Nov 25, 2009 03:06
14 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Turkish term
kuş
Turkish to English
Other
Linguistics
Student Survey
Term appears in a respondent's answer on a university student survey. Under "general information," in answer to the question about what language the respondent speaks at home, the student has written, "kuş dili." This follows his answer, "New Guinea," to the question, "What country do you consider home?" All surveys are in Turkish and were answered by Turkish university students. I think the response is a joke, because "Bird language" can either refer to a type of pig Latin or is a popular culture reference (in Turkey). I know that New Guinea has hundreds of languages, but I don't think any of them are called "kuş dili." Does anyone have any idea how best to translate this term?
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 | Bird language |
Eva Koseoglu
|
| 5 +3 | bird language |
Ali Sinan ALAGOZ
|
| 5 +1 | gobbledygook |
Ali Bayraktar
|
| 4 +2 | Eggy-Peggy |
Bee Baran
|
| 4 +1 | pig Latin |
Bee Baran
|
| 4 | Ubbi dubbi |
Güzide Arslaner
|
Proposed translations
10 hrs
Eva Koseoglu
Türkiye
Türkiye
Türkiye
Prekladateľka - tlmočníčka do turečtiny
Native in: Slovak 
Works in: Turkish to Slovak, Czech to Turkish, Slovak to Turkish, and 2 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Selected
Bird language
"Kuş dili" can be translated as a "bird language" or maybe "eggy peggy". However as it is quite clear that the responded made a joke, I think it does not matter which one you choose. "Bird language" is a sound between whisteling and singing. Some people do this in the street and in addition they sell some piece of papers with a message of the day. The responded has a really good sense of humor:)
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Very helpful! Thank you!"
+1
38 mins
Ali Bayraktar
Türkiye
Türkiye
Native in Turkish
Türkiye
Language shapes everything!
Native in: Turkish 
Works in: English to Turkish, Russian to Turkish, Kazakh to Turkish, and 1 more.
gobbledygook
as for the answer to the question "What country do you consider home?" it is also a joke, and IMHO it can be translated as "Mars"
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Tim Drayton
: My understanding is that 'kuş dili' is rule based; it is Turkish with certain standard phonological alterations introduced. As such, it is not 'gobbledygook', which refers to incomprehensible jargon.
4 hrs
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Do you think that he refers that? I mean, that he can speak a language with a rule? I don't think so, he used this expression exactly in the same meaning with "Martian Language". Kuş dili also has the meaning "not any language"
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| agree |
Salih YILDIRIM
: Indirectly, I buy your clarification Mr.Bayraktar
2 days 11 hrs
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Teşekkür Ederim. Mutlu Bayramlar Dilerim.
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43 mins
Güzide Arslaner
Türkiye
Türkiye
Native in Turkish
Works in field
Türkiye
Linguistic and sophisticated background
Native in: Turkish (Variant: Standard-İstanbul )
Works in: English to Turkish, Turkish to English, Turkish
Ubbi dubbi
kuş dili is an artificial language and it is intended not to be comprehended by the public, by adding some prefixes or suffixes to the words, which is considered to sound like a bird. "gibberish" or "eggy-peggy" might be options but it's "system" is most similar to ubbi dubbi.
And the joke is not a very fashionable and intellectual one, you can be sure...
And the joke is not a very fashionable and intellectual one, you can be sure...
+3
55 mins
Ali Sinan ALAGOZ
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in Turkish
&
English
Works in field
United Kingdom
accurate translation of documents
Native in: English , Turkish
Works in: English to Turkish, Turkish to English
bird language
As you have gathered the answerer is only messing about. It's used as a slang term in Turkey, so I'd use 'bird language'.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Tim Drayton
: Probably needs to be accompanied by an explanatory footnote.
4 hrs
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| agree |
Mehmet Hascan
: The answer was definitely a piss-take.
8 hrs
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| agree |
Nigar Mancini
1 day 9 hrs
|
+2
42 mins
Eggy-Peggy
Another alternative to pig Latin.
