Are Elvish, Klingon, Dothraki and Na'vi real languages? - John McWhorter

精灵语，克林贡语，多斯拉克语和纳美语是自然语言吗？—约翰•麦克沃特

翻译人员: Xiulin Dong 校对人员: Qiwen Lu

To many, one of the coolest things about "Game of Thrones"

对很多人来说，《权力的游戏》里面

最酷的事情之一就是，

is that the inhabitants of the Dothraki Sea

多斯拉克海的居民们

have their own real language.

有着他们自己的语言。

And Dothraki came hot on the heels

多斯拉克语可以和

of the real language that the Na'vi speak in "Avatar,"

《阿凡达》里面的纳美语相媲美。

which, surely, the Na'vi needed

当然，自1979年起，

when the Klingons in "Star Trek" have had their own whole language since 1979.

还是《星际迷航》中克林贡语风靡的时候，

纳美人也需要属于他们自己的

完整的语言。

And let's not forget the Elvish languages

别忘了，还有托尔金笔下

in J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy,

《指环王》三部曲中的精灵语，

especially since that was the official grandfather

被视作是奇幻作品中

of the fantasy conlangs.

人造语言的始祖。

"Conlang" is short for "constructed language."

“Colang” 是英文中“constructed”（人造的） 和“language”（语言）的简称。

They're more than codes like Pig Latin,

人造语言不像儿童讲的黑话，

and they're not just collections of fabricated slang like the Nadsat lingo

不只是简单的囊括一些俚语，

就好像《发条橙》里面，

that the teen hoodlums in "A Clockwork Orange" speak,

叛逆的年轻人们

讲的话一样，

where "droog" from Russian happens to mean "friend."

比如，英语中“droog”（街头黑帮）这个词

在俄语中刚好是“朋友”的意思。

What makes conlangs real languages isn't the number of words they have.

使人造语言真正成为 完善语言体系的

不是它涵盖了多少单词。

It helps, of course, to have a lot of words.

当然，单词量大也是一个优势。

Dothraki has thousands of words.

多斯拉克语有几千个单词。

纳美语从1500单词量发展起来。

Na'vi started with 1,500 words.

Fans on websites have steadily created more.

各个网站的书迷们 也陆续创造了更多的单词。

But we can see the difference between vocabulary alone

但我们也可以看到，

仅仅是有单词量有几千单词的，

and what makes a real language

和成为一门真正完整语言的不同之处，

from a look at how Tolkien put together grand old Elvish,

好像托尔金笔下

伟大，古老的精灵语 —

a conlang with several thousands words.

一门有几千单词的人造语言。

最后，你也许可以记住 俄语的5000个单词，

After all, you could memorize 5,000 words of Russian

and still be barely able to construct a sentence.

却仍然很难造一个完整的句子。

A four-year-old would talk rings around you.

四岁的孩子都比你讲话更熟练。

That's because you have to know how to put the words together.

这是因为你需要知道

怎么把单词连接在一起。

That is, a real language has grammar.

也就是说，一门真正的语言 需要语法。

精灵语就是有语法的。

Elvish does.

In English, to make a verb past, you add an "-ed."

在英语中，要把一个动词 变为过去式

需要在动词后面加上“ed”。

Wash, washed.

比如：“Wash“ （洗）的过去式是”washed“。

In Elvish, "wash" is "allu"

在精灵语中，”wash“ 是”allu“，

and "washed" is "allune."

过去式是”allune“。

Real languages also change over time.

自然语言是会随着时间改变的。

There's no such thing as a language

一种语言从来都不会

在一千年以前

that's the same today as it was a thousand years ago.

和今天是一模一样的。

As people speak, they drift into new habits,

语言会适应人们的新习惯，

shed old ones,

摆脱那些过时的用法，

make mistakes, and get creative.

犯一些小错误，

然后创造新用法。

Today, one says,

今天我们用英语讲：

"Give us today our daily bread."

”Give us today our daily bread.“ （用餐时的祷告词）

In Old English, they said,

在古英语中，我们讲：

"Urne gedaeghwamlican hlaf syle us todaeg."

”Urne gedaeghwamlican hlaf syle us todaeg.“

人造语言也是有变化的。

Things change in conlangs, too.

Tolkien charted out ancient and newer versions of Elvish.

托尔金记录了古精灵语

和新精灵语。

When the first Elves awoke at Cuiviénen,

当第一批精灵在奎维内恩觉醒的时候，

in their new language,

在他们的语言中，

the word for "people" was "kwendi,"

”人民“的单词是”kwendi“，

but in the language of one of the groups that moved away, Teleri,

但在其中一个迁移走了的种族 —

Teleri的语言中，

over time, "kwendi" became "pendi,"

随着时间的推移，”kwendi“ 演变成了”pendi“，

with the "k" turning into a "p."

”k“演变成了”p“。

就像自然语言一样，

And just like real languages, conlangs like Elvish split off into many.

