Untranslatable words

A forum for translations, translation challenges etc. Good place to increase your conlang's vocabulary.
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Lambuzhao
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Re: Untranslatable words

Post by Lambuzhao »

eldin raigmore wrote:
Lambuzhao wrote:…. misqueme. ...
I had to look that up.
According to Wordnik and also to Wiktionary (and also to the Urban Dictionary and other sources in this search), it's a transitive verb. So you misused it (if they're right). You meant to say "I didn't mean to misqueme (anyone)", (dropping the object). But don't worry; I wasn't misquemed by that. [;)]

Still: You could answer the question "what's a vavoid?". Clearly (by analogy with "deltoid") it's anything that's shaped like ו the Hebrew letter vav.
Spoiler:
[;)] :mrgreen: [;)]
Woops! Sorry again.
I didn't mean to misqueme anybody with my misspelling of misqueem.

I honestly meant 'Voivod'.
But, okay, I'll roll with it: Vavoid - something shaped like the Hebrew Vav or Waw (or like a Daxophone) :roll:
http://daxophone.com/?p=123

Khemehekis is not vavoid-shaped...well, not exactly. [xP]
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Re: Untranslatable words

Post by Khemehekis »

Well, I am pretty thin.
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My Kankonian-English dictionary: 87,413 words and counting

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Click
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Re: Untranslatable words

Post by Click »

Täzari wrote:I'm so sorry for not being sufficiently clear.
It's some kind of sentimental connection that needs not to have anything to do with sharing a real relationship. Sometimes it is a feeling that overcomes also our likings, for instance I can have this connection also with a person that I can't stand. For some reason I just can "read the feelings" of that person, I can tell what he/she thinks or how he/she feels in every situation because I would think or feel the same.
Forgive me, I really don't know how to express this with better words... [:S] [:(]
Oh, I know all too well what are you talking about; it’s basically what I feel about a friend of mine I’ve known for nine years already. [;)]
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Chagen
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Re: Untranslatable words

Post by Chagen »

Pazmat has a few.

The first to come to mind is bunturīḥ. It is a historic past participle of the root bunt- "to eat" and thus literally means "One who has eaten". However, the word itself is used to describe someone who is truly satisfied with their life. It's not just for some guy sitting on his couch eating junk food and watching sports going "yeah, my life is GREAT!". No, a bunturīḥ is someone who is truly satisfied, so that they don't have to resort to methods to cheer themselves up or wash away any sorrows with things like alcohol. A bunturīḥ is not something that any real human can be, for it's a platonic ideal that is almost impossible to reach for any real human, serving as an aspiration rather than a destination. A bunturīḥ is happy with their life, their relationships, their family, their job; they've reached all their aspirations and have no regrets, to the point of reaching a sort of nirvana-like existence and mindset, called warban, literally "peace" from the root wṛb- "peaceful, safe". Things which prevent one from reaching warban, such as regrets, misgivings with family, unfulfilled aspirations, and more, are called jṛjīḥ, literally "binding (things)".

Paradoxically, while becoming a bunturīḥ is an aspiration Paz are traditionally told to aspire to, the very want to be one is a jṛjīḥ that must be abandoned to achieve warban. This is one of the hardest things for one to understand.

Traditionally, the Paz believe that becoming a bunturīḥ allows one to transcend life's cycle and ascend at death to live with Qedhan, the base force of righteousness that underlies the universe in traditional Paz philosophy/religion (the lines are hard to define; both terms are translated by uḥ, literally "road, path"). Qedhan represents all triumphs of righteousness--the triumph of reason and science over dogma and blind faith, the triumph of good over evil, and other such things. Though Qedhan may be stifled by things such as genocides, oppression, anti-inllectualism, and other things, the Paz believe that it will always win in the end. Qedhan is not a god or goddess (the Paz have none of them, in fact), but a base force and underlying mechanic of the universe, as much as gravity or atomic forces.

Qedhanā urmi sonjāyyū
Righteousness will always prevail
Nūdenku waga honji ma naku honyasi ne ika-ika ichamase!
female-appearance=despite boy-voice=PAT hold boy-youth=TOP very be.cute-3PL
Honyasi zō honyasi ma naidasu.
boy-youth=AGT boy-youth=PAT love.romantically-3S
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Lambuzhao
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Re: Untranslatable words

Post by Lambuzhao »

An interesting point of departure for me & my :con: cultures.

