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Ah hah! First this time.
The Appendices are all updated!
reading into it
No I think Ursula is reading into that hug just right, Eriana just doesn't know how to approach this situation.
Glad to see another episode
Glad to see another episode of As Anmar Turns... Wait, sorry, Voyage of the Visund.
Was there a reason for switching Ursula to Eastern European English grammar, or did it just happen because? (Russian, Ukrainian, and similar languages have no definite articles, for those who are confused. So you don't say 'the future' or 'an axe'. In this case, for example, Ursula said 'Is true' rather than "It is true". )
I would think that the automatic language translator would have 'fixed' that, for the most part. Also odd that Eriana didn't get any information from Ursula about the Yodian healers.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
On Earth she lived all over
On Earth she lived all over the northern hemisphere, and had both been taught and immersed in several languages and cultures, a significant portion of the major population centers between St Petersburg and Alberta, Canada in that time, she'd naturally pick up and interchangeably use the different grammar systems, besides it seems the translator only makes sure the definitions and intent are conveyed, and the brain starts thinking in the local language more gradually, and Ursula simply hasn't been there that long.
I was just referring to how
I was just referring to how in the other chapters, she used normal grammar.
So, this line - "I am Russian. What will be will be. Let future take care of itself." is actually a mix.
It would be "I Russian. What will be, will be. Let future take care of itself." - dropping both the 'am' and 'the'.
(Hmm, I believe Isaac Asimov was a Russian Jew. Maybe that's why the story was "I, Robot".
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Stress
As Julia mentioned, stress plays a part in this.
There is also a comprehension point here. As a writer, I didn't want to write Ursula entirely in a cod-Russian accent. The whole point of the automatic translator is that it is supposed to take whatever the subject voices and turns it into a reasonably understandable version in the local tongue - yet still be understandable to the average reader. Thus, what comes out in the text is a general, understandable and mostly-American dialogue.
Since Ursula is multi-lingual, it is reasonable to suppose that she can think in several Earth tongues. However, when she gets stressed, her thinking goes back to her native Russian and I had to try and bring that through. Dropping the articles seemed to be the logical way to do it. I don't speak much Russian, though I have a daughter-in-law who does, so I'm making this up as I go along. After all, it is fiction.
Penny
Dogs have owners; cats have staff. Grand-daughters have minions.
Which answers my initial
Which answers my initial question, which is why it suddenly switched from the previous dialogue. (My best friend's wife is a Russian/Ukranian Jew, and her folks have (had in one case) very heavy accents - but they use definite articles, which is interesting. I'm suspecting the years in Israel may have affected that.)
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Definite articles
Bah. I missed a point, which was that d-i-l speaks English well enough that she can think in it, and she has no problem using articles in speech or writing. Years spent in the US and the UK, gaining familiarity with what is spoken around one, probably does that.
My main problem is determining when to slide Ursula into and out of that Russian speech pattern. Sometimes I get it right, sometimes wrong, sometimes nobody notices. It really isn't that important in the big scheme of things.
Penny
Dogs have owners; cats have staff. Grand-daughters have minions.
If it helps, for me, it's
If it helps, for me, it's when I'm really tired and stressed (or allergies). That's when the Ottawa Valley Twang comes out from childhood, which is close enough to Irish as to make no nevermind. (No, I have never, nor have any of my relatives, said 'faith and begorrah'. I don't even know what that means)
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
I think you'll find that stress is a factor
Whenever Ursula gets stressed she 'defaults' to Russian and therefore drops the articles.
Naval concerns
I suspect its the manpower that was of greater concern than the ships themselves, I get the impression only the most heinous of criminals that don't cross the line into capital offense, don't get a choice regarding their work assignments in most valley states, galleys are infamously labor intensive, and while some of the states may have wanted to keep the captured vessels in reserve, they probably only want to have enough active vessels to patrol their own stretch of the river, having them active means they could be expected to help crew and maintain them without direct command over the vessels. It'd be prudent to install mast, sail and steam engine, on the ships, as prisoner powered warships don't align with some of the ideals for the Federation and would be impossible to manage justly when those people come from differing justice systems, with different rules regarding the treatment of convicts. That combined with several other factors, makes the captured Yoddan vessels, and any others seconded to River Command, the testing ground for how Ocean Command and other military branches specifically of the Federation, are to be managed and operated.
