Request for multi-lingual list of "I Love You"
srinivas udumudi
=> >In Danish: "Jeg elsker dig."
=> >In Portuguese: "Eu te amo."
=> >In Spanish: "Yo te amo."
=> >In French: "Je t'aime." or "Je t'adore."
=> >In German: "Ich liebe Dich."
=> >In Esperanto: "Mi amas vin."
=> >In Swedish: "Jag alskar dig." -"alskar" starts with 'a' with
=> >In Finnish: "Rakastan Sinua."
=> >and In Bengali: "Ami Tomake Bhalobasi" (but sounds very stupid,i dont
=> > think nobody says that in real
=> > life, any takers? :) :)
"naenu ninnu praemistunnAnu" sounds very stupid too. is there any
better equivalent for "I love you" without necessarily being a
direct translation?
Also, what is there any better weay of saying "thanks" in Telugu
other than "krutagnatalu"?
-- srinivas
Ramana R. Juvvadi
>"naenu ninnu praemistunnAnu" sounds very stupid too. is there any
>better equivalent for "I love you" without necessarily being a
>direct translation?
Not every human emotion is expressed verbally. What is appropriate
for body language and what is appropriate for verbal language
is highly culture-dependent. "Naenu ninnu premisthunnanu" sounds
very stupid not because those words themselves are somehow less
powerful, but because our usual way of expression of this intention
is through body language.
One has to remember that American society is verbally very explicit.
Indian and Japanese are verbally very implicit. While there is a lot of
scope for misunderstanding in the implicit societies, there is
a problem of words losing all their meaning in explicit societies.
For example, when ever somebody complements my cooking I am never
sure whether that is part of the protocol or whether something
has really turned really well.
Coming back to the original question, the following might sound a little
less stupid in some situations when delivered in right tone.
" Nuvvu Naku Chala Nachchcavu"
" Nuvvante Naku Chala Ishtam"
>
>Also, what is there any better weay of saying "thanks" in Telugu
>other than "krutagnatalu"?
>
Again, thanks is not a part of our protocol. So there can not be an
exact equivalent. "Shukriya" is probably common in North India. For us,
in some situations "Chala Santosham" might be appropriate.
>-- srinivas
Ramana
nl...@cas.org
>=> >In Danish: "Jeg elsker dig."
>=> >In Portuguese: "Eu te amo."
>=> >In Spanish: "Yo te amo."
>=> >In French: "Je t'aime." or "Je t'adore."
>=> >In German: "Ich liebe Dich."
>=> >In Esperanto: "Mi amas vin."
>=> >In Swedish: "Jag alskar dig." -"alskar" starts with 'a' with
>=> >In Finnish: "Rakastan Sinua."
>=> >and In Bengali: "Ami Tomake Bhalobasi" (but sounds very stupid,i dont
>=> > think nobody says that in real
in Oriya: "Mu Tumoku Premo Koruchi"
>"naenu ninnu praemistunnAnu" sounds very stupid too. is there any
>better equivalent for "I love you" without necessarily being a
>direct translation?
"ninnu lavvADutunna" {when you say like this, you don't have to include
"neetO nA prEmATa" {"nEnu". The verb emphasizes clearly that you are the
"ninnE prEmADutunnA" { person who is loving the girl "Yenkatalacchmi".
>
>Also, what is there any better weay of saying "thanks" in Telugu
>other than "krutagnatalu"?
"RuNapaDunTAnu"
"maruvalEni mI mElu"
> "Dhyanksu" (Kind of stupid)
> "Thankulu"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Paranandi Lakshmi Narasimham
CAS
Columbus
Oh 43202
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed above are not those of the CAS.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Seetamraju
>In article <1cfi25...@bigboote.WPI.EDU> udu...@bigwpi.WPI.EDU (srinivas udumudi) writes:
> in Oriya: "Mu Tumoku Premo Koruchi"
>>"naenu ninnu praemistunnAnu" sounds very stupid too. is there any
>>better equivalent for "I love you" without necessarily being a
>>direct translation?
> "ninnu lavvADutunna" {when you say like this, you don't have to include
> "neetO nA prEmATa" {"nEnu". The verb emphasizes clearly that you are the
> "ninnE prEmADutunnA" { person who is loving the girl "Yenkatalacchmi".
caala bavunadi palana gaaru. naaku maroka vaakyam taTTindi :-
nuvvu_nEnu kiri_kiri.
Seetamraju Udaya Bhaskar Sarma
(email : seetam @ ece7 . eng . wayne . edu)
Anonymous
>>better equivalent for "I love you" without necessarily being a
>>direct translation?
I simply wish to share my experience with using these words.
