Communication
Even in this story, with a simplistic easy to minipulate plot, I have to figure out how they can communicate, and who can, if for no other reason, than to further complicate things. If Novas and the dying man can communicate, not enough torture. However, if the good Father and the dying man can communicate, and Novas cannot, some good plot point problems. So, what can a Father and a Romanian use for communication?
Well, my only solution seems to be Latin. It is a dead language, not spoken anywhere except in Catholic services, growing more remote, and by those studying medical terms or other doctorite type stuff. Plus, Latin is the basis for Romanian. So, the good Father could speak Latin, and therefore, learn Romanian, or the dead Romanian could learn or remember Latin. This also gives Novas the opportunity to join in, both from being a Catholic and a Dr. But, not as quickly, or the plot thins.
History of the Romanian language:
The place of Romanian within the Romance language family
The Romanian territory was inhabited in ancient times by the Dacians, an Indo-European people. They were defeated by the Roman Empire in 106 and part of Dacia (Oltenia, Banat and Ardeal) became a Roman province. For the next 165 years, there is evidence of considerable Roman colonization in the area, the region being in close communication with the rest of the Roman empire. Vulgar Latin became the language of the administration and commerce.
Under the pressure of the Free Dacians and of the Goths, the Roman administration and legions were withdrawn from Dacia between 271-275. Whether the Romanians are the descendents of these people that abandoned the area and settled south of Danube or of the people that remained in Dacia is a matter of debate. For further discussion, see Origin of Romanians.
Due to its geographical isolation, Romanian was probably the first language that split and until the modern age was not influenced by other Romance languages, so the grammar is roughly similar to that of Latin, keeping declensions and the neuter gender, unlike any other Romance language.
All the dialects of Romanian are believed to have been unified in a common language until sometime between the 7th and the 10th century, before the Slavonic languages interfered with Romanian. Aromanian has very few Slavonic words. Also, the variations in the Daco-Romanian dialect (spoken throughout Romania and Moldova) are very small, which is quite remarkable, since until the Modern Era there was almost no connection between Romanians in various regions. The use of this uniform Daco-Romanian dialect extends well beyond the borders of the Romanian state: a Romanian-speaker from Moldova speaks the same language as a Romanian-speaker from Serbian Banat.
It is also noteworthy that Romanian was the only Romance language that was not under the cultural influence of the Catholic Church, instead being influenced by the Orthodox Church, Slavonic, Greek and Turkish cultures.
So, Romanian and Latin are similar so it isn't too much of a stretch. Or, I scrap the whole language thing and let them suffer without communication by speech.
Well, my only solution seems to be Latin. It is a dead language, not spoken anywhere except in Catholic services, growing more remote, and by those studying medical terms or other doctorite type stuff. Plus, Latin is the basis for Romanian. So, the good Father could speak Latin, and therefore, learn Romanian, or the dead Romanian could learn or remember Latin. This also gives Novas the opportunity to join in, both from being a Catholic and a Dr. But, not as quickly, or the plot thins.
History of the Romanian language:
The place of Romanian within the Romance language family
The Romanian territory was inhabited in ancient times by the Dacians, an Indo-European people. They were defeated by the Roman Empire in 106 and part of Dacia (Oltenia, Banat and Ardeal) became a Roman province. For the next 165 years, there is evidence of considerable Roman colonization in the area, the region being in close communication with the rest of the Roman empire. Vulgar Latin became the language of the administration and commerce.
Under the pressure of the Free Dacians and of the Goths, the Roman administration and legions were withdrawn from Dacia between 271-275. Whether the Romanians are the descendents of these people that abandoned the area and settled south of Danube or of the people that remained in Dacia is a matter of debate. For further discussion, see Origin of Romanians.
Due to its geographical isolation, Romanian was probably the first language that split and until the modern age was not influenced by other Romance languages, so the grammar is roughly similar to that of Latin, keeping declensions and the neuter gender, unlike any other Romance language.
All the dialects of Romanian are believed to have been unified in a common language until sometime between the 7th and the 10th century, before the Slavonic languages interfered with Romanian. Aromanian has very few Slavonic words. Also, the variations in the Daco-Romanian dialect (spoken throughout Romania and Moldova) are very small, which is quite remarkable, since until the Modern Era there was almost no connection between Romanians in various regions. The use of this uniform Daco-Romanian dialect extends well beyond the borders of the Romanian state: a Romanian-speaker from Moldova speaks the same language as a Romanian-speaker from Serbian Banat.
It is also noteworthy that Romanian was the only Romance language that was not under the cultural influence of the Catholic Church, instead being influenced by the Orthodox Church, Slavonic, Greek and Turkish cultures.
So, Romanian and Latin are similar so it isn't too much of a stretch. Or, I scrap the whole language thing and let them suffer without communication by speech.
posted by John | 7:36 PM
1 Comments:
Having fun trying to think up stuff to make the story go somewhere. But, in the end, the story will write itself. The research, what little I do, just helps get in the frame of mind.
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