I got an email last night regarding the accuracy of the translation in terms of Shampoo's speaking ability. I thought I'd share it and my response for those that might be interested in the translation aspects of the series.
The letter:
And my response:
Well, it just depends on what you mean by "how accurate". Shampoo does use "watashi" (I) as a first person pronoun in Japanese rather than just repeat her own name as she does in English, but the English adaptation of her speech cannot literally be translated from the way she speaks Japanese.
The main thing about Shampoo is that she uses the verb "aru" (a tough verb to define, basically it means something inanimate exists) all the time. Shampoo will use this to end almost all of her sentences even if she has already used another verb, which just doesn't make any sense. She also uses "yuku" for "go" rather than "iku". This isn't wrong, but is unusual as it is not often pronounced this way (Mousse does the same even though he doesn't make the same mistakes with his Japanese as Shampoo). Shampoo often uses "zo" at the end of her sentences for emphasis, which sounds rough, this is usually something guys do.
A good example of Shampoo's speech pattern is to look at one of her most common sayings, "Let's go on a date." Rather than say something like "deito suru" (to date) or "deito shimasho" (let's go on a date), Shampoo says "deito suru aru", which is wrong. That would literally be translated as something like... "to date is". The translation sounds more incorrect to an English speaker than to a Japanese speaker. To the Japanese it's wrong, but still comprehensible. To an English speaker it doesn't even convey an idea. So when translating her speech into English you have to take into account the level of her Japanese speech... it's wrong but still gets the point across.
So all these little oddities add up to the Japanese ear as being incorrect Japanese. The transliteration is to give Shampoo the stereotypical broken English you hear in the English version. But you shouldn't take this as meaning the translations are wrong. The meaning is the same- Shampoo speaks Japanese badly, so in translation she speaks English just as poorly. The content of what she says though is accurate.
Thanks for the kind words about the site, please stay tuned. And thanks for the good question too!
The letter:
Quote:
Hi! Although I lost interest in anime quite a few years ago, I've still got a soft spot for Ranma. I have a question regarding the cartoon translations. In both the English subs and dubs, Shampoo always speaks in broken grammar and in the third person. I know that they do this to show that she's not familiar with Japanese, but I'm curious - does she actually speak that way in her original Japanese lines? She doesn't seem to say her own name very often in the Japanese version of the show, which leads me to believe that the English subs and dubs greatly exaggerate her way of speaking. So, how accurate are the English sub and dub translations of show, particularly in Shampoo's case? Thanks a lot! I love your site and look forward to future updates!
And my response:
Well, it just depends on what you mean by "how accurate". Shampoo does use "watashi" (I) as a first person pronoun in Japanese rather than just repeat her own name as she does in English, but the English adaptation of her speech cannot literally be translated from the way she speaks Japanese.
The main thing about Shampoo is that she uses the verb "aru" (a tough verb to define, basically it means something inanimate exists) all the time. Shampoo will use this to end almost all of her sentences even if she has already used another verb, which just doesn't make any sense. She also uses "yuku" for "go" rather than "iku". This isn't wrong, but is unusual as it is not often pronounced this way (Mousse does the same even though he doesn't make the same mistakes with his Japanese as Shampoo). Shampoo often uses "zo" at the end of her sentences for emphasis, which sounds rough, this is usually something guys do.
A good example of Shampoo's speech pattern is to look at one of her most common sayings, "Let's go on a date." Rather than say something like "deito suru" (to date) or "deito shimasho" (let's go on a date), Shampoo says "deito suru aru", which is wrong. That would literally be translated as something like... "to date is". The translation sounds more incorrect to an English speaker than to a Japanese speaker. To the Japanese it's wrong, but still comprehensible. To an English speaker it doesn't even convey an idea. So when translating her speech into English you have to take into account the level of her Japanese speech... it's wrong but still gets the point across.
So all these little oddities add up to the Japanese ear as being incorrect Japanese. The transliteration is to give Shampoo the stereotypical broken English you hear in the English version. But you shouldn't take this as meaning the translations are wrong. The meaning is the same- Shampoo speaks Japanese badly, so in translation she speaks English just as poorly. The content of what she says though is accurate.
Thanks for the kind words about the site, please stay tuned. And thanks for the good question too!
