Sunday, January 22, 2006

Just Saying NO

(click for podcast)

Sometimes... the most useful thing to say... is NO!
Here's a sampling of a how to say "NO" around the galaxy:
+---------------+------------------------------+
| NO | Alien Language/Meaning |
+---------------+------------------------------+
| Den | No. [Ewok] |
| Muawa | No. [Wookie] |
| hia | no, oh no (interj) (Romulan) |
| ahht | no (UTA Romulan) |
| Noah | No. [Hutt] |
| Nobata | ?. No. [Hutt] |
| Nokeezx | No. [Bocce] |
| Nosa | No. [Gungan] |
| Nyeta | No. [Jawa] |
| ghobe' | no [Klingon] |
| nirsh | no [Vulcan] |
+---------------+------------------------------+

And back on planet Earth:
+-----------------------+------------------+
| Afrikaans | Nee |
| Albanian | Jo |
| Amharic | Aye |
| Arabic | laa |
| Armenian | Votch |
| Asturian | non, nun |
| Azerbaijani | - Yox |
| Basque | Ez |
| Bengali | Na |
| Bosnian | Ne |
| Breton | Nann |
| Bulgarian | Ne |
| Cantonese | m hai |
| Catalan | No |
| Chipewyan | Een-ley |
| Cornish | Na |
| Creole | Non |
| Croatian | Ne |
| Czech | Ne |
| Dagaare | Ai |
| Danish | Nej |
| Dutch | Nee |
| English | No |
| Esperanto | Ne |
| Estonian | Ei |
| Eurish | No |
| Farsi | Nah |
| Finnish | Ei |
| French | Non |
| Frisian | Nee |
| Galician | Nom - Non |
| Georgian | ara |
| German | Nein |
| Greek | O'hi |
| Gujarati | naa |
| Hawaiian | `A`ole |
| Hebrew | lo |
| Hindi | nahi |
| Holooe | M--si |
| Hungarian | Nem |
| Icelandic | Nei |
| Ido | No |
| Indonesian | Tidak |
| Interlingua | No |
| Irish | ni hea, nil |
| Italian | No |
| Japanese | Iie |
| Korean | A-nim-ni-da , |
| | A-ni-yo |
| Latin | Non, Minime |
| Latvian | Ne- |
| Lithuanian | Ne |
| Luganda | Nedda |
| Malaysian | tidak |
| Mandarin | bu shi |
| Marshallese | Jaab |
| Mazahua | pcokh |
| Norwegian | Nei |
| Occitan | Non, nani |
| | (formal) |
| Polish | Nie |
| Portuguese | Nao |
| Brazilian Portuguese | Nao |
| Quechua | Manan |
| Romanian | Nu |
| Russian | Net |
| Serbian | Ne |
| Sesotho | Tjhee |
| Sinhala | Nae- |
| Slovak | nie |
| Slovenian | Ne |
| Spanish | No |
| Swahili | Hapana |
| Swedish | Nej |
| Tagalog | Hindi |
| Thai | mai-chai/mai-oua |
| Tswana | Nnyaa. |
| Turkish | hay?r |
| Ukrainian | ni |
| Vietnamese | Khong |
| Welsh | Nage |
| Wolof | Deedeet |
| Xhosa | Hayi |
| Yiddish | neyn |
| Zulu | cha |
+-----------------------+------------------+






Travlang offers a Word of the day that gives you a different word or phrase in over 80 language. You can also receive the Word of the Day via email in any one language up to over 80.

Travlang offers free downloadable dictionaries along with the Ergane program that can run on your personal computer.



Ergane 8.0

What is Ergane?

Ergane is a multilingual translation dictionary for Windows that uses the artificial language Esperanto to translate words and short expressions from one natural language to another. Ergane is a product of Majstro Aplikaĵoj.

Ergane's user interface and manual are available in three languages: English, Esperanto and Dutch. The user interface alone is also available in Spanish.

On-line version

On this site is also available Travlang's On-line Translation Dictionary, which is an on-line version of Ergane:

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[Nocturne]

Band: Ekho
Genre: Ambient


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Saturday, January 14, 2006

Killik

Killik
(click for podcast)











From The Completely Unofficial Star Wars Encyclopedia
http://www.cuswe.org/


Killik


this was the ancient language of the Killik
race, which was once native to the planet
Alderaan.

