The tower of Babel

[Lhunithiliel]

It's just for fun! :D
Something like a "trivia"-thread, where we put forward a phrase or a hole sentence and everyone is welcome to write its translation in their native language.

Don't forget to write the transcription in the "common tongue" (English) so that we can learn how to pronounce it ;)

You may also boast with translating it into quenya, Sindarin, Latin, ancient Greek etc. !!!!
******

So, how do you say

HELLO, MY FRIENDS !

In Bulgarian it is:

Zdraveite priyateli !

(Read as you see it. Cyrillic alphabet I guess will not show on the board, so I had to write it with latin letters)

[Anamatar IV]

Hola, mi amigo.;)

My native tongue is English so that pretty much counts me out;)

[Finduilas]

OK:

We are the world's greatest!

Nie sme nai-gotinite na sveta !

Or

I love you !

O*****am te !

Cool!I adore this thread!:p

[Húrin Thalion]

Hello, my friends.

Hallå mina vänner or: Hallå, vänner!

I love you: Jag älskar dig.

We are the world's greatest: Vi är bäst i världen (lit. We are the best in the world).

Many dots and circles huh?

I like to read Tolkien's books.

Jag tycker om (gillar) att läsa Tolkiens böcker.

[note that we have very few apostrophes, ', not in possesive form]

Húrin Thalion

[Finduilas]

How about this one?

Obojavam te!

I adore you!

O*****am te s cialoto si sarce!

I love you from the bottom of my heart!

Iskam da prekaram celiya si jivot s teb!

I want to spend my entire life with you!

:rolleyes: :cool:

[gate7ole]

What is this Bulgary-Sweden monopoly?
Here's some Greek:

Hello my friends:
Yia sas fili mu

I like to read Tolkien's books:
Mu aresi na thiavazo vivlia tu Tolkien

We are the world's greatest:
Imaste i kaliteri tu kosmu

[Lhunithiliel]

All right, Hurin and gate7ole :D

BUT HOW DO WE READ ????????

Please, always write down the transcription or some indication how the line is to be read. (as in the case of Bulgarian - you read what you see). It'd be fun to read it aloud and hear MYSELF talking Swedish and Greek :D :D

[gate7ole]

Well, Greek is a more “clean” language than English in the matter of pronunciation. It is like Latin (or Quenya if you prefer), where you almost read what you see, without any accents. I changed some letters from the Greek sentences of my previous post and now they are pronounced as seen!

[Lhunithiliel]

Originally posted by gate7ole
What is this Bulgary-Sweden monopoly?
Here's some Greek:

Hello my friends:
Yia sas fili mu

I like to read Tolkien's books:
Mu aresi na thiavazo vivlia tu Tolkien

We are the world's greatest:
Imaste i kaliteri tu kosmu
:D Ha! You should hear me talking Greek! It sounds great! And it's not that I have never heard Greek! We are neighbours and I love your music.... But ME- speaking Greek aloud... :D

As for the highlighted word... does it stand for "world" or for "greatest"......... fili mu ;)?

[gate7ole]

A lesson for the Greek language:
“kosmu” ~ world.
Actually it is a form of the noun “kosmos” ~ world, getting another ending to indicate a meaning “of the world”.
But you should know that. I’ll just remind you: Cosmology, cosmogony. The root is of course the greek word “kosmos”.

[Lhunithiliel]

I knew it! I was just checking :rolleyes:
Thanks anyway! :)

[Húrin Thalion]

Okay, Swedish is, very, very clean. About the Greek pronounciation I don't think that clearity can help me, your letter sound different from mine. E is in Swedish é (French), but can also be two others. Otherwise Swedish is very straight and clean, wording konsonants clearly and avoiding many too many vovels together, mcuh like quenya.I can soon post a history of Swedish here, it's family and relationship to other languages. If you look to the south west in Gondor, you cna see an are called langstrand which is a composition of the Swedish words Lång and strand which is long beach(coast in this case). And in a letter abouth the Swedish translations Tolkien uses some Swedish words without difficulty and says not too nice things about Åke Ohlm,arks, the translator. I don't like him either.

Húrin Thalion

[Eöl]

How about this in Spanish? "We eat pork rinds, fruit and soda for dinner."
Nosotros comemos chicharrones, fruta y refrescos para la cena.
Pronunciation should read like this:
No-so-trose ko-may-mos chee-cha-rr(roll the r's)-onays, froota, ee ree-fres-cose para la sayna. Pronunciation is going by English grammar rules. BTW, great thread idea Lhun!

[Lhunithiliel]

Got ya!!!!
Yo hablo Espanol !!! :p

But here it is in Bulgarian :

Nie vecheryame pruzhki, plodove i bezalkoholno. :D

Have you written the sentence in dinner time? ;)
BTW, where are you from?
********

New stuff:

How d'yo say in your languages:

Let's make the TTF-convention in Bulgaria!

In Bulgarian:

"Haide da napravim TTF-sreshtata v Bulgaria!" :D

[Eöl]

Hmmmm.....something else....*thinks hard* Oh!
The cats like to go to the library but the dogs like to rest.
Los gatos le gusta van a la biblioteca poco los perros le gusta descansar.
Los gah-toes lay goosta vahn a la bibli-oh-tayca poh-coh lohs perros(roll your r's) lay goosta des-cahn-sahr.


BTW, Lhun, I'm from Minnesota, but I'm taking Spanish so I just know a little bit.

[Lhunithiliel]

Originally posted by Celebrien
Hmmmm.....something else....*thinks hard* Oh!
The cats like to go to the library but the dogs like to rest.
Los gatos le gusta van a la biblioteca poco los perros le gusta descansar.
Los gah-toes lay goosta vahn a la bibli-oh-tayca poh-coh lohs perros(roll your r's) lay goosta des-cahn-sahr.


BTW, Lhun, I'm from Minnesota, but I'm taking Spanish so I just know a little bit.
I see, now, because I've found a mistake :p
It not :"Los gatos .... (as is your sentence)
BUT: " Los gatos qisiera ir a la biblioteca pero los perros le gusta descanzar" :D

*****
However, I'd like to say that the "game" is that one person gives a word or a sentence
1/ in English
2/ translates it into her/his native language OR another
3/ translates the previously suggested sentence by another player.... So, a sentence in English shall get a few translations...

[Finduilas]

Let's make the TTF-convention in Bulgaria!

Haide da napravim TTF-sreshtata v Bulgaria!;) :p

The cats like to go to the library but the dogs like to rest.

Kotkite obichat da hodiat v bibliotekata ,no kuchetata obichat da si pochivat.

[Gil-Galad]

ok,here is what I'll write:

Petak vecher e,neka de se napiem!
it means:
It is Friday night,lets get drunk!!!!

[Gil-Galad]

.....and something else:
Momcheta imam si nova snimka,blagodarenie na Nym i Ithrynluin.
it means:
Guys I have a new avatar,thanks to Nym and Ithyrnluin. :) ;) :p :cool:

[Melian]

OK,here's another in Bulgarian:

I like ice-cream!

Obicham sladoled!:D

[gate7ole]

Let's make the TTF-convention in Greece!

As kanume to TTF sinedrio stin Elatha.
(Elatha means of course Greece. The “th” is pronouncing as in “this”).


It is Saturday night let’s get drunk.

Ine Savatovratho, as yinoume tifla.
(actually I use a greek idiom for getting drunk, which can be translated: “become blind”!)

