# The transfer of names in various translations of brothers Grimm's "Rumpelstilzchen"

Pawel Golda, Joanna Ryszka, Olcay Karabag, Bruno Messias Leandro, Joachim Zemmour

► To cite this version:

Pawel Golda, Joanna Ryszka, Olcay Karabag, Bruno Messias Leandro, Joachim Zemmour. The transfer of names in various translations of brothers Grimm's "Rumpelstilzchen". Bialostockie Archiwum Językowe, 2022, 22, pp.83-107. 10.15290/baj.2022.22.05. hal-03946388

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## Paweł GOLDA

Sorbonne Paris North University, University of Silesia in Katowice, University of Opole
pawel.golda@us.edu.pl, pawel.golda@uni.opole.pl
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5505-7731

## Joanna RYSZKA

Sapienza University of Rome, University of Silesia in Katowice
joanna.ryszka@uniroma1.it, joanna.ryszka@us.edu.pl
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5142-3949

## Olcay KARABAG

National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO)
olcay.karabag@inalco.fr
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8606-6390

## Bruno MESSIAS LEANDRO

University of São Paulo
bruno.meleandro@gmail.com
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7614-1462

## Joachim ZEMMOUR

Paris-East Créteil University
joachim.zemmour@gmail.com
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7977-7995

# THE TRANSFER OF NAMES IN VARIOUS TRANSLATIONS OF BROTHERS GRIMM'S RUMPELSTILZCHEN

## 1. INTRODUCTION

Across literary texts worldwide, names have often been granted a symbolic meaning, for instance, in the Old Testament (Barr 1969). Similarly, a literary character can become defined by its name, and through that name, it stands for some attribute or aspect of humanity itself. This is also
true in the case of folk legends and fairy tales, where a name is not "but" a name and may hold some additional meaning that some translators may find challenging to retain in their translations.

Vermes (2003: 89) says that “[t]he translation of proper names has often been considered as a simple automatic process of transference from one language into another, due to the view that proper names are mere labels used to identify a person or a thing”. However, the problem of the name’s transfer from the original story to its translation has also been recognised by various scholars (e.g. Leppihalme 1997, Vermes 2003) and proven especially problematic in the case of the folklore texts like fairy tales by others (e.g. Pieciul-Karmińska 2010; Shchurik 2017; Batsalay 2018).

The following article aims at adding to this discussion by analysing the transfer of names from Brothers Grimm's fairy tale "Rumpelstilzchen" to its multiple translations. The story itself, its characters and the motif of a helper have been the subject of numerous works (e.g. Birney 1974, Zipes 1993, Pieciul-Karmińska 2010, 2014; Ní Dhuibhne 2012; Coillie 2014), thus providing an excellent basis for further research on the translation of the names included in the fairy tale. This article analyses nine names provided by the Queen while talking with the titular character. These were taken from the selected fairy tale's twenty-one translations into English, Brazilian Portuguese, Polish, Turkish, and Japanese. The below analyses enable a further comparison of the trends in the translation of the proper names.

## 2. THE TALE AND THE NAMES

The Brothers Grimm's "Rumpelstilzchen" is coded as KHM 55, meaning that this is the 55th fairy tale in the "Kinder- und Hausmärchen" collection. It tells a story of a malevolent dwarf named *Rumpelstilzchen*, who appears out of the blue to come to the aid of a miller's daughter, who will later be made into a Queen by wedding the king. However, there is a price to pay for the dwarf's help; first, a necklace, then a ring, and then, the dwarf demands the highest price of all, her firstborn baby. Yet, the final sacrifice is too great a price to pay and the only way to avoid it is for her to discover the dwarf's "true name".

In the fairy tale, the Queen provides eight names before guessing the dwarf's real name. Yet, as presented below, these may differ depending on
the Grimms' fairy tale edition. The Grimm brothers published together as many as seven editions of the story in question, in their lifetime, with the first one in 1812, and last in 1857¹. Unfortunately, not all translations enable tracing down the source edition, especially in the case of the re-translations from English.

Moving back to the names provided by the Queen, these can be divided into three groups:

1. The first triad of names used during the first Queen's attempt to guess the dwarf's name consists of the Three Magi's names, i.e. *Caspar*, *Melchior* and *Balzer* that did not enter the 1812 edition. They appear for the first time in the edition from 1819. As Pieciul-Karmińska (2010: 53) states, every Christian of that time should be familiar with these names, well enough to say them in one breath.

2. The second group consists of three names provided by the Queen the next day during the second attempt, i.e. *Rippenbiest*, *Hammelswade*, and *Schnürbein*. Similarly to the above names, these were also included for the first time in the 1819 edition. These names, products of word-formation process, are combinations of mismatched elements that refer mainly to the animal world, i.e. *ein Biest* ('a beast' or 'a creature'), *ein Hammel* ('a mutton'); and anatomy, i.e. *eine Rippe* ('a rib'), *eine Wade* ('a calf'), *ein Bein* ('a leg', and archaically 'a bone<fnref n="2" />'). The only exception, which is neither an animal nor a body part, is the word *eine Schnür* referring to 'a cord' or 'a rope'. In Pieciul-Karmińska's (2010: 54) opinion, these names intensify the comic effect and can hardly be considered names. Additionally, they accentuate the strangeness and oddity and are in contrast with the religion-related names from the first group.

3. The last group consists of merely two names which appear once the Queen knows the real name of the protagonist but decides not to reveal it yet. The names are *Cunz* and *Heinz*, popularized at that time by the fact that numerous kings were named that way (Pieciul-Karmińska 2010: 55); thus, these are frequently used as an example of common and popular names as in the German phraseological unit 'Hinz und Kunz'. This expression means 'everyone, all possible people' and corresponds to the English 'every Tom, Dick and Harry'. Interestingly, the

<footnote n="1">¹ Other editions were published in 1819, 1837, 1840, 1843, and 1850.</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob Grimm und Wilhelm Grimm, https://woerterbuchnetz.de/?sigle=DWB&lemma=Bein#0 (accessed: 19.08.2022).</footnote>
two names are spelled differently depending on the version. The first version from 1812 spells them as *Konrad* and *Heinrich*. Later they were changed to their diminutive versions, i.e. *Cunz* and *Heinz*, to be finally spelled as *Kunz* and *Heinz* in the 1857 edition<fnref n="3" />.

