From: Ray Saintonge saintonge@telus.net Reply-To: wikipedia-l@Wikimedia.org To: wikipedia-l@Wikimedia.org Subject: Re: [Wikipedia-l] Middle-Earth Wikipedia Date: Wed, 29 Jun 2005 00:41:22 -0700
Wouter Steenbeek wrote:
I would also be happy to rid Wiktionary of this sort of thing. The supporters of these languages seem to have only questionable contact with reality. Tolkien was a learnèd man whose philological studies helped to make his stories more vibrant, but sometimes people need to be reminded tha "Lord of the Rings" was a work of _fiction_. The languages developed there are also works of fiction with no credibility in the real world, and no basis for development beyond the context of Tolkien's books. That being said, any attempt at building an encyclopedia in these languages must falter when it needs to develop vocabulary for concepts that are alien to Middle Earth.
It is fitting that Wikipedia have an article giving an outline of these languages, and that Wikibooks might even give an outline of the grammar. Apart from that can we at least try to find some separation between the real and fantasy world?
Ec
Please, please, please, don't get personal! W.
There's absolutely nothing personal in that. Try as I might I can only see generic comments in what I said. However, if you really think that there is such a place as Middle Earth I shall be more than happy to apologize to its residents. :-)
Ec
Huh huh huh. There we go again. Do you see what I mean now? Of course the Tolkienists know it is fantasy. Why the HELL should anyone learning a fictional language be pathologically confusing fantasy and reality. there are perhaps a few who do, but it is really offensive and personal to state they all do, or the majority of them does. Learning Quenya and Sindarin is most of all a tribute to Tolkien's great work and the beatiful languages he created. And note: a language is always an abstracted thing. It either never exits or already exists when someone invented it, since it dwells in people's minds and in written records. So while elves, Isengard, dwarves, Sauron, hobbits, Gandalf, Lothlorien etc. all don't exist, Quenya and Sindarin surely do.
Btw I speak none of Tolkien's languages (yet). Wouter
_________________________________________________________________ Nieuw: Download nu MSN Messenger 7.0 http://messenger.msn.nl/