Tintin Forums

Siyo nigadawu (Hi everyone!)
I'm curious as to whether any of the Tintin books have been translated into Native American or Canadian First Nations languages as of yet. So far, I can't seem to find anything about that, but I figured I would try on here. Wado (thanks!)

Courtney

I haven't heard of any, but minor European languages are available like Latin, Occitan, Basque, Catalan, Welsh, and Bohemian. Not that these are 'minor' as being obscure, but only used in small regions e.g. Latin in the Vatican. So maybe in the future we will see such languages as Soo or Cherokee. I'll book my copy. However, they may be considered not profitable as many Native peoples are too poor, such as those forced to live in the reservations by the US government. They often don't even have clean water and are worse off than many 3rd world countries, but however is 'latin' financially viable'. Somehow I can't see the Pope sitting down to read a comic, and even then, wouldn't he read them in his mother toung of German.

SingingGandalf
Is 'latin' financially viable'

Well, there is a long tradition of popular texts being made available in Latin, because it is a language used in academia (within my memory it was necessary to have passed a Latin exam to get accepted for medecine at University), and as such is taught in schools.

As such, having more than ancient texts available was seen to be good for teaching; Michael Farr comments in the Companion reading a Tintin book is help when learning a new language. Winnie the Pooh and Astérix have also made it into Latin, as far as I am aware.

Danagasta - what do you reckon the numbers of speakers involved in these languages would be? Thousands? Tens of thousands?

To echo what jock123 has said, Latin may only be the official language of one country but it enjoys fairly significant use in academia worldwide. With the greatest respect to Danagasta, I'm not sure that the same can be said about Native American/First Nations languages. But if the Tintin series can be published in Provençal or Corsican, I see no reason why there wouldn't be a limited market for it.

I have the two Latin books (De Sigaris Pharaonis and De Insula Nigra) and they are excellent and imaginative translations, and would be particularly useful for those wanting to learn the language. If the same can be done for Native American, and it encourages people to learn, it would be a very worthwhile exercise!

Ed

there is a long tradition of popular texts being made available in Latin, because it is a language used in academia (within my memory it was necessary to have passed a Latin exam to get accepted for medecine at University), and as such is taught in schools.

Good point, jock123, but is Tintin really an academic book. It is among comics, but not in the entire world. How many people have bought a Tintin book in Latin, and how much money has been raised. It is no longer necessary to pass a latin exam to get into med. uni. and I was one of the few fortunate to go to a school doing latin. Only a few Grammar schools (that are a rarety in themselves now) do latin now. I suppose private schools still do it, but I don't know. I take it we are both talking about the UK here.

Danagasta - what do you reckon the numbers of speakers involved in these languages would be? Thousands? Tens of thousands?

Well, my language (Tsalagi or Cherokee) is the second most widely spoken Native language in the US with about half a million speakers. Dine' (Navajo) has many more than that, and I do know that there are many books published in both languages.
Both would be easy to use, as there are great computer fonts for both.
I'm actually surprised that I haven't heard of any Tintin translations in Cree or Innu, two Canadian Aboriginal languages. Especially Innu, considering the fact that it's spoken in Quebec!

As for Latin, I guess we aren't big on that in the US. The view of everything here is "if you can't use it, don't bother." Language is identity, especially to Native people, so it's much deeper than that for us.
Courtney

I'm actually surprised that I haven't heard of any Tintin translations in Cree or Innu, two Canadian Aboriginal languages. Especially Innu, considering the fact that it's spoken in Quebec!

Maybe you should take the initative by yourself, Danagasta, as I did with 't Smokweark van Bianca Castafiore, i.e. The Emerald translated in Twents language; spoken in the east of the netherlands.
See: www.tuufke.nl
But beware: Casterman is very keen on playing this game by the rules of Moulinsart!

Good point, jock123, but is Tintin really an academic book. It is among comics, but not in the entire world.

True enough, but jock's point was that there is a long tradition of popular texts being made available in Latin. It's been a bit of an in-joke amongst classicists, to provide a translation of something more lighthearted than Virgil or Catullus. As well as encouraging people to learn by making ancient languages more accessible, I think it contributes to keeping them alive. As such it's a movement I wholeheartedly support, as my well-thumbed copies of Winnie Ille Pu and Harrius Potter et Philosophi Lapis will attest!

Ed

trifonius
But beware: Casterman is very keen on playing this game by the rules of Moulinsart!

Why the dread warning? Of course Casterman play by the Moulinsart rules, but what else would you expect? I doubt that if Danagasta were to undertake the project that there would be any advantage in Casterman behaving in a dodgy fashion.

If you had problems with them doing the Twents version (for which task well done, by the way!), perhaps you could advise the forum of what they were, to make such things easier in the future?

edcharlesadams
It's been a bit of an in-joke amongst classicists, to provide a translation of something more lighthearted than Virgil or Catullus.

At school my dad’s class was set the task of translating “Humpty Dumpty” into Latin for homework. At the collective groan from the assembled pupils, the teacher said that he’d help them by giving them the start, and went to the board and wrote “Gibber Dibber”…

Until the day he died my dad was still puzzled by how “Humpty Dumpty” could be rendered in Latin as “Gibber Dibber” (or why, for that matter).

I would probably have to go through one of the two Cherokee Nations first, and that would be a hassle, but I could easily suggest it to someone. Each nation generally has its "main" translators, such as Anna Huckaby for the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and Marie Junaluska for the Eastern Band.

The translation into Cherokee would have a lot of cultural undertones, and is a huge undertaking for anybody (any given Tsalagi verb has about 20 to 30 different forms!). For example, if I were to translate the part in The Red Sea Sharks where Haddock and Skut have it out (somewhat), I would have to choose a name that would be a gag in Cherokee. Svgata (pronunced suk-tah') means "apple", sounds close enough to "Skut," and has a great gag just waiting for it. Some Native people call assimilated Natives "apples"--that is, red on the outside and white on the inside. If Haddock were to ask "Gado detsado'a (What's your name), the reply would be "Svgata." Haddock's reply would be along the lines of "Do usdi? Tsiyvwiyadv!!! (Whaaaaaat? I'm definitely a Native!!!) As for "blithering bombardier," I've yet to translate the curses

Courtney (edited to apologize for lack of Unicode Cherokee syllabics, the computer at WXCT doesn't have the font yet!)