In the following analyses, the etymology of the dwarf's name is particularly interesting since it is also the fairy tale's title. *Rumpelstilzchen* is actually a German compound word built of the verb *rumpeln* ('to rumble' or 'to clatter'), a constituent *stilz* (which is supposed to refer to 'a post' or 'a pole'), and the suffix *-chen* (which is used to create diminutive forms); thus the main character's name describes a spirit or ghost that makes noises in a house by rattling posts (Pieciul-Karmińska 2010: 51).

As shown above, the selected fairy tale is a great example for studying the translation of the proper names since it includes their different types being diminutives of existing names (e.g. *Cunz*), made-up names (e.g. titular *Rumpelstilzchen*), and those that could be considered by some as archaic (e.g. *Melchior*).

### 3. THE TRANSFER OF NAMES IN LITERARY TRANSLATION

In this type of translation, a translator, among other issues discussed, for instance, by Coillie (2006), faces the task of recreating "a sound shape of the name that can evoke certain associations in the readers' minds" (Batsalay 2018: 129). Therefore, the transfer of proper names from the source language (SL) into the target language (TL) is, in fact, a challenge discussed by various scholars (e.g. Shchurik 2017; Batsalay 2018). In his study of the problem, Coillie (2006) described ten strategies<fnref n="4" /> that translators can apply. In this article, the strategies selected from his work were re-named for the sake of simplification and applied in the below analyses.

<footnote n="3">³ This article applies the spelling *Cunz* and *Heinz*.</footnote>

<footnote n="4">⁴ The strategies are: 1. Non-translation, reproduction, copying; 2. Non-translation plus additional explanation; 3. Replacement of a personal name by a common noun; 4. Phonetic or morphological adaptation to the TL; 5. Replacement by a counterpart in the TL (exonym); 6. Replacement by a more widely known name from the source culture or an internationally known name with the same function; 7. Replacement by another name from the TL (substitution); 8. Translation (of names with a particular connotation); 9. Replacement by a name with another or additional connotation; 10. Deletion (Coillie 2006: 124–129).</footnote>
However, before proceeding, it should be stated that some may use the term 'technique' to describe the notion here called 'strategy'. Yet, these two terms may be considered as two different concepts in Translation Studies. Tardzenyuy (2016: 48) differentiates these two terms by saying:

> translation strategy is a pre-translation decision that is taken by the translator before engaging in the actual translation, while a translation technique is a practical method by which a translation strategy is operationalized.

Nevertheless, in this paper, the term 'strategy' is used according to the approach presented by Coillie.

The first strategy is **replacement** of a proper name with its counterpart in the TL (Coillie 2006: 126). For instance, the use of Polish *Henryk* in place of German *Heinrich* would be a replacement. Of course, this strategy is applied when a proper name has its corresponding and conventional counterpart in the TL.

The second one is **translation** that, as the analyses suggest, requires getting familiar with the etymology of an original name and, by knowing its roots, providing a name that would mean a similar thing. Newmark (1988: 5) describes it as transferring meaning into TL in the way the author intended in the source text. Vermes (2003: 94) enriches this definition by describing translation as "rendering the SL name, or at least part of it, by a TL expression which has given rise to the same, or approximately the same, analytic implications in the target text as the original name did in the source text". This strategy differs from replacement in the way that translation considers the connotations that can be rendered by the SL name and may not be revoked by the one in TL. For Coillie (2006), this strategy is applied for names with a particular connotation, yet the name's meaning is also considered in this article. Both elements are essential while transferring the made-up names. In other words, translation strategy preserves the original meaning, connotation, and the form of the source name.

The third strategy, here referred to as **non-translation**, or called transference by Vermes (2003: 93), is when the translator decides "to incorporate the SL proper name unchanged into the TL text; either because it only contributes its referent to the meaning of the utterance, or because any change would make the processing of the utterance too costly, in a relevance-theoretic sense" (Vermes 2003: 93). The application of this strategy may also be caused by having an approach similar to Vendler (1975), who treats
proper names as labels that have no meaning and do not require translation. Also, as a different strategy Coillie (2006: 126) distinguishes non-translation plus additional explanation, here referred to as **addition**.

Next is **transcription**, which corresponds with Coillie's phonetic or morphological adaptation to the TL when the source text's language uses a different writing system than the TL, e.g. a transfer from German to Japanese. Even though this strategy seems similar to the above-discussed non-translation, it focuses on the writing system. The transcription partially adjusts the name to the phonetic system of the TL in a predictable way.

The next strategy, named in the following article as **modification** corresponds to Coillie's (2006: 126) replacement of a personal name by a common noun, or as in this article, noun or a phrase. This understanding is in line with the example provided by Shuttleworth (2014: 107): "choosing a word with a slightly different meaning, using another part of speech or substituting a word with other stylistic overtones all qualify as instances of modification".

The seventh strategy is **substitution** which involves a replacement of the name with another name from the TL. The final name, contrary to modification, is still a proper noun and should retain the source connotations, or as Coillie (2006: 127) argues, the translator should attempt to "find a functional equivalent that must take into account the referential semantic elements and connotations relevant to the context". For instance, if any translator changes the names of the Three Magi in "Rumpelstilzchen" from *Caspar*, *Melchior* and *Balzer* to any other three names which evoke similar associations and are more familiar to a reader, it is substitution. Interestingly, Coillie (2006: 128) also distinguishes a replacement by a name with another or additional connotation, yet in the below analyses, the mentioned additional connotations were not revealed. Another different strategy listed by Coillie is a "replacement by a more widely known name from the source culture or an internationally known name with the same function" (Coillie 2006: 127), here called **foreign substitution**. In this article, source culture is understood as the SL since the fairy tale culturally belongs to the German culture. However, it should be emphasized that some of the analysed translations were based on English translations.

Lastly, **deletion**, described by Coillie (2006: 129) as "[t]he last resort in dealing with translation problems in leaving them out altogether". It is a simple omission of a name in the translation.
Despite the above-listed strategies, Coillie (2006) distinguishes one more being a replacement of a personal name with a common noun. However, this strategy was not applied in the below-discussed translations; thus, it is not discussed in more detail.

