Apologies · 7:14am May 20th, 2013
Next chapter of 'A Voice Among the Strangers' will be postponed to the later part of the week or early next week after. Somewhere along the line I have managed to aggravate my shoulder further, possibly while doing things at work that I should not of been.
I am not known for my smart decisions. -.-;
This has drastically reduced the amount of writing I can do in one sitting, thus far the chapter is only at 3k words because of this fact. For reference sake, around this time normally I am on my third or so re-write and it is around 14k words. So this one will be estimated around two weeks from the previous from release. I know I have been told that's not a huge deal but given my track record so far of getting them out I feel I must apologise regardless. As always I will try to write as much as possible and get it out this week some time.
I would also like to thank all the people who have been following me, I have not thanked everyone personally as I didn't want to be seen as a nuisance, so here is one thank you for everyone instead!
Next chapter dwelves into the language barrier further and shows Jessica might not be understanding quite as well as she thought she was.
Oh, for those curious what Jessica's name in Equestrian is, it's 'sesirowitu'. Completely pointless info, but there it is anyhow!
Edit: It was completely pointless info, it was just me forcing her name into the equestrian language which doesn't really work! ^-^
Once more, thank you to everyone who is following the story, those that dislike it, those that like it and the others who go 'eh, it's something to read.' I am learning quite a large amount from this first foray into writing, so all the feedback has been especially helpful so far. Also thank you to my pre-reader and editor for putting up with me!
Take your time, your health and the quality of your writing are far more important than meeting a schedule. We are happy to wait as long as we need to.
Also, what is the translation of 'sesirowitu'? I doubt it is a fully unique word so I am curious what it means/how it was created.
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I have like ten pages now of words, letters and basic constructions for the Equestrian language in the story. I wont go that indepth, but that's Jessica's name translated into it. It has no real world basis, just something I made up for the story.
There will be more shown in the next chapter when Jessica realises where she assumed things wrong. ^-^
1092552 Oh, this sounds like fun. Also, I think I am way to excited about the linguistic worldbuilding to be healthy.
Oh well, sanity is overrated anyways.
Please watch that shoulder of yours. no need to go around hurting yourself.
umm...you know...when you feel up to it that is...
any way don't worry about being late with the next chapter, a qualiy product is better then a rushed product. hope you are feeling better soon, and keep up the great work!
Take your time to recover.
Good luck on.
Take your time. Your health is more important than this story.
I'm curious, is that just made up gibberish or do you have a reference of sorts for how you write it out?
Hope that shoulder of yours heals soon!
~Have a good one.
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I have a reference of sorts I have made for the equestrian language I am using. Not overly indepth, but enough to translate things, well some things.
If I was to make the whole thing up completely I would have to take into account inflections, tone, sounds, etc...
Mostly I have words that will be needed translated with a lil flex room. ^-^
So it's gibberish, but it's my made up gibberish!
Has "sesirowitu" a meaning like "Bipedal ape-thing", just ... less stupid? Or is it a fantasy word, made-up on the spot (in that case I'd bet Pinkie created it)? Also, is it possible to show us what Jessica's current and flawed understanding of Equestrian is (without actually showing, where the errors lie)? While you stated that you to clear up certain misunderstandings, it is unlikely that you provide us the complete picture in the story. It would be very interesting to see Jess's understanding evolve.
Most important, do not type, if it causes your arm to fall off! Otherwise I'll sic Nurse Redheart on you!
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It is to do with her understanding of their language. What she thought was a vowel symbol, etc.
Let's just say she assumed it wrong. The language is a bit more complicated than she thinks, especially written wise.
As for showing without spoiling how she got understood things horribly wrong by making assumptions? Hmm...
I don't think I can do it without fully explaining, which I will add into the comments next chapter. Given in the actual chapter Jessica will be glossing over it, otherwise I could focus on the language for... well, an entire chapter at least!
Let's see...
Hmmm nothing I do will not be spoiler-y, so instead I'll just say that she made assumptions on that the 'a' in heart, was the same as 'a' they use for apple. While the two symbols do look very much alike and sound the same seperately, when put together they make a different sound as they were on the board. So while she was repeating what Fleur said, her understanding of it wasn't correct. That's all I will say on that matter.
She made several bad assumptions, which will bite her in the bum next chapter on her next lesson.
As for her name, it was simply directly translating Jessica into their language. It has no meaning to the story, I was just having fun. They will refer to her by her name in her language as that's only polite. Just as Jessica will have to learn their names in their language eventually.
The other name they were/are using for her will be revealed in time. ^-^
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Now I am even more confused regarding "sesirowitu". What do you mean with translating here exactly? Is it like a scheme used for Chinese characters to be written in the Latin alphabet? Or how else does this process work?
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It's the equestrian language I made up for the story. ^-^;
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I tried tellingTystarr that! Did they listen? Nooooooooo... and no look where they are?! A month of bead rest! Arm tied up in a sling so it can't be used! Armed security guards to make sure that the sling stays ON!! And a tear in the space time continuum!! ...alright maybe not...
Anyways, now that I've calmed my imaginative brain from that... uh, whatever it was that my brain just did. Please, actually get some rest! As much as I love working on your story with you I'd really rather you be 100% whole rather then agonizing as you write your amazing chapters. Please take care of yourself! Or else! ...I don't know what the "else" is yet but give me time and I'll think of something!
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Thinking further about that I believe the cause for my confusion stems from your wording, that "sesirowitu" means "Jessica" directly.
The bit with the word being Equestrian I got.
