Tuesday, June 4, 2024

Yr Hobyd: Tolkien's The Hobbit to be published in Welsh - Nation.Cymru - Translation

Yr Hobyd. Image: Melin Bapur Books

A Welsh publisher is to release a new translation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic fantasy novel The Hobbit in Welsh.

One of the most popular and most-translated books of the twentieth century and the prelude to The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit was originally published in 1937 and has since been translated into dozens of languages, including other Celtic languages such as Irish and Scottish Gaelic.

Until now, however, the celebrated novel has never before been available in Welsh—perhaps surprisingly, given author J.R.R. Tolkien’s own interest in the Welsh language, upon which he drew for some elements of the fictional languages he invented in his works.

Original illustrations

Melin Bapur Books, which launched earlier this year in order to take on similar projects as well as re-publishing classic Welsh-language literature of the past, has obtained a licence from the Tolkien Estate to publish the new translation by Adam Pearce, who has previously translated H.G. Wells into Welsh and works by Daniel Owen and T. Gwynn Jones from Welsh into English.

The new translation includes Welsh versions of both the maps featured in the original and includes J.R.R. Tolkien’s original illustrations.

An example of the book’s beautiful inner pages

“I started working on this translation back during the Covid-19 Pandemic,” explains translator Adam Pearce, who is also the owner of Melin Bapur, “and it’s fantastic to be able to finally bring this project to the public!

“Not much for adults is translated into Welsh because our native publishing industry is so strong and active, but translations of books they already know can be a great way to encourage people who wouldn’t otherwise read in Welsh to give it a go, as well as being absolutely invaluable to those learning the language.

“I actually began this translation long before establishing Melin Bapur, but this is exactly the sort of thing we wanted to do when establishing ourselves as a publisher.”

Fortune

Those who would translate J.R.R. Tolkien’s works are quite fortunate in that the author wrote a guide, the Guide to the Names in the Lord of the Rings, giving quite explicit instructions on what and how to translate different elements of y Ddaear Ganol (Middle Earth).

These have been followed faithfully in putting this translation together.

For example, translators are asked to use a word for ‘Hobbit’ which is meaningless, but looks like it is native to the language in question; so I chose “Hobyd”, which gives the book its title in Welsh.

Similarly names like ‘Baggins’ and ‘Gandalf’, which are understood to be in the Hobbits’ language, have been Welshified (Baglan and Gandalff); the same for Rivendell (Glynhafn), Mirkwood (y Gwyllgoed) and Laketown (Trellyn).

The names of the Elves and Dwarves, however, are understood to be in their own languages, so appear exactly as in Tolkien’s original works, as are place-names in Middle-earth languages like Esgaroth and Gundabad.

Challenge

A particular challenge was finding an appropriate term in Welsh for Elf.

Pearce shared: “There isn’t really an equivalent creature in Welsh mythology and J.R.R. Tolkien suggests that the translator may wish to coin a new term, or alternatively use an existing term even if it is for a monstrous or evil creature, as long as it has none of the associations of ‘fairies’ or similar.

“Accordingly I have chosen forms based on Ellyll, which is usually a malevolent spirit or troll-like creature in Welsh.

“For this reason I decided to use the less common form of Ellyllyn for the singular and Ellyll for the plural, because these felt more elegant and graceful than Ellyllon or Ellyllod.

“This is actually very similar to what J.R.R. Tolkien himself did, using the plural Dwarves rather than Dwarfs to differentiate his own creations from those appearing in other stories.

Yr Hobyd. Image: Melin Bapur Books

As well as terminology, another challenge was adapting the two maps J.R.R. Tolkien personally illustrated for the original edition with the new place-names in Welsh.

Pearce said: “Fortunately graphic manipulation is easier than ever these days and I was able to repurpose the author’s own handwriting letter by letter for about 95% of the Welsh names.

“The new Welsh versions of the maps look as close as possible to how they would have done if J.R.R. Tolkien himself had drawn them in Welsh.”

Unique Welsh touches

The original English version of The Hobbit uses Anglo-Saxon runes to represent the written language of the Dwarves.

In Yr Hobyd these have been replaced by the 18th century Welsh Coelbren y Beirdd, widely believed to have been invented by Iolo Morgannwg, originator of many of the traditions around the Eisteddfod.

Pearce explains the rationale: “Using Anglo-Saxon—that is English—runes for Welsh never seemed right; fortunately we have Coelbren which was once fashionable for things like engraving on gravestones in Welsh.

“The letters are extremely rune-like so in keeping with the original, but in a way that helps give the translation a uniquely ‘Welsh’ feel.

“As it’s basically a fantasy alphabet, it’s very appropriate for a fantasy story!

“I have tried to make this translation as ‘Welsh’ as a translation could ever be, and natural and appealing as possible to readers in Welsh, as well as to anyone else who might be interested, and little touches like this are really important.”

