Re: VL: Old Vulcan pferree Wed, 22 Oct 1997 18:45:56 -0700 On Wed, 22 Oct 1997 20:51:56 +0100 Adam Ophir Shapira writes: >At 4:00 PM -0700 10/22/97, Patrick J Ferree wrote: >>"Note that in most cases we have deliberately refrained from >>developing a translation for written alien languages. The reason is that if the >>words or symbols have English equivalents, it is much more difficult to >>organize the patterns of writing in an alien fashion. This is why >>most written languages on Star Trek don't have "normal" word groupings or >>paragraph blocks. For example, Ferengi is based on a branching flow >>chart, using lots of 60-degree angles, whereas ancient Vulcan seems >>to be based on some kind of musical scales." >I know that to the un-critical eye, this Paramount explanation >may sound *very* plausible ... but to the critical eye, it does >not. Paramount? Paramount? Who said anything about Paramount? This is the explanations of Denise and Michael Okuda! >Different alien cultures may have differences in the way they >write ... but one thing they would have in common. They would >all want their writing system to be correspondent to speach. Indeed, however they are referring to the English language corresponding to alien languages, not their writing system corresponding to their speech. >Furthermore, there is the issue of how could there have been >a such thing as "Old Vulcan" language in the first place? I >made IMHO a very strong and logical argument to believe that >there is more than one Vulcan language ... however, there would >be one language (very possibly Surak's native language, though >*not necessarily* so) which would be accepted as the language >for all planet-wide business on Vulcan. Post-reformation Vulcans >would find it logical for all of them to accept one language as >the global language (even if many of them have to learn it as a >foreign language). Languages change over time, new words, new symbols, new standards. In the Series' they refer to it as "Ancient Vulcan" which may imply change or a difference, otherwise they might have said just "Vulcan", and it must be different since it has been spoken as "Ancient Vulcan" by many Vulcans in many episodes. Not necessarily but.. The reference I have presented is very much true. For instance they may not organize their writing like ours, as seen in Spock's, "Book of Vulcan Wisdom" in the TNG episode "Unification." If it is a *completely* different form of grouping or arrangement, vocabulary, sentence structure, etc. it would definitely be hard to do. You think you could create a whole writing system complete with symbols, structure, and error free, because I sure don't know anyone who could. And they weren't just talking about one language, although they only made reference to two. >However, this discussion is *not* moot. By "Old Vulcan", we >could be referring to the predecessors of what today is the >globally accepted language on Vulcan. True, very true, I shouldn't have used the term "Old Vulcan," when implying "Ancient Vulcan." Patrick J Ferree (Pferree*juno,com) MENE SAKKHET UR-SEVEH! "Science Fiction - Step Into Reality"