Finally, the discussion on the transfer of proper names in fairy tales would not be complete without a note on **transcreation** which, according to Gaballo (2012), is a reinterpretation of the original work suited to the readers of the TL. It requires new conceptual, linguistic, and cultural constructs that compensate for the lack of existing ones in the TL. Additionally, this strategy can help to overcome the limits of 'untranslatability' (Gaballo 2012), in this case, of a name. Here, transcreation is considered a separate strategy since translation strategy relies on as many as three elements, i.e. on the name's construction, connotation and meaning. In contrast, transcreation focuses mainly on the connotation, yet, in this article, contrary to, for instance, substitution, its final product is not a generally acknowledged name like *Conrad* or *Henrich*. The distinction of this strategy was necessary for a proper analysis of the fairy tale's protagonist's true name and the made-up names. In other words, translation is perceived as mostly literal (but still considering the connotation) transfer of a name, whereas transcreation is understood as a translational creation of a new construct, here, a name.

# 4. ANALYSES

## 4.1 English

Both in older and recent publications, the two main common references are Hunt (1884) and Taylor (1823). Whether for the preciseness with which these authors converted the essence of the morphological and semantic aspects of names into English or for the popularity their texts acquired through time, they formed a solid basis for future interpretations of the formal components of the text, for instance, in Japanese and Brazilian Portuguese. It can be said that these translations established a milestone for the dissemination of the story in a way to still connect it with its source language-wise.

Taylor (1823) transferred *Rumpelstilzchen* with the only difference of hyphens and a different suffix. Thus, in this version, it is *Rumpel-Stilts-Ken*, that
can be perceived as an example of transcription due to the use of hyphens that possibly were to ease the pronunciation. The names of the Three Magi were replaced with other biblical references, i.e. *Timothy, Ichabod, Benjamin* and *Jeremiah*, where the applied strategy is substitution, since the religious connotation was retained. The reason for this change remains unclear, also as for the addition of one more name. Then, *Rippenbiest, Hammelswade* and *Schnürbein* appear as *Bandy-legs, Hunch-back* and *Crook-shanks*, that are examples of transcreation. Finally, *Cunz* and *Heinz* were replaced by *John* and *Tom*, respectively. In this case, it is worth pointing out that the choice made keeps the idea of using very common names (both one syllabled, like the German ones) in order to portray the Queen's simulation of not yet knowing that the main character is called *Rumpel-Stilts-Ken*. Nevertheless, the translator decided not to allude to the phraseological unit 'Hinz und Kunz' and did not use the names from its English equivalent 'every Tom, Dick and Harry'.

Davis (1855) maintains *Caspar* and *Melchior* but changes *Balthazar* into *Adolph*, a common name, reinforcing the mockery of the Queen's first guesses. Both the dwarf and the tale are called *Rumpelstiltz* and the other names are non-translated, yet transliterated to mimic the original *Rippenbiest, Hammelshade, Schumbein*. The last two have the same German reference, but instead of the original, *Siegfred* and *Wilhelm* are used suggesting the application of foreign substitution.

The other two editions were released with the title "Household stories, with 240 illustrations by E. H. Wehnert"<fnref n="5" /> by the publishing houses David Bogue and Addey and CO., in 1853 and 1862, respectively. Both editions transcribe the dwarf's name as *Rumpelstiltskin* with the use of archaic suffix -kin, corresponding to the German -chen, used to construct a diminutive<fnref n="6" />. The Three Magi's names are provided in the same manner as in the SL, with a slight change in *Balzer*, which is spelt *Balthassar*. *Rippenbiest, Hammelswade* and *Schnürbein* are here *Ribs-of-beef, Sheep-shank* and *Whalebone*, which maintain the animal references, adding the whale reference that might have been a source to other versions, such as the Portuguese version that uses its direct translation. Another strong indicator of this influence is the adaptation of *Cunz* and *Heinz* as *Conrade* and *Hal*, which also appear

<footnote n="5">⁵ Herein referred to as Wehnert (1853), cf. Seago (2003).</footnote>

<footnote n="6">⁶ Oxford English Dictionary, https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/103436?rskey=cB2hs-4&result=5&isAdv=anceid (accessed: 2.09.2022).</footnote>
as their direct correspondents in Portuguese, for example. For these two
names, the applied strategy is replacement since *Conrade* is an alternate
form of German *Conrad*, and *Hal* a diminutive of a nickname of the names
*Henry*, which derives from German *Henrich*.

Crane (1882) uses *Jack* and *Harry* for *Cunz* and *Heinz*, and continues
to transcribe the dwarf's name as *Rumpelstiltskin*. For the names of the
Three Magi, Crane applies replacement and uses *Caspar*, *Melchior* and
*Balthazar*. Then, for the made-up names, the translator provides *Roast-ribs*,
*Sheepshanks* and *Spindleshanks*, which are examples of transcreation since
at least one constituent of these compound names comes from the source
names.

In Hunt (1884), the main character's name is again transcribed as *Rumpelstiltskin*. Later, *Caspar*, *Melchior*, *Balzer*, *Cunz* and *Heinz* are replaced with their English equivalents such as *Caspar*, *Melchior*, *Balthazar*, *Conrad* and *Harry*. Again, the expression 'every Tom, Dick and Harry' was not introduced, with only *Harry* appertaining to the triad of names in the English phraseological unit. *Rippenbiest*, *Hammelswade* and *Schnürbein* are, in this version, transferred into English with the translator's neological creations heavily based on the source names, i.e. *Shortribs* (the constituent 'ribs' corresponds to the constituent 'rippen'), *Sheepshanks* (the constituent 'sheep' corresponds to the constituent 'hammel'), and *Laceleg* (the constituent 'leg' corresponds to the constituent 'bein').

