Learn Mando'a

Here is where I'll host a list of words that we've created, whether they're just compound words, stored here for convenience, or newly-created word stems created out of absolute necessity. Post suggestions below, if you have any specific go-to compounds you use, and I'll copy them into the first post here. These words might also get added to the searchable dictionary if the list gets long enough, and I'll make two separate tabs on the translator page; one for the 100% canon, unaltered dictionary; and one for the complete dictionary including our words.

Discussion of semantics and stuff should probably take place in a separate thread.

Custom Words: More words from elsewhere around the forum (will be formatted later):

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=65
gayi'karyai (everywhere-living-room = web forum)
ehn simire o'ruyot ru' (3 years ago)
shi'jii (just-now = finally)
hibi'sur (learn-focus = studying hard)
gayi'kartay (everywhere-knowledge = website/internet)
hibi'rani (learn-absorb = intense learning/absorption of information)
mareka gayi'kartay (navigating everywhere-knowledge = internet research)
sur'tra (see-space = staring into space)
sur'ar gayi'shaadlyc sur'gaane (focus everywhere-moving-pictures = watch television)
ray'kyr (five-end {shortened form of "ray'ture kyr"} = weekend)
dul'ca'nara (half-time = sometimes)
nuhu'borare (fun-work = hobbies)
sur'jaon'yc (focus-important = primary/main)
tsad'gana (group-have = include)
haa'tayli miite (seeing words = reading)
hibar'joha shuk'miite (learn-language broken-words = linguistics {the study of word roots and how they relate/evolve})
to'shoku (join-break = tinker)
sapan'gotae (electromagnetic-machine = electronics / electronic devices)
hiba'solegote (learn-computers = computer science)
ori'mirdi (big-thinking = philosophy)
baju'ni'ast (educate-myself = preparing myself for the future through self-guided education)
cin'tihaare (white-liquor = white liquir distilled from fruit, such as Ciroc {a French vodka made from grapes})
ne'tra behot (black "behot" = coffee?)
tra'sal (flame-coloured = orange?)
shuk'papuryc'un (crushed-fruity-water = fruit juice)
shuk'la tra'papuryc'un (crushed flame-coloured-fruity-water = orange juice)
shi'muni'shunere (thin-long-flour = pasta?)
ori'agolyc shu'shuke (super-meaty disasters = anything made from meat and disgustingly/deliciously fatty or complex)

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=69
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=57#p347
Perhaps what you want is an imperative prefix? Ke'gyce means order, ke is the commanding prefix... ke'bora? Short, euphonic, and I think the meaning is what you might be looking for... or perhaps ke'nar. The action one must take.

Taljair has contributed a personal dictionary of around 700 new terms across several posts: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=108

'Kebi' - Item, thing. (comes from 'Kebise' for things.)

I vote we take up tra'cyar - to fire in the list.
In the dictionary it is included in the expression Tra'cyar mav - Fire at will.

I think it fits in neatly with the other tracyn base words and is a useful expansion. Or I am too stupid to find the word for to shoot/to fire.

http://www.mandoa.org/

The dictionary doesn't have a word for "to fire," so you're not stupid. But tra'cyar mav literally means, "fire free," so I wouldn't consider this so much an added word so much as an implied canon word.

I just made a new one for the word, "shield." Tell me what you guys think.

Defilade wrote: –noun
1.
protection or shielding from hostile ground observation and flat projecting fire provided by an artificial or natural obstacle, as a hill.
–verb (used with object)
2.
to shield from enemy fire by using natural or artificial obstacles.

In Mando'a the only form of "defilade" is the verb form, briikarir. But we very commonly make nouns from verbs by dropping the infinitive, so to say, "shield" in Mando'a as a noun, you would say, briikar. Yes, it's a little closer to finding cover like hiding behind a starship or large crates, but I think that since there is no word for shield in Mando'a that if you picked up a small sheet of metal and strapped it to your arm that this would be the word they would use for it.

I can't argue with your linguistic logic, Lyat'aag. It would be preferable, at least to me, to create a word from what's available, rather than making one up completely from scratch.

I have added MsLanna's tra'cyar and Lyat'aag's briikar to the first post.