Melin Bapur books wish to express their gratitude to HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. and The Tolkien Estate for approving the project.

Yr Hobyd is currently available for pre-orders from www.melinbapur.cymru and priced at £13.99+P&P; it is expected to be on general sale by the end of June 2024.


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Monday, June 3, 2024

A Word Please | Columnists | theworldlink.com - Coos Bay World - Dictionary

This week I learned that pretty much everyone who’s ever opined about the word “peruse” was wrong, kind of. And the people who corrected the people who opined wrongly were also wrong, kind of. And that I, myself, never quite understood the real deal with “peruse,” even though I thought I had it all figured out.

Here’s the most common way I see “peruse” used these days: “Peruse the charming boutiques." “Peruse the delicious menu options.” “Peruse the aisles.” In other words, I see “peruse” used to mean “browse.”

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Denver Elections to provide translation device to non-English-speaking voters - 9News.com KUSA - Translation

The device is a multi-sensory, two-way translation device that will be available in all voting sites.

DENVER — Ahead of the State Primary Election on June 25, the elections office partnered with the Colorado Department of State to increase voting access for non-English speakers with a new device called Pockettalk.

“We want people to know they can participate, especially those voters who are coming to a vote center – wanting to vote," said Paul Lopez, clerk and recorder for the City and County of Denver. "We don’t want folks to feel like they’re not welcomed, or they can’t participate because of limited English proficiency."

The device is a multi-sensory, two-way translation device that will be available in all voting sites across the city. With a large touchscreen, noise-cancelling microphones and a text-to-translate camera, the device will have access to 84 languages. 

“It’s very easy to use, you don’t even have to log in really. You pick the language, hold the button as you talk and it will translate and have it written out on the screen, so the person can hear it and see it," said Lopez. 

The technology will allow employees to translate real-time conversations, text, written words, and signs to communicate between staff and voters. 

"Not everyone is confident to speaking another language or trying to assist other languages and I think this helps," Lopez said. "For election workers, this is a blessing because it will boost confidence and be able to help voters navigate the system."

The State Primary Election is on Tuesday, June 25. Ballots will be mailed out to Republican, Democratic, and Unaffiliated voters June 3. Residents can visit denvervotes.org to register to vote, update their voter registration, and see where to vote through June 25.

RELATED: The history of women's suffrage in Colorado

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Sunday, June 2, 2024

Let's (try to) end the debate: Does biweekly mean twice a week or twice a month? - CBS News - Dictionary

A dictionary search for biweekly likely won't clear up confusion about how often a biweekly meeting is being held. 

Merriam-Webster, Dictionary.com, and the Cambridge Dictionary each offer two different definitions for the adjective: occurring twice a week or occurring every two weeks. The language conundrum goes beyond biweekly; bimonthly and biannual also have competing definitions. Is the bimonthly meeting twice a month or is it every two months? Is the biannual family reunion twice a year or once every two years? 

The different definitions have left people — even the ones working at dictionaries — scratching their heads for a long time. 

"This is absolutely a problem of English, just generally, we just don't have a good tool for this," Merriam-Webster editor Peter Sokolowski said. "It is odd that bi, which means two and twice, then becomes confused with itself. It's an unusual circumstance linguistically."

People search biweekly, bimonthly and biannual on the Merriam-Webster website often, Sokolowski said.

"A lot of the tension that we get is for new words or slang words or things, but actually, it's this kind of word that is the bread and butter of the dictionary," Sokolowski said. "You know, these ambiguities of English that send people to the dictionary day in and day out, year in and year out."

The Associated Press, which guides the style choices of many news organizations, took a stand on the definition it uses. It says biweekly means every other week and that semiweekly means twice a week.

In day-to-day life, Sokolowski advises ensuring you provide context if you plan to say biweekly, bimonthly or biannually. Or just work around it — say twice a week, twice a month and so on. Laurel MacKenzie, associate professor with the NYU Department of Linguistics, agreed.

"Sometimes you really just have to paraphrase because it can be totally ambiguous without context," she said.

Michael Adams, an Indiana University English professor, said bringing back the word fortnight, a period of 14 days, and the word fortnightly, something occurring once every 14 days, would solve a lot of the problems with biweekly. 

"So if we're looking for a solution to the problem, let's bring fortnight and fortnightly back into use," Adams said. "And then we don't have to worry about biweekly or bimonthly meaning two things, or about inserting semiweekly or semimonthly which users clearly, from the historical record, do not prefer."

A review of the Corpus of Historical American English, which can be used to determine how frequently a word is used compared to other words, shows fortnight and fortnightly have been used more frequently than biweekly and that biweekly, in turn, has been used more often than semiweekly, Adams said. 

"That's the result of fortnight being an old English word so well established historically that people saw no reason to use biweekly to mean every two weeks," Adams said.

