Learn Dothraki and Valyrian
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Hydrath on December 15, 2012, 12:44:18 pm
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OK so I wanna learn Dothraki, but I wanna have fun to so if you can post random Dothraki words and/or phrases and maybe the pronunciation, I don't know if moderaters and administrators allow Dothraki profanity, but if yes GO AHEAD XD
I'll start with: Mai vikeesi (Mother is an annoying woman)
*not sure if the sentence is right but you get my point.
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We have no problem with people posting profanity here just as long as people are civil against each other.
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We have no problem with people posting profanity here just as long as people are civil against each other.
Oh, so we can fight with each other as long as we keep it civil? ;)
I think you meant 'civil with each other'.
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We have no problem with people posting profanity here just as long as people are civil against each other.
Oh, so we can fight with each other as long as we keep it civil? ;)
I think you meant 'civil with each other'.
Or civil to each other. Whichever version you prefer.
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Not as in 1861 Hrakkar ^^
The vocabulary already contains some insults. Some are "elegant" or typical Dothraki (as ifak walker)
Some are less classy (as govak fucker)
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OH so like jer mai govak? lol ( you mother fucker ) i think jer means you but i aint sure
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OH so like jer mai govak? lol ( you mother fucker ) i think jer means you but i aint sure
The word for you is yer. To say "you motherfucker" you would probably say Zhey govak maisi meaning "O fucker of mothers". if you say Yer govak maisi it means "you are a fucker of mothers" which isn't exactly the same as "you motherfucker".
You could also go with creating a compound word like in English. Govakmaisi would be a word that pretty much ought to mean motherfucker. So you could say Yer govakmaisi meaning you are a motherfucker or Zhey govakmaisi which would translate as something akin to "O motherfucker!". Zhey is what's called a vocative particle. It doesn't really mean anything but you use it to mark that you are directly addressing someone rather than speaking about them.
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Sorry for this post, but I would think differently, Admiral.
Zhey seems to be a mark of respect, which is one of the root of the Dothraki, as you, Qvaak, Hrakkar and Niqqo teached me.
I'm not sure it would be used for this kind of interjection... Maybe with Ifak or some insults of this kind (chiftik) to amplify the ridiculousness of the insult itself. (like a gentle insult, between two close friends)
But an insult like fucker, dummy or asshole is too high (on the ladder the feelings that create the need to say it) to add zhey, even to add some foolishness.
But, as always, I'm no linguist, I only give my point of view with what I've learn so far with the few tongues I studied, so I may surely be wrong.
I personnaly think that there would not be many insults or "bad words" in Dothraki (as in japanese). After all, Dothraki don't insult much : if someone is not respectful to another, it usually ends with one of the two protagonist lying on the floor, bathing in his blood, with an arakh stucks in his belly...
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Well, no. Actually zhey is the vocative particle, so it does not command respect, merely the fact that you are addressing someone. It would be as the "O" in, "O, Socrates", but only as addressing.
Few insults in Japanese? Off the top of my head I can think of at least 6 or 7
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As Ingsve says, it's yer, but that is because of the writing system (ortography) we use is made to be easy for English. The j letter is reserved for [d͡ʒ] sound like in Jack while y letter is used for [j] sound like in you. Many (European?) languages use j for [j]. See: http://wiki.dothraki.org/dothraki/Phonology (http://wiki.dothraki.org/dothraki/Phonology)
I too was at first expecting more "respect" content in zhey, but David said no. So syntactical device it is. I would still think that often in insults zhey is not used, as you are not really addressing the person, you are just name-calling them. When Rakharo called Viserys chiftik, he didn't use zhey, and that makes sense to me: he wasn't talking to Viserys, he was just insulting him. Then again, zhey pops up every here and there and not always in straightforwardly addressing fashion.
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Yes, I wouldn't use it in this context... because of the name-calling.
Give an example of non-addressing zhey.
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Anha vazhak maan Rhaeshis Andahli. Anha, zhey Drogo, atak jin.
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But that's a perfect text-book vocative...
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Yes, I wouldn't use it in this context... because of the name-calling.
Give an example of non-addressing zhey.
Actually in this context I think it is appropriate to use zhey since the original expression to be translated was "you motherfucker" which does imply an aspect of address. When Rakharo says chiftik it's not directed at all or rather directed at anyone in earshot and gives off the meaning of "hey look at what a cricket this guy is". When you say "you motherfucker" it's not really the same type of general direction but instead implies a more direct address.
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Yes... you are probably right. The thing is, it's difficult to tell them apart in English. I think it could be either, but it certainly feels like a vocative.
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Anha vazhak maan Rhaeshis Andahli. Anha, zhey Drogo, atak jin.
But that's a perfect text-book vocative...
If this was spoken to Drogo, I think it would be, yes. But when Drogo himself is speaking to an audience, I think it's slightly off the text-book example. Sorry. I should have explained.