Research and Foreign Language Assistance Thread

[Grand Indochina]

I would like to help as a specialist for the Vietnamese language.

Can someone translate these words into German, Russian and Gothic :

“The land where the elves ruled” and “The peninsula surrounds by mist”.

If possible, can you shorten the words so that it may sounds like a a name ?

Thank you !

Russian:

Земля где эльфы царствовали (zemlya gde el'fy tsarstvovali) - "The land where the elves ruled"

I'm not sure you can really shorten it to that effect, but Былое господство эльфов (byloye gospodstvo el'fov) "Bygone Realm of the Elves" is as close as I can get.

Туманный полуостров (tumannyy poluostrov) - "Misty Peninsula"

As close to a name as possible.

Gothic:

Albireiki - elven kingdom

Fruma albireiki - former kingdom of the elves

Albigardi - "Elven Court," by analogy with þiudangardi "kingdom." Sounds kinda sexy, if I may say. It may not have any connotations of a ruined kingdom, but it sounds cool.

Niblahalbauja - "Mist Peninsula" (note that we do not know the word for "fog" in Gothic, so nibls is a reconstruction)

Unfortunately, our Indo-European languages are poor when it comes to phrasing sentences as single words, unlike many Native American languages.

Russian:

Земля где эльфы царствовали (zemlya gde el'fy tsarstvovali) - "The land where the elves ruled"

I'm not sure you can really shorten it to that effect, but Былое господство эльфов (byloye gospodstvo el'fov) "Bygone Realm of the Elves" is as close as I can get.

Туманный полуостров (tumannyy poluostrov) - "Misty Peninsula"

As close to a name as possible.

Gothic:

Albireiki - elven kingdom

Fruma albireiki - former kingdom of the elves

Albigardi - "Elven Court," by analogy with þiudangardi "kingdom." Sounds kinda sexy, if I may say. It may not have any connotations of a ruined kingdom, but it sounds cool.

Niblahalbauja - "Mist Peninsula" (note that we do not know the word for "fog" in Gothic, so nibls is a reconstruction)

Unfortunately, our Indo-European languages are poor when it comes to phrasing sentences as single words, unlike many Native American languages.

Based on Arevastan's way to translate and shorten the name, and since you've asked for German as well, "The land where the elves ruled", literally translated, Das Land, in dem die Elfen regierten, could be shortened as Elfenreich (realm of the elves), or Elfenkönigreich (kingdom of the elves), maybe also with Das ehemalige ... (The Former ...) before it, depending on what you think suits better. In lieu of that, you might also use Das vergangene Elfen(könig)reich, to give it a more mystical sound.
For "Misty peninsula", Nebelige Halbinsel would work fine, maybe even Nebelhalbinsel - I'd personally go with the latter, for it more sounds like a name. German does have quite an advantage when it comes to creating compound words and names, compared to other Indo-European languages.

A correction: It should be Frumo Albareiki, rahter than Fruma, as reiki "kingdom" is a neuter word, rather than masculine.

And the name Эльфоград (El'fograd) just means "city of the Elves" with a poetic twist, so you might wanna give it a go too. It's also consistent with Albigardi, so there's that.

Thank you all !

[Arevastan]

A correction: It should be Frumo Albareiki, rahter than Fruma, as reiki "kingdom" is a neuter word, rather than masculine.

And the name Эльфоград (El'fograd) just means "city of the Elves" with a poetic twist, so you might wanna give it a go too. It's also consistent with Albigardi, so there's that.

[Libereco kaj Paco]

Does anyone know Lojban and can translate a song for me? (Or know automatic Lojban translator?)

[The Huterric Union]

I can assist with constructing languages

[Deniralvor]

Any language can learn with help of songs, TV, films, radio and other media. Learning a new language improves memory.

[The Islands of Versilia]

Hello!

Might I ask for some help with Hebrew? I am attempting to create a fictional sect of Judaism for use as the religion of Versilia’s vampires. The theistic origin story of the vampires revolves around the story of Caine and his curse by YHWH, with Caine’s descendants becoming the vampire race. Jewish vampires believe that through piety to HaShem they can find eternal rest and satisfaction in the world to come and be counted as among the righteous. They’re closer to rabbinical Jews than Samaritans, but have their own traditions that accounts for their extended lifespans, requirement for blood in their diet and historic secrecy.