In Sadraas, there is a perfect active PTCP geieatün – “having eaten”. This is not to be confused with the perfect PASS.PTCP
geieght "having been eaten". Especially used with uö 'well' , the word uögeieatün means literally 'having eaten well".
But it does not carry any positive connotations as bunturīḥ. It has a negative connotation of being in a state where, having all one's needs fulfilled, one is not aware of dangers or threats. This is a frequent epithet used with Hæars 'rabbit', but it is used as a catachresis of the worldy-wealthy in the preachings of the Holy Prophet Hozu. Hozu compares the wealthy to uögeieatan Hears; I.e. rabbits so well-fed that they do not pay attention to any of the world's ills, and therefore readily succumb to them. Not unlike poor ole Bunny FuFu. [:(]
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Bagliun Edar
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Re: Untranslatable words

Post by Bagliun Edar »

bagli [ˈbagli] v. perceive

This is not the normal perceiving. The one who "bagli" perceives with transcendental senses the foundations of reality. Those "senses" are not exactly senses. It's more like knowing.
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eldin raigmore
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Re: Untranslatable words

Post by eldin raigmore »

Bagliun Edar wrote:bagli [ˈbagli] v. perceive
This is not the normal perceiving. The one who "bagli" perceives with transcendental senses the foundations of reality. Those "senses" are not exactly senses. It's more like knowing.
I'd translate that as "made the whole thing up then tried to con marks on the Internet."
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Re: Untranslatable words

Post by Khemehekis »

All4Ɇn wrote: 27 Sep 2014 05:39
Khemehekis wrote: myxkataph: the changing of an idiom or saying to make it appropriate for the species in question; to change a phrase thusly (Examples would be in the book Shrek when the ogres "hissed it over" instead of talking it over, or the Pokémon episode in which Meowth said, "I give this movie two paws down!")
I really like this one, really interesting concept. I feel like there has to be a natlang somewhere with a similar word.
I just stumbled 'pon a trope name for it! . . . Well, sort of:

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ ... ippogriffs
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Squirrels chase koi . . . chase squirrels

My Kankonian-English dictionary: 87,413 words and counting

31,416: The number of the conlanging beast!
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Re: Untranslatable words

Post by Iyionaku »

In Yélian, there are the terms peryama and fadyama.
Literally, they mean "to start saying 'yam'" and to "to stop saying 'yam'". yam is a 1ps dual inclusive pronoun, which is exclusively used between lovers or childhood best friends (as an adult, you'd never refer to a new friend with yam. But you'd use it with friends from a childhood). You'd normally only start to use it once there is a big chunk of trust and mutual understanding between you, i.e. way after you start dating, but also long before engagement. Normally couples start to use it subconciously at a certain stage of their relationship, and unlike most other pronouns it's never dropped as a symbol of endearment. This process is referred to as peryama. Example dialog between Mary, her boyfriend Marc and her friend Michelle:

Ytè, fecun sanet roucletest pun tuminani fúria cu rafad. Mark, barcai yam dafumuyen crèpan?
ok, with 2PL.OBL FUT-meet_up-1PLEX in minute-PL-ENUM ten at entry | PROP, ask-1SG 1DU.INC PROP-in_the_meantime-eat-1PLIN crepe-PL
Mary: Okay, we will meet you guys in ten minutes at the entry. Marc, should we eat some crêpes in the meantime?

Yinusó, rat ciyibicein pi yiperyamein! Alevélocan!
hey, 1SG.OBL NEG-PST-tell-2PL that PST-start_calling_each_other_yam-2PL | congratulations
Michelle: Hey, you haven't told me that you've started to call each other with 'yam'! Congratulations!

The opposite of this is fadyama. This is used very conciously between lovers when their relationship is falling apart.
Wipe the glass. This is the usual way to start, even in the days, day and night, only a happy one.
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Re: Untranslatable words

Post by Aseca »

:con: Vezen: vájjarinazg /vʌʝɘɾɪnæʒ/ - closest equivalent is to Japanese 'mottainai' from mottai (wasteful/too good) nai (does not exist) again even if broken up into individual components it still seems untranslatable to English.
Sikatāyām kaṇam lokasya darśasi, svargam phale vanye ca.
See a world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wild flower.
Ānantam tava karatalena darasi, nityatām ghaṇṭabhyantare ca.
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour.
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Mándinrùh
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Re: Untranslatable words

Post by Mándinrùh »

Atili, being spoken in a fantasy world, has many words with no natlang translations. I like to invent words for these out of Greek roots. For example, the magic force of Atil, called in Atili eta, I translate as "aether" from Greek αἰθήρ "pure sky." Along with this come derived terms like the etabarana, a demon which consumes the aether, which I translate as "aethophage" combining αἰθήρ with Greek φαγεῖν "to eat."

Another example are in the historical eras of Atil:
  • walatïsyara => παλαιός "old" + γεω "earth" + χρόνος "time" = paleogeochrone
  • devisyara => θεό "god" + χρόνος "time" = theochrone
  • bëvasyara => χαμένος "lost" + χρόνος "time" = chamenochrone
    or devizinsyara => μετά "after" + θεό "god" + χρόνος "time" = metatheochrone
  • ovunasyara => ὕπνος "sleep" + χρόνος "time" = hypnochrone
  • zuzinsyara => μετά "after" + ξύπνιος "awake" + χρόνος "time" = metaxypniochrone
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eldin raigmore
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Re: Untranslatable words

Post by eldin raigmore »

I just don’t have enough imagination to invent untranslatables.
Khemehekis
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Re: Untranslatable words

Post by Khemehekis »

eldin raigmore wrote: 08 Jul 2022 18:10 I just don’t have enough imagination to invent untranslatables.
Asperger's thing?
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Squirrels chase koi . . . chase squirrels

My Kankonian-English dictionary: 87,413 words and counting

31,416: The number of the conlanging beast!
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