Translations

["61510::GILSON" <cbmvax!uunet!cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu!gilson!61510.decnet>]

Mark Shoulson writes:


>Bruce writes:
>>OK -- if "common" (I did not use "usually" in the passage he quoted) is too
>>vague, put it this way. If _any_ foreign language translates, then translate.

>Aren't you just asking for it again?  What if I find that the natives of
>Tasmania or something translate the "Zealand" part of "New Zealand"?  Just
>*any* foreign language?

Well, the last Tasmanian native was exterminated decades ago. But even if that
was so, I doubt that there is any language in the world that translated
"Zealand," since only in Dutch does that have a meaning, and one would have
to look for languages that translate the original Zeeland. They would not be
likely to be anything but European languages!

> Or only "major" ones?  And which are those?  I
>suppose we can use Lojban's Big Six, but is that a good plan?

That might be a good compromise position. It wouldn't be my original position.

>  By your
>reckoning, not only would "Nova Scotia" get translated, but so would
>Newfoundland since the French call it "Terre Neuve."

Did I say that was wrong? I'd go with that.

>Trouble is, I can't very well think of a consistent plan that I
>like.  It'd be nice to see the "New" and the "West" and the "Upper" parts
>of things translated, but how to do it well and consistently?

I think my suggestion is consistent. Even if it differs strongly from what
Ivan, whose linguistic sense I respect, would like.

                                                    Bruce