The names of the Samaritans and Karaites mean "watchers/guardians" and "readers" respectively, AFAIK, so I thought of a name derived from a Hebrew word meaning "followers" or "descendants" (of Caine), whichever works. Thus far I’ve termed in Cainite Judaism, but that’ll change once I’ve properly named it.

So any help would be much appreciated.

Edit: Also could I ask for the translation of "State of Versilia" into Hebrew?
Edit 2: Changed text to be informative.

[Vrijstaat Limburg]

I'd be more than happy to help with anything related to Dutch, German or Ripuarian (:

[The Islands of Versilia]

Salutations!

I’d like to ask for some help on linguistic matters. I’m currently attempting to theorise and imagine a sort of “vampire nation” of Indo-European origin, either situated in/around the Carpathian basin or elsewhere in European Eurasia. I plan to go off the Indo-European words "*tewtéh₂" and "*nékʷts", the former meaning “tribe, people” and the latter being a genitive form for the word meaning “night”.

My linguistic ineptitude has made it difficult in trying to imagine the evolution of the combination into a nation’s name and how it would sound in the modern day.

Any help would be great.

The PIE words *dew- (“to show favor, revere”) or *at-al (“family, race”) could also be used.

[Cekoviu]

Salutations!

I’d like to ask for some help on linguistic matters. I’m currently attempting to theorise and imagine a sort of “vampire nation” of Indo-European origin, either situated in/around the Carpathian basin or elsewhere in European Eurasia. I plan to go off the Indo-European words "*tewtéh₂" and "*nékʷts", the former meaning “tribe, people” and the latter being a genitive form for the word meaning “night”.

My linguistic ineptitude has made it difficult in trying to imagine the evolution of the combination into a nation’s name and how it would sound in the modern day.

Any help would be great.

Is their language supposed to be an independent branch of Indo-European or is it Balto-Slavic or Italic, as most in the area are?

[The Islands of Versilia]

Salutations!

I’d like to ask for some help on linguistic matters. I’m currently attempting to theorise and imagine a sort of “vampire nation” of Indo-European origin, either situated in/around the Carpathian basin or elsewhere in European Eurasia. I plan to go off the Indo-European words "*tewtéh₂" and "*nékʷts", the former meaning “tribe, people” and the latter being a genitive form for the word meaning “night”.

My linguistic ineptitude has made it difficult in trying to imagine the evolution of the combination into a nation’s name and how it would sound in the modern day.

Any help would be great.

Is their language supposed to be an independent branch of Indo-European or is it Balto-Slavic or Italic, as most in the area are?

The closest would perhaps be Balto-Slavic or Proto-Germanic, but I aim it to be an independent branch.

Edit: added independent branch clarification.

[Ivory Coasts]

Salutations!

I’d like to ask for some help on linguistic matters. I’m currently attempting to theorise and imagine a sort of “vampire nation” of Indo-European origin, either situated in/around the Carpathian basin or elsewhere in European Eurasia. I plan to go off the Indo-European words "*tewtéh₂" and "*nékʷts", the former meaning “tribe, people” and the latter being a genitive form for the word meaning “night”.

My linguistic ineptitude has made it difficult in trying to imagine the evolution of the combination into a nation’s name and how it would sound in the modern day.

Any help would be great.

If you specify the language family, it would be of great help. Anyway, here's some rules

The PIE words *dew- (“to show favor, revere”) or *at-al (“family, race”) could also be used.

• Szemerényi's law (affects tewtéh₂ and nék^wts): if 'h₂' or 's' are the final sound of a word, or are preceded by a vowel, then the vowel is lengthened.
• ph₂tér-s 'father' > *ph₂tḗr > Ancient Greek patḗr, Sanskrit pitā́.
• tewtéh₂ > tewtē
• nektsē (or) nekutē (nektsē might end up becoming nexē or something)

• Stang's law (might affect nék^wts and dew-): if there is a 'vowel + w + m' structure, the w is deleted and the vowel is lengthened
• dyéw-m 'sky' (accusative singular) > *dyḗm > Sanskrit dyā́m, Latin diem.
• nék^wts > nēkts
• dew > dē

• Sieb's law (affects dew-): if there is a voiced (b, g, d)/aspirated (bh, gh, dh) stop at the beginning of a word, it is devoiced (p, k, t, ph, kh, th)
• bʰr̥Hg- > Latin fragor, sbʰr̥Hg- > *sp(ʰ)r̥Hg- > Sanskrit sphūrjati
• dew > tew

