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Post by Rünya I’shiego on Jun 8, 2005 21:42:05 GMT -5
One of my co-worker's wife asked me this question tonight, and it made me stop and think. I have no answer, so hopefully one of you does. If the Wookie language consists of growls and other animal like noises, then Wookie names would also consist of animal noises, right?
So how do you get Chewbacca out of a growl?
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Post by Qual Totem on Jun 8, 2005 22:05:42 GMT -5
if you translate the growl into galactic basic then you get Chewbacca thats just a guess though
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Post by Rünya I’shiego on Jun 9, 2005 7:41:02 GMT -5
But then, Chewbacca has to mean somthing, doesn't it? In order to actually be translate-able?
What I'm saying is, my name doesn't mean anything that can be translated into languages other than English. Whether you're speaking Japanese or Hebrew or anything, my name is still my name, and it's still pronounced the same way (allowing for accents).
My name doesn't translate. Supposidly my name means Brave, but even if you say that word in another language, it's still not my name.
So how does a Wookie word translate as 'Chewbacca'?
The only thing I could possibly think of was that in our world, there are a few names, mostly biblical names, that are so wide spread they do sort of translate from language to language. For example, what is George in English is in Spanish pronounced 'hor-hey' So the only reasoning I could come up with is that Chewbacca might be a common enough name to also be present in many languages, but I kind of doubt it.
Anyone else have any thoughts on the matter? Or have I just confused everyone?
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Post by Sef-FireMoon on Jun 9, 2005 8:48:57 GMT -5
I get what you are saying, I have a thought the Wookie language ( Shyriiwook ) is also a written language & is more detailed visually than vocally ( to human ears, unless you are used to the language ) so I assume that Chewbacca is the "basic" version of his name. I also heard somewhere ( mayhaps in some hallucination brought on buy StarWars Rebellion pc game ) that a wookies' name is a combination if personall & family name, in other words, Chewbaccas name would be ( first name ) Chew ( Family name ) Bacca. I am not really sure I buy this but... Chewies Nephews' name Is Lobacca ( I think ) so it may be the case... any thoughts ?
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Post by tanzanlinnear on Jun 9, 2005 16:30:48 GMT -5
It might be something along the lines that 'Chewbacca' is the closest basic translation of his name. In a series of novels by Peter David, the main character was an alien called M'k'n'zy, who when he joined Starfleet adopted the name 'Mackenzie' as the closest human equivalent.
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Post by Rünya I’shiego on Jun 9, 2005 19:34:39 GMT -5
hmm, I've never seen or read any referance to Shyriiwook being written down, so I completely over-looked that idea. It's a much better theory than mine.
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Post by Qual Totem on Jun 9, 2005 21:13:58 GMT -5
its even better than mine
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Post by Sef-FireMoon on Jun 10, 2005 8:09:23 GMT -5
Well if I can contact my friend ( she is very into the languages for star trek & star wars ) she should be able to give me some more insight, into which book the mention of the written language was. But logicly it makes sense that they would have one, Wookies are an advanced society & you would have some kind of written language, ceremonial or mundane or it could be a mathematic one ( possibly ) ...sorry now I am starting to go off on tangents..my bad  just a thought |
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Post by Sef-FireMoon on Jun 10, 2005 8:12:49 GMT -5
Question TanzanLinnear ? Was that series of books Star Trek ? The name ( of the character sounds familiar )
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Post by tanzanlinnear on Jun 10, 2005 10:19:22 GMT -5
Yes, it was called Star Trek: New Frontier, by Peter David. If they (Paramount) had had any sense, they'd've made that into the new series rather than shooting themselves in the foot by letting Brannon Braga do Enterprise. Mackenzie Calhoun was the Captain, and the artwork on the cover (of him) was actually based on Dylan McDermott.  |
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Post by Plo Strax-Avix on Jun 10, 2005 23:23:36 GMT -5
Being Chinese, It's very difficult to use my Chinese name among non-Chinese speaking people.
My Chinese name is in all my documents, but its just a translation of the way it sounds. It won't mean anything to anyone until and unless they find out what are the actual words that make up the name. People from different background pronounce my name differently, and although I know that they're saying my name, in a sense its not my name, because they can't get the pronounciation right. Even with the introducton of 'Pin Yin', a way to pronounce Mandarin words properly, it doesn't help, because 'Pin Yin' can only help to pronounce my name in Mandarin, and not in my dialect.
This could be the same case with a Wookie's name. Chewbacca could just be a way for non-Wookie speaking people to pronounce it, and you simply can't pronounce it in its true form unless you speak, and understand the Wookie language. Am I making any sense?
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Post by Rünya I’shiego on Jun 11, 2005 7:01:33 GMT -5
Yes, Plo, you make a lot of sense. I had actually thought of that explaination and told it to my co-worker the night his wife asked. She didn't seem impressed, and insisted that it would be very difficult to get a name like Chewbacca out of a growl.  I dunno. It made sense to me. |
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just a thought
I dunno. It made sense to me.