tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Feb 08 06:53:07 2002
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Re: Translating into Klingon
- From: "marien danzig" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: Translating into Klingon
- Date: Fri, 08 Feb 2002 11:53:06 +0000
Mastery of a language is the single most important tool in writing stories
in a second (or third, etc) language. My Latin tutor used to say that You
know you have mastered a language when you can THINK in that language,
without the need to translate into your native language first (or vice
versa) - which, I guess, is what Qov was saying in her post about a week
ago. I first met this tutor when he gave a whole lecture o the curriculum
of medieval universities IN LATIN.
Here's something else to think of when writing in other languages (and Qov
also touched on this in another way in her post when she said to Write what
Klingons know): Joseph Conrad (who, I believe, was French) loved writing in
English because of the diversity of meaning in English words (he cited
varying usable 'definitions' of "oaken" as an example). In this light,
stories about warriors and feuds and battles make the best subjects Roger
Cheesbro's {ghIlghameS}, the Iliad, etc.
Not that I'm actually suggesting that you be restricted to these subjects;
that would take the challenge out of it...
(I mean, I've even seen Klingon translations of such moving pieces as Alice
Cooper's "Steven" and Psalm 23 ("The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not
want...").
--DantlhIgh
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