• Thorn cluster (nék_wts): if there is a dental stop (t, d) beside a velar stop (k, g), the dental stop might turn to a fricative sound (s, ʃ, z, ʒ) and metathesis-ize, or the sound just simplifies altogether; doesn't apply to Tocharian or Hittite
• h₂ŕ̥tḱos 'bear' > Hittite ḫartaggas /ḫartkas/, but Latin ursus, Ancient Greek árktos, Sanskrit ṛ́kṣas.
• Example of metathesis: ask > African American Vernacular English aks, lawn mower > mawn lower
• nék_wts > nekush or netsk or neshk

• Satum/centum (affects nék_wts): Satum languages are more common the closer you are to India, while centums are closer to Europe. This isn't definitive, because Baltic languages, I think, are satum languages. In Satum languages, the kw turns to a ʃ or tʃ sound.
• nekwts > neshts (or) netshts

[The Islands of Versilia]

If you specify the language family, it would be of great help. Anyway, here's some rules

• Szemerényi's law (affects tewtéh₂ and nék^wts): if 'h₂' or 's' are the final sound of a word, or are preceded by a vowel, then the vowel is lengthened.
• ph₂tér-s 'father' > *ph₂tḗr > Ancient Greek patḗr, Sanskrit pitā́.
• tewtéh₂ > tewtē
• nektsē (or) nekutē (nektsē might end up becoming nexē or something)

• Stang's law (might affect nék^wts and dew-): if there is a 'vowel + w + m' structure, the w is deleted and the vowel is lengthened
• dyéw-m 'sky' (accusative singular) > *dyḗm > Sanskrit dyā́m, Latin diem.
• nék^wts > nēkts
• dew > dē

• Sieb's law (affects dew-): if there is a voiced (b, g, d)/aspirated (bh, gh, dh) stop at the beginning of a word, it is devoiced (p, k, t, ph, kh, th)
• bʰr̥Hg- > Latin fragor, sbʰr̥Hg- > *sp(ʰ)r̥Hg- > Sanskrit sphūrjati
• dew > tew

• Thorn cluster (nék_wts): if there is a dental stop (t, d) beside a velar stop (k, g), the dental stop might turn to a fricative sound (s, ʃ, z, ʒ) and metathesis-ize, or the sound just simplifies altogether; doesn't apply to Tocharian or Hittite
• h₂ŕ̥tḱos 'bear' > Hittite ḫartaggas /ḫartkas/, but Latin ursus, Ancient Greek árktos, Sanskrit ṛ́kṣas.
• Example of metathesis: ask > African American Vernacular English aks, lawn mower > mawn lower
• nék_wts > nekush or netsk or neshk

• Satum/centum (affects nék_wts): Satum languages are more common the closer you are to India, while centums are closer to Europe. This isn't definitive, because Baltic languages, I think, are satum languages. In Satum languages, the kw turns to a ʃ or tʃ sound.
• nekwts > neshts (or) netshts

Huh. Okay. That’s definitely stuff to remember. I reckon it would be a satum language, personally.

Edit: I think I would say that it’s of the Proto-Germanic family, though with relations to Balto-Slavic. It’s mostly for grammar reasons, as unfortunately I find learning foreign grammar difficult without extensive learning/aid. Thank you, ASD.

[The Islands of Versilia]

I think for the modern language it would be fairly simple grammatically, admittedly largely because of my difficulty in understanding/utilising non-analytical languages. Vocabulary would be mostly Germanic(esque) with a decent chunk of vocabulary derived from neighbouring languages (which, I think, would be Balto-Slavic and Iranic). The location I’m planning is north Caucasia (the flat and I think fertile land mostly populated by Russians or Cossacks IRL), but they originally came from the Don river region.

[Estados Vaticanos]

I speak Spanish perfectly, I am Spanish-speaking and I am from Colombia, I can help with whatever you need

[The Islands of Versilia]

What would be French for “Lucifer’s Own”? As in a mafia or crime family.

[Estado Novo Portugues]

"Own" in French is propre (cf. próprio in Portuguese, propio in Spanish). But it's strictly used as an adjective, so it must have a noun to go with it, and can't be used by itself. I'd suggest something like les Fils de Lucifer (the Sons of Lucifer) for the French name, while keeping Lucifer's Own as the name in English.

[The Islands of Versilia]

"Own" in French is propre (cf. próprio in Portuguese, propio in Spanish). But it's strictly used as an adjective, so it must have a noun to go with it, and can't be used by itself. I'd suggest something like les Fils de Lucifer (the Sons of Lucifer) for the French name, while keeping Lucifer's Own as the name in English.

