If everyone is speaking through tech translators, then maybe somewhat literal translations; the English character named Heather is actually being called "Purple Flower" by the alien or what not, and the alien's elegant and venerable old family name may be spoken as Pond-Dredger by the humans due to literal translation.
Well, now, part of me wants to write an alien-POV story where the alien can't speak or understand* human languages and so hir narration does translate all names into their meanings. (Knowing my actual writing track record, this would get as far as looking up names on name-meaning websites and then getting lost in a wiki-wander.)
* Or can't record human phonology. Turning it around, it might be easy for me to record/remember Pond-Dredger than '1.5 second flash of reddish orange in the middle, followed by two short flashes of gray to either side' and trust that the listeners can look it up in a English to color-speaking-alien-squid dictionary. (And I don't think I'd be offended to be 'to bind' in color-speaking alien squid language; and it probably would be less likely to offend than a nickname by physical description where you might step on some beauty taboos or something.)
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2012-10-04 03:26 pm (UTC)Well, now, part of me wants to write an alien-POV story where the alien can't speak or understand* human languages and so hir narration does translate all names into their meanings. (Knowing my actual writing track record, this would get as far as looking up names on name-meaning websites and then getting lost in a wiki-wander.)
* Or can't record human phonology. Turning it around, it might be easy for me to record/remember Pond-Dredger than '1.5 second flash of reddish orange in the middle, followed by two short flashes of gray to either side' and trust that the listeners can look it up in a English to color-speaking-alien-squid dictionary. (And I don't think I'd be offended to be 'to bind' in color-speaking alien squid language; and it probably would be less likely to offend than a nickname by physical description where you might step on some beauty taboos or something.)