Conference hydra::dejavu

    
    You might try the VAXWRK::INDIA conference.   
    
    Cindy

    Re .0
    
    Your note first says your teacher asks you to decipher the phrase, then 
    you mention other languages. In my mind, I think of deciphering as
    breaking a code. When it comes to to other languages, translating is 
    the usual term.
    
    Are you sure you're looking for another language? If not, try to get a
    few books on ciphers and codes from the library.
    
    If, instead, you know your dealing with another language, you may try 
    the Antiquity note, there are several people there who are linguists,
    as a hobby, at the very least. Joe Gobbini would be a good start. Sorry
    I don't know his node name, but you will be able to find it in the
    notes.
    
    
    Let us know what it turns out to be!
    
    
    Marilyn 

    
    I sent off a note to a friend who is married to someone from Poland, 
    and here is his response to my mail.  (;^)
    
    Cindy
    
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------
    
    >    "ZAZPIAK BAT!"
    
    It's not Polish. ;-) But it sure sounds Slavic! Could be the Czech
    language, says my wife. We had a good laugh at what it could mean. 
    This ranges from (and you pick the best! :-))
    
    - be silent!
    - start to sing!
    - get drunk!
    
    Honestly: there are roots for all three meanings there.
    
    I would go for the first meaning. Seems like a great end of a course...
    ;-)
     

    Perhaps it like one of those pictures and you're supposed to add the
    caption.  The caption for this one is already there.  All you have to
    do is come up with the best "translation".
    
    Tom

    
    re .3   Cindy, thanks for circulating it!! That's the most productive 
    response I've gotten to date!  I'll search more in that direction.
    
    re: .4  Hmmmm.... interesting way of looking at it!  If you don't mind,
    I'm going to use that as my "if all else fails"!! Thanks for your
    reply!  
    
    Any other suggestions?  Keep the ideas coming!
    
    patty
      

    "ZAZPIAK BAT".... Thinking about it, it sounds like Klingon.

    
    re: .2   Yes, my note does use the word "decipher".  In my mind, I 
    meant "translate"! Poor choice of words; I should have wrote what I
    meant!!
    
    ZAZPIAK BAT! is not code; the teacher is emphatic about that. It is 
    an expression (information he gave last night, which should have been  
    obvious because of the exclamation point). 
    
    Thank you for the lead! I will certainly try this approach.
    
    re: .6  I already checked the Klingon Dictionary; It's not Klingon!!
    Thanks for the suggestion!!
    
    

    No help for you in translating, but, a question. Is that the correct
    spelling? I was thinking that it might be a phoenetic spelling.
    Guttural sounding "ch" for the "z" among other changes. I certainly no
    linguist by anyone's stretch of the imagination, but it struck me as
    being phoenetic. Of course I'm probably completely wrong on this.
    
    Bright Blessings
    
    PJ

    
    re: .8
    
    Yes, the spelling is correct.  I made sure to clarify that point 
    with the teacher!
    

    Patty,
    
    What course is this for? If we knew this, it may spark an idea in
    someone's mind.
    
    Another thought just occurred to me, I remember in the old Robin
    Williams's show "Mork and Mindy", Mork used to say something like
    Shaz Bat!
    
    While it would be a stretch to spell Shaz like ZAZPIAK, you may want to
    review the TV notesfile to see if this is another phrase he might have
    used......
    
    I can't wait till you know, it's driving me nuts, too!
    
    
    Marilyn

    Marilyn, I will check out the Mork and Mindy thing!  Thanks!!
    
    The class is "Business Writing and Reports, Intensive".  So much for
    sparking an idea, huh?  
    
    I guess what might help was the opening lecture.  He was explaining how
    in 1066, the Battle of Hastings took place.  To sum it up, the French 
    beat the English.  Because of this, a lot of English words got their
    spelling/meaning from the French as opposed to a German influence (how
    that fits in I'm not sure....my guess is that if the French didn't beat
    the English, the Germans would have?)  Anyway, words like "beef" and
    "veal". Those are French derivitives. The German version of those words
    is "cow" and "calfs flesh"; not as appealing or attractive as the
    French versions.
    
    Also, he talked about how some things said or done in the U.S. are
    insulting in other countries.  His example was that in Nigeria, waving
    at someone with an open hand, like we might do to get someone's
    attention or to say hi from a distance, is an insult. 
    