[Finduilas]

Let's make the TTF-convention in Greece!

Let's make the TTF-convention in Bulgaria!:D

It is Saturday night let’s get drunk.

Sabota vecher e ,haide da se napiem(natriaskame).

And another one:

Kucheto mi ima rojden den dnes.

My dog has a birthday today.:D :p

[Hirila]

"Let's make the TTF-convention in Germany!"

"Lasst uns die TTF-Convention in Deutschland machen!"
Pronounce it: ["Last (short a) oons dee ... in doychland machn" (the -ch- like in Scottish loch)] The -a- are long and clear, like in mother.

(We use many anglisms in German, there is no proper word. "Versammlung" oder "Kongress=congress" would be the best, but it doesn't have the whole meaning of convention.)

"Hello, I like ice-cream"

"Hallo, Ich mag Eiscreme"

There isn't much to say about that sentence. Pronounce it as it stands there (even if you speak English). It won't be too wrong. Only remember the -a-!

[gilgalad]

irish is one of the coolest languages in the real world. here's a few phrases. if anyone wants anymore translations just ask. please note that irish isnt the spoken language in Ireland (alas) so i might make a few small mistakes.

Dia dhuit- Hello (literally god be with you)
Conas ata tu - how are you
Slan abhaile - Goodbye (safe home literally)
Is maith liom hobbits - I like hobbits!
A scolaire dhil - Diligent student (a greeting -maybe ill use it to start my posts)
mo chara - my friend
Ni maith liom an teanga bearla - (i dont like the english language -its true i dont)
Nollag shona - happy christmas

Slan abhaile
yours without wax
gilgalad

[Finduilas]

OK,I know here is not the place but will someone tell me in a post something more about this convention and if there is even a slight possibility that it will take place in Bulgaria.:rolleyes:

[Hirila]

For everyone interested in the Convention: take a look at this thread.
TTF-Convention (http://www.thetolkienforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8937&perpage=15&pagenumber=1)
It is rather long by now.

And, sorry Finduilas, there is a possibility of about 0 that it's to take place in Bulgaria. Perhaps there will be two conventions: One in the US, one in the UK.

[Lhunithiliel]

gilgalad, what do I see?!!!!!!:confused:
Irish language!!!!
It looks so..... strange! I have never before set my eyes on this language!
Thank you for participating here! It's so interesting to see Irish! So new to me! :)

Now, your sentences >>>> into Bulgarian.
Dia dhuit- Hello (literally god be with you) = Íåêà Áîã òå ïàçè!=[neka bog te pazi!]
Conas ata tu - how are you = Êàê ñè?[ [kak si ]
Slan abhaile - Goodbye (safe home literally)= Äîâèæäàíå = [dovizhdane]
Is maith liom hobbits - I like hobbits!= Àç õàðåñâàì õîáèòèòå. = [az haresvam hobitite]
A scolaire dhil - Diligent student (a greeting -maybe ill use it to start my posts)= ñòàðàòåëåí ó÷åíèê = [staratelen uchenik]
mo chara - my friend = ìîé ïðèÿòåë = [moi priyatel]
Ni maith liom an teanga bearla - (i dont like the english language -its true i dont) = Îáà÷å àç - ÄÀ! [obache az DA!] = I do!
Nollag shona - happy christmas = Âåñåëà Êîëåäà! = [vesela koleda!]

NOTE!!!!! - To see the letters in cyrillic, please call this option from the menu on the top bar "View"
******

Findi, my dear, unfortunately the TTF convention IF ever takes place it won't be here on the sunny coasts of our beautiful country! :( They lose! :p

[Finduilas]

And, sorry Finduilas, there is a possibility of about 0 that it's to take place in Bulgaria. Perhaps there will be two conventions: One in the US, one in the UK.

Findi, my dear, unfortunately the TTF convention IF ever takes place it won't be here on the sunny coasts of our beautiful country! They lose!

Oh, hope dies last!:(
Anyway, while they are freezing in England during the summer we will be bathing in the sun!!! I definetely agree with you Lhun!!!:D

[gilgalad]

A Scoláire Dhil, Lhun,
Perhaps Irish looks strange because I didn't know how to include accents (called a fada), I have since discovered the keyboard process needed and will hence rewite the list. Hopefully it won't seem so strange when the accents are there to give you an idea of pronounciation. Note that where you see a "fada" the vowel over which it appears is stretched. You might like to know that bulgarian looked pretty strange to me :D , you people use accents i've never even seen before!!!
Here goes(note é is prounounced as "A")

Dia Dhuit(pronounce "guit") - Hello
Conas atá tú- How are you
Tá mé go maith(prounounce ma), buÃ_chas le Dia - I'm well, thnks be to God
Slán abhaile - Goodbye
Mo chara - My friend
Go raibh maith agat - Thank you
Gabh mo leiscéil - Excuse me

[Lhunithiliel]

But please!!!!! give some transcription ...better of the whole phrase! I'd like to pronounce it out loud to hear the sound of Irish language!
Irish!!! Could you tell me more about it?

Oh, and our alphabet id cyrillic....but perhaps you know that. :D

[gilgalad]

A scolaire Dhil,
im sorry but your last post didnt make much sense to me Lhun. I dont know what cyrillic is or a transcription. If you explain them to me i might be able to help you out. Also, how is it that my fadas didnt come out right?
Your accents were perfect, i'm jealous!!!!!!!

Yours without wax
gilgalad

[Lhunithiliel]

Cyrillic is the name of our alphabet. Some of the letters we use look exactly as in the latin alphabet, others - are completely different. .... The history is too long to tell you now.
But you may SEE how it looks like when you read my NOTE a few posts down .
Anyway, in my language, I use other letters to write the words.

Transcription - in [...] - brackets, please write in some way how to exactly PRONOUNCE the written word.
Ex: "sword" = [sood]


BTW, what is : "A scolaire Dhil, " ?
"

[Melian]

Roll up and beware, I shall demonstrate my modest knowledge of the German language.It's the beginning of a fairy tale:

Ein Esel,eine Katze,ein Hund und ein Hahn verlieren ihre Herren und wollten im Bremen Stadtmusikanten werden. Sie gingen froh durch den Wald, sangen und lachteten laut. Aber wurde es bald dunkel.....

Translation:
A donkey, a cat, a dog and a hen left their masters and wanted to become townmusicians in Bremen.They went merrily through the woods,sang und laughed loud. But soon daskness came....

[gilgalad]

A scolaire dhil,
this means "diligent student" and is a type of greeting, like esteemed guests or some such thing.
As for prounounciation:
scolaire [skull-aura]
dhil [yeel]

Dh is one of the odd prounounciations, varying depending on the word, this is its prounounciation in this context to the best of my knowledge, but beware that im not even in college yet so that same knowledge could be slightly flawed.
Are those brackets what you meant??

Yours without wax
gilgalad

[Morgoth]

I know it's about a month late, but if you're ever in Poland at Christmas, i'm pretty sure that Merry Christmas is 'Svienty Mikolai', pronounced swee-en-tee mik-lowe. My grandfather taught me that, what with him being Polish and all

[Lhunithiliel]

Originally posted by gilgalad
A scolaire dhil,
this means "diligent student" and is a type of greeting, like esteemed guests or some such thing.
As for prounounciation:
scolaire [skull-aura]
dhil [yeel]

Dh is one of the odd prounounciations, varying depending on the word, this is its prounounciation in this context to the best of my knowledge, but beware that im not even in college yet so that same knowledge could be slightly flawed.
Are those brackets what you meant??

