tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Dec 10 19:27:16 2001
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: The Year of the Horse
- From: "Dr. Lawrence M. Schoen" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: The Year of the Horse
- Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 19:27:05 -0500
I have to agree with David with respect to the copula. Of course, a company
in Japan will have no problem understanding the use of the suffix -'e'
being a topicalizer. The Japanese particle "wa" serves much the same
function. E.g.,
Tanaka-san wa, nihonjin desu.
vulcangan ghaH HoDwI''e'.
As for the whole issue of whether or not to transcribe "horse" or slip in a
reasonable cultural substitute, I don't think there's a perfect answer.
Ironically, the question doesn't have to leave the Earth. It's only going
to be the "Year of the Horse" for people who observe or are aware of that
calendrical system. It has no more relevance for people outside that frame
of reference than it would for Klingons.
Having said that, one could nonetheless make an argument for either side of
the debate. Personally, I try to avoid the messiness of transcribing
foreign words in most cases and I do make use of the nearest cultural
substitute, but only in situations where precision of meaning isn't the
main point. As some of you may recall, this was a critical issue for the
KBTP, where the KLI took the position of *not* using cultural substitutes
(thus "loaves and fishes" did *not* get translated as "quadrotriticale and
tribbles"), but this example is of a vastly different type.
So, yes, I'd opt to use Sargh, but I understand completely why others might
disagree.
Lawrence