Please identify the language

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Saaropean
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Please identify the language

Postby Saaropean » 2015-08-25, 0:22

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Don't know what language your text or recording is in? Ask here.


--------------------

Sorry for intruding into the sacred forums after an extremely long absence...

Yesterday I saw the following graffiti at the corner of Þingholtsstræti and Bóklöðustígur in Reykjavík, Ísland:
Image

Is that Arabic? What does it mean? I'm talking about the yellow text, of course.

I found a more complete image on Google Street View (2 years old):
Image
Last edited by Johanna on 2015-12-06, 19:13, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Identify the language and text

Postby vijayjohn » 2015-08-25, 2:17

Maybe I'm crazy, but to me, that looks more like a mirror image of Greek handwriting.

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Re: Identify the language and text

Postby Dormouse559 » 2015-08-25, 2:54

I'm betting it's mirrored Icelandic. There's clearly a <ð> on the right of the first line and again in the third. And the word just to its left ends in <kki>. And I'm recognizing more Latin letters the longer I look.
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Koko

Re: Identify the language and text

Postby Koko » 2015-08-25, 3:00

It's definitely mirrored Icelandic. The first word is Þú and the third (mouse's "kki") is clearly ekki (not).

I'll try and figure out more of the text, but I'm not familiar with many words, so it may still be difficult.

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Re: Identify the language and text

Postby vijayjohn » 2015-08-25, 3:01

Ohh, so it's Þ! I thought that was phi. :lol:

Koko

Re: Identify the language and text

Postby Koko » 2015-08-25, 3:58

Though an arduous task, I think I deciphered it :mrgreen: :

þú sérð ekki beiminn
enna og bann er
þú sérð beiminn
eina og þú erð


Which, with my horrible understanding and presuming the a) sérð = sért and b) erð = ert, this translates as :?: : (also, assuming beimur is a noun and not the adjective (as it is in Faroese) despite Wiktionary having no entry of it)

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Re: Identify the language and text

Postby Saaropean » 2015-08-25, 13:38

Wow, I guess you're right. I hadn't thought of mirroring the image. But maybe the Bs are in fact Hs:

þú sérð ekki heiminn
eins og hann er
þú sérð heiminn
eins og þú ert

– or something like that.

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Re: Identify the language and text

Postby Car » 2015-09-13, 14:56

I hope Saaropean won't mind if I use his thread for the same question. My father took this photo in Giethoorn in the Netherlands and would like to know which language that is (he's obviously talking about the one that uses characters) and what it means. Can anyone help?
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Please correct my mistakes!

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Re: Identify the language and text

Postby vijayjohn » 2015-09-13, 15:54

Looks like someone who doesn't know Chinese attempting to write 烤肉拼盘 (in Mandarin, kăoròu pīnpán) 'assorted grilled meats' and 海魚拼盘 (hăiyú pīnpán) 'sea fish platter' in Traditional Chinese.

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Re: Identify the language and text

Postby Car » 2015-09-13, 18:37

Thank you.
Please correct my mistakes!

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Re: Identify the language and text

Postby vijayjohn » 2015-09-14, 3:24

Np :)

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Re: Identify the language and text

Postby Gong Sun Hao Ran » 2015-09-18, 12:21

vijayjohn wrote:Looks like someone who doesn't know Chinese attempting to write 烤肉拼盘 (in Mandarin, kăoròu pīnpán) 'assorted grilled meats' and 海魚拼盘 (hăiyú pīnpán) 'sea fish platter' in Traditional Chinese.


Those are some adorably square-shaped Chinese characters right there :D
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Re: Identify the language and text

Postby Aurinĭa » 2015-09-18, 12:58

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This is now the go-to thread for all your questions about identifying texts in unknown languages.


And I'll continue myself. Does anyone have any idea what language this is and what it means? A friend bought this on a flea market and would like to know. :)

Image

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Re: Identify the language and text

Postby Yasna » 2015-09-18, 13:19

vijayjohn wrote:Looks like someone who doesn't know Chinese attempting to write 烤肉拼盘 (in Mandarin, kăoròu pīnpán) 'assorted grilled meats' and 海魚拼盘 (hăiyú pīnpán) 'sea fish platter' in Traditional Chinese.

What a keen eye you have to recognize that one traditional character.
Ein Buch muß die Axt sein für das gefrorene Meer in uns. - Kafka

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Re: Identify the language and text

Postby vijayjohn » 2015-09-18, 15:48

Yasna wrote:What a keen eye you have to recognize that one traditional character.

Thanks! Having glasses helps me see those four dots at the bottom, I guess. Although if you think that's impressive, you should see Chinese teachers (well, at least at the University of Texas)! Like, I remember getting a bunch of points taken off one of my homework assignments because I wrote the dots in 冬 in the wrong direction (right-to-left diagonal strokes instead of left-to-right). :lol:

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Re: Identify the language and text

Postby Car » 2015-09-18, 16:38

Gong Sun Hao Ran wrote:
vijayjohn wrote:Looks like someone who doesn't know Chinese attempting to write 烤肉拼盘 (in Mandarin, kăoròu pīnpán) 'assorted grilled meats' and 海魚拼盘 (hăiyú pīnpán) 'sea fish platter' in Traditional Chinese.


Those are some adorably square-shaped Chinese characters right there :D

So can I now tell my father that a native speaker confirmed it? Good, he was hoping for more feedback. :P
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Re: Identify the language and text

Postby melski » 2015-09-18, 17:05

Aurinĭa wrote:And I'll continue myself. Does anyone have any idea what language this is and what it means? A friend bought this on a flea market and would like to know. :)

Image


I read this as Chal on n'djeur nin written in gothic letters.
I assume this is some romance language, and as you are in Belgium I'll say it's Walloon. My best guess is this simply means "Salon de jardin", i.e. garden furniture. But maybe this means something completely different... I don't speak Wallon at all.
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Re: Identify the language and text

Postby Aurinĭa » 2015-09-18, 17:17

My friend says it's a picture of a document. The picture has ink spots and has been folded before it was framed. According to the guy he got it from, the previous owner(s) kept it in a safe, which would imply it had (possibly sentimental) value for them.

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Re: Identify the language and text

Postby Dormouse559 » 2015-09-18, 17:54

Looking through Wiktionary, and using some intuition, I agree it's Walloon. But I think it says "Here we do not swear". And the Walloon text is "Chal on n'djeur' nin". (Note the second apostrophe after "djeur")

sources:
chal = here

on = we (like French "on")

n' … nin = negative construction (cf. Fr. "ne … pas")

djeur' = swear (cf. Fr. "jurer", EDIT: Walloon Wiktionary entry for "djurer" shows "djeure" in the table to the right)
N'hésite pas à corriger mes erreurs.

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Re: Identify the language and text

Postby Aurinĭa » 2015-09-19, 20:03

Thanks a lot, guys. My friend was really pleased; he'd been wondering about it for some time. We both studied Germanic languages, I guess that's why we didn't think of Walloon.


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