English has so many near-synonyms that you have to be a little flexible looking up words. žuydoni should work in most contexts.rotting ham wrote:BTW, not a single lexicon lists a word for "process", not even Verdurian.
Translation challenge... for me
Re: Translation challenge... for me
Re: Translation challenge... for me
"George [or other common name] was skeptical that the device would work as advertised."
I know it's lame, but it's the only one I could come up with.
I know it's lame, but it's the only one I could come up with.
-is female-You killed yourself. By waving a scientist around.
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Re: Translation challenge... for me
Thanks. I saw "procedure", but I was looking for a word that denotes "process" as opposed to "state". There are ways around it, I suppose. Words exist for "dynamic" and "movement" for starters. In all honesty, I think it's a real credit to you that "process" occurs so many times in grammars and lexicons, and yet the languages they describe seem to be doing fine without such a concept.
If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way. - Mark Twain
In reality, our greatest blessings come to us by way of madness, which indeed is a divine gift. - Socrates
In reality, our greatest blessings come to us by way of madness, which indeed is a divine gift. - Socrates
Re: Translation challenge... for me
Mêgle kath gzhêç bigo zhêthno atRadius Solis wrote:When I look at people that I would like to feel have been a mentor or an inspiring kind of archetype of what I'd love to see my career eventually be mentioned as a footnote for in the same paragraph, it would be, like, Bowie.
that.time being mention.E I.inf someone one
kath gepughiw shêv bigo tsuth shono bigo
being perhaps authority.of I.inf guide.D he.resp I.inf
wamin kath lavne ôskwadhiw dzan dhnoradzu
or be.D type make-burn-act.part of model-big
kath demaf ghyith nikla,
being see.E want.E I.inf this.idea
gzhêge çir tlatsa khukwo dzam bigo bo izgeche lith tono chozhiw dzan zozh
mention.E-pl after sometimes job of I.inf in footnote for paragraph same-act.part of it
tsaw zhetsu Bowi.
there.is-D and-yes Bowie
Lordy, that's a sentence. It did make me think about a few new syntactic and pragmatic constructions!
Re: Translation challenge... for me
Mebharan has a word for "process" (bolt), but this word could also be translated as "method" or "procedure" (and, in fact, the verbal prototype for it is closer to "method" than it is "process").rotting ham wrote:Thanks. I saw "procedure", but I was looking for a word that denotes "process" as opposed to "state". There are ways around it, I suppose. Words exist for "dynamic" and "movement" for starters. In all honesty, I think it's a real credit to you that "process" occurs so many times in grammars and lexicons, and yet the languages they describe seem to be doing fine without such a concept.
So that this is not off topic, I offer the following sentence:
" 'I do not see the point of a Verdurian citizen, within the boundaries of Verduria, kowtowing to the whim of a Barakhinei barbarian,' the irascible Meleon Savley hissed."
MI DRALAS, KHARULE MEVO STANI?!
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Re: Translation challenge... for me
This is on topic... sort of. Every language isn't great at conveying every nuance. Of course, I'd rather have zompist omit words, concepts and syntactic forms with full awareness than without, and I trust him not to give the Dekhnami any "vituperative" judges.
If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way. - Mark Twain
In reality, our greatest blessings come to us by way of madness, which indeed is a divine gift. - Socrates
In reality, our greatest blessings come to us by way of madness, which indeed is a divine gift. - Socrates
Re: Translation challenge... for me
Khukh çish tlôyno bo lithgemormo at, ôwmin shnejawa zhêdhe lilithgemormo tlôr tlim,Nancy Blackett wrote:"One can work within any structure, but some structures are more appropriate than others, and there is no one structure which is universally appropriate."
work.D can.D someone in structure any / however fit.E.-pl exceed.E-pl pl-structure some other,
zamin shnejaruw lithgemormo pwashi bo gagatwo she.
moreover fit.E.not structure no in pl-situation every
Re: Translation challenge... for me
Genebam oshujyosh khyagashiw nikla, gwadôth sifno penath wêtla çir tsatwe denish shombebaç pekso dzan shono.Delthayre wrote:The vituperative judge arranged for the Bard to be burned to ash at the stake for vigorously raping his wife.
order.D.past judge berate-act.part this.idea burn.E.fut sing-man using pole to ash because rape.E.past he.inf wife of he.D
The ambiguity couldn't be preserved— it has to be pekso dzan shono 'the wife of him.D' referring to the judge, or pekso dzan zono 'the wife of him.E' referring to the bard. I chose the first but the second could certainly be used (though it would sound very odd to the Dhekhnami— sex with an inferior adult is not a crime).
