Mrenep's answer

    For _A_Diamond_Found_on_Paradise_, the fiction I'm currently working =
on,
I recently completed (the first draft of) a conversation between a human =
and
a gladifer.  The human speaks English and the gladifer speaks =
Gladilatian,
with an automatic translator translating back and forth.  The reader only
sees (for the most part) the human's English and the Eng. translation of =
the
gladifer's Gladilatian.  However, when I wrote the gladifer's half of the
dialog I first wrote it in Glad. and then translated it into English.  =
When
doing this, I didn't want the translation into Eng. to be too good, =
because
that would lose the feeling of alienness I wanted.  Although the =
technology
should be advanced enough for a smoother translation I decided that the
gladifer, being a member of an ambassador family, would seek accuracy =
over
slickness and adjust the parameters of his translator accordingly.  One =
of
the main things I did to achieve this was to translate each sentence in
isolation, without taking contextual clues from other sentences.  =
(Although
he occasionally utters an independent phrase instead of a whole sentence,
the translator is able to pick that up and treat it the same as a =
sentence.)
There are cultural reasons a gladifer would do this, anyway.  The most
obvious result of this is that the tense jumps around, tense marking =
being
optional in Glad.
    Here is an example.  This is sa Mrenep we Lelemle's answer to Soupy
Callidardin's question, "Why did you join an ambassador family?"  First =
in
the original Gladilatian:

    "Fmaea Laxreot.  MeLaxreot fa zve fetMalet Zlahrmu soMarena u.  U za =
nra
memarena we mehesnfe memarena mrnryose.  Za mefmamzyk fofrekfa we =
mzaesnfe
fetfmaehna usy sneku.  Fetesnfeot vu frekfmu.  Fetfrekfmu mrmlana =
esnfeot.
=46omep sa fmu we hmnu fofrekfa fmu fetfmasmava melyvosa vohsau.  =
Melyvosa fa
fomrsnalxomytu.  Fomvomep zvrau fofrekfa fmu fetesnfe zmovuhu u.  =
Mrfetzep
matakulap fmu u xa rzou we hra fomrsnalxomytu wo fetMalet Zlahrmu =
foMarena
esnfe.  Fmu mzasnau xvemset u.  Snau mzafmu xvemset u.  Fsufmu mehyohot
hyamset u.  Fsufmu fetslweu xvemset u.  Fsufmu fethsmona xvemset u.  =
Fsufmu
fethynxra xvemset u.  Fsufmu fetmfrenaot xvemset u.  Fsufmu la lrwravneu =
wo
fetravneot xvemset u.  Mnehek snau fetzep vu hyo hrakzmrzno eshfe.  Fmu
fetsnau xyamzonyu.  Mep fetlyvosa fsut fzosresoya fofrekfa fmu zmosrzo u.
Mep fetfmahreasa zmrzno srefa fofrekfa fmu zmrzno fofa lrmzafmamarena
vohsau.  Fmu mzaHaop vohsau.  Xa fetHaop mep Nmusysy wzamat mfea we =
mzaHaop
vohsa fmu.  Fmu zmoLelemle u."

    Next, as it will appear in the story:

    "My birth family is Laxreot.  The place of the Laxreot is Right =
Foreleg
=46ifty-four.  There is not a port for both this planet and a human =
planet.
At the time of my birth the chance of my seeing a human was small.  I was
aware of humanity.  Humanity was not interesting to me.  At a time when I
was female I traveled on a random journey of my region."  Although she
didn't catch the word, Soupy knew he was refering to a _lyvosa_, a trip =
to a
randomly chosen location, in this case restricted to a given region.  =
"The
place of the random journey is in the wilderness.  At a time when I was
thinking I became aware of a human.  Something I don't know is why the =
human
is in the wilderness or on Right Foreleg Fifty-four.  I talk to him or =
her.
He or she talks to me.  We two speak Gladilatian.  We two talk about many
things.  We two talk about wind.  We two talk about juggling.  We two =
talk
about statuary.  We two even though young talk about being old.  He or =
she
wants to be the only first human which a gladifer is aware of.  I almost
understand him or her.  Two years after the random journey I became male.
Immediately after my departure ceremony I was traveling off planet for =
the
first time.  I am traveling to Paradise.  Because the ambassador family =
to
Paradise is Nmusysy I am traveling to Paradise.  I become Lelemle."

    Finally, a smoother translation.  I call the human "he" because as =
the
omniscient narrator I know he's male; the Gladilatian doesn't actually
indicate his sex one way or the other.  "Nmusysy" is the name of a =
gladifer
culture.  The Lelemle family is a Nmusysy family which is the ambassador
family to Paradise (a human world).

    "My birth family is the Laxre family.  The Laxre family lives on =
Right
=46oreleg Fifty-four, which doesn't have a port to a human world.  When I=
 was
born the chance of my ever meeting a human was small.  I was aware that
humans existed, but was not interested in them.  Once when I was still
female I went on a journey to a random location in my region.  This =
location
was in the wilderness.  While I was there meditating I met a human.  I =
don't
know why the human was in the wilderness or on Right Foreleg Fifty-four. =
 I
talked to him, and he to me.  We spoke Gladilatian.  We talked about many
things.  We talked about the wind.  We talked about juggling.  We talked
about statuary.  Even though we were both young we talked about old age. =
 He
wanted to meet gladifers who had never met a human before.  I almost =
under-
stood him.  Two years after that journey I became male.  Immedialtely =
after
my departure ceremony I traveled off planet for the first time.  I =
traveled
to Paradise, because the ambassador family there is Nmusysy.  I became a
Lelemle."

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=3D

             Dennis Paul Himes    <>    dennis@himes.connix.com
             homepage: http://www.connix.com/~dennis/dennis.htm
        Gladilatian page: http://www.connix.com/~dennis/glad/lang.htm
=20
Disclaimer: "True, I talk of dreams; which are the children of an idle
brain, begot of nothing but vain fantasy; which is as thin of substance =
as
the air."                      - Romeo & Juliet, Act I Scene iv Verse =
96-99