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Forum Home » Languages » Quenya Discussion » Nothing Lasts Forever = Munta Vórëa Oialë?
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Valarauko
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Post Nothing Lasts Forever = Munta Vórëa Oialë?
on: May 20, 2009 11:32
Aiya!

I’d like to translate the phrase “Nothing Lasts Forever” into Quenya.

How about “Munta Vórëa Oialë” or “Munta Vórëa Tennoio”?

I appreciate all comments and suggestions!

Hantalë!

Valarauko
Erucenindë
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Post RE: Nothing Lasts Forever = Munta Vórëa Oialë?
on: May 20, 2009 11:58
I got Munta termarë tennoio/oialë, with termarë meaning "lasts".
Valarauko
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Post RE: Nothing Lasts Forever = Munta Vórëa Oialë?
on: May 21, 2009 09:02
Hail Erucenindë!
Thanks for your reply!

Termarë is indeed a better translation, for I find it to be a verb; I doubt vórëa is (it’s an adjective as far as I can tell). Also, I have found termarë to translate to ‘stand’ or ‘stay’ and I belief it may thus be used as synonymous with the verb ‘last’.

In addition, I now have come to favour tennoio as translation for ‘forever’, because oialë is often translated as ‘everlasting’, which would make it an adjective. (forever is an adverb and hence better suited to modify ‘last’)

My plan is to translate ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’ into Quenya, transcribe it into Tengwar script and have a pocket watch engraved with it. So I would be extremely pleased with more comments/suggestions/corrections/debate, just to make sure I have the ‘most agreed upon’ translation.

The best translation is thus ‘Munta Termarë Tennoio’

Thanks again!
Erucenindë
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Post RE: Nothing Lasts Forever = Munta Vórëa Oialë?
on: May 22, 2009 06:43
that indeed sounds like a winner.

I would go with tennoio as well, if that word was closer to what I wished to say.
Malinornë
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Post RE: Nothing Lasts Forever = Munta Vórëa Oialë?
on: May 22, 2009 06:50

The best translation is thus ‘Munta Termarë Tennoio’

I agree that "Munta termarë tennoio." is good, but would like to offer a slightly changed version:

Munta termaruva tennoio. (Literally: Nothing will last for ever.)

It seems to me that although English uses the present tense, the meaning of the phrase is 'in the future', and so I believe that a language that has a true future tense might use it here.
Erucenindë
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Post RE: Nothing Lasts Forever = Munta Vórëa Oialë?
on: May 22, 2009 08:31
ah... I translated it "lasts", but "will last" might actually work better.
Valarauko
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Post RE: Nothing Lasts Forever = Munta Vórëa Oialë?
on: May 22, 2009 08:55
Thanks again for the suggestions!

The future tense is absolutely noteworthy and I am indeed very tempted to use it, yet there is this other peculiar tense; aorist. Aorist seems to be an alternative present tense, which can be used to indicate a law or custom and in which duration and moment in time are undetermined. I belief it to convey just the sort of ‘present’ meaning that ‘lasts’ requires.

Termaruva indeed seems to translate literally to ‘will last’, yet ‘termarë’ seems to translate literally to ‘lasts’ and hence I prefer that conjugation… I think. The future tense is tempting, but the timeless aspect of the aorist tense suits the phrase better I believe.

This would leave ‘Munta Termarë Tennoio’ my preferred version for now.


P.S. My main sources are;
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Quenya/Verbs
and
http://www.councilofelrond.com/languages/downloads/quenya/Quenya_verb_chart_Q_to_E.pdf.




[Edited on 22/5/2009 by Valarauko]
Erucenindë
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Post RE: Nothing Lasts Forever = Munta Vórëa Oialë?
on: May 22, 2009 09:13
Just to let you know, termarë is indeed the aorist tense, that is what i used. Since you had wanted "lasts", i used aorist instead of future tense.
Lambengolmo
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Post RE: Nothing Lasts Forever = Munta Vórëa Oialë?
on: May 24, 2009 04:03
There really isn't much difference between the two tenses in this case. Using the future would convey that the statement was some kind of prophecy or prescription (motto), whereas the aorist tense would make it more of a "matter of fact", "nature of reality" kind of statement.

Of course, English being English and lacking a true future tense, it completely conflates these two distinctions, making them difficult to separate. It's hard to say how Quenya would approach this problem, but I'm edging more towards using the future tense since it seems to me that prescription is the more important facet of the phrase.
Valarauko
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Post RE: Nothing Lasts Forever = Munta Vórëa Oialë?
on: May 29, 2009 10:32
I doubt many more people will add something to the information above, so I have made up my mind. Lambengolmo, thanks for giving your interpretation of the difference between the future and aorist tenses; I could not agree more with it! However, the aorist meaning is exactly what I’m looking for, so I’ll stick with it.
I thank you all again for your comments!
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