Yours without wax
gilgalad
Oh, it is so nice to HEAR me TALKING Irish! :D
It sounds so much ....like a song.... I like it and I like how i sound when I pronounce it loud! :D
Yes, the thing in the brackets is what I needed in order to "speak" what I see written...

And ×ÅÑÒÈÒÀ ÊÎËÅÄÀ ! [chestita koleda] = (Merry Christmas!) to you, mighty Vala! :D

Note: As I've already mentioned before, in order to see the cyrillic letters of the alphabet we are using, use the View-Text encoding - option from the top task bar.

[Walter]

Ein Esel, eine Katze, ein Hund und ein Hahn verliessen ihre Herren und wollten in Bremen Stadtmusikanten werden. Sie gingen froh durch den Wald, sangen und lachten laut. Aber es wurde bald dunkel.....

[Lhunithiliel]

Und dann??

[Walter]

Originally posted by Lhunithiliel
Und dann?? See - that's what I get for nitpicking on Melians typos, now I'm supposed to tell the whole story... ;)

Nay....I won't... only so much I'll tell you: There's some thrill and action in between, but finally it goes like: "...and they lived happily ever after (in the house of the villains).


Curious now? All this and more can be found in the next episode of: "Grimm's fairy soap" (or here (http://german.about.com/library/bllesen07_intro.htm))

[gilgalad]

A scolaire dhil,

Is ait an-bhrea[vrah] ar fad e[A] sin. Is maith liom mo theanga[heanga] naisiunta[nah-shoon-ta] a phle[fleh] le daoini[deenee] iasachta[ees-ak-ta].

This is a great place. I like discussing my national language with foreign people.

Yours Without Wax
Do Chara(your friend)
gilgalad

[FoolOfATook]

Walter- you have no idea how glad I am that I was able to read your post. I guess that I have forgotten far less German than I feared. ;)

[Elfarmari]

Could you guys check out this thread? (http://www.thetolkienforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9369)

[Walter]

Originally posted by FoolOfATook
Walter- you have no idea how glad I am that I was able to read your post. I guess that I have forgotten far less German than I feared. ;) Glad I could help,...ermm...Peregrin :)

[Lhunithiliel]

Oh, gilgalad, Irish is pure music!
I enjoy so much pronouncing out loud the words... :D!
****
And Walter, have mercy! How am I going to sleep tonight? No bed-time story? :p

[Walter]

Originally posted by Lhunithiliel
Oh, gilgalad, Irish is pure music!
I enjoy so much pronouncing out loud the words... :D!
****
And Walter, have mercy! How am I going to sleep tonight? No bed-time story? :p *Goes and gets his copy of Grimm's fairy-tales*
What about "The devil with the 3 golden hairs"?

[Lhunithiliel]

***already in her pyjamas and yawning in front of the monitor***
"Please, make the devil nice! Well????? I'm listening!"

[Walter]

Der Teufel mit den drei goldenen Haaren

Es war einmal eine arme Frau, die gebar ein Söhnlein, und weil es eine Glückshaut umhatte, als es zur Welt kam, so ward ihm geweissagt, es werde im vierzehnten Jahr die Tochter des Königs zur Frau haben. Es trug sich zu, daß der König bald darauf ins Dorf kam, und niemand wußte, daß es der König war, und als er die Leute fragte, was es Neues gäbe, so antworteten sie 'es ist in diesen Tagen ein Kind mit einer Glückshaut geboren: was so einer unternimmt, das schlägt ihm zum Glück aus. Es ist ihm auch vorausgesagt, in seinem vierzehnten Jahre solle er die Tochter des Königs zur Frau haben.' Der König, der ein böses Herz hatte und über die Weissagung sich ärgerte, ging zu den Eltern, tat ganz freundlich und sagte 'ihr armen Leute, überlaßt mir euer Kind, ich will es versorgen.' Anfangs weigerten sie sich, da aber der fremde Mann schweres Gold dafür bot und sie dachten 'es ist ein Glückskind, es muß doch zu seinem Besten ausschlagen,' so willigten sie endlich ein und gaben ihm das Kind.

*watches Lhun fall asleep*

I guess we'll go on tomorrow... ;)

[Lhunithiliel]

ASLEEP?!!!???!!!!!!

Not fair! Now I shall have to take out the dictionaries...and make coffee (want some? ;) ) and sit down and translate...
Why! Oh! Why didn't I study German better at university?!
***"flip-flop...goes Lhun in her slippers to make coffee...***

[Walter]

ZzzZZZZ

What say?.... Aaaahh - let me know when you're done (that's the first paragraph out of 26 or so...) .... ZzzzzZZZZ ;)

[Lhunithiliel]

What is zzzzzz?
Are you sleeping?

[Lhunithiliel]

HELP! HELP!
Isn't anybody going to help me translate this tale?
I have already had two sleepless nights trying to read and understand it! And it was supposed to be a bed-time story!

:p

[Melian]

Sorry, i can't be of much help either.
I can only make out that:

Once upon a time, there was a poor woman...(Oh,how special!)


And,yes, Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten is a great tale!

[gate7ole]

Sorry, I don't know any German at all.
But here's some Greek sentences to cheer you up.

O ilios labi kai kani poli zesti
The sun is shining and it is hot

As pame gia ena banaki se kamia paralia
Let's go for swim at a beach


Yes, I know the summer is still far, but... it's February. Only 4 months!

[Lhunithiliel]

O ilios labi kai kani poli zesti
The sun is shining and it is hot
Bulgarian: Ñëúíöåòî ãðåå è å ãîðåùî.
[slantseto gree i e goreshto]

As pame gia ena banaki se kamia paralia
Let's go for swim at a beach
Bulgarian: Õàéäå íà ïëàæ!
[haide na plazh]

:D :D :D

Gate, I SOUND like a real Greek!!!!!!

[Walter]

Yes, that definitely sounds "Greek" to me. :p

(German: Ja, das kommt mir wirklich (definitiv) spanisch vor.)

Funnily the german proverb uses "Spanish" instead of "Greek")

More:

German: "Jemandem ein Loch in den Bauch reden"
Word by word transl: "Someone a hole in the stomach (belly) talk"
English: "To talk ones head off"

German: 08/15
English: "Run of the mill"

[Maneriniel Took]

Lhun, I'm here :)

And, Gentlemen, let me some time to enter the "wave"

[gilgalad]

A scolaire dhil,

Ta[taw] an ghrian[gree-an] ag taitneamh[tan-of] agus ta[taw] se[shay] te - The sun in shining and it is hot ( in ireland?you must be joking!)

Taimid[taw-meed] ag dul go dti[dee] an tra[traw] chun[kun] dul ag snamh[snawv] - We are going to the beach to go for a swim

Yours without wax
do chara
gilgalad

[Maneriniel Took]

(QUOTE]
"Lhun, I'm here
And, Gentlemen, let me some time to enter the "wave""

-----------
Hmmm....... Did I say that? (scratching head)
-----------
Bon jour!(French)
Hello! (English) :D Bet you all knew that!

Ah, I know I just said that.

I am thrilled to be able to post on this Forum. Thanks to Lhun to find a way to get around my previous problem.