While fortnight and fortnightly were much more frequently used historically than biweekly, their usage began to peter out a little bit after the 1950s, Adams said. 

And though the ambiguous definition of biweekly has been confusing people for a long time, dictionaries haven't decided to stick to just a single definition. 

"The basic issue is that language isn't math," Sokolowski said. 

Instituting a language change and getting people to follow along with it is challenging, MacKenzie said. When language does change, it's usually to be more equitable in how terms are phrased. 

"It's very hard for anybody to litigate or legislate language," she said. 

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federico babina patterns visual dictionary of design hieroglyphics in inkonic illustration series - Designboom - Dictionary

INKONIC DESIGN Illustrations reimagine iconic design objects

Inkonic Design is a series of six illustrations by Federico Babina halfway between hieroglyphic and primitive drawing, reducing a series of iconic objects to a formal minimum in order to achieve a sign-like abstraction. The lines and shapes that wander across the surface of the sheet suggest forms, elements, outlines, and silhouettes, but refuse to converge into complete or recognizable figures, the important thing is the overall composition and not the individual elements that shape it. A set of seemingly enigmatic signs dance across the sheet like an interconnected doodle at once primitive and controlled.

federico babina patterns visual dictionary of design hieroglyphics in inkonic illustration series
Inkonic Design by Federico Babina fuses hieroglyphic and primitive drawing styles | Inkonic bookshelf

Federico Babina forms a series of linear characters and symbols

These illustrations compose a series of design hieroglyphics with iconological and semiotic values; a sort of runic alphabet whose aim is to find coherence between the image and the graphic sign, to imagine a visual dictionary of design, to imagine writing in images. Six images illustrate an abacus of ideograms, a kind of writing of the unconscious that tries to communicate a concept and an idea. The artist forms an expressive, synthetic, representative language, where a series of characters use the graphic transposition of an object or concept. Chairs, tables, objects, bookcases, lamps, and architecture generate a visual grammar that pays graphic homage to the paintings of Paul Klee and Joan MirĂ³ and Alvin Lustig’s ‘Incantation.’ ‘A line is a dot that went for a walk’ quote by Paul Klee inspires Federico Babina (more here).

federico babina patterns visual dictionary of design hieroglyphics in inkonic illustration series
the series consists of six illustrations that abstract iconic objects to their formal minimum | Inkonic tables

federico babina patterns visual dictionary of design hieroglyphics in inkonic illustration series
these illustrations function as design hieroglyphics with iconological and semiotic values | Inkonic chair

federico babina patterns visual dictionary of design hieroglyphics in inkonic illustration series
graphic transpositions of objects and concepts form a unique visual grammar in Babina’s series | Inkonic lamps

federico babina patterns visual dictionary of design hieroglyphics in inkonic illustration series
Babina’s series imagines a runic alphabet, blending graphic signs and visual coherence | Inkonic object

federico babina patterns visual dictionary of design hieroglyphics in inkonic illustration series
the six images serve as an abacus of ideograms, communicating concepts and ideas visually | Inkonic architecture

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Siblings use custom-made dictionary to guess each others' wacky catch phrases and it's absolute fun - Upworthy - Dictionary

When someone asks us to describe our sibling, 'annoying' is one of the many adjectives that pop immediately into our mind. But in some cases, that is paired with 'caring' and 'understanding.' In fact, as part of this bittersweet bond, siblings naturally make up their own vocabulary. Recently, a viral "dictionary" trend surfaced on the internet, where two friends, siblings or a couple guess the weird and unique words or phrases that only the two know about. Joining in the trend, an LA-based editor named Sean Tadlock–who goes by @sean_tadlock on TikTok–made a video with his sister, Michelle Tadlock, where the duo guessed the phrases from each others' "sibling dictionary."

Image Source: TikTok | @sean_tadlock
Image Source: TikTok | @sean_tadlock

When one sibling explained the meaning of a phrase or a word, the other sibling had to find out what it was. The Tadlock siblings were so in sync with each other that they guessed everything right and instantly. The first clue Sean gave was, "This is your favorite question to ask me if I'm being an idiot." Without a second thought, Michelle responded, "Are you stupid or are you dumb?" Whenever the siblings come across something they like, they describe it as "so good" and add another "soooo good." Sean hinted, "When you call me, this is how I usually answer the phone," and Michelle replied, "Green, green, yellow," with a sassy twist to the "yellow" part.

Image Source: TikTok | @sean_tadlock
Image Source: TikTok | @sean_tadlock

Michelle then asked Sean about an inside joke they shared, "When there's a light draw and we're inside, what do we say?" Struggling to hold back laughter, Sean replied, "Who opened a window?" When Sean tells their sister a story about someone and has nothing else to say at the end, they often have an ending line. As the brother hinted that it was a movie line, Michelle rightly guessed, "And now I guess she's on crack." On the other hand, Sean knew exactly how their sister ended a call - she simply said, "TT, YL." And whenever Sean described someone and said, "That's so annoying," Michelle would ask, "Who is?" The duo shared a good laugh as to how quirky and hysterical their dictionary was and the internet was amused. 