Ibice - these
Ibace - those
(pretty obvious, but I thought Id still post em)

Tra - Sky (kebii'tra=blue sky, ca'tra=night sky; i know tra means space,void, but imo would also mean sky)
Tra'shebi - hover (from sheber=sit)

feel free to correct me if im wrong on any assumptions

Thank you for adding words to the list. Anything, even if it's "obvious," should be added. If it's not in the original dictionary, but it's implied through usage, then it belongs in this list.

Anila - Totality, wholeness, completion. From "ani," meaning "total, complete," which is in turn from "an," meaning "all."
Riye'miit - Blessing. From "riye," meaning "favour, benefit," and "miit" meaning "word."
Sha ca'nara - Existing phrase meaning "specific time," but I have used it in place of "when" to indicate an event. e.g. "Sha ca'nara gar slana" as "When you go."
Kles'palon, kles'palone - Nostril, nostrils. From "kles" - "nose" and "palon" - "hole."
Vorpan'oy'taap - Garden, park, greenery (not a forest). From "vorpan'oy" - "vegetation" and "taap" - "place, location."
Dar'tomer, dar'tomel - Separate (verb), separation. From "dar" - "no longer" and "tome" - "together."

Hello, friends,

First, let me apologize for jumping straight in with a question without first properly introducing myself. I realize it's a bit impolite, and I'm very sorry, but I have an urgent problem.

I am still a newbie when it comes to Mando'a, and I am hoping you guys can help me with this:

I'm looking for the correct word for "protected", as in "being protected".
From the dictionaries I ran across, the verb "to protect" would be "cabuor" or "hukaatir", is that correct so far?

so my first question is: Which of these is more common?
and the next question is how to properly create the form to say something/somebody is "protected".

I admit, I'm not a grammar whizz
I've been browsing the web for a while now in search of translators and dictionaries, but since I failed to create the word myself with the given grammar rules, I was hoping for some help from experts

Many thanks in advance!

Juritha

First of all, welcome to the Learn Mando'a forums. It's no big issue that you haven't "properly" introduced yourself. Despite studying the language of a somewhat militaristic sci-fi society, we're pretty informal around here.

Looking through the dictionary, I found another verb one might look at, which would be "aranar" -- to defend.

I'm no expert, and as a result, all I can think of is how Mando'a doesn't have future or past tense, so there's no equivalent of the "-ed" ending from English. It seems to me that one might rearrange the sentence structure of whatever it is one is trying to say such that nothing is "being protected," but rather someone is actively "protecting" it -- thus moving from passive voice into active voice.

So. I would ask "whom or what is being protected, and who or what is doing the protecting?"

If a precious jewel was being protected in a museum, I would guess that the guards are doing the protecting. There are two ways I could arrange this sentence:

1. "The jewel is being protected by the museum guards" is an example of passive voice. The jewel is the subject of the sentence, while the guards are the object.
2. "The museum guards are protecting the jewel" is an example of active voice. The guards are now the subject of the sentence, and the jewel is the object.

I feel like the Mandalorian culture wouldn't have use for passive voice, though I'm not sure on that one. Also, it has been...about 8 years since I studied any grammar or related concepts in-depth, so please pardon me if I'm incorrect in any of this.

EDIT:

Here, I'm citing Wookieepedia, so its authenticity isn't 100% verified, but I do know the Mando'a article is very detailed and was accurate a couple years ago when I began showing interest in Mando'a:

"There was also no passive verb form in Mando'a; a verb was either active or simply absent from the statement" - http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Mando%27a#Grammar

So I guess that means the sentence should be rearranged so that whoever is doing the protecting becomes the subject of the sentence, and you use the active form of your chosen word. I would offer examples, but despite me being the administrator of a Mando'a forum, I have been very lackadaisical in my studies.

Thank you very much for the quick and detailed reply.

Now that you mention it, I remember having read about the absence of a passive form before, but apparently forgotten about it over time.

The problem in my case is that it's not an entire sentence, merely a phrase. A couple of friends are writing a fan fiction short novel, and it's supposed to be a tattoo one of the protagonists is wearing that says "forever protected" / "protected forever"... so now after reading your reply and remembering the dilemma about there not being a passive form, I guess we should consider making it "to protect forever"... "cabuor darasuum", or "hukaatir darasuum"... even though that would not 100% capture the same meaning, the feeling of being protected and safe, watched over by a guardian.

