26
votes
Accepted
Where did the term Kwisatz Haderach in Dune originate?
Kefitzat Haderech is a Jewish phrase that means "contracting the path".
Herbert defines Kwisatz Haderach as "the Shortening of the Way" (Dune: Appendix IV), clearly meaning to reference the Hebrew ...
- 1,303
17
votes
How to read é, ä, û?
For vowels the letters i, e, a, o, u are used, and (in Sindarin only) y. As far as can be determined the sounds represented by these letters (other than y) were of normal kind, though doubtless many ...
- 23.3k
12
votes
Was J.R.R. Tolkien building on a past tradition when relying heavily on languages he made up?
If I understand what you are asking right... here is the answer -
Tolkien was not the first to use a made up language and in fact making up languages was quite common. These are just the first two ...
- 476
11
votes
Accepted
How developed is the Gnommish language?
Not much.
We know very little about the linguistic construction of the Gnommish language. Eoin Colfer is no Tolkien; his novels are valuable more for entertainment than for deep and complex ...
- 71.1k
5
votes
Accepted
What does the raven say to Ged when he first enters the school at Roke?
The raven's words are never explicitly translated, but they are referenced later.
In Chapter 6, "Hunted", of the same book A Wizard of Earthsea:
Hope and mistrust struggled in Ged’s mind as ...
- 71.1k
3
votes
Accepted
Was Lapine ever developed beyond the small glossary in Watership Down?
Yes, but not by Adams
... as far as I can tell, anyhow. Unless you count the sequel.
As the Wikipedia page for the language says:
Linguists, academics, and fans of the original novel have further ...
- 9,553
3
votes
Accepted
A Clockwork Orange: Latvian translation of Nadsat
This is two questions:
Does a Latvian translation of the book exist?
If so, what is the translation of the made-up word Nadsat?
Question 1: yes.
Mehāniskais apelsīns was translated by Silvija Brice ...
- 1,229
2
votes
Has a book ever been translated in its own fictional language?
The closest I've seen is A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, whose first-person narrator, Alex, narrates the entire novel in NadSat. Nadsat isn't a distinct fictional language, as you ask for, but ...
- 1,700
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