Re: [wolfrunners] Languages & SF/F (fwd)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 19 Aug 2000 08:17:07 -0500
From: Sara McEnhill <mcenhill42@...>
To: wolfrunners@egroups.com
Subject: Re: [wolfrunners] Languages & SF/F

>> I think I have a pretty good background in languages myself (two years each
>> Latin, Spanish, and French). However, Americans on the whole are generally
>> ignorant/intolerant of other languages. I'm talking here about *real*
modern
>> foreign languages. If we (generic) hold real languages in this sort of
>> "contempt", it is reasoned, then extrapolated or concocted ones can only
>> annoy us (generic) more. It may not even BE true in practice, but if the
>> publishers PERCEIVE it true and act accordingly, the effect is the same.
SFF
>> writers are limited by "the market".
>
>Actually, now that you mention it, I do remember running into this
>intolerance issue.  I have a decent background in Korean (for basic
>conversationals), French, German and English (the only language, alas,
>I'm fluent in); I also know enough *about* Japanese to have an idea of
>how it works.  I went to an international HS and elementary school (I
>hopped schools a lot), so other languages and "weird" names don't bother
>me.  But I find that monolinguals have all sorts of strange notions about
>language due to inexperience, not to mention the (incorrect) assumption
>that most of the world is also monolingual.
When I read "A Clockwork Orange", the edition had an "analysis" included,
and the person spent a lot of time discussing the "meaning/symbolism" of
the slang words. I was very proud of myself when I realized I had figured
out something that this literature "expert" obviously had no idea about:
the slang words were simply variations of the Russian word.

The person didn't seem to have bothered to think about any other possible
roots of the words (what is it with this obsession with symbolism?). It
wasn't that difficult to make the connection. I had had only one class of
Russian at this time and it jumped off the page at me.


> I treat any sf/f I'm writing as a translation.  I use
>"jenar" (from the morpheme-root jnr) for "dagger" only because it has
>significant cultural significance, and the weapon is peculiar to that
>society.  I use vra and ves instead of yin and yang because I modified
>the philosophical system, etc.
My Russian teacher really tried to impress on us that you can't always
directly translate words. For an example, she would write Russian words
up on the board and give the English "equivalent". *Then* she would tell
us what the word *really* means--all the connotations and nuances that
come from being a Russian. Direct translations are nearly impossible.

Constructed language can be used to express these cultural differences.
LIke your example of the "jenar"--it's a dagger, but it's also *more*
than a dagger. Or Caprice's "koopchuks"--they're kind of like a mule, but
you would never mistake one for the other.

Sara

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