Hrm, the context *is* mildly problematic. It seems as though the only options are the equivalent of "guardian" (using it as a noun), or "to protect/defend" (using it as an active verb). Maybe something akin to "The Mandalore protects" or "The Mandalore protects me" would work since it indicates being protected by some form of higher power, and involves the use of active voice...

In this case of a need for a passive form I would recommend creating an adjective form for the verb in question and using it with "cuyir" to imply the passive form. Subsequently, "cuyir" can be eliminated from the sentence as per Mando'a colloquialisms.
"Hukaatin", for example, can be a hypothetical adjective form, so Org's sentence above, "The jewel is being protected by the museum guards" would equate to something like "Meshurok (cuy) hukaatin de (museum) ge'verde."
Based on that, "Hukaatin" can fill in for the phrase "Protected" by itself on that tattoo. Also, I feel it conveys an alternate sense of being figuratively spoken for, as in one's partner/spouse. Good for a tattoo indeed.

What about tran for sun? The word for sunny is tranyc, so it makes sens that tran would be sun or star.

Thanks,
Salvo

Tranyc actually literally means, "Star Burned." It comes from the "Tra" root, which means, "Star field," but also means, "Space, void."

There is also "Ka'ra" which means "Star," but also has the implication that the stars are the spirits of ancient mando kings from old times.

---

Recently was trying to translate the word: "Feather." Came up with a neat new word which I feels works rather smoothly.

Senaar'gam

Runs along the logic of "Beskar'gam" and "Pel'gam."

Beskar'gam means "Iron skin" and usually refers to mando armor. Pel'gam means "Soft skin" and usually refers to human skin. Senaar means "bird" and so Senaar'gam ought to mean, "Bird skin" which I would think implies a bird's feathers or plumage.

I'm not entirely sure if this would fit this topic, but a word is translated in the "official" lists I've come across very differently than the context implication for it.

Ori'dush, meaning "try harder" or "put your back into it", was used in a way that implied "too bad" (or maybe another term for "suck it up"), accompanied by a rather rude gesture, in either Triple Zero or True Colors. I can't remember off the top of my head which book it was, though.

A few words I have heard used:
spy - ge'hutuun
It is an existing word meaning bandit, villain and petty thief, it seems fitting.

scout - narja'hail
A combination of narir - to move, and ja'hailir, to observe, used as a verb it would be narja'hailir for to scout, although it's usage as I have seen it is as a noun.

them - ori'adate
Literally means more people, I've been trying to find a better word for them but haven't seen one yet.

Good suggestions.

I would imagine Mando'ade would despise spies (say that three times, fast); this recommendation makes sense as a stand-in for the lack of a dedicated word (context would highlight its specific meaning). I might also suggest some merging of ranov'la (secret) and verd (soldier) or ja'hailir (observe).

Combining moving and observation into "scout" is a good idea. Scouts generally have to keep moving, and reconnaissance has a non-stationary feel to it, so narja'hail seems fitting. I'm surprised there's no direct word for scouting or reconnaissance in the official dictionary, given the nature of Karen Traviss' history with the Mando'ade and the situations she's written them into. Luckily she made a flexible and extensible language.

For "they/them," how about merging ashi (other) and adate (people)? It seems sensible to me, since "them" refers to people who are not present. Alternately, depending on context, aruetiise (traitor, foreigner, outsider) may be appropriate.

MandoaOrg wrote:Good suggestions.

I would imagine Mando'ade would despise spies (say that three times, fast); this recommendation makes sense as a stand-in for the lack of a dedicated word (context would highlight its specific meaning). I might also suggest some merging of ranov'la (secret) and verd (soldier) or ja'hailir (observe).

Combining moving and observation into "scout" is a good idea. Scouts generally have to keep moving, and reconnaissance has a non-stationary feel to it, so narja'hail seems fitting. I'm surprised there's no direct word for scouting or reconnaissance in the official dictionary, given the nature of Karen Traviss' history with the Mando'ade and the situations she's written them into. Luckily she made a flexible and extensible language.

For "they/them," how about merging ashi (other) and adate (people)? It seems sensible to me, since "them" refers to people who are not present. Alternately, depending on context, aruetiise (traitor, foreigner, outsider) may be appropriate.

Isn't "Val" already the word for "them"?