translation help

[almiel]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post, but I'd love some help with a translation!

While trying to figure it out, I stumbled upon an archived post on the translation of "Child of the Lord" (http://forum.barrowdowns.com/archive/index.php?t-16559.html).

I am also toying with a tattoo idea, and was wondering what the translation for "child of the universe" would be. I know Eä is the Quenya word for universe (not sure if there's a Sindarin equivalent?). From reading those threads, I'm supposing it would be something approximating Eähín (for universe-child), and possibly hína i Eä (? for child of the universe).

But I might be completely off track! Any help would be appreciated.

[Pitchwife]

Welcome to the Downs, almiel! As we don't have a special language forum, I'd say this is a good place to post your question.

hína i Eä is fine for "child of the universe" as far as the meaning goes, but Quenya being an inflecting language (unlike Sindarin), you'd have to stick the appropriate case ending to Eä*; for the genitive, this would be -o, giving Eäo, which however looks/sounds horribly awkward with its three vowels in a row (not that it's wrong, it's just a matter of phonaesthetic taste).

Also, Tolkien tends to use Eä as a sort of proper name of the universe, without the article, so I'd drop the i, leaving hína Eäo; but if you'd like to avoid the three-vowel-cluster, your compound Eähin (modelled on Eruhin) actually seems like a good alternative to me.
__________________________________________________ ______________

*(especially because eä can also mean "it is" in the sense of "it exists", and i can also be the relative pronoun, so hína i eä could be misread as "a child that exists".)

[almiel]

Ahh, thank you so much. The grammar was one reason I wanted to check, since I knew it was more complicated than Sindarin.

Follow up inquiry - rendering these into Tengwar. There's an online generator, but I'm not sure if it's correct. This is what it made for both:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v513/banddork07/Picture3-3.png

Thank you for your help so far. :)

[Galin]

While examples are scarce enough, and if ea is wanted anyway, a form in Namárie suggests that the genitive marker displaces final -a, as there we find Vardo for instance, rather than *Vardao.

I can't recall at the moment if other examples exist where -a is retained.

[Pitchwife]

While examples are scarce enough, and if ea is wanted anyway, a form in Namárie suggests that the genitive marker displaces final -a, as there we find Vardo for instance, rather than *Vardao.

I can't recall at the moment if other examples exist where -a is retained.
Methinks you're right - I was misled by Oiolossëo, where the final vowel is retained before the ending, but that's probably because e and o (unlike a and o) are dissimilar enough not to make the resulting cluster too uncouth. We also have in Namárië the form Calaciryo, genitive of Calacirya, so that looks like a rule - which leaves us with hína Eö.

[almiel]

Ahh that makes sense, Galin. What would you (either of you, or anyone else, lol) recommend for the Tengwar script then? (I am more than way too rusty on transcribing.)

[Galin]

Well I'm no expert, but your second example is almost how I would write hína eo, and by 'almost' I mean take out the carrier for the vowel a (along with the vowel of course), but leave the rest -- hína e[a]o -- and pick a font you find pleasing.

That still leaves you with two vowel carriers for eo, but I'm not sure how else to write this (as it's not a diphthong) if it's the correct form for 'of the universe'.

That is, I'm not sure how else to write it if one necessarily finds two carriers less pleasing to the eye.