Ah, gotcha.

[Allanea]

Hello!

Might I ask for some help with Hebrew? I am attempting to create a fictional sect of Judaism for use as the religion of Versilia’s vampires. The theistic origin story of the vampires revolves around the story of Caine and his curse by YHWH, with Caine’s descendants becoming the vampire race. Jewish vampires believe that through piety to HaShem they can find eternal rest and satisfaction in the world to come and be counted as among the righteous. They’re closer to rabbinical Jews than Samaritans, but have their own traditions that accounts for their extended lifespans, requirement for blood in their diet and historic secrecy.

The names of the Samaritans and Karaites mean "watchers/guardians" and "readers" respectively, AFAIK, so I thought of a name derived from a Hebrew word meaning "followers" or "descendants" (of Caine), whichever works. Thus far I’ve termed in Cainite Judaism, but that’ll change once I’ve properly named it.

So any help would be much appreciated.

Edit: Also could I ask for the translation of "State of Versilia" into Hebrew?
Edit 2: Changed text to be informative.

Okay, some points.

1. I think the easier way out to be call it "Bnei Cain" (or Bnai Cain depending on your transliteration). This would be "the Sons of Cain", and sounds a lot better than Tseetsaei Cain (Descendants of Cain).
It's worth saying that - if one reads the OT as people usually do - descendants of Cain would not be bound by the religious commandments in the Torah, since they are obviously not relatives of Abraham who are bound by the Testament, they'd only be bound by the Noachide laws if anything.
2. Medinat Versilia

(I wonder if it's even appropriate to call a sect of people who don't believe themselves to be related to the Hebrew tribes a set of "Judaism".

Also, "oh this is a Jewish sect that drinks blood" might be interpreted by some readers as antisemitic, though I understand this is not what you intended.)

[The Islands of Versilia]

Hello!

Might I ask for some help with Hebrew? I am attempting to create a fictional sect of Judaism for use as the religion of Versilia’s vampires. The theistic origin story of the vampires revolves around the story of Caine and his curse by YHWH, with Caine’s descendants becoming the vampire race. Jewish vampires believe that through piety to HaShem they can find eternal rest and satisfaction in the world to come and be counted as among the righteous. They’re closer to rabbinical Jews than Samaritans, but have their own traditions that accounts for their extended lifespans, requirement for blood in their diet and historic secrecy.

The names of the Samaritans and Karaites mean "watchers/guardians" and "readers" respectively, AFAIK, so I thought of a name derived from a Hebrew word meaning "followers" or "descendants" (of Caine), whichever works. Thus far I’ve termed in Cainite Judaism, but that’ll change once I’ve properly named it.

So any help would be much appreciated.

Edit: Also could I ask for the translation of "State of Versilia" into Hebrew?
Edit 2: Changed text to be informative.

Okay, some points.

1. I think the easier way out to be call it "Bnei Cain" (or Bnai Cain depending on your transliteration). This would be "the Sons of Cain", and sounds a lot better than Tseetsaei Cain (Descendants of Cain).
It's worth saying that - if one reads the OT as people usually do - descendants of Cain would not be bound by the religious commandments in the Torah, since they are obviously not relatives of Abraham who are bound by the Testament, they'd only be bound by the Noachide laws if anything.
2. Medinat Versilia

(I wonder if it's even appropriate to call a sect of people who don't believe themselves to be related to the Hebrew tribes a set of "Judaism".

Also, "oh this is a Jewish sect that drinks blood" might be interpreted by some readers as antisemitic, though I understand this is not what you intended.)

Understood. Thanks for the clarification. I’m admittedly really ignorant about the specifics of Judaism so I wasn’t aware that only the tribes are bound to the Torah and such, so I’m glad you pointed that out to me.

Probably not, I’ll admit. I originally thought the idea rather compelling because of the whole curse thing and Judaism coming before the other Abrahamic faiths, but now that you mention that it’s harder to rationalise.

Gotcha.

Thanks for the translations and info ^^

Edit: I should mention that vampires and other human races can intermix and they were active in the Near East and other places where humans lived so it makes sense to me there would be interbreeding between those who would be part of the Hebrew tribes and vampire kind.

[New Byelorussia]

Hi everyone!

