CJ and "pidgin English" translations of it

[David D. Robertson]

Thank you for your comments, Liland.  By the way, the CJ text in question
is the work of a non-Indian and includes some quoted speech from Indian
speakers of CJ.  We know that the non-Indian author spoke fluent English,
but I'm not sure if we know whether the Natives in question did.  Part of
my view is that since the latter spoke perfectly good CJ by all
indications, and certainly were totally fluent in their indigenous
languages, it's a pretty safe bet to translate their CJ into at least the
kind of English the average Northwesterner uses.  --  Dave


Liland wrote:

 >As for a published version of a translation, what is the purpose?
>If your primary interest is in approximating the English of an illiterate
>19th-century Aboriginal speaker, go for brokenness. If you primary
interest
>in is conveying the sense of the text or utterance to a literate
>21st-century English-reader, go for grace ... assuming that the CJ is
>graceful in its context.