https://doi.org/10.25312/j.10439

Zuzanna Bodziony https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8910-7394 Jagiellonian University

e-mail: zuzanna.bodziony@uj.edu.pl

Between form and meaning: Translating nursery rhymes

Pomiędzy formą i znaczeniem:

metody tłumaczenia piosenek dla dzieci

Abstract

This article addresses translation strategies which are applied in children’s songs. Based on a detailed line-by-line analysis of eight popular English nursery rhymes and their Polish and Hungarian versions, the study identifies and compares dominant tendencies: meaning-oriented versus form-oriented approaches. The results indicate that Polish translations exhibit a slight predominance of form-oriented strategies (53%), whereas Hungarian ones show a slight preference for meaning-oriented approaches (53%). A key conclusion, however, is the significant variation observed across individual songs, proving that the choice of strategy is influenced not only by the general characteristics of the target language but mainly by the specific requirements and nature of each particular song.

Keywords: nursery rhymes, translation, English, Polish, Hungarian, poetic stylistic means, meaning-orientated translation, form-oriented translation, translation accuracy

Streszczenie

Niniejszy artykuł podejmuje tematykę strategii translatorskich w przekładzie piosenek dziecięcych. Na podsta-wie szczegółowej, linearnej analizy ośmiu popularnych angielskich piosenek i ich polskich oraz węgierskich wersji badanie identyfikuje i porównuje dominujące tendencje: orientację na znaczenie lub na formę. Wyniki wskazują, że tłumaczenia polskie cechują się lekką przewagą strategii zorientowanej na formę (53%), podczas gdy węgierskie – na znaczenie (53%). Kluczowym wnioskiem jest jednak znaczące zróżnicowanie pomiędzy poszczególnymi utworami, co podkreśla, że o wyborze strategii decydują nie tylko ogólne cechy języka do-celowego, lecz także specyfika i wymagania konkretnego utworu.

Słowa kluczowe: piosenki dla dzieci, translatoryka, język angielski, język polski, język węgierski, poetyc-kie środki stylistyczne, tłumaczenie skoncentrowane na znaczeniu, tłumaczenie skoncentrowane na formie, adekwatność tłumaczenia

Introduction

Literary translation poses significant challenges for the translator, who must render con-tent in another language using different linguistic means (Catford, 1965: 20, Newmark, 1988: 7). It is hard to deny that translating poetry is even more problematic than translat-ing prose – as it requires focus on both content and form. Extending this logic, musical translation presents a further difficulty: in addition to meaning and form, various musical factors must also be taken into consideration (Franzon, 2014: 376).

Nursery rhymes can hardly be considered a form of art in the same way as poetry, which is often rich in meaning. Although their form relies on the very same stylistic figures, children’s songs may be categorized as functional texts: their primary aim is to entertain and teach the simplest things, presenting the closest environment to the child (Pramata, 2017: 2) – and not to express inexpressible. In light of this, an intriguing question arises: are nursery rhymes translated similarly to poetry, or rather to functional texts? The former approach would prioritize form, while the latter would emphasize meaning.

This paper seeks to answer this question through an analysis of eight popular English nursery rhymes and their Polish and Hungarian versions, which have spread globally via platforms like YouTube and Spotify. These languages were chosen not only due to the au-thor’s competence – but mainly because these specific translations drew the author’s attention to the topic through repeated exposure via listening habits of her toddler.

Framework

Numerous studies highlight the complexities that make song one of the most challenging forms of translation. Antosz-Rekucki (2022) provides a detailed, chronological overview of English and Polish texts on song translation from the early twentieth century onward. This listing effectively illustrates the field’s inherent complexity.

While the scope of this paper does not permit an exhaustive review, it is essential to acknowledge key theoretical criteria identified in the literature as vital for song trans-lation. An examination of both theoretical papers (Low, 2005; Frazon, 2008 and 2024) and applied studies (Pratama, 2017; Tekin, 2017; Reus, 2024) reveals the following pre-dominant features of original lyrics which should be preserved in the translated version:

• sense (meaning),

• singability (suitability for singing),

• naturalness (the lexical and stylistic choices natural for native speakers),

• rhythm (mainly the number of syllables),

• rhyme,

• style,

• sound,

• appropriateness (for the given type of listeners).

