tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-520807396714463309.post5916450996165205808..comments2024-02-12T02:22:30.561-05:00Comments on The Lousy Linguist: EFL in Na'viChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09558846279006287148noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-520807396714463309.post-23284577950127365152010-09-19T21:38:09.776-04:002010-09-19T21:38:09.776-04:00Michael, I welcome dissent and coherent debate. My...Michael, I welcome dissent and coherent debate. My dislike of the movie had little if anything to do with the EFL dialog. It happened to be the focus of this blog post simply because it was linguistically interesting, not because it was the heart of my reaction to the film.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09558846279006287148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-520807396714463309.post-56571838628883159252010-09-17T11:34:10.907-04:002010-09-17T11:34:10.907-04:00I wonder how much of your dislike for the movie is...I wonder how much of your dislike for the movie is due to your snobbish take on its dialogue, or your subconscious recognition that the critique at the heart of the film is aimed directly at people like you (war profiteers and technocrats) - with the resulting self-hatred and denial. <br /><br />It was a movie for a general audience (including children), so it was designed to have a simple narrative. Someone so educated should understand this. <br /><br />You might be good at linguistics and creating tools/programs for the neo-imperial plunder and destruction of other people, but you are a terrible film critic.Michael-https://www.blogger.com/profile/17137291506357159071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-520807396714463309.post-64731407020455645412010-09-17T11:24:49.334-04:002010-09-17T11:24:49.334-04:00james, yeah, I'm sure it's difficult and I...james, yeah, I'm sure it's difficult and I respect any writer who gives it the old college try.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09558846279006287148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-520807396714463309.post-35458827149752538122010-09-16T18:48:56.493-04:002010-09-16T18:48:56.493-04:00It's sad how infrequently writers ever make th...It's sad how infrequently writers ever make the attempt to convey the strangeness of hypothetical alien languages. StarTrek-TNG did that several times, in minor and major ways, with both good and bad results. One episode (Nemesis) that still sticks with me has an alien fighter saying "If we greet the nemesis in the trunks, you'll fire like the rest. As long as you're with us, you do my tellings. Fathom?" It really sounded like the Universal Translator was working hard to directly render the alien idiom.<br /><br />And a favorite of many, of course, is "Darmok", where the aliens have have an incredibly peculiar grasp of pragmatics. Even if you didn't buy into it, at least the writers gave it a shot, and waded into some deep waters.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17991668849347656419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-520807396714463309.post-76591220307889226432010-09-14T11:41:04.609-04:002010-09-14T11:41:04.609-04:00Ryan, yeah I thought about that. It's ambiguou...Ryan, yeah I thought about that. It's ambiguous. It could go either way.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09558846279006287148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-520807396714463309.post-85684431628653333552010-09-14T11:35:55.001-04:002010-09-14T11:35:55.001-04:00I think it's not necessarily fair to call &quo...I think it's not necessarily fair to call "That is mother" an error. To me at least, if one were to write it, "That is Mother," it's perfectly acceptable. It all depends on whether Mother's a simple noun or more of a title.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01248159832538717041noreply@blogger.com