Re: OT: What makes a good conlang? (was Re: Super OT: Re: CHAT: JRRT)
| From: | Michael Poxon <m.poxon@...> |
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| Date: | Wednesday, March 10, 2004, 10:01 |
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The name "Sheliak" caught my eye and raised the question of where these
writers get their names from. Sheliak is actually the
real-world name of a star (beta Lyrae). So do the writers trawl through
astronomy books picking out appropriate-sounding names,
or did this episode actually feature a race of people from a planet orbiting
beta Lyrae? (Unlikely, as it's a near-contact double star
with orbital instabilities which I'm sure the astro-aware writers would have
picked up on)
Mike
Anyone remember the Star Trek:TNG
> episode "Ensigns of Command" about the Sheliak? Their language was
described as defying the Universal Translator and being a complete mystery
> to Federation linguists.
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