Re: Memberlang Pages

On Sun, 17 Jan 1999 11:57:40 -0500, Jason Hooper <nirgal@...>
wrote:

>Espero9@aol.com wrote in a private email:
>>
>> I though maybe it would be neat to have one text that every one would
>> translate into their languages.  That way it would give us all a =
better
>> comparison.  If we had room we could still have a second sample that =
would
>> reflect more the culture of the language itself.
>
>I like this idea.  It would be a better way to show not which
>languages are better than others but how they translate the
>same text in their own way.  Would we use text already available,
>like from Shakespeare or from the Bible?  Or should we here on
>CONLANG make our own? I'll be thinking of this when browsing
>the web, in case I come across something fitting this purpose.
>(Note that the examples that are already there are there for
>good, since they describe cultural aspects, etc, of the
>language.)
I like the idea, but it would be hard to find a text that would be
appropriate for all languages. Even "The North Wind and the Sun" would be
problematic in a language of furry people who don't wear warm cloaks, or =
in
a tropical setting where "north wind" isn't associated with cold. ("South
wind" could be substituted for southern-hemisphere languages.)

I wouldn't pick something from Shakespeare or the Bible, but something in
more straightforward and colloquial language, to make the comparisons
easier. It should be relatively short, no longer than the Babel text or
"North Wind & Sun". A selection from the Adventure text might be good for
that, but even that has problems ("You are standing at the end of a
road"... Bats don't stand. What's a "road"?)