Thread: Need help with brainstorming this.

Well, I guess it is my turn to ask for help

Here is the deal: I am attempting a translation of the first of the Oz books by Frank Baum. I'd like to avoid using the same names of characters and peoples in the land of Oz that were used in Volkov's version and other translations of Baums books. Not because they are bad or wrong, but because, well, it is my translation. But I am still debating this point.

Actually, some of Volkov's solutions are excellent. "Страшила Мудрый" is a gem. And there could be no better translation for "Cowardly Lion" than "Трусливый лев" (perhaps I'll keep this one).

So if you can think of a good translation for Scarecrow, Tin Woodman etc, I'd appreciate that very much.

(This request is addressed mostly to the Russian-speaking community of these forums; however, I think that English-speakers may find it interesting too, that is why I am posting this in English).

I would also like good translations for names of the four peoples comprising the nation of Oz: Munchkins, Winkies, Quadlings and Gillikins.


The first two were translated in Volkov's version of this tale as "жевуны" and "мигуны". These solutions, which are good ones, were also used in a later translation of Baum's books published by a Russian publishing house. Can't we beat them? My provisional translations are "жеваллинги" и "мигаллинги"

Quadling: Volkov called them "болтуны", which is slander and libel .
In tha other translation that I mentioned above they were called "кводлинги". I don't want to have such inconsistencies in my translation. It must be either transliterations or funny translations all the way, not a random mixture of the two.

Baum gives us a hint as to what this name might mean: he describes quadlings as short, fat and chubby, so that the "Quad" part in their name may refer to the fact that they are "squarish" in appearance.

So what Russian word can evoke the same association in a reader's mind? "Квадратники?" "Квадруллинги?" (The latter is the provisional translation I am using at the monent).

Now comes a really hard part where I need assistance from native English speakers:

Gillikins -- what is the first thing that comes to your mind when you read this? What does it associate with? Gills, like the thing that the fish breath with? Some other maening of "gill"? Or, perhaps, a gillie (manservant, lad, hunting guide)? Any other suggestions? Are there any hints dropped by Baum in his later books (so far I have read the first; I also read the second one and one of the later books, but that was long ago).

Originally Posted by translations.nm.ru

Gillikins -- what is the first thing that comes to your mind when you read this?

Apart from the obvious rearding fish the other immediate thought I had was an old imperial liquid measure called a gill.

Upon further investigation it can also imply the ribs on the underside of a mushroom, a ravine, a stream, the flaps unders some birds' beaks, a sweetheart, a malt liquor, ground ivy, a two wheeled frame for transporting timber, a leech, a wooded valley, and - according to Swift, himself an author of fantasy worlds - the skin under one's chin.

And Gill, as a girl's name, is another spelling of Jill.

Originally Posted by Mile-O-Phile

Apart from the obvious rearding fish the other immediate thought I had was an old imperial liquid measure called a gill.

Upon further investigation it can also imply the ribs on the underside of a mushroom, a ravine, a stream, the flaps unders some birds' beaks, a sweetheart, a malt liquor, ground ivy, a two wheeled frame for transporting timber, a leech, a wooded valley, and - according to Swift, himself an author of fantasy worlds - the skin under one's chin.

And Gill, as a girl's name, is another spelling of Jill.

Thanks for the answer. I know all these definitions of gill, I checked several dictionaries before posting this request here; what I am mostly interested is what is the FIRST idea or association that come to mind of a native English-speaker when he runs into this word. Well, you told me about yours, thanks again.

I'd appreciate input from some other English-speakers too

By the way, I found some new solutions:

Munchkins - жевакинсы
Winkies - мигаллы
Quadlings - квадруллинги (mo changes so far).
And, I guess, Gillikins will be "жабрыкинсы".

What about
Квадроиды
Жаброиды?

And maybe
Quadlings - Карапузы-Квадроиды?

Originally Posted by Garfunkel

What about
Квадроиды
Жаброиды?

Definitely worth considering, thank you

Карапузы-квадроиды is too long and complex, I am afraid.

Мне пришлось на некоторое время забросить этот проект, т.к. был занят другими вещами, но теперь я к нему возвращаюсь и хотел бы устроить "мозговой штурм" ещё одного вопроса, а именно, найти русское имя для Scarecrow. У Волкова его звали "Страшила мудрый", переводчики издательства "Рипол классик" тоже назвали его Страшилой (the copycats! ).

Мне не хотелось бы называть его просто "пугало" или "чучело", хотя бы потому, что это слова среднего рода, а Scarecrow, определённо, персонаж мужского пола. "Пугало сказал" звучало бы как-то странно. В общем, у кого какие идеи?

Для затравки:
Пугалло (по крайней мере, звучит как итальянская фамилия )
Пугалла
Пугал
Чучел-огородный (или Пугал-огородный), или то же самое без дефиса.

Пугалыч Воронов
Пугалыч Вороньев
Пугалыч Воронин
Пугалыч Вороньин

или просто "Пугалыч"

Originally Posted by bad manners

Пугалыч Воронов
Пугалыч Вороньев
Пугалыч Воронин
Пугалыч Вороньин

или просто "Пугалыч"

Спасибо!

У кого-нибудь ещё есть идеи?

Were scarecrows used in the Russian countryside? If so, did they look anything like the American ones?

Too bad "Пугачёв" has already been taken, speaking of scary things in the countryside.

Originally Posted by begemot

Were scarecrows used in the Russian countryside? If so, did they look anything like the American ones?

Yes on both questions . At least SOME of Russian scarecrows looked like SOME American ones, I am sure of that.