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No, of course. Do you think that's what I'm saying? Note there are very few languages used as inspiration in Dune. There's also a glossary. There's also the f
by the_af 5y ago
No, of course. Do you think that's what I'm saying?
Note there are very few languages used as inspiration in Dune. There's also a glossary.
There's also the fact many words, like Jihad, have entered the English-speaking world knowledge (note: when I read the word "Jihad" in Dune, in my teenage years, I thought it was a made up scifi word! And so with many other Arabic words in the text; I also failed to make the connection of "Zensunni" with "Zen" and "Sunni", etc. I still enjoyed the novel immensely).
As a general rule, do foreign words tend to baffle you in English prose? They don't confuse me in either Spanish literature -- my native tongue -- nor English, my second language.
Having an at least passing knowledge of other languages and cultures will make reading any given novel, in any given language, more enjoyable. You don't have to know the whole languages or cultures of the world.
- moffkalast 5y agoI was mostly kidding, I also speak English as a second language. It's just the mild gripe that using foreign words as made up words that aren't made up words is a workaround hack for this issue https://xkcd.com/483 https://xkcd.com/483 Like the characters in a fictional sci-fi story 20k years in the future obviously aren't speaking the language you're reading the story in. It just feels like bad translation.
- the_af 5y agoAh, good point. Though I don't think there's an overuse of made up words, and most are actual non-English words. I like that in the (otherwise mediocre) "Nightfall" novel by Asimov and Silverberg, the preface states "we are going to use English words because alien words are stupid. Please understand the characters are aliens and are not actually speaking in English. If it makes you happy, substitute "mouth" for "lrrrvkr" and "eyelids" for "ktkskssrrsch") :P The characters of the Dune universe do come from Earth though, and it's clear Herbert was fascinated by the Middle East to the point Arrakis is The Middle East in Space.
- moffkalast 5y agoYep, that's mostly what I'm talking about as you said with Nightfall. It's often unnecessary for its own sake imo. It's true that Dune is based on that, but languages don't really stay the same. Middle English from 500 years ago is barely readable today. Latin was transformed into French, Spanish, Italian, etc. in a mere 2000 years. None of us can really imagine what would happen in 10 times the timespan, especially with cultures living very separated on different planets which would lead to different dialects and eventually completely separate languages over time. It would still be rooted in the same principle, so the languages wouldn't be completely alien but they sure wouldn't be possible to understand for someone living today.
- Scarblac 5y agoThis is why _A Deepness in the Sky_ is such a great book. The reason that you can read it in English, and understand the motivations of the aliens and view them as people at all, suddenly becomes a huge part of the plot.