Killik


a race of insectile beings once native to the
planet Alderaan, the Killiks lived in the
towering cities they built on the plains. The
Killiks were human-sized members of the
Colony, possessing a hive mind but no
apparent technology. They built their
castle-like buildings out of the natural
elements found on Alderaan, and formed them -
mound upon mound - to create a complex series
of living, eating, and egg-laying
grottoes. They apparently decorated their
rooms with brilliant, complex mosaics of
stones and pebbles which appeared to be
little more than splashes of color, until one
stepped back and admired the entire wall from
a distance. The entire settlement on Alderaan
was known as Oroboro, which literally meant
"Our Home." However, for some unknown reason,
the Killiks left their settlement long before
humans ever settled the planet. Although it
was believed that they had simply gone
extinct, UnuThul later explained that the
Killiks had been "emptied" from Oroboro by
the Celestials some 20,000 years before the
Galactic Civil War. The Killiks left behind
their incredibly beautiful cities, which the
human inhabitants of Alderaan left untouched
for centuries. Exploration of the Killik
ruins revealed that the Killik were
four-armed insectoids with wicked,
three-clawed hands. They also had two
powerful legs that indicated the Killik could
jump long distances. After the discovery of
the Colony's existence in the Unknown
Regions, it was learned that the Killiks were
just one hive of and entire race of insectile
beings known as the Kind. The other hives of
the Colony considered the Killiks to be part
of the fabled Lost Nest.

Killik Region


this was the term used to describe those
areas of the planet Alderaan that were once
home to the Killik race. The inhabitants of
the Killik Region were simple people who
lived their lives in a way that did little or
no harm to the region, preserving the legacy
of the Killiks.

Killik Twilight

this moss-painting, created by the renowned
artist Ob Khaddar, depicted a group of
Killiks with their backs turned to the
viewer, watching an evening storm as it
approached their settlement. It was
considered one of the most valuable pieces of
art which were kept by the Royal Family, and
served as a reminder of the planet's ancient
inhabitants. Many beings described the
moss-painting with awe and reverence, even
though they had never been to Alderaan nor
seen the Killiks. During the early years of
the Alliance, Leia Organa suggested that the
codes for the Shadowcast network be hidden
within the moss-painting, to ensure their
secrecy. Killik Twilight was one of the many
artworks which were off-planet when Alderaan
was destroyed. However, the ship it was
traveling on was believed to be lost, and any
hopes of recovering the moss-painting were
dashed. Then, some four years after the
Battle of Endor, the painting reappeared on
Tatooine, where it was to be auctioned
off. Leia Organa Solo realized that the
moss-painting had to return to the New
Republic, since a wealth of information about
the Shadowcast program were coded into
it. Several attempts were made to recover the
moss-painting before it could fall into
Imperial hands, drawing Leia into a search
that revealed much of her past. Leia's
husband, Han Solo, believed that he witnessed
Threkin Horm as the site of the auction, when
the "owner" of the piece requested account
verification from all bidders. The
moss-painting was stolen from Mawbo's
Performance Hall by Kitster Banai, and was
eventually captured by a group fo
Sandpeople. The moss-painting was eventually
recovered by the Solos, who destroyed the
Shadowcast codes before turning it over to
their Squib companions, Grees, Sligh, and
Emala, in return for their help in recovering
it. The Squibs then sold it to the Empire for
a steep profit, pretending not to know that
it was no longer valuable as a piece of
Alliance technology. The painting ended up in
the personal collection of Imperial Grand
Admiral Thrawn, and many of the Imperials who
knew of its existence believed it had been
lost when Thrawn was killed. However, the
painting was recovered by Gilad Pellaeon, who
held onto it for many years until the Yuuzhan
Vong invasion of the galaxy was brought to an
end. Then, before returning to the Imperial
Remnant, Pellaeon returned the painting to
Leia Organa Solo.
Building a Killik Language:



Here's a few steps toward building a Killik Language:

1) I started with the Bible in Basic English version of the Genesis 11 account of the tower of Babel.
2) I reduced the vocabulary to as few words as needed to get the gist of the story.
3) I build a list of all the unique words.
4) I built a "rule" for Killik word construction - all words constructed of b,u, and r. and generated enough unique words to give me - using UTA Lite - http://members.aol.com/JPKlingon/uta/utajv.html
5) handed this off to my UTA program and created a "translation". Here's part of the lexicon:





