It may amuse people to find Verdurian cognates... there's been a few, including one in this sentence.
Re: Translation challenge... for me
Hey, neat, especially seeing how the ambiguity was treated. The interpretation that you chose is the one that I originally had in mind; the sentence at first referred to a King arranging for the bard's fiery execution, but I changed it soon afterward since I thought that the sentence with the judge would be slightly more interesting. I was also curious as to how you might treat vituperative.
I dread that I might be betraying ignorance or obtuseness in asking so, but: What exactly do D and E mean in the glosses?
Dhenknami has an interesting orthography. It succeeds, to my eyes, in not looking immediately like any natural language.
I dread that I might be betraying ignorance or obtuseness in asking so, but: What exactly do D and E mean in the glosses?
Dhenknami has an interesting orthography. It succeeds, to my eyes, in not looking immediately like any natural language.
"Great men are almost always bad men."
~Lord John Dalberg Acton
~Lord John Dalberg Acton
Re: Translation challenge... for me
Gath zekwo bendemapwo.rickardspaghetti wrote:Struggle is an illusion. The tide rises, the tide falls, but the sea is changeless. There is nothing to struggle against. Victory is in the Qun.
be.E fighting illusion
Gwaydoth mwachwo zh pôshdoth mwachwo ôwmin zhdêrut tle.
above-go.E tide and below-go.E tide however change.E.not sea
Dzaruw tlôyla kath gath dzide zozh.
exist.E.not something being struggle.E you.inf it
Dzaw gwatwo bo Kun.
exist.E victory in Qun
Re: Translation challenge... for me
They refer to two of the three ranks applied to verb. D is used for superiors, E for inferiors. (The third, B, is used for gods and ktuvoks or for very high human officials.) This isn't quite the same as Munkhâshi's five ranks, but they do descend from them— except for A and C which were lost.Delthayre wrote:I dread that I might be betraying ignorance or obtuseness in asking so, but: What exactly do D and E mean in the glosses?
Thanks. I am not fond of the digraphs any more but they've been used for thirty years in Almeology. Without them the language would probably look more like Verdurian!Dhenknami has an interesting orthography. It succeeds, to my eyes, in not looking immediately like any natural language.
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Re: Translation challenge... for me
Awesome, I like it. The choice of words still looks distinctively European to me, though. This wouldn't be a big deal if the Dekhnami don't get into a habit of talking like that, but how much of a choice will they have if most of their vocabulary is inspired by Sal's reading list? I'm just saying, can't we please have looser translations?
If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way. - Mark Twain
In reality, our greatest blessings come to us by way of madness, which indeed is a divine gift. - Socrates
In reality, our greatest blessings come to us by way of madness, which indeed is a divine gift. - Socrates
- Salmoneus
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Re: Translation challenge... for me
I don't understand your objection. There's nothing specifically "European" about these concepts, I don't think - most every language will have to have a word or phrase for "vituperative", after all.
What's more your egotistical children sentence is something that would never be said in English, except in academic circles, where a large percentage of the lines I offered ARE things that normal people would say.
What's more your egotistical children sentence is something that would never be said in English, except in academic circles, where a large percentage of the lines I offered ARE things that normal people would say.
Blog: [url]http://vacuouswastrel.wordpress.com/[/url]
But the river tripped on her by and by, lapping
as though her heart was brook: Why, why, why! Weh, O weh
I'se so silly to be flowing but I no canna stay!
But the river tripped on her by and by, lapping
as though her heart was brook: Why, why, why! Weh, O weh
I'se so silly to be flowing but I no canna stay!
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- Avisaru
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Re: Translation challenge... for me
I'm aware of that, and yet it uses concepts and forms of expression that are less strictly typical of English than some of the other sentences. I'm talking about maintaining untranslatability across speech patterns, which you'd know a lot more about than me. What I do know is that many of these sentences will sound unpolished or even ridiculous if translated directly into modern Indic languages. Not because such translations are syntactically impossible; rather, good wording and sentence structure in English is often bad style in other languages.Salmoneus wrote:What's more your egotistical children sentence is something that would never be said in English, except in academic circles, where a large percentage of the lines I offered ARE things that normal people would say.
