#language differences

[pratchettquotes]

Casanunda picked himself up and adjusted his wig happily.

"I like a girl with spirit," he said. "How about you and me having a little tête-à-tête when this is over?"

Nanny Ogg's face went blank. Her cosmopolitan grip of language had momentarily let her down.

"Excuse me a minute," she said. She put her drink down on his head and pushed through the crowd until she found a likely looking duchess, and prodded her in the bustle regions.

"Hey, your grace, what's a tater tate?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"A tater tate? Do you do it with your clothes on or what?"

"It means an intimate meeting, my good woman."

"Is that all? Oh. Ta."

Nanny Ogg elbowed her way back to the vibrating dwarf.

"You're on," she said.

Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies

[lassify]

The Origins of Anya's Name

*Spoilers for Mission 11*

Thanks to the CDA discord for inspiring me to write this.

As someone who shares a name with our beloved main character, I am just now realising that I have taken for granted how 'Anya' goes through several different spelling presentations in the manga. Blame the people in my life who constantly mispell it, which has densitised me to all the versions.😂

So, I know none of you asked for this little etymology lesson, but here you go anyway 🥰

P1: Anya

'Anya' is the Anglicisation of both 'Anja' and 'Ania'. (It is, in my biased opinion, the best version.)

P2: Anja

Anya with a 'j' (still pronounced as a 'y') originates from Germany. On reflection, it's interesting that although SxF is set in a German-adjacent country, we never see this version.

P3: Ania

In the early chapters, many of you noticed that Anya's name was spelled "Ania" on the front of her door. This is actually not a spelling mistake, because "Ania" originates from Eastern Europe (e.g. Poland or Russia, but I lean towards Polish explanations because that is my ancestry).

The interesting thing about this version is that "Ania" is actually the diminutive of "Anna". Eastern European names tend to have a 'formal' version (the name on legal documents), and the 'diminutive' version, which is essentially a nickname that close friends or family would use.

In Polish, other examples of diminutives would be:

'Olka' for 'Aleksandra' (sound familiar?)

'Basia' for 'Barbara'

'Kasia' for 'Katarzyna'

'Joasia' for 'Joanna' (sometimes people will also use 'Asia' - pronounced 'Asha') - As a side note, this sounds a bit familiar to the previous incarnation of Anya's design, which I believe was 'Ashe'. Perhaps Endo just really like diminutives. Perhaps it's a coincidence.

I also think it's interesting that Yor carved this version first. I'm wondering if it relates somehow to Yor's background, for example if her hometown was bordering an Eastern European country, or if she knows anyone with this background.

If I were use the information from Mission 11 to create a hypothesis, it would be that Anya (the character) likely originates from a Polish/Russian/Eastern European country in the SxF world. I think because Endo has used diminutives for other characters (e.g. Olka), a country like this likely exists in this world.

(I've actually HC'd this for a long time, I've just never had a chance to bring it up...)

Secondly, because the name 'Ania' is also used by friends and family, it is also possible that Anya doesn't know that her formal/legal name might actually be Anna. I would like to believe that in Anya's pre-lab life, she learned that her name is 'Anya' because the name was spoken by someone who loved her.

I'm not sure why the scientists at the lab called her 'Anya' instead of her lab number: perhaps the lab is not located in her home country, and therefore the scientists wouldn't know that the actual origin is 'Anna'. Or maybe they use her diminutive because it is a manipulative tactic to get her to comply with their demands (by appearing more 'friendly'). Who knows.

This could potentially make the reveal of her past that much more heartbreaking, as we don't know yet how she ended up in the lab.

Finally:

I've seen so many more hypotheses and theories from this chapter, so feel free to add them on! Thank you for reading and letting me share my piece.

[prehistoric-chesterfield-sofa]

the way andy weir writes rocky's dialogue is so precious to me because I know he's probably just doing it to emphasize the fact that they speak different languages but the fact is that when rocky says something and Grace translates it as "thank" or "amaze" it is either because rocky both taught Grace the difference and is purposefully using baby talk and Grace likes it, or Grace is so psyched to be talking with an alien that his brain is just editing in different styles of grammar. love.

