Lotta money and contracts involved in moving anything across the portals. Powerful people are involved in the rubbish tip.
I'd have cheered if Lola had responded to the koth in her halting aen' fa. Something like, "Learning takes time." Alas, she didn't think of it in the moment. Obviously, I like Lola and want to see her show the people of Palinor she's a good person who genuinely wants to help... But rushing up a rubbish tip to help a child should do just that.
Hi Simon, “The next twenty years” quote is from the new Blue Beetle movie where one of the characters say “People think that crossing the border is hard. You know what’s hard. The next 20 years”
Mark Kermode mentioned it when reviewing the movie on Kermode and Mayo’s Take podcast
Yes! Thank you! That was driving me crazy. I've slightly adjusted it in the chapter so that it's not a direct quote: it's such a great line, but I'd rather homage it than actually copy it. :) In my memory it was a quote from a factual documentary, rather than a DC movie. Which I think speaks to how good a line that original is. Must see Blue Beetle.
No worries Simon. Blue Beetle is meant to be good. However, you’re probably right about the line being used from somewhere before. It’s a powerful statement about the real challenges and horrors of immigration and what people need to go through
I’m also glad to see you’re bringing that grim reality into a fantasy setting which is too often portrayed as idyllic with no complicated social issues
Yeah - while Lola isn't entirely blind to the realities, I think this storyline is probably when she has to move past her "I'm living in a fantasy adventure!" dream and recognise that real things are happening to real people.
Now I need to know who's doing the equivalent of driving to another suburb to dump their hard rubbish by the side of the road. 😁
I've already marked that language tool, to play with. What a great find. I was impressed with the output. I listened on audio, the foreign language was convincing. It was a nice little drop-in for the story.
I'm enjoying the foray to the refugee camp, a new aspect of the triverse. I hope we're going to have a few more episodes.
As a translator (applied linguist?) who deals with differences in language & culture every day, I'm so glad you made the effort to portray different languages on Palinor! I dream about inventing my own conlang so definitely need to check out Vulgarlang, thanks for that tip.
One thing to think about in general is that language, like any other part of worldbuilding, is connected to & informs its environment. It can be very useful & even fun to think about how a language might express the cultural mindset it's rooted in, ie. which concepts are especially important in this particular culture that might be reflected in its grammar and/or vocabulary. One common example is the Inuit having a lot of words for different kinds of snow. Another might be Japanese having a lot of words & ways to describe hierarchical relations within a group, eg. family or company, because knowing hierarchy & how to treat others based on where they stand in relation to yourself is super important in Japan.
And it's these aspects that aren't directly translatable that make for the most interesting conflict too! Just an idea if you do decide to pick this up again in future chapters. ;)
Absolutely! (also, very excited to have a translator reading Triverse!)
One good example is with the koth language. As a genderless, hermaphroditic society that shouldn't have the same set of pronouns as in most human languages, and won't have gendered versions of words like you get in most European languages. Vulgarlang defaults to typical pronouns, I think, so I need to go into the settings and adjust that at some point.
If you do have a play with Vulgarlang let me know what you think - to my noob eyes it seems like a really interesting tool, but it'd be good to hear from someone who actually knows what she's talking about. :D
Exactly, pronouns are another great example! And will do. To be honest, I'm now thinking about writing a full post on how to conlang for SFF writers... so I should probably get some firsthand experience haha.
Love your thoughts on languages in sci fi! One of my favorite comedic science fiction adventure series makes use of a universal translator that automatically turns bad words into similar sounding gibberish. A clever way to make the tried and true staple something fresh and fun!
Quite a clever way to incorporate swearing into a book while keeping it technically family-friendly, too. :) A bit like the many made-up curse alternatives in Farscape and Battlestar Galactica.
Vulgarlang. Noted.
Lotta money and contracts involved in moving anything across the portals. Powerful people are involved in the rubbish tip.
