Tribulations of a Translator (POTENTIAL SPOILERS)

Sunless Sea
61

[quote=Cpt. Eructus]I think I’ll do that. Thanks.

What meaning of brisk do you think applies to the Brisk Campaigner? Lively and energetic or abrupt and curt? Looking at her dialog, it could be both (D__n, it probably is both)[/quote]
Definitely both. A brisk manner isn’t curt in the sense of being rude (well, not normally), but it is the attitude of a person who is here to get things done, and is going to do them efficiently and without distraction. She’s not going to waste time on foolishness or irrelevancies. Remember that the Campaigner is a veteran army medic, and I think you’ll get to the right place.

62

A new one: Storylet. It doesn’t appear very often in the text of Sunless Sea, being more of a meta-concept, but there are still a few instances and I wonder what should I do with it. I could call it simply &quotHistoria&quot, but that may create confusion with other items referred to as stories.

I could use a Spanish word that is a diminutive of story, &quothistorieta&quot, but that’s usually reserved for comic books/strips, although it also has the more uncommon meaning of &quota short narration or story about an adventure or event of little consequence&quot

Lastly, as storylet is itself a made up word, I could try to adapt it to Spanish which would be something like &quotHistorileta&quot, but that’s so close to &quothistorieta&quot that most people would assume it’s a typo and read historieta anyway.

As you can see, I’m already more inclined to use &quothistorieta&quot, and this post is more a way of ordering my thoughts, but I do appreciate feedback or suggestions on it.
edited by Cpt. Eructus on 4/11/2019

63

[quote=Siankan][quote=Cpt. Eructus]I think I’ll do that. Thanks.

What meaning of brisk do you think applies to the Brisk Campaigner? Lively and energetic or abrupt and curt? Looking at her dialog, it could be both (D__n, it probably is both)[/quote]

Definitely both. A brisk manner isn’t curt in the sense of being rude (well, not normally), but it is the attitude of a person who is here to get things done, and is going to do them efficiently and without distraction. She’s not going to waste time on foolishness or irrelevancies. Remember that the Campaigner is a veteran army medic, and I think you’ll get to the right place.[/quote]

Yeah, I get that but I don’t think there’s a single word for it in Spanish that encompasses that and fits, and being the &quotname&quot of an officer, it’s important that it’s short. I can think of something like &quotdiligente&quot, that fits the part about getting things done efficiently, but not so much or necessarily the blunt no-nonsense attitude. And words that focus on that are too curt and negative, like &quotbrusca&quot.

Oh, I may have found the one, didn’t come to mind before: &quotexpeditiva&quot
edited by Cpt. Eructus on 4/11/2019

64

The quality “A Mirror Charm” is described as “Dream-greeh snake-skin and scraps of close-written paper”. What’s greeh? At first I though it was a typo in the wiki and it meant green but the game files spell it the same way and, although not impossible, I doubt such a typo would stay in the game for so many years. I suppose it must be ralated to green if only by sound, so my working solution is translating Dream-Greeh as simply “verde onírico”, like a kind of green you only see in dreams.

65

I really do think it’s a typo. “Dream-Green” would be Viric, so it makes perfect sense to be here. If it’s stayed in this long, it’s probably because we’ve all mistaken the ‘h’ for the ‘n’ we expect to be there.

66

With that, I think I have finished the entire qualities.json file, the second largest (barring the inevitable myriad of typos I no doubt have made along the way). Now comes the main course,events.json. I’ll probably take a break to avoid burning out.
edited by Cpt. Eructus on 4/16/2019

67

There are some texts and massags that I haven’t found in any of the files. Does anybody know where they could be found? I’m referring to:

The main menu, options menu, etc.
The tips on the Loading screens
The indications of qualities gained or lost
The requirements for stories (the messages that go “Unlocked with [quality name] no more than [number x] and no less than [number y]”)
The dates of the Log book entries
The “Discovered [location]! 50 fragments gained” massages in the log book
The tabs of the Gazateer
Probably a few more

Any clues? They don’t appear to be in any of the main json files

68

I’ve found out that most, if not all of those, are within the compiled dll files. I’ll try to decompile them,e dit them and recompila them again, praying that they don’t break in the process but I don’t really know what I’m doing, so we’ll see.
edited by Cpt. Eructus on 4/24/2019

69

I’m back

I’ve managed to hack and work my way through the dll files and, despite some strings being seemingly hardcoded and untranslatable (or at least beyond my undestanding to do so), I’ve made progress, so I can go back to the more literary side of translating the game.

