See here for
essential background: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2017/06/anglish.html.
Somebody has taken it upon themselves to translate the
script of Star Wars into Anglish,
quite a task. They have so far done Episode 4 and 5 which they call A New Hope and The Rich Strikes Back. From reading it I have learned that there
are different types of Anglish. Because it is a constructed language created by
a large group of people online, there is no standard form of Anglish or any
official academy that directs what the language should be. For example, the
script uses the word starset for
"galaxy"; but I have seen other Anglish Moot members using the words starswirl and milkway. All three are correct in that they are made up of Anglo-Saxon
words; this is the only criteria required for the word being entered into the
Anglish Wordbook (dictionary). You
will see the word rich used many
times in the script. This does not mean the same as it does in English; for
that use geldy or wealthy. It means "empire". It
counts as one of the constructed words of Anglish; it was invented to be
hypothetically what word might have been used had not English adopted Normanisms
and other foreign loanwords. It is related to the words reich (German) and rijk
(Dutch) which are both West Germanic languages that do not share English's
foreign influence. Rich is a word
English might have had if it had the same purely Germanic roots. Others use ryke. Star Wars generates a challenge for the translator because it is a
space fantasy with many science fiction elements which includes some that are
unique to the story. Words like "droid" which is a kind of intelligent
robot. The writer uses manhew. I have
also seen wileman, sparkman and sparkthrall for "robot". The first line in the script
comes from the C3PO character: Did you
hear that? They've shut down the kiln. In this case kiln is the word chosen to mean "reactor" as in the power
source for the spaceship; even though it has a different literal meaning in
English, a device for heating clay to turn it into chinaware. Source: https://anglish.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Wyes.
Two different kinds of Anglish are known as "Greater
Anglish" and "Mean Anglish". Greater Anglish is stricter and
more conservative; there are even Moot members who write it in runes or the Old
English alphabet, a script today only used by Icelandic which includes many
letters lost from English and the other Germanic languages. Mean Anglish
permits words like Americkland for "America "
while Greater Anglish insists on Markland
or Westland .
They even translate some personal names literally. Napoleon Bonaparte is called
Newtonlee Goodshare. The influence of
Greater Anglish is in the Star Wars
script because they have changed Han Solo's name to Han Lone. The translator has assumed that the character's second
name means the same as the musical term for a performance by a single player or
instrument; which is recently borrowed from Italian. Seeing as the character
lived a long time ago in a galaxy far far away that is hardly likely. The etymology of his name
must be something totally different. The translator is being pedantic here.
As regular readers know, I am very much opposed to linguistic engineering, but
I don't think Anglish is a serious attempt to do that. The Anglish Moot members
clearly like the idea of English remaining pure and not adopting foreign words
which it is has done so much in its history, but I don't think they seriously
intend to impose Anglish on the global Anglosphere. It's just a thought
experiment; a bit of fun. I understand their sentiments however, despite my insistence
that language should always be left to change naturally. When writing or
speaking Welsh I try to avoid the many loanwords Welsh has, almost as many as
English. For instance I invented a term: PNH-
Peth Nid wedi nabod yn Hedfan. This is a literal but probably inaccurate
translation of "UFO- Unidentified Flying Object", for an example of
how I use it see: https://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2019/03/pentyrch-three-years-on.html.
All other Welsh speakers I've seen discuss the subject simply say: "UFO".
Maybe a Welsh equivalent of Anglish is not a bad idea. The French are already doing
just that. A French football commentator on TV got into trouble for using the
word le goal, which means
"goalkeeper"; but it is a borrowed word from English, part of the
multitude of Franglais which irritates
linguistic conservatives in the Francosphere. The TV company commanded the man
to use the indigenous term le guardian
in future. So I can see both sides of this argument and I'm not sure what the
right thing is to do. Anyway, may the
Thrake be with you!
See here for more
information: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/beyond-babel.html.
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