Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-29759785-20170112195315

Hello everyone.

After YenPress released english version of volume 9, there has been some commotion about Alice's family name. Instead of 'Shuberg' (which we got used to) YP decided to use Zuberg. I checked it in Polish translation and I found out, that for Polish release they also used Shuberg. After little discussion on our Discord channel, talk with my friend (who is fluent in writing and reading in Japanese) and my own research, I decided to write an e-mail to Kotori (Polish publisher) about this matter. One month later, much to my suprise, they actually replied to me with the message from the very translator. I translated those e-mails from Polish to English, and decided to post them here, so that anyone ,who is interested, could take a look and also give a comment. I just want to warn you, that my translation is not perfect and, even though I tried to be as accurate as it is possible, I may have changed meaning. Neverthelss, I hope that it will be good enough to understand.



Here is what I wrote to Kotori:

''Hello. I wanted to ask if you can contact or send a message to Mrs. Anna Piechowiak – translator of Sword Art Online.  In Volume 9 of SAO there is new character - Alice. Mrs Anna translated her family name as Schuberg. However, the kana used in the Japanese equivalent \ "tsu \", is Polish \ "zu \" or German \ "zu \". For example:''

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%84%E3%83%BC%E3%83%84%E3%82%A7%E3%83%B3%E3%83%8F%E3%82%A6%E3%82%BC%E3%83%B3 

''For \ "shu \" (in names from other countries) Japanese are using a different kana.  In addition, there has been recently released the official English translation of volume 9 (by YenPress), where Alice’s family name is Zuberg. Can I ask you about your comment or the translator in this case? Thank you in advance for your answer.''

'' Best regards.''

''Valgaaf. ''

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom: .0001pt;text-align:justify;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:PL">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom: .0001pt;text-align:justify;line-height:150%"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN;mso-fareast-language:PL">And here is their reply:

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom: .0001pt;text-align:justify;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:PL">Hello, 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom: .0001pt;text-align:justify;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:PL">here is the answer of Anna Piechowiak: 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom: .0001pt;text-align:justify;line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:PL">"Hello, 

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom: .0001pt;text-align:justify;line-height:150%">''<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN;mso-fareast-language:PL">romanization of katakana (and the other way - "katanization of" alphabet) is often a matter of dispute and fluency. <span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:PL">Even Japanese often use different variants of transcription for borrowings or foreign names, so it's hard to talk about rigid and unchanging rules of transcription, which would suggest to write a particular syllable ,using the alphabet, in such way only. Therefore, there can be many interpretations. Translating SAO, I was trying, as far as possible, to use characters’ names that are consistent with versions to which fans are the most accustomed to (of course if the versions do not differ too much from Japanese one), so I stayed with already widespread network notation "Schuberg." I could notice that some SAO enthusiasts are not particularly happy with the changes introduced by YenPress, as they become accustomed to the older one – that is the reaction I wanted to avoid the most and it is one of the reasons why I decided to us of a given transcription. Besides, as a matter of fact, one could conclude that the English version is also not entirely correct, as the last syllable in name Alice is "ku" not "gu", so actually it should be "Zuberk" - but as you can see YenPress also slightly adjusted it, probably having in mind the natural notation. So if one is tempted to use transcription that is fully congruent to the original, it should be "Cuberk" (Polish) and Zuberk (German) - because for Polish readers, as opposed to, for example, German-speaking, "zu" will not accurately reflect the sound of the Japanese version. And in the face of such alternatives I decided to use version that is most popular in fandom ;) ''

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; text-align:justify;line-height:150%">''<span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN">In any case, thank you for your message. <span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:PL">As the translator, it is always nice to find out that someone takes the trouble to check some things and seeks to clerar doubts. ''

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; text-align:justify;line-height:150%">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:PL"> Best regards, ''

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; text-align:justify;line-height:150%">''<span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:PL"> Ania Piechowiak " ''<span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN;mso-fareast-language:PL">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; text-align:justify;line-height:150%"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN;mso-fareast-language:PL">So this is it. To tell you the truth, I didn't tought I would get reply. Anyway, what do you guys think? Do you agree or not. Maybe you have got some question. I am going to write again, as I myself have some question, plus I will also ask about future releases (volume 19+ and Progressive).

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; text-align:justify;line-height:150%"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN;mso-fareast-language:PL">Thank you for your attention :) <ac_metadata title="The matter of translation"> </ac_metadata>