The above list leads to the conclusion that the translation of nursery rhymes may involve a tension between meaning-oriented and form-oriented approaches. The former represents the most literal method, wherein the translator attempts to express the content word-for-word. However, lexically equivalent words often differ formally across languag-es. They may vary not only in sound but also in length, and in some cases may require articles while in others articles are either optional or non-existent. All of these factors alter the song’s rhythm and rhyme structure – for example, a greater number of syllables must be sung faster to fit within the same music interval as the original words. The latter approach prioritizes stylistic figures: meaning is adjusted to the words which rhyme or otherwise fit within the original structure. Modifications to lyrical content may constitute minor adjustments, though it is also possible that the translator changes so many elements that, without the music, the translated version becomes barely recognizable as a rendition of the original song.

This article seeks to answer the main question: which translational approach (mean-ing-oriented or form-oriented) predominates in the Polish and Hungarian versions of pop-ular English nursery rhymes? The titles examined are listed below in alphabetical order:

1. “Finger Family”,

2. “Humpty Dumpty”,

3. “If You’re Happy and You Know It”,

4. “Itsy Bitsy Spider”,

5. “Old McDonald Had a Farm”,

6. “Rain, Rain, Go Away”,

7. “Skinamarink”,

8. “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”.

The song selection was guided by three criteria: availability in all three languages, genuine popularity on platforms like YouTube and Spotify, and poetic features like rhyme and rhythm. The study does not consider the origin of the songs, so the analysed corpus includes both traditional nursery rhymes with considerable historical depth (such as “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”, which according to the Encyclopedia Britannica dates to the early nineteenth century) and more recent compositions.

Polish and Hungarian versions were identified using a consistent search methodolo-gy: the English title of each song was combined with the phrases po polsku (ʽin Polishʼ) or magyarul (ʽin Hungarianʼ) in the Google search engine. The use of target-language phrases was intended to optimize the relevance of search results. From the first five results, the version with most views was selected, unless it substantially diverged from the original (for example, through significant alterations to the music or lyrics) – then it was replaced by the next most popular version. Such cases are mentioned in the analy-sis. Additionally, reference is occasionally made to less popular translations that present features of particular theoretical interest.

The analysis of the lyrics was conducted according to the following procedure. First, each version was compared line-by-line with the original. Each line was evaluated

on the basis of the question: did the translator prioritize meaning or form? In other words: is the line translated literally, so the same content can be found in the final and original lines, or rather was it adapted to reproduce acoustic features, so the final line contains the same rhythm, the same number of the syllables, the analogical rhymes and so on. Some other language aspects were also taken into account. For example, whether the word order of the translated sentence reflects the natural usage in the target language, or whether it was manipulated to match the form was analysed. Each line was assigned a score: it could receive 1 point for a meaning-orientated translation, 1 point for a form-orientated translation or 0,5 points for each (if a clear classification was not feasible). In rare cases where the translator disregarded both meaning and form, a score of 0 was assigned. Points were then summed up for each version, with separate totals for meaning and form. These totals were converted into percentages to determine the proportion of the translation dominated by semantic fidelity versus formal preservation.

The results of the analysis are presented below, along with a detailed discussion of in-dividual cases and notable observations.

Results of the study

The presentation of the results follows a structured approach. First, the Polish and Hun-garian translation of each song are presented and described individually to examine the specific strategies applied by the translators in each language. The translations are presented in the alphabetic order. Then the results from both languages are compared. This comparative phase aims to determine whether observed tendencies in the translation are connected to the content and structure of the original nursery rhymes or are influenced by features inherent to the respective target languages.

The table below illustrates the scoring applied to the Polish translation of the song

“Finger Family”, indicating the number of syllables per verse (NS) and the rhyme scheme

(R) which is marked with capital letters, in the corresponding columns:

Table 1. Analysis of the Polish translation of the “Finger Family” song

Source: own elaboration on kanał dla dzieci – bajlandia.tv, 14.05.2020.

The song contains four more stanzas, each differing from the presented example by only one word: subsequent stanzas substitute daddy with mommy, brother, sister, and baby. The translation maintains this structural pattern – additionally, the variable words have the same number of syllables as their English counterparts (mamo, bracie, siostro, dziecko), so there is no need to take those stanzas into consideration.

The final scoring indicates that over half of the translation prioritizes meaning. How-ever, as the detailed analysis reveals, the last verse is the crucial one: it is translated with a Polish phrase commonly used to inquire about someone’s well-being. This phrase does not agree with the formal requirements of the nursery rhyme: it contains fewer syllables than the original and fails to rhyme with the second verse. The result is aesthetically dis-cordant, resembling an arbitrary statement rather than a coherent lyrical line. Consequently, the translation loses the characteristic features expected of children’s song.

