bukary on 22/12/2005 at 14:20
Quote Posted by spix's circlet
@
bukary and
van HellSing - I am quite impressed at your translating efforts. But I have to assure you, especially bukary, that "taffer" is certainly not an English word. I am aware of the prefix taff(y) in the nursery rhyme and it being used as a nickname, but the full word
taffer has never being an English word, let alone it having the same connotations in
Thief. The addition of a suffix (in this case
-er) can change the meaning of the word - not to mention that similar sounding words can have completely different roots.
If Laura had used
burrer instead of
taffer, you would be saying that it is an actual word because "burr" (rough or prickly covering etc.) is derived from Middle English
burre and Old English
byrst. But simply because the prefix exists (burr-) does
not mean something like "burrer" becomes a real English word. Now that I think about it (what a strange coincidence) you could say (incorrectly) that "burrick" is a real English word simply because it
sounds English and is a modification of
burrow. This could well be true, but it still doesn't make the word "burrick" any more real.
1) I'm not saying "tafffer" is a real word (whatever that means). I already said many times it's a neologism.
2) I don't know if "taffer" comes from "taffy" etc. It does not matter. Nonetheless these words are very similar.
3) "Taffer" certainly wasn't an English word. It was "invented" by LGS. But it is and English word
now. As I already said, it is not
hapax legomena any more. (And it probably never was, because it was used many times in Thief.) You use it, right? Others use it. I've seen this word also in different places on the Net. It's the same with many neologisms. They are new, they are strange. It's hard to say what they mean. But after some time they become more and more popular, they become part of the language.
4) "Taffer" was created especially for English language and it fits English language (grammar etc.). It seems out of place in many (all?) other languages.
5) BTW, "burrick" is also an English word now. Would you say that it is Polish, Turkish word? I'm certain you wouldn't.
6) Finally, "taffer" had to be translated, because is does not sound like Polish word and does not fit Polish sentences and language rules.
Even if it is not an English word
per se, it is a word created to look like an English word and according to English language rules... That's why we needed a translation.
Van Hellsing was not in the team that translated TDS. He speaks English far better than me, therefore I asked him to explain some things that were hard to express. Thanks, van! :thumb: If you find any mistakes in my reasoning about translating TDS, it's my fault, not van's.