    I don't think any of that fits into Zazpiak Bat!.  Maybe some
    background on the teacher would help.  His name is Dan Golden.  He
    lives in Cambridge. He works at Wheaton College. He's been in the
    English teaching profession for the past 20 years. His wife (Arlene) 
    is also in the business.....she teaches seminars on business related 
    practices. 
    

    Isn't that what Slav would sound like in English when ordering a six pack 
    of Bud.
    
    B^)
    
    

I'm really sorry if my comment will upset you. But,

Are you supposed to solve this puzzle with others, or 
by yourself?

My opinion is that doing it yourself will be more challenging 
and also rewarding at the end. Unless, of course, the professor's
intention was to have a bunch of people work on it.

Regards,
And best luck in finding this out.

ZAZPIAK BAT!

If you run out of clues for human languages, perhaps a
look into machine languages may give chase.  Sometimes
the exclamation is used in code written for several
programming *languages*.

Just a thought...

I'm enjoying all the speculation this challenge is 
arousing.

Regards,

Tony

    
    re: .13  
    <I'm really sorry if my comment will upset you. But,
    
    <Are you supposed to solve this puzzle with others, or
    <by yourself?
     
    Nope, I'm not upset at all!  The teacher said we can use any resources
    that we have and he listed a few: professors, fellow students,
    libraries, and accessing the internet.  I have class every Tuesday
    evening.  Last Tuesday I told him about all the channels I've opened
    trying to solve this.  He thought it was great! 
    
    I'm hoping that someone contacts me and tells me what it means!
    Seriously, I do not think that will happen. I'm hoping to get some
    clues. You never know; one idea may lead to another!
    
    I must say, though, this is tough! I've spent 3 nights this week and 
    most of last weekend in two libraries. (The nights weren't bad, but last 
    Saturday I had my 3 month old with me. She was very vocal about us not 
    staying too long!)   
          
    Well wish me luck this weekend (and a babysitter!!!)  
    
    patty
    

   < If you run out of clues for human languages, perhaps a
   < look into machine languages may give chase.  Sometimes
   < the exclamation is used in code written for several
   < programming *languages*.
    
    yes, I thought about that. The teacher assures us that it is an actual
    human language.   I'm going to have to take him on his word.
    
    good idea, though!!  Keep those ideas coming!!!
    

    
    Try:
    
    	THEBAY::JOYOFLEX
    
    Would you like me to crosspost in the VAXWRK::INDIA conference for you?
    
    Cindy

    
    Cindy, thanks but no.  I'll stick it in there (both JOYOFLEX and
    INDIA) before the days through!!
    
    Re: India; I asked a friend of mine, who is Indian, if it was worth 
    a try.  He could rule out a few of the Indian languages, but he said 
    to give it a shot, since there are several more spoken there that he 
    does not know.
    
    thanks!! patty
    

        Just a thought or a dim alarm bell... Have you tried the science
    fiction notes? ( Maybe you mentioned it and I've forgotten.)
    Anyway in the movie "The Day the World Stood Still" the alien says 
    something to his robot. Somewhere in the dim past a discussion on that
    was held and this might be it. Or I'm really loony and confused.
    Worth a try maybe.
    jak 

    Curiosity got the best of me and I went over and looked myself. That's
    not it. It was klatu ..... etc.
    Still might be sf.
    jak

    
    re: .20   Nope, I never gave it a try, but thanks for looking that up
    for me!
    

    
    Re.: Mork and Mindy suggestion
    
    I checked this out. It seems that the Orkian language was pretty small.
    No zazpiak bat is mentioned.
    
    patty
    

ZAZPIAK BAT!  Languages it does not match:
    (If anyone can correct anything on this list, please do so.  thanks,
    patty)
    
    
Arabic
Basque 
French   
Gaelic Scottish   
German 
Gothic
Greek
Hebrew
Hindi
Hittite
Hungarian 
Indonesian
Irish
Italian
Japanese
Klingon
Korean            
Latin
Malaysian
Old Norse
Persian/Farsi   
Polish
Portuguese  
Romanian
Russian         
Sanskrit
Scandinavian      
Spanish
Swedish
Swiss German
Tagalog
Urkranian
Yiddish

    
    Goede Morgen!
    
    Add 'Dutch' to your list.
    
    That's the nationality of my friend with the Polish wife.  (;^)
    Forgot to add that in earlier.
    
    Cindy

    
    
    Add Chinese to the NOT list.
    