In the translation by Jacobs (1890), where the dwarf is constantly re-
ferred to as *That*, the true name remains unchanged. The other names
were changed from *Caspar*, *Melchior*, *Balzer*, *Cunz* and *Heinz* to *Nicodemus*,
*Sammle*, *Methusalem*, *Solomon* and *Zebedee* respectively. Those names, as
in Taylor's (1823), are biblical referents, even the common ones. Thus, the
common-name reference was lost in this part but introduced in the next
triad, i.e. *Rippenbiest*. *Hammelswade* and *Schnürbein*, transferred respectively
as *Bill*, *Ed* and *Mark*. It is an example of modification since the names were
changed from compound words to regular names. With those differences,
it is possible to say that the plots are similar, but this version is not very
close to the German one, especially in the naming aspect.

Lucas (1909) transferred the Three Magi's names as *Caspar*, *Melchoir*
(with a different spelling) and *Balzer* (as in Hunt's adaptation). *Cowribs*,
*Spindleshanks* and *Spiderlegs* contain the original animal allusions. Lastly,
*Tom* and *Dick* are the choices for the *Cunz* and *Heinz*, using two of the three
names that form the 'every Tom, Dick and Harry' expression.
Interestingly, in Edwardes' (1912) translation, the chosen names are
exactly the same as in Taylor's (1823), with the exception of the addition
of *Jemmy* to the part where *John* and *Tom* are used as alternatives for *Cunz*
and *Heinz*, creating a tricolon. This creates a more rhythmical and ludic
option, which may be the source of versions with three names to adapt the
German expression seen in some of the other languages analysed here.

## 4.2 Brazilian Portuguese

One of the first Brazilian Portuguese versions of this tale is the trans-
lation from 1936 by Lobato. Some books with the Grimm brothers' tales had
already been published before that, but none of the popular ones contained
"Rumpelstilzchen". The reason for that is unclear, but the difficulties related
to creating a neologism using meaningful prefixes and suffixes in a name to
correspond to the German construction might have been decisive in that
sense. Then, Lobato's experience as a storyteller, his knowledge of English
and familiarity with the versions in this language led to the text found in
"Novos Contos de Grimm". The strong influence of the versions by Taylor
(1823) and Hunt (1884) is clearly perceived in his and in some of the other
adaptions studied here.

Lobato (1936), who based his translation on the English version by Hunt
(1884), went for non-translation by simply transferring the main character's
name from English. *Rumpelstiltskin*, thus, was maintained, for reasons that
are likely to be related to the difficulty of creating an equivalent name (in
terms of meaning, mainly) in the TL, without using more than one or two
words. As a result of such a linguistic obstacle, there is a certain level of
strangeness to the combination of consonants used in the name since it is
by no means frequent in Portuguese, causing potential rhymes with it to
demand some more work. In this case, the order of the words that compose
the chant in which the hero's name is revealed is changed so that its sound
harmony does not depend upon the designation itself.

*Caspar, Melchior and Balzer* appear as their Brazilian Portuguese equi-
valents being *Gaspar, Melquior and Baltazar*. As for *Rippenbiest. Hammels-
wade and Schnürbein*, only two names are used, i.e. *Pata de Cordeiro* ('sheep
leg') and *Laço Largo* ('large lace', similar to Hunt's *Laceleg* and the German
version). Finally, *Cunz* and *Heinz* are *Conrado* and *Harry* – here, the English
influence is clear since the latter is used with the sources' spelling, not spelt
as *Henrique*, i.e. as its equivalent in Portuguese.
Another important translation is the one by Stahel (1997). Again, as in Hunt, *Rumpelstiltskin* was used. For *Caspar*, *Melchior* and *Balzer*, those were replaced with *Gaspar*, *Melquior* and *Baltazar*. *Rippenbiest* became *Costela-de-boi* (lit. 'ox ribs'), *Hammelswade* was translated as *Perna-de-Carneiro* ('goat leg') and *Schnürbein* as *Osso-de-Baleia* ('whale bone'). As for *Cunz*, the natural correspondent *Conrado* was chosen, while *Hal* (not common in Portuguese which indicates the choice for the transcription of the names taken from Wehnert's version). Interestingly, there are two names in Portuguese that could mimic the use of names *Cunz* and *Heinz* in the source version. Namely, the names from the Portuguese expression 'qualquer Zé Mané' (lit. 'every José and Emanuel/Manuel'), i.e. *Zé* and *Mané*.

Another version that brings different designations worth taking a look at is the one by Paciornik (2008). In it, *Rumpelstiltskin*, as in the text previously analysed, is the title and the hero's name. However, the Three Magi, *Caspar*, *Melchior* and *Balzer*, are transferred as *Timóteo*, *Benjamin* and *Jeremias*, which are also biblical and common names but not directly corresponding to the original ones. Interestingly, Taylor, in his English translation, applied the same names. This proves that Paciornik was using the English version by Edwardes.

Next, *Cambaio* ('bandy-leg'), *Corcunda* ('hunch-back') and *Cambota* ('crankshaft') replace *Rippenbiest*, *Hammelswade* and *Schnürbein*, respectively. Here, Edwardes's translation, inspired by Taylor's, also seems to be the source (*Bandy-legs*, *Hunch-back* and *Crook-shanks*, as mentioned in the English analysis).

Lastly, *Cunz* is translated as *João* (associated with *John*, in English) and *Heinz* as *Tião* (a nickname for *Sebastião*, or *Sebastian* in English). Such changes seem to have been made in order to rhyme and add a more comical tone to the Queen's mocking of the dwarf by pretending to be guessing very general names to hide the fact that she already knew the real one.

## 4.3 Polish

Among the first translations of "Rumpelstilzchen" into Polish is the one by Kowerska, published in 1896. In this version, the main hero's name was replaced with *Dydko*. The explanation of this translator's choice remains in the fact that *dydko* was, as Skuza (2017: 303) says, a Slavic mythological male creature, characteristically small and covered in hair. This creature thrived within the houses' walls protecting families. Interestingly, among
all folklore deities, this one seems the most benevolent which is why it can be stated that Kowerska went for some kind of domestication. Interestingly, knowing that Polish *dydko* is a common noun, and that Kowerska used it as a name, it can be said that the applied strategy is transcreation based on modification.

When it comes to other names in Kowerska's version, the first three ones, *Caspar*, *Melchior*, *Balzer*, were replaced with their natural Polish equivalents, i.e. *Kacper*, *Melchior*, and *Baltazar*. Then, the names *Rippenbiest*, *Hammelswade*, and *Schnürbein*, were replaced with Old Polish names *Gościrad*, *Cierpisław*, *Wszebór* that remain unusual for the Polish readers. The change from made-up names to real ones, suggests the application of modification.

