Translator's notes

Appendix 2

Some notes on Lobbol itself

In almost all cases in the preceding chonicles, Lobbol has been translated to English as accurately as possible. There are only a few, distinct cases wherein this has not occurred.

The first is the Lobbol possessive case. The walls of Ashirak, in English 'Ashirak's walls' would be written 'Ashirai volst,' wherein volst means walls. Dylath-Leen's walls would be written 'Dylath-Leei volst' and so forth. Ashirai can also be used to refer to the people of Ashirak, shedding some insight into the culture's perceived relationship between city and citizen. This has been maintained where the translator considered remaining with the Ashirai less likely to cause confusion. Notable exceptions are Celephais, which was not rendered possessive via the standard method. Instead, the Ashirai adopted Phi's own convention 'Celephaian' or simply 'Phian' after international contact had been made.

An important exception is in reference to specific people. The translator concluded that 'Varad's hand' would be more acceptable to an English audience than 'Varai hand,' especially given that hand itself would be translated as well. If, at other points, inconsistency is noted, he politely requests forbearance for his effort to maintain ease of reading as his highest priority.