ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
Euron: Am I most welcome here?
這裡歡 迎我 嗎？
這裡歡 迎我 嗎？
難道君 臨不最 歡迎我 嗎
我是最 受歡迎 的嗎
我在這 兒真的 受歡迎 嗎
我也是 座上賓 嗎
In the first episode, Euron Greyjoy arrives in the capital with the Golden Company, a mercenary army, in tow. Upon speaking with Harry Strickland, the leader of the Golden Company, Cersei expresses her gratitude for their assistance and says that he is “most
welcome.” The word “most” is usually used with an adjective to form a superlative adjective;
however, less common is another meaning of the word--“very.” When the queen says that Strickland is “most welcome,” she doesn’t mean 「最受歡迎」, but rather something like
「誠摯歡迎」. Euron Greyjoy, who has intentions to bed the queen asks, “Am I Most
君臨不最歡迎我嗎」and 「我是最受歡迎的嗎」. These two translations made a drastic mistake because they misunderstood the meaning of the ST and forced awkward Chinese on the TT. Both Prosubs and the unknown fansub translated the sentence respectively as, 「這 裡歡迎我嗎」and「我在這兒真的受歡迎嗎」. These two translations convey the meaning of the ST sufficiently, but YYeTs provided the best translation with the sentence,「我也是座 上賓嗎」. This translation conveys the sense of the original in the most natural way and avoids any symptoms of translationese.
Ex. 2
ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
Davos: The Free Folk don't know her.
自由民 不認識 她
自由民 不認識 她
自由民 對她一 無所知
自由民 也不了 解她
自由民 不了解 他
自由民 不了解 她
The word “know” can mean different things in different situations. In some contexts, it means 「認識」 as in, “I have heard about Tom Cruise, but I don’t know him.” In other contexts, it means 「了解」, such as in the sentence, “how can you judge me when you don’t really know me.” Often, the characters in the show that support Daenerys claim that the North Folk can’t accept her because they do not know her, such as in the first episode. The issue at hand doesn’t have to do with the Free Folk not being acquainted with Daenerys, but rather they do not understand what kind of person/ruler she is. As Ser Davos, Tyrion and Varys walk around Winterfell, they begin discussing Daenerys political challenge to win over the people of the North. Ser Davos says that the problem is, “They don’t know her. The Free Folk don’t know her.” Both prosubs made the mistake of translating the sentence as, 「他們 不認識她／自由民不認識她」. All fansubs had the insight to translate the sentence as
「 他們不了解她／自由民不了解她」. We know this is the correct translation because even if they were acquainted with the queen, they would still not trust her as they don’t know what she will do. This is an instance where having a thorough understanding of the series counts for more than being paid to translate.
Ex. 3
ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
Sansa: No, she's much prettier.
對，她 漂亮多 了
對，她 漂亮多 了
當然 她 可漂亮 多了
不 她更 漂亮
沒錯，
她也更 漂亮
是的 她 漂亮多 了
The biggest conflict that develops in the first episode has nothing to do with the impending doom at the hands of the dead, but rather dealing with the political problems of the living. Sansa does not approve of Daenerys as Queen and is very disappointed with John for “bending the knee.” John argues that Daenerys is the queen that everyone needs while Sansa argues that Daenerys comes from a line of madness and can’t be trusted. John, always loyal to his queen and lover, says she isn’t her father, the Mad King. Sansa responds
mockingly that John is correct because Daenerys “…is much prettier.” Both prosubs， ShinY and YYeTs all translated the sentence similarly as， 「對，她漂亮多了」. This is the best translation as it emphasizes “much prettier.” FIX and the Visionary Sub translated the sentence as, 「她更漂亮」. This translation strategy fails because of a formulaic way of translating the comparative suffix “er” as 「更」. The result is a sentence that sounds very much like English-influenced Chinese. Saying that she is 「更漂亮」only means she is
“prettier” but not “much prettier.” Not to mention it sounds like Sansa is saying Daenery’s
father is pretty. This translation, therefore, fails to express the meaning of the ST on multiple
At the end of episode one, Sam finds John walking through the crypt at Winterfell.
Sam finally plucks up the courage to reveal who John’s parents are—Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen. He tells John, “And your father, your real father was Rhaegar Targaryen.” Sam means that Rhaegar was his biological father. The prosubs directly translated the sentence as, 「你真正的父親／是雷加坦格利安」. The audience might understand the meaning of 「真正的父親」but an adopted father could also be argued as a
“real father”. The prosub translations were influenced too much by the English. The fansubs translated the sentence in a way that is more standard in Chinese. ShinY and FIX translated it as, 「你的親生父親／是雷加×坦格利安」. The unknown fansub and YYeTs translated the sentence the same as, 「你的生父/是雷加×坦格利安」. All fansub translations were clearer than the prosubs and in this instance, the language used avoided being influenced by the ST.