I'm thinking of changing my nation name to "Eastern European Soviet Socialist Republic". Would "Восточная Европейский Советская Социалистическая Республика/ВЕССР" be a correct Russian translation of the name? Also, if anyone speaks those languages, could I get it translated into Belarusian, Ukranian, Romanian/Moldovan, Polish or any of the Baltic languages?

Thank you !

[Lillorainen]

Hi everyone!

I'm thinking of changing my nation name to "Eastern European Soviet Socialist Republic". Would "Восточная Европейский Советская Социалистическая Республика/ВЕССР" be a correct Russian translation of the name? Also, if anyone speaks those languages, could I get it translated into Belarusian, Ukranian, Romanian/Moldovan, Polish or any of the Baltic languages?

Thank you !

Oii, New Byelorussia,
It's "Восточноевропейская Советская Социалистическая Республика" - since in Russian, "Eastern European" is a compound word, it must be pulled together (similar like in German, where it would be osteuropäisch). And of course, like with the other words, the suffix must be -ая, as "республика" is a feminine word. I think, it's still reasonable to keep "ВЕССР" as an acronym, though, but you can also keep it with "ВССР", depending on your preference.
Not sure about Belarusian, Ukrainian, or Polish, but since Slavic languages, especially these three and Russian, don't work too dissimilarly from each other in that regard, it will certainly be similar in that regard (in Serbian, for instance, it would be "Istočnoevropska Sovjetska Socijalistička Republika"). I'm not 100% sure about that, though, and even less so about Romanian or Baltic languages (as they aren't Slavic), so I'll leave this to folks who do better at it than I do.
I hope, this helped a bit at least. ^^

Greetings,
Lillo

[Estado Novo Portugues]

Romanian: Republica Sovietică Socialistă Est-Europeană or Republica Sovietică Socialistă de Europa de Est

[New Visayan Islands]

Hello!

Might I ask for some help with Hebrew? I am attempting to create a fictional sect of Judaism for use as the religion of Versilia’s vampires. The theistic origin story of the vampires revolves around the story of Caine and his curse by YHWH, with Caine’s descendants becoming the vampire race. Jewish vampires believe that through piety to HaShem they can find eternal rest and satisfaction in the world to come and be counted as among the righteous. They’re closer to rabbinical Jews than Samaritans, but have their own traditions that accounts for their extended lifespans, requirement for blood in their diet and historic secrecy.

The names of the Samaritans and Karaites mean "watchers/guardians" and "readers" respectively, AFAIK, so I thought of a name derived from a Hebrew word meaning "followers" or "descendants" (of Caine), whichever works. Thus far I’ve termed in Cainite Judaism, but that’ll change once I’ve properly named it.

So any help would be much appreciated.

Edit: Also could I ask for the translation of "State of Versilia" into Hebrew?
Edit 2: Changed text to be informative.

Okay, some points.

1. I think the easier way out to be call it "Bnei Cain" (or Bnai Cain depending on your transliteration). This would be "the Sons of Cain", and sounds a lot better than Tseetsaei Cain (Descendants of Cain).
It's worth saying that - if one reads the OT as people usually do - descendants of Cain would not be bound by the religious commandments in the Torah, since they are obviously not relatives of Abraham who are bound by the Testament, they'd only be bound by the Noachide laws if anything.
2. Medinat Versilia

(I wonder if it's even appropriate to call a sect of people who don't believe themselves to be related to the Hebrew tribes a set of "Judaism".

Also, "oh this is a Jewish sect that drinks blood" might be interpreted by some readers as antisemitic, though I understand this is not what you intended.)

As a matter of fact, one could argue that this piece of lore might be an origin for certain forms of blood libel in-universe, what with putting the blood in blood libel and all.

[The Islands of Versilia]

What would be the Swedish or a New Norse-ish translation of “Great(er) Sweden/Scandinavia”?

[Lillorainen]

What would be the Swedish or a New Norse-ish translation of “Great(er) Sweden/Scandinavia”?

Oii,
'Greater Sweden' can be translated as Stora Sverige, with stor meaning 'great', 'big', 'huge', etc. It derives from Old Norse stórr, meaning the same, thus also exists in Danish and Norwegian. Alternatively, you might wish to use Svenska Riket, 'Swedish Realm', if it sounds nicer to you, but that term is generally used for the Swedish Empire, which prevailed in the 17th and early 18th century and encompassed a huge chunk of the Baltic Sea area way beyond Sweden proper in its peak time, so these might end up mixed up, depending on your purpose ...