Translating Fraktur into DeepL Translate

Kent Gardiner

I'd like to learn how to type Fraktur into DeepL and get good results. What considerations are there in typing Fraktur into DeepL Translate? I know the f translates as an s. What else will help me?

Here is the last paragraph on this page:

My typing: Christoph Weydmann der Anwaldt / gibt Fahrs uff Martins usser Anderthalbem Rueben und Einem Diertel etc Nehmlsch Sieben Schilling Psenning Marggruver.

DeepL: Christoph Weydmann the lawyer / gives driving on Martins usser One and a half Rueben and One quarter etc Nehmlsch Seven Schilling Psenning Marggruver.

Robert Seal_1

Hello Kent,

This is a noble pursuit.

The most important thing is to be able to distinguish between similar looking letters. I will demonstrate with the letters "s" and "f" in the passage you transcribed.

Here is your transcription:

Christoph Weydmann der Anwaldt / gibt Fahrs uff Martins usser Anderthalbem Rueben und Einem Diertel etc Nehmlsch Sieben Schilling Psenning Marggruver.

Look at the first word "Christoph" and the next-to-last word which is actually "Pfenning". The ""s" and the "f" are very similar and you have to study them very closely to identify which is which. This is just one of many examples of letters which look the same. See for example capital "B" vs. capital "V".

You must enlarge the image enough so you can see the differences.

Also, depending on how clear/crisp the image is, you will get letters which are "fuzzy" and look like a different letter. Example: See the fifth-to last word which you translated as "Nehmlsch." This word is actually "Nehmlich" What you thought was an "s" is actually the letter "i" but the dot above the "i" has blurred into the downstroke making it look like an "s".

Be aware that DeepL and Google Translate are based on modern German vocabulary and grammar. They will not understand archaic words or obsolete words. Also understand that the spelling in older documents varies from modern German orthography and these translation programs may not be able to translate a variant spelling.

Once you have a clean transcription you should put it into Deepl and Google Translate to see how both programs handle the translation. But you may still end up with a translation that is not completely understandable.

Good luck!

Kent Gardiner

Thanks Robert, I did translate a series of words under a drawing and it was completely understandable and made sense. I guess I need to leave the translation to people who know what they are doing. You have job security. Thanks for this little lesson. I will try again! Kent

Robert Seal_1

Hello Kent,

I don't want to discourage you from trying but I did want to point out some of the issues when using any modern translation program for an older German text. If they worked perfectly we wouldn't need a site such as this one for translations. Both Google Translate and Deepl handle modern German fairly well. You should try them yourself on the text you transcribed.