I am not sure that I can keep up with all of you who seem to be very excellent with multi languages. Would you believe French was the only language I could speak till I was five? You would never know that today. So be easy on me, all!! Please.....
:p

[gilgalad]

A few more Irish phrases:

Ta[taw] athas[aw-hus] orm[urum] - Im happy
Ta bron[brOn] orm - Im sad
Ta fearg[far-ag] orm - im angry
taim[taw-im] tuirseach[tur-shock] - Im tired
Ta ocras[uck-ras] orm - im hungry

Na rudai[rud-ee] beaga[beug-a] go leir[lair] - All the small things (im listening to blink182!!!)

[Beleg]

Salam=Hello

is guild may maza a raha hay=(word to word) The Guild in enjoyble

chalo maza lo=Lets have fun.

Seems that i have to take French lessons:p

[Lhunithiliel]

That sounded Arabic.......?????:rolleyes: :confused:

Salam=Hello = Zdrasti!

is guild may maza a raha hay=(word to word) The Guild in enjoyble= Guildiyata e vurha!

chalo maza lo=Lets have fun.= Haide da se zabavlyavame!

:D :D :D

Tazi zima mi omruzna! = I'm sick and tired of this winter!

Iskam lyato i more! = I want summer and sea!

[Maneriniel Took]

I am tired of the winter and I am looking forward to summer and the sea, to see what I can see!

Je suis fatigué de l'hiver et je regarde en avant à l'été et la mer, pour voir que je peux voir!



Does anyone know Arabic?

Sait-quelqu'un l'Arabe? :)

[Finduilas]

Hehehehehe....

Sestra mi spi v moeto leglo!
My sister is sleeping in my bed!:p

[Beleg]

My tutor tried to teach me Arabic but i guess i have the same apitude for arabic as i have for Quenya.:rolleyes:

That was actually Urdu.

yay larki bari khubsurat hay=the lady is beautiful.

tolken zabardast tha=Tolkien was great

chabal?=Dork?

turin mera badsha= (literally) Turin my emperor but meant as (Am Follower of Tùrin) Ah and Lhun what Language was that?;) :cool:

[Lhunithiliel]

You mean this one?:
Çäðañòè!
(to see, pls. change to Cyrillic at the Encoding option up there from "View"-menu on the top task-bar.
:D :D

It's Bulgarian! Don't you know I'm from Bulgaria?
Just as Finduilas, Melian and Gil-Galad :) :D

[Beleg]

Offcourse I know you're from Bulgaria. But truth be told, the Bulgarian language seems a whole lot like German to me.
Pardon me for Dumbness. But i am as easy with languages as Sam with boats. :p

[Lhunithiliel]

Originally posted by Beleg_strongbow
Offcourse I know you're from Bulgaria. But truth be told, the Bulgarian language seems a whole lot like German to me.
Pardon me for Dumbness. But i am as easy with languages as Sam with boats. :p
Well, this was refreshing! :D :D :D

Bulgarian - similar to German? !!!!

Hirila, Walter, heard this? :D

The best thing about this thread, apart from having fun of course, its whole purpose and idea is precisely about this - to understand how people from diferent countries express themselves and how different languages look and sound...

Beleg, this urdu - language - is it Arabic, too?

[Beleg]

Beleg, this urdu - language - is it Arabic, too?

Well you can call it. But basically its an alteration of Persian and Old Sinsikrat. It's mostly a spoken language though a lot of litrature has been conceived in it. Bout 50 Million people speak Urdu Or Variations of Urdu. ;)


to understand how people from diferent countries express themselves and how different languages look and sound...

I can understand all to well. I did some research on Bulgarian last night. Haven't acquired much yet, but Google seems to contain Millions of Pages on it. What are its basics and Origins and Such? And in which countries is it Spoken?

*Spanks Himself*

[Walter]

Originally posted by Lhunithiliel
Bulgarian - similar to German? !!!!

Hirila, Walter, heard this? :D No, but I saw it :P

Actually Bulgarian rather reminds me - faintly - of the other slawic languages I've heard some (Croatian, Slovenian but also a tad Romanian) than of German...

[Hirila]

Well, in fact if you go back to the indo-germanic roots of most European languages you find similarities between all of them. You'll even find similarities between the germanic, slawic and Indian. The only exception would be Finnish, Hungarian and these languages.

[Lhunithiliel]

Originally posted by Beleg_strongbow
I did some research on Bulgarian last night. Haven't acquired much yet, but Google seems to contain Millions of Pages on it. What are its basics and Origins and Such? And in which countries is it Spoken?

*Spanks Himself*
Well, that's so sweet!
Are you in fact asking me about the origin of our language?
I can OF COURSE tell you :D, but this means I'll have to write a whole lecture!
In fact, what Hirila said is quite true.

And Walter... Romanian????? Nooooo!
I have grown up at the border with Romania. I know their language. It's more like the Italian and almost nothing with ours...
But anyway

Ïîçäðàâè íà âñè÷êè!

[Finduilas]

Îáè÷àì øîïñêàòà ñàëàòà
ìàñòèêà ëåäåíà äà ïèÿ
âúëíèòå ìîðñêè äà ìå ãàëÿò....

Hehehehe, Lhun, my sister likes this stupid song and is listening to it now:(

[Walter]

Originally posted by Hirila
Well, in fact if you go back to the indo-germanic roots of most European languages you find similarities between all of them. You'll even find similarities between the germanic, slawic and Indian. The only exception would be Finnish, Hungarian and these languages. Well of course they have the same indogermanic roots, but old Bulgarian (as the Slawic languages) belongs to the Satem-group whereas Germanic (like Greek and Latin) is counted among the Kentum-group.Originally posted by Lhunithiliel
And Walter... Romanian????? Nooooo!
I have grown up at the border with Romania. I know their language. It's more like the Italian and almost nothing with ours...
But anyway Even though my father has Romanian roots I missed to learn the language in my youth :( But from what I gathered it's not at all like Italian, to me it sounded rather like a slawic language, but of course I may be wrong.

[e.g. I don't understand=jeou nu unzeleg(Rom.; sp?)=Non capisco(Ital.)=ne razumijem(Cro.)]

That's about the only Romanian sentence I seem to recall ;)

[Lhunithiliel]

Walt, I would not claim profound knowledge in Romanian history, but at least here we were taught that that territory used to be inhabitted by ancient tribes, who when the Romans came to those lands lost their language and started speaking the language of the conquerers. From that time on the language spoken in Romania and Moldova and even in the North-West of Bulgaria (where I was born) is this of the ancient Romans. O f course, I suppose that the native language of the Dacian tribes had left some traces but Romanian resembles strikingly the so called Roman languages (Italian, Spanish, French...)

Although I was born and grew up at the border with Romania and although about 80% of the population of that Nort-West area of my country is inhabitted by people speaking some form of Romanian (those were Romanians that had fled from some cruel events in the times of the Turkish presence in these parts of Europe)...I don't speak the language. I have heard it though! My sister in law is from that people!
As I speak Spanish, sometimes we have compared words and/or whole sentences with her and the resemblance is amazing!

