Translation Project: PA in german

primedape

Hi Folks.

I am german and love penny Arcade Comics.

So i figured i could start Translating them into German.
Maybe not fom the very beginning (that would be ALOT) but starting this year and ongoing.

How would you like that?
Anyone care to help?

I will post a sample translation within the next 30 minutes. I know most of you wont understand it, since it is German, but maybe there are som fellow Germans that would support this project.

I also would like to hear a statement, if it were possible to publish these germanized comics an any Webpage so it is accessible for anyone.

Since i didnt exactly know where to put the translation i simply startet a new thread in the ClubPA Library


Read ya soon,
Ape

MKR

The writer for PA would probably want to consult with you on it.

edit: What is "fruit fucker" in German?

primedape

MKR wrote: »

The writer for PA would probably want to consult with you on it.

edit: What is "fruit fucker" in German?

I guess i would translate "fruit fucker" with "Fruchtficker".
Although in the context, that the "fruit fucker" ist not actually fucking fruits, but fucking up fruits or fucking with fruits (in a sense of messin arond with fruits) i would have to think awhile for a proper translation.

Thanatos

You would definitely want to contact Robert Khoo (rkhoo@penny-arcade.com) about that, especially if you planned to show them to other people.

Kivutar

Looks fairly decent so far.
While I can understand what you've translated, unfortunately I don't think I really have enough German to make suggestions with regards to word choice, etc.

In general, it seems fairly literal right now. You could certainly be more free in the translation in my opinion. Also, Gabe doesn't exactly use proper grammar in the original panels, his speech is... casual across the board, where as Tycho is usually more precise. You might try to convey that in your choice of words or sentence structure when translating.

As of the moment, I'd agree that Tycho's lines in panel two of Universelle Themen come across as awkward or stiff. Gabe's second sentence in the same panel also feels a little stilted to me, but I really don't know how else to convey it.

Looks good so far though, hope everything works out with the legal bit, I think it's great that you're going to the effort to translate them.
I look forward to seeing more.

primedape

Kivutar wrote: »

Looks fairly decent so far.

Thank you

While I can understand what you've translated, unfortunately I don't think I really have enough German to make suggestions with regards to word choice, etc.

In general, it seems fairly literal right now. You could certainly be more free in the translation in my opinion. Also, Gabe doesn't exactly use proper grammar in the original panels, his speech is... casual across the board, where as Tycho is usually more precise. You might try to convey that in your choice of words or sentence structure when translating.

I have noticed that. I have yet to find a way to transfer Gabes grammatical incorrectness into the german language without making him look like a moron. (Normal) Germans are pretty much always grammatically correct even when speaking a bit sloppy or with an accent.
Tychos precise sentences seem alot easier to translate without compromising his character.

As of the moment, I'd agree that Tycho's lines in panel two of Universelle Themen come across as awkward or stiff. Gabe's second sentence in the same panel also feels a little stilted to me, but I really don't know how else to convey it.

I will find a way to fix that.

Looks good so far though, hope everything works out with the legal bit, I think it's great that you're going to the effort to translate them.
I look forward to seeing more.

Thanx for the feedback so far.
I will contact Tycho and or Robert Khoo asap when i get home. Dont have access to my mail account at work

Edit: Translations updated with alternative german sentences where necessary.

Kivutar

primedape wrote: »

I have noticed that. I have yet to find a way to transfer Gabes grammatical incorrectness into the german language without making him look like a moron. (Normal) Germans are pretty much always grammatically correct even when speaking a bit sloppy or with an accent.

Yeah, I could certainly see how that would be more difficult to convey in German - although it's been quite some time since I made use of my German in any capacity, I remember people maintaining proper grammar even while using slang & colloquialisms. I do prefer most of the alternative translations you added in to their originals though - the only one I have any further comment on at the moment is Gabe's first line in Echte Antworten Auf Dringende Fragen.
Personally, I would use the following:

Warum ist jedes Ding in "Devil May Cry 4" randvoll mit kristallisiertem Demonenblut? Da! Sogar im verdammten Mülleimer ist Dämonenblut.

Oh, I'd guess you could probably also cut down the ellipses in panel two of Universelle Themen. Maybe something like:

Es ist mehr als das. Sie sind alle taubstumm und sie benutzen Zeichensprache um... sich zu verständigen. Du weißt schon.

I'm not entirely sure where best to place it to bring across his hesitation, but I would try to use fewer. Possibly

(...)Zeichensprache... um sich... zu verständigen

could work as well?
I'm sure your judgment is better than mine, like I said it's been quite some time since I've spoken, read or written German.

Again, looks good though, I do like the alternative translations you added in, they seem to flow more easily in context.

primedape

thanks for the comments.

I might have goen a little overboard with the fowl language in the "Devil May Cry4" strip. Although swearwords are not as big of an issue in germany as they are in the US (but you probably know that ).

I will give the mentioned lines some thought. I will probably adopt your versions sounds pretty good!

As soon as ive heard from the PA Bosses (Tycho or Robert) i will start posting updates of translations in the Thread linked above.

So long
Ape