[learningfromlosing]

So I guess there are different ways to say something is "the bee's knees" and you have to know them bc they're honestly the cows vagina

[ara270904]

I was thinking about the language differences because usually in Spanish I say Daring "mi queridísimo" for fun and Darling is "mi queridísima" and then their names because like I said I think it's funny. I usually say it in conversations with my cousin what we are talking about and I mention one of the two with "Mi queridísimo Daring (sometimes I even add the last name like Mi queridísimo Daring Charming) or Mi queridísima Darling" but I feel like it doesn't have the same spark in English.

Why? Because it would translate to "My dearest" and the word "queridísimo" has 11 letters but the word "dearest" only has 7 letters it's shorter!! And the funny thing about the word "queridísimo" is that it's a long one and it takes you a little longer than normal to say it.

Why am I making this post? I was just thinking about it as a word that I really like in Spanish and it's even hilariously long with 11 letters, if you convert it to English, it becomes a 7-letter word only.

And that "dearest" would be kind of a unisex word and "queridísimo" isn't because for male is well "queridísimo" and for female is "queridísima" because you couldn't say "mi queridísimo silla" (silla means chair) or "mi queridísima vestido" (vestido means dress) and what I just said is incorrect because chair is a feminine word and dress is a masculine word. "La silla y el vestido" Many words are gendered, I think there are few that are like unisex. Like the word "grupo" it's "group" "el grupo" It sounds masculine and it is but there is no word "Grupa" so Grupo covers everyone.

Because there are words that can be feminine or masculine like "bello or bella, guapo and guapa" (beautiful, and handsome and pretty? or maybe beautiful again idk)

Okay yes the Spanish is complicated but it's really funny with words I can't translate to English but they're words in English that maybe I can't translate to Spanish so it's okay, every language has its things.

[sodamnbored]

Really weird question for any Americans in the room:

You say herb like urb, right? Without the H?

So do you say herbivore and herbivorous like urbivore and urbivorous too? Or do you say those normal?

[satsuj1n]

[batman-obsession-by-secret]

I just started reading a dc-comic in German and it is HILARIOUS language wise!!! Dick uses the formal you for a villain who replies with the informal you to Dick but formally to Bruce, which is already funny.

BUT ALFRED ALSO ADRESSES BRUCE FORMALLY? In German you normally don't address someone formally until they reach the age of 16,so either Alfred decided to just address a literal child like a whole-ass adult who he doesn't have an emotional connection to, OR he sat down Bruce on his 16th birthday and explained that from now on he would have to drop the informalities. I don't know what is funnier

[supernovaofthoughts]

WARRIORS FUN FACT

I read the Warrior Cats books in French and after being in the online community for a while, i noticed some fun name differences :

Did you know that in French, kittens in Warrior Cats are not named with the suffix -kit but with the prefix -little ? I put the original French names behind their literal english translation.

For instance, Firekit (if Rusty was born in Clan) would be named "Little Fire (Petit Feu), Jaykit "Little Jay"(Petit Geai), Yellowkit "Littlefang" (Petit Croc) etc.

On the other hand, apprentices are not named with the suffix -paw but -cloud.

For instance, Firepaw would be named "Firecloud" (Nuage de Feu), or Jaypaw "Jaycloud" (Nuage de Geai), Yellowpaw "Fangcloud" (Nuage de Croc) etc.

Fullgrown Cats with names like -cloud are completely renamed, like Cloudtail, who's name in French is Snowflake (Flocon de Neige). Fernclouds name is Heatherflower (Fleur de Bruyère).

Similarely, there are fullgrown warriors who get the suffix -paw. For instance, Raggedfur is called Greypaw (Patte Grise), Stonefur is called Flintpaw (Patte de Silex) etc.

Also, here are just some French names different from the english version I thought were worth mentionning :

Spottedleaf is called Smallleaf (Petite Feuille) which sounds so cute imo

Darkstripe is called Black Lightning (Eclair Noir) which sounds so edgy lol

Cinderpelt is called Cindermuzzle (Museau Cendré), which sounds so cute. As if her muzzle was covered in cinder dust

Jayfeather is called Jayeye (Oeil de Geai) which I find refers well to his blind, blueish eyes.