BASICKILLIK
Babelbbr
Godbrr
Lordbrru
Shinarbubb
Sobubbu
abubr
ablebubru
allburb
andburbu
anotherburr
anyburru
areburu
asbuu
awaybuubb
bebuubbu
becausebuubr
bricksbuubru
buildingbuubu
camebuur

6. I used SAYPAD.EXE to create a "read" version of this text





BASIC

1 all earth one language one tongue.
2 in wandering from the east, they came to flat country in Shinar,
there their living-place.
3 they said let us make bricks. they had bricks for stone, putting
them together with sticky earth.
4 they said, let us make a town, and a tower whose top as high as
heaven; let us make a great name for ourselves, so that we may not be
wanderers over earth.
5 the Lord came down to see the town and the tower which the
children of men were building.
6 the Lord said, they are all one people and have all one
language; and this is only the start of what they may do: and now it
will not be possible to keep them from any purpose of theirs.
7 let us go down and take away the sense of their language, so
they will not be able to make themselves clear to one another.
8 the Lord God sent them away into every part of the earth: and
they gave up building their town.
9 So it was named Babel, because there the Lord took away the sense of
all languages and from there the Lord sent them away over all the face
of the earth.
KILLIK
burb buuubr ruubbu rubbu ruubbu urb
rbb uuub buuurru ruuurr buuubru ruuuurb buur ubru buuurbu buurr rbb bubb
ruuuubru ruuurru rubu
ruuuurb ruuru rubru uurbu rur buubru ruuuurb buuuubu buubru buuurr ruuur ruurru
ruuuubbu ur uuuurru ruuubru buuubr
ruuuurb ruuru rubru uurbu rur bubr uubr burbu bubr uubbu uuurr uubb buu rb buu
buuuurr rubru uurbu rur bubr buuuubr rurr buuurr ruubru ruuubbu ruuurbu uuubr rurb ruru buubbu
uurr ruubu buuubr
ruuurr brru buur buuu ubru ruuu ruuurr uubr burbu ruuurr uubbu uuurbu ruuurr
buurb ruubb rurbu uuubu buubu
ruuurr brru ruuru ruuuurb buru burb ruubbu ruurb burbu buuuurb burb ruubbu
rubbu burbu ruuuurru rrr ruubr ruuurr ruuubr ruubb uuurb ruuuurb rurb buurru burbu ruub rrru
uuurru ruru buubbu ruurbu ubru rub ruuuubbu buuurru burru ruurr ruubb ruuuru
rubru uurbu buuuubbu buuu burbu ruuurb buubb ruuurr ruuub ruubb ruuurru rubbu ruuubbu
ruuuurb uuurru ruru buubbu bubru ubru rur ruuuubr buurbu ubru ruubbu burr
ruuurr brru brr ruuubb ruuuubbu buubb rr buuur ruur ruubb ruuurr buuubr burbu
ruuuurb buuuubb uurb buubu ruuurru uubr
bubbu rrru uuubbu rurru bbr buubr ruuuubru ruuurr brru urr buubb ruuurr ruuub ruubb
burb rubr burbu buuurru ruuuubru ruuurr brru ruuubb ruuuubbu buubb ruubu burb ruuurr buuurb
ruubb ruuurr buuubr



MUSIC:
Cassini's Theme
Don M

Don M's Newsletter

Space
Guytare

Guytare's Newsletter

Genre: Jazz (Jazz Fusion)
Hometown: Quebec, Canada

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Getting into Trouble












Nobody WANTS to end up in the brig!
(image from star-trek-virtual.tripod.com)

(click for podcast)


http://www.cuswe.org/
The Completely Unofficial Star Wars Encyclopedia at theForce.net has many references to detentions and jailing - here are a few:

AA-23

designation of the detention block on the first Death Star used to imprison Princess Leia. It was located on Level 5. (SW)


Axxila

Han Solo once described this world as "Coruscant turned inside (sic) and made into a jail where the inmates are in control." Sate Pestage fled here, after he lost control of the Ciutric Hegemony. He tried to make a deal with Leia Organa that would turn Coruscant over to the New Republic in exchange for his freedom, but Ysanne Isard had other plans. She dispatched Admiral Krennel to subjugate the planet, wiping out many of the planet's civilians for harboring Leia Organa, Han Solo, and Rogue Squadron. The vast majority of the populace was unaware of the presence of the New Republic on their world, and died for no apparent reason. (XWM, IR)


