The age of the Arabic vernacular is here; ... tell the talking snowman
From Language Log, "Frozen" in Arabic.
The New Yorker blog has an online article by Elias Muhanna entitled "Translating 'Frozen' Into Arabic". What's noteworthy is that Disney's "Frozen" was translated into Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), while previous Disney releases were translated into Egyptian Arabic. Somewhat oddly, the author compares MSA vis-à-vis colloquial forms of Arabic with both King James Bible English / sportscaster English and Latin quatrains / hiphop French.
Nevertheless, Muhanna has some good points to make about vernaculars and diglossia, and deals with a variety of other interesting topics as well. The article also introduces us to the word "cryokinetic", which all "Frozen" freaks should learn posthaste.
And from the referenced New Yorker blog post Translating 'Frozen' Into Arabic:
The Arabic lyrics to “Let It Go” are as forbidding as Elsa’s ice palace. The Egyptian singer Nesma Mahgoub, in the song’s chorus, sings, “Discharge thy secret! I shall not bear the torment!” and “I dread not all that shall be said! Discharge the storm clouds! The snow instigateth not lugubriosity within me…” From one song to the next, there isn’t a declensional ending dropped or an antique expression avoided, whether it is sung by a dancing snowman or a choir of forest trolls. The Arabic of “Frozen” is frozen in time, as “localized” to contemporary Middle Eastern youth culture as Latin quatrains in French rap.
Click on the headlines for the posts. This entry was originally posted at http://thnidu.dreamwidth.org/1298672.html. You can comment here, or there using OpenID or your Dreamwidth ID.
comments there so far.
The New Yorker blog has an online article by Elias Muhanna entitled "Translating 'Frozen' Into Arabic". What's noteworthy is that Disney's "Frozen" was translated into Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), while previous Disney releases were translated into Egyptian Arabic. Somewhat oddly, the author compares MSA vis-à-vis colloquial forms of Arabic with both King James Bible English / sportscaster English and Latin quatrains / hiphop French.
Nevertheless, Muhanna has some good points to make about vernaculars and diglossia, and deals with a variety of other interesting topics as well. The article also introduces us to the word "cryokinetic", which all "Frozen" freaks should learn posthaste.
And from the referenced New Yorker blog post Translating 'Frozen' Into Arabic:
The Arabic lyrics to “Let It Go” are as forbidding as Elsa’s ice palace. The Egyptian singer Nesma Mahgoub, in the song’s chorus, sings, “Discharge thy secret! I shall not bear the torment!” and “I dread not all that shall be said! Discharge the storm clouds! The snow instigateth not lugubriosity within me…” From one song to the next, there isn’t a declensional ending dropped or an antique expression avoided, whether it is sung by a dancing snowman or a choir of forest trolls. The Arabic of “Frozen” is frozen in time, as “localized” to contemporary Middle Eastern youth culture as Latin quatrains in French rap.
Click on the headlines for the posts. This entry was originally posted at http://thnidu.dreamwidth.org/1298672.html. You can comment here, or there using OpenID or your Dreamwidth ID.
comments there so far.