sudanglo:There are domains in which there is no body of actual usage in Esperanto which you can draw upon to give authenticity.

For example, there are no cops and robbers or courtrooms in Esperantujo , So translating a roman policier the translator has to conjure up suitable language to create the appropriate atmosphere.

But then, there are no elves, hobbits, goblins and middle earth. So Tolkien had to use his imagination/creativity to create something plausible.

You would have to do the same with your informal dialogue.

Remember that the 'prime directive' which has influenced the evolution of speech in Esperanto is clarity. You don't use expressions with someone who knows Esperanto, but doesn't share your mother tongue, which would create difficulties. This cultural norm is persuasive for many Esperanto speakers.

Let me ask you, just to get your direct opinion, if you were to translate fragmentary dialogue like that--which really exists in pretty much every piece of English literature--would you just draw it out into complete sentences or would you do something else?

Metsis:
There are professional translators for translating belliteraturo. I rather leave translating that dialogue to them.

Have you never been interested in translateing anything into Esperanto? Perhaps some great Finnish work that you think the wider world deserves to know about?

Perhaps it's just because I am a frequent reader and interested in storytelling in general, but translation is one of the first places my mind went to when I started learning the language. I've already compiled a short list of public domain works that I would love to one day translate.

Metsis:However let me point out one thing using an example. I haven't read Harry Potter myself but my daughter has – translated of course. Since the events take place in their own imaginary world, the translator has opted to translate the place names so that the local readers would get a feeling of that world. For instance "Hogwarts" doesn't ring any bell here, there is no mental image associated with it. On the contrary the translated name "Tylypahka" sets the imagination of the readers in motion.

Even if your dialogue happened to place in the "real world" (i.e. in one sans witches, elves and so on), the changes are that there is no actual usage upon which to draw authenticity as Sudanglo pointed out.

This is interesting, because the name Hogwarts didn't mean anything to anyone until they actually read Harry Potter. It's kind of like how Middle-Earth was nonexistent before people started reading Tolkien. They didn't correspond to anywhere that Americans knew of, I can tell you that.

So that's interesting that in Finland it was felt that there was a need to localize it in some way.

Metsis:You need to make a decision. Leave the original names as such whereby the work might feel too translated to some. Or esperantigi them in one way or other to create a sense of Esperantujo.

I would opt for a more creative solution that would stand on its own, sed mi ne estas tradukisto.

Indeed. From what I can tell, it seems that the most common approach is to leave the names alone. I suspect that this is because many of the names are iconic. Anyone who has read The Count of Monte Cristo, for instance, will know the name of Edmond Dantès, and to hear him called something else--even in an Esperanto translation--would just feel off.

But I can see the argument either way.

nornen:Mia mallerta klopodo:

A: Kion vi faras?
B: Hm, ne multe.
A: Ĉu vi iris al la vendejo hodiaŭ?
B: Ne, neniun inklinon. Eble morgaŭ.
A: Hm, bone. Kion vi faros ĉi-nokte?
B: La normalan. Nur pigrumi. Spekti iom da televido kaj ludi kun la hundo.

That seems perfectly comprehensible to me, other than the fact that I can't decipher "pigrumi."

I wonder if non-native English speakers would also find it easily understandable or if there would be a feeling of, "I don't get it. This doesn't make sense." I suppose that is the big question here.

I read mostly non-fiction unless it's European adult comics (e.g. Corto Maltese)... and I'm not a humanist but komputila fanatikulo with politics and military history as hobbies. I've written Esperanto-versions of some of my blogposts (e.g. Kio estas Duolingo kaj kiel ĝi funkcias?) and written the foreign language resume(*) to my baccalaureate thesis (about object-oriented programming) in Esperanto, but not translated other's writings.

Here the place names in Harry Potter, in J. R. R. Tolkien's works and in similar fiction are almost always adapted (like Hogwarts → Tylypahka). I can think several reasons for that: the original name bears no meaning, it contains strange sound combinations ("rts" in Hogwarts), it's hard to decline ("from Hogwarts" would be "Hogwartsista" with syllable breaks "Hog-wart-sista"(**)).