Recently I happened to have fallen in love with another person
and it was an easier thing to say "I love you" than "Naenu ninnu
PremistunnAnu". But when the person I am in love with insisted
to find out how to say "I love you" in Telugu and started telling it
in Telugu, I should confess that it sure sounded sweet. It was a
little uncomfortable in the beginning but, once I was used to it a
little it isn't any longer stupid for the words are no longer
superfluous.
I believe that the language is really a great one and that it was
the non-usage and the impact of English words which have led to
the obscurance (is that right usage!) of colloquial and emotional
expressions. Please do not be so embarassed to say it if you find
a person who elicits such emotions from you. It is just a matter
of familiarity and I will bet it will no longer sound stupid.
Regards.
Srinivas V.B. Udumudi
=> >better equivalent for "I love you" without necessarily being a
=> >direct translation?
=>
=> Not every human emotion is expressed verbally. What is appropriate
=> for body language and what is appropriate for verbal language
=> is highly culture-dependent. "Naenu ninnu premisthunnanu" sounds
=> very stupid not because those words themselves are somehow less
=> powerful, but because our usual way of expression of this intention
=> is through body language.
What you say is true. I have never seen "naenu ninnu praemistunnAnu"
used before and thinking over it for sometime led me to the same
conclusion. But I am really not satisfied with it. I have faced the
same problem when people asked me for the Telugu equivalents for many
common English phrases. When a person is curious about my language
the words/phrases he's first/most interested to know would be:
the equivalents for --
- hello
- bye
- thanks
- sorry
- i love you
- how are you
- what's your name, etc.
Except for the last two, I had problem giving the equivalnets for all
the others! Though I always gave answers like -- namaskAram, veLLosthAnu
or maLLikaluddAm, krutagnatalu, kshaminchanDi etc., they sounded very
artificial to me, and I always had trouble explaining to the person
why I have a trouble with them. I always ended up giving the above
explanation (same as the one you gave). But I really can't say that we
don't use those terms too.
We *do* use those phrases and whenever we use them we end up using english
rather than using "kshaminchanDi" or "dhanyavAdAlu". Does that mean that
there's a gradual change in our culture that makes use these terms more
than before? May be just a bit westernization.
An interesting incident --
Once when I was at my grand-fathers's place [a village called - Gumparru,
near pAlakollu], I happened to step on a person's leg accidentally. Antae!
AviDagAru nannu nAnA boothulu tiTTaTAm modalupeTTindi! naenu gabukkuna
taerukuni, "sorry andee!" anaesAnu. AviDa oka kshanam Agi, maLLi tiTTaTam
prarambhinchindi.
sangataeTanTae, Avidaki English rAdu! "sorry" anna padam eppudoo
vinalaedanukuntA! AemcheyyAlO tOchaka, "kshaminchanDi" anaesAnu, eesAri.
nAkae navvochindi (kAdu, aedupu) adi vini :(
-- srinivas
nl...@cas.org
>In article <1992Oct26.2...@cas.org>, nl...@cas.org () wrote:
>> >
>> in Oriya: "Mu Tumoku Premo Koruchi"
>>
>
>P.S. I have never actually heard anyone say "I love you" in Oriya, so while
>I guess your phrase is accurate, I'm not sure how much it is in use.
>
>P.P.S. Sorry for using group space, but the mailer bounced.
>
> /- Devjani Mishra, Yale University
> / / mis...@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu
> ___/ _ _ _ ___ di...@minerva.cs.yale.edu
> / / / | / / /
>/__/_ /_ |/ /__/_ "What's right is what's left when everything
>
> else is wrong." - Robin Williams
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Dear Mishra Baboo!
Ajya! Aapono kimithi ochonthi?
Aapano odisaru aasichonthi ki?
Kono kotha?
chiti lekhonthu.
nomoshkaar.
Paranandi
Paranandi Lakshmi Narasimham
CAS
Columbus
43202
Disclaimer: Opinions above are not those of the CAS
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Shiva Shivakumar
>=> >In Danish: "Jeg elsker dig."
>=> >In Portuguese: "Eu te amo."
>=> >In Spanish: "Yo te amo."
>=> >In French: "Je t'aime." or "Je t'adore."
>=> >In German: "Ich liebe Dich."
>=> >In Esperanto: "Mi amas vin."
>=> >In Swedish: "Jag alskar dig." -"alskar" starts with 'a' with
>=> >In Finnish: "Rakastan Sinua."
>=> >and In Bengali: "Ami Tomake Bhalobasi" (but sounds very stupid,i dont
>=> > think nobody says that in real
>=> > life, any takers? :) :)
>
>
>"naenu ninnu praemistunnAnu" sounds very stupid too. is there any
I feel the same way about "Naan unnai kaadhalikkiren". Why?