    Eva

    Probably stupid, but it reminds me of the words at the end of the
    Disney cartoons "That's all for now folks"
    
    
    Well I did say it sounds silly.
    
    regads
    
    Steve

It doesn't sound like any of the Native American languages
in the Southwest U.S. (Navajo, Apache, Laguna, Zuni, Hope.)

It may behoove you to consider research of languages
of those tribes from Northeastern-US/Canadian areas.
(Kypd 7 to add the NA notesfile).

ZAZPIAK BAT!  Updated language list. I eliminated some (and received
    some, thanks!) during my lunch break.             

*Apache
Arabic
*Armenian
Basque
*Chinese
*Dutch
*Esperanto
*Finnish
French
Gaelic Scottish
German
Gothic
Greek
Hebrew
Hindi
Hittite
*Hope
Hungarian
Indonesian
Irish
Italian
Japanese
Klingon
Korean
*Laguna
Latin
Malaysian
*Navajo
Old Norse
Persian/Farsi
Polish
Portuguese
Romanian
Russian
Sanskrit
Scandinavian
Spanish
Swedish
Swiss German
Tagalog
Urkranian
*Urdu
*Vietnamese
Yiddish
*Zuni

    Are you positive it's actually words in a foreign language? Sounds
    like there's other possibilities here, too.  
    
    Wild guess, but it reminds me of a font name...you know, in the
    different word processing/presentation graphics packages.  They
    have some pretty wierd names for some of them.  
    

    re:.29  Are you positive it's actually words in a foreign
    language?
    
    Yes, I'm pretty positive on that point. My teacher said it was an
    actual language, not a computer language.  You see, he has stated
    several times that he has a dislike for computers, and he refuses to
    use a mouse!  For that reason, he probably wouldn't think a computer
    language would be interesting to share with the class.  
    
    You know how when people really dislike something, all you need to do
    is mention the word, whatever it is, and they make a face like they're
    totally repulsed?  That's what he does about computers. But, when he
    talks about words and languages his eyes light up. For that reason, I
    feel confident in ruling out computer languages.
    
     

    Is it Egyptian? Phonetic version of heiroglyphic?
    
    Wayne

    
    This may be a looooong shot but didn't George Lucas and or Steven
    Spielberg develope a language for the Ewoks in the last Star Wars
    movie?  I believe they took a little of several languages, combined
    them and made up their own.
    
    Walt

    
    re: .32  Ewok Language
    
    Well, I researched Klingon and Orkian (sp...Mork's language), so I
    could give it a try!
    
    No, seriously, we asked the teacher about the Klingon language and he
    said it wasn't a "made up" language. Of course, that was after I
    already researched it!
    
    patty
    

    All language is "Made Up". :-)
    
    Bright Blessings
    
    PJ

Rather than you do the search, how about places that have access to a
wide list of languages?

1 - Have you contacted one of the translation institutions? Boston 
should have a couple of good ones. 

2 - The other suggestion is an archeological or old linguistics institue of 
some sort. This may be a language from a long time ago

A couple of names of translation institutes: all in (617)

- Berlitz 266-6858
- Boston Language Institue 262-3500
- Inlingua 426-6777
- Intercontinental 492-1476

Give them a call if you haven't

    re.                      <<< Note 1967.9 by CNTROL::PE_PROBE >>>
                                    -< yup >-
    
    
    I don't have the answer, but perhaps my ideas on this problem can help
    to narrow down the search a little?...
      
   > re: .8
    
   > Yes, the spelling is correct.  I made sure to clarify that point 
   > with the teacher!
    
    Am I wrong assuming then that it cannot be any language which is not
    using "ISO-LATIN"? This rules out almost all Asian languages, languages
    with other signs (letters), languages without a "writing language",
    local languages which have been written down by ethnologists using
    latin letters etc..
    
    Conference Pointer:
    Perhaps the people at ROBTOB::""BRAIN_BOGGLERS can help?
    
    Good Luck
    
    Felix

    
    re: .36  Thanks for the numbers!  I did call the boston translation
    services before. They took down the phrase but did not reply.  I'll
    call them back.  The other numbers are new to me, but I'll try them.
    
    re: .37  A lot of those languages have been ruled out. As for 
    languages that are not written, I'd hate to rule that out because
    this could be a trick!! 
    

Hello,
        
    I received the following from an acquaintance in the Netherlands.
    I'll cross-post it in the India notesfile, but in case someone has some
    ideas on it, here goes:
    
  >>As far as my knowledge goes is the
  >>phrase comming from India or Pakistan.
  >>It means desirable/intellectual talk. Like for instance what we
  >>call Oxford English in England or Hoog Nederlands in my own language.
    
    patty

    Patty? Have you heard anything back yet??
    
