The Writer

The diary of the circumnavigation of the globe by Antonio Pigafetta, includes extensive translations of words in native languages with their respective phonetic transcription. He did this by interview the villagers of each town he stopped at and writing down the meaning and sound of the words they used. These peoples had no written language, therefore, Pigafetta’s transcription was no less than enigmatic to the natives of the area. From the region of Bhutan, on the island of Mindanao, the author points out: “I wrote many words as they pronounced them. When the king and the others saw me write and say those same words to them, everyone was stunned...” Regarding this same episode, Stefan ...View all