Sunday, September 18, 2016

Nature in Other Languages

It's probably pretty obvious by now that I love nature names. And of all the nature-y posts I've done so far, I think "Plants in Other Languages" is probably one of my favorites. Naturally, I've now decided to try another along those lines, but widening the field to all nature word-names. :) And so, here are translations of the 12 most common nature-names in the US (minus the plant-names).
*Asterisks indicate the name is already in use in that language, and, unless otherwise indicated, feminine.

Savannah
  • Sabana (sah-BAH-nah)--Spanish
  • Safana (sah-FAH-nah)--Arabic
  • Savana (sah-VAH-nah)--Greek, Italian, Portuguese
  • Savane (sah-VAN)--French
  • Savanne (sah-VAH-neh)--Dutch, German, Norwegian
  • Savanni (SAH-vahn-nee)--Finnish

Autumn
  • Aki (ah-kee)--Japanese* [many other kanji/meanings also, some unisex or masculine]
  • Automne (oo-tawn)--French*
  • Esen (EH-sen)--Bulgarian, Macedonian
  • Fómhar (FOH-var)--Irish
  • Güz (gooz)--Turkish*
  • Jesień (YESH-en)--Polish [*surname]
  • Ósen (OH-seen)--Russian
  • Payiz (pah-EES)--Persian
  • Sharad (SHAH-rad)--Hindi* [masculine]
  • Stav (stahv)--Hebrew* [unisex]

Aurora
  • Gealán (GAL-awn)--Irish
  • Selas (SEH-las)--Greek

Ruby
  • Odem (oh-dem)--Hebrew
  • Rubiini (ROO-bee-nee)--Finnish
  • Rubin (ROO-been)--German, Danish, Hungarian, Polish, Norwegian, Swedish (and probably others)
  • Rubino (roo-BEE-noh)--Italian [*surname]

Jade
  • Giada (JAH-dah)--Italian*
  • Jade (zhahd)--French*
  • Jade (YAH-deh)--German, Finnish
  • Jade (ZHAH-thee [th like in 'this'])--Portuguese*
  • Jade (HAH-day)--Spanish
  • Nephritis (nef-FREE-tees)--Greek

River
  • Aven (AH-ven)--Breton
  • Fluss (floos)--German
  • Ibai (ee-bye)--Basque* [masculine]
  • Nadi (NAH-dee)--Hindi
  • Nahar (NAH-har)--Arabic [*same spelling is a surname, but stressed on the second syllable, and means "day"]
  • Nahar (nah-HAR)--Hebrew* [unisex]
  • Reka (REH-kah)--Russian, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Slovene
  • Rika (REE-kah)--Ukrainian
  • Río (REE-oh)--Spanish, Galician
  • Rivière (reev-YEHR)--French [*surname]

August
  • Elokuu (EH-loh-koo)--Finnish
  • Eost (AY-ohst)--Breton
  • Lúnasa (LOON-uh-sah)--Irish

Jasper
  • Biyu (bee-yoo)--Mandarin*
  • Diaspro (dee-AHS-proh)--Italian
  • Jasma (YAHSH-mah)--Russian
  • Jaspe (zhasp)--French
  • Jaspe (ZHAZ-pee)--Portuguese
  • Jaspe (HAHS-pay)--Spanish
  • Jaspis (YAHS-pis)--German, Dutch, Finnish, Polish, Norwegian, Czech
  • Yeşim (YESH-im)--Turkish*

Summer 
  • Été (AY-tay)--French
  • Haf (hahv)--Welsh*
  • Kesä (KEH-sa [short a, like in 'cat'])--Finnish [*surname]
  • Léto (LEH-toh)--Czech, Russian
  • Ljeta (LYEH-tah)--Belarusian
  • Natsu (naht-soo)--Japanese* [usually combined with another character]
  • Samhradh (SOW-rah)--Irish, Scottish
  • Sayf (sah-eef)--Arabic
  • Suvi (SOO-vee)--Estonian, Finnish*
  • Uda (oo-dah)--Basque*
  • Udara (oo-dah-rah)--Basque*
  • Verano (vehr-AH-noh)--Spanish
  • Verão (vehr-OW)--Portuguese
  • Zomer (ZOH-mer)--Dutch [*surname]

(I actually had to leave out the next two here, sorry--Brooks because plurals are tricky, and Sienna because there just isn't a word for it in most other languages!)

Colt
  • Bromach (BRAHM-akh)--Irish, Scottish
  • Ju (joo)--Chinese [*surname, but with different characters/meaning]
  • Varsa (VAHR-sah)--Finnish

Amber
  • Ambra (AHM-brah)--Italian*
  • Ambre (AWMbr)--French*
  • Kohaku (koh-hah-koo)--Japanese* [unisex]
  • Meripihka (MEHR-ee-pee-hkah)--Finnish
  • Ómra (OHM-rah)--Irish
  • Rav (rahv)--Norwegian

Ember
  • Ascua (AHS-koo-ah)--Spanish
  • Brasa (BRAH-sah)--Spanish
  • Brasa (BRAH-zah)--Catalan, Portuguese
  • Favilla (fah-VEEL-lah)--Latin
  • Jamra (ZHAM-rah)--Arabic
  • Kekäle (KEK-al-ay)--Finnish
  • Pruna (PROO-nah)--Latin
  • Sintel (SIN-tel)--Dutch
  • Thraka (THRAH-kah)--Greek

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