Because I live in New Mexico and sometimes write about it,
an article in the Albuquerque Journal in mid-August caught my eye.
BÉESO DAH YINÍLJAA
My accent marks are not quite right because I don’t have a
Navajo keyboard and they’re not standard on the Alt code charts.
Here’s the translation: “A Fistful of Dollars”, which has
been dubbed in Navajo through the efforts of the director of the Navajo Nation
Museum, Manny Wheeler. This is one of the steps he’s taken to keep the language
alive (there are no subtitles). Previously, “Star Wars” and “Finding Nemo” had
been translated into Navajo.
The translators and voice actors were all Navajo. The
challenge in translating is finding the right word,
according to Wheeler: “…Native
languages are more complex than the English language. With ‘Star Wars’, we had
to translate lightsaber. We have many words that fit that translation. We had
to pick the right one.”
For more examples of Navajo (Diné) language see: http://navajopeople.org/blog/my-mother-navajo-language-lesson/
Don’t expect to learn it. I’m told if you didn’t grow up
around Navajo speakers, you’ll never get it quite right.
