The prelude of my story in in the P.O.V of an alien who explains what is happening in the prelude in English dialogue. His people also speak english when communicating with him. Later in the story, however, I have it so the aliens speak in their native tongue towards each other, as well as english. is this a problem? is there a way i can allow the aliens to speak in their native tongue, and then have subtitles in english? most of the speech is captions from the main character in the prelude. It is not until the end of the prelude, that the main character communicates with his people.
Alien language translating into english
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Not quite sure what you mean. Would the aliens be "talking" to each other in alien characters/symbols? That could be visually interesting, or alternatively it could be tedious, not to mention time-intensive.
The usual way to show that dialogue is being translated from another language into English is to set it inside chevrons, e.g. <THE HUMAN IS WATCHING US.> -- as an alternative to alien characters and English subtitles.
-Derek
The usual way to show that dialogue is being translated from another language into English is to set it inside chevrons, e.g. <THE HUMAN IS WATCHING US.> -- as an alternative to alien characters and English subtitles.
-Derek
so what you are talking about would look like this?
"Ger ta chunat turk ru < THE HUMAN IS WATCHING US.>"
or am i still wrong?
"Ger ta chunat turk ru < THE HUMAN IS WATCHING US.>"
or am i still wrong?
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I think what dpat is saying is that you don't need the "Ger ta chunat turk ru", you simply put <THE HUMAN IS WATCHING US>
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Yeah, if you choose to include the alien language, you need to translate, possibly using asterisks and info boxes (left panel). If you use the chevrons, the alien language is presumed to be translated into English (right panel).
Just for fun example's sake.
-Derek
Just for fun example's sake.
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The 3D models were made using Google SketchUp, I took a jpg snapshot and edited this in Paint.NET to add layers for text and balloons.
-Derek
-Derek
I've seen some comics start off with subtitles to show the alien language then switch to chevrons. If your aliens have a lot of dialogue, a combination of the alien language speech bubble and subtitles would take away art space. Though there are no rules set in stone, the best way to get a feel for how to handle various issues like this is to read a lot of comics: western, eastern (manga), and all genres.
I'm pretty horrible at SketchUp. Loved the quick example, but one thing bothers me about it. WHAT ARE THE ALIENS CALLED, AND WHY DO THEY LOOK SO SAD?!?!
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I was going to go with apathetic.
Anyway, I agree with <this method.> Alternatively, you can have a 1:1 substitution with English and put a key somewhere in the book if you really want to get your readers involved. Some may find it tedious, though.
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They are the Krench, a traitorous race of fish-men who appear in my Starship Captain comic (which I'll get around to finishing one day!). Wouldn't you be sad if you were a fish-man?
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Depends on how tedious fans find it. Alan Moore once wrote an entire Swamp Thing story with a made-up language (I think it was the planet of Adam Strange), with no translation at all, and plenty of fans tried to work it out. OTOH, that's Alan Moore for you.
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If I were a fish man,
Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum.
All day long I'd biddy biddy bum.
If I were a piscine man.
Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum.
All day long I'd biddy biddy bum.
If I were a piscine man.
Or you could use pictograms... everything big ol' goobledygook symbols that have to be translated in a little box at the bottom of the panel, to fairly transparent pictures that represent what the alien's saying.
They are both very visually interesting. The first one has the problem of taking up a lot of space, what with both the "original" symbols and the translation. And the second... well, I have seen it used -- it's a fairly common technique, especially in so-called "funny animal" and other kids' cartoons from back in the day, but transparency with symbols is a terribly difficult thing to do. You'll be pretty limited with what you can have the aliens say.
If you do somehow manage to make a language out of symbols that anyone, no matter their background or native language, can understand, it'll be the breakthrough of a century.
They are both very visually interesting. The first one has the problem of taking up a lot of space, what with both the "original" symbols and the translation. And the second... well, I have seen it used -- it's a fairly common technique, especially in so-called "funny animal" and other kids' cartoons from back in the day, but transparency with symbols is a terribly difficult thing to do. You'll be pretty limited with what you can have the aliens say.
If you do somehow manage to make a language out of symbols that anyone, no matter their background or native language, can understand, it'll be the breakthrough of a century.
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