Author Topic: Translation Help Please!  (Read 8120 times)

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lcgg

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Translation Help Please!
« on: January 28, 2013, 07:04:56 pm »
Hi all,

I'm looking to get a bronze plate engraved with a couple phrases in Dothraki as part of a Valentine's Day gift. The gift is an ornate world map and so I think something that has to do with the earth would be appropriate.

My initial idea is loosely:

Shekh ma shieraki anni,
Be the stallion that mounts the world. (not sure how to translate this part)


I'm very open to changes or suggestions based on what flows nicely in Dothraki. Thank you in advance for the help!

Najahho

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Re: Translation Help Please!
« Reply #1 on: January 28, 2013, 08:23:00 pm »
That depends, what does "Be the stallion that mounts the world." mean? You are ordering her to be the Stallion that mounts the world?
Athhajar vidrie anna ayyey

lcgg

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Re: Translation Help Please!
« Reply #2 on: January 29, 2013, 10:03:21 am »
Him, hence "Shekh ma shieraki anni" instead of "jalan atthirari anni."

I just want something sort of romantic but keeping in line with what might actually be a phrase in Dothraki.

Qvaak

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Re: Translation Help Please!
« Reply #3 on: January 29, 2013, 11:38:48 am »
The first part, "Shekh ma shieraki anni," would work better with vocative particle in front of it: "Zhey shekh ma shieraki anni." Dothraki vocative particle is mostly a syntactic device and usually left untranslated. If you want to visibly translate it, "O my sun and stars" is close.

"Be the stallion that mounts the world" sounds quite clear to me: more engouragement (hortative?) than straight out order, but syntactically on the same direction as eg. oft Gandhi attributed "be the change you want to see in the world". I'd guess Dothraki informal imperative would do nicely. Other than that, though, the sentence happens to be rather tricky to translate, due to a certain peculiarity (copulalessness, that is) of Dothraki. I have no experience in languages other than Dothraki about zero copula sentences, so I'm a bit out of my depth. Sure I can create all kinds of interesting translation attempts like:
Nemo azhas meyer vezh fin saja rhaesheseres. ~ Allow/let yourself to be the stallion that mounts the world.
...but if anyone (Niqqo?) has a better intuition on this, it'd be interesting to hear suggestions.

As for what else the latter line might be, the possibilities are already quite countless. http://wiki.dothraki.org/dothraki/Idioms_and_Phrases might give some ideas.
Neakates jahak yeroon ma dikates sajo yeri. ~ Your braid be long and your steed be fast.
...
Aneakanazates jahak yeroon ma adikanazates sajo yeri. ~ Your braid be the longest and your steed be the fastest. :)
Game of Thrones is not The Song of Ice and Fire, sweetling. You'll learn that one day to your sorrow.

lcgg

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Re: Translation Help Please!
« Reply #4 on: January 29, 2013, 03:49:31 pm »
Thank you so much for the help!

Very interesting; I hadn't considered that Dothraki has no copula and the consequent effect on a statement about a quality of being. I like your suggestion for "allow/let yourself" as it still suggests a spirit of adventure. That being said, is there any better way to convey the thought of being adventuresome and free-spirited besides "stallion mounting the world," which is obviously more conquest-themed?

ingsve

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Re: Translation Help Please!
« Reply #5 on: January 29, 2013, 11:41:35 pm »
I asked David how you express the imperative of "to be" in Dothraki when there is no copula. His answer is that you use the future tense. So "Be a man!" would be Yer mahrazhaan!. This usually translates as "You will be a man." but now we learn that it also works for the desired meaning.

So "Be the stallion that will mount the world!" would then be Yer vezhaan fin asaja rhaesheseres.
"I just need to rest, that’s all, to rest and sleep some, and maybe die a little" – Samwell Tarly

ingsve

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Re: Translation Help Please!
« Reply #6 on: January 29, 2013, 11:45:25 pm »
Thank you so much for the help!

Very interesting; I hadn't considered that Dothraki has no copula and the consequent effect on a statement about a quality of being. I like your suggestion for "allow/let yourself" as it still suggests a spirit of adventure. That being said, is there any better way to convey the thought of being adventuresome and free-spirited besides "stallion mounting the world," which is obviously more conquest-themed?

I think that would best be served by some type of idiom and it's hard for us to come up with something canonical in that regard on our own since I don't think we have idioms that fits well that I can think of. I'll ask David to come up with something.
"I just need to rest, that’s all, to rest and sleep some, and maybe die a little" – Samwell Tarly

Qvaak

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Re: Translation Help Please!
« Reply #7 on: January 30, 2013, 04:43:14 am »
Seems lcgg already found her way to David's tumblr.

Ei rhaesheseres onqothof yeri.
Rekke yer adothrae, rekke anha adothrak yeri.


Sounds rather nice. And we got a new word. Some new words seem to keep popping up on Twitter too. gah. Hard to keep up.
Game of Thrones is not The Song of Ice and Fire, sweetling. You'll learn that one day to your sorrow.