[jbovlaste] Re: Ramadan etc

[MorphemeAddict@wmconnect.com]

In a message dated 9/2/2009 11:16:15 Eastern Daylight Time, yoav.nir@gmail.com writes:


> With few exceptions, we tend to let people name their stuff themselves. So to me it's far more important what American (and Iranian and Malaysian) Moslems call their holiday, then what German Agnostics call it. If they tend to leave the name in its Arabic form, then lojban should follow suit. If they translate the meaning to their respective languages, then we should have a lujvo.
>
> This applies to all other languages as well. If Moslem Americans call it "eid al adha", it makes no sense for Christian Americans to call it "slaughter day". Similarly, Hebrew speaking Jewish Israelis call it "eid al adha" as well. OTOH, the Samaritans have a holiday with the same name, but Israeli Samaritans do translate it when they speak Hebrew. So when we talk about the Samaritan holiday, we do translate the meaning into Hebrew.


Sometimes it's problematic finding out whether a term is normally translated or borrowed.  I would favor a more personal approach in Lojban, allowing each speaker to choose his own way, thus allowing both (or all) for everyone, with no rule per se.

stevo