This also implies, as well assuming that the English alphabet version is pronounced like an English word, that the word is not homophon to "Jessica".
This leaves us with two possibilities. The first is that "Jessica" is difficult to pronounce for ponies, kinda like English for Japanese, so they mangled it somehow. Honestly, I can't see this being the case. The second one, "sesirowitu" is a kind of nickname, like Jess bestowed "Bubbles" onto Derpy. It likely has some meaning, as pony names seem to have.
I wager the guess that the unknown other name refers to Jessica's species, basically the ponies's term for humans. Only later, when it became clear what Jessica's talents are, they added a more fitting nickname. But that supposes, if the nickname refers to Jess's singing that the ponies created the name during the train travel. It's possible that the need for a nickname came up earlier, and refers then more likely to Dinky's rescue. Something like "Filly Saver"?
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I do have a collegue who hurt his arm now three months ago and has to partake in a treatment at a health resort for a few weeks because he still can't lift his arm properly.
Heed our warnings, Tystarr!
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I directly translated her name for fun. Just letter for letter, not the meaning behind it.
Their word is probably more of a nickname for her. ^-^
All shall be revealed in time!
As for watching out for my shoulder, I think I have proven I am not good at doing so!
Your new idea seems SWEET! Oh gosh, I cannot wait to read the new chapter!
I must agree with everypony here - your arm is more important than your deadline. Give it some rest and it will heal faster and cheaper :). If you HAVE TO write, consider using speech recognition software.
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So let me get this straight: You first invented a new alphabet, assigning it also the phonemes it is supposed to represent (I'm sure many people would be interested in a reference for this, maybe you can post an image of this some time?). Then you took the phonemes of "Jessica" and matched them to the Equestrian alphabet. Then you translated the Equestrian word into the Latin version.
My point of confusion is that "sesirowitu" does not seem to be pronounced the same as "Jessica" (as you seem to imply), so I feel I'm missing some step.
What are the hourly rates for babysitters?
Err, yeah, this was something I was going to ask. Why the bloody hell does Jessica have an "Equestrian name" in the first place? When a Spaniard named Franco moves to the UK people don't suddenly start addressing them as Robbert. The only instances I can think of of a person needing to gain a new name for a different culture are those instances of stage names (show biz, go figure) or if their normal name is not pronounceable to the new culture. She's certainly not planning to get into show business, so if the ponies are perfectly capable of pronouncing Jessica then there is no reason for her to be forced to adopt a new name.
. . . That is, unless the ponies are so xenophobic that they're disgusted by the notion of a creature in their midst having a non-pony name.
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It's just me having some fun.
Overall though, let's just say their name for her is different and based upon a nickname they've created. Two infact, given one is the one she would not wish to hear most likely, and the other is another entirely. ^-^
I was just trying to put her name into their language for giggles, hence why it doesn't sound anything alike. It really has nothing to do with the story, it might be the painkillers talking.
They'll refer to her by her name; Jessica, or by their nicknames for her.
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It doesn't translate very well when I did it, that's for sure. ^-^;
As I said, I was just doing it for fun, It has no relevance to the story at all.
Her nicknames will be revealed soon, I blame the painkillers for throwing out the pointless name as I did. ^-^; It just confused people, but it has no relevance other than I wanted to translate it as best I can, which it doesn't as one can see. I would be tempted just to remove it from the blog, due to it having no impact other than me poking it with a stick. ^-^;
As for babysitters... I would drive them nuts o.o
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As a beta reader and professional proofreader, I'm going to have to recommend you scrap that scene where "Jessica says her name in the pony language." It's useless, and just makes people pull their hair out over how much it doesn't make sense. It's a minor edit too, so you don't have to raise that much of a fuss about it.
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You mean in the blog? She doesn't say her name in the equestrian language in the story, she says her own name. o.o
She just puts two and two together to realise one of the words they are saying is her name in their language, or what she assumes as such. (It's a nickname, not her actual name in reality.)
I possibly should of been more clear it was her name in her own language though. Or are you refering to this?
If so it's just them using their nickname for her, the new one... not the old or she would of recognised it. Am confused over which one should be changed, if it's the blog that's easy to edit and I shouldn't of written it in the first place given it's nothing but confusing since it's just me playing around.
But for the story, if it will genuinely improve it, I would love to know which bit to tinker with. ^-^;
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I meant in the story. That first example is what I had in mind. You should have been more clear.
The second is just stupid because the linguists are making her introduce herself using a nickname instead of her actual name.
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No-one said they were doing it intelligently. ^-^
They're learning how to teach a strange creature their language for the first time as well. While Ledger is clearly not a patient stallion, he is probably one of the best to attempt it. Fleur meanwhile means well, but she has done some basic errors herself!
It'll all get hopefully sorted in the next chapter when they all realise they have done something wrong. ^-^
I will poke that part of the story though to clarify she is saying her name in her own language.
Thinking more about it, I agree with Happy Thoughts, using a voice recognition software is a great idea. Considering you do a number of rewrites anyway, the error rate shouldn't matter there, and for the last version it still reduces the typing. Hmm, checking the provided link I see Windows 7 has even one in-built, otherwise I can blindly recommend Dragon NaturallySpeaking because it is from Nuance. Which has no competition (because they buy any worthy competitor and integrate their engines).
On other news, I went bowling today and broke my own records like Applejack did in Fall Weather Friends with the contraption with the strength test.
5 strikes overall, 3 in one game, which I managed to win with 115 points.
Also, why are baseball players so bad in bowling? Because after three strikes they leave the game.