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Note added at 46 mins (2009-11-25 03:52:50 GMT)
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In "kuş dili":
original sentence - Bence Eggy-Peggy kuş dili için iyi bir karşılık.
kuş dili sentence - Begencege egeggypegeggy kuguş digiligi igiçigin igiyigi bigir kagarşıgılıgık.
I used this one: http://www.nedirnedemek.org/araclar/kus-dili-ceviricisi?meti... (:
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Note added at 1 hr (2009-11-25 04:07:51 GMT)
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And again, I selected the wrong confidence level. That should have been "very high".
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Note added at 46 mins (2009-11-25 03:52:50 GMT)
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In "kuş dili":
original sentence - Bence Eggy-Peggy kuş dili için iyi bir karşılık.
kuş dili sentence - Begencege egeggypegeggy kuguş digiligi igiçigin igiyigi bigir kagarşıgılıgık.
I used this one: http://www.nedirnedemek.org/araclar/kus-dili-ceviricisi?meti... (:
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Note added at 1 hr (2009-11-25 04:07:51 GMT)
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And again, I selected the wrong confidence level. That should have been "very high".
Example sentence:
Mary had a little lamb / Meggary heggad egga leggittle leggamb.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Selcuk Akyuz
5 hrs
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Thank you.
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| agree |
Salih YILDIRIM
: Iyi Bayramlar
2 days 11 hrs
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Teşekkür ederim, iyi bayramlar.
|
+1
24 mins
pig Latin
This really seems to be a joke. And I think "pig Latin" would be the best translation.
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Note added at 44 mins (2009-11-25 03:50:33 GMT)
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From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_Latin):
The usual rules for changing standard English into Pig Latin are as follows:
In words that begin with consonant sounds, the initial consonant or consonant cluster is moved to the end of the word, and "ay" is added, as in the following examples:
beast → east-bay
dough → ough-day
happy → appy-hay
question → estion-quay
star → ar-stay
three → ee-thray
In words that begin with vowel sounds or silent consonants, the syllable "ay" is added to the end of the word. In some dialects, to aid in pronunciation, an extra consonant is added to the beginning of the suffix; for instance, eagle could yield eagle'yay, eagle'way, or eagle'hay.[citation needed]
Transcription varies. A hyphen or apostrophe is sometimes used to facilitate translation back into English. Ayspray, for instance, is ambiguous, but ay-spray means "spray" whereas ays-pray means "prays."
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Note added at 9 hrs (2009-11-25 12:18:28 GMT)
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Let's correct this. It is not the best "translation", but the best "cultural equivalent". Agreed.
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Note added at 44 mins (2009-11-25 03:50:33 GMT)
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From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_Latin):
The usual rules for changing standard English into Pig Latin are as follows:
In words that begin with consonant sounds, the initial consonant or consonant cluster is moved to the end of the word, and "ay" is added, as in the following examples:
beast → east-bay
dough → ough-day
happy → appy-hay
question → estion-quay
star → ar-stay
three → ee-thray
In words that begin with vowel sounds or silent consonants, the syllable "ay" is added to the end of the word. In some dialects, to aid in pronunciation, an extra consonant is added to the beginning of the suffix; for instance, eagle could yield eagle'yay, eagle'way, or eagle'hay.[citation needed]
Transcription varies. A hyphen or apostrophe is sometimes used to facilitate translation back into English. Ayspray, for instance, is ambiguous, but ay-spray means "spray" whereas ays-pray means "prays."
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Note added at 9 hrs (2009-11-25 12:18:28 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Let's correct this. It is not the best "translation", but the best "cultural equivalent". Agreed.
Peer comment(s):
| disagree |
Ali Sinan ALAGOZ
: I don't think this directly refers to any culture reference in Turkey as it's actually in relation to English language.
12 mins
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Well, it's the closest one. Maybe Eggy-Peggy?
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| agree |
Tim Drayton
: This is the best 'cultural equivalent'.
4 hrs
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Thank you.
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| agree |
Selcuk Akyuz
5 hrs
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Thank you.
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