¡Hola! Me gustaría hacer un pequeño glosario multilingüe, provisto de las palabras más comunes que podemos encontrar en un cuento de hadas. I'd like to make a small multilingual glossary made up of the most common words we can find in a fairy tale. Espero tu aporte De antemano, gracias
Sorry, but there is no abstract "witches" in Russian fairy tales, it would be impossible to find a Russian analogue for gnomes, fairies and trolls, etc. Of course, I can provide a simple translation (troll = тролль /troll'/, gnome = гном /gnom/ etc.), but I don't see much sense here. Should I still do that? And, I suppose, with other languags (Japanese, for example) there could be even bigger problems.
Maybe that is the case of words such as "gnome", "troll" (and perhaps "ogre" and "elf"; probably they just have an "adaptation" of those words, or even "borrowings" form any West European language), but the other ones, buddy, I am quite sure that they have an analogue word in almost every existing language in the world. It surprises me that, as you say, "most languages have not words to say wood, castle, sword, poison, etc." Not like that.
Of course they have, but the words like "castle", "spell" and "giant" may have no much to do with folk fairy tales. For example, many analogues of "knight" exist in Russian, but the more typical hero of fary tales is "a strong man" - a warrior, and not necessary of noble origin: "богатырь".
English - Russian 1. wood - лес /les/ 2. witch - "ведьма" /ved'ma/ (f.), a female sorcerer- "колдунья" /koldunya/ Such a general character doesn't exist in Russian tales, but there is a close personification: "Баба-Яга" /Baba-Yaga/ (literally ~ "Old Woman Yaga") 3. witchcraft, sorcery - "колдовство" /koldovstvo/ 4. knight - archaic "витязь" /vityaz'/ (an ancient loanword from Baltic languages); "рыцарь" /rytsar'/ (a late loanword from German language, through West Slavic languages; doesn't exist in fairy tales at all); ~"богатырь" /bogatyr'/ (a strong man, a warrior, not necessary of noble origin; a very ancient loanword from Turkic languages; they are quite widespread characters in fairy tales, and main heroes of Russian heroic epic). 5. castle - "замок" /zamok/. You hardly can meet this word in Russian fairy tales. Historically, Russian medieval feudals usually didn't build such a remote, strong fortified personal houses. The word itself is a calque from a German "Schloß", loaned from West Slavic languages. 6. spell - "заклинание" /zaklinaniye/; the word "чары" /chary/ although will be more suitable here. 7. bogeyman - m.b. "бука" /buka/ (a very, very abstract creature used only to threaten naughty children) 8. maiden - "девица" /devitsa/ 9. goblin - "гоблин" /goblin/ (doesn't exist in fairy tales); browny - домовой /domovoy/ (a spirit of the house, usually kind; small, stocky and shaggy old man). But I never heard a fairy-tale about a domovoy - probably because Russian peasants believe in them even nowadays, and domovoy naturally demands a high respect, so he shouldn't be mentioned in vain. 10. dragon - "дракон" /drakon/ (doesn't exist); similar personification is Змей Горыныч /Zmey Gorynytch/, a fire-spitting dragon with 3 (or more) heads; literally "Serpent, son of Goryn(a)". A character (usually evil) of fairy tales; sometimes he participates in heroic epic, and even in modern joking stories. 11. dwarf - "гном" /gnom/; "карлик" /karlik/ (a small man, a pygmy). Doesn't exist in fairy tales. 12. sword - меч /metch/; also a sabre - сабля /sablya/ is very popular. 13. elf - эльф /el'f/. Isn't found in Russian fairy tales. 14. giant - великан /velikan/. Isn't something usual in fairy tales, I must mention. 15. gnome - гном /gnom/. They don't exist in Russian fairy tales. 16. fairy - фея /feya/. All the same. 17. magic - волшебство /volshebstvo/ 18. monster - чудовище /chudovishche/, чудище /chudishche/ 19. ogre - людоед /lyudoyed/ ("human-eater"). Not a typical character anyway; but Baba-Yaga in some tales eats people. 20. potion - зелье /zelye/ 21. princess - княжна /knyazhna/, царевна /tsarevna/, королевна /korolevna/, королевична /korolevichna/; the most equal variant is "принцесса" /printsessa/, but it surely is not used in fairy tales. 22. prince - "царевич" /tsarevitch/, "королевич" /korolevitch/; "принц" /prints/ (see "принцесса"). 23. troll - "тролль" /troll/. No analogues. 24. poison - "яд" /yad/, "отрава" /otrava/; more frequently in fairy tales - "зелье" /zelye/ (syn. to "potion" in some contexts)
