Ebonics in Russian translation?

[Francoise Rosset]

Two things.
One is the apparent consistency of the "pidgin" used in the Russian 
translations cited. "Moya" seems to take the place of "ya," and 
infinitives are used for all verb forms. John Dunn mentioned this 
could be a regional pidgin; it's also in the translations cited by 
Robert, and -- if I remember correctly -- the Goldi tracker-hunter 
Dersu Uzala speaks like that too. So it may indeed be some generic 
pidgin and not merely for African speakers. Is there any evidence that 
anything was ever codified?

The other thing was Romy's mention of the Tintin books: I assume she 
means the language used by African natives in Tintin au Congo. This 
actually has a name in French, ... "petit nègre."

Turns out "petit nègre," which I assumed was merely a nasty 
caricature, was actually TAUGHT to native populations in the French 
colonies (or in this case, Belgian colony.) Evidently it served as a 
default shortcut "vehicular language," used for communication 
primarily in the military. The more educated presumably learned the 
colonial "mother" tongue, in school.

A descriptive "grammar" was created for this "language." It includes 
putting verbs in the infinitive, using "there" for all demonstratives, 
and using one token preposition for all prepositions.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petit_nègre
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petit_n%C3%A8gre
  
A tangent about this business of learning the "mother" tongue: in the 
French colonies it extended to learning French culture as one's own. 
My mother used to work for the Côte d'Ivoire mission to the UN. During 
one reception, everybody had a good laugh remembering school and how 
the African diplomats had all been taught from the same textbooks as 
the French had. (The same textbooks were used in Vietnam, Laos etc. as 
well) And since French schooling back then was based on recitation, 
they all recited, in chorus, the beginning and catch-phrase of their 
elementary school history:
"Nos ancêtres les Gaulois ..."

-FR


Francoise Rosset, Associate Professor
Chair, Russian and Russian Studies
Coordinator, German and Russian
Wheaton College
Norton, Massachusetts 02766
Office: (508) 285-3696
FAX:   (508) 286-3640

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------