Etymology/meaning/onomatopoeic aspects of the word "Urth"

Dave Lebling · 25 Apr 2008, 00:09 · from 2008-April.txt.gz

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From: dlebling at hyraxes.com (Dave Lebling)
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:09:46 -0400
Subject: (urth) Etymology/meaning/onomatopoeic aspects of the word "Urth"
In-Reply-To: <73d3d6710804241020k7c71f1a0u6fd02ac36c946de4 at mail.gmail.com>
References: <73d3d6710804241020k7c71f1a0u6fd02ac36c946de4 at mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <4811214A.8080107 at hyraxes.com>

Pavel,

Wolfe's substitution of a "U" for "EA" in English works well because 
English spelling and English pronunciation are so dissimilar. I don't 
know if the opportunity exists in Czech; my limited knowledge of it 
indicates words are mostly pronounced just as they are spelled. The best 
opportunity would seem to be a pun of some sort on "zem?"; just adding 
"ur" to it seems too unsubtle.

Is there a Czech word similar to "zem?" that has interesting resonances, 
the way "Urth" suggests the Norns, Norse mythology in general, language 
evolution (a future English-speaker might spell "Earth" as "Urth" -- so 
this is a joke about pulp SF's take on future language evolution), etc? 
How would one expect Czech to evolve in a million years?

Is there a set of old Slavic gods or goddesses associated with the  
Earth-Mars-Venus triad? Is there an allusive pun to be made like the 
"present"="gift" pun Wolfe makes? (I know people once made much of the 
fact that in German "gift"="poison", for example.)

I think the addition of "Ur" (if Czech speakers would "get it") isn't 
bad at all, as it goes along with Wolfe's caginess about whether we are 
the ancestors or the descendants of the people of Urth.

-- Dave Lebling

Pavel Baki? wrote:
> A question for the first-language speakers out there: We have a 
> discussion going on concerning a proper rendering of the word "Urth" 
> into Czech, and would appreciate any comments concerning the 
> connotations the word has for a native speaker, apart form the obvious 
> "Earth". An existing translation of /The Shadow of the Torturer/ has 
> "Urzem?", which translates literally as "Ur-Earth" (without the 
> repetition of the "r" phoneme or the "vowel-consonant[s]" syllable 
> structure, of course).
>
> I /did /search for previous threads concerning the topic, but the fact 
> of the archive-site being itself called Urth made it somewhat difficult.
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