English - Spanish - Greek Wood - bosque - ξύλο (ksilo, n.). The magic wand (which is made of wood) is called μαγικό ραβδί (maʝiko ravði, n.) Witch - bruja - μάγισσα (maʝisa, f.) Witchcraft, sorcery - brujería - μαγεία (maʝia, f.) Knight - caballero - ιππότης (ipotis, m.) Castle - castillo - κάστρο (kastro, n.) Spell - conjuro - ξόρκι (ksorki, n.) Boogeyman - cuco - μπαμπούλας (bambulas, m.) Maiden - doncella - literally παρθένα (parθena, f., the virgin. In fairy tales, βασιλοπούλα-vasilopula, f., the little queen->princess and πριγκηποπούλα-priŋgipopula, f., the little princess are more common) Goblin - duende - καλικάντζαρος (kalikantzaros, m.) Dragon - dragón - δράκος (ðrakos, m.) Dwarf - enano - νάνος (nanos, m.) Sword - espada - ξίφος (ksifos, n.) Elf - geniecillo - ξωτικό (ksotiko, n.) Giant - gigante - γίγαντας (ʝiɣandas, m.) Gnomo - gnome - ξωτικό (ksotiko, n.) Fairy - hada - νεράϊδα (neraiða, f.) Magic - magia - μαγεία (maʝia, f.) Monster - monstruo - τέρας (teras, n.) Ogre - ogro - τελώνιο (telonio, n.) Potion - poción - μαγικό φίλτρο (maʝiko filtro, n.) Princess - princesa - πριγκήπισσα (priŋgipisa, f., or πριγκηποπούλα-priŋgipopula, f., the little princess) Prince - príncipe - πρίγκηπας (priŋgipas, m.) Troll - trol - τελώνιο (telonio, n.) or θεριό (θerʝo, n.) Poison - veneno - δηλητήριο (ðilitirio, n.) [ð] is a voiced dental non-sibilant fricative [ɣ] is a voiced velar fricative [θ] is a voiceless dental non-sibilant fricative [ʝ] is a voiced palatal fricative [ŋ] is a velar nasal
Hungarian erdő - wood boszorka - witch varázslat - witchcraft, sorcery lovag - knight palota - castle vrázsige - spell mumus - bogeyman szűz - maiden kobold - goblin sárkány - dragon törpe - dwarf kard - sword tündér - elf óriás - giant törpe - gnome tündér - fairy varázslat - magic szörny - monster óriás - ogre varázsital - potion hercegnő - princess herceg - prince manó - troll méreg - poison
Turkish-English Tahta/ahşap - wood Cadı - witch Cadılık - witchcraft, sorcery şövalye - knight Kale - castle Büyü - spell Umacı - bogeyman Bakire - maiden Gulyabani - goblin Ejderha - dragon cüce - dwarf Kılıç - sword N/A - elf (there is not a word which gives the eact meaning of elf) Dev - giant cin cüce - gnome Peri - fairy sihir - magic canavar - monster N/A - ogre iksir - potion Prenses - princess Prens - prince N/A - troll Zehir- poison
But you have translations of foreign fairy tales, haven't you? For instance Grimm brothers? Or you change everything while translating?
Here is the glossary for English - Telugu, a Dravidian Language, spoken by a large number of people in South India. English - Telugu (script) - Telugu Pronunciation in Roman Script P.S.: I couldn't immediately think of the Telugu counterparts for two or three words, will post here when I get them.
Czech language Bosque - wood - les Bruja - witch - čarodějnice Brujería - witchcraft, sorcery - čáry Caballero - knight - rytíř Castillo - castle - hrad Conjuro - spell - kouzlo Cuco - bogeyman - strašák Doncella - maiden - děvče Duende - goblin - skřet Dragón - dragon - drak Enano - dwarf - trpaslík Espada - sword - meč Geniecillo - elf - elf Gigante - giant - obr Gnomo - gnome - skřítek Hada - fairy - víla Magia - magic - magie Monstruo - monster - příšera, obluda Ogro - ogre - zlobr Poción - potion - lektvar Princesa - princess - princezna Príncipe - prince - princ Trol - troll - trol Veneno - poison - jed
Catalan wood - bosc witch - bruixot (male), bruixa (female witchcraft, sorcery - Bruixeria knight - cavaller castle - castell Spell - conjur, encís boogeyman - home del sac (rarely, if ever, used in tales) maiden - donzella, fadrina goblin - donyet (general evil small humanoid), simiot (beast-like evil humanoid) dragon - drac, tarrasca, víbria (female) dwarf - nan sword - espasa elf - elf, foiet giant - gegant gnome - gnom fairy - fada magic - màgia monster - monstre ogre - ogre potion - poció, pòcima princess - princesa prince - príncep troll - troll poison - verí
English - Filipino Wood - kahoy Witch - bruha Witchcraft, sorcery - salamangka Castle - castilyo Spell - sumpa Boogeyman - moo moo Maiden - Princessa Goblin / elf / dwarf - duende Dragon - dragón Sword - espada Giant - higante Fairy - diwata Magic - magika Monster - Halimaw Ogre - ogro Potion - gayuma Princess - prinsesa Prince - prínsepe Poison - lason
English - Serbian wood - šuma Which - veštica Whichcraft - veštičarenje Castle - dvorac, zamak Spell - čin Boogeyman - hmm. drekavac, strašilo Goblin - goblin Elf - vilenjak Dwarf - patuljak Dragon - zmaj Sword - mač Giant - džin Fairy - vila Magic - magija Monster - čudovište Potion - napitak Princess - princeza Prince - princ Poison - otrov
English - French wood - bois Whitch - sorcier (masculin) sorcière (fem) Whitchcraft - sorcèlerie Castle - chateau Spell - sort Boogeyman - croquemitain Goblin - goblin Elf - Elfe Dwarf - nain Dragon - dragon Sword - épée Giant - géant Fairy - fée Magic - magie Monster - monstre Potion - potion Princess - princesse Prince - prince Poison - poison
Correcting n completing Hungarian: erdő/rengeteg/kerekerdő - wood boszorka/boszorkány - witch varázslat - witchcraft, sorcery lovag/vitéz - knight palota - castle varázsige - spell mumus - bogeyman leány/szűz - maiden kobold/manó - goblin sárkány - dragon törpe - dwarf kard - sword tündér - elf óriás - giant gnóm/törpe - gnome tündér - fairy varázslat - magic szörny - monster óriás - ogre as giant, Shrek is an ogre varázsital - potion királylány/hercegnő - princess királyfi/herceg - prince manó/óriás/szörnyeteg/troll - troll (it depends) méreg - poison