"I'm not a suspicious person" sounds fine to the Japanese, whereas an English speaker wouldn't even use "There's no reason to be suspicious of me" in similar contexts. "Then, climbing through, the rat came into her hole, biting her whelps, [she] made [them] squek, dragging the plank dish, [she] made a noise," and "Then, coming in, the frog took a knife for cutting out from behind a pillow, carrying [it], coming out, pricking up, killed [it]," aren't awkward sentences in Nivkh, but require substantial rearrangement and rewording for decent translations into English. Without revision, "vituperative judge" might just be sucky Dekhnami.
As for the structural effects of vocabulary, I think receiving a large lexical influence encourages analysis, hence phrasing, in patterns imitative of the source register. For example, a language that doesn't have a fitting word for "process" may force its speakers to describe the same phenomenon in terms of "impermanence of the object" instead. It's possible to elaborate a complete process-oriented metaphysics without utilizing the English concept of "process". This may not be the best example; still, don't you think revising the pool of available concepts can have a significant impact on speech pattern depending on the nature and extent of the revision? I'd love to see translations like that; sentences that reanalyze concepts from scratch, but carry more or less the same meaning.
This additional intellectual exercise is often what lazy bilingual speakers seek to avoid by means of code-switching. Just the other day, I said "Kon basis-e..." (on what basis) instead of, say, "Ki karon-e..." (for what reason). I can't think of a Bengali word for "basis" that can be used in the same manner. Anyway, this is my understanding of the matter. I have no formal training in linguistics, so it's likely that all this quackery is based on a fundamental misunderstanding on my part, especially since I thought this stuff was pretty basic. If so, please correct my misconceptions. That said, what style is acceptable to the Demoshi is up to zompist. I was just expressing a desire (repeatedly) to see alternate phrasing and looser translations more often, that's all.
Redundant or not, I guess I should have ended the "vituperative" line with a
If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way. - Mark Twain
In reality, our greatest blessings come to us by way of madness, which indeed is a divine gift. - Socrates
In reality, our greatest blessings come to us by way of madness, which indeed is a divine gift. - Socrates
Re: Translation challenge... for me
Wouldn't it be a better idea to let Zomp adjust them to Dekhnami good style, rather than trying to second guess or dictate that style ourselves?
"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort."
–Herm Albright
Even better than a proto-conlang, it's the *kondn̥ǵʰwéh₂s
–Herm Albright
Even better than a proto-conlang, it's the *kondn̥ǵʰwéh₂s
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- Avisaru
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Re: Translation challenge... for me
Definitely, but this is not always possible without making drastic changes. The kind that preserves the original meaning while bulldozing over rhythm, flow, metaphor and pretty much every element of style. I was a little worried that with sentences like "The youth, however, responded with quick flicks of his wrist, showing sharp-edged coins their way through the air to pierce the itinerant projectiles" up for translation, Dekhnami might develop too many one-to-one correspondences with English usage. It doesn't have to, and I'm not suggesting we do things differently. Carry on!
PS. Remember, the whole point of this exercise is to build a larger Dekhnami lexicon. The obvious solution is to translate the sentences loosely.
PS. Remember, the whole point of this exercise is to build a larger Dekhnami lexicon. The obvious solution is to translate the sentences loosely.
If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way. - Mark Twain
In reality, our greatest blessings come to us by way of madness, which indeed is a divine gift. - Socrates
In reality, our greatest blessings come to us by way of madness, which indeed is a divine gift. - Socrates
Re: Translation challenge... for me
rotting, I think you're assuming too much about the Dhekhnami, or perhaps not reading the glosses. Both the syntax and vocabulary have to be approximated to the closest Dhekhnami equivalents. English is much more keen on subclauses and nouns than Dhekhnami is, for instance.
Of course I didn't create a root for 'vituperative'; it's a lexical intensive of the word for 'complain', so it largely means 'berate, rail against'.
You could always supply a couple Bengalis sentences to translate (but I'd need glosses).
Of course I didn't create a root for 'vituperative'; it's a lexical intensive of the word for 'complain', so it largely means 'berate, rail against'.
You could always supply a couple Bengalis sentences to translate (but I'd need glosses).
