本帖最后由 唐辛子 于 2015-5-10 07:39 编辑
关于这部精神续作的讨论，不知道发在D&D版下是否合适。总之只是一些突发奇想地杂谈，版主看了如果不行请帮忙搬一下也好。
自从去年九月该做终于放出了第一个alpha试运行视频，在下就越来越按捺不住期待的心情。
国内大小网站相继也开始打出广告和消息，也差不多是那个时候开始看到中文译名——折磨：扭蒙拉之潮。
今年三月18，该作开发的核心骨干Colin McComb来伦敦在EGX会场中与玩家们互动，做了一个不短的游戏概念与开发的演讲。
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36k6v6k4xoI
其中透露了不少游戏的特殊元素和玩家期待已久的剧情背景信息。
当然，Colin着重地阐述了游戏背景设定的复杂与独特性，目的是让玩家们能充分感受到这部精神续作的诚意。
关于这部游戏的名称，Colin的提及也让在下变得相当在意，后来在下又在该作的网站上专门检索了名称的含义：
http://www.numenera.com/whats-in-a-name-numenera/
以下是原作桌游《Numenera》的原创者和编剧，Monte Cook 提供的答复：
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A lot of people have been speculating, wondering, or asking what the name “Numenera” means. The answer is complex. To start with, “Numen” is one of my favorite somewhat obscure words. I also like the closely-related “numinous.” It has many different meanings, and all of them play into the game really well. Numen means “an influence perceptible by mind but not by senses.” More specifically, it relates to “the presence of the divine.” More generally, it relates to anything supernatural.
Numen, a Latin word, also means potential. In some more modern belief systems, Numen refers to a spirit or magical essence within an object. What a great way for someone to look at technology so advanced that it is indistinguishable from magic, as Arthur C. Clarke said.
If we really stretch (and sticklers won’t like me stretching this far), there is also a linguistic connection with “nine,” so it’s not hard to pretend that it refers to “Ninth Era,” or “Ninth World,” which is the name of the setting.
Era, of course, is a long period of time. Usually of fairly arbitrary length, even when it is a specific period (as in “Mesozoic Era”).
So “Numenera” could be thought to mean, “the age of the divine,” which isn’t such a terrible way to describe how humanity in the Ninth World setting would look upon the past. It could also be “the age of potential,” which would be a way to describe the Ninth World itself–a new age of humanity, full of potential. A new beginning.
Era is also close to aera or aero, which of course refers to the air. Numen aera, in Latin, might be translated as “the power in the air,” which is not far from being an important part of the reality of the Ninth World–the dataweb that still exists around the planet (like the Internet, but times a million).
Specifically, though, in the setting, “the numenera” is a catch-all term for things from the past that pass understanding (things perceived by the mind but not the senses–experienced but not truly understood). Whether it’s a device that nullifies gravity, a bioengineered creature, a cloud of nanobots, a nearly indestructible metal, or something that allows one to see something going on miles away, it’s numenera.
That means, of course, that numenera is both beneficial and dangerous. Sometimes at the same time. Just like magic. Sir Clarke really knew what he was talking about.
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看到官方对于名称的解释，在下终于觉得“扭蒙拉”这个音译翻译实在是让人无法接受 （至少把音节拼全了吧 -努门艾拉 =P）。
可以看到，Numenera一词其实是两个词组合成的，“numen” 和 “era”
但这两个词本身的含义确实相当丰富，要翻译起来确实不容易。
Numen 是个拉丁词，英语里也有解释，指精灵，守护神。Monte Cook 自己的解释是 “能通过意念而非感官所感知的一股影响力”，“神力存在”，或者笼统点就是各种“超自然神奇”
作者同时也指出这个词还有“潜力”，或者“存在于某个物件中的灵魂” 并引用了C. Clarke的话：“就像是某种极其先进的东西让人无法区分究竟是魔法还是科技”。
（在下这时想到，要举个大家比较熟悉的例子，大概就是日本神道那样的万物有灵的泛精灵崇拜吧，类似于“神樣-Kamisama”。后来维基百科也证实了在下的观点，参：http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numen）
还有就是语言学上Numen有“九”的意思，所以也联系到了设定的“第九世界”
（吐槽：所以九州、神州，这是指我文明古国么………）
再者就是 Era 一词，粗译可以指时代，年代，纪元。作者指是相当长的一段时间，通常可以是任意的时长，甚至于像 “中生代、古生代” 那样特指某一时代
（这里Era是地质年代划分级别——“代”，在“宙”的下一级，“纪”的上一级，一“代”通常是好几十个百万年）。
所以作者给出的理解 Numenera 可以理解为 “神圣纪元” （逼格一下子就没了……）或者 “潜力纪元” 象征着新人类的崛起，充满潜力的新转戾点。
然后作者又玩拉丁语，指这个词也可以翻译成“空中之力”，贴近第九世界设定中环绕整个星球的“数据网”。
最终，Monte Cook 总结 “The Numenera” 就是各种被遗忘时代产物的总称 （亚特兰蒂斯……）。
那么如此一来，该作应该怎样被翻译呢？ 在下觉得应该翻译成 《折磨：神通时代之潮》。
Numen 一词既指人的精、气、神、意念上的能力；又指信仰中超然的神灵；而本质是登峰造极如同魔法般的科技，个人觉得 “神通” 相对贴切。
Era 的话就用泛指的久远年代，以考古或者地质 “时代” 来翻译。
所以设定中那些“消除引力的装置”，“人工生物”，“纳米机器云团”，“坚不可摧的金属” 和 “千里眼顺风耳” 都是 “神通时代” 的产物。
以上，大家觉得怎么翻译呢？
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发表于 2015-5-6 00:34:34
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