Besides, it is considered here that Romania is under the "protection" of Italy, Spain and Italy for the matters of EU.
Why do you think this is so? ;)

Oh! I'm sorry for this "lecture"! Perhaps you know all that! :o
********

Now, Findi, let's continue the song:
"I da sviri grutskata muzika"! :D :D

[Melian]

I don't want to shock you, but I have some skills with genuine Egyptian hieroglyphs!Indeed, I'm not joking, I can write your names and I know a basic of some useful image-words. Alas, I can't show-off properly due to some obstacles in the nature of keyboard transcriptions!:)

----------------------
Lhun,Fin, you scare me!
Shopskata salata,a? I tunka chalga, i Milko Kalaidzhiev...Oh,mamo!

[Lhunithiliel]

This "lingua" - thread calls attention ;)

I am asking: does anybody know how exactly the common language of ME looked like in writing and sounded?

Let's say, a simple "Hello!"

And to the Quenya-students:
We would be delighted if you show us what you have learned!
Try to translate some of the things posted here.
It would be fun! :)

[Hirila]

Didn't Tolkien state somewhere that the common language was English? Or a early form of English?
Could be, I mean, as all his stories where meant as a mythology for England.
Then again it could be he only said that the Common Language was best represented by English. I can't remember where I've read this.

[Walter]

Westron was a successor of Adûnaic, the language of the Edain, mixed with words of other mannish tongues and enriched with Quenya and Sindarin words.
Jim Allen in ''An__Introduction__to__Elvish'' says about Westron: In his writings on the ThirdAge of Middle-earth Tolkien has generally represented Westron, the predominant tongue for the whole region west of the Sea__of__Rhûn and north of Harad., by English. Other tongues related to Westron, and names in these tongues, he has represened by other languages from the Germanic family related to English. Thus, the Northmen of east Rhovanion are given Gothic names, the Rohirrim speak Old English and have names in the same tongue, the outer Mannish names of the Dwarves are of Old Norse formation (''well of course, since he had borrowed them mostly from the Edda -- Walter'') and the long personal names of certain upper class Hobbit families are early medieval names of Germanic origin.

This process of translation of languages of the ThirdAge to those of our own age or the comparatively recent past means that the published corpus contains little data on these original tongues.
And Helge Fauskanger on his website Ardalambion says:We know very little about Westron, for the simple reason that Tolkien has rendered it into English almost everywhere! A few words of genuine Westron are given in Appendix F to LotR and (relatively) many more in The Peoples of Middle-earth. Tolkien even translated the names of the Hobbits. There were never any hobbits called Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Merry; their real names were Maura, Ban, Razar and Kali. The word hobbit itself is just a rendering of the actual Third Age word kuduk (derived from Old English holbytla "hole-dweller" the way kuduk is believed to descend from archaic kûd-dûkan of this meaning, the form kûd-dûkan still being preserved in Rohirric). Maura ("Frodo") and his friends would not have known the word "hobbit" as such; they said kuduk.The - relatively small - existing corpus of the language is given in detail on his website.

----
P.S.: I haven't found "Hello" there :( ;) :D

[gilgalad]

I know the topic of this thread has moved off peoples native languages by now, but i just thought i'd give you guys a great example of the mindset of the Irish. Can you believe this translation???

Whiskey - Uisce Beatha - The Water of Life!

Why did God invent whiskey?
Clearly so the Irish wouldn't rule the world!

[Walter]

Originally posted by gilgalad
I know the topic of this thread has moved off peoples native languages by now, but i just thought i'd give you guys a great example of the mindset of the Irish. Can you believe this translation???

Whiskey - Uisce Beatha - The Water of Life!

Why did God invent whiskey?
Clearly so the Irish wouldn't rule the world! Not all that uncommon, see also: Aquavit, eau-de-vie...

Unfortunately I haven't yet been able to find out whether Irish Whiskeys are actually that good. So, for the moment I'll stick to the Water of Life from your neighbors, mainly those from Islay... ;)

[Lhunithiliel]

As I stick to plain water ;) :D , I sometimes get "visited" by some thoughts...:rolleyes:

Do you think that the "Tower of Babel"- thread members would like to help me (and I am sure many others, too!) to most correctly pronounce the names of Tolkien characters and places and events....

And gilgalad, when are you going to post some of that marvelous "music" called Irish language? :)

[Finduilas]

I was wondering of someone could help me. I want to find out how 'I love you' is said in different langauges. I know it in a lot of them but unfortunately, I don't know how they are written. So, any help will be accepted.:)

[gilgalad]

Originally posted by Lhunithiliel

And gilgalad, when are you going to post some of that marvelous "music" called Irish language? :)

What do you want me to say?

Finduilas, I love you is not something directly translatable. Here are a few options:

Ta [taw] me [may] i ngra [nraw] leat [lat] - I'm in love with you
Ta gra [graw] agam [agum] duit[dit] - I have love for you ( I suppose that would be the closest)

[Finduilas]

Originally posted by gilgalad
What do you want me to say?

Finduilas, I love you is not something directly translatable. Here are a few options:

Ta [taw] me [may] i ngra [nraw] leat [lat] - I'm in love with you
Ta gra [graw] agam [agum] duit[dit] - I have love for you ( I suppose that would be the closest)

Yes, I suppose that's in Quenya. Thanks very much. However, I'd like to find out how it is written in other 'real' languages as well. Like German ( I don't know the spelling), French, etc.

[gilgalad]

Originally posted by Finduilas
Yes, I suppose that's in Quenya. Thanks very much. However, I'd like to find out how it is written in other 'real' languages as well. Like German ( I don't know the spelling), French, etc.

No. Sorry for being unclear, that's actually the Irish translation.:D
Someone will undoubtedly correct me if i'm wrong but i'm fairly sure that the French is "Je t'adore".

[gilgalad]

Does Irish actually look like Quenya??? I wouldn't know as I haven't started to study it yet, but if that's the case then it's pretty cool!

[Finduilas]

Originally posted by gilgalad
No. Sorry for being unclear, that's actually the Irish translation.:D
Someone will undoubtedly correct me if i'm wrong but i'm fairly sure that the French is "Je t'adore".

Lol, I'm really sorry. Actually, it looks very nice.:)
I haven't started learning it yet as well but it really sounded like Quenya to me.;) Probably, I'll be now attacked by one of the Quenya students;)

[gilgalad]

I think it's kinda cool that simeone would mistake Irish for Quenya. 1 up for the Paddys!!!

[Lhunithiliel]

Well, gilgalad, even if I have thought of something to "hear" in Irish, Finduilas has suggested the BEST topic ever - LOVE! ;) :D

What more beautiful words could be ever spoken than those about love?!

So, keep on in Irish!
God! I LOVE how this language sounds!

Findi,

1/Îáè÷àì òå! [obicham te!] (strange it seems a woman saying it to another woman.... girl... But I still love you, my young friend! :D)

2/ Te amo/quiero [te amo/kiero] - Spanish = I love you

3/ Te adoro - (read as you see) - Spanish for "I adore you"

4/ Volim te! (read as you see) = Serbian for "I love you"

5/ ß òåáÿ ëþáëþ! [ya tebya ljublju] - Russian

:D

[Finduilas]

Originally posted by Lhunithiliel
Well, gilgalad, even if I have thought of something to "hear" in Irish, Finduilas has suggested the BEST topic ever - LOVE! ;) :D

What more beautiful words could be ever spoken than those about love?!

So, keep on in Irish!
God! I LOVE how this language sounds!