While one might argue that there is no better solution which could be used in Polish to express the same content – an alternative version suggests otherwise. There is another Polish version of “Finger Family” (HeyKids – Piosenki Dla Dzieci, 24.04.2021) in which the last verse is translated as: Jak się masz?, Cześć! ʽHow do you do?, Hi!ʼ. This solu-tion does not change drastically the original meaning but it maintains rhythmic structure through an additional lexical item. The resulting rhyme (jesteś – cześć), though imperfect, successfully recreates the musical quality essential to the genre.

It is interesting that the percentage distribution between meaning-oriented and form-oriented translation approaches in the Hungarian version of the song presents exactly the inverse pattern.

Table 2. Analysis of the Hungarian translation of the “Finger Family” song

Source: own elaboration on LetsgoMartin Gyerekdalok és Mondókák, 31.03.2024.

It is also the result of a single line – but this time it is the song’s opening verse. The trans-lator uses the form ujja which contains the possessive suffix -a: thereby the given word means ʽhis/her fingerʼ. This choice is likely motivated by the fact that the nominative form (ujj) would not fit the song’s rhythmic structure. The remaining lines are translated literally while maintaining the original syllable count and preserving the rhyme scheme in corresponding positions. The exception is the last verse which contains only three syllables but it rhymes with the second line and it makes a pleasant melody. It is worth noting that this translation should not be regarded as randomly successful. There is another

preposition which can be used to ask ‘Where are you?’ in Hungarian: hol? – however, its monosyllabic structure likely precluded its use, as it would not have fulfilled the metrical requirements.

As demonstrated in table 3, a balance between the two translation approaches is

achievable:

Table 3. Analysis of the Polish translation of the “Humpty Dumpty” song

Source: own elaboration on Bobasy TV – Piosenki Dla Dzieci, 27.09.2019.

The first line matches the original one in both meaning and form. The second and final lines preserve the original meaning but diverge in syllable count. Nevertheless, the trans-lator makes a concerted effort to maintain the rhyme scheme by manipulating Polish word order (which is relatively flexible) and mentioning the wall for the second time: Humpty Dumpty z tego muru spadł ʽHumpty Dumpty fell from that wallʼ). Consequently, these lines could not be assigned a score of zero. The zeros gained the meaning and the form of the third line, though. The word-for-word translation of this verse is ʽalthough many knights wanted to tryʼ, so it expresses more information than the analogical line in English. It also contains more syllables than the original one. It could be argued that the additional syllable has been added in order to maintain the rhythm of the translation (the last verse of the translation contains one supplementary syllable, too). However, the research fo-cuses on the analysis between the original lyrics and their translation, so such internal adjustments within the target language version fall beyond its scope.

A noteworthy finding is that this balance between the semantics and the form in the translation is unique among the analysed translations, yet it also characterizes the Hungarian version of the same nursery rhyme:

Table 4. Analysis of the Hungarian translation of the “Humpty Dumpty” song

Source: own elaboration on LetsgoMartin Gyerekdalok és Mondókák, 14.06.2022.

It is important to note that the final score is identical in both languages but the de-tails differ from each other. In the Hungarian version the second and third lines achieve a near-perfect balance between meaning and form: semantic content is preserved, syllable counts correspond exactly, and rhyme is maintained (albeit imperfectly). The first line demonstrates a meaning-oriented approach, as it contains more syllables than the orig-inal. Conversely, the final line prioritizes formal structure by maintaining the original syllable count, though it introduces new semantic content: a literal translation of this line is: ʽthere were too few of them to put Humpty together againʼ). It can be assumed that this change was made in order to establish a rhyme between the third and fourth lines, further reinforcing the form-oriented character of this translation.

Additionally, it should be noted that another Hungarian version of this nursery rhyme exists which is more accurate, almost perfect – but it has fewer views, and thus, under the established selection criteria, could not be considered the primary version for this study. As illustrated in the table below, a balance between meaning and form in this nursery rhyme can be achieved not only in the aggregate score but consistently across each individual line.

Table 5. Analysis of the Hungarian translation of the “Humpty Dumpty” song (II)

Source: own elaboration on Kids Tv Hungary – Gyerek Dalok Magyarul, 10.08.2023.

