Dr. Seymore Crayznich was born in Aeytrazyem, Dah’Rem. He is a well known figure both in linguistics, and translation more broadly. Dr. Crayznich in particular is known for his work translating Aeytr texts, as well as other religious texts. Additionally he contributes to, and authors various textbooks, and will often appear as an expert representation for various documentaries, films, and government cultural outreach projects.
Tenants of Translation
Dr. Crayznich is known for having the most “accurate” translations. In particular Crayznich has several “tenants of translation” that he maintains as being important:
- Culture is language; It’s not sufficient to understand just the simple syntax and semantics of the source language, you should have a grasp on the cultural context, and translate all of the above to the destination language
- Do not guess; If it is unclear what is meant in the source then this should be made explicitly clear, and the unclear sections should either be omitted, or heavily annotated to indicate the true voracity of your translation
- Concepts transcend language; Depending on the text being translated it may be best to leave words untranslated. In particular words that encompass entire philosophies, entities, or schools of thought. For words such as these, the translations should be phonetic (spell how it sounds), but the word itself should be left as it’s own concept
- Fixes aren’t real; There are some things when translating people try to “fix”. For example an author in a source language may have an odd word ordering (i.e. “Fear out from which she fled” compared to “She fled out of fear”). Where possible these stylistic choices should be respected. Translators are there to translate, not manicure. Likewise one should never “fix” unpopular tendencies. If one is translating a work of text that is bigoted, there should be no efforts made to “sanitize” the work. People trying to learn from your translations are there for the source author, not you
There have been many outspoken critics of the tenants, most notable of which is Ci’ran Bal’main.
Publications
List shortened for brevity
- A pocket guide to the Aeytr (Book)
- A walk through the beginning; An overview of Creation Myths (Interview)
- Talking in tongues; An introduction to the art of translation (Textbook)
- The Woodchipper era; A look at early life in Dah’Rem (TV series, co-host)
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