Translation into English, with a dose of word-making

[rusquen]

I'm translating my story, originally written in Russian, into English. Part of the setting has a distinct Slavic flavour, which I really want to preserve, but, being bilingual, I have issues appreciating just how confusing all my translations and transcriptions look to anglophone speakers

Comments

[mimerki]

(1) It would be perfectly regular: knez's.
(1a) Probably "knezal" though I like the look of "knezhal" and it tastes a bit more like an organic formation in English.
(1b) Not to me, but if you made a knees/knez play on words I would get it.

[boogieshoes]

FWIW, for Czar, the adjective form is Czarist (ie, Czarist Russian, Czarist ideals...). I agree that 'Knezist' would sound... a little odd, and I'd go with Knezhal

[anonymous]

"Prince" originates from the ruler of a principality, i.e. a minor king, you could say. Modern audiences are somewhat more immediately familiar with the other meaning of the word, i.e. king's son, thanks to Disney, but the former meaning is definitely still valid

[marycatelli]

It originates from Augustus Caesar's modest title of Princeps civitatis, or First Citizen, which is why it can also mean "a sovereign regardless of title or sex."

(hops off pedant soapbox.)

hehe=/=heehee

[tamtrible]

Personally, at least, I use those for 2 different kinds of laugh. Hehehe sounds almost like a dog panting or something, with an "eh" kind of e (like "meh"), heeheehee is more high-pitched with a distinct "eee" sound to it. Hehehe is more... diabolical or sly, heeheehee is more gleeful.

[carmarthen]

1. Knez's.
1.a. None of those really sound like an English adjective to me, and they also don't really sound Russian (to my ear), so they're just kind of confusing? Knezi would probably be how I'd construct an adjective, but I may be a bad data point on "what sounds normal in English" for various reasons.
1.b. I'd pronounce it knehz if you spell it knez, and I'd say the 'k', so no, nothing like 'knees' (neez). (If you spell it 'knyaz', which I prefer, I'd pronounce it knyahz.)

2. In that case I'd keep everything transliterated rather than translated.

That said, a knez sounds a lot like a prince or duke of a principality or city-state (e.g. medieval Italy) to me, and I think from context that it would be clear that it's a rank that carries more independence than a royal prince or a duke within a system like, say, the English one. So yes, those translations would be a bit ambiguous, but I think one could work.

[haldane]

I would be tempted to use "knegal" from your options, as it looks a lot like the English "regnal" : an adjective relating to royalty: for instance "regnal number" distinguishes monarchs with the same name such as Elizabeth the First and Elizabeth the Second.

Also I would have no problems with reading a book with "Gousudar" as a person's title. It doesn't have any "difficult" letter clusters in it for English readers,