>better equivalent for "I love you" without necessarily being a
>direct translation?
Common people in India are very implicit about expressing love. The
direct translation sounds artificial because no one uses it. At least in Tamil
I do not know what common people say to each other.
For me the Tamil equivalent brings up the image of actors in puranic costumes
saying this to heavily made up women. In the 'modern' setting, the hero suddenlyswitches to English and says "I love you" -- yuck !
The beauty of "I love you" is it can be said by a person to another in various
types of relationships. In Indian languages they are distinct.
>
>Also, what is there any better weay of saying "thanks" in Telugu
>other than "krutagnatalu"?
>
>-- srinivas
>
In Tamil, we say 'Thanks' !
>
>
Bengali, Telugu, Tamil... I hope at least ONE Indian language (rather the folks
that speak it) does not have this problem.
Jagadisan Shivakumar
RANGANATHAN A
>>"naenu ninnu praemistunnAnu" sounds very stupid too. is there any
> "ninnu lavvADutunna" {when you say like this, you don't have to include
> "neetO nA prEmATa" {"nEnu". The verb emphasizes clearly that you are the
> "ninnE prEmADutunnA" { person who is loving the girl "Yenkatalacchmi".
>
Hey, no fair. How does a girl say it to the guy in question ?
Arathi
--
See simplicity in the complicated
- Lao Tzu
Sreedhar Barakam
>is highly culture-dependent. "Naenu ninnu premisthunnanu" sounds
>very stupid not because those words themselves are somehow less
>powerful, but because our usual way of expression of this intention
>is through body language.
This is true. This may be due to the fact that most marriages take place
based on a short term contact which often does not lead to love but only
to liking before marriage. So, it is not common to have to express love
verbally.
>sure whether that is part of the protocol or whether something
>has really turned really well.
I think you can guess whether it has truly turned out well or not without
much problem. Protocols are there to make one feel better by sticking
to a civilized behaviour, and I donot see any harm they can do.
>Again, thanks is not a part of our protocol. So there can not be an
>exact equivalent. "Shukriya" is probably common in North India. For us,
>in some situations "Chala Santosham" might be appropriate.
>Ramana
Why not say thanks. When english language adopts Indian words, I wonder
why our Indian languages do not "formally" adopt english words, or have they?
Sreedhar Barakam.
alok.vijayvargia
> In article <1cfi25...@bigboote.WPI.EDU> udu...@bigwpi.WPI.EDU (srinivas udumudi) writes:
> >=> >In English: "I love you."
> >=> >In Danish: "Jeg elsker dig."
> >=> >In Portuguese: "Eu te amo."
> >=> >In Spanish: "Yo te amo."
> >=> >In French: "Je t'aime." or "Je t'adore."
> >=> >In German: "Ich liebe Dich."
> >=> >In Esperanto: "Mi amas vin."
> >=> >In Swedish: "Jag alskar dig." -"alskar" starts with 'a' with
> >=> >In Finnish: "Rakastan Sinua."
> >=> >and In Bengali: "Ami Tomake Bhalobasi" (but sounds very stupid,i dont
> >=> > think nobody says that in real
> >=> > life, any takers? :) :)
> >
>
> saying this to heavily made up women. In the 'modern' setting, the hero suddenlyswitches to English and says "I love you" -- yuck !
>
> that speak it) does not have this problem.
>
> Jagadisan Shivakumar
In the 'physical language' it is a 'kiss on the lips'.
Nothing beats it ...
alok
Ramana R. Juvvadi
>Except for the last two, I had problem giving the equivalnets for all
>the others! Though I always gave answers like -- namaskAram, veLLosthAnu
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>or maLLikaluddAm, krutagnatalu, kshaminchanDi etc., they sounded very
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>artificial to me, and I always had trouble explaining to the person
I don't think those are very artificial though handshake is making
namaskaram very obsolete. Depending on the appearence and age of the person
and the social situation I can use namaskaram without feeling awkward.
Sometime I am caught in an imbroglio starting the wrong protocol.
Another problem I found was with greeting girls/ladies. Again, age and
appearence do offer guidance. Sometimes you shake your hand. Sometimes
you grin like a stupid 'hee hee'. With elderly ladies you might go in for
namskaram. Some times I feel awkward lifting my hands and folding, so I
might go in for a namaste with the right tone and modulation, but with
no bodily action backing up. All in all I can't say I avoid making myself
a fool all the time.
>We *do* use those phrases and whenever we use them we end up using english
>rather than using "kshaminchanDi" or "dhanyavAdAlu". Does that mean that
>there's a gradual change in our culture that makes use these terms more
>than before? May be just a bit westernization.