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Re: Translation challenge... for me
I can't imagine why people always say that about me.zompist wrote:rotting, I think you're assuming too much about the Dhekhnami, or perhaps not reading the glosses.
lol I didn't say that's what was going on. I'm questioning whether the Demoshi would use this kind of phrasing to express the idea at all. Eg. If you had translated "I'm not a suspicious person," Dekhnami might now have a word, compound or phrase, whatever its etymology, meaning "suspicious person" in this context that wouldn't have existed otherwise. Am I the only one who thinks this would result in contamination by Japanese semantics if carried too far?zompist wrote:Both the syntax and vocabulary have to be approximated to the closest Dhekhnami equivalents. English is much more keen on subclauses and nouns than Dhekhnami is, for instance.
Of course I didn't create a root for 'vituperative'; it's a lexical intensive of the word for 'complain', so it largely means 'berate, rail against'.
Count on it, but it will take a while to dig up sentences overwrought enough to counteract the process of Anglicization that has taken place already.zompist wrote:You could always supply a couple Bengalis sentences to translate (but I'd need glosses).
If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way. - Mark Twain
In reality, our greatest blessings come to us by way of madness, which indeed is a divine gift. - Socrates
In reality, our greatest blessings come to us by way of madness, which indeed is a divine gift. - Socrates
Re: Translation challenge... for me
I did provide a French sentence. Maybe I should provide some more?rotting ham wrote:Count on it, but it will take a while to dig up sentences overwrought enough to counteract the process of Anglicization that has taken place already.zompist wrote:You could always supply a couple Bengalis sentences to translate (but I'd need glosses).
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Re: Translation challenge... for me
Sure, but that was a joke, kinda.
Mind you, this only matters if zompist is too literal in his translations.
Mind you, this only matters if zompist is too literal in his translations.
If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way. - Mark Twain
In reality, our greatest blessings come to us by way of madness, which indeed is a divine gift. - Socrates
In reality, our greatest blessings come to us by way of madness, which indeed is a divine gift. - Socrates
Re: Translation challenge... for me
Well, you keep noting that it's a danger without showing that it's happened. Granted you don't have the grammar yet, you have the glosses, and you can see that the words and syntax used are not identical to the English.rotting ham wrote:lol I didn't say that's what was going on. I'm questioning whether the Demoshi would use this kind of phrasing to express the idea at all. Eg. If you had translated "I'm not a suspicious person," Dekhnami might now have a word, compound or phrase, whatever its etymology, meaning "suspicious person" in this context that wouldn't have existed otherwise. Am I the only one who thinks this would result in contamination by Japanese semantics if carried too far?zompist wrote:Of course I didn't create a root for 'vituperative'; it's a lexical intensive of the word for 'complain', so it largely means 'berate, rail against'.
(Again, look at "vituperative"; in English this is an adjective, but there are very few adjectives in the English sense in Dhekhnami; mostly verbs are used instead. The Dhekhnami translation was an active participle, and based on a Munkhashi morphological process, the intensive, using a root (complain) that perfectly fits Munkhashi society. And in general, look, I've been creating languages for thirty years and know several non-Western terrestrial languages-- I'm very aware of making things too English-like.)
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Re: Translation challenge... for me
Huh? This isn't something that can happen in a single step. It could happen if a significant portion of Dekhnami vocabulary is created by back-translating English sentences. I'm not saying anything did happen, I'm saying something might.zompist wrote:Well, you keep noting that it's a danger without showing that it's happened. Granted you don't have the grammar yet, you have the glosses, and you can see that the words and syntax used are not identical to the English.
Thanks. I figured it would be something like that, but I'm talking about choice of words as opposed to etymology, morphology, syntax, etc.zompist wrote:Again, look at "vituperative"; in English this is an adjective, but there are very few adjectives in the English sense in Dhekhnami; mostly verbs are used instead. The Dhekhnami translation was an active participle, and based on a Munkhashi morphological process, the intensive, using a root (complain) that perfectly fits Munkhashi society.
Maybe I'm missing something here. To use my previous example, suppose I tell you to translate "Sense-perception is an unceasing process". If you create a Demoshi word meaning "process" and add it to the lexicon, then I'd say the language will become too English-like once most of its vocabulary consists of such back-translated words. I'd rather have you translate this as "The perceived world is impermanent," or even better, something that sounds downright bizarre in English. My example is too abstract to illustrate this easily, but thinking of "process" as a concept that lends itself to metaphor (I'm mainly concerned with these) instead of a theoretical abstraction, I might suggest something like: "Chips flake off [could be one word] from that which is before us." This done, I'd have you refrain from creating a commonly used word "process" on purpose so that learners are forced to use native speech patterns.
