Nobody’s business but the Na’vi
I spent twelve months in Turkey at the behest of NATO, thirty-odd years ago; I often joke that all I can remember of the Turkish language is how to count to ten, and how to ask “Where is the toilet?”
[Bir, iki, üç, dört, beş, altı, yedi, sekiz, dokuz, on, "Tuvalet nerede?"]
Then again, this is twelve words more than I understand of the Na’vi language spoken in Avatar, and if it’s all the same to you, I’d just as soon not have the same level of immersion.
(Suggested by this piece at Population Statistic.)
sya »
21 December 2009 · 11:13 am
Well, if someone’s going to make up a language, it might as well be a linguist. You have no idea how many amateur writers of fantasy and science fiction think they can hack it up in a couple of days.
CT »
21 December 2009 · 11:49 am
The chief thing I remember from a year of college German: “Entschuldigung sie bitte; wo ist die Kirche?”. That translates to, “Excuse me, please; where is the church?”
So then, your smattering of Turkish trumps my skeleton-Deutsch on perhaps the most secular of levels. Spiritually though, I’ve got you beat.
McGehee »
21 December 2009 · 6:06 pm
I dunno, sya — some of the F&SF I’ve read has left me certain I could hack something up on the spot. Which would certainly have impressed the cats.
And from what I’ve been reading about Avatar…