Findi,

1/Îáè÷àì òå! [obicham te!] (strange it seems a woman saying it to another woman.... girl... But I still love you, my young friend! :D)

2/ Te amo/quiero [te amo/kiero] - Spanish = I love you

3/ Te adoro - (read as you see) - Spanish for "I adore you"

4/ Volim te! (read as you see) = Serbian for "I love you"

5/ ß òåáÿ ëþáëþ! [ya tebya ljublju] - Russian

:D

Thanks a lot, Lhun. However, I should be proud of myself that I know how it is said( and written) in Bulgarian.;)
Lhun, you know I love you too, don't you?:)

[Walter]

Ich liebe Dich (German)

Ti amo (Italian)

Je t'aime (French)

[Walter]

dû bist mîn, ich bin dîn:
des solt dû gewis sîn.
dû bist beslozzen
in mînem herzen,
verlorn ist da slüzzelîn:
dû muost immer drinne sîn.

(medieval german love poem)

You are mine, I am yours:
this you can be sure
you are enclosed
in my heart,
lost is the key:
ever within you have to be.

(poorly translated, but you get the picture...)

[Lhunithiliel]

I bet you have won your beloved with this ;) :D

[Walter]

Originally posted by Lhunithiliel
I bet you have won your beloved with this ;) :D Actually it was her who told me this poem, some 27 years ago...

[gilgalad]

Walter, I'd be interested to know what your signiture means.
Lhun, thought of anything for me to say yet? It's kind of hard just to pull things out of the air without any prompting!

[Lhunithiliel]

you said it - anything!
See what lovely topic we are having now?!

You may also give us some of those beautiful Irish lyrics
You have wonderful songs!

[Lhunithiliel]

Originally posted by Walter
Actually it was her who told me this poem, some 27 years ago...
You never take the initiative, do you! ;) :D

[Walter]

Lhun, of course I do. My beloved girlfriend back then (which is now my beloved wife) told me this poem AFTER I had .... ummm ... put my spell on her (which still seems to work pretty well) ;)

----

gilgalad: "scio me nihil scire" (Latin): "Little do I know..." - (literally: scio...I know; me...me; nihil...nothing; scire... knowing: "I know that I know nothing"), a sentence Socrates is said to have said at times...

[Lhunithiliel]

Originally posted by Walter
Lhun, of course I do. My beloved girlfriend back then (which is now my beloved wife) told me this poem AFTER I had .... ummm ... put my spell on her (which still seems to work pretty well) ;)

...
Aaaa! NOW you admit your "charm-powers", dontcha!

Then ..... be careful! ;) :D

[Beleg]

Hehe!! Tis' is interesting.

Here it is in my native language.


I love you "Mughay (possibly "I") tum (You) say muhabat (love) hay." It can't be exactly translated though. The verbs and sentence formation is different.

And offcourse different variations made by various cheezy Songs are also there..;)

[spirit]

i speak about 7 different languages!!!
that is really hard, you know!!!

[Lhunithiliel]

Originally posted by spirit
i speak about 7 different languages!!!
that is really hard, you know!!!
WOW!
Then impress us! :D

[Finduilas]

Originally posted by spirit
i speak about 7 different languages!!!
that is really hard, you know!!!

LOL, and do you speak Latin? I have always wantes to learn it but I haven't got enough time.

[gilgalad]

I actually speak a bit of Korean, because I do Taekwon Do and it's required that you know some of that language for the higher black belt gradings. It's a pretty cool language, even though i can't speak it much.

[Finduilas]

Taekwon Do? Really? That's great!
I'm now trainning Da Dao. You won't probably know it because it's a Bulgarian marshal art. However, it conbines a lot of technics.

[spirit]

nope. no latin for me thakyou very much
what would you like me to speak
it that gotta be somethibg i know!
English? lol?

[Melian]

I think I told you once, but you didn't seem impressed enough, so I'm repeating myself...:) I understand a tiny bit of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.Does anybody by any chance speak Old Coptyc so that we can unite vocabulary and alphabet?!:)

[spirit]

no i dont think that you told me but i am impressed. nope, i dont know no Ancient Egyptian...sorry. just the mainish languages and some asian languages because i am an asian

[gilgalad]

Isn't it great we brought this thread back to life? It was looking pretty dead for a while there, but Im glad its back. Finduilas, tell us a bit about the Heiroglyphics

[Lhunithiliel]

Mel, write sth. in Egyptian, scan it and show it to us...
If I'm not asking too much :eek:
*******

Well, we were speaking words of love, weren't we?! :)

Where are your LOVE words?! ;) :D

[Walter]

Originally posted by Lhunithiliel
Mel, write sth. in Egyptian, scan it and show it to us...
If I'm not asking too much :eek:
Anyone knows where I can get me a Stone of Rosette? ;)

[spirit]

Originally posted by Walter
Anyone knows where I can get me a Stone of Rosette? ;)

what the thing is that?

[Lhunithiliel]

Originally posted by Walter
Anyone knows where I can get me a Stone of Rosette? ;)
Let me check in my mathom-house! ;) :D

[spirit]

but what in the world is it?
can someone tell me?

[Beleg]

You know anything assosiated with Egypt reminds me of those big, towering, scary old things called Pyramids. he name Rosetta refers to the crucial breakthrough in the research regarding Egyptian hieroglyphs. It especially represents the "translation" of "silent" symbols into a living language, which is necessary in order to make the whole content of information of these symbols accessible.

The name Rosetta is attached to the stone of Rosette. This is a compact basalt slab (114x72x28 cm) that was found in July 1799 in the small Egyptian village Rosette (Raschid), which is located in the western delta of the Nile. Today the stone is kept at the British Museum in London. It contains three inscriptions that represent a single text in three different variants of script, a decree of the priests of Memphis in honour of Ptolemaios V. (196 b.c.).

The text appears in form of hieroglyphs (script of the official and religious texts), of Demotic (everyday Egyptian script), and in Greek. The representation of a single text of the three mentioned script variants enabled the French scholar Jean Francois Champollion (1790-1832) in 1822 to basically decipher the hieroglyphs. Furthermore, with the aid of the Coptic language (language of the Christian descendants of the ancient Egyptians), he succeeded to realize the phonetic value of the hieroglyphs. This proved the fact that hieroglyphs do not have only symbolic meaning, but that they also served as a "spoken language".

Here is nice old pic,


Rosetta is my favorite candy! :)Rosette!!! (http://www.ba.dlr.de/ne/pe/virtis/rose2.gif)

[spirit]

pyramids are not scary. they are soo cool. i want to visit one one day.
BTW the link that you gave me...is it correct. it keeps saying that the page cannot be found. or is it just me?

[gilgalad]

I think what Walter means by stone of Roseete is a tranlation of heiroglyphs into modern words/letters, Right Walter?

[spirit]

kinda like runes in english?

[Melian]

Being obsessed by Egypt, I htink I know this and that. For example, that we owe the 'invention' of beer to them!:)

I'd be glad to post something in hieroglyphs here-what do you say about a poem or magic words or a name?

Btw,did you know how exactly the Rosette stone was read. It was not enough that the Greek text was a translation. It was still unclearwhether a symbol meant a word or stood for a sound, it was unclear what was the direction of reading...And them Champolion compared the Greek names of Cleopatra and Ptolemeus to two cartouches in the Egyptian text. You see, cLEOPaTra and PTOLEmeus have four lettersthat are the same. In the cartouches he found the same symbols at the same fitting places. So he figured out 10 meaningful hiroglyphs. The rest is history...
Ah,yes, a cartouche is an oval frame that encircles a grou of hieroglyphs, used to signify a pharaoh's name.