Ex.5
The word “about” is frequently used in English and is required in certain collocations, such as “I am talking about your constant neglect.” Removing the word “about” from the sentence would be very strange and grammatically incorrect. The nature of Chinese,
however, is to dispense with prepositions. The sentence, “Don’t throw the ball at me” when translated into Chinese would be simplified as, 「不要丟我」. If we were to back translate, the sentence, it would appear as, “Don’t throw me;” the people speaking know which thing is going to be thrown and at whom, so both the direct object and preposition are omitted. Too often when translating from English to Chinese do translators directly translate the word
“about” as 「關於」. The meaning of the two words is synonymous; however, the frequency of the English word “about” is much higher than that of the word 「關於」.
ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
Daenerys: He told me other stories as well.
About all the
At the beginning of the second episode, Daenerys has received Jamie Lannister and is questioning him in front of the people of Winterfell. Daenerys, being a Targaryen, naturally
has the right to be skeptical of Jamie, the man who slew her father, the Mad King. She tells Jamie that when she was a child, her brother would tell her a bedtime story about all the things [they] would do to that man once [they] took back the Seven Kingdoms and had him in [their] grasp. The TV subs, DVD subs, Fix, and YYeTs translated it more or less the same by avoidingthe amateur mistake of formulaically translating “about” as 「關於」. They simply replaced the word “about” with a functional verb like “talk” or “plan”。 ShinY and
Visionary Sub, however, translated the sentence with the word “about” as 「關於」, which resulted in ugly sounding Chinese.
Ex. 6
The word “any” and the prefix “any” are constantly used in English but the word
「任何」 is less common in Chinese. A parent might say to their child, “You’re not going anywhere.” In Chinese, the sentence would be translated as “你哪裡都不能去.” In this sentence, the word “anywhere” just requires the word 「哪裡」，which translates to
“where.” It would be awkward to say 「你不能去任何地方」. Again, the nature of Chinese is to rely mostly on verbs and less on nouns. The word 「任何」must be followed by a noun and goes against the general rule of prioritizing the verb.
ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
Daenerys: I've
In the fourth episode when Daenerys finds John drunk in their room, she begs him to keep his identity a secret to the rest of the world, especially his immediate family as they are
opposed to Daenerys taking the throne. She says, “I’ve never begged for anything but I’m begging you.” The TV subs, DVD subs, ShinY and YYeTs translated the sentence
respectively as, 「我從來沒求過什麼／但是我求你」，「我從來沒向人哀求過／但是我 求你」，「我從來沒求過別人什麼」 and「我從來沒有求過誰／但現在我懇求你」. All of these translations managed to convey the sense of the ST without resorting to the classic translationese phrase 「任何事」. FIX and Visionary Sub, however, did exactly that by translating the sentence respectively as, 「我從未求過你任何事／但我現在求你」and「我 從來沒求過任何事…／但我求你」. These two almost identical renderings are
disappointing because they chose to formulaically translate the word “anything” as 「任何 事」.
Ex. 7
ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
Arya: Not my
half-brother…. 不是半個 哥哥
不是我同 父異母的 哥哥
不是什麼 同父異母 的哥哥
不是我半 個哥哥
不是同父 異母的哥 哥
不是同父 異母的哥 哥
The word half-brother in English is very common and indicates that two siblings share only one parent. Either they share the same mother and a different father, or they share the same father but a different mother. It is very clear in Chinese which parent is shared while in English knowing which parent is shared requires inside information.
In the middle of episode four, Arya and Sansa ask John to go on a stroll with them at which point they express their concerns surrounding Daenerys. They do not trust her because she is not family and hope for the North to remain an independent kingdom. John defends his queen and argues that if they only trust family members they won’t make many allies. Arya
says that she doesn’t need many allies. She tells John, “You’re my brother. Not my half-brother or my bastard half-brother.” The TV subs and FIX both translated the word half-half-brother as
「半個哥哥」. The DVD and all other fansubs had the insight to translate it as「 同父異 母」. The former translation sounds very bizarre in Chinese to the point of being laughable.
We might wonder if these translators were not familiar with the show and not knowing John’s parentage didn’t want to take the risk of guessing which parent was shared. That being said, even the least interested fan should know that everyone believes John to be the bastard son of Ned Stark. Both a paid translator and a fansubber should have done enough homework to translate the sentence as 「同父異母」. The latter translation is the only viable translation.
Ex. 8
The word “reason” is frequently used in English, but its Chinese counterpart 「原 因」is less common. For example, someone might answer a “why question” that is
unexplainable as, “There is no reason,” which colloquially should be translated as, 「沒有為 什麼」 . Furthermore, “reason” can also mean “purpose” or “meaning” and shouldn’t be translated as 「原因」 but rather as 「使命」 .
ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
Daenerys: Do
In the fourth episode, all of Queen Daenerys’ advisors are counseling her not to destroy King’s Landing and to minimize the amount of bloodshed if they can convince Cersei to surrender. Lord Varys tells her that she should not go through with slaughtering the people
of the capital. The queen is adamant about being born with a mission to liberate the people of Westeros. She asks Varys, “Do you believe we're here for a reason, Lord Varys?” ShinY, Fix, and YYeTs translated the sentence respectively as,「你相信我們來到這裡是有原因的 嗎」，「你相信我們來這裡是有原因的嗎」，and「你是否相信我們來這裡是有原因 的 」. These three fansubs all made the mistake of formulaically translating “reason” as 「原 因」, which is not truly what the ST is saying nor how native speakers would express the notion. The TV subs, DVD subs, and Visionary Sub translated the sentence respectively as,
「你信我們背負著使命吧?」, 「你相信我們身負使命來此吧？」, and「你相信我們是 負命而來的 對吧」 . This is an instance where the professional subtitlers understanding of English might have been better than the fans subtitlers and therefore translated the word
“reason” with more precision as 「身負使命」. Visionary Sub was the only fansub that translated “reason” correctly and did it the most concisely with the two characters「負命」.
Ex. 9
The word “all” can be translated many ways into Chinese. Depending on the situation, it might be translated as 「都、全部，所有, 動詞＋光」 but in some instances, it can even be omitted. There is one particular sentence pattern that frequently appears in English. For ex., “Burn all the books,” which Native English speakers often want to translate with the word 「所有」 as, 「把所有的書燒掉」. This sentence may not contain any real grammar problems but sounds ugly. The nature of Chinese is that nouns, in and of themselves, do not express a grammatical number. It is the context of the sentence that tells us if they are singular or plural, whereas in English the grammatical number is clearly expressed by modifying the noun itself. Therefore, a better sentence would be 「把書燒光」or 「書都要
燒了」. It is obvious by the context of the words 「都」 or 「動詞+光」that the word
「書」 is plural.
ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
Greyworm:
"Kill all who follow Cersei
At the beginning of episode six, John walks through the city of smoldering rubble that King’s Landing has become. He comes upon Greyworm who is preparing to execute the Lannister prisoners and tells him that the war is over and there is no need to kill them.
Greyworm relays the order he received from the queen, “Kill all who follow Cersei Lannister.” Both prosubs translated the sentence as,「殺光追隨瑟曦蘭尼斯特的人」, which avoids the amateur mistake of always translating “all” as 「所有」. ShinY, Fix, Visionary Sub, and YYeTs all translated the sentence respectively as,「“殺死所有瑟曦蘭尼 斯特的追隨者」,「“殺死所有追隨瑟曦·蘭尼斯特的人」, 「“殺光瑟曦·蘭尼斯特所有的 追隨者“」, and「“殺死所有追隨瑟曦·蘭尼斯特的人“」.This is an instance where none of the translators made a translation mistake but the prosubs rendering was more concise and makes use of the brevity of Chinese whereas the fansubs were influenced by English too much. We know that Cersei’s followers are many and therefore translating the word “all”
as 「所有」goes against the subtitler’s philosophy of brevity.
Ex. 10
ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
Tyrion: It
In the sixth episode, when John visits Tyrion in his cell, Tyrion tries to convince John that he must do the unspeakable—kill Daenerys. John argues that being a ruler is difficult because they have to make tough decisions and Tyrion shouldn’t judge her actions too harshly. Tyrion asks John if he were the one on a dragon’s back, would he have killed
everyone in King’s Landing. John asks if his choice really matters, to which Tyrion responds,
“It matters more than anything.” ShinY and Visionary Sub translated the sentence respectively as, 「非常重要」and 「這非常的重要」. These are the most boring translations as they just mean, “This is really important.” FIX and YYeTs rendered the sentence as,「這比任何事情都重要」. This sentence is more faithful to the ST as it emphasizes its importance over other factors. It contains no grammatical errors but
unfortunately sounds like translationese as they directly translated “any” as 「任何事情」.
Both prosubs translated the sentence as 「差別可大了」. This translation is a common expression in spoken Chinese and therefore highly appropriate for the situation. It also avoids the amateur translator’s mistake of translating the word “anything” too literally as 「任何事 情」.
關於我 們犯過 的錯
關於我 們犯過 的錯
關於我 們犯下 的錯誤
思考我 們所犯 的錯誤
思考我 們犯下 的錯誤
思考我 們犯下 的錯誤
At the end of episode six, the remaining noble houses meet to discuss how they will
At the end of episode six, the remaining noble houses meet to discuss how they will