The only discrepancy regarding the form is one missing syllable in the last line (what does not spoil overall rhythm). Semantically, only minor modifications are present: the translator uses the present tense (ül ʽis sittingʼ, lependerül ʽis rolling downʼ) and introduces a verb in the third line that translates literally as: ʽAll the knights can come from the kingʼ – which does not impact the meaning.

Regarding the song which is to be analysed as the next one, it is important to highlight two issues. The song – originally titled “If You’re Happy and You Know It” – has many (at least four) stanzas, yet this study examines only the first. This limitation is justified by the stanzas’ structural uniformity: although the imperative commands vary across stanzas, their formal construction remains consistent, making the analysis of additional stanzas redundant for the present purposes. However, it should be admitted here that it was impossible to find such Polish and Hungarian versions of that song which would contain identical commands in matching sequence. Such discrepancies could influence the evaluation of the translation or at least impede it with no profit of the final result, what validates the decision to restrict analysis to the first stanza.

The Polish translation of the stanza is presented in table 6.

Table 6. Analysis of the Polish translation of the “If You’re Happy and You Know It” song

Source: own elaboration on Little Baby Bum po polsku, 10.08.2020.

This translation presented notable challenges for evaluation. It should be empha-sized that the only part demonstrating full correspondence with the original in both meaning and form is the imperative w ręce klaszcz ʽclap your handsʼ. While semanti-cally equivalent (the only difference is the lack of the possessive pronoun in Polish) this phrase, being a loan translation, may not represent the most natural expression for native Polish speakers. The construction is pleonastic in the target language (the act of clapping inherently involves hands, making the explicit specification redundant). The 50:50 score is fully justified only in this case.

The first part of the line is translated with the additional information (Jeśli jesteś dziś szczęśliwy ʽIf you’re happy todayʼ) but without the phrase analogous to and you know it which helps to main the rhythm of the song. Although this omission might suggest a form-oriented approach, such classification would be inaccurate for this specific nurs-ery rhyme. The reason for that is the forth verse which is translated to Polish as ʽin your heart, you have true peaceʼ – so with totally different meaning and with the extraordinary word order. These modifications serve primarily to preserve rhythm and rhyme, indicating a decidedly form-oriented strategy. Admittedly, these adjustments contribute to the song’s overall melodic quality. By comparison, the previous mentioned alterations (such as lexical additions) appear relatively inconsequential from this perspective.

It is interesting that the Hungarian translation of this nursery rhyme demonstrates a predominantly meaning-oriented approach.

Table 7. Analysis of the Hungarian translation of the “If You’re Happy and You Know It”

song

Source: own elaboration on HeyKids – Gyerekdalok és Mondókák, 20.10.2016.

The repeated verses contain almost the same meaning as the original ones: Ha jó a kedved tapsolj egy nagyot means literally ʽIf you’re happy give a big clapʼ, in Hungar-ian there is a self-sufficient verb tapsol ʽto clap sb’s handsʼ, making the explicit addition of ʽhandʼ semantically redundant and stylistically unnatural. While the equivalent of and you know it is absent, the verses diverge from the original in both rhythm and the number of the syllables, so it seems they are translated rather with regard to meaning.

Such evaluation seems right in comparison to the translation of the fourth line where a minor semantic alteration successfully preserves both the rhythmic structure and syllab-ic pattern of the original: másoknak is mutasd ezt meg ʽshow it to the othersʼ. The third line presents the most complex case. There is the entirely new semantic content added which does not appear either in the analogical phrase in the first and second verse, or in the original (velünk vagy ʽIf you are with usʼ) – that precludes its classification as meaning-oriented. One might note the syllabic discrepancy in this verse, yet it is relevant

to observe that the Hungarian copulative conjunction és ʽandʼ is frequently realized in its contracted form s – thanks to that the number of the syllables is equal in both, original and translated, lyrics.

Even a preliminary examination of table 8 reveals that the Polish translation of the sub-sequent song exhibits a strongly meaning-oriented approach.

Table 8. Analysis of the Polish translation of the “Itsy, Bitsy Spider” song

Source: own elaboration on Maluch TV, 17.11.2015.

Not only the number of syllables differs in each verse but also the rhyme scheme is different from the original. This divergence results in a markedly different rhythm of the nursery rhyme which (without the music) would be identifiable as the translation of the original song primarily through its literal lexical correspondence. The biggest alteration is to be observed in the third line, where agency shifts: rather than being dried by the sun, the rain dries itself.