Do you think I can be an archaeologist?:)

[spirit]

i have a stachue of the egyptian goddess bastet or however you spell it. she is the cat

[Melian]

Yes, she is. Does your statue have any earrings?

[RosiePosie]

To this thread and to this postboard. I was addressed here 'cause I'm Italian and, well, I guess it's perfect for me, 'cause in life I hide my spying activities pretending to be a student of Eastern languages, such as Chinese or Japanese. But don't ask me Japanese, please, unless it's greetings.

What can I say in Italian that's cool?

Ho letto solo l'ultima pagina e mi sono sentita come a casa
(I just read the last page and I felt like at home)

Fell free to ask, if Italian itches your curiosity.

[Lhunithiliel]

Well....

Hi, RosiePosie! :D

It's great to have you here!

I personally have my daughter by my side who has been learning Italian for 5 years at High school so Italian I have heard a lot... and a lot I have learned myself... Besides for me it was easier for I speak Spannish too :D
But I am sure some other members might get interested in learning a few things !
After al.....it is such a beautiful language - a language d' amore ;) :D

Welcome to the Guild! :D

[Mithrandread]

Sawubona (saw-bone)--greetings (Zulu) The 'u', and the 'a' are almost silent.

Jambo (JAHM-boh)--greetings (Swahili)

[RosiePosie]

Hi guys! :D

On with the originality train, I was thinking

Un Anello per domarli tutti
Un Anello per trovarli
Un Anello per ghermirli e nel buio incatenarli

(One Ring to rule them all
One Ring to find them
One Ring to bring them all and in darkness bind them)

[Lhunithiliel]

Edinstven prusten gi vladee,
Edinstven toi shte gi otkrie
Edinstven vsi shte gi sbere
i v tumnina shte gi obvie.

I took this translation from the translated into Bulgarian LOTR book. The translation is far from good! :mad:
I should probably think of a better one! ... I will! ;) :D

[Manveru]

Here are the famous lines in Polish:

Trzy Pierœcienie elfowym w³adcom szlachetnego miana,
Siedem krzatów monarchom w kamiennych sal koronie,
Dziewiêæ ludzkim istotom, którym œmieræ pisana,
Jeden dla W³adcy Ciemnoœci, co trwa na mrocznym tronie
W Mordorze, moc którego zwyciê¿y, nie chciana.

Ten Jedyny, by rz¹dziæ wszystkimi, ten Jedyny, by wszystkie odnaleŸæ,
Ten Jedyny, by zebraæ je wszystkie i w ciemnoœci zespoliæ wiêzami
W Mordorze, moc którego zwyciê¿y, nie chciana.*

*this is the extract from a Polish translation of LotR (kinda creepy;)). I am really not fond of this translation, but what can I do;)

Maybe somebody would find it interesting;)

[Melian]

Edna moia mechta se sbudna--prieha me v Sofiiskia Universitet! She ucha arheologia i sum mnogo shtastliva!!!!!!!

Translation from Bulgarian:
A dream of mine has come true--I've been admitted to Sofia University! I'll be studying Archaeology and I'm very happy!!!!!!!

***
A! See- I found a way to boast by language interaction in the spirit of this thread.:)

[Finduilas]

Pozdravlenia! No sam sigurna che nikoi za moment ne se e samnqval,che shte uspeesh,zashtoto raboti mnogo usileno.

Congratulations! However, I'm sure nobody has ever doubted that you'll succeed because you worked very hard.

[drjekil_bg]

well what to say in bulgaria that is cool?
well this something i figure it out just now

Ochite i sa kafevi kato bademi i kogato me pogledne6e s neiniq prekrasen i magiosva6t pogled az imah chuvstvoto,che na sveta niama nikoi drug isven nas dvamta.Neinata usmivka,koiato beshe stopliashta kato slanceto,karashe syrceto mi da bie ludo.No zashto vsichko tova si ostavashe samo edna neizpalnima mechta za kym edna nevazmojna lubov.

well this in english sounds almost like this:
Her eyes are brown like almond and when she look at me with her wonderfull and magical eyes i have a feeling that we are alone in the hole world.her smile that is worm like a summer sun make my heart beat fast,but why all this is just a dream that will never come truth,a dream for impossible love.

P.S. Congratilations Melian!Well we havent met i am sure that you are one of a kind girl

[Lhunithiliel]

*****...cough ...cough.... Do I sense a love story here?... Findi? :p :D :D :D *******

[drjekil_bg]

well i want to be a happy end live story but its not going to be.well reality thats what i called it

[Lhunithiliel]

Ah! Don't ever lose hope, drjekil ! :p :D

[drjekil_bg]

well i will never lose hope because i know that their always another way

[Manveru]

Originally posted by Morgoth
I know it's about a month late, but if you're ever in Poland at Christmas, i'm pretty sure that Merry Christmas is 'Svienty Mikolai', pronounced swee-en-tee mik-lowe. My grandfather taught me that, what with him being Polish and all
I know it's not the time to bring memories of winter (brrr...;)), but I must correct my fellow TTF member, Morgoth, in terms of Polish language which happens to be my native:D.

Merry Christmas ----> Weso³ych ¦wi±t!

Father Christmas ----> ¦wiêty Miko³aj (if you want to read it, just follow this pattern:

¦wiêty = english adj. sweaty (initial 's' must be pronounced somehow like in 'shoes') + try to infix letter 'n' before 't''---and you nearly got it;)

Miko³aj = eng. pron me + first syllab of coconut + y (an eng. letter of alphabet)----and that's it

You speak Polish:D;) (please be careful not twisting your tongue--just kidding;))

[Lhunithiliel]

I PRONOUNCED it !!!!!
Sounded really Polish!

What a fun!!!!! :D :D :D

[Manveru]

Originally posted by Lhunithiliel
I PRONOUNCED it !!!!!
Sounded really Polish!

What a fun!!!!! :D :D :D
I'm glad U liked it, boss...

BTW: How does your tongue feel? Twisted?;)

:D

[Arebeth]

Originally posted by Maneriniel Took
I am tired of the winter and I am looking forward to summer and the sea, to see what I can see!

Je suis fatigué de l'hiver et je regarde en avant à l'été et la mer, pour voir que je peux voir!



Does anyone know Arabic?

Sait-quelqu'un l'Arabe? :)

Félicitations pour ton français, but try to ask "Est-ce que quelqu'un parle Arabe?". On te comprendra mieux. (People will understand you better) Plus, we don't actually say "je regarde en avant", but "j'aspire". (Sorry I couldn't help, I'm unsufferable when I start giving grammar classes, I know.)

C'est vraiment étrange de parler français ici...

[Lhunithiliel]

Originally posted by Manveru
BTW: How does your tongue feel? Twisted?;)

:D [/B]
Na! I am Slav too, you know .... :D
C'est vraiment étrange de parler français ici...
Perdone mua (hehehe! :D) , but what is this in the Common tongue? :)

[Arebeth]

Originally posted by Lhunithiliel


Perdone mua (hehehe! :D) , but what is this in the Common tongue? :) [/B]

"It's really strange to speak French here".
Excuse moi. "J'ai oublié de traduire." (I forgot the translation.)

