Treecat Jobs

Tenshinai wrote:

petercharters wrote:
A translator is a pretty trivial piece of tech for the Honorverse, and the only reason RFC hasn't introduced one (I suspect) is for flavour...
...

I would suspect it´s more a matter of just "haven´t happened YET". There´s simply too little need for it up until just recently, so noone had enough reason to pay for creating one.

Though remember, "trivial" isn´t the right word for anything that involves translation. And treecats sign language is not yet a full out language but rather a cutdown "make it work" solution. That adds additional incentive to NOT create such a device, YET.

In-universe, i´m sure there will be something like it within a few decades for sure, but in the next 5 years? Hmmm...

What I see happening in my minds eye is that Foraker will find it impossible to figure out the signs of her bodyguard, get frusterated, and knock out a prototype in a weekend.

crewdude48 wrote:What I see happening in my minds eye is that Foraker will find it impossible to figure out the signs of her bodyguard, get frusterated, and knock out a prototype in a weekend.

That´s definitely one way it could happen faster yes.

That or someone part of those dealing with nonbonded cats concludes that they really NEED it NOW and not later. Still going to take some time, heh, and probably longer than if Foraker did it.

Tenshinai wrote:

petercharters wrote:
A translator is a pretty trivial piece of tech for the Honorverse, and the only reason RFC hasn't introduced one (I suspect) is for flavour...
...

I would suspect it´s more a matter of just "haven´t happened YET". There´s simply too little need for it up until just recently, so noone had enough reason to pay for creating one.

Though remember, "trivial" isn´t the right word for anything that involves translation. And treecats sign language is not yet a full out language but rather a cutdown "make it work" solution. That adds additional incentive to NOT create such a device, YET.

In-universe, i´m sure there will be something like it within a few decades for sure, but in the next 5 years? Hmmm...

We've already seen a much more complicated translator. The one used to allow for communications with the native species of On Basilisk Station. The treecats are using a modification of human sign language. There's almost certainly a translator for that already. A company that makes translators can probably work with a couple treecats for a couple days and modify what they have to make it work.

If I'm not mistaken the translator for the aliens in On Basilisk Station not only had more limbs than humans, but they used either scent or vibration in addition to audio and limb position for communications.

Cheopis wrote:If I'm not mistaken the translator for the aliens in On Basilisk Station not only had more limbs than humans, but they used either scent or vibration in addition to audio and limb position for communications.

You are mistaken. The Medusans used sound and limb position, but not scent or vibration or any other sense.

[edit]No, I'm wrong, you were right. They did use scent. However, that part of the language was dropped in the pidgin developed for communication with humans. So scent was not a part of the communication between Medusans and humans.[/edit]

Cheopis wrote:We've already seen a much more complicated translator. The one used to allow for communications with the native species of On Basilisk Station. The treecats are using a modification of human sign language. There's almost certainly a translator for that already. A company that makes translators can probably work with a couple treecats for a couple days and modify what they have to make it work.

If I recall correctly, there is no automatic translator of Medusan. The equipment used to aid communication with the Medusans was merely a device to create a holographic third arm. It allowed people who already knew the pidgin Medusan language to use the signs which accompanied the language. Translation to and from Medusan was done entirely by humans, not automatic translators.

SWM wrote:If I recall correctly, there is no automatic translator of Medusan. The equipment used to aid communication with the Medusans was merely a device to create a holographic third arm. It allowed people who already knew the pidgin Medusan language to use the signs which accompanied the language. Translation to and from Medusan was done entirely by humans, not automatic translators.

And, IIRC it is strongly hinted at that it took years to get that far.

Question: is the sign language that the treecats are using, word based or alphabet based? or both?

if it is alphabet based then, why can't the treecats use a keyboard?

just a thought

Gun Boat Diplomacy wrote:Question: is the sign language that the treecats are using, word based or alphabet based? or both?

if it is alphabet based then, why can't the treecats use a keyboard?

just a thought

One I've always wondered before as well, - Nimitz knew enough English (typing skills) to command the lift system in ships to move him to Samantha on his own.

Gun Boat Diplomacy wrote:Question: is the sign language that the treecats are using, word based or alphabet based? or both?

if it is alphabet based then, why can't the treecats use a keyboard?

just a thought

The text makes it clear it is a combination of both. Primarily it is word based. But a few things (like people's names) are spelled.

But that does not mean that the treecats know how to spell. The spelled-out words are probably simply rote-learned, without necessarily understanding their relationship to sounds. Treecats do not know how to spell arbitrary words.

SWM wrote:

Gun Boat Diplomacy wrote:Question: is the sign language that the treecats are using, word based or alphabet based? or both?

if it is alphabet based then, why can't the treecats use a keyboard?

just a thought

The text makes it clear it is a combination of both. Primarily it is word based. But a few things (like people's names) are spelled.

But that does not mean that the treecats know how to spell. The spelled-out words are probably simply rote-learned, without necessarily understanding their relationship to sounds. Treecats do not know how to spell arbitrary words.

So is ASL and the other sign languages around the world.

Also here is a thought. Would it be cheating if treecats download and upload there experiences and knowledge gained at places like RMNA-SI or LUM.