I Need a Translation

[bilimkurguhaber]

Lawrence M. Schoen accepted to translate my text into Klingon. 

[Blue Elf]

Here are the Na'vi and Vulcan descriptions of my blog with voice added. (Robot avatar sometimes is not loaded so you may have to refresh)

http://www.bilimkurguhaber.com/2012/08/16/navi-pilimkurku-haper/

http://www.bilimkurguhaber.com/2012/08/16/vulcan-bilimkurgu-haber/

Na'vi sounds quite well. I was thinking about to create audio too, but I don't think I can come with something better than Tirea Aean...

[Lance R. Casey]

Lawrence M. Schoen accepted to translate my text into Klingon. 

I take it you don't need my help, then? Or would you like both, for comparative purposes?

[Tirea Aean]

Here are the Na'vi and Vulcan descriptions of my blog with voice added. (Robot avatar sometimes is not loaded so you may have to refresh)

http://www.bilimkurguhaber.com/2012/08/16/navi-pilimkurku-haper/

http://www.bilimkurguhaber.com/2012/08/16/vulcan-bilimkurgu-haber/

Na'vi sounds quite well. I was thinking about to create audio too, but I don't think I can come with something better than Tirea Aean...

Yehh I did a couple takes as I was not sure how quickly to speak. That was the final version because I considered the number of times I have been told I speak too quickly for comprehension.

[bilimkurguhaber]

Lawrence M. Schoen accepted to translate my text into Klingon. 

I take it you don't need my help, then? Or would you like both, for comparative purposes?

Thank you very much. I don't know when Mr. Schoen will be able to finish it, he said that he added it in his to-do list. Since I lack knowledge about Klingon, I cannot compare them myself but maybe I can share your and Mr. Schoen's translations with you and him before publishing for comparison about possible differences?

[bilimkurguhaber]

Here are the Na'vi and Vulcan descriptions of my blog with voice added. (Robot avatar sometimes is not loaded so you may have to refresh)

http://www.bilimkurguhaber.com/2012/08/16/navi-pilimkurku-haper/

http://www.bilimkurguhaber.com/2012/08/16/vulcan-bilimkurgu-haber/

Na'vi sounds quite well. I was thinking about to create audio too, but I don't think I can come with something better than Tirea Aean...

Yehh I did a couple takes as I was not sure how quickly to speak. That was the final version because I considered the number of times I have been told I speak too quickly for comprehension.

I added a pitch effect to give a robot-like sound. That's not original voice of Tirea. :-) (Let people not think that Tirea speaks like that :-P )

Thank you very much for your help. I am enthusiastic about learning Na'vi and other fictional science fiction languages to use them in my own stories in future.

[Vawmataw]

About your website, the french version is well written and spoken. Excellent mon cher!

[Vawmataw]

Here are the Na'vi and Vulcan descriptions of my blog with voice added. (Robot avatar sometimes is not loaded so you may have to refresh)

http://www.bilimkurguhaber.com/2012/08/16/navi-pilimkurku-haper/

http://www.bilimkurguhaber.com/2012/08/16/vulcan-bilimkurgu-haber/

Na'vi sounds quite well. I was thinking about to create audio too, but I don't think I can come with something better than Tirea Aean...

Yehh I did a couple takes as I was not sure how quickly to speak. That was the final version because I considered the number of times I have been told I speak too quickly for comprehension.

I added a pitch effect to give a robot-like sound. That's not original voice of Tirea. :-) (Let people not think that Tirea speaks like that :-P )

Thank you very much for your help. I am enthusiastic about learning Na'vi and other fictional science fiction languages to use them in my own stories in future.

Nìprrte'

[bilimkurguhaber]

About your website, the french version is well written and spoken. Excellent mon cher!

Thank you. One of my Turkish friends did the translation. She got help from her French boyfriend though. :-) The voice is the text-to-speech feature of the avatar itself.

[Yawne Zize’ite]

I did a translation into Quenya, though I'm an intermediate student at best.

Concerning Bilimkurgu Haber
Pa Vilincurcu Haver

Hello! My name is HAL. Welcome to "Bilimkurgu Haber".
Mai omentaina! Essenya HAL. Alatulya Vilincurcu Haverenna.

Bilimkurgu Haber presents science fiction news, stories, films, books and people.
Vilincurcu Haver antal *núontalëo vinyainen, nyarnainen, *levemmainen, parmainen, queninen.

We love "science fiction". Because we believe that "Imagination is more important than knowledge".
Melilmë "*núontalë". An savilmë i "Síma ná valdëa lá istya".

