I a dialect question. |
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Author: Lo Rin
Date: 04-23-05 14:08
Okay
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Re: I a dialect question. |
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Author: Stanley Tweedle
Date: 04-23-05 14:14
no.no.cox.net
hmmm
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Re: I a dialect question. |
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Author: Lo Rin
Date: 04-23-05 14:21
Sorry, I accidentally pressed enter.
I meant to say, I have a dialect question.
Or maybe it's a dialogue question, I'm not sure that's why I'm asking.
Anyway, when writing a novel, if at some point, a character says something in another language, where should the translation be placed?
I thought the translations could be placed at the bottom of the page in a footnote or something, but I'm not sure.
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Re: I a dialect question. |
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Author: Stanley Tweedle
Date: 04-23-05 14:29
I've seen many novels where there's flat out foreign language and no translation. I personally prefer it on the same line and I think after the quoted text makes it more realistic. I think some works refuse to explain because they want to avoid drawing attention to a narrator.
A footnote might be disorienting. But it's not as bad as having to go to the front or the back of the book as some books I've read -- I think they want to keep their story from being interrupted by a narrator so they make you look it up, but it makes it worse in my opinion, but I think others like it that way. I've not seen footnotes in fiction.
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Re: I a dialect question. |
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Author: Jenifer Kris
Date: 04-23-05 14:38
Tami Hoag writes a lot of her novels set in the south, mostly Lousiana surrounding the French Quarter, the Louisiana Bayou, etc. Her characters use a lot of french in her novels, staying true to the way many speak in that part of the country. She usually lists the words, phrases, etc. in alphabetical order with the english translation next to them on a seperate page - usually in the back. Check it out, it may be useful.
Jen
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Re: I a dialect question. |
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Author: Jenifer Kris
Date: 04-23-05 14:44
By the way, in most situations it's really not very distracting...you can generally get the gist of the word in the preceding dialogue. And if the character(s) use it often, I find that I'm able to pick it up quite easily so you stop flipping to the back all together.
Jen
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Re: I a dialect question. |
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Author: Mya Bell
Date: 04-23-05 15:02
Most of the books I've read with foreign dialog have it footnoted at the bottom of the page, if at all.
Personally, I like it at the foot of the page so I don't have to look at the back of the book.
If it's only the occasional word and the meaning is clear from context, then it's usually not footnoted.
--- Mya Bell
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Re: I a dialect question. |
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Author: Randall Williams
Date: 04-23-05 15:52
... Or you could just stick some sort of a clarifyer in the text before or after depending on where you want the reader to get it.
A clarifying phrase might also let you spin the foreign words a bit, like interpret their tone one way or another.
Randall
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Re: I a dialect question. |
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Author: r p
Date: 04-23-05 15:54
I have a few phrases of Spanish in the novel I'm about to send out. Mine's written in first person, so my main character translates in her head the phrases that might not be familiar to the general reader. Words like, "hola," and "Buenos dias," I don't bother with.
rp
Pardon me please if I misspelled any of that. I don't have my Spanish dictionary with me. BTW, I had my translations checked by a friend who grew up bilingual, just in case. Dictionaries are only good for so much. ;-)
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Re: I a dialect question. |
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Author: Eric George
Date: 04-26-05 05:42
To lose the thread....
Q. What is a language?
A. A dialect with an army
(Wisdom from Europe)
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