Dear Elena:
It seems to me that the only way to make this passage more or less
comprehensible to the non-specialist would be to provide annotations.
However, some of the words here do have more or less established
English equivalents that you might want to use in your translation.
The name Jatvingian, for example, is used in English-language
scholarly works in reference to the Baltic tribe that once inhabited
the western portions of the Belarusian and Lithuanian speech
territory; I suppose, however, that this term could also be used in
reference to the "Jetvyz'ska valoda" (based on the West Palesian
dialects) that was promoted in the early 90's by Shyliahovych
(Sheliahovich), Lukashuk & Co. in publications such as "Zbudinne." In
the context of the passage, it appears that the reference is indeed
to the now-extinct Baltic language Jatvingian (which, as you can see
on the website that Uladzimir mentions below, a small group of
enthusiasts are attempting to revive -- on the basis of highly
fragmentary evidence, no less!).
As for the term "vialikalitouskaja mova," which I believe was
coined by Jan Stankievich by analogy to the Russian "velikorusskij
jazyk," you might want to use the English version Stankievich himself
employed: "Greatlitvan" (as in the same of the U.S.-based "Leu
Sapieha Greatlitvan (Bielarus) Foundation," and the now-defunct
"Greatlitvan Society of Arts and Sciences in the U.S.A.," both
founded by Stankievich). As for "malalitouskaja mova", "Little/Lesser
Litvan," I assume that this term was used by Stankievich in reference
to the Baltic Lithuanian language (what some contemporary Belarusian
nationalists refer to as "lietuviskaja mova" (Lietuvian) or
zhmudskaja mova" (Zhmudian/Zhemaitian). I think Stankievich's rather
exotic coinages "Great Litvan" and "Little Litvan" would help convey
the humor of the original quite nicely.
The term "kryuskaja mova" could be rendered in English as
"Kryvian" or "the Kryvian language"; indeed, this is the form used in
English by Stankievich in some of his English-language publications.
On the other hand, English-language scholarly works on East Slavic
archaeology, history and linguistics tend to use the adjectival form
"Krivichian" in reference to this particular tribe, so this variant
could also be used. I assume that "Kryuje" here is the name of the
journal for Belarusian neo-pagans, in which case it should be simply
transliterated.
The other terms (some invented, some real), referring to
different variants of the standard Belarusian orthography (and in
some cases grammatical and lexical variants), should simply be
transliterated, with explanatory footnotes, e.g. Kolasauka (referring
to the modifications of the 1933 "narkomauka" orthography proposed by
the Orthographic Commission led by Jakub Kolas and Kandrat Krapiva in
1957), Tarashkevitsa (or in Belarusian lacinka, Taras^kievica), etc.
As regards "emihrantauka," I suppose you could render it in English
as "emigrantese."
Best regards,
Curt Woolhiser
========================================
Curt F. Woolhiser
Dept. of Slavic Languages
and Literatures
Calhoun 415
University of Texas
Austin, TX 78713-7217 USA
Tel. (512) 232-9133, (512) 471-3607
Fax: (512) 471-6710
Email: cfwoolhiser at mail.utexas.edu
Slavic Department Home Page:
http://www.dla.utexas.edu/depts/slavic/
========================================
>Dear Elena,
>
>I believe this piece would make sense only for those concerned with the
>Belarusan language. In case you are curious, here are very brief
>clarifications (but I guess you know it all yourself???):
>"Paleskaja" language was an attempt by several Palessie activists including
>Alexander Lukashuk (currently director of Belarusian department in Radio
>Free Europe / Radio Liberty) to make their dialect as a separate language
>and promote their separatism movement. "Great Lithuanian" language is simply
>a reference to Belarusian language (usually used by nationalists who want to
>disassociate themselves from Russians). Jatviagian (Sudovian) is a real
>Baltic language which unfortunately got extinct (more info here:
>http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Ithaca/6623/). Since Jatviagians populated
>the Palessie region some people incorrectly call their regional dialect
>(which is some sort of a mix between Belarusian and Ukrainian together with
>original local vocabulary) Jatviagian. Bulgakau is the chief editor of Arche
>magazine, who is quite revolutionary in introducing new words (or
>long-forgotten words) back to our language. "Vincukouka" is a reference to
>Vincuk Viaczorka (a great linguist and a politician) who is currently
>working on "updating" Taraszkievica system to fit to modern needs.
>"Szupauka" is a reference to Siarhiej Szupa, the director of Baltic Waves
>radio, and also a linguist. The term "Naszaniuka" is definitely a refeerence
>to modern "Nasza Niva" not to their ancestor from the beginning of the
>century.
>
>I had a laugh or two while reading this passage, but my overall view is that
>the paragraph in question would make no sense whatsoever for anyone not
>familiar with the problems of Belarusan language reform.
