Translating lyrics is an art. It requires skill well beyond any other
form of translation since it also involves respecting time, rhyme and sometimes
even lip movements. Most songs are not translated as the actual meaning of the
words is not as important as the sound.
By contrast, the audience demands to know what the message is. For example, Disney translates its songs and does a fine job
at it. Another interesting example where
lyric translation was required was the well-known tune from The Sound of
Music, do re me. It was necessary since the words connecting the
sound must make sense in the language of the listener. The specific choices of word
connections to the sound are rather interesting. I have chosen the lyrics from five
languages I understand.
Do
The original English referenced a doe, a female dear, not exactly
a standard English vocabulary element. The French used dos, a back in
English. Russian referred to дом [dom], a house. Hebrew took the word דוב [dov], a bear. Finally, Italian used the first-person singular form of
the verb dare, to give.
Re
Both the original and French version connected the sound to the sun. The
Russian lyricist strangely chose регби [regbi], rugby in English. The
Hebrew version uses a more standard word ריח [re’ach],
meaning smell. Italian uses the word re, meaning a king in
English.
Mi
English and Italian took the first-person pronoun route, i.e. me. The
French went half way, referring to mi, meaning half. The Russian
referenced миска [miska], a bowl (for the cat). Hebrew took its meaning
for the sound mi, which means who or whoever.
Fa
This note was very localized. The original English version adds the
letter R at the end and turns it into far. French
stretches the fa to facile, easy in meaning, literally.
Likewise, the Russian translator used фазан [fazan], a pheasant. By contrast, the
Hebrew adds the sound sa to the beginning and gets שפה [safa], meaning language. The Italian writer must have
been tired as all s/he wrote was la nota dopo il Mi, the note after mi!
I am almost sure that there is some Italian word with the sound fa.
Sol
For this sound, the two dominant techniques were homonyms and adding
letters The English plays with the homonym sew, French with sol,
ground, and Hebrew with סול [sol], the fish. The Italian version has
the word sole, with the pronounced e, meaning sun. The Russian adds the
grammatical ending to the sounds and comes up with Соль-ю [sol-yu], salt or
spices.
La
Here, Oscar Hammerstein pulled an Italian trick. The original version
says “the note to follow So”. The French and Italian lyricists went the direct route since la in both languages means there. The Russian
translator added a consonant in the beginning and another syllable at the end and
came up with лямка [lyamka], strap (of a bag). The Hebrew writer couldn’t apparently
think of any word but was willing to come up with something witty, connecting
the sound la to songs without words.
Se
For the last sound, each lyricist went with the sound. English pronounces the sounds as te, which leads to the typical English
drink. The Italians say se, which sounds like si, yes. The Hebrew word שיא [si] is the
peak, literally. The Russian and French translator had to add something to the
sound to make it work, сироп [sirup], as in the thick liquid, and siffler,
to whistle, respectively.
So, while the song may be known worldwide, it is a classic example of
localization and a tribute the talent and skill of those who translated it.
P.S. Based on comments, it appears that many languages have multiple translations. Let me know if so. I may write a follow up post on the such comparison.
P.S. Based on comments, it appears that many languages have multiple translations. Let me know if so. I may write a follow up post on the such comparison.