For a better translation, I would consult Elfling or a forum with an active language board; LotR Plaza and Council of Elrond used to be good.
I can work on a tengwar transliteration image for you if you want to use this one.

Regarding a flag, it's a bit tricky for Quenya because the Quenya-speaking peoples have never been politically united, so each group has had its own symbol. I haven't seen one I really liked, but something with the Two Trees would be appropriate.

[`Eylan Ayfalulukanä]

Lawrence Schoen is IMHO a really good choice for Klingon, but it would be great to see what Lance Casey can do. For Klingon, I could probably translate it better than I could speak it, but I am still really new to Klingon.

If you want or need Dothraki, I can probably do that for you. It, too will have some cultural-related translation challenges. For one thing, the Dothraki have no idea what science is, let alone science fiction 

[Yawne Zize’ite]

If you want or need Dothraki, I can probably do that for you. It, too will have some cultural-related translation challenges. For one thing, the Dothraki have no idea what science is, let alone science fiction 

A common thread of the translations so far is no "science" in "science fiction". The Naʼvi version groups better to me as (tìftia (kifkeyä leronsrel)) than ((tìftia kifkeyä) leronsrel); admittedly much of this is my prejudice that "Science" is not a Naʼvi concept and "tìftia kifkeyä" is a description not a set compound. For my Quenya version, I gave up on including "science" (for which there is a perfectly good word, "ingolë") or "fiction" and instead calqued one of Tolkien's English neologisms, "subcreation", the creation of imaginary worlds. The Vulcan translation is the only one that is literally "science fiction".

This might not be true to the site, if it focuses on science fiction to the exclusion of fantasy. However, if the focus on science fiction were that strong, why would he even want a translation into Quenya? (Or maybe Sindarin. He never said.)

[bilimkurguhaber]

If you want or need Dothraki, I can probably do that for you. It, too will have some cultural-related translation challenges. For one thing, the Dothraki have no idea what science is, let alone science fiction 

A common thread of the translations so far is no "science" in "science fiction". The Naʼvi version groups better to me as (tìftia (kifkeyä leronsrel)) than ((tìftia kifkeyä) leronsrel); admittedly much of this is my prejudice that "Science" is not a Naʼvi concept and "tìftia kifkeyä" is a description not a set compound. For my Quenya version, I gave up on including "science" (for which there is a perfectly good word, "ingolë") or "fiction" and instead calqued one of Tolkien's English neologisms, "subcreation", the creation of imaginary worlds. The Vulcan translation is the only one that is literally "science fiction".

This might not be true to the site, if it focuses on science fiction to the exclusion of fantasy. However, if the focus on science fiction were that strong, why would he even want a translation into Quenya? (Or maybe Sindarin. He never said.)

I also discuss the issue with myself that whether an Elf or other fantasy genre constructed language is suitable for a science fiction blog and quite not decided yet. One of my side says: fantasy languages are not suitable and will a bit spoil the concept of the blog. However the other side of me says: fantasy worlds are like parallel universes with different laws of physics and customs, so they have a place under science fiction concept. What do you think? Are Na'vi, Vulcan and Klingon enough or for an intergalactic concept should I add fantasy languages?

[bilimkurguhaber]

This is in fact about a deeper discussion that where does science fiction end and where does fantasy begin? Taking Na'vi as an example, yes, the movie is definitely a science fiction but what about religious and spiritual reflections in the movie? Eywa for instance, or the bound with the nature? For those parts doesn't Na'vi story fall on a fantasy concept???

[Yawne Zize’ite]

This is in fact about a deeper discussion that where does science fiction end and where does fantasy begin? Taking Na'vi as an example, yes, the movie is definitely a science fiction but what about religious and spiritual reflections in the movie? Eywa for instance, or the bound with the nature? For those parts doesn't Na'vi story fall on a fantasy concept???

It's a good question, because the harder you try to find a clear division the harder it is to find, even going back to 1900. The strain of science fiction that focuses on near-future (as guessed then) technology and the changes it could make to modern society can't be easily confused with fantasy, and the strain of fantasy that focuses on using traditional legends as a base (e.g. "Puss-cat Mew") or sketching a completely new world full of gods and magic (e.g. The Gods of Pegāna) can't be easily confused with science fiction, but both genres have evolved to encompass adventure stories set in a world other than historical Earth, with the difference between genres being mostly a matter of the technology level. Which genre do the Barsoom stories fit into? They're usually called science fiction, since they're set on Mars, the hero reaches Mars from the Earth of the author's day, and they weren't impossible given what was known at the time, but the stories themselves don't focus on technology or future society. Star Wars is a fantasy story transplanted to space, but because it has spaceships and blasters it's lumped in with science fiction. Pern is lumped in with fantasy because it has dragons, but the backstory covers the arrival of the modern Pernese from another planet, the genetic engineering that produced the dragons, and technology loss. And, of course, Avatar itself, which is unusual in mixing plausible future technology with inexplicable spiritual forces.

