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

精靈語、克林貢語、多斯拉克語和納美語是真實的語言嗎?

譯者: Zoë Hwang 審譯者: Muyun Zhou

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

對許多人而言

電視劇「權力遊戲」最酷的一點

is that the inhabitants of the Dothraki Sea

就是多斯拉克海的原住民

have their own real language.

擁有自己真實的語言

And Dothraki came hot on the heels

多斯拉克語誕生前不久

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

「阿凡達」電影中, 納美人也有自己獨特的語言

which, surely, the Na'vi needed

這並不稀奇

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

電視劇「星艦迷航記」裡

克林貢人也擁有體系完整的語言

早在1979就已經存在了

And let's not forget the Elvish languages

而且我們不要忘了

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

「魔戒」作者托爾金 的精靈語

especially since that was the official grandfather

尤其當精靈語是人工語言 "Conlangs"的始祖的時候

of the fantasy conlangs.

"Conlang" is short for "constructed language."

Conlang(人工語言) 是Contstucted language的縮寫

They're more than codes like Pig Latin,

人工語言不只單純調動字母順序

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

也不是隨便集合一些編造的俚語

電影「發條橘子」中 青少年混混的Nadsat話

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

就不算是人工語言

Nadsat話中 取俄文"droog"來形容朋友

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

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

Conlang之所以是 真實的語言

並不在於語言包含了多少詞彙

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

有很多詞彙固然方便很多

Dothraki has thousands of words.

多斯拉克語有幾千字

納美語一開始有1500字

Na'vi started with 1,500 words.

Fans on websites have steadily created more.

影迷又日漸增加新的詞彙

But we can see the difference between vocabulary alone

但是我們知道

詞彙和真正語言其實有差異

and what makes a real language

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

托爾金如何創造古精靈語

就是一個很好的例子

a conlang with several thousands words.

古精靈語只有幾千字但結構完整

畢竟即使熟背 5000個俄文單字

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

and still be barely able to construct a sentence.

你也不一定能夠靈活造句

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

可能連個四歲小孩都比你厲害

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

如何把字詞串連在一起才是重點

That is, a real language has grammar.

也就是說, 真正的語言有文法

精靈語有文法

Elvish does.

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

要把英文動詞改成過去式

要在字尾加上"-ed"

Wash, washed.

如"wash"(洗) 過去式為washed

In Elvish, "wash" is "allu"

精靈語的「洗」是"allu"

過去式是"allune"

and "washed" is "allune."

Real languages also change over time.

真實語言也會因為時間而改變

There's no such thing as a language

沒有一個語言現在的樣貌

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

和幾千年前一模一樣

As people speak, they drift into new habits,

人們說話常會衍生出新習慣

shed old ones,

淘汰舊說法、出現口誤

make mistakes, and get creative.

或創造一些新用語

Today, one says,

人們說, 「我們日用的飲食,今日賜給我們」

"Give us today our daily bread."

In Old English, they said,

其實源自古英文

"Urne gedaeghwamlican hlaf syle us todaeg."

"Urne gedaeghwamlican hlaf syle us todaeg."

Things change in conlangs, too.

人工語言也隨時間而改變

Tolkien charted out ancient and newer versions of Elvish.

托爾金編造出不同時期的精靈語

When the first Elves awoke at Cuiviénen,

精靈在庫維因恩一帶甦醒

in their new language,

他們的新語言中

the word for "people" was "kwendi,"

「人們」是"kwendi"

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

但是其中有一支 「帖勒瑞族」漸漸遠行

over time, "kwendi" became "pendi,"

帖勒瑞語"kwendi" 漸漸成了"pendi"

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

k 變成了 p

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

就像所有真實語言一樣

人工語言也有許多分支

When the Romans transplanted Latin across Europe,

羅馬人將拉丁文帶入歐洲大陸

French, Spanish, and Italian were born.

演化成法、西、義語

When groups move to different places,

族群遷移的同時

over time, their ways of speaking grow apart,

說話方式也日漸不同

just like everything else about them.

各種習慣也會日漸迥異

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

拉丁文的「手」是"manus"

but in French, it became "main,"

但法文中變成"main"

while in Spain it became "mano."

西文則是"mano"

Tolkien made sure Elvish did the same kind of thing.

托爾金創造精靈語也是一樣

While that original word "kwendi" became "pendi"

除了帖勒瑞族 把"kwendi"改成"pendi"

among the Teleri,

among the Avari, who spread throughout Middle Earth,

散佈整個中亞大陸的亞維瑞族

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

用"kindi"來指「人們」

也就是省略了一個 w

The Elvish varieties Tolkien fleshed out the most

托爾金最精細創造的兩種精靈語

are Quenya and Sindarin,

分別是昆雅語和辛達林語

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

就像法文和西文 字源相同但字詞不同

Quenya has "suc" for "drink,"

昆雅語的「喝」是"suc"

Sindarin has "sog."

辛達林語則是用"sog"

And as you know, real languages are messy.

當然...

真實語言其實更複雜

That's because they change,

因為語言時常在改變

and change has a way of working against order,

而且往往衍生許多例外

just like in a living room or on a bookshelf.

就像我們說: 在客廳「裡」

但是說: 在書架「上」

Real languages are never perfectly logical.

真實語言不會完全符合邏輯

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

托爾金注意到這一點

所以精靈語也有很多例外

很多動詞的變化

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

你就是必須記住

Take even the word "know."

如英文字"know"(知道)

In the past, it's "knew,"

過去式是"knew"

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

英文文法無法解釋 這樣的動詞變化

Oh well.

唉好吧!

In Elvish, "know" is "ista,"

精靈語裡面, 「知道」是"ista"

but "knew" is "sinte."

但是過去式是"sinte"

Oh well.

唉好吧!

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

不過事實上

精靈語其實比較像 一個真實語言的雛形

than a whole one.

For Tolkien, Elvish was a hobby

發明精靈語是托爾金的興趣

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

托爾金沒有意圖創造 一個可以真正使用的語言

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

現今存在的精靈語

像是「魔戒」電影裡的精靈語

has been made up since Tolkien by dedicated fans of Elvish

都是在托爾金後

影迷猜測托爾金想法 繼續創造精靈語

based on guesses as to what Tolkien would have constructed.

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

也只能這樣了!

因為現實中沒有精靈

to speak it for us.

能夠說精靈語給我們聽

But the modern conlangs go further.

但是現代人工語言更不得了

Dothraki, Na'vi, and Klingon are developed enough

多斯拉克語、納美語、克林貢語 都已經發展非常成熟

that you can actually speak them.

人們可以真的口說這些語言

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

已經有克林貢版的「哈姆雷特」

although performing it would mean getting used

雖然翻譯成克林貢語後

to pronouncing "k" with your uvula,

需要習慣發k音的時候要運用小舌

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

也就是喉嚨後方一個垂垂的東西

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

不論你相不相信

其實很多語言都必須用到小舌

like Eskimo ones.

例如很多愛斯基摩方言都是如此

Pronouncing Elvish is much easier, though.

精靈語發音簡單多了

So, let's take our leave for now

好, 現在先休息一下

from this introduction to conlangs in Elvish

以上是精靈語 和另外三種人工語言的簡介

and the other three conlangs discussed

with a heartfelt quad-conlangual valedictory:

讓我們用四種人工語言來作結尾

"A na marie!"

"A Na Marie!"

"Hajas!"

"Hajas!"

Na'vi's "Kiyevame!"

納美語的"Kiyevame!"

"Qapla!"

and "Goodbye!"

"Qapla!"

“再見!”