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Trainspotting: Translation of Swearing

Text in Joual

J'ai envie d'me battre(1) tabarnak(2)! J'veux dire(3)! Tu m'connais tsé, j'sus pas l'genre de grosse plotte tabarnak à charcher (4) des hostis d'problèmes, mais j'étais le gars avec le câlisse de bat de billard din's(5) mains et c'te grosse plotte là à face d'étron(6) pouvait bien se r'trouver a'c (7) le câlisse du bout gras du bat dans sa câlisse de grosse yeule, si y'avait envie (8) J'suis prète à l'faire (9) tabarnak(10) Tsé(11), j'vas pas chercher (12) une câlisse de misère à personne mais si un seul tabarnak de grosse touffe à marde (13) veut s'mettre, j'suis game(14) en tabarnak! Alors l'hostie d'cave met son cash(15) et y est prêt à casser, et pis là, la grosse plotte à face d'étron s'assied et ne dis pas un câlisse de mot tabarnak(16)! Moi j'avais toujours ce gros tabarnak de Jakey (17) à l'oeil (18), ce câlisse de toff, ou au moins y étais un câlisse de tabarnak de toff à l'école tsé(19). Ben(20) ce tabarnak là y a pas dit un câlisse de mot. Il gardait sa câlisse de yeule fermée, l'hostie de câlisse de grosse plotte(21). Tommy y nous fait "Hé! Franco, Ce gars là tu trouves pas qu'y a une grande yeule!? (22) "Tsé Tom y'est câlissement pas gêné, c'te tabarnak là. Y l'on entendu en sacrament, ces deux câlisses là, mais y ne tabarnakaient (23) toujours pas un mot tabarnak. Le câlisse de grosse plotte à face d'étron pis l'aut'tabarnak de supposé toff. Ça aurait fait deux cont'deux parce que tu connais Rab; i peut pas la faire tsé. j'laime ben ce tabarnak là (24), mais c'est un hosti de gros lâche quand y faut se décâlisser le corps(25). Son hostie de tabarnak de face y pissait l'alcool, y arrivait à peine à t'nir son ésti d'bat de pool (26). A c'te moment là, on était un mercredi y 'est onze heure et demi. Fait-que ça aurait faite un deux cont'deux (27). Mais ces câlisses de grosses plottes là y disent pas un tabarnak de mot!

Notes:
(1)There was no idiomatic vernacular equivalent for 'swedge' so the idea is expressed literally: I wanted to fight.

(2)The translation attempts to reflect the rhythm of the original sentence, but to do so within its own sound system, certain literal elements had to be dropped, (eg. 'ensemble', i.e. together, replaces 'ah mind', i.e. I remember) The main phenomenon to observe here is the use of the expletive language to create the rhythm and to observe the use of one of these words as a verb, i.e. tabarnaké. This creative use of the vocabulary of religious words, turning what are usually nouns into verbs and adverbs, underscores the vitality of the vernacular for all the poverty of imagination of the speaker. We liked the repetition of the hard 'c' in tabarnaké, câlisses, corps, criss, crabes, câlisse as the sound functions to underscore the violence in the action being described and is captured in such words in the original as smashin, fuckin, crabs, bits, stanes, cunt, fuckin, ken. In the Scots the violent effect is reflected not only in the consonants but in the use of monosyllabic plurals. In other words, the translators here are trying for an effect based as much in sound as in meaning. Note also the spelling of 'mardes' for merde, or shit. This spelling is phonetic and reflects the pronunciation of the word. In Quebec vernacular French, the vowels often differ from standard French reflecting the dialects of provincial France from which the first settlers came, leaving France before the homogenization of the language there through the discouragement of dialects. The parallel works well with Scots, which is often differentiated from English through the vowel sounds, which retain the pronunciation that was lost in southern Britain after the great vowel shift. These vowels are, of course, evident throughout Franco`s speech (e.g. doon for down, tae for to, cairryin for carrying, and so on).

(3) The idea of the original became too complicated in our various attempts to render the sentence, 'If the cunts hud've fuckin come ahead it wis nae problem like'. The loss of swear words, for example, was compensated for generally by the fact that joual tends to require a doubling of such words. The passage as a whole suffered no loss with the compression of this sentence into the emphatic. J'veux dire!'

(4) Another example of phonetic rendering of the joual vowel.