It has unfortunately become a modern myth……
That all galleys were rowed by slaves. That is a misconception. Many galleys actually were crewed by free men who were paid members of the crew. Using slaves become much more common during the Roman Empire, and thanks to popular fiction (think Ben Hur as an example), most people think that is the truth for all galleys. The Norse for example did not use slaves, as is the case with Eriana’s long boat.
As to the reticence of the various military leaders to give up the galleys to Eriana, that may simply be the normal military mindset of never giving up a potential asset - or it may be more greed as ships are not cheap to build and these are considered the spoils of war. Remember, to the victors go the spoils. Throughout history, looting and such have been the norm. As recently as WW I, the victor nations believed it their right to extract reparations from the losers - which ultimately set the stage for the rise of fascism and eventually WW II.
Ursula is correct in that the various military factions are occupation troops, and the solution here may end up being a division of the country any the city into areas of influence - much as Berlin, and Germany, was split up after WW II. Although we don’t like to admit it, the US (and to a lesser extent the other allies) still have occupation troops in both Germany and Japan. We prefer to call them bases and mutual defense agreements - but face it, they are occupation troops some 75 years after the war ended.
D. Eden
“Hier stehe ich; ich kann nicht anders. Gott helfe mir.”
Dum Vivimus, Vivamus
fair
However we are looking more at early medieval period, before cannon, type galleys, these required a lot more rowers due to their size and requisite speed, leading to some countries to have a habit of setting a really low bar of what charges would get people sent to the galleys France and Britain did this quite a lot, there was also impressment.
I am Russian. What will be will be.
a good attitude, I think
boot sizes
foot swelling can cause a fitted boot to be too small, lots of things can cause that, environment, food, some bodily functions, and so on. IIRC they use side laced footwear, which isn't as adjustable as top laces. add to that the steel toe itself, for them to work properly, additional space must be provided around the toe cage, not just for the metal itself, but to allow it to compress in when its impacted without crushing the toe, I don't think an armorer would make such a mistake, as that's a basic concern in armor design, but a cobbler might be ignorant to such details and only consider ergonomics, when drawing out the parts they'd need a metal worker to make. Such a mistake isn't that surprising, early protective footwear usually consisted of a metallic "over shoe" rather than being integrated into the shoe itself.
If that's the issue, its a good thing they are discovering it now, before they start considering mass produced footwear for sailors and workers alike
It would not be surprising
If Yod had it yet another uprising. Only time will tell. There may yet have to be intervention in some of their institutions.
They are Learning
At least the ladies didn't leave their weapons at home this time. And it became necessary to demonstrate the finer aspects of sword play. It's sad two of the ladies came out a little worse for wear and tear even if they did best their challengers. Obviously the men who challenged the ladies were no gentlemen or there wouldn't have been a duel. Seems to be a lot of those kind of men in this world. Of course this world is just a few centuries past the dark ages. Or are they?
Hugs Penny, interesting series you've spun here.
Barb
When life beats you up hands you lemons, make lemonade
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
The historic purpose of duals
The historic purpose of duals is to settle matters when two parties fail to find common ground through words, however when the issue of competency with the weapon in question was brought up there was only one way to address the issue. The other two were effectively questioning their authority to act on behalf of Palarand and the Navy, effectively accusing them of fraud, the theory being frauds wouldn't be formally trained. They should have respected the provenance but not everyone was going to, and its possible at least one of them was acting under orders, so that disputes would be handled more efficiently.
I think you may mean duels
Which is sort of satisfaction at dawn stuff, as duals would just be a pair of something.
Angharad
yeah
thanks
Usually duals are done to
Usually duals are done to provide extra support in case one of your tires blow.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.