I’m slowly working my way through the events file and I’ve come accross the description of the fungal forest in Demeaux Island: &quotClose-crowded thickets of bolegus and skirralee&quot

My question is: Bolegus clearly stands for real-life mushroom Boletus which has the same name in Spanish, but what about skirralee? Is that similar to the name of any real-life fungus?
edited by Cpt. Eructus on 7/18/2019
edited by Cpt. Eructus on 7/18/2019

70

May be worth checking Irish sources – the word sounds to me as if it’s meant to be/sound Irish.

71

Later in the file, the word kirralee is used instead of skirralee in apparently the same context with no explanation. Maybe the s was a typo? Google results for Kirralee point to it being a woman’s name, most of the results being from Australia.

&quotThe island is known for its bolegus mushrooms, used as a building material, and a fungus called kirralee grown for medicinal purposes&quot

I think it’s just a made up mushroom with no real world counterpart at least not in its name, so I’ll leave the name as is. Maybe it was named after a backer or something.
edited by Cpt. Eructus on 7/19/2019
edited by Cpt. Eructus on 7/19/2019

72

I was thinking it sounded perhaps Australian. In any case, I’m guessing that it’s an obscure regional word (if it is not, in fact, invented), and I think you’re right to leave as is.

73

[quote=Cpt. Eructus][quote=MissVeils]¡Buenas! =D

I actually started translating Sunless Sea to Spanish 2 years ago but had to give it up due to having no time between work and studies. I have studied translation and would love to help someone braver than me! Also I am absolutely loving all the research, reasoning and discussion on the translation of these terms <3

Also on the characters referred to as &quotthey&quot I would go with the recently created &quotelle&quot. Even if it’s not on the dictionary, I feel like many terms that are used in the game aren’t anyway. Would be better than just assigning them a gender.

(I just broke my lurking and registered because THAT’S how excited I got that someone is doing this)[/quote]

Thanks. I have no formal translation background (I actually studied History), but I’ve been translating mods and other things for a while. Never something this big though.

I’ve considered using &quotelle&quot but, although I sympathise with the need to linguistically aknowledge non-binary genders, I think that’s a quick fix that doesn’t address the underlying grammatical structure that it’s trying to fix. To create a truly inclusive neutral gender in Spanish requires a much deeper overhaul of grammar, not just flipping a letter and calling it a day, that is just a temporary solution. Which is fine for the Internet and other forms or immediate communication, but until a more permanent solution is worked out (and I admit I’m part of the problem here, because if we don’t contribute to spreading the issue, it will never be deemed worth the trouble of fixing it properly), I’m not confortable using it in a classic-ish literary context, like Sunless Sea’s, and I feel it would break the immersion of the 19th century setting.

[quote=NotaWalrus]I would go for acknowledging the ambiguity upon first meeting them, and then settle for a gender. Something like

&quotEl cañonero (o tal vez cañonera) se acerca. Ha sido tu amigo desde siempre…&quot
edited by NotaWalrus on 3/9/2019[/quote]

Something along those lines could perhaps work. Not perfect, but nothing is. Thanks for your input

