Kaltxì, ma frapo, ulte Vospxìvosìng lefpom! Happy December! I hope that those of you who celebrated Thanksgiving had a great day with family and friends, and that you’re all doing well as we zoom into the holiday season.
I’d like to propose a little project that I think will be fun and productive to work on, and that also has relevance to the current world situation.
What is the most translated piece of writing that exists? If you answered “the Bible,” you’re right in that it’s the most translated book (or, if you prefer, collection of books). But if you’re talking about a document, it’s the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UDHR, which was adopted by members of the United Nations in 1948. To date, it’s been translated into 569 languages.
I think it’s time for a Na’vi translation!
Translating the entire document, with its lengthy preamble and thirty articles, is a major undertaking. (I should mention that a complete translation into Klingon is now available! It was submitted to and accepted by the United Nations in February of this year.) What we can do, however, is get started with the best-known part of the UDHD, Article 1:
Article 1
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
So I’d like to invite any and all members of the lì’fyaolo’ who are interested to submit a translation!
Let’s do this: The deadline for submission will be two weeks from now, Sunday, December 15. You can submit your response in two ways: (1) as a comment to this post, which of course will include your Na’vi name, or, if for any reason you’d prefer not to have your name attached, (2) in an email to me ([email protected]) with the subject line “UDHR Na’vi,” which I will then transfer anonymously to a comment along with the others. Either way is fine. Feel free to include whatever explanation and discussion you think would be helpful, and any remaining questions you have. And please don’t feel your version has to be perfect! All efforts, at any level, will be appreciated! Once all the entries are in, I’ll review them and try to put together an “official” Na’vi translation using the best parts of the submissions as I see them.
By the way, don’t think the English version is the original one, with all the others being secondary. The original version was actually the French one, which is considered authoritative if disputes arise about meaning. But the translations are not all parallel. Many, if not most, reflect something about the culture and environment in which the particular language is spoken. As one author has written (see the link below), “Translating this document isn’t self-evident . . . . Every language is a vehicle of different ideas, cultures and philosophical traditions; some would even go so far as to say that languages influence how we see the world.” (Sound familiar? 🙂 )
This means that our Na’vi translation is likely to reflect aspects of the Na’vi themselves: their way of thinking, their environment, perhaps their proverbs, similes, and metaphors, etc. You can use all of the vocabulary we have so far, but given the abstract concepts in Article 1, you’ll probably have to invent some new vocabulary as well. I’ll be interested to see what you come up with! But at the same time, don’t feel that if the English (or French, or German, . . . ) translation has a particular lexical item, you necessarily have to have a parallel item in your Na’vi version! There may be other ways to get the meaning across. (See the example below.)
For any sulfätu lelì’fya who would like to go further than Article 1, I’d suggest Article 19:
Article 19
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
Or you could choose whatever part(s) of the UDHR appeal to you the most. But these additions are not necessary. For the time being, we’re only aiming to produce an official version of Article 1.
Here are some resources you’ll find useful:
First, the official web site of the UDHR.
Next, the Wikipedia article.
Here is the complete UDHR in English.
This article on UDHR translation issues is one I especially recommend.
Finally, this Maori version of Article 1 illustrates how a translation can get the basic ideas across without slavishly following the vocabulary and structure of any other version.
Fìtìkangkemvi ahì’i ’o’ livu nì’aw! I’m looking forward to seeing your creativity!
Update December 2nd:
Here are two more resource links that I think you’ll find interesting:
First, this is an excellent 12-minute podcast on the UDHR that provides a more in-depth look at its history and context. It’s in the “Documents That Changed the World” series, written, produced, and narrated by Joe Janes, a professor in the Information School of the University of Washington and a personal friend.
And this translation site provides a remarkable collection of UDHR translations in both written and audio form. Type the language you want into the search box and chances are you’ll get a written translation read by a native speaker.
Kaltxì ma Karyu,
sìlpey oe tsnì ngaru lu fpom ulte oeyä tìfmi ta koren a’awve:
Frasute, a ‘olonguyokx, leruyu layro, luyu hapxì wotxä.
Kawkrr fìhapxì ke luyu tsawl nì’ul fu hì’i nì’ul frafumto.
Awnga tsumktu luyu ulte zivuyet sì voìk sivuyi fìfya frakrr.
