Today's bit of linguistic fun

[oloriel]

Non-Tolkienists probably won't want to know.

So, completely by coincidence and through channels that shall remain unnamed (*cough* dA *cough), today I learned how the Chinese translators of the Silmarillion rendered Maedhros in Chinese, namely, 梅斯罗斯 (mei(2)si(1)luo(2)si(1)Of course, that translates to nothing sensible, just being a rough

Comments

[elenbarathi]

ROFL, such a girly name indeed! And it's makin' me think of plum wine, which is the Drink of Love.

I've always thought that Maitimo Nelyafinwe must have gotten his Sindarin name because of his hair. In the Etymologies, Tolkien writes that Maedhros means 'glint of metal', and 'plum-like silk-like' would apply just as well to coppery Elven hair.

Oh, that hair. *swoonTHUD!*

[macalla_]

*language squee*
*language love*

[ladyelleth]

*sniggerfit* This is fantastic.

So. Maedhros on Himring. Does that make him the plums that were in the icebox?

>>
<<

*runs*

[shadowbrides]

forgive me, they were delicious

*chortles*

[furius]

Actually, it isn't that girly.

Granted, the 梅 part is plum, but the rest of it is actually..quite meaningless except as sounds? 罗 is more commonly scene as part of a name. 斯 has a variety of meanings, but none of it is evoked in combination with the other characters.

I'm not sure where you're getting the silk from...丝 is silk, not 斯. In terms of just sounds, 罗斯 actually sounds like screw (not the verb, but the tool).

Messy Loss is a plausible way of how it transliterates back to English though XD

Re:

[oloriel]

Why does everybody think that I mistook 斯 for 丝? I can read! I swear!
My dictionary says for 罗, luo(2): "lightweight fabric; silk gauze; light silk". It doesn't say that it's apparently so archaic that nobody knows it anymore.

And yeah, the "meaningless except as sounds" is what I was trying to express with that long-winded paragraph about Falankefu etc.

FWIW, "Messy" sounds girly to me, too - kinda like "Missy".

Re:

[furius]

Because if you're using 罗 as silk, it's usually in combination with another character. Like, 罗衣 is silk clothing, Or say something like 罗织 silk fabric. It's not usually read as "silk" when just floating around. That's more 桑罗 (mulberry silk...) XD It is somewhat archaic, I'll grant you that.

I think Missy would definitely imply another character for sound instead of plum. XD

[oloriel]

Aaah, I see!

Of course. Not to mention that "Messy" would be an awful name, no matter whether for a girl or boy. XD

[samtyr]

I love your posts like this. :)