[Finduilas]

LOL! French is soo ...musical ! I have always wanted to speak it...

Ju 'teme...
Ju 'teme...
JU 'TEME...
JU 'TEME!!!
CARAMIAAAA!!! :d:d
Ups that's Spanish :D:D

***
Not sure if the spelling is right but I can pronounce them...;):D

[Lhunithiliel]

Originally posted by Finduilas
LOL! French is soo ...musical ! I have always wanted to speak it...

Ju 'teme...
Ju 'teme...
JU 'TEME...
JU 'TEME!!!
CARAMIAAAA!!! :d:d
Ups that's Spanish :D:D

***
Not sure if the spelling is right but I can pronounce them...;):D
The LAST line , my dearest, was in Italian! :p :p :p :D

[Arebeth]

Originally posted by Finduilas
LOL! French is soo ...musical ! I have always wanted to speak it...



Thanks, Finduilas. One of the things I really wouldn't change about myself is the ability of speaking French quite well:) .
(Which does NOT mean that I would like to change the rest...)
Oh sorry, I'm just tired.

[Finduilas]

Ups...now I dropped the brick..;):(:D

It's great that you speak it, one day I'll learn it...deffinetely!
But firstly, I'll have to learn German..my parents say so..:(
Gosh! It's so...hard! I don't like it..but what can I do....destiny! :D:D

[Lantarion]

I cannot believe I've never stopped by this palce before.. Being the distinguished linguist that I am, hem hem. :D
But before I divulge my Finnish gifts I should point out that the pronunciation is absolutely phonetic: everything is spelt precisely as it is written; in FInnish there is no such thing as a 'silent' letter. And the 'r's are 'rolled', but not like in French. And the letter 'y' is always a vowel. It is the exact equivalent of the 'ü' in German. And double vowels are just pronounced as a long vowel.
'Ä' is like in "apple'; it's hard to describe 'ö', but it's not anything like a normal 'o'.

When the curtain of night arrives the stars glow brighter.
Yön verhon saapuessa tähdet hohtavat kirkkaampina.

The morning was full of colour like a great burst of emotions.
Aamu oli täynnä väriä, kuin tunteiden suuri räjähdys.

If people want to hear specific words or sentences in Finnish I'd be more than happy to oblige. :)

[RosiePosie]

You're making me very curious! It sounds like your pronunciation is very much like Italian! How do you pronounce the letter "h"? And the is the rolled "r" anything like the Spanish (which would be like to say the Italian, again)?

[Arebeth]

Originally posted by Lantarion

If people want to hear specific words or sentences in Finnish I'd be more than happy to oblige. :)

I've always been told that Finnish was like no other language except Estonian or something like that. I mean, it doesn't sound like Swedish or anything. Is that true?

And Finduilas, I'm actually learning German and it's not as bad as you think. :) Less than Dutch, anyway. I truly think that Dutch is the most difficult language I know, except for the Japanese writing-and still...(Mmm... I would like to learn Russian, Italian, Welsh-impossible to find a teacher- and eventually Japanese. I think I'm busy for some years.)

[Finduilas]

Hmm..I'll see this year...
But I don't like how it sounds...too hard not like French, as I have said.:rolleyes:

Oh, I was about to start learning Japanese and Arabic...but my parents showed some mercy...:rolleyes: :D

Btw, Russian is truly one of the most difficult languages including Bulgarian. That's because of the cases, plurals, single...well, grammatical stuff! But a lot a lot grammatical stuff!
It's actually impossible to learn it! But i guess the same is with every language.

[Lantarion]

Yay thanks for the interest folks! :cool:

RosiePosie: Yes the 'r' is pronounced just like in Italian or Spanish. The 'h' is pronounced just like it is, like in 'hat' (which, funnily enough, is hattu in Finnish! :D But the original Finnish word was lakki and the formal word is päähine).

Arabeth: Yes, I would have to agree! It is not of the same strain/root as all the other Scandinavian languages and therefore sounds nothing like, say, Swedish; but many words have been 'borrowed' from Swedish, even if they don't sound like Swedish anymore. :) Estonian sounds similar, and yet really odd.. It's of the same strain, the Fenno-Ugric language root (something like that), so they are somewhat similar; but each has evolved on its own and taken from different languages.
I personally think that Finnish is one of the most wonderful languages in the world, even if it takes some getting used to if it isn't your first language. I can see why Tolkien loved it so much though.. ;) And the main thing is that it is completely phonetic and therefore natural, with no twists or mutations in the pronunciation (like in French or English).

Oh, another thing for non-phonetic poeple ;): the 'j' is pronounced like the 'y' in 'yes'.
And there are no articles 'the' or 'a'. :)

If you don't mind I'd like to break up a sentence of Finnish here, to give you a clearer idea of the language:

The morning dew glistened beautifully on the mountains.
Aamukaste kimmelsi kauniisti vuorilla.

aamu = morning
kaste = dew
(More complex concepts are very often formed by linking several words together in a single word)
kimmeltää = to glisten; kimmelsi = (it) glistened
kaunis = beautiful; -sti is used to form an adverb: kauniisti.
vuori = mountain; -lla = adessive; expresses 'on what', 'with what', etc. vuorella = on the mountain; vuorilla = on the mountains.

:)

Mmm, I'd really love to learn Welsh too, and Cantonese Chinese, and Egyptian, and Greek and more Spanish more Latin... the list goes on! :D
But Finnish is one of the most wonderful languages I've encountered; I've had to learn to look and listen to Finnish objectively, instead of as a Finn, but it was a real revelation.

Also, in contrast with most other languages in the world, English is an absolute mutant! It has borrowed from so many languages and have been transformed out of recognition. But it is also one of the world's most beautiful languages in my opinion, especially for prose or poetry.

On a more 'Moderatory' note, would it be alright with everybody if I moved this thread to the "Noldorin Forge" section? I think it would fit there better than here; opinions? :)

[Arebeth]

You're right, English language borrowed words to a lot of other language, especially French. I mean, much "complicated" words are just like in French, even if "simple" words and grammar are those of a germanic language, in some ways. I really don't see why French people have such a problem with learning all languages and especially English. For me it's one of the most beautiful languages, too, and even more when it's spoken. I think that's the reason why British actors are something like the best in the world -their language seem to have been done to play theatre and to say poetry. I know a lot of people say it about French, too, and it's true, but I feel it much stronger in English.

[Manveru]

OK. Specially for Melian (and those of you who are interested;)) here is what my signature (originally written in Quenya) means in Polish (sorry if some letters look strange---they're from Polish alphabet...):

"ManvEru kocha jego najpiekniejsza krolowa Maiarow i wszystkie ludy Srodziemia."

So my Maia Queen, how does it look like? You like it?:D

[Lantarion]

I've always wondered what those little numbers next to the words are, I've seen Polish written before.. :confused:
But looks splendid though! Like Russian and Anglo-Saxon mixed. :D

(PS: Great avatar, Diablo rocks! :D)

[Manveru]

What numbers? Where? I guess it must be those fonts problem;) (or maybe it's a browser...I don't know).
But looks splendid though! Like Russian and Anglo-Saxon mixed. :D
THX. I'm glad you like it.:D
(PS: Great avatar, Diablo rocks! :D)
Yeah! I spent quite a long time playing it... I still sometimes go back to it (when I have some time to spare;))