Eywa ngahu
– Talisì
Fì’u lu oeyä tìralpeng hapxìyä a’awve:
Nìtengfya fratute ta tì’ongokx layro sì pxan lu ulte nìtengfya foti zivet fkol. Foru lu tìkanu sì tìomum tsìltsanä sì tìkawngä ulte zivet fìtsap na smuk.
Eltur tìden si…
This seems like a good time to ask, what exactly is the definition of «tute»? Evidently it’s a term that covers both na’vi and humans, but what about tùlkun? Would a native speaker automatically understand «tute» as applying to tùlkun as well? Is there another term that would fit that intention better? Surely it would be culturally inappropriate to make a statement like this without including them, right? (And yet I doubt the na’vi would want to say something like «fraioang» because there are plenty of other animals to whom they would not want to grant equality, such as those they hunt.)
I used “po” since it refers to all animate beings, I figured that would cover those bases and would be agreeable to the Na’vi with their respect for animals and their lives as well. Though it would definitely be interesting to hear exactly where each starts and stops applying, or what overlap there it.
To me a tulkun is definitely a tute. Tonowari even refers to them that way, “our Tulkun People”.
Kaltxì ma Karyu sì frapo, here is my submission for Article 1 or Koren Ayll ‘Awve. I managed to stick to the original wording a good bit I think, without skewing the meaning too much.
Koren Ayll ‘Awve
‘Olongokx frapo lolu layro sì teng mìftxele leioae sì voìk. Fraporu lu tìtslam sì inanfya tsìltsanä ulte fkol sweylu zet lahet pxel tsmuk.
“First Societal Rule
All people are born being free from oppression and equal regarding respect and behavior. To all people is understanding/intelligence and a sense of good, and one should treat others as siblings.”
Kaltxì ma Karyu Pawl!
Here’s my take on the translation of Horen Swalä Sawtuteyä (or Na’viyä if you want)
KOREN A’AWVE: Ta tì’ongokx lu fratawtute/fratute layro, letswal sì pxan nì’eng. Foru lu ronsem sì vitra ulte zene zäpivet fìtsap nìtsmuk/pxel tsmuk.
KOREN APXEYVE: Lu kawkxan fratuteru tìrey, tìlayro sì tìkxuke.
(The reason why I use kawkxan is because layro is only about oppression or punishment while a metaphorical ekxan prevents one from having that right in the first place).
KOREN AMEVOPXEYVE: Fratute tsun nìlayro yivewn sneyä aysì’efut sì aysäfpìlit. Aysì’efuri ayawnewn po tsun sngum ke sivi. Aysäfpìlìri sì aysäomumìri po tsun nìlayro fwivew, tivel sì veykivirä, ketsran pefya sì peseng kifkeyä.
Vospxìvosìng lefpom livu ngaru nìteng!
Hayalovay!
*MEVOPEYVE 🙂
Correction of Article 1: Ta tì’ongokx lu fraysawtute/fraysute layro, letswal sì pxan nì’eng.
Säfpìl tìkangkemvisì akosman! Numultxa alu Lerngruppe sereia!
Kaltxì, I’d like to try it with article 1 and article 19. It could be done with mistakes, so I am open to any feedback, kezemplltxe.
Säplltxe a’awve
Fkol nokx a fratute nì’eng lu layro ulte ley mì leioae sì hem atsuktung. For lu velun sì ronsem, fo zene zäpivet fìtsap pxel tsmuktu.
Säplltxe amevopeyve
Frapor lu tsuktung fwa nìlayro ‘efu, spaw, fpìl sì yewn. Tsal nga’ futa nìlayro sweyn sì’efut, aysäspawit, aysäfpìlit luke tìkankxan ulte fwew, tel sì katìng aysäomumti sì aysäfpìlti fa sä’o aketsran, ken tew tanlokxeyä.
Initially, I wanted to start in a different way:
Frapor tung fkol tìlayrot a ‘efu, spaw, fpìl sì yewn. Tsal nga’ tìlayrot a sweyn sì’efut, (…)
I did more, don’t mind me, certainly not perfect.
Säplltxe amuve
Frapor zene livu tsuktung sì layro nìwotx fra’u a fkol plltxe mì Fìpamrel, ketsran fnetìketeng lu por mì aysyon, alu fnel tuteyä, ‘ur, ‘opin, lì’fya, tìspaw, sì’efu sì aysäfpìl teri ayeyktan tanlokxeyä sì teri fra’u alahe, ketsran tseng fu sute a tsata po zola’u, peyä tìfkeytok, holpxay ayzumä sì tì’ongokx a lu por.
