At 11:02 AM -0800 12/28/04, Ronald Stephens wrote: > >1. What languages did the Central Figures speak and write and understand? >For instance, >I know that the Guardian translated some Writings of the earlier Central >Figures into English; >so I suppose He spoke English as well as Persian, Arabic, and possibly >other languages >that he learned at Cambridge? > As Susan has noted, Shoghi Effendi was fluent in French, even considering it better than his English. According to Ruhiyyih Khanum, he also spoke good German. When they went to Switzerland, she has said he often visited in German with visitors in the hotel they stayed at. Tho' they travelled in Italian speaking Switzerland, I have never seen or heard of him speaking Italian.
>What languages were spoken by Abdul Baha, and what language were his books >written in? > Did He speak any English? Did He use any interpreters in His travels? He corresponded in Turkish with members of the constitutional movement in Turkey, so Turkish is a language of Revelation. Very little of this has even provisional translations. He apparently could speak *some* English, but rarely if ever "publicly". I have heard several references to His having made short comments in English to Americans. Also there is some evidence He discussed translations of His talks with translators, such that they appear to have changed the English wording slightly. At 2:32 PM -0500 12/28/04, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Shoghi Effendi was trained in Arabic and Persian, Turkic, English and >French, attending western > schools in the Holy Land and eventually attending the best universities >in England. I had not heard of Shoghi Effendi speaking or writing in Turkic. Do you have a reference? Don C He who believes himself spiritual proves he is not. __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:archive@mail-archive.com To unsubscribe, send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, use subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu Web - http://list.jccc.edu/read/?forum=bahai-st News - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Public - http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu
