Translation challenge thread

[finlay]

Have a go at making this into your own language:

You think it's funny to take screenshots of people's NFTs, huh? Property theft is a joke to you? I'll have you know that the blockchain doesn't lie. I own it. Even if you save it, it's my property. You are mad that you don't own the art that I own.

Delete that screenshot.

Feel free to reply having translated this into your conlang, or add your own passage to be translated.

Sure we used to have a thread like this, but I only post here super-sporadically now. (It might have been on the old board)

[bradrn]

Welcome back finlay! Here’s my attempt at a Wēchizaŋkəŋ translation:

Rēwerəchānachaŋ iwiŋkrīɲshothīc ēzaza təyethēkrəntishō, ā? Māꞵamic chēkramsāzə? Proktrēn ēkrəmpaweyāthuchīzəm, ethāthekrəꞵūnithan. Ayetham. Yarechraꞵamū ayetham. Yathaŋkəŋ chēkrəmpəthāmi kərāicəwaŋkom.

Āthezɨnāŋ.

IPA transcription:

/ˈreːwerəˌɰaːnaˌɰaŋ ˈiwiˌŋkriːɲɕoˌɹiːc ˈeːzaˌza təjeˈɹeːkrəntiˌɕoː | aː || ˈmaːβaˌmic ˈɰeːkramˌsaːzə || prokˈʈeːn ˈeːkrəˌmpaweˌjaːɹuˌɰiːzəm | eˈɹaːɹekrəˌβuːniˌɹan || ˈajeɹam || ˈjareˌɰraβaˌmuː ˈajeɹam || ˈjaɹaŋkən ˈɰeːkrəmpəˌɹaːmi keˈraː.icəˌwaŋkom || ˈaːɹezɨˌnaːŋ/

Gloss:

More: show

|e:riaʷ:weʷ:nə:kana:kəŋ

NP:INT:HAB:MED:differ:OBJ

əʷ-ɨʷ-ꞵiⁿ-‘krīɲshot’-ic

3s.O-3ns.O-PL-screenshot-ACT

əʷ-e-sasə

3s.O-NP-funny

tə(y)=e-tə-e-krə-ntisho

COMP=3s.O-2s.A-NP-IRR-think

ā?|

ā?

|mā-pamu-ic

thing-take-ACT

əʷ-kə-e-krə-am-sasə?|

3s.O-2s.O-NP-IRR-BEN-funny?

|‘proktren’

blockchain

əʷ-e-krə-mpə-weʷ-yathu-kisəm,

3s.O-NP-IRR-NEG-HAB-lie-say,

e-tə-tha-e-krə-puni-tən.|

3s.O-2s.A-AND-NP-IRR-see-IMP

|əʷ-əʷ-rəʷ-e-tham.|

3s.O-3s.O-3s.A-NP-is.

|əʷ-rəʷ-e-riaʷ-krə-pamu

3s.O-3s.A-NP-INT-IRR-take

əʷ-əʷ-rəʷ-e-tham.|

3s.O-3s.O-3s.A-NP-is.

|əʷ-rəʷ-e-tham-kəŋ

3s.O-3s.A-NP-is-OBJ

əʷ-kə-e-krə-mpə-tham-ic

3s.O-2s.O-NP-IRR-NEG-is-ACT

kə-rəʷ-e-icə-wəŋkom.|

2s.O-3s.A-NP-CAUS-bad.

|əʷ-əʷ-tha-e-sɨnaŋ.|

3s.O-3s.O-AND-NP-push.

Some notes on the translation:

• The overall tone of the quote was pretty hard to replicate. I ended up using an irrealis marker without the corresponding question suffix, to give the same sense of ‘asking rhetorical questions’ — though I’m still unsure if the irrealis is quite aggressive enough.
• Most of the technical words (‘screenshot’ and ‘blockchain’) were loaned. ‘NFT’, however, was calqued, as rēwerəchānachaŋ ‘what really habitually differs’.

EDIT: Inserted missing word from translation

[Rounin Ryuuji]

Translation:

More: show

他者の 不販札らの 撮らっを 取り 䀹ひ ふひ？
ぼうっとうりの ぜひごへぶっゐらの すけいけらを とうり をこうひ ふひ？
Bottori no zeigyōbuyura no sukekĕra wo tori wokoi fui?
[bo̞ᵝt̪̚.t̪ʰo̞ᵝˑꜜɾ̪ʲi n̪o̞ᵝ z̪e̞ː.ɟ͡ʝi̯o̞ᵝːꜛbʉᵝˑꜜjyᵝ.ɾ̪ɐ̞ n̪o̞ᵝ s̪ʉᵝꜛcʰe̞ˑꜜcʰɪ̆.ɾ̪ɐ̞ wo̞ᵝ t̪ʰo̞ᵝˑꜜɾ̪ʲi wo̞ꜛkʰo̞ᵝˑꜜɾ̪ʲi ɸʷʉᵝˑꜜ(w)i]
other.person.GENITIVE non.exchange.receipt.PLURAL.GENITIVE picture.PLURAL.ACCUSATIVE take.INFINITIVE/NOMINAL be-amusing.PREDICATIVE DEPRECATIVE-QUESTION
"Is it funny to take pictures of others' non-exchangeable receipts, huh?"

財の 盗ゐは 䀹楽 在り は？
をずかの ぬすゐ をこうとうの あり は？
Wozuka no nusuyuwa wokotono ari ha?
[wo̞ᵝˑꜜz̪ʉᵝ.kʰɐ̞ n̪o̞ᵝ n̪ʉᵝˑꜜs̪ʉᵝ.jyᵝ.wɐ̞ wo̞ᵝ.kʰo̞ᵝꜛt̪ʰo̞ᵝˑꜜn̪o̞ᵝ ɐ̞ˑꜜɾ̪ʲi ꜛxɐ̞ˑ]
property.GENITIVE steal.INFINITIVE/NOMINAL.DEFINITE joke COPULA.PREDICATIVE QUESTION-EXPRESSING-ANNOYANCE
"Is the theft of property a joke?"

しか、分ゐ鎖ゐは 嘘をず。
しか、をこうるゐぐさるゐは つくるをず。
Shika, wokorigusariya tsukurozu.
[ɕiˑꜜkʰɐ̞ | wo̞ᵝ.kʰo̞ᵝ.ɾ̪ʲi.gʉᵝꜛs̪ɐ̞ˑꜜɾ̪ʲi.jɐ̞ t̪͡s̪ʲʰyᵝꜛkʰʉᵝˑꜜɾ̪o̞ᵝ.z̪ʉᵝ]
however, know.INFINITIVE/NOMINAL.link.INFINITIVE.NOMINAL.DEFINITE
"However, the chain of knowledge does not lie."

朕の 在り。
いめの あり。
Ime no ari.
[iˑꜜme̞ n̪o̞ᵝ ɐ̞ˑꜜɾ̪ʲi]
FIRST-PERSON.GENITIVE COPULA.PREDICATIVE
"It belongs to me."

汝れ 其を 録れど、其れ しか 朕の 財 在り。
たわれ けを りせけれどう、けれ しか いめの をずか あり。
Tōre kyō risekyoredo, kyore shika ime no wozuka ari.
[t̪ʰo̞ᵝːꜜɾ̪e c͡çʰi̯o̞ᵝː ɾ̪ʲi.s̪e̞ꜛc͡çʰi̯o̞ᵝˑꜜɾ̪e.d̪o̞ᵝ | c͡çʰi̯o̞ᵝˑꜜɾ̪eɕiˑꜜkʰɐ̞ iˑꜜme̞ n̪o̞ᵝ wo̞ᵝˑꜜz̪ʉᵝ.kʰɐ̞ ɐ̞ˑꜜɾ̪ʲi]
SECOND-PERSON.NOMINATIVE MESIAL-DEMONSTRATIVE.ACCUSATIVE save(of-data).INFINITIVE.CONCESSIVE MESIAL-DEMONSTRATIVE.NOMINATIVE still FIRST-PERSON.GENITIVE property COPULA.PREDICATIVE
"Even if you save that, it is still my property."

汝の 在るをず しか より、汝れ 怒ゐしい。
たわの あるをず しか より、たわれ いかるゐしい。
Tōno arozu shika yori, tōre ikarishi.
SECOND-PERSON.SUBORDINATE-NOMINATIVE COPULA.NEGATIVE only from SECOND-PERSON.NOMINATIVE be-angry.PREDICATIVE
"It's just because it isn't yours that you are angry."

其の 撮っを 消よ！
けの すけいけっを げしいよ！
Kyono sukeki wo gishiyo!
[c͡çʰi̯o̞ᵝˑꜜn̪o̞ᵝ s̪ʉᵝꜛcʰe̞ˑꜜc͡çʰi wo̞ᵝ ɟ͡ʝi.ɕiꜛjo̞ᵝˑ]
"Delete that picture!"

Some notes on the translation:

More: show

• The Ineshîmé do not have quite the same concept of private property the original speaker seems to, generally consindering ownership to require at least one of the following:
  • For real property, that one inhabit, work, or otherwise make use of the property (in person) for some period of the year in a regular and expected pattern, and which is not more regularly, and with the knowledge of the same person, inhabited, worked, or otherwise made use of by somebody else;
  • For personal items, that one possess it, and have not obtained it through theft or other duplicitous means;
  • For creative expressions, that one have created the expression, though representations or duplications of them (i.e. prints, individual copies of books) are treated as personal items.
  Relevant laws in-setting would reflect these suppositions, consequently saying one "owned" art that one did not create would come off as somewhat nonsensical. Limited-edition runs are not really a common thing, and, unless an author or artist deliberately depublishes their work, it will usually be available through a public library, at very least, and the concept of having a work of art, property, or anything else as an "investment" would also be a foreign concept.

• Things like "blockchain" and "non-fungible tokens" don't exist in the settings, so the terms used for them are rough calques of the English words, which would, in context, be almost certainly understood without further explanation.

[finlay]

here is a new one for you:

you fool. you absolute buffoon. you think you can challenge me in my own realm? you think you can rebel against my authority? you dare come into my house and upturn my dining chairs and spill coffee grinds in my Keurig? you thought you were safe in your chain mail armor behind that screen of yours. I will take these laminate wood floor boards and destroy you. I didn't want war, but I didn't start it.

[bradrn]

Where do you even get these texts from?

At any rate, I don’t think the vocabulary for any of my languages is developed enough to translate this.

[keenir]

here is a new one for you:

you fool. you absolute buffoon. you think you can challenge me in my own realm? you think you can rebel against my authority? you dare come into my house and upturn my dining chairs and spill coffee grinds in my Keurig? you thought you were safe in your chain mail armor behind that screen of yours. I will take these laminate wood floor boards and destroy you. I didn't want war, but I didn't start it.

sounds almost like...paraphrasing Jojo?
(because my nephew keeps saying "you dare think you can challenge me, mortal?" and saying he got it from a meme)

[Travis B.]

Both of these are copypastas that have been circulating around the Interwebs. I think the first may have originated with a YouTube video, but I have no clue as to where the second came from.

[Raphael]

Since finlay said in the opening post that we could "add [our] own passage to be translated", I thought I might propose the title of a short thread I just started in the Almea forum:

We have no Priests, but we have non-Priests

Unfortunately, what little conlanging I've done is mainly about names, and my naming languages aren't sophisticated enough to translate even this simple passage into them.

[jal]

Both of these are copypastas that have been circulating around the Interwebs. I think the first may have originated with a YouTube video, but I have no clue as to where the second came from.

The first one is from here (Twitter). The second one has been circulating at least five years, maybe longer. The origin is unknown.


JAL

[KathTheDragon]

We have no Priests, but we have non-Priests

ina fiyačyən in, nu-fiyačyən in
NEG=priest-PL with-1P, not=priest-PL with-1P

[quinterbeck]

We have no Priests, but we have non-Priests

Eunnoa reo egwaidi, weid eunnoa elgegwaidi.

Eun-no-a

COM-3p-1s

reo

NEG

egwaidi,

priest

weid

but

eun-no-a

COM-3p-1s

elg-egwaidi.

OPP-priest

[Rounin Ryuuji]

Since finlay said in the opening post that we could "add [our] own passage to be translated", I thought I might propose the title of a short thread I just started in the Almea forum:

We have no Priests, but we have non-Priests

Proper Kokori:
L'om n'a aulcon prouvoire, maiz l'om a des non-prêtres.
[l̪õː n̪a oː'kõː pɾ̪uː'vo̯æːɾ̪, mɛː l̪o͜ ma d̪ɛː n̪õː pɾ̪ɛː.t̪ɾ̪əz̪]

Ineshîmised Kokori:
よ゙も な あうい゙こん ぽるふをあろ、まひ よ゙も あ でち のん~ぽれへとらち。
L'om n'a aulcon prouvoire, maiz l'om a des non-prêtres.
[l̪õ̞ᵝm n̪ɐ̞ o̞ᵝːꜛkʰõ̞ᵝɴ pʰɾ̪ʉᵝːꜛwɐ̞ːɾ̪, me̞ː l̪õ̞ᵝm ɐ̞ d̪e̞ː n̪õ̞ᵝɴ pɾ̪e̞ːꜜt̪ɾ̪ɐ̞s̪]

Ineshîmé:
僧 居るをず、しか 不僧 居り。
ぽるふわはろ ゐるをず、しか ぜひぽるふわはろ ゐり。
Prûwâr yurozu, shika zei-prûwâr yuri.
[pʰɾ̪ʉᵝːꜛwɐ̞ːɾ̪ jyᵝˑꜜɾ̪o̞ᵝ.z̪ʉᵝ | ɕiˑꜜkʰɐ̞ z̪e̞ːꜜpʰɾ̪ʉᵝːꜛwɐ̞ːɾ̪ jyᵝˑꜜɾ̪ʲi]
priest exist.NEGATIVE | but NEGATION.priest exist.PREDICATIVE

(Neither culture now has "priests", but Kokori would have a more viable inherited word for it.)

[hwhatting]

We have no Priests, but we have non-Priests

Nu antar nór hautorai nérantis, al néhautorai santis.
PTC among 1PL-LOC priest-PL.NOM NEG-be-PRES.ACT.3PL but NEG-priest be-PRES.ACT.3PL
Among us not-are priests, but not-priests are.

[vegfarandi]

We have no Priests, but we have non-Priests

Duriac:
Biga aśâ, biga baśâ byayuz ât.
Spl-priest IMPF-NEG.COP, Spl-priest Spl-IMPF-NEG.COP Spl-SUBST-IMPF-like IMPF-COP

It really loses it cleverness. Literally it means: 'There aren't priests, but there are similar ones who (still) aren't priests.'

[Man in Space]

Kiri-kin-tha's First Law of Metaphysics

English: Nothing unreal exists.
nothing unreal exists

nothing

NEG.INDEF

un-

NEG

real

real

exist

exist

-s

3SG.PRES

Latin: Stat nihil non ens.
stat nihil non ens

sta

stand

-t

3SG.PRES

nihil

nothing

non

NEG

ens

COP.PTCP

'nothing that is not stands'

Modern Standard Arabic: غَيْرُ ٱلْوَاقِعِيّ غَيْرُ مَوْجُدٍ
ḡayru l-wāqi‘iyy ḡayru mawjudin

ḡayr

except

-u

NOM.DEF

al-

DEF

wāqi‘iy

real

-i

GEN.DEF

ḡayr

except

-u

NOM.DEF

mawjud

find.PASS.PTCP

-in

GEN.INDEF

'that not real is not found'
(I tried. It's been ages since I last used Arabic much.)