>
>Please feel free to write more questions,
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Elena Gapova <e.gapova at WORLDNET.ATT.NET>
>To: <SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU>
>Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2001 10:05 PM
>Subject: Translation help
>
>
> > Dear fellow sufferers,
> >
> > I am now working on a paper on the language situation in Belarus and have
> > difficulty translating a quote I need.
> >
> > The piece is a play with the mythology of the nation's origin, political
> > independence, prior and contemporary attempts to cannonize orthography etc
> > all expressed as a language issue. I am mostly concerend with the names of
> > Slavic tribes/languages from who belarusians supposedly originate (esp.
> > kryvychy and kryuje) and with the names of orthography variants derived
>from
> > personal names, like Tarashkewitsa (is there a "standard" way to render
> > these?).
> >
> > The text reads (most people trained in Slavic studies will not have
> > difficulty understanding):
> >
> > -£ -Å-É-¾-è-
-ñ -
-Ç-ç-Ö--ñ-á---¼ --µ-º---á-ã-º--Å-Ü-é
>-
--±-è-Å-ø-µ-á-ã-Ü-å -ø-æ-û--ã -ø-ª-é-Ä--ª-ñ-
-º -Ä-ç-¥---Ü-ã-è
> > "-§-Ä---º-µ--Ç--û" -ø--¾-µ-¥--º-ª-è-µ, -à-Ç-æ -á--Å-æ-¾-
>-ø-µ-Ä--Å-Ç--µ -ø-Ä-ã-º--Ü-å -Ç-ç--Å-Ç-ã -- -ø--ª-µ-Å---¼,
> > -ø-Ä-É-Å---¼, -è-Ü-å-¾-è-Å---¼, -¾-è-ª-ñ--- -ñ
>-º--ª--ª-ñ-Ç-æ-û-Å---¼ -º-æ-¾--Ö, -Ç-ç--Å-Ç-ã,
>---ø-ñ-Å---ã-è
> > --Ä--±-Å--ñ-º -ñ ---±-Ä-ç-¼-Å--ñ-º -ø-ñ-Å-å-º-æ-º, -
>-Ç---Å--º- -ø-µ-Ä---ª--¥-ã -û -Å-Ç-ã-ª-µ
>"-Ä--¥-ã---ª-å---¼
> > -±-É-ª-----û--ñ". -¢-ç--Å-Ç-ã -- --Ä-ã-û-Å---¼
>-º-æ-¾-µ -º-É-Å-è-Ü-å -ø-Ä--Ö-æ-¥-
-ñ-Ü-å -ç--Å-ø-µ-Ä-Ç-ã-
-É -û
>"-ö-Ä-ã-û-ñ".
> > -ó -ø-Ä--¾--ø-ñ-Å--ã-Ö -¾--Ä-ã-è--Ç--û -¥-ª-è ---Å
>-ø-Ä-ã-º--ª-å---è "--æ-ª--Å--û--" -ñ -ø-µ-Ä-à-ã-è 5
>-¾--Ä-ã-è--Ç--û
> > "-Ç--Ä--à--µ-¾-ñ-Ü-ã": --ª-è-Å-ñ-á--ã, -¾-ñ--Ü-É--æ-û--
>-º--¥-ã-Ñ-ñ---¾----è, -à-É-ø--û--, ---à---ñ-û--,
> > -ç-º-ñ--Ä---Ç--û--, - -Ç---Å--º-
>-ñ--¥-ã-¾-ñ-¥-É--ª-å--ã-è -º-É-Ç--Ü-ã-ñ -- -Ç-ª-µ
>-¾-ã-à-ç-¼---
-¾---ã-Ö
> > -Å-ñ-Å-Ç-ç-º--û.
> >
> > In very clumsy English:
> >
> > As it is technically impossible to provide absolute pluralism, the
>editorial
> > board of ÄúFrahmentyÄù announces, that temporarily texts written in
> > polesskaya, prusian, jatsÄôvyazhskaya, great- and small-lithuanian
>languages,
> > texts written with Arabic and Hebrew script, as well as translations in
>the
> > Äúradical BulgakaukaÄù style will not be accepted. Texts in the Kryuskaya
> > language should be sent to Kryje for expertise. As for the orthography, we
> > accept ÄúKolasaukaÄù and the first five variants of ÄúTarashkewitsaÄù:
> > classical, Vintsukouka modified, Shupauka (from the names of two
> > intellectuals currently working on orthography issues - E.G.), Nashaniuka
> > (Nasha Niva was a turn-of-the -century newspaper - E.G.), emigrantauka
> > (emigrant style?), as well as individual mutations of the above mentioned
> > bodies.
> >
> > Is this at all translatable in a way that would be meaningful for a
>Western
> > (educated) reader (are there suggestions at least for some words)? Or is
>the
> > only way to resort to explanatory notes (then all the fleur d'orange is
> > gone, of course).
> >
> > Elena Gapova
> >
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