"'Maybe they can settle the border question peacefully. Let's hope.' The last two words were perforce in Anglic rather than Planha. Ythrians had never beseeched the future. She too was bilingual like every educated colonist." (p. 446)
There are other examples. When Flandy and Tachwyr meet, each practices speaking the other's language. In addition, when Flandry has inquired about Tachwyr's wives and children, Tachwyr's query as to whether Flandry is still a bachelor has to be in Anglic because the Eriau equivalent would be a deadly insult.
This happens on Earth. Stieg Larsson's Swedish characters say, "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do and all that crap," "Go to work, boys and girls" and "Been there, done that, worn the T shirt," in English. On TV, the Sicilian Inspector Montalbano, speaking in Italian with English subtitles, suddenly says, "Cover me," in English, presumably an Americanism.
Poul Anderson's characters might work their way toward several composite galactic languages in a remote future.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
That bit about Tachwyr carefully using the Anglic "bachelor" instead of its Eriau equivalent had me wondering about how that would be literally translated into Anglic? Something like "testicleless homosexual"?
Ad astra! Sean
Kaor, Paul and Sean!
The book actually says that asking, “Are you still a bachelor?” In Eriau would have been an insult, not a deadly insult. Presumably, Merseian males are not born married, and probably do not all get married at the equivalent of thirteen human years. In ENSIGN FLANDRY, Brechdan Ironrede’s son is a Naval officer, but has not yet married and begotten a Heir’s Heir. It would appear, then, that the Eriau equivalent of “bachelor” is not altogether banned from polite company, nor to be translated as testicleless homosexual. Perhaps it would be insulting to ask a middle-aged male like Flandry whether he is still a bachelor, or even to rub a Merseian adolescent’s youth in his face by asking whether he is.
Best Regards,
Nicholas
Kaor, Nicholas!
I remember that bit about Brechdan Ironrede and his son. Yes, the CONCEPT of being a bachelor was not, apparently, a DEADLY insult. But I did get the impression that Brechdan thought it was TIME for his son to marry. Esp.since he was now the Heir to the Handship of their vach.
Ad astra! Sean
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