word or two: I use a mask in the school. I’m explaining this badly, but the point is if your computer translates it directly it would add words and change some things around because Spanish is, simply put, different. You would be able to see this better if I used a better example, but I can’t think today.

[Rosharan A.C.]

Ah. Never underestimate the power of a stone custodian. They'll mop the floor with your face, literally.

[Eluvianii]

On 1/9/2020 at 8:37 AM, Ghanderflaffle said:

Adding on to this a little bit (and correct me if I’m wrong, but I should have this right after 11 years of Spanish)

The phrasing of Spanish is different to that of English. If you were to directly translate something without adjusting it to more modern English, it will sound strange. For example, Uso una mascara en la escuela is I wear a mask in school. Translated directly, it would add in an extra word or two: I use a mask in the school. I’m explaining this badly, but the point is if your computer translates it directly it would add words and change some things around because Spanish is, simply put, different. You would be able to see this better if I used a better example, but I can’t think today.

Late reply. This is true but I don't know if it would affect anything here. It would be a problem with a longer text but even google translate is pretty reliable when it's only a short sentence, it takes care of things like that. It was fortunate actually that the Spanish version of SA has each order separated into two terms, otherwise the machine wouldn't have been able to translate them, plain and simple. I'm thinking Tejeluces instead of Tejedores de Luz, or Correvientos instead of Corredores del Viento. It would sound pretty ridiculous while we're at it.

As for an example of what you were saying, this isn't exactly an example but I think it stems from the same thing. In a nutshell, Spanish has too many words. 

Spoiler

It's way too specific. Also most nouns have two versions, a feminine and a masculine, and well, other details, so most sentences end up being long because of how specific they have to be, while in English a simple version of the sentence sufices for different purposes and everyone understands it. The point, Spanish is a weird language, I don't know what they were thinking while creating it, I'm derailing this thread, sorry, and I wish there was a way to translate Orders names into single words without sounding like walking memes. What they did sounds cool though.

[KandraAllomancer]

On 11.09.2020 at 8:55 AM, Eluvianii said:

The point, Spanish is a weird language, I don't know what they were thinking while creating it, I'm derailing this thread, sorry, and I wish there was a way to translate Orders names into single words without sounding like walking memes.

Just for fun, I tried to do the same with my native language (Polish), and I'll tel you this - in my case single words are exactly the weirdest 

Here we go, starting with the simplest translations:

Bondsmiths ---> Smiths of Bonds

Edgedancers ---> Dancers of Edges

Lightweavers ---> Weavers of Light

Then there are some slightly off, but still recognizable:

Stonewards ---> Rock Guards

Truthwatchers ---> (the Ones) Seeing the Truth

Some get shortened:

Willshapers become simply Shapers

Releasers remain Releasers, but Dustbringers are translated as Dusters. At least that's consistent with Voidbringers becoming Voiders in Polish translation

And finally, the big trio:

Skybreakers are translated as... the Heavenly Ones (or 'the Ones of the Sky', it's one word for both heaven and sky). That's going to cause problems for translating the names of the Fused Orders  

Windrunners are translated into a weird neologism ('Wiatrowi'). Winders? The Ones of the Winds? The Windy Ones? Anyway, the name sounds really cringe-worthy to me

Last but not least, the Elsecallers, translated into Transmitters It was clearly meant to mean something like Transporters/Teleporters, but the word ('Przenosiciele') still clearly means Transmitters

 

[waelen]

Oh wow, they sound so different in Spanish!