Les mots de la semaine

By Simon
français English Cymraeg Brezhoneg
l’avant-dernier the last but one yr olaf/diwethaf ond un
la tuile (roof) tile teilsen; teilen; priddlech teol
le carreau (wall/floor) tile teilsen (lorio/wal) karrezenn
carreler to tile (a floor) llorio â theils; teilsio
la dalle de moquette carpet tile teilsen garped
faire la fête/la java to have a night on the tiles cael noson ar y criws / ar y sbri ober bos/fest
l’âne (m); le cancre; l’imbécile; un(e) nullard(e) dunce dỳns; twpsyn; penbwl azen; penn-karn; yann ar yod; paotr ar yod; loull
le bonnet d’âne dunce’s cap cap twpsyn/dỳns/papur; capan penbwl
la loupe (grossissante) magnifying glass chwyddwydr loupenn
à la loupe in minute detail mewn manylion lleiaf
sous la loupe under the microscope dan y microsgop

An owlfully badgered cup of tea

By Simon

badger and cup

Yesterday I discovered that the Italian word for cup, tazza, is rather similar and possibly confusable with the word for badger, tasso, which can also mean a rate (of exchange) or a yew (tree).

It’s unlikely that if you mistakenly ask for un tasso di tè rather than una tazza di tè, you will be given a badger of tea, but it would be an easy mistake to make, especially if you know the French word for cup, tasse, or the Spanish taza, or the German Tasse, which comes from the French, which comes from the Arabic طاس (ṭās – die; bowl), from the Persian تاس (tās – die/dice).

I also discovered the wonderful word owlful, which means full of badgers, or possibly full of owls. How awful it must be to be owlful! It’s a word that should have appeared in the Harry Potter books, which are brimful of owls at points, and slightly, though not entirely, badgerless.

Sumpf

By Simon

I discovered the wonderful German word Sumpf /zʊmpf/ today while putting together les mots de la semaine for this week from the French conversation group. One of the things that came in conversation was the word marsh, which is le marais or le marécage in French, and Sumpf in German, which I noticed because there’s something about the combination of mpf in a word that just appeals to me. Are there particular letter combinations that appeal to you?

Sumpf means marsh, morass, mud, bog, quagmire, mire, sump, and can also be used figuratively to refer to corruption, e.g. der Sumpf der Politik = the murky waters of politics.

Related expressions include:

– Sumpfland = marshland; swampland
– sumpfig = marshy; swampland
– Sumpfboden = marshy ground
– sumpfen = to live it up
– Sumpfdotterblume = marsh marigold
– Sumpfpflanze = marsh plant
– Sumpfgas = marsh gas
– Salzsumpf = salt marsh

The word marsh comes from the Germanic base of mere (sea, lake), which is cognate with the Latin mare, and related words in many European languages; plus the suffix -ish (of or belonging to a person or thing, of the nature or character of).

Sources: Wiktionary, Reverso, OED, bab.la dictionary

Les mots de la semaine

By Simon
français English Cymraeg Brezhoneg
vaciller; danser to flicker (light) fflachio; neidio trabellat; horellat
le vacillement flicker (flames) naid; dychlamiad horelladenn
la lueur flicker (light) llygedyn skleur
la coupure de courant power cut toriad trydan troc’h tredan
le véhicule haut high-sided vehicle cerbyd ochrau uchel karbed uhel (?)
se retourner to overturn troi drosodd treiñ
marécageux marshy corslyd, corsiog, siglennog geunieg; gwazheg
le marais; le marécage marsh cors gwern; gwazh
le marais salant; le salin salt marsh morfa heli palud-holen; holenek

Playing and sounding

By Simon

The other day I discovered that to play in Italian is giocare or divertirsi, but if you’re playing a musical instruments the word you need is suonare, which also means to ring, sound, strike or toot. So I can say, Suono la chitarra, il piano(forte), il mandolino, il flauto dolce e il fischietto. (I play the guitar, piano, mandolin, recorder and tin whistle.)

You can also use this verb to talk about striking clocks: l’orologio ha suonato le cinque (the clock struck five) and ringing phones: sta suonando il telefono (the phone is ringing). Also to talk about metaphorical sounds: Potrà suonare avventato, da un lato troppo aggressivo e dall’altro troppo ottimistico. (That may sound presumptuous, too aggressive for some, too optimistic for others.)

Related expressions include:

– fare suonare = to misuse, to over-use, to abuse
– suonare a morto = to knell
– suonare come ritornello = to reprise
– suonare per strada = to busk

In English you use play for both playing instruments and playing games, you can also play around while playing an instrument – how would you say that in Italian, or in other languages?

Welsh has chwarae as the general word for play and canu (to sing) for playing instruments, especially harps, though chwarae is also used for instruments.

