Translating archaic properties, used to convey a certain literal style within a language, in such a manner where the effect of feeling temporally distanced is kept intact, is no easy feat. Methods that have been used to achieve such results include, among others, finding cultural equivalents in the target language, paraphrasing, relying on less frequent vocabulary and using more neutral counterparts. The aim of this study is to examine how archaic lexemes, morphology, and syntax, along with stylistic aspects were dealt with in the English-to-German translation of the videogame Dark Souls – an action roleplaying game developed in Japan. To conduct such an analysis, the written dialogue files from the game’s directory were extracted and processed both manually and using R Markdown. The findings of this study have revealed that the archaic properties in the English version of the game are not true archaisms to begin with and are riddled with grammatical errors – so called pseudo-archaisms. Meanwhile, the German translation – due to how the German language developed in contrast to English – does not allow for the same frequency of errors and pseudo-archaisms. In addition, the German version applies archaisms far more than the English version.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-527854 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Myhr Eriksson, Max |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för lingvistik och filologi |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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