CT: Áge tó da suú ro réa.
áge tó da suú ro réa

áge

COP

tó

TOP

da

thing

suú

true

ro

NEG

réa

nothing.DIST

'there is no unreal thing'

CC: Iec ćoso ŭrcaś ecbo.
iec ćoso ŭrcaś ecbo

iec

there.is.not

ćoso

thing

ec

NEG

-bo

ADV

'there is nothing not real'

[Man in Space]

AV: Utkyénk kryuga vkhphsra.
utkyén-k kryá-vga v=K-phsra

utkyén

nothing

-k

ACC

kryá

essence

-vga

PRIV

v=

NEG

K-

IRR

aphsrá

begin

'let nothing without essence start' (the semantics are a bit weird here; incidentally, also schwa is now e, so it's Archaic Vye now)

Kg: Tlo’ǫrąłrye’etl’k’okgrátsqgonog.
tlo’-ǫr-ął-rye’etl’-go-kgrátsqgo-ǫg

tlo’-

NEG

ǫr-

3SG.ANIM

ął-

INV

rye’etl’

contradict.reality

go-

CONT.SUBJ

kgrátsqgo

establish

-ǫg

AUG.S.O.

'[a thing] cannot stand in contradiction to reality'

[hwhatting]

English: Nothing unreal exists.
nothing unreal exists

nothing

NEG.INDEF

un-

NEG

real

real

exist

exist

-s

3SG.PRES

Tautisca:
Nés naina néwéra.
NEG.be-3SG.Pres.ACT none-N.PL.NOM NEG.true-N.PL.NOM
Not-are no not-real (things).
Note: In a trait inherited from PIE, neuter plurals agree with singular forms of the verb.

[äreo]

Msérsca:

Víxadmesco sáca vaxadme.
be.real*-NEG-SUBJ.PART** thing exist*-NEG.PRES
"Any unreal thing exists not."
Nothing unreal exists.

*I'm pretty sure víxor to be real and vaxar to exist come from var to be + íx here and áx there, respectively. So we're kind of saying "Anything not here is not there."
**Msérsca has what I call a subjunctive participle, which can be used both predicatively and attributively. As a predicate, it's used to introduce a condition, equivalent to if. When modifying a noun, it means "any [noun] that does [verb]." Vasco, from var, means "any," i.e. "any [noun] that is."

[Man in Space]

Tell me, where is Gandalf, for I much desire to speak with him. - Celeborn, The Fellowship of the Ring

(I'll actually attempt translating this once my game night is over.)

[Travis B.]

Tell me, where is Gandalf, for I much desire to speak with him. - Celeborn, The Fellowship of the Ring

• tell (trans.), fah

Fahibi thod'a gac'am Gandalfa qo ma ha sime ha laxanamefa.
/faxibi tʰɔɗa ɣatsʼam ɣandalfa qɔ ma xa simɛ xa laχanamɛfa/
tell-DAT-ABL place exist-LOC-INV Gandalf PROX.S.INAN 1.S COMP want-AGT.1.S-PRES COMP speak-APSS-DAT-AGT.1.S-PRES-PAT-3.S.ANIM

fa

tell

-i

-DAT

-bi

-ABL

thod'a

place

ga

exist

-c'a

-LOC

-m

-INV

Gandalfa

Gandalf

qo

PROS.S.INAN

ma

1.S

ha

COMP

si

want

-m

-AGT.1.S

-e

-PRES

ha

COMP

laxa

speak

-n

-APSS

-a

-COM

-m

-AGT.1.S

-e

-PRES

-fa

-PAT.3.S.ANIM

"Tell the place where there is Gandalf to me as I want that I can speak with him."
Tell me where is Gandalf because I want to speak with him.