In Mandarin there is 玩 (wán) for general play, while the words for playing instruments depend on the type of instrument: 拉 (lā), to pull, is used for bowed instruments such as violins and cellos; 吹 (chuī), to blow, is used for wind instruments; 弹 [彈] (tán), to pluck, is used for string instruments like guitars; 打 (dǎ), to beat/strike, is used for percussion instruments, and 演奏 (yǎnzòu) is a general word for playing an instrument or performing.

Do other languages has separate words for playing instruments and playing games?

Sources: Collins Italian Dictionary, bab.la dictionary

Les mots de la semaine

By Simon
français English Cymraeg Brezhoneg
se multiplier comme des lapins to breed like rabbits magu fel cwningod
un raccourci; un moyen rapide short cut llwybr llygad/tarw berradenn
prendre un raccourci to take a short cut mynd y ffordd gyntaf;
dilyn llwybr llygad/tarw		 hent miliner
une borne bollard postyn; clymbost matezh
faire la une;
faire la première page		 to be front-page news bod yn brif newyddion;
bod ar y dudalen flaen		 bezañ a bajenn gentañ (?)
un demi-tour (lit);
un revirement,
une volte-face (fig)		 U-turn tro pedol hanterdro; distroenn;
faire volte-face to do a U-turn (fig) gwneud tro pedol ober hanterdro (?)

Russian melancholy?

By Simon

The other day I was trying to learn some adjectives in Russian, and noticed that there seemed to be more Russian words for sad (9) than for happy (4), at least in one dictionary I checked (bab.la). This might be a coincidence as in other dictionaries are more words for happy than for sad. In fact, combining the words together gives us nine words for happy and ten for sad.

Words for happy include:

– счастливый = happy (also: fortunate, lucky, providential, blessed)
– весёлый = happy (also: gay, cheery, fun, hilarious)
– довольный = happy (also: glad, pleased, amused, content)
– удачный = happy (also: successful, felicitous, chancy, fortunate)
– благополучный = happy (also: safe, trouble-free)
– ликующий = happy (also: jubilant, exultant, gleeful, elate, cookahoop, triumphant)
– радостный = happy (also: jolly, joyful, joyous glad, merry, cheery, high, gleeful, frabjous)
– удачливый = happy (also: lucky, successful, prosperous, fluky)
– улыбчивый = happy (also: smiling)

Words for sad include:

– прискорбный = sad (also: sorry, lamentable, regrettable, grievous)
– грустный = sad (also: melancholy, wailful, lamentable, minor)
– печальный = sad (also: down, sorrowful, deplorable, dolorous)
– тёмный = sad (also: dark, dirty, cimmerian, darksome)
– унылый = sad (also: moody, dreary, chap-fallen, cheerless)
– ужасный = sad (also: awful, horrible, terrible, dire)
– отчаянный = sad (also: desperate, foolhardy, hotshot, reckless)
– тусклый = sad (also: dim, gloomy, blear, bleary)
– тяжелый = sad (also: heavy, difficult, hard, grinding)
– досадный = sad (also: annoying, provoking, pesky, plaguesome, vexatious)

I wondered if this might reflect the reputed Russian melancholy nature of the Russian character. Do you think there’s anything in this?

Are all of these words in common use, or are some used more than others?

Even if this has no particular significance, it does illustrate the difficulty of choosing the right word when translating from one language to another.

Sources: http://en.bab.la/dictionary/english-russian/, Reverso, EUdict

Klinken

By Simon

Klok / Bel (bell)

Last week I learnt an interesting Dutch word – klinken – which means to rivet, sound, ring, chime, toll, peal, knell, pledge, clink (glasses), (drink a) toast; to appear to be, seem, sound; and clinking. I particularly like the past tense forms of this word – klonk and geklonken.

Here are some examples of usage:

– die naam klinkt me bekend (in die oren) = that name sounds familiar to me
– dat klinkt mooi = that sounds nice
– het klonk me als muziek in de oren = it was music to my ears
– Waar hebben die woorden eerder geklonken? = Where have I heard those words before?

Here are some similar words and expressions:

– klink = (door)handle; latch
– klinker = brick; vowel
– medeklinker = consonant (also consonant)
– klinken op = to drink a toast to; to drink to; to toast
– laten klinken = to sound
– vals klinken (“to sound false”) = to jangle; to be off/out of key; to be/sound out of tune
– geklingel = jingle
– klingelen = to jingle; tinkle (also tingelen, rinkelen & kletteren)

The word vals in vals klinken can be translated as ‘false’, but also means mischievous, vicious, nasty, malicious and spurious. It can also be combined with spelen (to play) to make vals spelen – to cheat.

The English word clink possibly comes from klinken, and the clink, as a slang word for prison, comes from the prison in Southwark in London called The Clink, the name of which is possibly onomatopoeic and derives from the sound of metal doors being closed, or the rattling of the prisoners’ chains. The English words clonk and clunk are thought to be onomatopoeic in origin, while the word clank might come from the Dutch word klank, which means sound or tone.

What sounds do bells make in other languages?

Sources: bab.la Dictionary, vanDale, dictionary.sensagent.com, SYSTRANet, interglot.com, OED.