Writing from MC POVs who speak different languages?

[Grandeur]

So, a brief preface to the topic, I've been expanding the idea for my first novel, and I've realized that my previous paradigm of splitting the narrative perspectives across several books was not working. Originally, I intended to write a series with books of parallel timelines told from a different POV in each installment. Now I think I need to turn the axis and get all the POVs started in the first book, and give the reader an epic told from multiple POVs in multiple locations moving together at roughly the same speed. This will also help me open up other writing outlets and workshops and projects that may turn this into something else entirely.

Going into this, one of my hesitations is that I have some MCs that do not speak the 'common tongue' or whatever you'd like to call it, and I was going to use certain supporting characters as translators to bridge that gap for the reader.

ANYWAYS!

My question is kind of hard to word: How do you convey to the reader that characters are speaking 'not-the-common-tongue', especially when the narrative leans heavily on POV of the MC it derives? To put it another way, for the foreign/alien MC (or foreign character POV), they are speaking their native tongue, but without them knowing/caring about the english-esque common tongue, how do you let the reader know that they are basically reading a translated dialect?

Ideas, examples, and links to any relevant info would be wonderfully appreciated.

 

[Butterfly]

Well, if the entire story is set in different world to ours you're basically translating the entire thing from their language anyway. Maybe you don't have to draw attention to the fact they are speaking different languages especially if you are into their POV. The only time it needs to matter is when and if two characters meet who speak different languages, then you can use dialogue tags that state 'he/she switched to Minoan' or 'took time to adjust to unfamiliar runes' or 'waited for the translator to speak.'

But don'torget that communication is more than just words. It's expression, emotion, hand gesures, body language, tone of voice as well.

 

[Butterfly]

I'm on my kindle means I can't edit. I wanted to add that whchever POV you are writing from, you are in their world, so their language, letters, culture won,t be alien to them.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

There are several ways I've seen to handle this concern.

First, and this is in line with Butterfly's post...context. This is probably the most difficult but also the least obtrusive to your reader's immersion. Having other characters react differently to the spoken language can cue the reader to understand your POV is speaking a language they don't grasp. Quizzical looks from those with no comprehension, concentration from those with partial knowledge or ones with a gift for language, relative ease for those that speak the same. The key with doing this well is extreme clarity for the reader. Again, this is difficult to write well. I'm not sure I'd recommend it for more than a character or two. Beyond that it may be a lot to expect from your reader.

Another way I've seen authors tackle this issue is through the use of differing fonts, or in the case of ebooks, different colors for texts. The authors can even provide a key in the book's beginning that illustrates which font/color corresponds to which speaker/language. Although this method works, I find it somewhat clumsy, sort of like a cinematic voice-over. It gets that job done but it's unfulfilling.

Those are the only ways I know of to tackle your concern. I'd recommend the first for quality of story, but the second is easier on the author.

 

[skip.knox]

Why is this important?

My first thought is, just write the story. Normal English. Whatever authorial voice works for you. Which is how most fantasy novels work anyway. Differences in actual language should come in if and only if such distinction is indispensable for telling the tale.

 

[Grandeur]

Well slip knox, that's just it, the distinction in languages is indispensible. Eventually some of my MCs will cross each other, but some won't understand each other. How do you let the reader know that one of the two interweaving POVs was being told/thought/perceived in a different language, when the entire time they have been reading english.

This is a hard point for me, because I actually bothered to construct a sort of proto-language that my current languages derived from, so linguistics and pronunciation are an important of this world. Also, any ideas as to how I convey certain words and titles? For instance, (some may have read this in the forums) my prologue features a character called the Aethyn, but in his local, tribal language, the word Aethyn means 'Lightbearer'. Should he be referred to by the translated title (Lightbearer) or the original (Aethyn) when talking about him?

 

[KC Trae Becker]

Can you have characters unfamiliar with the common tongue consistently use a few words improperly or invert the word order to show just a little that they are not speaking the same language as others? Maybe you could throw in a smattering of foreign words strategically placed.

 

[Grandeur]

That is sort of what I am aiming for, KC. I have a few other words that I use from this foreign POV that DO have intended translations, but I do not use them in the narrative. I use their tribal dialect's words. For instance, I use Aethyn, not Lightbearer. I use D'jae, not Diviner. I say Amarantas, not Eternal-Tree-Temple.

But now I'm wondering if perhaps I should shift them to their translated versions. An awkward translation of things might help denote a language/POV rooted in a lexicon other than the common tongue. George RR Martin, for example, when he has his warg MC Bran 'slip his skin/exit his body' and enter the mind of his wolf, the narrative to follow obviously has to be in english, but he uses comparative words in the wolf's reality. Armor, to a wolf, is called hardskin. Castle walls are perceived as 'great-mancliffs'. Swords are 'longclaws'. Thoughts?