Finally, in Kowerska's version, the two last names, *Cunz* and *Heinz*, were changed to *Jacek* and *Konrad*. *Konrad* is the Polish equivalent of *Cunz*, but the choice of *Jacek* may seem to remain unfounded. The reason for this change may be in the fact that at the level of pronunciation, there is a common point and similarity between the names *Heinz* and *Jacek*. Namely, in both, the affricate consonant [ts] is present. Notwithstanding, that choice impoverished the target version because the German phraseological unit was lost.

Pieciul-Karmińska (2010: 60) says that *Dydko* is not a well-known name, and a significant part of Polish children would link the name *Titelitury* with the hero in question. This one is the name from Tarnowski's (1930) version, though this translator was not its inventor. In fact, Tarnowski's translation, which was published for the first time in 1925 (Koryga 2014: 10) and, then, reprinted many times, initially included a different name. Tarnowski named the eponym hero *Hałasik* ('little noise'), which could be considered as an example of transcreation. However, in 1989, the editor changed it to *Titelitury*. Pieciul-Karmińska (2009: 72) says about the "Editor's note" revealing the reason of the change which was made:

> This example is particularly interesting, as the name *Titelitury* seems to owe its existence in Polish literature to a mistake of a rather grave nature, springing from the editors' lack of familiarity with the edited text. Assuming the name is revealed by a little bird, they claim to have chosen a name resembling bird chirping, i.e. *Titelitury*.

Furthermore, Pieciul-Karmińska (2009: 72) remarks that the note of the editor did not give any information about the source of the name but supplies it with further etymological note: "in Swedish, there is a similar fairy tale about a demon whose name has to be guessed; his name is Titteli
Ture". The Polish researcher rightly says that *Dydko* and *Halasik* were at least able to convey the semantic value of the name. In her opinion, the use of *Titelitury* is completely unauthorised and a misguided translation (Pieciul-Karmińska 2010: 61).

It must be pointed out that only the true name of the dwarf was modified by the editor while the next ones proposed by Tarnowski were maintained unchanged in reprints<fnref n="7" />.

*Caspar, Melchior, Balzer* were replaced with their equivalents as in Kowerska's translation. Then, *Rippenbiest, Hammelswade, and Schnürbein*, were changed to *Polikarp, Saturnin, and Gracjan*. The first name is of a Greek origin (Breza 2014: 37), while the second and third ones come from Latin (Breza 2011: 41; Czajkowska, Romocka-Tyfel 2021: 23). Additionally, these names are usual human ones, contrary to made-up names from the original fairy tale; thus, suggesting the application of modification.

Finally, *Cunz* and *Heinz* were translated as *Kostek* and *Jasio*. The translator used diminutives, i.e *Kostek* is a diminutive of *Konstanty* while *Jasio* is a one of *Jan*. It may seem that previously presented names, i.e. *Kacper, Melchior, Baltazar, Polikarp, Saturnin, and Gracjan*, connote with older men contrary to the last two given names, which connote with children.

The next version to be analysed is the one by Londyński<fnref n="8" /> (1929). In this version, the protagonist's name is *Rupiec Kopieć*. According to Pieciul-Karmińska (2014: 138–139), the translator wanted the name to phonetically imitate the original one by using a similar syllable at the beginning. Nevertheless, the word used by Londyński, *rupiec*, does not exist in Polish. There is, however, a word *rupieć* ‘junk’. Similarly, there is no word *kopieć* in Polish, instead, the similar lexeme *kopiec* exists and means ‘a heap’. It can be stated that the consonants [tɛ] and [tʃ] were exchanged in these two nouns to create neologisms. It can also be considered as a sort of wordplay, which in this manner may explain *Rupiec Kopieć* as ‘a heap of old junk’.

Londyński replaced *Caspar, Melchior, Balzer* in the same way as Kowerska and Tarnowski did. The three animal-based names were successfully transferred as *Zebronóg* (‘who has zebra’s leg’), *Baranimózg* (‘muttonhead’)

<footnote n="7">⁷ As it was already said, Tarnowski's translation had been reprinted many times. Notwithstanding, it also was digitized in 2016 by Fundacja Nowoczesna Polska wherein the name *Titelitury* may be seen: https://polona.pl/item/titelitury,NzA2NTY3MzE/1/#info:metadata (accessed: 9.04.2022).</footnote>

<footnote n="8">⁸ Londyński also published under a pen name: Mieczysław Rościszewski.</footnote>
or lit. 'who has a sheep's brain'), and *Zimnożab* ('who is a cold frog'). Thus, all these names are based on animals' names and body-related terms like the original fairy tale.

For *Cunz* and *Heinz*, Londyński proposed two common nouns, *pies* and *bies* (both written with the lower case). It is because, in Polish, there is a phraseological unit 'ni pies, ni bies' (and its alternative version 'ni to pies, ni to bies'), which means 'something difficult to say, something specific that known concepts cannot define'. Worth saying that *pies* means 'dog' while *bies* refers to a 'devil'. Additionally, like *Cunz* and *Heinz*, *pies* and *bies* are phonetically similar.

Another translation of the fairy tale is the one by Pieciul-Karmińska (2010), which was based on the seventh Grimm's edition from 1857. In this version, the dwarf's name is *Rumpelsztyk*. Thus, the translator created a new word based on the original German hero's name. Pieciul-Karmińska (2010: 62) explains: "The main source of this translation choice was not only the need to correct the mistake, but most of all maintaining a clear reference to the original title in the Polish text<fnref n="9" />".

As in the above-analysed translations, the Three Magi's names were replaced with *Kacper*, *Melchior*, and *Baltazar*. Later, Pieciul-Karmińska replaced the next three names with her inventions, i.e. *Żebrozwierz* for *Rippenbiest* (both composed of two words meaning in both languages 'rib' and 'beast'), *Koziboczek* ('goat's side/bacon') for *Hammelswade*, and *Chocholi-gnat* ('capsheaf's bone') for *Schnürbein*.

