Ask a Question

(Create a thread)
Go Back   Spanish language learning forums > Spanish & English Languages > Translations


What language is this?

 

If you need help translating a sentence or longer piece of text, use this forum. For translations or definitions of a single word or idiom, use the vocabulary forum.


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old August 14, 2010, 09:18 AM
El Teboso's Avatar
El Teboso El Teboso is offline
Opal
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: :D
Posts: 12
Native Language: English
El Teboso is on a distinguished road
What language is this?

I know this isn't spanish, there's no way It could be. A friend of mine says he found this written on the back of a piece of scrap paper at the downtown library in one of the books. What I wan't to know is: Is he just pulling my leg? Or is this an actual to goodness language? I know what his handwriting looks like, and what's on the paper doesn't match up with his handwriting. Plus the scrap paper looks pretty yellow and old. It's cracked around the edges, too, which means it was written on paper with tinges of acid in the pulp.

I know enough about that to know that most paper producers these days produce acid-free paper, so It would probably have to be at least 20 years old, I think? I'm not sure. In any case, anyone have any idea? It could be some kind of code, I think, too... Hmm...

Te Jatra mi jana, y nieda a lastar varientras a estoy jiera. -- Montesão
Reply With Quote
   
Get rid of these ads by registering for a free Tomísimo account.
  #2  
Old August 14, 2010, 10:01 AM
Gina Gina is offline
Opal
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 22
Native Language: English
Gina is on a distinguished road
Normally when I want to know what language something is in, I use the "Detect language" feature on Google Translate. Google Translate says that is in Spanish, though I don't recognise many of the words. I thought it was maybe Portuguese because of the letter ã, but no.

The actual translation (from Google Translate, which is not trustworthy but can help us here):Jatra you my jana, and nieda to Last varientras to'm jiera. - Montesão

This is mangled worse than it would normally be. This seems to suggest it is a language that Google Translate doesn't know, and it has picked out the few words it recognises and likened it to Spanish (if you compare this to the original, you can see the words it has translated are Spanish words). It is probably a dialect that is related to Spanish.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old August 14, 2010, 10:20 AM
El Teboso's Avatar
El Teboso El Teboso is offline
Opal
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: :D
Posts: 12
Native Language: English
El Teboso is on a distinguished road
Hmm... Where is the Detect language feature on google translate? I can't seem to find it. Thanks a lot, gina.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old August 14, 2010, 10:39 AM
Gina Gina is offline
Opal
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 22
Native Language: English
Gina is on a distinguished road
If you go into the list of languages, you'll see "Detect language" in there, above the main list.

It might not have given a definite answer in this case, but I find it can be very useful sometimes (unlike the actual translations from Google Translate, which are a bit dodgy in some languages, and really dodgy in others).
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old August 14, 2010, 11:15 AM
droe82 droe82 is offline
Opal
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Posts: 23
Native Language: English. I actually speak it pretty good.
droe82 is on a distinguished road
Does the handwriting look really practiced? Maybe if it's someone wasn't good at writing, there are gross spelling errors.

I searched for "Montesão" and got something about a Portuguese creole in Cape Verde. So there's always that possibility: it might not be a language proper but an extremely idiosyncratic dialect of another and therefore not readily translatable. I mean, I'm not saying it's necessarily Cape Verdean, but maybe something like that.

Teboso, do you live around a major population center?
__________________
No me corrijan. Me entristece y me arremeter contra alguien.

(Es broma. ¿Sí? ¿Sí? Sí. Soy muy gracioso. )

Last edited by droe82; August 14, 2010 at 11:35 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old August 14, 2010, 12:42 PM
Perikles's Avatar
Perikles Perikles is offline
Diamond
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Tenerife
Posts: 4,814
Native Language: Inglés
Perikles is on a distinguished road
@droe82: I see you have a sense of humour
Quote:
Native Language: English. I actually speak it pretty good
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old August 14, 2010, 04:00 PM
JPablo's Avatar
JPablo JPablo is offline
Diamond
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Southern California
Posts: 5,579
Native Language: Spanish (Castilian, peninsular)
JPablo is on a distinguished road
Seems that Droe82 is in the right path... but it is hard to say. There is a "Montesão" in Coimbra (north of Portugal) and another in Brazil...

Besides "Montesão" the other words do not seem Portuguese... so some kind of Creole, may be the answer...
__________________
Lo propio de la verdad es que se basta a sí misma, aquel que la posee no intenta convencer a nadie.
"An enemy is somebody who flatters you. A friend is somebody who criticizes the living daylights out of you."
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old August 14, 2010, 04:11 PM
Chris's Avatar
Chris Chris is offline
Pearl
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Mississippi USA
Posts: 215
Native Language: American English
Chris is on a distinguished road
I took out all the words that were making it show up as Spanish and it gave me "We are not yet able to translate from Occitan into English."

Okay I guess I'm a little uneducated on what Creole is. I thought it was of French decent and is what some people are called in New Orleans. Going to wikipedia now heh.

Jata you my naja, and granddaughter to Last greedy to'm balances. - Montesão

And that's what it says when I spell check with a Spanish dictionary (to my best guess...) and run it through Google Translate.

Last edited by Rusty; August 14, 2010 at 05:05 PM. Reason: merged back-to-back posts
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old August 14, 2010, 08:30 PM
Rusty's Avatar
Rusty Rusty is offline
Señor Speedy
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: USA
Posts: 11,299
Native Language: American English
Rusty has a spectacular aura aboutRusty has a spectacular aura about
My

I think it's safe to say that the sentence is not a recognized language.
It is either gibberish or a code of some sort.

There are many Spanish words in the sentence but, as everyone can see, they are a jumble.

The strange arrangement of the words got me thinking that it might be a hidden message of some sort. I soon noted that 'y nieda' could easily be changed to 'y nadie'. Intrigued, I did some more rearranging and came up with 'Ana, te quiero y nadie te va a lastimar mientras estoy'. This uses words and letters from both sides of the comma, and a few from the proper name, but I didn't employ them all (and I substituted or threw in extra ones). I think the 'j' that occurs only at the start of words is there to throw us off the scent.

Admitted, this was a stretch of my imagination, but if I'm right about a hidden message, all of a sudden that old bookmark takes on a deeper sense of meaning.
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old August 14, 2010, 09:35 PM
JPablo's Avatar
JPablo JPablo is offline
Diamond
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Southern California
Posts: 5,579
Native Language: Spanish (Castilian, peninsular)
JPablo is on a distinguished road
Well, hopefully Ana will get the message... otherwise we should ask Sophie Neveu and professor Langdon... (or Dan Brown for that matter!)
__________________
Lo propio de la verdad es que se basta a sí misma, aquel que la posee no intenta convencer a nadie.
"An enemy is somebody who flatters you. A friend is somebody who criticizes the living daylights out of you."
Reply With Quote
Reply

 

Link to this thread
URL: 
HTML Link: 
BB Code: 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Site Rules

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Language Immersion! satchrocks Teaching and Learning Techniques 15 February 01, 2010 10:12 AM
Oldest Language CrOtALiTo General Chat 7 January 12, 2009 10:51 PM
[Other] Should I learn other language CrOtALiTo Other Languages 31 October 13, 2008 01:45 PM
Why would I want to learn another language? Iris Other Languages 22 October 06, 2008 03:13 PM


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:29 AM.

Forum powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.

X