This is a longwinded way of saying that ur-science fiction and ur-fantasy have grown towards each other and produced a large mixed genre of adventures in alien worlds that can't be neatly classified as one or the other, though in cases of doubt or considerable age the work is usually classified as science fiction. However, Lord of the Rings is, IMO, outside the mixed zone and has no discernible science fiction elements. Alien technology such as the Rings and the Mirror of Galadriel doesn't make a story science fiction unless the technology is explained in modern scientific terms, and the Mirror is not for all that it is a pure example of Clarke's Third Law.

[Lance R. Casey]

Well, here's a quick attempt in Klingon:

   ¹ HAL jIH. ²lIvan bIlImqurghu Haber³.

   QeD ngeb⁴ QonoS, lut, vIHbogh mIllogh, paq, ghot je lIH bIlImqurghu Haber.

   QeD ngeb⁴ wImuSHa', chenmoHmeH yab laH⁵ potlh law' Sov potlh puS 'e' wIHarmo'.


Comments:

1) Klingons don't really say "hello" -- not the way we do. They'd be far more likely just to walk straight up to you and begin stating their business right away. The famous word nuqneH, while often presented as a greeting, is a contracted form of "what do you want?" and is never used to introduce yourself, but rather to respond to someone else who has just done so. Using it as a simple stand-in for "hi there!" is a long-standing hallmark of newbies to the language.

2) This prefix addresses more than one person (i.e. "salutes you all"). If you're aiming for a one-to-one feel, use Duvan instead for the singular meaning.

3) Transliterated. This is not always done, so you can just as well use the unaltered form, but then it is common (and, I think, good) practice to mark it somehow («», italics, etc.).

4) Lit. "fake science", on the model of muD ngeb ("fake atmosphere") for the artificially maintained air supply aboard a starship. Other possibilities are QeD chenmoHlu'pu'bogh ("created science") or QeD  'oghlu'pu'bogh ("invented science"). This is really a tough one, since there are no known words for "imagine", "envision" and similar concepts. Alternative ideas welcome.

5) Lit. "ability of the mind to create", lacking the "imagination" class of words.

[bilimkurguhaber]

Thank you for Klingon translation. Lawrence M. Schoen did not send the translation yet. :-(

[bilimkurguhaber]

Hello;

One of the most popular science fiction writers of Turkey (named Sadik Yemni) saw the Na'vi translation in my blog-site and he asked me if I can make a translation into Na'vi for a sentence to be used in his latest book.

The sentence is:

"This is a landing field. A landing field that we were forced to construct. They will land. Soon."

Are there any suggestions???

[bilimkurguhaber]

"Fì'u kllwo txayo. Kllwo txayo a fo txeykolula awnga. Fo tam kllpä. Ye'rìn."

I used dict-navi.com for word translations. But I think its grammar needs to be controlled.

[Alyara Arati]

Hello;

One of the most popular science fiction writers of Turkey (named Sadik Yemni) saw the Na'vi translation in my blog-site and he asked me if I can make a translation into Na'vi for a sentence to be used in his latest book.

The sentence is:

"This is a landing field. A landing field that we were forced to construct. They will land. Soon."

Are there any suggestions???

Fìtseng lu txayo fte kllwivo.  Txayo fte kllwivo a ayoengaru txeykolula (fkol).  (ay)Fo kllwìyo.  Ye'rìn.
This place is a field for landing.  A field for landing that (someone) forced us to construct.  They will (soon) land.  Soon.

(Words and prefix inside parentheses are 'understood' and therefore optional.)  If the speaker is unhappy about this, you could use txeykolulänga and/or kllwìyängo.
Personally, I would only use one or the other, and I feel that txeykolulänga is unwieldy, awkward, and probably excessive.  However, I might use Fo kllwìyängo.

Edit: also, awngar or awngaru are acceptable substitutions for ayoengaru or ayoengar.
Double edit:  you might want to use someone else's translation instead of mine; I'm currently a little stupid from taking allergy medication.