Sorry, appeal to authority.zompist wrote:And in general, look, I've been creating languages for thirty years and know several non-Western terrestrial languages-- I'm very aware of making things too English-like.
Look, I've already admitted that I could be wrong about all this. You don't have to keep arguing about it. This is a low-key issue as far as I'm concerned and I promise to quit spamming.
If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way. - Mark Twain
In reality, our greatest blessings come to us by way of madness, which indeed is a divine gift. - Socrates
In reality, our greatest blessings come to us by way of madness, which indeed is a divine gift. - Socrates
- Salmoneus
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Re: Translation challenge... for me
As usual, you haven't explained what you're worried about in real terms, only ideological ones.
How is translating "I am not a suspicious person" into Dekhnami going to make it "too Japanese"? Is English "too Japanese", in that case?
You seem to confusing language with physics. Turning "sense-perception is an unceasing process" into "the perceived world is impermanent" isn't "translating" (note, both are valid phrases in English!), but imposing a totally different theory of physics/metaphysics. That's like saying that to translate "the mass of an object does not change its velocity when falling" into ancient Greek, we need a sentence that actually means "heavier objects fall faster than light ones!".
On the one hand, you're stressing the (more or less) stupidity of non-English speakers, how they can't translate what we say but only some "equivalent" physical theory; yet at the same time you hypocritically demonstrate that all their theories can be expressed in English.
More concretely: you can't say that "sense-perception is an unceasing process" is the English way of saying something and "the perceived world is impermanent" is another language's way of saying it - because, firstly, the two say totally different things, and, secondly, because BOTH sentences are English! They are BOTH the English way of saying something! Now, one may be more representative of the academic metaphysics of English-speaking philosophers in the twentieth century, but that doesn't mean one is less "English" than the other.
Your other suggestion, ""Chips flake off [probably one word] from that which is before us" calls to mind what a Chinese philosopher might say. Because it is true that old Chinese philosophical works tended to employ a different literary style from those of Europe. But that's not something about the LANGUAGE. They didn't say things like that just because they couldn't translate Heraclitus more closely - they just chose to use a different style. But if a philosopher had decided to be less metaphorical and more direct, they wouldn't have stopped being true Chinese speakers - anymore than Nietzsche spoke a different language from Kant!
Finally, I want to stress that translating "sense-perception is an unceasing process" with a calque of "the perceived world is impermanent" is very poor translation indeed - because the two claims mean totally different things! A person could accept the one without qualm but reject the other, or accept the other happily but not permit the one. They don't mean the same thing! And any language ought to be able to express BOTH of them.
Otherwise, philosophy and physics could never have been translated from one language to another...
How is translating "I am not a suspicious person" into Dekhnami going to make it "too Japanese"? Is English "too Japanese", in that case?
You seem to confusing language with physics. Turning "sense-perception is an unceasing process" into "the perceived world is impermanent" isn't "translating" (note, both are valid phrases in English!), but imposing a totally different theory of physics/metaphysics. That's like saying that to translate "the mass of an object does not change its velocity when falling" into ancient Greek, we need a sentence that actually means "heavier objects fall faster than light ones!".
On the one hand, you're stressing the (more or less) stupidity of non-English speakers, how they can't translate what we say but only some "equivalent" physical theory; yet at the same time you hypocritically demonstrate that all their theories can be expressed in English.
More concretely: you can't say that "sense-perception is an unceasing process" is the English way of saying something and "the perceived world is impermanent" is another language's way of saying it - because, firstly, the two say totally different things, and, secondly, because BOTH sentences are English! They are BOTH the English way of saying something! Now, one may be more representative of the academic metaphysics of English-speaking philosophers in the twentieth century, but that doesn't mean one is less "English" than the other.
Your other suggestion, ""Chips flake off [probably one word] from that which is before us" calls to mind what a Chinese philosopher might say. Because it is true that old Chinese philosophical works tended to employ a different literary style from those of Europe. But that's not something about the LANGUAGE. They didn't say things like that just because they couldn't translate Heraclitus more closely - they just chose to use a different style. But if a philosopher had decided to be less metaphorical and more direct, they wouldn't have stopped being true Chinese speakers - anymore than Nietzsche spoke a different language from Kant!
