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Q&A What's the best way to show a foreign language in a manuscript?

It is possible to use multiple languages even if you actually don't by flagging them in dialogue tags. This is good when who speaks what language(s) is important in the narrative. You can put the i...

posted 11y ago by staticsan‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T01:17:13Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/6289
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar staticsan‭ · 2019-12-08T01:17:13Z (over 4 years ago)
It is possible to use multiple languages even if you actually don't by flagging them in dialogue tags. This is good when who speaks what language(s) is important in the narrative. You can put the inter-language confusion in the dialogue and the speakers' actions. You can also use this to play with mis-translation, either deliberate or incidental.

If you know what you're doing, you can also use idioms differently to subtly indicate a different langauge. For example, in one of my fantasy worlds, I characterise one of my languages by limiting contractions and by repeating verbs in a way that is not usually done in casual English.

This technique as also a good out if the languages are fictional, or if you, the author, don't actually speak one of them.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2012-08-31T03:51:13Z (over 11 years ago)
Original score: 7