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La aventuras de Alisia en la pais de mervelias
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in Lingua Franca Nova

Lès-Aventûres d’Alice ô Pèyis dès Mèrvèy

By Lewis Carroll, translated into Lingua Franca Nova by Simon Davies

First edition, 2012. Illustrations by John Tenniel. Cathair na Mart: Evertype. ISBN 978-1-904808-88-6 (paperback), price: €12.95, £10.95, $15.95.

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“In that direction,” the Cat said, waving its right paw around, “lives a Hatter: and in that direction,” waving the other paw, “lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they’re both mad.”   “A acel dirije,” la Gato dise, brandante se pedeta destra, “un Xapor abita: e a acel dirije,” brandante la otra pedeta, “un Lepre de Marto. Visita la un o la otra, como tu desira: ambos es fol.”
“But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked.   “Ma me no vole pasa entre persones fol,” Alisia comenta.
“Oh, you ca’n’t help that,” said the Cat: “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.”   “O! tu no pote evita lo,” la Gato dise: “asi, tota de nos es fol. Me es fol. Tu es fol.”
“How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice.   “Como tu sabe ce me es fol?” Alisia dise.
“You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn't have come here.”   “Sin duta tu es,” la Gato dise, “car si no, tu no ta veni asi.”
Cat Clárach
Lewis Carroll is a pen-name: Charles Lutwidge Dodgson was the author’s real name and he was lecturer in Mathematics in Christ Church, Oxford. Dodgson began the story on 4 July 1862, when he took a journey in a rowing boat on the river Thames in Oxford together with the Reverend Robinson Duckworth, with Alice Liddell (ten years of age), the daughter of the Dean of Christ Church, and with her two sisters, Lorina (thirteen years of age), and Edith (eight years of age). As is clear from the poem at the beginning of the book, the three girls asked Dodgson for a story and reluctantly at first he began to tell the first version of the story to them. There are many half-hidden references made to the five of them throughout the text of the book itself, which was finally published in 1865.   Lewis Carroll es un nom falsa: la nom vera de la autor ia es Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, e el ia es Ensenior de Matematica a Christ Church, en la Universia de Oxford. Dodgson ia comensa la nara a 4 julio 1862, cuando el ia fa un viaja en un barceta de remos sur la rio Thames en Oxford en junta con Eglesor Robinson Duckworth, Alice Liddell (ci ia ave des anios, e ia es la fia de la Decano de Christ Church), e se du sores, Lorina (des-tre anios), e Edith (oto anios). Como la poesia inisial de la libro clari, la tre xicas ia demanda un nara de Dodgson e, nonvolente a la comensa, el ia raconta la varia prima de la nara a los. Ave multe referes partal ascondeda a la sinco de los tra tota la testo de la libro mesma, cual ia es final publicida en 1865.
Lingua Franca Nova (LFN) is a creole-like auxiliary language with a simple and logical grammar. It was created by Dr C. George Boeree of Shippensburg University, Penn­sylvania, starting in 1965. Inspired by the historical Lingua Franca that was once used around the Mediterranean, it draws its vocabulary from Catalan, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. In 1998, LFN was published on the Internet, and its speakers have continued to develop and improve it over the subsequent years. Dictionaries, grammars, and many other translations are available at lfn.wikia.com.   Lingua Franca Nova (LFN) es un lingua aidante con un gramatica simple, creolin, e lojical. Lo ia es creada par Dr C. George Boeree de la Universia de Shippensburg, Penn­sylvania, comensante en 1965. Inspirada par la Lingua Franca istorial usada sirca la Mediteraneo, lo prende se vocabulo de catalan, espaniol, franses, italian, e portuges. En 1998, LFN ia es publicida a la interede, e se parlores ia continua developa e boni la lingua tra la anios seguente. On trova aora disionarios, gramaticas, e multe otra traduis en la rede a lfn.wikia.com.