I'd have cheered if Lola had responded to the koth in her halting aen' fa. Something like, "Learning takes time." Alas, she didn't think of it in the moment. Obviously, I like Lola and want to see her show the people of Palinor she's a good person who genuinely wants to help... But rushing up a rubbish tip to help a child should do just that.
Hi Simon, “The next twenty years” quote is from the new Blue Beetle movie where one of the characters say “People think that crossing the border is hard. You know what’s hard. The next 20 years”
Mark Kermode mentioned it when reviewing the movie on Kermode and Mayo’s Take podcast
Yes! Thank you! That was driving me crazy. I've slightly adjusted it in the chapter so that it's not a direct quote: it's such a great line, but I'd rather homage it than actually copy it. :) In my memory it was a quote from a factual documentary, rather than a DC movie. Which I think speaks to how good a line that original is. Must see Blue Beetle.
No worries Simon. Blue Beetle is meant to be good. However, you’re probably right about the line being used from somewhere before. It’s a powerful statement about the real challenges and horrors of immigration and what people need to go through
I’m also glad to see you’re bringing that grim reality into a fantasy setting which is too often portrayed as idyllic with no complicated social issues
Yeah - while Lola isn't entirely blind to the realities, I think this storyline is probably when she has to move past her "I'm living in a fantasy adventure!" dream and recognise that real things are happening to real people.
Now I need to know who's doing the equivalent of driving to another suburb to dump their hard rubbish by the side of the road. 😁
I've already marked that language tool, to play with. What a great find. I was impressed with the output. I listened on audio, the foreign language was convincing. It was a nice little drop-in for the story.
I'm enjoying the foray to the refugee camp, a new aspect of the triverse. I hope we're going to have a few more episodes.
Oh, I haven't tried listening to the app's audio read of those lines. I must do that!
Definitely at least a couple of episodes left in this particular storyline. :)
You go with us on dog walks. You venture both near and far. 😁
As a translator (applied linguist?) who deals with differences in language & culture every day, I'm so glad you made the effort to portray different languages on Palinor! I dream about inventing my own conlang so definitely need to check out Vulgarlang, thanks for that tip.
One thing to think about in general is that language, like any other part of worldbuilding, is connected to & informs its environment. It can be very useful & even fun to think about how a language might express the cultural mindset it's rooted in, ie. which concepts are especially important in this particular culture that might be reflected in its grammar and/or vocabulary. One common example is the Inuit having a lot of words for different kinds of snow. Another might be Japanese having a lot of words & ways to describe hierarchical relations within a group, eg. family or company, because knowing hierarchy & how to treat others based on where they stand in relation to yourself is super important in Japan.
And it's these aspects that aren't directly translatable that make for the most interesting conflict too! Just an idea if you do decide to pick this up again in future chapters. ;)
Absolutely! (also, very excited to have a translator reading Triverse!)
One good example is with the koth language. As a genderless, hermaphroditic society that shouldn't have the same set of pronouns as in most human languages, and won't have gendered versions of words like you get in most European languages. Vulgarlang defaults to typical pronouns, I think, so I need to go into the settings and adjust that at some point.
If you do have a play with Vulgarlang let me know what you think - to my noob eyes it seems like a really interesting tool, but it'd be good to hear from someone who actually knows what she's talking about. :D
Exactly, pronouns are another great example! And will do. To be honest, I'm now thinking about writing a full post on how to conlang for SFF writers... so I should probably get some firsthand experience haha.
Please write that. :D
Love your thoughts on languages in sci fi! One of my favorite comedic science fiction adventure series makes use of a universal translator that automatically turns bad words into similar sounding gibberish. A clever way to make the tried and true staple something fresh and fun!
Quite a clever way to incorporate swearing into a book while keeping it technically family-friendly, too. :) A bit like the many made-up curse alternatives in Farscape and Battlestar Galactica.
Perhaps I should add that the characters curse A LOT 🤪
No "Next Chapter Button" in this chapter.
There is now! (thanks!)