Finally, I want to stress that translating "sense-perception is an unceasing process" with a calque of "the perceived world is impermanent" is very poor translation indeed - because the two claims mean totally different things! A person could accept the one without qualm but reject the other, or accept the other happily but not permit the one. They don't mean the same thing! And any language ought to be able to express BOTH of them.
Otherwise, philosophy and physics could never have been translated from one language to another...
Blog: [url]http://vacuouswastrel.wordpress.com/[/url]
But the river tripped on her by and by, lapping
as though her heart was brook: Why, why, why! Weh, O weh
I'se so silly to be flowing but I no canna stay!
But the river tripped on her by and by, lapping
as though her heart was brook: Why, why, why! Weh, O weh
I'se so silly to be flowing but I no canna stay!
Re: Translation challenge... for me
Bo namshekash dzan lavne mim, zhidhiw titliçna tôshiw zh krawkharo, dzaruw pwashila lith benôghashno, wamin ôzbôsh shêfdoth nikla, dzits zono.Legion wrote:Dans un pareil univers d'animaux sensibles et raisonneurs il n'y a plus rien pour le saint, ou il faut le convaincre de folie.
in world-great of kind this, with pl-animal perceive-act.part and reason-act.part / exist.E.not nothing for zeal-man / or prove.E must.E this.idea / crazy.E he.inf
The most difficult word here was ‘saint’. Benôghashno is literally one who follows intensively— a zealot or fundamentalist of Gelalhát. There's a slight connotation of excess; such a person makes life more difficult for everyone else. There’s a word gew ‘be holy, numinous’, but humans in general aren’t holy, only gods and ktuvoks are— gewno ‘holy person’ would sound very odd indeed. In the context of discussing another religion, such as Cadhinorian paganism or Jippirasti, foreign words could be borrowed, e.g. khokoy, a Sarnáean prophet or hermit.
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Re: Translation challenge... for me
zompist: Last post, I promise.
This technicality gives rise to serious problems only in a very unusual situation, when crafting a believable conlang that's hermetically sealed from the languages used by the people creating it.
As usual, you're an ornery bastard.Salmoneus wrote:As usual, you haven't explained what you're worried about in real terms, only ideological ones.
Like I said, English speakers don't use "suspicious person" in the context that Japanese does. You'd know what I'm talking about if you were into anime.Salmoneus wrote:How is translating "I am not a suspicious person" into Dekhnami going to make it "too Japanese"? Is English "too Japanese", in that case?
Yes, thanks for explaining that more clearly. Languages often do not share assumed metaphysics, and consequently, the concepts used to express them.Salmoneus wrote:You seem to confusing language with physics. Turning "sense-perception is an unceasing process" into "the perceived world is impermanent" isn't "translating" (note, both are valid phrases in English!), but imposing a totally different theory of physics/metaphysics.
You might have to, if the target language didn't have a word for "speed" or "velocity". When a language lacks a word for a concept, the usual practice is to borrow a word, coin one or use semantic twists to express the meaning via native speech patterns. The first two options don't make sense for Dekhnami. Why would the Demoshi come up with just that set of concepts which an English speaker would use? Note that this is only a problem if it's pervasive enough in the vocabulary of the language.Salmoneus wrote:That's like saying that to translate "the mass of an object does not change its velocity when falling" into ancient Greek, we need a sentence that actually means "heavier objects fall faster than light ones!".
Stupidity has nothing to do with it. English doesn't have a word for every concept imaginable, and yet theoretically, it can be used to discuss them all, depending on how you define "English".Salmoneus wrote:On the one hand, you're stressing the (more or less) stupidity of non-English speakers, how they can't translate what we say but only some "equivalent" physical theory; yet at the same time you hypocritically demonstrate that all their theories can be expressed in English.
This technicality gives rise to serious problems only in a very unusual situation, when crafting a believable conlang that's hermetically sealed from the languages used by the people creating it.
If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way. - Mark Twain
In reality, our greatest blessings come to us by way of madness, which indeed is a divine gift. - Socrates
In reality, our greatest blessings come to us by way of madness, which indeed is a divine gift. - Socrates