In light of that, it is particularly noteworthy that an alternative Polish version of this

song exists in which the two translation approaches achieve a near-perfect equilibrium.

Table 9. Analysis of the Polish translation of the “Itsy, Bitsy Spider” song (II)

Source: own elaboration on Bobasy TV – Piosenki Dla Dzieci, 24.03.2017.

This translation maintains the original rhyme scheme and the differences in the num-ber of syllables is not as significant as in the previously analysed version. Furthermore, the lyrics remain semantically faithful to the source text. These features collectively makes the song much more pleasant to the ear. Probably that is the explanation why this alter-native version has garnered substantially more views than the first translation examined (66 millions compared to 114 thousands). Nevertheless, it could have not been chosen as the primary version for analysis because the creators have adapted it to a different narrative framework: as the accompanying video illustrates, the song tells a story about a spider family (three kids and their father), so the modifier of the spider noun changes in each stanza addressing different referents. The first and final stanzas use a tyciutki pa-jączek ʽitsy bitsy spiderʼ, the second: maluśki pajączek ʽlittle spiderʼ, whereas the fourth introduces byczo duży pająk ʽjumbo spiderʼ.

As presented in table 10, the Hungarian translation of this nursery rhyme also focuses on the meaning.

Table 10. Analysis of the Hungarian translation of the “Itsy, Bitsy Spider” song

Source: own elaboration on LetsgoMartin Gyerekdalok és Mondókák, 9.11.2018.

Nevertheless, the formal discrepancies between the original song and this translation are less significant than in the initially analysed Polish version. The present translation main-tains the original rhyme scheme and largely the number of syllables (the main exception is the third line). The whole song sounds much better compared to the former translation. Regarding the analysis of the next song, it is worth noting that the vocables (E-I-E-I-O) appearing on the ending of the first, second and final verse, are excluded from evaluation: they are not taken into consideration either as the rhymes, or as the additional syllables, so they are not marked in the transcribed lyrics either. As they have an identical equivalent

in both translations, there is no point to examine those.

Table 11. Analysis of the Polish translation of the “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” song

Source: own elaboration on PIOSENKI DLA DZIECI BZYK tv, 20.02.2014.

It must be acknowledged here that the original form of the song has a complex for-mal structure. In fact there is no rhyme (just the first line repeated twice and the sound of the animals appearing at the end of three verses) and no structured rhythm. Despite this, the Polish translation demonstrates a form-oriented approach. Nearly all verses have the same number of the syllables. Thanks to that the translated text remains readily adaptable to the original melody.

However, there are some significant modifications of its semantic content. The most important to mention is the replacement of the main figure (Old MacDonald) with dziadek ʽgrandpaʼ – who is someone similar but closer to the Polish audience’s environment.

It is interesting that a similar methodological approach is observable in the Hungarian translation of this nursery rhyme.

Table 12. Analysis of the Hungarian translation of the “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” song

Source: own elaboration on Kids Tv Hungary, 11.02.2019.

The translator connects with the rhymes the first and the second verse by repeating the phrase a tanyán ʽon the farmʼ. They also replace Old MacDonald with Józsi bácsi ʽuncle Joeʼ – this intervention has similar motivation as the analogical one in the Polish version.

The subsequent nursery rhyme appears to feature lyrics that are ostensibly straight-forward to translate; however, as illustrated in the table below, the translator engages in substantial manipulation of both meaning and form.

Table 13. Analysis of the Polish translation of the “Rain, Rain, Go Away” song

Source: CoComelon po polsku – Piosenki dla dzieci, 27.11.2021.

The first verse – which is also the last one – matches the original line perfectly. However, some significant divergences characterize the other part of the song. The translator not only adds some new information to each verse but also switches the content of the second and third line: Tata chce dziś bawić się / Padaj sobie w inny dzień ʽDaddy wants to play today / Just rain another dayʼ what makes impossible to classify the translation of these verses as the meaning-orientated. The reason of this alternation is ambiguous: it appears unrelated to rhyme or syllabic requirements. It is hard to explain why the translator uses this rather radical method.

It is interesting that the semantic modifications in the Hungarian translation are even

more extensive:

Tab. 14. The analysis of the Hungarian translation of the “Rain, Rain, Go Away” song

Source: LetsgoMartin Gyerekdalok és Mondókák, 27.09.2022.

