tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Jun 18 20:53:42 1995
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Misc.
- From: [email protected] (Nick "Minoan Genius" Nicholas)
- Subject: Misc.
- Date: Mon, 19 Jun 1995 13:53:53 +1000 (EST)
I've been off doing my thesis and stuff for a fair while; apologies thereto.
mu'ItmoH "Exon" chut. cha'logh "lot" yajmoHlaw'pu' "Ex(x)on" pong'e'. Do'
bo'DIJDaq chut Daj net nIDDI', ghaytan QapHa'.
As for Hamlet, I gave you all a progress report March, and nothing seems
to have changed. *ghuy'Do*! (QonoSvam DalaD wej 'e' Damevchugh,) *Hamlet*
nabvaD bIvumqu' Hu' 'e' julay'; chay' bItlhetlh? *Seqram*! bIchepqa''a'?
bIchepchugh, vaj yIvumqa' je!
I salute the Beowulfists (btw, if you *are* going to transliterate, why
not *bew'wuv*?) Fortuitously enough, just as the Beowulferei started, I
came across a fascinating article on Beowulfian principles of conversational
politeness --- which I think would rather illuminate Klingon conversational
norms. (T. A. Shippey, 'Principles of Conversation in Beowulfian Speech',
in _Techniques of Description: Spoken and Written Discourse; A festschrift
for Malcolm Coulthard_, ed. J. M. Sinclair, M. Hoey & G. Fox, London:
Routledge, 1993, p. 109-126.) Basically, while discourse in our society
is basically guided by the attempt to avoid threatening others' face
(not that all our discourse is polite --- but rudeness is not normally prized),
Shippey reckons the Angles were guided rather by a 'Conflictive Principle:
In all verbal exchanges, ensure that one's own worth is stated and
acknowledged. If it is acknowledged by hearer, be prepared to
acknowledge hearer's worth. If not, respond with an appropriate
degree of reciprocal non-acknowledgement.
This other bit I also found of interest:
The thought arising from this careful, almost formal, self-presentation
is, of course, and not surprisingly, that characters in heroic
societies are *prickly*: stiff, on their dignity, ready to take
offence, therefore requiring careful handling. But to handle another
too carefully might imply over-caution, indeed fear, in oneself. As
the Beowulfian characters speak to each other, accordingly, one often
has the sense of lines being drawn.
Do get a hold of this article if you can; I've found it quite illuminating.
Last, and anti-least: I'm leaving Melbourne Town on the 8th of August;
I'll be in the UK August, and in Greece September through to December.
I'd be happy to detour out to meet any English/Welsh/Scottish Klingonists
out there; email me. I'll move heaven and earth to get net access in
Greece; but of course, my net time will probably be even less over there
than it is here now.
You know, I've had an Old English textbook on loan from a friend for
ages, and I've been meaning to translate the _Wayfarer_ but never got
around to it. Maybe I should...
Oh, and if any of you know of Komerexxx (which I finally saw the other
night), the stories in it would make a *marvelous* translation piece for
the list. Unfortunately, they'd also make a marvelous test case for the
Exon bill; I'm not attempting *anything* until I've had an OK from Lawrence
and Jay...
--
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Nick Nicholas. The Nonce and Future Linguist. University of Melbourne.
[email protected] [email protected]
[email protected] s#[email protected]
"Henry Squirrel was thirsty. He walked over to the river bank where his good
friend Bill Bird was sitting. Henry slipped and fell in the river. Gravity
drowned." --- TALE-SPIN Story Generator, James Meehan, Yale AI Lab, 1975.