Voyager Interstellar Mission: Amoy Greetings to Outer Space

Discussions on the Hokkien (Minnan) language.
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Heruler
Posts: 57
Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2006 12:09 am

Voyager Interstellar Mission: Amoy Greetings to Outer Space

Post by Heruler »

Hi All,

As you may be aware, the spacecraft Voyager has shot out of the solar system, and is now wandering in the outer space. On the craft is a gold plate showing a couple of man and woman with binary codes showing where the humankind resides in the universe. It also carries voice greetings in 55 languages, one of which is the typical Amoy (Min dialect) greetings:

Thài-khong pêng-iú, lín hó?
(Friends of space, how are you all?)

Lín chiáh pá bōe?
(Have you eaten yet?)

Ū êng lâi gún chia chē!
(Come visit us if you have time!)

It makes us proud to be Taiwanese/Hokkien that our voice is being sent to the edge of the universe.

If you are interested in listensing to the message (a lady's voice), please click on the Web page below:

http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/ ... uages.html

On the index page, click on "Amoy (Min dialect)" in the right-most column. When the Amoy page shows, click for the voice message.

Enjoy it!

Heruler
Last edited by Heruler on Fri Sep 15, 2006 2:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
Andrew

Post by Andrew »

Excellent, it's the only greeting in which the aliens are asked if they have eaten, and it's very fitting that it's the Hokkien one that does that.
SimL
Posts: 1407
Joined: Mon Jun 26, 2006 8:33 am
Location: Amsterdam

Post by SimL »

Hi Heruler,

I was surprised (and very pleased) to see that Hokkien / Minnan made it to outer-space. However, I have always been rather nervous about asking aliens to come and visit us. Not because I believe all the scenarios of science fiction movies, but because, when I look at the history of even contact between different groups of human beings (how much pain and suffering that caused!), and when I look at what human beings are doing to other animals (and to the planet), then I wonder if "intelligence" is such a good thing, and whether contact between so-called "intelligent" groups could ever lead to anything positive.

The answer to "Lín chiáh pá boe?" may well turn out to be "a-boe, gun be chiah lin"!!! :shock: Nevertheless, thank you for sharing this interesting piece of news.

Sim
Heruler
Posts: 57
Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2006 12:09 am

Post by Heruler »

Hi Sim,

Good sense of humor!

It's possible that the aliens (if any are out there) are more advanced, more civilized, gentler, kinder than we. Who knows!

Cheers!

Heruler
ong
Posts: 535
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2006 6:04 am

Post by ong »

minnan was choosen because they retain old sound more than other dialects .However xiamen dialect with a vowel like li is just middle chinese like many others .It should be quanzhou dialect with more old chinese alphabet and vowel be recorded.
lip is old chinese ,dzip/zip is just middle chinese
niuc
Posts: 734
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 3:23 pm
Location: Singapore

Post by niuc »

Hi all :D

I am not sure if Sim is merely joking. Interestingly I have the same "feeling" that the aliens - if they exist and manage to decipher the message - may give that answer, either they mean it or just to tease us. :wink:
Aurelio
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Jan 13, 2006 4:41 am

Post by Aurelio »

Hi everybody,

This topic came up a long time ago ... may have been 5 years by now ;-) There was the same concern that the 'chiah ba be' part may be taken a bit too literally ;-) Somebody else enquired whether we should be concerned about Ah-Lians coming to eat us all ... hehehe

Best,
Aurelio
SimL
Posts: 1407
Joined: Mon Jun 26, 2006 8:33 am
Location: Amsterdam

Post by SimL »

Aurelio wrote:Hi everybody,

This topic came up a long time ago ... may have been 5 years by now ;-) There was the same concern that the 'chiah ba be' part may be taken a bit too literally ;-) Somebody else enquired whether we should be concerned about Ah-Lians coming to eat us all ... hehehe

Best,
Aurelio
Hi Aurelio,

Nice to see you here. :D. I suppose it might have been me the last time as well... the old "anxiety ridden" Sim :shock:

Sim.
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