The table above proves that only the initial verse is translated accordingly to both meaning and form of the original lyrics. The translation of the second verse must be classified as form-orientated as its literal meaning (ʽI’m asking you to rain somewhere elseʼ) differs significantly from the source text. The remaining two lines differ not only in the number of syllables and another pair of rhymes but also in the content: ʽA baby would play / Just let the sun shineʼ. The noun baby is not a main problem here. The song contains more (together 6–7) stanzas that systematically reference different family members and finally all the family together. The case is similar to the “Finger Family” structure: the variable words have the same number of syllables and finally all the same members appear in the song, so such changes should not be taken into consideration. More significant modifications are present in that part of the song: the declarative wants to play is replaced with the conditional mood and the first line does not appear as the final one – it is replaces by an entirely new sentence.

The next song is a particular case as it contains some made-up words.

Table 15. Analysis of the Polish translation of the “Skidamarink” song

Source: own elaboration on HeyKids – Piosenki Dla Dzieci, 24.09.2023.

It is particularly noteworthy that these made-up words are modified in the Polish trans-lation to preserve the rhyme scheme between the second and third lines. It seems to be

a clever step to prioritize formal structure over meaningless literal fidelity as the changed words lack semantic content. The proof of how meaningless these words are is further evi-denced by their historical orthographic variations: the song currently titled “Skidamarink” or “Skinnamarink” originally appeared in forms such as Skid-dy-mer-rink-adink-aboomp or Skiddy-Mer-Rink-A-Doo.

The rest of the translation does not focus on the form in such extend. The number of syllables and the rhymes maintain the same only in the fifth and seventh verse, while the fourth and the sixth line match the original ones only in regard to the semantic content (however, there is a slight modification in the fourth line which literally means ʽI love you every morningʼ, likely added introduced to maintain rhythmic consistency by aligning its syllable count with the sixth line. Despite this adjustment, the absence of a coherent rhyme scheme significantly diminishes the translation’s melodic quality.

The Hungarian translation, though comes from the same YouTube channel, applies a distinctly different approach.

Table 16. Analysis of the Hungarian translation of the “Skidamarink” song

Source: own elaboration on HeyKids – Gyerekdalok és Mondókák, 23.07.2023.

What is the most disturbing, the translator retains the original endings of the invented word, so it does not rhyme with the Hungarian equivalent of I love you which naturally exists only in one version. The translator demonstrates a strictly meaning-oriented ap-proach: they translate the lyrics word-for-word while disregarding rhyme and rhythmic structure. The third verse’s alignment with the original syllabic count appears coincidental rather than intentional. Consequently, the translated text lacks melodic coherence and resembles a series of disjointed statements.

The last song included in the analysis features a highly structured original form, char-acterized by isosyllabic verses and monorhyme, making it particularly relevant to exam-ine whether translators have preserved these features. As table 17 illustrates, the Polish translation indeed prioritizes formal elements.

Table 17. Analysis of the Polish translation of the “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” song

Source: own elaboration on HeyKids – Piosenki Dla Dzieci, 29.10.2021.

Although the translator does not keep the monorhyme, they establish an alternative rhyme scheme and maintain consistent syllable counts across lines. The priority of the form necessitates semantic modifications as in the second verse of the translation which means literally ʽyour beauty is wonderfulʼ. While alterations in the third and fourth verses are less substantial, they cannot be ignored. The translator adds here the imperative verbs: ʽfly high into the sky / shine bright like a diamondʼ which do not match the original lyrics.

The Hungarian translation similarly departs from monorhyme but, in contrast, achieves a more balanced integration of semantic fidelity and formal accommodation.

Table 18. Analysis of the Hungarian translation of the “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” song

Source: own elaboration on LetsgoMartin Gyerekdalok és Mondókák, 22.03.2019.

The semantic content remains largely consistent with the original: the first and the sec-ond verses constitute literal translations. The fourth one introduces the verb (ʽyou shine like a diamondʼ) and the third one contains the information which appears in the final line of the original lyrics (ʽin the sky above the worldʼ). Unlike the Polish version, which

employs imperative constructions, this translation refrains from altering core meaning; instead, it modifies information sequencing and makes implicit verb grammatically explicit.

The preceding analysis has examined numerous different elements. It is impossible to compare all of those beyond the overviewed pairs of the same titles – but for the sake of this study it is sufficient to identify prevailing tendencies within the Polish and Hun-garian translations. The following table gathers the percentage results of the meaning- and form-orientated efforts of the translators:

Table 19. Percentage of the meaning- and form-orientated translations in the Polish and Hungarian versions of the selected nursery rhymes

Source: own elaboration.