Carroll’s story contains a lot of excellent wordplay, and this perhaps provides the main interest for a translator. Some of the jokes rely on peculiar features of English grammar. For instance, the famous exclamation of “Curiouser and curiouser!” at the start of Chapter II is funny because it has a logical but ungrammatical form; in LFN, where the grammar is always logical, no such mistake is possible, and so the translation instead makes a joke about logic itself.   La nara de Carroll conteni multe bon bromas de parolas, e estas presenta cisa la interesa xef per un traduor. Alga depende de cualias strana de la gramatica engles. Per esemplo, la esclama famosa “Curiouser and curiouser!” a la comensa de Capitol II es comica car se forma es lojical ma nongramatical; en LFN, do la gramatica es sempre lojical, no tal era es posible, e donce la tradui broma en loca sur la lojica mesma.
Many of the puns relate to confusions of words that sound the same, of which English has a large number. Happily for the translator, homophones exist in LFN too: a good example is “foca” in Chapter IX, in the part of the story that has the greatest density of such jokes. Carroll also makes jokes about language that is difficult or even utterly baffling—the Dodo’s first speech, for example, or the “simplified” version of one of the morals offered by the Duchess. It is of course possible to write incomprehensibly in any language, but the design of LFN’s vocabulary always prefers straightforward terms over synonymous gobbledy­gook.   Multe de la bromas lingual relata a confusas de parolas omofon, de cual engles ave un cuantia grande. Felis per la traduor, omofones esiste ance en LFN: un bon esemplo es “foca” en Capitol IX, en la parte de la nara do tal bromas apare la plu densa. Carroll broma ance sur linguaje difisil o an tota confondente, per esemplo en la parla prima de la Dodo, o la varia “simplida” de un de la lesones moral cual la Duxesa ofre. Natural, on pote scrive noncomprendable en cualce lingua, ma la vocabulo de LFN es tal desiniada ce lo prefere sempre parolas “franca” ante sinonimes babelosa.
Some of the jokes depend on British culture of the Victorian era: we find references to bathing machines (where swimmers would get changed at the edge of the sea) and to mock turtle soups (prepared with calf offal in place of turtle meat). Even the name of the March Hare alludes to an English idiom that is little used today. Furthermore, the poems tend to parody verses that were once well known but no longer are. As LFN did not exist in 1865, this translation can offer no more than a literal rendition of such things—but then that is the only way most modern readers can under­stand them in any language.   Alga bromas depende de la cultur brites de la eda victorian: on trova referes a cabanas de nada (do nadores ia desvesti se a borda de la mar) e a sopas falsa de tortuga (preparada con organos de boveta en loca de carne de tortuga). An la nom de la Lepre de Marto refere a un idiom engles cual es poca usada oji. Plu, la poesias tende parodia strofes alora bon conoseda ma aora no plu. Car LFN no ia esiste en 1865, esta tradui no pote fa plu ca redona tal cosas en un modo leteral—ma esta es ance la sola manera de comprende los per la plu de lejores moderna en cualce lingua.
The translation recounts Alice’s adventures in the present tense, even though Carroll wrote them in the past. This simplification is quite common in LFN stories if the events are fantastical and their location in time is irrelevant: in practical terms, it avoids excessive repetition of the particle “ia”. For consistency with the other volumes in the series, this edition numbers its chapters with Roman numerals, although LFN normally avoids these. Punctuation, especially around direct speech, has been amended for the same reason.   La tradui raconta la aventuras de Alisia en la tempo presente, an si Carroll ia scrive los en la pasada. Esta cualia simplinte es alga comun en naras en LFN cuando la avenis es fantasin e se loca en la tempo no importa: pratical, lo evita un repete suprafluente de la paroleta “ia”. Per coere con la otra volumes en la serie, esta edita numeri se capitoles par numeros roman, an si LFN evita normal estas. On ia cambia la puntua, xef sirca parlas direta, per la mesma razona.
It appears that this is the first book to be printed in LFN. We hope it will be the first of many.   Pare ce esta tradui es la libro prima primida en Lingua Franca Nova. Nos espera ce lo va es la prima de multe.
—Simon Davies
Wellingore 2012
  —Simon Davies
Wellingore 2012

 
HTML Michael Everson, Evertype, 73 Woodgrove, Portlaoise, R32 ENP6, Ireland, 2012-03-21

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