Post by caejones on Feb 2, 2008 8:13:44 GMT -5
So, let's say you have a novella involving a couple criss-crossing scenarios, featuring characters of various nationalities, with various linguistic backgrounds... And you're probably writing for an English-speaking audience...
So, how should language be handled?
It's easy enough to default to English if we've got characters interacting without another common language to use. But then we have situations where the characters could use a different language, and probably would.
Ok, so we could just use a translation for scenes where only one language is used. (Which brings me to the subject question...). And in scenes with mixed languages (which wouldn't involve much, a few sentences of the other language might work well enough.
... and then there are honorifics. I've seen plenty of arguing over when they should and shouldn't be used.
In particular, I'm talking about Japanese honorifics (-sama, -san, -kun... I think there's a -chan in there that I kinda forgot until just now...). The scenes overall would be presented in English, but translating the honorifics into English completely alters the meaning (I.E, -san isn't quite as strong as "Mr.", and there really isn't a replacement for -kun or -chan that I can see working.). But... the odds are that the majority of the audience isn't going to understand the nuances and such, so the effect of keeping them is still lost.
... *sigh*. What's a *cough* writer to do?
(... or maybe the user of honorifics is a fangirl. ... except not.
)
(Hey, and while we're at it: I suck at romanizing Chinese based on pronunciation... are there any Chinese-speakers hereabouts that know what I'm trying to say with "Ni chu nali"?)
Umm, yeah. ... anybody?
So, how should language be handled?
It's easy enough to default to English if we've got characters interacting without another common language to use. But then we have situations where the characters could use a different language, and probably would.
Ok, so we could just use a translation for scenes where only one language is used. (Which brings me to the subject question...). And in scenes with mixed languages (which wouldn't involve much, a few sentences of the other language might work well enough.
... and then there are honorifics. I've seen plenty of arguing over when they should and shouldn't be used.
In particular, I'm talking about Japanese honorifics (-sama, -san, -kun... I think there's a -chan in there that I kinda forgot until just now...). The scenes overall would be presented in English, but translating the honorifics into English completely alters the meaning (I.E, -san isn't quite as strong as "Mr.", and there really isn't a replacement for -kun or -chan that I can see working.). But... the odds are that the majority of the audience isn't going to understand the nuances and such, so the effect of keeping them is still lost.
... *sigh*. What's a *cough* writer to do?
(... or maybe the user of honorifics is a fangirl. ... except not.
)(Hey, and while we're at it: I suck at romanizing Chinese based on pronunciation... are there any Chinese-speakers hereabouts that know what I'm trying to say with "Ni chu nali"?)
Umm, yeah. ... anybody?