It is surprising that the average results are mirror images: Polish translations exhibit a slight preference for form-oriented approaches, whereas Hungarian versions lean margin-ally toward meaning-oriented strategies. However, both averages remain close to an equal distribution. The 3% difference does not mean much, especially taking into consideration how great discrepancy can be observed in individual translations.

Nevertheless, this overview reveals several noteworthy particularities. For instance, only one case demonstrates complete alignment with a single translation method: the Polish version of “Itsy Bitsy Spider” received a 100% meaning-oriented evaluation.. There is no other similar case either among the Polish, or among the Hungarian translations. No other translation in either language achieved a similarly unequivocal classification. The second most pronounced discrepancy also occurs among the Polish samples, with the translation of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” rated 87% meaning-oriented. The Hungarian translations

show their greatest methodological divergence in “Skidamarink” titled song which ranks as the third most polarized case at 86% meaning-oriented.

Additionally, several translations achieved balanced approaches between the two methods. Interestingly, two such cases appear in the Hungarian corpus (“Humpty Dumpty” and “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”) while there is only one such translation on the Polish side (it also concerns “Humpty Dumpty”). When excluding the balanced translations from consideration, a notable disparity emerges: a form-oriented approach predominates in five of the Polish versions, whereas a meaning-oriented approach char-acterizes only three. In contrast, the distribution of these approaches across the Hun-garian versions is even.

Conclusion

The research presented in this paper, while limited by editorial constraints to a select number of examples, has opened the for further discussion regarding the methods applied in Polish and Hungarian translations of English nursery rhymes.

The central question concerning the primacy of meaning or form arrives at a surprising resolution. The averaged result suggests a near balance between semantic content and stylistic structure in both languages, albeit with a slight preference for form in the Polish versions and a corresponding emphasis on meaning in the Hungarian ones.

This average, however, obscures considerable variation evident in the analysis of in-dividual songs. The collected data demonstrates that extreme cases exist, particularly among the Polish translations, including instances of nursery rhymes translated with almost exclusive regard for meaning, thereby disregarding the original rhythm, syllabic structure, and rhyme scheme.

Consequently, the definitive classification of nursery rhyme translation remains elu-sive. It exhibits complete alignment neither with the translation of poetry nor with that of purely functional texts. Instead, it persists – like the genre itself – as a phenomenon situated between meaning and form.

References

Antosz-Rekucki J. (2022), Poetycka piosenka autorska a przekład – Przegląd badań w językach angielskim i polskim, “Przekładaniec”, nr 45, pp. 19–55.

Britannica, entry: Nursery rhyme (n.d.), https://www.britannica.com/art/nursery-rhyme [ac-cessed: 29.09.2025].

Catford J.C. (1965), A Linguistic Theory of Translation, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Franzon J. (2008), Choices in song translation: Singability in print, subtitles and sung per-formance, “The Translator”, no. 14, pp. 373–399.

Frazon J. (2014), Choices in Song Translation, “The Translator”, no. 14, pp. 373–399, https://

doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2008.10799263

Frazon J. (2024), Song and Translation – Song Translation Studies, “Studia Translatorica”, no. 15, pp. 31–52, https://doi.org/10.23817/strans.15-3

Low P. (2005), Song Translation, [in:] K. Brown, A. Anderson (ed.), The Elsevier Encyclopedia

of Language and Linguistics, Oxford: Elsevier.

Newmark P. (1988), A Textbook of Translation, New York: Prentice Hall.

Pratama I.D. (2017), Meaning and Form in Nursery Rhymes Translation, “Humanus”, vol. XVI, no. 1, pp. 1–12, https://doi.org/10.4467/16891864PC.22.009.17170

Reus T. (2024), How music and lyrics interact: A translation-oriented analysis of musical narrative in Disney’s “Let it go”, “Studia Translatorica”, no. 15, pp. 133–153. https://doi. org/10.23817/strans.15-8

Tekin B.M. (2017), A Comparative Analysis of Translation Strategies in the Translation of Songs in Walt Disney’s Animated Musical Movies, Namely “Hercules” and “Frozen” into Turkish, “International Journal of Languages Education”, no. 5, pp. 132–148.