That brings up another issue: the proper translation of Cannoneer in this context would be Artillero, but I’m already using that for the Longshanks Gunner and other instances of the word &quotgunner&quot, and there’s not really a proper synonim of Artillero in Spanish. &quotCañonero&quot doesn’t have that meaning according to the DRAE, but I’ve found at least one 19th century reference (or rather, reference in a book written in the 20th century to look like the memoirs of a 18th-19th century soldier) to it being used for cannon-makers rather than cannon-users (page 105), which would also fit our Cannoneer and their inventions. I haven’t found any other reference but I’m inclined to use Cañonero anyway, bacuse if nothing else, it’s perfectly understandable in context.
edited by Cpt. Eructus on 3/11/2019[/quote]

By sheer chance I came across the word &quotcañonista&quot that I’d never heard before. Apparently it’s the specific word for the tradesman that makes the barrels of firearms (cañón is Spanish for both cannon and the barrel of any firearm). That’s too specific and strays even further from the original meaning of cannoneer than &quotcañonero&quot does, but it has the advantage of being a gender neutral word, which would make the &quotCañonista irrefrenable&quot a suitably neutral name. Other neutral option is &quotcondestable&quot, the rank of artillery NCOs in the Spanish navy, but that’s also very specific to the naval service and it’s much more obscure than another definition of the same word meaning a high royal official (later became ceremonial) in charge of the army, which would create confusion. Im torn: on one hand, cañonista is closer phonetically to the word cañón/cannon, which makes it easier to understand that it’s at least something related to cannons (even if it really isn’t necessarily) but condestable is slightly closer to the intended meaning.

Or I could go for &quotOficial de Artillería&quot. It’s longer and more cumbersome but it’s probably the best option, the more I think about it.
edited by Cpt. Eructus on 7/22/2019

74

&quotUnfinished Men may be fierce as lambs or meek as kittens&quot

Is this ironic or are lambs in this universe really known to be fierce? If it’s ironic, I don’t get it because Unfinished men are really fierce, and in this case, it’s the event in which one attacks your crew.
edited by Cpt. Eructus on 7/23/2019

75

Can you give us the context? I only vaguely remember the line.

76

This event, in the successful text for the &quotDestroy it&quot action: https://sunlesssea.gamepedia.com/UNFINISHED!

[quote=][color=rgb(225, 225, 225)]A savage battle[/color] Clay Men are strong as stone. Unfinished Men may be fierce as lambs or meek as kittens. This one is not a kitten. At last, it lies shattered.
[/quote]
edited by Cpt. Eructus on 7/23/2019

77

Honestly, it sounds like someone got called away in the middle of editing and only half-completed some kind of change. I could see &quotfierce as lambs or meek as lions,&quot if someone were being cheeky, or perhaps &quotfierce as lions or meek as kittens&quot if the writer were playing it straight. As is, it doesn’t make any more sense to me than it did to you.

If you think it was an error, I suppose you could simply alter it to make more sense. Alternatively, you could just translate it straight. I wish I could give you better guidance, but it comes down to your call here.

78

Hmm. Maybe it refers to Parabolan kittens instead of lions? Those are fiercer than regular littens if only when reflected in a mirror. But still it wouldn’t make much sense that it follows with &quotThis one is not a kitten&quot.

Yeah, I guess I’ll have to settle for one of those options. Thanks.
edited by Cpt. Eructus on 7/23/2019

79

Another question. What’s the meaning of sharpes in The Boke of Sharpes, the Legacy item you get for rising the Anarchist’s supremacy? Do you think it’s sharp(e)s as in “sharp objects” or as in “dishonest people, cheaters”?

Description says. “This barely qualifies as a book. Dozens of scraps of paper have been crammed into a scuffed folio. Each bears helpful advice on murder, and, often, a stain.”
So I’m guessing sharp object is the more likely?

80

And another. The Unread Log: &quotAn odd, flat little stab-bound book, bound with red ribbon: but the cover reads LOG OF THE D______. Did some lost captain purchase it in the far bazaars of the Khanate?&quot Is the &quotD______&quot just another instance of Victorian censorship of the word &quotdamned&quot (although in that case it’s one space too long) or maybe the name of a ship redacted for other reasons? Intentionally ambiguous, probably.
edited by Cpt. Eructus on 7/24/2019