Leafpool is called Moonleaf (Feuille de Lune) which sounds nice as well

Hawkfrost is just called Hawkfeather (Plume de Faucon), way less cool than Hawkfrost imo

Brokentail is named Brokenfeather (Plume Brisée)

Anywaaays just had this stuck in my brain and wanted to get it out. ^^

[dekublast]

As an italian I find it funny that English Speakers say "Bravo" to signify a higher level of praise than just "you did good".... Even though it literally just means "you did good".

[glittering-under-the-glass]

I just realized how much language matters when you try to reach a certain chapter length.

I wrote a text in hungarian, then with a help of an online translator I made an english version. Same draft, same writing, except the english version was almost 200 words longer, and I didn’t even start doing the corrections to make it sound more natural.

The hungarian language really likes to condense the meaning into a fewer words, so it’s not that suprising (english sentences have a lot of filler words), but still. A 200 words difference.

And here was I wondering why it’s so painful to reach the same wordcount I see on english fanfics.

[hana-loves-bumblebees]

Hehe haha

[brazilspill]

The downside of intercultural marriages xD

"Puto" in Portuguese and Spanish is a swear word. lol

[finsterhund]

so you have any info for an english translation of the original french heart of darkness? you did mention some diffrences in what andy says and id like to know more about it!

I've been on and off looking for a professional translator or dedicated fan who's first language is French to pay to create a transcript and then making a subtitled video of all the cinematics, possibly even modifying the PAF file to create a fanmade English subbed install of the game that properly runs. But finances and stress has put that on the back burner. It is very much planned though. I fully intent to make this a resource available online when I get there.

My French is poor enough that I cannot do this by myself but good enough that I can notice differences and in slower sections pick out specific words and understand the meaning. From what me and other people have said, there's a more serious tone in the general cutscenes with Andy being presented as more younger and naiver and with dialogue that is less "of the time period." Knowing that there was a large cardboard cutout of arnold schwarzenegger in a tv interview that showed a bit of Eric's studio at around that time, the inclusion of a Terminator reference at the final confrontation for the English dub makes sense. Particularly in that scene, it would not make sense for a direct translation. As in French the Master essentially goes "We'll all die" and Andy says "No, you'll die" which sounds more like a meme sort of joke line directly translated into English where as in the English dub the Master goes "You'll kill us all" to which Andy responds with the comeback. Andy being a bit spicier and quipping with the big bad being the ultimate result of the change.

Contrastly, Andy actually swears in the original. In the opening cinematic he says "merde" several times, which in the English dub is translated as "shoot" as oppose to the more correct "shit"

There's some figures of speech that weren't directly translatable. the "sleeping in class" is basically "head in the clouds" in the original French and from what I can tell the Teacher's rant is more along the lines of "if black holes are so boring maybe you'll be more entertained by the black of the cupboard" as black/dark are both "noir" and that's a bit of a word pun with black hole and the dark.

Other notable differences that I can confidently point out are what appears to be a political joke in reference to the European Union when Vicious is first thrown against a wall (this scene due to a mixing error is almost impossible to hear in the English dub so it was a point of focus when trying to listen and understand what the lines were in the original French), and the Ami/Friends/Amigos not being speakers of another human language. They simply speak broken French. Which I think makes more sense that their species is called "Friends" and the one that Andy befriends is called "Friend" because it's them using a human word they know. It's not their actual name. Just something they hope Andy will understand. Interestingly, the English dub and the Spanish dub are the only ones that changed this, instead having the Friends be shown to speak one human language better than that of Andy and the viewer. It's common knowledge for the English dub that Spanish was chosen for the language of the friends. In the Spanish dub, it's English! Not related to the French dub itself, but I found that fun.

Additional fun fact about things lost in translation. Maître (Master) has a dual meaning. It's also the title given to what's the equivalent to primary school teachers by their students. So hahaha the teacher and the master are the same entity hehehe.

There's probably more word puns. I'd argue that if there's any more significant differences it'd be more lost in translation stuff.

Oh, also my current blog title is "Send the Flying Spectres" because that's what the Master says in the original French where in the English dub he just says "Get him"

[fairydrowning]

– Noor Unnahar, Instagram account "noor_unnahar"

[TEXT ID: / [Lemons] / My father's mother loved lemons. Years after her passing, / we run out of everything, but never / lemons. / Nothing else shelters grief / better than memory. / It's my father way of saying, / even in your absence, you will be / cared by me. / END ID]