Songs

Bobasy TV – Piosenki Dla Dzieci (24.03.2017), Tyciutki pajączek 1. Piosenki dla dzieci – Bobasy tv – N, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyUHe_mw1cE [accessed: 20.02.2026].

Bobasy TV – Piosenki Dla Dzieci (27.09.2019), Humpty Dumpty – Znana Piosenka Dla Dzieci Po Polsku – Bobasy TV – N, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7G98D2VF1Y [accessed: 20.02.2026].

CoComelon po polsku – Piosenki dla dzieci (27.11.2021), Deszczowa piosenka | CoComoelon po polsku – piosenki dla dzieci!, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bitFFx1y-Gg [accessed: 20.02.2026].

HeyKids – Gyerekdalok és Mondókák (20.10.2016), Ha Jó A Kedved Tapsolj Egy Nagyot – Gyerekdalok – HeyKids.hu, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxjlIyxBh4M [accessed: 20.02.2026].

HeyKids – Gyerekdalok és Mondókák (23.07.2023), Szeretlek dal. Gyerekdalok és mondókák | Rajzfilm gyerekeknek – HeyKids, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2IIxm3Z580 [accessed: 20.02.2026].

HeyKids – Piosenki Dla Dzieci (24.02.2021), Rodzina Paluszków po polsku. Tata Palec | HeyKids – Piosenki dla dzieci, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vopmhAz-4ik [accessed: 20.02.2026].

HeyKids – Piosenki Dla Dzieci (24.09.2023), Kocham Cię! Skidamarink po Polsku | Pio-senka dla dzieci | HeyKids, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTYISS5tGwk [accessed: 20.02.2026].

HeyKids – Piosenki Dla Dzieci (29.10.2021), Mrugaj, Mrugaj Gwiazdko Ma ⭐ Kolysanka dla dzieci – HeyKids po Polsku, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXUJumHxNso [accessed: 20.02.2026].

kanał dla dzieci – bajlandia.tv (14.05.2020), Rodzina Palców / Wesołe Pieski – Bajlandia TV – Piosenki dla Dzieci po Polsku – N, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43qbqZmEHiw [accessed: 20.02.2026].

Kids Tv Hungary – Gyerek Dalok Magyarul (10.08.2023), Humpty Dumpty leült a falra

Népszerű költemény gyerekeknek – Bob A Vonat, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2vvE-

cir1mI [accessed: 20.02.2026].

Kids Tv Hungary (11.02.2019), Régi Macdonald-nak volt gazdasága | Old Macdonald Had Farm | Kids Tv Hungary | Gyerek Dalok Magyarul, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90ox-8zQ8efw [accessed: 20.02.2026].

LetsgoMartin Gyerekdalok és Mondókák (14.06.2022), Humpty Dumpty Magyarul, Nursery Rhymes, Letsgomartin 3d, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IEM9IJ-JgQ [accessed: 20.02.2026].

LetsgoMartin Gyerekdalok és Mondókák (22.03.2019), Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Ragyogj, Ragyogj, Kis Csillag – Baba altató zene, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAcySVOuRxE [accessed: 20.02.2026].

LetsgoMartin Gyerekdalok és Mondókák (27.09.2022), Rain Rain Go Away Magyarul és Más Gyerekdalok Egybefűzve ABCkidtv, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg5YUFQmu_Y [accessed: 20.02.2026].

LetsgoMartin Gyerekdalok és Mondókák (31.03.2024), Finger Family magyarul, Ujj család és más gyerekdalok LetsgoMartin, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InR5VG5phWE [ac-cessed: 20.02.2026].

LetsgoMartin Gyerekdalok és Mondókák (9.11.2018), Ici Pici Pók, Itsy Bitsy Spider Magyarul és más gyerekdalok LETSGOMARTIN 3D, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zsiqf1LHuCU [accessed: 20.02.2026].

Little Baby Bum po polsku (15.02.2020), Jeśli jesteś dziś szczęśliwy… (If You’re Happy And You Know It) | Piosenki Little Baby Bum po polsku, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkEa7y-bveYU [accessed: 20.02.2026].

Maluch TV (17.11.2015), Itsy Bitsy Spider po polsku – piosenka dla dzieci, https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=cO1stksI7wU [accessed: 20.02.2026].

PIOSENKI DLA DZIECI BZYK tv (20.02.2014), Dziadek fajną farmę miał – piosenki dla dzieci Old McDonald po polsku BZYK.tv, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUX5kYzzi5Q [accessed: 20.02.2026].