Finally, the last pair of names, *Kunz* and *Heinz*, remained in Pieciul-Karmińska's translation without any change. However, it is necessary to say that the Polish translator explained in the footnote the significance of these two names, or more precisely, of the German phraseological unit.

### 4.4. Turkish

In Turkey, translation became especially important after the reclamation of the Republic in 1923, and among the first ones is the translation of the Brothers Grimm's tales from German by Kaya (1943). Nevertheless, Kaya's

<footnote n="9">⁹ Translation from Polish by Golda. The original fragment: "Głównym źródłem tego wyboru translatorskiego była nie tylko konieczność naprawienia błędu, lecz przede wszystkim utrzymanie w tekście polskim przejrzystego nawiązania do oryginalnego tytułu" (Pieciul-Karmińska 2010: 62).</footnote>
work was a collection that did not include all the tales, merely the most
popular stories like *Little Red Riding Hood*. Up to now, "Rumpelstilzchen"
has been already translated into Turkish many times. However, due to the
accessibility, the present analysis focuses on the two most recent versions.
The first is a translation by Yeğinobalı, published in 2008, and the second
is by Günersel from 2011.

Yeğinobalı (2008), as the source version for her translation, chose the version from 1812 with a smoother finale, where after the Queen guesses the dwarf's true name, he runs angrily away and never returns. This choice is understandable since the translation was published in the children's book series. Thus, it can be rightly assumed that the target audience of Yeğinobalı's version was children, contrary to the Günersel (2011) translation. Günersel used as a source version the one from 1857 that can be considered more brutal with the dwarf cutting his body in two in a rage.

For the first three names, which referred to the Three Magi, translators, went for different strategies. Günersel used *Kaspar*, *Melchio*, *Balzer*, examples of transcription whereas Yeğinobalı used *Caspar*, *Melchior*, *Balthasar*, examples of non-translation from the English version. It can be said that since the Three Magi's names do not have equivalents in Turkish, the translators considered it appropriate to transfer them in this way.

For Cunz and Heinz, Günersel chose modification by changing the names to an adjective and an expression. He transferred those as *Pabucuyarım* 'the one with torn shoes' or 'poor', and *Vurdumduymaz* 'insensitive'. 'Pabucu yarım' is an expression frequently used in nursery rhymes. Children repeat a rhyme "X pabucu yarım çık dışarıya oynayalım!" with their friend's name instead of X to invite them to play. The literal English translation of the rhyme is "X with torn shoes, come play with us!" So, the translator uses the expression 'pabucu yarım' referring to the character of the dwarf who answers the miller's daughter's call for help. The dwarf comes to the aid of the miller's daughter. Every time the king locks the miller's daughter, readers might expect the dwarf to come. At the same time, Günersel made another reference to the dwarf's character by using the adjective 'vurdumduymaz', which pictures him as a character who makes a deal with people for his self-interest. Perhaps Günersel purposely chose to use adjectives to make the names more interesting and fun. In the case of Yeğinobalı's version, the applied strategy reveals that she was basing her translation on the English one since she used the names *Conrade* and *Hal* as in Wehnert's version.
When it comes to the unusual first names, *Rippenbiest, Hammelswade, Schnürbein*, Günersel simply translated the first two, whereas the strategy applied in the third one is disputable. Nevertheless, as he explains in the preface of his translation, he tried to provide similar names in the TL, not to modify the original ones. The names he chose are respectively, i.e. *Akciğeroğlu* 'the lung son', *Koyunbaldırı* 'mutton calf', and *İplikayak* 'rope skiing'. Regarding the third one, it can be understood in two ways. If written as one word, it can mean 'rope skiing', an ancient type of skiing practised in the Black Sea region of Turkey. If so understood, it would be categorized as transcreation. On the other hand, the same one can also be treated as a literal translation of *Schnürbein*, if divided into two words, *iplik* 'thread' + *ayak* 'leg'. The interpretation would depend on the reader, yet the first connotation would be the rope skiing. Interestingly, Yeğinobalı also applied two different strategies for these ones. She chose to use single-word names in consideration of the tale's target audience. *Rippenbiest* and *Hammelswade* were transferred as *Pirzola* 'grilled lamb chops', and *Külbastı* 'grilled lamb fillet'. Whereas the third one, *Schnürbein*, that also underwent modification, was transferred as *Fildişi* 'ivory' in the Yeğinobalı's translation.

Regarding the translation of the dwarf's true name, the translators have again chosen different strategies. Yeğinobalı chose the non-translation strategy by using the English version of the dwarf's first name *Rumpelstiltskin*. On the other hand, Günersel again showed an example of modification by using an expression 'kuru gürültü' which means 'to stir up much commotion for a matter of little importance'. It also denotes 'unnecessary, irrelevant, irreversible words or actions' (the lexical definition by the Turkish Language Association<fnref n="10" />). It is a possible reference to the dwarf's unnecessary commotion and the non-sense guessing game he had played with the Queen.

### 4.5. Japanese

Contrary to other languages, the Japanese translations of the chosen fairy tale are relatively new. Even though the first Japanese translations of Grimms' stories were written back in 1887, "Rumpelstilzchen" had to wait till the next century to be published. As it was forty years later when the

<footnote n="10">¹⁰ Türk Dil Kurumu, Türk dil kurumu sözlükleri, Güncel türkçe sözlük, https://sozluk.gov.tr (accessed: 18.10.2021).</footnote>
Grimms' fairy tales gained remarkable popularity in Japan and in 1925 received their first complete translation written by Kaneda.

Kaneda's (1925) translation nowadays could be considered hard to read for a regular Japanese reader due to the presence of archaic characters. Nevertheless, the protagonist's names remain relatively comprehensible to this day. In their transfer Kaneda applied two different strategies, transcription and translation. First, Kaneda uses katakana script, which is usually used in the transcription of foreign words, resulting in カスパール kasupaaru (Caspar), メルヒオール meruhiooru (Melchior), and バメルツェル barutseru (Balzer).