Nìsung, kea tìketeng ke zene livu ta tìfkeytok a txanlokxeru tuteyä lu, alu aysäfpìl sì aysäspaw ayeyktanä tsatxanlokxeyä fu tswal sì sìpe’un ayeyktanä fu tsatxanlokxeyä tìfkeytok a kip tanlokxe alahe; ketsran ftxey lu tsakllpxìltur tsyìmawnun’i, ftxey tsakllpxìltu lu mal txanlokxeor alahe, ftxey ke äpeyk tsakllpxìltu fu ke tung fkol futa äpeyk.
Säplltxe apxeyve
Frapor lu tsuktung fwa rey, livu layro sì kxuke.
Säplltxe atsìve
Kawtu ke zene rivey sko suteo a tsapor fko äzan si tsnì kìte’e sivi; fìfnekìte’e sì fwa tel fìfnekìte’esiyut yoa txolar zene livu kxanì mì frayon tseyä.
(sko hìte’esiyu a ta äzan)
Säplltxe amrrve
Kawtut ke zene fko ngeykivä’än fu zivet nìfya’o azevakx fu nìfya’o a leioaeluke fu nìfya’o a fwìng fu txaw.
Säplltxe apuve
Frapor lu tsuktung fwa ketsrana tsengmì fkol omum sì zet pot fa horen ayll nì’eng.
Säplltxe akive
Frapot zet fkol nì’eng fa horen ayll ulte fkol hawnu nì’eng fa horen ayll luke tìmungwrr. Frapot zene fkol hivawnu nì’eng wä fwa fkol fwìng wä Fìpamrel fu wä fwa kan fko fwivìng tsafya.
Säplltxe avolve
Frapor lu tsuktung fwa fkol nìflä speng pot mì ayhem atsuktung fa txanlokxeyä pongu fe’ngayyuä a tsun tsakem sivu, txo wä fo fko hem a kxu si tsara fayhorenìl ayll vun sivi.
Säplltxe avolawve
Kawtut ke zene fko spive’e, txivaw, kivurakx ta tìnew arenulke.
Säplltxe avomuve
Frapot zene fko nìmuiä sì nìyll stivawm pive’ngay fa pongu fe’ngayyuä a for lu tsyìmawnun’i ulte fo za’u ta hapxì a ke tare, txo fkol pe’un tuteyä hemit atsuktung sì tsonit, sì peyä kawngkemä tìpe’ngayt.
Säplltxe avopeyve
1. Frakiantur lu tsuktung fwa poti fkol zet pxel tuteo alayl vaykrr tìtokatit wìngay fkol ìlä horen fa kem ylla tìpe’ngayä a tsaro lu por frapänu tìhawnuä lekin.
2. Kawtu ke zene livu tokat mì hawngkem talun kem fu tìkelu kemä a ke lu kawngkem mì tanlokxeyä fu kifkeyä horen yll, krra tsakem soli fko. Ulte ke zene livu tìtxaw apxa to pum a zene livu ro hrrlik a fko kem alu kawngkem soli.
Säplltxevi avosìve
Ke zene fko hivultstxem kawtuä tìkxuketi, soaiati, kelkuti fu futa säfpìlyewn, ke zene fko ‘iveko kawtuä meuiati sì leioaeti. Frapor lu tsuktung fwa hawnu fa horen ayll wä fwa fko tsafya hultstxem fu ‘eko.
Säplltxe avomrrve
1. Frapor lu tsuktung fwa nìlayro rikx sì kelku si mì tew fratxkxeyä (frahapxìyä txanlokxeyä).
2. Frapor lu tsuktung fwa txìng txanlokxet aketsran ulte tätxaw ne txanlokxe sneyä.
Säplltxe avofuve
1. Frapor lu tsuktung fwa mì lahea tanlokxe fwew sì run uturut a wä fwa nongspe’.
2. Tsaw ke lu tsuktung, txo tuteti nongspe’ fkol talun kawngkem a ke lu wä tanlokxe fu lu wä sìkan sì horen Aysuteyä A’awstengyäpawnem.
