HFQ Offical Snippet #4

runsforcelery wrote:

Henry Brown wrote:The idea of writing in Spanish to conceal his thoughts doesn't really make that much sense. At least for the time of Seijin Kohdy. Think about it, Kohdy living during a period where the archangels were still around. They had Federation tech. So had his journal fallen into the wrong hands during his lifetime, they would have easily been able to translate the Spanish parts using a computer.

The only way it makes sense to me is if he was trying to conceal information from later generations. Maybe whatever he wrote was something he didn't think people were ready to hear at the time. So he wrote it in Spanish. Since it is an unknown language on Safehold, then it would be virtually impossible to read. Only somebody with some knowledge of the Federation or with access to technology would be able to translate those portions of his diary.

Actually, it makes plenty of sense. You just don't yet know why it does.

And the people who are saying "Gee whiz, surely they could have figured out something as simple as a foreign language' are way underestimating the difficulties in figuring out how to translate another language when the only one in existence (aside from the limited sections of a single document) is English. Different grammar, different verb forms, different sentence structure, different idiom, etc. Don't assume there were bunches of proper nouns which could provide cognates, at least for names, either.

You guys are doing an awful lot of speculating on a very limited information base at the moment.

Just saying.

You are understating the situation. Safehold has English grammar but a complete mish-mash of language sources for the vocabulary and likely phoneitics. That mish-mash suggests language has very few guiding rules to a native Safeholdian English speaker.

Extrapolating from that would be even more difficult than an isolated unilingual on Earth pre-Gbaba.

runsforcelery wrote:
You guys are doing an awful lot of speculating on a very limited information base at the moment.

Just saying.

With all due respect . . . Duh!

If you put grains of food in front of hungery creatures how can you be surprised when they follow the trail and look everywhere for another morsel.

But thanks again for the snack

evilauthor wrote:Hmm... if the Sisterhood of Saint Kohdy gets taught Spanish by Merlin and/or OWL, will they start passing notes to each other in Spanish? Of course, if they get taught Spanish by Merlin and/or OWL, that implies they're on friendly enough terms with them to get on the comm network.

But won't this run a greater chance of summoning The Inquisition?




ba-dum-bum

eldrwyrm wrote:

evilauthor wrote:Hmm... if the Sisterhood of Saint Kohdy gets taught Spanish by Merlin and/or OWL, will they start passing notes to each other in Spanish? Of course, if they get taught Spanish by Merlin and/or OWL, that implies they're on friendly enough terms with them to get on the comm network.

But won't this run a greater chance of summoning The Inquisition?




ba-dum-bum

But then you are expecting them - so they won't show.
Until you're not....

Theemile wrote:

eldrwyrm wrote:But won't this run a greater chance of summoning The Inquisition?


ba-dum-bum

But then you are expecting them - so they won't show.
Until you're not....

but if they learn that Iberian language first, RFC might get to say 'No one expects the Spanish Inquisition'

isaac_newton wrote:

Theemile wrote:quote eldrwyrm:

"But won't this run a greater chance of summoning The Inquisition?


ba-dum-bum

"

But then you are expecting them - so they won't show.
Until you're not....

but if they learn that Iberian language first, RFC might get to say 'No one expects the Spanish Inquisition'

Oh my God no not the comfy chair and the soft cushions! That's inhuman!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSe38dzJYkY

Poker

PeterZ wrote:You are understating the situation. Safehold has English grammar but a complete mish-mash of language sources for the vocabulary and likely phoneitics. That mish-mash suggests language has very few guiding rules to a native Safeholdian English speaker.

Actually, I'd put that mish mash down to English continuing to "borrow" vocabulary from other languages between the now and right up to the day the last Archangel who knew another language died.

What's the hallmark of a dead language? That it does NOT change.

Hi OlorinNight,

I thought I'd welcomed you already to the cg forum, but if not feel free to enjoy your favorite cg beverage on the cg forum.

OlorinNight wrote:This whole snippets thing is awful!!!

I was already suffering (deeply) over the fact that I can't stop myself from reading again and again and again AND AGAIN David Weber's books while I still have hundreds (litterally hundreds) of books that I still have to open for the first time. But know I've started to read again and agin the snippets too!! I think I'm doomed... Am I a junkie?

* Yes. Get used to it. Welcome to the club.*

L

I can't wait to know more about WHAT is in this journal, it seems to me that, if initially Khody may have been on Langhorne's side, he started to have serious doubts.

However, it is not clear now if he acted on those doubt (more than writing his journal I mean). If I remember correctly, it has been stated that the sisters of Khody were not funded BY Khody, but rather by people who knew him and about him, and had his journal (question: since he was a ladies's man, do you think the sisters were initially former lovers of him ?).

evilauthor wrote:

PeterZ wrote:You are understating the situation. Safehold has English grammar but a complete mish-mash of language sources for the vocabulary and likely phoneitics. That mish-mash suggests language has very few guiding rules to a native Safeholdian English speaker.

Actually, I'd put that mish mash down to English continuing to "borrow" vocabulary from other languages between the now and right up to the day the last Archangel who knew another language died.

What's the hallmark of a dead language? That it does NOT change.

Agreed. Still that seeming random melange will truly spoof a monolingual's analysis on the nature of language.

First post...be gentle please.

tootall wrote

You'll note that her Kohdy seems to be a Schulerite- and a Chihiroite.

Shulerites are the inquisitors and have a seat on the Council.

Chihiroites are the Army of God and have a seat on the council

So if that's her background- her "side" won. Something very interesting must happened to Kohdy after the war ended.

Espanol? Don Quixote indeed!!

The more questions that The Man answers, the more questions arise.
Well done!

I think you're on to something here. Given the Spanish text, Kohdy might well have been (prior to being run through the Safehold language grinder) spelled Quixote and pronounced "Kee Ho Tay" (say it fast ten times). This suggests that Quixote was a pen name or alias, so if the wrong person read the journal, they wouldn't know who wrote it.

Don Quixote was a Spanish nobleman who went a little nuts. His actions have been called Quixotic. Merriam Webster (m-w.com) defines quixotic thus:

1: foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals; especially : marked by rash lofty romantic ideas or extravagantly chivalrous action
2: capricious, unpredictable

1 seems like Pei's opinion of Langhornes plan.
2 seems like someone saw Clynton coming.

A journalist usually expects a journal to read by someone. The only person we know of who could get the cultural reference was Nimue. Was she the intended recipient? Is or was there another pre-creation entity out there?

Who is playing Sancho Panza here?