Anyone know French?

[cheerful_deviant]

While working on a story I have encountred a translation snag:

The name of the ship in my story is the Lis Noir, which I thought was 'Black Lily' in French. As a check, I put 'Black Lily' into Babelfish, and is spit out 'Lis Noir'. OK, but when I put 'Lis Noir' in an reverse the translation it comes out 'Read Black'.

Help?

 

[oggbashan]

The reason is simple. French nouns require Le or La before them.

Le Lis = The Lily.

Lis (without the Le) is part of the verb to read.

Another spelling of Le Lis for Lily is Le Lys.

If you call the ship "Le Lys Noir" then you should have no problem.

Og

 

[S-Des]

Og seems to have it down, but I always ask Cerise. Not only is she an expert, she's lots of fun to flirt with.

 

[cheerful_deviant]

The reason is simple. French nouns require Le or La before them.

Le Lis = The Lily.

Lis (without the Le) is part of the verb to read.

Another spelling of Le Lis for Lily is Le Lys.

If you call the ship "Le Lys Noir" then you should have no problem.

Og

Many thanks King Og.

Somehow 'Le Lys Noir' seems a bit unweildly for a ship's name though. I may have to reconsider this.

 

[oggbashan]

...Somehow 'Le Lys Noir' seems a bit unweildly for a ship's name though. I may have to reconsider this.

For a French ship, that is short and snappy.

Unlike Le Droits d'Homme; Charles Martel; Jauréguiberry; D'entrecasteaux; Jurien De La Graviere; Le Sarabacane - all names of French warships.

Og

 

[cheerful_deviant]

For a French ship, that is short and snappy.

Unlike Le Droits d'Homme; Charles Martel; Jauréguiberry; D'entrecasteaux; Jurien De La Graviere; Le Sarabacane - all names of French warships.

Og

I see your point. It's not actually a French ship but the character (Captain) is supposed to have French herritage. I think I'll stick with it because the name is somewhat relevant to other refrences in the story so far.

I only wish I had asked before I typed 'Lis Noir' about 40 times so far.

 

[oggbashan]

...

I only wish I had asked before I typed 'Lis Noir' about 40 times so far.

What is "Search and Replace" for if not for such changes?

Change "Lis" to "Le Lys" and it will be done in split seconds.

Og

 

[cheerful_deviant]

What is "Search and Replace" for if not for such changes?

Change "Lis" to "Le Lys" and it will be done in split seconds.

Og

True.

But I'm sure I misspelled it at least once or twice.

Again, many thanks.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Actually, French nouns don't really require articles before them. "Lis Noir" means "Black Lily", "Le Lis Noir" means "The Black Lily".

Your Babelfish predicament results solely from the fact that Babelfish sucks ass. On its own, "lis" can mean lily, or it can be a form of the verb "lire", to read. Babelfish simply chose one (it probably chose the verb because there was none in the sentence) semi-arbitrarily and gave it to you without informing of possibly-more-correct alternatives.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Change "Lis" to "Le Lys" and it will be done in split seconds.

And Lisa will turn into Le Lysa, List will turn into Le Lyst, etc.

Better include the entire "Lis Noir" expression and change to "Le Lis Noir"

 

[S-Des]

I only wish I had asked before I typed 'Lis Noir' about 40 times so far.

You know the 'Find' feature in MS Word can also be used to Find/Replace all results at the same time, right? My editor made me change one of my character's name in a 3 chapter story, so it saved me an unbelievable amount of work (since there was the name and all the various nicknames to change in a 40,000 word story).

 

[cheerful_deviant]

Actually, French nouns don't really require articles before them. "Lis Noir" means "Black Lily", "Le Lis Noir" means "The Black Lily".

Your Babelfish predicament results solely from the fact that Babelfish sucks ass. On its own, "lis" can mean lily, or it can be a form of the verb "lire", to read. Babelfish simply chose one (it probably chose the verb because there was none in the sentence) semi-arbitrarily and gave it to you without informing of possibly-more-correct alternatives.

So I I left the name at 'Lis Noir' would everyone (well, everyone that knows French) know what was meant?

Or will I get 40 'Your French is lousy' feedbacks?

 

[Lauren Hynde]

So I I left the name at 'Lis Noir' would everyone (well, everyone that knows French) know what was meant?

Or will I get 40 'Your French is lousy' feedbacks?

People who know French will know what you mean for sure. Those who don't know French might try Bablefishing and get confused, but I doubt they would then send feedback saying your French is worse than theirs...

 

[cheerful_deviant]

People who know French will know what you mean for sure. Those who don't know French might try Bablefishing and get confused, but I doubt they would then send feedback saying your French is worse than theirs...

An excellent point.

Thanks.

 

[gauchecritic]

So is that where 'fleur de lys' comes from? or am I thinking of feur elise? Never mind.

 

[CeriseNoire]

So is that where 'fleur de lys' comes from? or am I thinking of feur elise? Never mind.

Yep, that's where it comes from.

And to cheerful, don't worry, people who actually speak French will know what you mean, though the 'lys' spelling is a bit more common.

 

[Remec]

I see your point. It's not actually a French ship but the character (Captain) is supposed to have French herritage. I think I'll stick with it because the name is somewhat relevant to other refrences in the story so far.

I only wish I had asked before I typed 'Lis Noir' about 40 times so far.

Another thing to consider, if the character is justing making a nod to their heirtage, perhaps they would have not used the article and simply named the ship Lis Noir?

 

[Stella_Omega]

The reason is simple. French nouns require Le or La before them.

Le Lis = The Lily.

Lis (without the Le) is part of the verb to read.

Another spelling of Le Lis for Lily is Le Lys.

If you call the ship "Le Lys Noir" then you should have no problem.

Og

Which is why the English word is "Lily" in two syllables-- because it came from the French. (remember, the final "s" is not pronounced)

If he has French ancestry, call the ship; "The Lillinoor"

 

[cheerful_deviant]

Which is why the English word is "Lily" in two syllables-- because it came from the French. (remember, the final "s" is not pronounced)

If he has French ancestry, call the ship; "The Lillinoor"

Ahem... She has French ancestry. (remember who's writing this. )

Actually that's an excellent idea. I'll have to consider that. Many thanks.