It is not possible to avoid westernization when they are so ahead of us
in science and technology. A lead in technology has its ripple effect on
economy and culture. If a group of people want to avoid westernization
they can start popularizing the usage of 'Kshaminchandi', 'Manninchandi',
"Dhanyanvadalu'. It is a question of getting used to. However, I don't
think one should get too carried away too far with Telugizing his life.
>sangataeTanTae, Avidaki English rAdu! "sorry" anna padam eppudoo
>vinalaedanukuntA! AemcheyyAlO tOchaka, "kshaminchanDi" anaesAnu, eesAri.
>
Actually there is a way of saying sorry
when you trip on somebody. Oka sari ameni muttukoni chetulu
kallakaddukovachchu. Personally, I am not very comfortable
doing that.
>nAkae navvochindi (kAdu, aedupu) adi vini :(
>
>-- srinivas
Ramana
Ramana R. Juvvadi
>This is true. This may be due to the fact that most marriages take place
>based on a short term contact which often does not lead to love but only
>to liking before marriage. So, it is not common to have to express love
>verbally.
I think you are mixing up two unrelated issues. Married people have as much
need for conveying the emotion 'I love you' as unmarried couples.
>Why not say thanks. When english language adopts Indian words, I wonder
>why our Indian languages do not "formally" adopt english words, or have they?
>
No language formally adopts any word. Thanks is a part of our language
in the sense that we tend to use it in our daily life and writers
do write it in their stories. As I was saying it is pointless to
search for an exact equivalent of a word. It is far better to describe
the social situation and ask for what would be appropriate. For example
you can translate 'Bon appetit' as 'Have a nice meal' (or Good Hunger!!)
but that would be pointless. You'll understand the 'Bon appetit' only if
you go to French speaking area. In the same vein, there is no satisfactory
equivalent to 'You are welcome' as a reply to 'Merci Beaucoup' in French.
When I went to Switzerland I felt very awkward of not knowing how to respond
for 'Merci Beaucoup'.
>Sreedhar Barakam.
Seetamraju
>=> In article <> udu...@bigwpi.WPI.EDU (srinivas udumudi) writes:
> the equivalents for --
>
> - hello
> - bye
> - thanks
> - sorry
> - i love you
> - how are you
> - what's your name, etc.
>
>Except for the last two, I had problem giving the equivalnets for all
>the others! Though I always gave answers like -- namaskAram, veLLosthAnu
>or maLLikaluddAm, krutagnatalu, kshaminchanDi etc., they sounded very
>artificial to me, and I always had trouble explaining to the person
In my childhood, my grandparents and relatives (especially those who lived in
villages) always corrected me when I used words like TaaTa and bye-bye. They
drilled into me the eneed to say things like `maLLi kaluddam_anDI'
`maLLi_ranDee', etc..
You see. The outlook is different. When two people meet, `niceties' like
`hello, how are U, how is Utr family' etc.. are a necessity in english.
Not in telugu and most indian languages. The equivalents of `pl. come'
and `kushalama' are the only `introductory' phrases used. But Never together.
i.e., the initial part of a meeting is highly procedural and regimentary in
english, while it the ending that is procedural in indian languages.
I think only americans use the `phrase' <see U later and take care>
which is definitely longer than the curt `dismissals' that other englishes
and european languages have. Dr. sanjiva prasad, might have a comment on
this given his knowledge of quite a few languages.
Seetamraju
>in the sense that we tend to use it in our daily life and writers
>do write it in their stories. As I was saying it is pointless to
This is true. A word gets into the vocabulary, but is not necessarily, what
is originally was.
Just an extreme example : kota srinivas rao in `Satruvu', uses thanx in a new way
which just goes to prove, that without accompanying cultural habits, the word
loses its character, and becomes somehting new.
Myself and a whole lot of people have used thanx for cases like when, I am
a guest at someone's place, and they serve U some snacks/drinks.
Westerners would definitely disapprove of the way thanx was used in such a
situation.
aa samayamu lO `thanx' becomes a word of acknowledgement to the hospitality
that you are receiving. acknowledging gracious hospitality is something
very indian, because we over do it. Atleast, we used to.
We all use thanx because, we are westernised in our habits. The only telugu
maaTa that I use frequently, (because, I walk always in a daze and bump people)
is kshamincanDI, and that I say very kurtly, which is as effective as a sorry.
Other tiems, `please' comes out of my mouth like `conga' when one is kalupu-ing
aavakaaya.
Seetamraju Udaya Bhaskar Sarma
(email : seetam @ ece7 . eng . wayne . edu)
>search for an exact equivalent of a word. It is far better to describe