Sky and Heaven

[Czwartek]

Inspired by Maximillian's 'dream' thread, I thought I'd start one about heaven and the sky. The three languages I've taken up with varying degrees of success are Polish, Finnish and Norwegian, and they each have one word for both 'heaven' and 'sky', and distinguish them only in locative contexts.

In heaven/in the sky
W niebie/na niebie
Taivaassa/taivaalla
I himmelen/på himmelen

What is most interesting is that each of these languages are from different families and have no apparent connection, and they all use the 'in' word (or suffix in Finnish) for heaven, and 'on' word (or suffix in Finnish) for sky.

Does this happen in other languages? Does it occur in other language families? Do your conlangs have a different word for heaven and sky, or are they the same word as in some natural languages? Because this is a discussion thread, I didn't put it in the translation forum, but please add to the list translation-thread-style if you wish.

[Arzemju]

Does this happen in other languages? Does it occur in other language families?

I don't know the difference between both, is heaven like paradise?

Au paradis/Au ciel

[Czwartek]

I don't know the difference between both, is heaven like paradise?

Heaven is a spiritual abode; the home of God, angels, and/or people after they have died, depending on belief. For example, "Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth." - Matthew 6:10

It also has a figurative meaning to describe a state of extreme pleasure and satisfaction. For example, "That holiday last year was heaven" or "Every time I see her face I'm in heaven."

[Arzemju]

I don't know the difference between both, is heaven like paradise?

Heaven is a spiritual abode; the home of God, angels, and/or people after they have died, depending on belief. For example, "Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth." - Matthew 6:10

It also has a figurative meaning to describe a state of extreme pleasure and satisfaction. For example, "That holiday last year was heaven" or "Every time I see her face I'm in heaven."

I think "paradis" is the only possible translation in french.

"Le paradis" is (as for christians) where you go when you die if you has a good life, otherwise you go to "L'enfer" (the hell).

[Ossicone]

In Spanish both are:
el cielo

[LetoAtreides]

In Polish both sky and heaven are called "niebo". "Raj" (paradise) is used mainly when talking about paradises of non-Christian religions.

[Wanderer]

in de hemel/in de lucht

Both use a definite article. However, when in some non-Christian religion a place similar to heaven is designated with a name rather than the word 'heaven', one doesn't use a definite article, so it's 'in Walhalla'. Basically, Dutch never uses articles with names, so as long as you use a word for it rather than a name, it will be with the definite article 'in de hemel', 'in het paradijs', 'in de hel', 'in het vagevuur' etc. But if the paradise thing has name, one doesn't use the article, so it's 'in Walhalla', 'in Tian' etc.

[peterofthecorn]

In Hebrew, it's the same for both in heaven and in the sky, בשמים (baShamayim).
Unless you mean "heaven" in reference to an afterlife paradise, then it would be בגן עדן (beGan eden), "in the garden of Eden".

[Maximillian]

In Russian небо (/'nʲebə/) means "sky" and рай (/raj/) means "paradise". Plural form of небо, небеса (/nʲibʲi'sa/) would be used to translate "heaven".

In Hebrew the neutral word for "sky" is שמיים (/ʃa'majim/). By the way, it's pluralia tantum and basicly means "there water", i.e. "water is there"; but, probably, it's folk etymology. :-) There is another word, רקיע (/ra'kia/), meaning something like "firmament". In religious context, when referring to the sky as the place where god dwells, מרומים (/mro'mim/) is used. It translates as "highnesses". For example, Jewish funeral prayer has the line אל מלא רחמים שוכן במרומים "Mercyfull God, who dwells in heaven".

In Ríhannen, my conlang, there is only one word for sky, eví (/e'vi:/), and it can't be pluralised. It refers both to the sky as natural object, and as a place of living of spirits and souls.

[Ilaeriu]

In Tagalog :tgl: both are

:tgl: langit

We may have had influence from:

In Spanish both are:
el cielo

since it was the Spaniards who converted the Filipinos to Christianity.

[Alces]

Old English didn't have separate words for sky and heaven either; both were heofon. 'Sky' was borrowed from the Old Norse word meaning 'cloud', and only acquired its modern meaning in the late middle ages. Perhaps this is a common European semantic equation.

[xijlwya]

In German you could differentiate between
In heaven / In the sky
Im Himmel / Am Himmel

If "in the sky" refers to a plane or a cloud you see from below. It seems like in German the sky is more of a screen you look at, whereas it is a three-dimensional space with a volume in English. 'Am Himmel' could be translated as 'at the sky'. That's intresting.

Of course, 'das Paradies' is also an option, but it is not the appropriate translation, because we have this heaven/sky thing indeed. Even though we don't have different words for it, they go with different prepositions, I guess.