Cyberlock

a robotic lock often used on detention cells. (JS)


Damorind Securities

this corporation produced large detention devices such as force cages. (GG10)


Detention Task Force

this study group was formed within the Corporate Sector Authority to analyze the costs and methods of imprisonment in various Authority and Imperial prison facilities. They determined that the New Order would likely lead to rebellion, and that a new breed of prison would be required to maintain larger numbers of criminals. They proposed the Stars' End project, and were involved in the initial design. The conclusion of the task force was that criminals could be stored in stasis booths, maintained in suspended animation until their sentences were up. This cut down on most operational costs - like food, clothing, and accommodations - while ensuring the safety of the prisoners. (CSA)

Detention Task Force

this study group was formed within the Corporate Sector Authority to analyze the costs and methods of imprisonment in various Authority and Imperial prison facilities. They determined that the New Order would likely lead to rebellion, and that a new breed of prison would be required to maintain larger numbers of criminals. They proposed the Stars' End project, and were involved in the initial design. The conclusion of the task force was that criminals could be stored in stasis booths, maintained in suspended animation until their sentences were up. This cut down on most operational costs - like food, clothing, and accommodations - while ensuring the safety of the prisoners. (CSA)

Detention Task Force

this study group was formed within the Corporate Sector Authority to analyze the costs and methods of imprisonment in various Authority and Imperial prison facilities. They determined that the New Order would likely lead to rebellion, and that a new breed of prison would be required to maintain larger numbers of criminals. They proposed the Stars' End project, and were involved in the initial design. The conclusion of the task force was that criminals could be stored in stasis booths, maintained in suspended animation until their sentences were up. This cut down on most operational costs - like food, clothing, and accommodations - while ensuring the safety of the prisoners. (CSA)


Drago

the Alliance shuttle which went to Stars' End to rescue a group of prisoners of war. It captured the Imperial freighter Genue as it was delivering the prisoners to the detention center there. (XW)


Goshyn Detention Center

a prison facility, Goshyn was located on a remote asteroid, and was maintained throughout the reign of Emperor Palpatine. (TTSB)


Norba

Cabrool Nuum's daughter, she had almost as many aspirations as her devious brother, Rusk. When Rusk imprisoned Jabba the Hutt, Norba released the crimelord so that he could kill Rusk. She threw Jabba in jail for murder, but explained that she would set him free if Jabba agreed to kill Vu Chusker. Jabba, however, didn't want to be subservient to any of the Nuum clan, and so he ate Norba. (JTH)



Prison

From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.

Prison is one of several forms of punishment, where an individual is shut up against his will, after committing a crime. Prisons aboard starships and starbases are known as brigs, which are typically used as short-term prisons, or for the containment of unprocessed fugitives.

Klingon philosophy indicates that, if taken prisoner, a Klingon would rather kill themselves rather than be held prisoner, unless there are enemies to fight or hope of escape. (DS9: "In Purgatory's Shadow")


A few troubled words....


[Hutt]
Bona nai kachu.
You're in trouble now.

[Bocce]
Meetix goyatoixee he manux ii mediizal
I want the collision insurance and medical coverage.

Jeza goz dobo upinahex colax!
Move aside and stop hogging the space lane!

Kazz ma kazz.
I have insurance.

Zat x'ratch keezo bompaz ha sheep.
That scratch was there when I rented the ship.


[Klingon]

pIch vIghajbe'
It's not my fault!

bIghHa'Daq yIghoS
Go to jail!

DaH HIjol
Beam me up NOW!

[Mandalorian / Mando'a]

fierfek
@!#$%!

di'kut
jerk! bastard!

And from Karen Traviss - Useful phrases to try when you're nicked for speeding in downtown Keldabe. (Karen is the author of the Star Wars books Hard Contact, and forthcoming Triple Zero. Be sure to pick them up! AND her other books in the Wess'har series.)

I've got a tool "mando" online and downloadable, at http://mando.mrklingon.org that (for now) only includes words from Hard Contact. As time goes by I hope to add more - if YOU buy the next books from Karen, I'm sure you can add to your copy of the lexicon! (Then you too will know why it is fun to be a Xenolinguist!)

