Re: A question and introduction

On Tue, 11 Jun 2002 14:53, Mischa! Rosado wrote:
> Hey everyone.  I'm new to this, in a way, I've been reading your emails for
> a while but haven't said anything yet.  My name is Mischa, and I'm creating
> a language.  But now I need some help! =)  How would one go about
> translating names into their language?  I can figure pretty much everything
> else out for myself, but this is giving me grief.  Thanks
>
> Mischa!
Welcome!  Always good to have someone new join in.

Re: your question - in vala-lakha, I don't bother translating names, for the
very good reason that most of the Lakhabrech can't think why they should
stoop to the level of eaters of preys' food - vegetarians, as they describe
us.  And also, many of our names are either location-oriented, or
meaningless, and their names are chosen for meaning.  Eg, Vheratsho -
"Unquiet Spirit, Demoness"; Akhriech - "Bone-Cruncher", etc.

In Tanala, there is more commonality between the Tanala-speakers and the
Earth humans, so names tend to be turned into the word that they most
resemble in sound - one Rhoda Apostolou gets nicknamed "Rhodzai" - "Sunny",
because Rhoda sounds like the Tanala word for "Sun", "Rhodza".

This is not so unusual in Earth languages either - my own name has a sound
resemblance with a culture hero/ancestor of the Wapi people - speakers of the
Olo language, named "Weseli", so while my parents (non-PNG folk) stayed in
the Wapi area, they were regarded with great respect and much affection for
having named their son after one of the most important people in Wapi legend!

So as far as translating names goes, I would suggest the appropriate thing to
do is decide whether or not the meaning in the name is culturally important
to the speakers.  My own name's meaning "Somewhere in the western
fields/paddocks" is culturally insignificant to me, and indeed to all my
compatriots, and I can't imagine a situation where it would become important.
 So I would stay "Wesley" among both the vala-lakha speakers and the Tanala
speakers.  On the other hand, someone from a culture where names are chosen
either for their religious or cultural meaning or for the meanings in the
component words, would obviously need to translate as much of that
significance into the target language as possible.  (Within limits of course
- the best example being the names in the Bible; by the time the texts were
written I doubt that any of the names of the characters in the Book of Ruth
for example, would've meant particularly much to the readers/audience, until
the bereft widow turns to her two daughters-in-law and tells them to call her
"Naomi" - "bitter", because everything has turned out so bitterly for her -
husband dead, sons dead, no place for her in the Moabi community, and the
traditional hostility to the Moabim from her own kin.)

Wesley Parish
--
Mau e ki, "He aha te mea nui?"
You ask, "What is the most important thing?"
Maku e ki, "He tangata, he tangata, he tangata."
I reply, "It is people, it is people, it is people."