人造语言，比如精灵语， 也会形成许多分支。

When the Romans transplanted Latin across Europe,

当罗马帝国统治欧洲的时候，

French, Spanish, and Italian were born.

取拉丁语代之的，法语，西班牙语， 意大利语也随之诞生了。

When groups move to different places,

当种族像不同地方迁移的时候，

over time, their ways of speaking grow apart,

随着时间的推移，他们说话的方式 也逐渐区分开来，

just like everything else about them.

就像他们的其他生活习惯一样。

Thus, Latin's word for hand was "manus,"

因此，拉丁语中”手“是”manus“，

but in French, it became "main,"

而法语中，这个词演变成了”main“，

while in Spain it became "mano."

西班牙语中，演变成了”mano“。

Tolkien made sure Elvish did the same kind of thing.

托尔金赋予了精灵语同样的特性。

While that original word "kwendi" became "pendi"

原词”kwendi“

among the Teleri,

在Teleri种族中演变成了”pendi“，

among the Avari, who spread throughout Middle Earth,

在Avari这个遍及中土世界的种族中

it became "kindi" when the "w" dropped out.

演变成了”kindi“

”w“不见了。

托尔金突出描写最多的 两种精灵语分支是

The Elvish varieties Tolkien fleshed out the most

昆雅语和辛达林语，

are Quenya and Sindarin,

and their words are different in the same way French and Spanish are.

这两种语言的单词是有差别的，

就像法语和西班牙语的差别一样。

Quenya has "suc" for "drink,"

昆雅语讲”喝“是”suc“，

Sindarin has "sog."

辛达林语讲则是”sog“。

And as you know, real languages are messy.

我们知道，自然语言是有点散乱的。

That's because they change,

因为自然语言一直在演变，

and change has a way of working against order,

改变是会打破常规的，

just like in a living room or on a bookshelf.

就好像一间客厅，

或是一个书架的样子。

Real languages are never perfectly logical.

自然语言不会符合完美的逻辑。

That's why Tolkien made sure that Elvish had plenty of exceptions.

这也是为什么托尔金如此坚定

精灵语有非常多的例外现象。

我们要记住很多动词

Lots of verbs are conjugated in ways you just have to know.

不同的变形方式。

Take even the word "know."

拿”know“（了解）这个词来说，

In the past, it's "knew,"

它的过去式是”knew“，

which isn't explained by any of the rules in English.

这不符合任何英语中的常规原则。

好吧。

Oh well.

In Elvish, "know" is "ista,"

在精灵语中，”了解“是”ista“，

but "knew" is "sinte."

但过去式则是”sinte“。

Oh well.

好吧。

事实是，即使精灵语

The truth is, though, that Elvish is more a sketch for a real language

比起一个完整的语言，

than a whole one.

更像一门自然语言的雏形。

对托尔金来说，创造精灵语是一种乐趣，

For Tolkien, Elvish was a hobby

rather than an attempt to create something people could actually speak.

他并没有希望创造一门

真正会被人们日常使用的语言。

Much of the Elvish the characters in the "Lord of the Rings" movies speak

大部分在《指环王》中

角色们讲的精灵语

has been made up since Tolkien by dedicated fans of Elvish

被精灵语迷们

根据他们对托尔金

based on guesses as to what Tolkien would have constructed.

可能想要构建的想法

编译出来。

That's the best we can do for Elvish because there are no actual Elves around

这也是我们能为精灵语 做的最大程度的贡献了，

因为我们身边并没有真正的精灵族人

to speak it for us.

讲精灵语给我们听。

But the modern conlangs go further.

但是，现代的一些人造语言更加完善。

Dothraki, Na'vi, and Klingon are developed enough

多斯拉克语，纳美语和克林贡语的 体系足够完善

that you can actually speak them.

以至于我们可以真正讲这些语言。

Here's a translation of "Hamlet" into Klingon,

我们来看翻译成克林贡语版本的《哈姆雷特》，

although performing it would mean getting used

即使不断练习这门语言就会习惯

用你的小舌去发”k“这个音，

to pronouncing "k" with your uvula,

that weird, cartoony thing hanging in the back of your throat.

那种怪异的，卡通化的感觉

还是会在你喉咙里游走。

Believe it or not, you actually do that in plenty of languages around the world,

不管你相信与否，

这世界上很多语言

都是这样的，

like Eskimo ones.

比如爱斯基摩语。

Pronouncing Elvish is much easier, though.

比起来，精灵语的发音则简单多了。

让我们现在就起程出发，

So, let's take our leave for now

from this introduction to conlangs in Elvish

通过这篇人造语言的简介， 让我们用精灵语，

and the other three conlangs discussed

还有其他三种我们讨论过的人造语言，

with a heartfelt quad-conlangual valedictory:

来由衷地告别吧：

”A na marie!“

"A Na Marie!"

"Hajas!"

"Hajas!"

Na'vi's "Kiyevame!"

纳美语的"Kiyevame!"

"Qapla!"

"Qapla!"

and "Goodbye!"

最后还有”Goodbye!“（英文再见）！