Sometimes even the names of the characters are localised, e.g. all characters in Donald Duck comics have their own, real names. By the way I'm proud subscriber to the local weekly Donald Duck comics magazine, Aku Ankka(**), at least since 1973. (No, I don't have all issues left, just about the latest decade or so.)

Pigrumi is a clever Esperanto-expression, +1 for Nornen.
 

• pigra : lazy
  
• um : (undefined meaning)
  
• i : verb

so "to hang out being lazy", "to lazy" (if such verb exists)

*: Jes, mi scias, ke la resumo enhavas erarojn, sed tiam kiam mi skribis la resumon, mi estis nur komencanto.
**: The magazine has been the most read weekly magazine in the country, counting all magazines, since 1970's.

Donald Duck has two D's - and it would be better to translate his name with words beginning with same letters.
Some person in Harry Potter has first and second names begining from the same letter.

sergejm:Donald Duck has two D's - and it would be better to translate his name with words beginning with same letters.

Why would it be better?

There are no Finnish words beginning with D except some new loanwords. Even in later positions it's not that common, and there are dialects with no D sound at all. So I fail to see how it could be better.

For instance in German Donald Duck is called the same, but we pronounce it /ˈdoː.nalt ˈdʊk/.
In Italian he is called Paolino Paperino, maintaining the alliteration, but with P, because Paperino means Anaseto.
In Spanish he doesn't even have a last name is just called El Pato Donald /el.pa.to.ˈdo.nal/.

Even weirder is the case of Scrooge MacDuck. I guess most English speaking children now the character Scrooge from A Christmas Carol, however German and Spanish children don't. So this reference is lost.
In German he is called Dagobert Duck (missing the Mac), and in Spanish his name is El Tío Rico, which literally means The Rich Uncle.

The funniest name in my opinion however is still Läderlappen (Batman), which to German ears sounds like "Ledodrapo".

PrimeMinisterK:I wonder if non-native English speakers would also find it easily understandable or if there would be a feeling of, "I don't get it. This doesn't make sense." I suppose that is the big question here.

Well, I am a non-native English speaker. From a Spanish speaking point of view, from a German speaking point of view and from a Q'eqchi' speaking point of view, it looks to me quite intelligible. But hey, it was I who translated it.

Metsis:I read mostly non-fiction unless it's European adult comics (e.g. Corto Maltese)... and I'm not a humanist but komputila fanatikulo with politics and military history as hobbies. I've written Esperanto-versions of some of my blogposts (e.g. Kio estas Duolingo kaj kiel ĝi funkcias?) and written the foreign language resume(*) to my baccalaureate thesis (about object-oriented programming) in Esperanto, but not translated other's writings.

Interesting. I suppose you're probably not a metal fan in terms of your musical interests, but if you are, and you don't already know them, check out Sabaton. Their entire catalog is military history in song.

Metsis:Here the place names in Harry Potter, in J. R. R. Tolkien's works and in similar fiction are almost always adapted (like Hogwarts → Tylypahka). I can think several reasons for that: the original name bears no meaning, it contains strange sound combinations ("rts" in Hogwarts), it's hard to decline ("from Hogwarts" would be "Hogwartsista" with syllable breaks "Hog-wart-sista"(**)).

I see. I am kind of surprised by that. So did the name Tylypahka mean anything before the Finnish HP translation, or is it just a name that that was chosen because it's more consistent with the Finnish language?

Look through my Eo translation of the first HP book, it looks like they translated Hogwarts as "Porkalo." Hmm.

Metsis:Pigrumi is a clever Esperanto-expression, +1 for Nornen.
 

• pigra : lazy
  
• um : (undefined meaning)
  
• i : verb

so "to hang out being lazy", "to lazy" (if such verb exists)

Interesting. Thanks.

nornen:
Even weirder is the case of Scrooge MacDuck. I guess most English speaking children now the character Scrooge from A Christmas Carol, however German and Spanish children don't. So this reference is lost.

Is that right? Considering how immensely popular and widely-translated Dickens is, I'm really surprised to hear that A Christmas Carol is not known by kids the world over.