What I wrote for Article 1 before the others could influence me:
Ta tì’ongokx frapo snosko rey nìteng nìlayro. Tireal sì ronsemìl foti nìtxukx tok ulte sweylu txo ‘awstengyivem frafnetute soaiana
Trr lefpom ma Kary Pawl! Here is my rendition of a translation of the articles nìNa’vi
Koren a‘Awve
Fratute a nokx lu layro ulte zet foti nì‘eyng. Velunìl sì vitral tamìng syawn foru fte sivar fpi muiäa sìftxey ulte zene leioae säpivi fìtsap.
Koren aMevopeyve
Frapo yäpivawn nìlayro luke txopu ulte tsun fwivew sì tivel fu säfpìlyewn sneyä aysäspawit fa ketenga fnesìsäfpìlyewn ketsran mì seng fo kelku si.
My attempts for the 1st and 19th. I have glanced at some of the other suggestions beforehand, however.
°1ve: Sì’ongokxro lu frapo pxan sì layro. Tolel fol ronsemit sì vitrat ulte sweylu txo zäpivet fìtsap na smuk.
°23ve: Tung fkol fraporu tìlayrot a ‘efu sì yewn. Fìtìlayro lu fwa run fkol sneyä sì’efut ekxanluke sì fwa fwew, tel sì tìng aysäomumit fa frafya’o few txew aketsran.
By the way, in light of this post, what about possibility of having more names for Earth stuff, such as languages and country names? At least for those which are seen relatively often.
It is also not always clear, how to treat the root word of language. With ‘Ìnglìsì it is a noun, while Toitsye is marked as adjective in one of dictionaries, out of any reason. While for Franse and Tsyungwen it was only mentioned in a blog post once with form of nì- adverb. That is all we have, if I recall correctly.
Well, while it would be really good to have official™ list of languages, even just guidelines would suffice for bringing it into speech. E.g. “a stem would be like a noun, you would use le- and nì- forms as adjectives and adverbs respectively, while stem should follow rules of Na’vi phonology”. Something like that.
I agree and this would be good to have! But there are similar suggestions for words like these in the spreadsheet I compiled of internal dictionary gaps (hopefully there will be a post or email about it sometime!)
If I’m not mistaken, the categorization of «Toitsye» as an adjective is a misunderstanding due to the fact that “deutsch/Deutsch” is both an adjective and a noun in German (just like “English”). «Franse» has the same ambiguity, but «Tsyùngwen» is clearly derived from 中文, which is unambiguously a noun (“Chinese language”). So I think it’s clear that alien language names have been borrowed as nouns by default with no exceptions so far.
(Fpìlme’ oeyä sreyti fa ‘imeyl talun lu pamrel atxan.)
Kaltxì ma Karyu Pawl!
As EanaUnil teased a few days ago, we discussed possible translations for both articles and came up with the following:
Art. 1
Frapo layro, letswal sì pxan nì’eng lu tì’ongokxta. Foru lu vitra, tirea sì ronsem ulte fìtsap zäpivet pxel smuk ìlä meoauniaea.
Art. 19
Fraporu lu tìlayro a fpìl, ‘efu sì yewn. Fìtìlayrol nga’ futa foru livu säfpìl sì fpìlfya aswawneyn, sì futa fwew, tel veykiräsì säomumit sì säfpìlit ìlä frafnefya’o nìkawkxan.
We also discussed whether the use of ceremonial forms of verbs and pronouns would be adequate, given the highly formal context – we weren’t quite sure, but we added ceremonial versions just for fun:
Art. 1
Frapoho layro, letswal sì pxan nì’eng luyu tì’ongokxta. Fohoru luyu vitra, tirea sì ronsem ulte fìtsap zäpivuyet pxel smuk ìlä meoauniaea.
Art. 19
Frapohoru luyu tìlayro a fpìl, ‘efu sì yewn. Fìtìlayrol nguya’ futa fohoru livu säfpìl sì fpìlfya aswawneyn, sì futa fwew, tel veykiräsì säomumit sì säfpìlit ìlä frafnefya’o nìkawkxan.
We’re excited to read your feedback on all of the suggestions here!
– EanaUnil sì Tobi ta numultxa alu “Deutsche Lerngruppe”
Säfmi oeyä! Ke yo’, slä rì’ìr sivi nìsìlpey nìtam tsaw ralur sì ranur pamrelä letsim
Tìlayrori sì tìmwiäri sì leioaeri ‘olongokx nì’eng fratute. Ayforu lu fpìltsu’o sì ‘efutsu’o ulte sweylu txo (ayfo) zäpivet fìtsap tsmukpxel