Image Source: TikTok | @heyyyjaja
Image Source: TikTok | @heyyyjaja
Image Source: TikTok | @vegetarianmeatballs
Image Source: TikTok | @vegetarianmeatballs

Nearly 7 million views came in for the video and people found it both humorous and relatable. "I'm so glad I'm not the only one still quoting, 'Who opened a window?'" said @charitygracecook. "'Green green yellow' would make me cackle or hang up. No in-between," chimed in @khariahc. "I love that there's no such thing as an inside joke anymore. Keep sharing. It's so good, so good," quipped @lana_del_louiseville. 

While speaking of siblings following the social media trends, the "Hug your sibling" challenge caused quite a laugh riot. While siblings are not usually touchy-feely with each other, randomly hugging one's sibling made the person absolutely bewildered. Allie–who goes by @allieschnacky on TikTok–shared one such viral video where she went to hug her brother, which made him so scared that he tried to run away. "What are you doing? Why are you messing with me?" the brother exclaimed in shock and Allie responded, "Sibling love." Many such videos showed hilarious reactions of siblings being shocked by the unusual gesture from their brothers or sisters.

You can follow Sean Tadlock (@sean_tadlock) on TikTok for more hilarious content.

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Siblings use custom-made dictionary to guess each others' wacky catch phrases and it's absolute fun - Upworthy - Dictionary

When someone asks us to describe our sibling, 'annoying' is one of the many adjectives that pop immediately into our mind. But in some cases, that is paired with 'caring' and 'understanding.' In fact, as part of this bittersweet bond, siblings naturally make up their own vocabulary. Recently, a viral "dictionary" trend surfaced on the internet, where two friends, siblings or a couple guess the weird and unique words or phrases that only the two know about. Joining in the trend, an LA-based editor named Sean Tadlock–who goes by @sean_tadlock on TikTok–made a video with his sister, Michelle Tadlock, where the duo guessed the phrases from each others' "sibling dictionary."

Image Source: TikTok | @sean_tadlock
Image Source: TikTok | @sean_tadlock

When one sibling explained the meaning of a phrase or a word, the other sibling had to find out what it was. The Tadlock siblings were so in sync with each other that they guessed everything right and instantly. The first clue Sean gave was, "This is your favorite question to ask me if I'm being an idiot." Without a second thought, Michelle responded, "Are you stupid or are you dumb?" Whenever the siblings come across something they like, they describe it as "so good" and add another "soooo good." Sean hinted, "When you call me, this is how I usually answer the phone," and Michelle replied, "Green, green, yellow," with a sassy twist to the "yellow" part.

Image Source: TikTok | @sean_tadlock
Image Source: TikTok | @sean_tadlock

Michelle then asked Sean about an inside joke they shared, "When there's a light draw and we're inside, what do we say?" Struggling to hold back laughter, Sean replied, "Who opened a window?" When Sean tells their sister a story about someone and has nothing else to say at the end, they often have an ending line. As the brother hinted that it was a movie line, Michelle rightly guessed, "And now I guess she's on crack." On the other hand, Sean knew exactly how their sister ended a call - she simply said, "TT, YL." And whenever Sean described someone and said, "That's so annoying," Michelle would ask, "Who is?" The duo shared a good laugh as to how quirky and hysterical their dictionary was and the internet was amused. 

Image Source: TikTok | @heyyyjaja
Image Source: TikTok | @heyyyjaja
Image Source: TikTok | @vegetarianmeatballs
Image Source: TikTok | @vegetarianmeatballs

Nearly 7 million views came in for the video and people found it both humorous and relatable. "I'm so glad I'm not the only one still quoting, 'Who opened a window?'" said @charitygracecook. "'Green green yellow' would make me cackle or hang up. No in-between," chimed in @khariahc. "I love that there's no such thing as an inside joke anymore. Keep sharing. It's so good, so good," quipped @lana_del_louiseville. 

While speaking of siblings following the social media trends, the "Hug your sibling" challenge caused quite a laugh riot. While siblings are not usually touchy-feely with each other, randomly hugging one's sibling made the person absolutely bewildered. Allie–who goes by @allieschnacky on TikTok–shared one such viral video where she went to hug her brother, which made him so scared that he tried to run away. "What are you doing? Why are you messing with me?" the brother exclaimed in shock and Allie responded, "Sibling love." Many such videos showed hilarious reactions of siblings being shocked by the unusual gesture from their brothers or sisters.

You can follow Sean Tadlock (@sean_tadlock) on TikTok for more hilarious content.

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