    Serenity

    
    no, not yet.  He didn't spend much time talking about it in the last
    class because we had an exam.  One student thought she had the right
    answer, but she thought it was Russian or Bolgarian; wrong answers.
    
    So, the search goes on!  I have until the last day of class (Aug 23rd).
    
    patty

    A friend suggests checking the ancient languages, such as Mesopotamia,
    African, South Asian languages.
    
    Check Mayan, Aztec, and some of their ancient languages.  She is from
    Manilla and she has ruled out a Latin-base for this phrase as well as
    her own Mayla-based, because of the Z's in the phrase.
    
    The fact that your instructor is into the historical development of 
    languages and into the intelligence of those cultres makes me think you 
    may want to check into the acient languages belonging to intelligent
    civilizations, such as those found in Babylon.
    
    She just told me (she works in the next cubicle) about a magazine,
    called "Atlantic Magazine," which did an article about the Root of
    Languages.  She can't remember the issue but she said it was sometime
    between 1989 and 1991.  You could go to a library and look it up on
    microfiche.
    
    This is really fascinating.  I noticed you did not check Hawaiin?  What
    about Samoan?  What about Saracen or Templar, or Moorish?  What about
    Saxon or Norse?  Regarding German, there are several dialects.  Could
    it be an ancient form of one?  As for Russian...I noticed you checked
    out Ukranian as well, but there are many other parts of the Russian
    language from the other former Soviet countries.  What about Polynesian
    and/or Cantonese?
    
    Good luck!
    
    A quick side note:  He actually sounds like a German professor I had in
    college...the German language actually had more of an influence on the
    American language of today than most people realize, as much as, if not
    more than Latin.  So I think that was why he made the point in his
    lecture about the French ending up as more of an influence than the
    Germans...
    
    
    Just a thought...
    
    

    Another thought:
    
    Have you called the Library of Congress in our nation's capitol?  If
    the institute in Boston can't help you, maybe a greater source can?
    
    Just another thought.  This is driving the both of us crazy!\
    
    ;)
    
    

    
    Hi!  Thanks for all the new information. I have seven days in which to 
    find this answer.....to think I had 2 months!  
    
    I haven't updated the language list at all, but alot of the ones asked 
    about were checked.  I will put that article mentioned on my list of
    resources.....who knows, it may pan out.  
    
    I just got word from another notesfile that says it is Basque. I will
    also check this out. 
    
    I've gotta run..I'll check back later.  patty
    

RE: .44

Thanks for the update, I was wondering how this
research was faring.

Basque, huh?  Perhaps someone knows someone in SE
France or Northern Spain who has come across this 
langage, or knows someone of this heritage.

    There is a notes file for the french language.
    
    add entry EICMFG::FRENCH
    
    				Good luck...

    Have you considered that ZAZPIAK BAT may be an anagram?
    
    To BAKe A PIZZA
    -  ---  - -----
    Are you sure you have all the letters?  I could use and O and an E. (I
    know I could buy them from Vanna)
    
    Just a little creative thought... tc
    
    
    

ZAZPIAK BAT!

The language is Basque and its literal meaning is "the seven into one".

Zazpi means seven
bat means one

A Zazpiak bat is a shield commonly made of seven layers of leather.
(The seven into one for strength)

Basque is located in Southern France/Northern Spain.
The French consider Basque part of France and the Spanish
consider it part of Spain.  But Basque wants to be its
own identity. They speak three languages, French, Spanish, and
Basque. The Basque language is considered to be made up of French
and Spanish, but it is not!

There are seven "counties" (for lack of a better word)
that make up Basque, and they wish to be considered one.

This information comes from "A Comparitive Study of Basque and Greek 
Vocabulary"  ....I didn't catch the authors name.

The majority of Jai aLai players are from Basque. So....if you ever run
into one, they will be most impressed if you say Zazpiak Bat!

Never yell this in a Spanish airport.

    
    YayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    
    Cindy

    
    No. I was only able to narrow it down to Basque, and that was with
    another person's help over in the ask_easynet file.  When I tried to
    research this information, I was told (by three librarians and two
    language "experts") that there was no way that this could be Basque.
    
    I have a few phone calls to make!
    
    

    I think it is an African dialect.  What is the answer?
    
    Pat