Background music from: F-Fact, Frank Leering of the Netherlands.

Tune: Walk on Water

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Jedus' bon

(click for podcast)


The Gullah New Testament
http://www.jaars.org/gullah_nt_completion.shtml


Music from Aunt Pearlie-Sue

http://www.midwestworldfest.org/gullah/frames/2_a_prather.html




A Glossary of Gullah Words


http://www.knowitall.org/gullahnet/


http://www.ethnologue.com/14/show_language.asp?code=GUL


Population 125,000 speakers (1977 I. Hancock), including 7,000 to 10,000 monolinguals, and 10,000 in New York City (1989 J. Holm).
Region Coastal region from Jacksonville, North Carolina to Jacksonville, Florida, and especially on the Sea Islands off the Georgia coast. Small clusters in New York City and Detroit.
Alternate names GULLAH, GEECHEE
Dialects NORTHEAST FLORIDA COAST, GEORGIA, SOUTH CAROLINA.
Classification Creole, English based, Atlantic, Eastern, Northern.
Comments Intelligibility with other English based creoles is undetermined. Very close to Bahamas Creole and Afro-Seminole. 90% lexical similarity with Afro-Seminole. In limited contact with English, and barely understandable with Standard English. Government bilingual education program begun. Vigorous. Linguistic influences from Fula, Mende, upper Guinea coast, Gambia River area (I. Hancock 1987). Scholars have been predicting its demise for 100 years (W. Stewart). Investigation needed: intelligibility with Bahamas Creole, Afro-Seminole. Dictionary. Literacy rate in first language: 1% to 5%. Literacy rate in second language: 75% to 100%. Swamps, coastal plains. Agriculturalists: rice, cotton. Bible portions 1994.
http://www.islandpacket.com/man/gullah/language.html

The language of the Sea Islands

SPECIAL TO THE PACKET
"Mus tek cyear a de root fa heal de tree." - Gullah proverb [You need to take care of the root in order to heal the tree.]

The origin of the Gullah language is as unique as the cadence and rhythm of its sound. Slaves from the Sea Islands of South Carolina and northern Georgia were brought to America largely from different communities on the Rice Coast of West Africa. Therefore many spoke similar but distinctive languages, and in order to communicate with each other and with their owners, they combined the similarities with the English they learned to form the unique Gullah language. This process of combining different languages is called "creolization."

For years, linguists referred to the Gullah, or Geechee, language as a dialect of standard English. But in the 1940s, as African-American linguist Lorenzo Turner researched African languages, it became apparent that Gullah did indeed have its roots in Africa. According to Turner, the most noted similarities between Gullah and the languages spoken in West Africa include the use of nouns, pronouns, verbs, and tense. Almost all Gullah nouns are singular, and no distinction is made between singular or plural verbs either. These charactertistics are the same in many African languages. Also, Gullah and various African languages rarely account for when something actually happened - the present verb tense is also often used to refer to the past.

Here are a few Gullah words with African origins. The language or country of origin is listed in parentheses whenever possible:

[Taken from "The Water Brought Us," by Muriel Miller Branch]

A'min - Amen (Wolof)
be - to cultivate, to clean, to remove debris (Temme)
bid', bidi - small bird, small chicken (Kongo)
buckra - white man (Ibidio)
da (dada) - mother, nurse, or elder woman (Ewe)
dash away - to get rid of a bad habit
dayclean - dawn
de - to be (Igbo)
differ - a quarrel
e - pronoun for he, she, it
eh - yes (Igbo)
fanner - a large shallow basket made of wild grass and palmetto, used to thresh rice from its hull.
hudu - to cause bad luck to someone (Via)
kuta - tortoise, turtle (Mende)
nyam, nam - to eat
nanse - spider (Temme)
nana - elderly woman, grandmother (Twi)
oona, hoona - you, singular or plural, from the word "ona," meaning one or a single person
plat-eye - a prowling ghost or evil spirit
shut mout' - secretive or withdrawn
tata - father (Kongo)
tote - to pick up (Kongo)
toti frog - frog (Via)
uni - you, your (Ibo)
yam - sweet potato (Mende)

Another striking similarity between Gullah and the languages of West Africa is the use of proverbs to teach and advise.
"Take no more on your heels than you can kick off with your toes."
"Every grin teeth don't mean laugh."
"Day is jes an arm long, you can reach clean across it."