From: Matthew Malthouse <matthew.malthouse@guardian.co.uk>
Subject: Re: (whorl) Re: Digest whorl.v009.n005
Date: Sun, 01 Nov 1998 20:35:05 

Greg Neyman wrote:

>     Thank you Keiran for replying to my question bout Hy ... as for English,
> two things ... first of all, as Ranjit points out, French and  Latin are
> mentioned BY name .. second, poetic effects like puns and deliberate
> alliteration (Overseeing Outsider, marvelous molpe, etc) are bound to the
> language they originated in, and would be lost in translation.  Plus note
> the use of shag as their "f" word, a throwback of British English.
>     that's it for now ...

Tolkien, in his exposition upon the Common Toungue and the languages of Middle
Earth, says that he uses English to _represent_ the Common Tounge and as such
names like Merriadoc, Samwise and Brandywine/Branduin have been changed to
"work" rather than leave them in the "original". I haven't got a copy but the
"real" names are given.

I've usually taken this to be a reasonable way of looking at much fantasy/sf
so that the language doesn't intrude. It certainly covers the alliterative
phrases in Whorl and the French & Latin as "analogue foreign/ancient languages
in Urth.

Matthew

*This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun.
*More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.moonmilk.com/whorl/
*To leave the list, send "unsubscribe" to whorl-request@lists.best.com
*If it's Wolfe but not Long Sun, please use the URTH list: urth@lists.best.com