(5) Yet another

(6) Same phrase used here for plukey-faced to maintain consistency.

(7) Contraction for 'avec'

(8) Up to here this long sentence accommodates an almost literal translation given the difference in expletive vocabulary

(9)As in earlier instances, the image had to be replaced with a simple statement of what the image means in order to retain the immediacy of the original. See Notes 10 and 11. The fact that Franco is carrying his chib makes it obvious that he is prepared to use it violently, as he says in the translation, 'I was ready to do him'.

(10) The addition of 'tabarnak' translates 'Too fuckin right!"

(11)The common tag question in Edinburgh Scots, is 'ken', or 'know' as in 'you know?' The joual equivalent works perfectly: tsé, i.e 'tu sais' It terms of sound, the word sounds like 'ésti', used at the end of the previous sentence and creates the same effect as in the original where 'ken' ends this and the enxt sentence. There is a music in Franco's speech that can be duplicated in the translation in this way although not always at exactly the same place as in the original.

(12) Just as in Scots, speakers of joual go back and forth between variant pronunciations of the same word. See Note 4.

(13)The idea of 'lippy' proved untranslatable in this instance and so the insult was vulgarised as 'grosse touffe à marde', literally 'big cunt of shit', conveying Franco's disdain.

(14) Here the anglicism could be retained and made for a fine vernacular translation as anglicisms are an essential part of joual.

(15) This word provides another opportunity to enhance the vernacular nature of the language by using an anglicism current in joual. It translates the Americanism 'dough' in Franco's speech. This incursion of English into both Scots and joual allows for the exact recreation in the translation of an aspect of the language of the original.

(16)Two sentences combines as one to reflect the demands of the rhythm of joual. It was important to allow these differences and not create an artificial effect by adhering strictly to the punctuation and syntax of the original. This may be a factor of the dramaticand vernacular nature of the text in question.

(17)The name does not appear here in the original, but was added for the sake of coherence. Jakey is identified at the beginning of the monologue.

(18) An example of an idiomatic phrase which translates almost literally.

(19) Literal translation works. The consistency with earlier references (toff, tsé) is consciously maintained.

(20) Joual form of 'bien.' All of these joual pronunciations can be seen as equivalent to the other similar aspects in Scots. They affirm why vernacular texts are best translated into other vernacular languages not only for reasons of class and society, but because of the common aspects shared by vernacular speech.

(21) This latter phrase translates the single word 'cunt' which is used here as an insult. It should be noted that the word often is stripped of its power and can simply mean 'chap' or 'guy'. Its use, of course, reinforces Franco's macho and misogynist self-image. Here the word required an entire phrase to capture the power of its use in the original.

(22) Here we were able to present the idea of 'lippy' with the phrase 'une grande yeule', literally 'a big mouth'. 'Yeule' is joual for 'gueule'.

(23) Another transformation of tabarnak into a verb. Of course, the reptition of the word echoes the reptition of 'fuck' in the original.

(24) Except for the last phrase, all of the foregoing to the previous note is more or less a literal translation. It shows the ease with which the one vernacular accommodates the other. 'Ah lap the fcunt up', meaning 'I like the man' could not be rendered in the vivid image of Franco's Scots. As in earlier cases, the image was lost to a non-figurative expression of what the words implied.

(25)This Edinburgh street slang could find no literal equivalent in joual, but the use of the joual infinitive infinitive 'décâlisser' echoed the original slang of such words as 'scoobied' and 'pagger'. 'Décâlisser' means to break or demolish. The reflexive form is used here to suggest Rab's fear of getting hurt. The sentence in the translation can be rendered in English as 'He's a big goddam coward when he must risk getting himself hurt.'

(26) The literal translation works: 'He's psihed' becomes 'y pissait l'alcool'. Y is the pronoun 'il'. This can be seen as an addition of a vivid image ('He's pissing alcohol) to compensate for the loss of figurative language elsewhere. I certainly wouldn't argue that any of this was conscious on the part of the translators whose goal above all was to make a text that would live in its own language. It pleases me, however, to observe that what was lost elsewhere is regained here.

(27) 'Fuckin square-goes' is expressed less figuratively as 'deux cont' deuc', i.e. 'two agaist two'. This is another example of the idiomatic language not finding an equivalent item in the translation.

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