The next three names provided by the Queen are also transliterated. However, Kaneda decided to provide some additional information in the brackets after names. The first one, リッペンビースト rippenbiisuto (Rippenbiest) is followed by a phrase 雌の初乳 mesu no hatsuchichi (lit. 'first female milk'), with the first character, 雌 masu, referring to a female animal or plant. The next one, being ハンメルスワーデ hanmerusuwaade (Hammelswade), is followed by 去勢羊の脛 kyoseihitsuji no sune 'a shank of a castrated sheep'. The third one is transliterated as シュニュールペイン shunyuurupein (Schnürbein) followed by 衣裳下の鯨骨 ishooka no geikotsu, lit. 'a whale's bone under clothing', probably referring to 'a baleen'. Interestingly, the applied transcription enables tracking down to the source version of the translation, which in this case is the original German story written in 1819, yet undoubtedly Kaneda was familiar both with the source text and one of its English translations, probably Wehnert's. This can be deducted from the use of the word 鯨骨 geikotsu 'whale's bone' in the brackets following the name corresponding to the German's Schnürbein. In other words, Kaneda relied on both translations while transferring the names, and the applied strategy is transcription with an addition. The next names provided by the Queen are also transcriptions, クンツ kuntsu (Cunz) and ハインツ haintsu (Heinz), yet without any addition.

For the real name of the main character, Kaneda decided to provide a translation and proposed がたがたの竹馬小僧 gatagata no takeuma kozoo, which can be treated as a literal translation of German Rumpelstilzchen with gatagata (an onomatopoeia) denoting 'rattling', takeuma 'stilts' or 'posts' and kozoo 'a boy'. Nevertheless, the story seems to use too many characters that are too difficult for a young reader, making it unsuitable for a young audience. Notably, the real name is the same in the translation by Takahashi (1985), who possibly copied all the names from Kaneda.
In this case, the used strategies applied are also the same, yet it requires further investigation to examine whether these were the translator's own choices coincidentally similar to the ones chosen by Kaneda. Due to this uncertainty, Takahashi's translation and applied strategies are not included in the further analysis.

Contrary to Kaneda, Koyama (1928) focused on the foreignisation of the names by the application of the katakana script. Thus, the first names provided by the Queen are ズピンドレスハンクス zupindoresuhankusu (Spindleshanks), スキントアイ sukintoai (a possible Japanese transcription of the English phrase 'squint eyes'), パンデーレグス pandeerugusu (which may be a transcription of an Irish surname Pandergast), ウイリアム uiriamu (William), ジョーデ jooji (George), and ジョン jon (John). Importantly, Koyama provides merely six names in two groups instead of three, omitting the three names with religious connotations, yet adding one more to common ones.

The first three names from the provided ones are examples of trans-creation since these do not transcribe the names from the source text but suggest new ones. In comparison, the second triad is an example of foreign substitution, in this case, from English. For the true name of the main char-racter, Koyama proposed the following transcription ルムペルスチルツキン rumperusuchirutsukin. Additionally, the ending kin confirms the use of English translation as a reference, yet the analysis did not reveal the exact source text. Nevertheless, contrary to Kaneda's, this translation was pos-sibly meant for children since the book contains pictures and glosses showing the reading/pronunciation of all the complex characters. The use of ズピンドレスハンクス zupindoresuhankusu (Spindleshanks) suggests that Koyama (1928) was familiar with the English version from 1909 yet still decided not to fully rely on it and create new names.

The translation by Kusuyama was originally published in 1949, but after the process of digitalisation and simplification of characters in 2004, it was added to the digital repository Aozora Bunko. Notably, those sim-plifications make the analysed version suitable for young readers, even if the dwarf's name seems hard to pronounce, since Kusuyama (2004), similarly to Koyama, decided to go for transcription, which is almost the same as in Kaneda. However, the most interesting is the real name of the main character, which is transliterated as ルンペルシュチルツヒエン runperushuchirutsuhyen. The ending hyen suggests that Kusuyama, like Kaneda, translated from the original German version. Another translator who relied on the German original is Umekichi (1949). Yet, he provided
a slightly different transcription of the true name than Kusuyama, i.e. ルムペンシュツンツヘン *rumupenshutsuntsuhen*. It seems that, Umekichi tried to follow the written version of the name, whereas, Kusuyama went for the pronunciation.

## 5. CONCLUSIONS

The proposed analyses of different tale's versions in a large linguistic panorama allow to state that the translators' creativity and the diversity of applied strategies throughout editions was significant. Firstly, it is worth saying that the true name of the dwarf was translated into the analysed languages in two principal ways.

Some translators tried to transfer the main hero's real name by applying transcription or non-translation, to ensure as little alternations as possible. These changes often aimed at facilitating easier pronunciation. The examples of this situation are, among others, the names proposed by Kusuyama (2004), Umekichi (1949), and Taylor (1823). Interestingly, from the selected translations, only the Polish translations decided to go for transcreation, that seems to be the most demanding and creative strategy resulting with Tarnowski's (1930) *Hałasik*, Kowerska's (1896) *Dydko* and Londyński's (1929) *Rupiec Kopiec*.

The Three Magi's names in most of editions were replaced by equivalents in the TL or other biblical referents. For instance, Edwardes (1912) replaced them with other religion-related names, i.e. *Timothy*, *Benjamin* and *Jeremiah* and these were used also by Paciornik (2008). Interestingly, Taylor (1823) uses the same names, yet also added *Ichabod*. This addition is an example of some kind of creativity, yet hard to justify.

The triad of three animal-based names (*Rippenbiest*, *Hammelswade* and *Schnürbein*), were rendered differently in each of the TLs and translations. For instance, in Japanese they were mostly transliterated. However, usually these names were translated with other geological inventions, like Hunt's (1884) *Shortribs*, *Sheepshanks*, and *Laceleg*. Only Tarnowski (1930) decided to transfer the made-up names as real human ones, since Jacobs's (1890) *Bill*, *Ed* and *Mark* probably correspond to *Cunz* and *Heinz*, i.e. Jacobs decided to change the order of groups of names.

Finally, the names *Cunz* and *Heinz* whose translation usually did not apply a phraseological unit in TL (if one existed). For instance, in Turkish
there is an expression that might have been used in translation, i.e. 'Ali ile Veli'. Yet, Yeğinobalı (2006) preferred to transcribe names as *Conrade* and *Hal*. Interestingly, Günersel (2011) used the name *Pabucuyarım* based on the wording 'Pabucu yarım'. So, it can be stated that this is a case of compensation where one phraseological unit is replaced by another not having the same meaning. When it comes to Polish, only one translator found a phraseological solution in translation of this duad of names. For *Cunz* and *Heinz*, Londyński (1929) used the equivalents *pies* and *bies* being components of the Polish phraseological unit such as 'ni pies, ni bies'.

<table><caption>Table 1. The distribution of applied strategies</caption><thead><tr><th>Name(s)</th><th>Replacement</th><th>Translation</th><th>Non-translation</th><th>Transcription</th><th>Modification</th><th>Substitution</th><th>Foreign substitution</th><th>Transcreation</th><th>Deletion</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><i>Rumpelstilzchen</i></td><td>—</td><td>1J*</td><td>3BP, 1T</td><td>8E, 1PL, 3J</td><td>1T</td><td>—</td><td>—</td><td>3PL</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td><i>Casper Melchior Balzer</i></td><td>5E, 3BP, 4PL</td><td>—</td><td>1T</td><td>1T, 3J</td><td>—</td><td>3E</td><td>—</td><td>—</td><td>1J</td></tr><tr><td><i>Rippenbiest Hammelwade Schnürbein</i></td><td>—</td><td>2BP, 1PL, 1T</td><td>—</td><td>1E, 3J</td><td>1E, 1BP, 2PL, 1T, 1J</td><td>—</td><td>—</td><td>6E, 1PL</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td><i>Cunz Heinz</i></td><td>1E</td><td>—</td><td>1BP, 1PL</td><td>1T, 3J</td><td>1PL, 1T</td><td>6E, 1BP, 2PL</td><td>1E, 1J</td><td>1BP</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>Total</td><td>13</td><td>5</td><td>7</td><td>24</td><td>9</td><td>12</td><td>2</td><td>11</td><td>1</td></tr></tbody></table>

Source: own elaboration

<footnote>* E – English, BP – Brazilian Portuguese, PL – Polish, T – Turkish, J – Japanese</footnote>
Finally, it can be stated that the transfer of onomastic elements in the
literary translation is far from being an easy task for multiple reason. In case
of the analysed tale, the translated proper nouns often were related to the
culture or religion. Some of them were created by authors or were compo-
nents of a phraseological unit typical for the SL. Taking all these factors into
account, it can be summed up that looking for translation solution often
needs a profound knowledge and reflection or a great creativity. Both the
particularity of the process of transferring proper nouns and the diversity
of names in the fairy tale explain the variety of the applied translation
strategies seen in the paper.

Based on the above table, it can be observed that different approaches
were undertaken depending on the analysed groups of names, with the domi-
nance of the non-translation strategy used for *Rumpelstilzchen* (either from
the original text of the English translation), substitution for *Casper, Melchior,
Balzer*, modification for *Rippenbiest, Hammelwade, Schnürbein*, and substitution
for *Cunz* and *Heinz*. However, the above table aims at the generalisation of
the strategies since the names form some kind of groups; thus, it would be
understandable to apply the same strategy for all names within a given group.
Yet, as the analyses prove, the translators sometimes used mixed strategies;
thus, the table marks the dominant ones within a given group. For instance,
the additional information included by Kaneda (1925) does not explain, in
fact, the names provided in katakana; hence, the main strategy is merely tran-
scription. Similarly, Taylor's (1823) addition of Ichabod to the Three Magi's
names. This additional name is not an example of addition in Coillie's (2006)
understanding since it does not provide any further information or explana-
tion of the names for which the applied strategy is substitution.

The results do not suggest any particular trend in the strategies since
the applied strategies vary depending on the translator and the translation.
However, made-up names are usually translated or transferred, especially
in the case of the name of the main character. In contrast, common names
are most often modified. This variety of applied strategies possibly derives
from the need to adjust the text to the younger audience with which fairy
tales are usually associated.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Professor Eliza Pieciul-Karmińska
for her encouragement and providing a fragment of her translation of
the analysed story. They also would like to thank Professor Timour Mu-
hidine for his support and reading the analysis of Turkish versions of
the fairy tale.

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## Abstract

Various scholars point out the transfer of proper nouns as a difficulty. This paper examines the transfer of names in twenty-one translations of the Grimm Brothers' fairy tale originally titled *Rumpelstilzchen*. The article analyses English,
Brazilian Portuguese, Polish, Turkish, and Japanese editions of this originally German story. The analysis focuses on the true name of a title dwarf and other names provided by the Queen. The article includes five analyses describing the onomastic aspects of the translation and the applied translation strategies. The analysis suggests that the translators' approach toward the matter of transfer of names varied throughout the years and editions. The dominant strategies were replacement and transcription, and vary the most in case of common names (Cunz and Heinz).

**Keywords:** onomastics, onomastic translatology, proper noun, name, Grimm Brothers, fairy tale

TRANSPOZYCJA NAZW WŁASNYCH
W PRZEKŁADACH BAŚNI BRACI GRIMM RUMPELSTILZCHEN

Streszczenie

Wielu badaczy wskazuje transfer nazw własnych jako jedną z trudności przekładu. Niniejsza praca dotyczy translacji imion w dwudziestu jeden przekładach baśni *Rumpelstilzchen* spod pióra braci Grimm. Analizie zostały poddane angielskie, brazylijskie, polskie, tureckie oraz japońskie wydania baśni napisanej pierwotnie w języku niemieckim. Praca skupia się na analizie prawdziwego imienia tytułowego skrzata oraz imion wymienianych przez baśniową królową. Artykuł zawiera pięć analiz opisujących onomastyczne aspekty przekładu oraz zastosowane techniki tłumaczeniowe. Wyniki wskazują na to, że podejście tłumaczy do przekładu imion było różnorodne na przestrzeni lat oraz wydań. Najczęściej wykorzystywany mi technikami były zamiana oraz transkrypcja, a ich bogactwo jest szczególnie widoczne w podejściu do przekładu powszechnych imion, np. Cunz i Heinz.

**Słowa kluczowe:** onomastyka, translatoryka onomastyczna, nazwa własna, imię, bracia Grimm, baśń