German geeking while at Norwescon
Apr. 9th, 2004 04:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annathepiperWell, I do have Internet access of a kind at Norwescon--so here I am seeing if I can make an LJ post while I'm here. I haven't been able to install PocketLJ yet because that will apparently require me to be on my laptop. But let's see if I can post via the web client anyway.
The con has been laid back for me so far. Plenty has been going on, but for the most part I am deliberately taking it very easy, just hanging out in the lobby, occasionally chatting with folks, and reading more of Der kleine Hobbit. And playing with taking German notes on my shiny new frob!
Here are some of those German notes now...
achtbar - I think that this must mean 'respectable', though that isn't the definition in my dictionary. I do have one point of confusion, though, and that is where the word 'für' comes in in the sentence fragment, which is 'die Leute hielten sie für außerordentlich achtbar', and the English is 'people considered them very repsectable'. I'm kind of reading the German as 'people held extraordinary respect for them', except that doesn't quite work either because 'achtbar' is not capitalized, and therefore not a noun.
alltägliche - Everyday.
ausgenommen - Except.
außerordentlich - Extraordinary.
bärtig(en) - Bearded.
bedürfen - To need.
Beschreibung - Description.
eigentlich - Actually, really.
erlebte - Past tense of 'erleben', to see/have/experience.
Gabe - Gift.
Geschichte - Story.
getan hatten - Pluperfect of 'tun', to do.
gewann - Past tense of 'gewinnen', to win.
heutzutage - Nowadays.
hielten - Past tense of 'halten', to hold, to keep, or in this context, to think of or consider. I.e., the people considering the Bagginses very respectable.
jedoch - However.
lautlos - Silent.
die Mühe - The effort.
die Nachbarschaft - Neighborhood.
nie - Never.
noch - Still.
nun - Well (as in the interjection).
nur - Only. I knew this already, actually, but it took me a moment to remember!
ohne - Without.
pflegen - Tend to.
rasch - Quickly.
reden - To talk. The sentence this is in is another weird construction: 'und sich selbst über völlig unvorhergesehene Fragen reden hörte'. I'm not entirely certain but I think this may mean 'heard himself asking completely unforeseen questions'.
reich - This is clearly 'rich', but in the context of the sentence I am actually unsure whether this word is functioning as a verb or an adjective: 'nicht nur weil die meisten der Beutlins reich'. In English, it's 'not only because most of them were rich'. I see a verb 'reichen' in my dictionary, and it means 'to reach' or 'to extend', but I am not sure if that is the right word here.
scheu - Shy.
seit - Since.
selten - Rare.
sind geworden - Have become.
sondern - But.
sozusagen - Not sure about this one. I am guessing by breaking it down that it's something like 'to say about', but I am not sure how it fits into 'Es ist wenig, sozusagen gar nichts von Zauberei an ihnen'.
stellen - To ask.
tragen - To carry/to bear. Used to describe that hobbits 'bear' no beards.
trotzdem - Nevertheless.
überhaupt - Anyway, altogether.
undenklichen - This one is throwing me a bit. The English context is 'The Bagginses had lived in the neighborhood of The Hill for time out of mind', and 'undenklichen' seems to cover the 'time out of mind' part.
ungefähr - Approximately, roughly.
Unvorhergesehenes - This seems to be one of those things that don't translate cleanly across languages. The English fragment is where it says that the Bagginses never had any adventures or did anything unexpected. The German on the other hand says: 'und nie etwas Unvorhergesehenes getan hatten'. This seems to be using 'unforeseen events' as one noun.
verlor - Third person past tense of 'verlieren', to lose.
verschwinden - To disappear.
verstrickt - This is another word I'm unsure about, whether it's a verb or an adjective. The German context is 'sondern weil sie noch nie in ein Abenteuer verstrickt gewsen waren'. I am getting that 'verstrickt' is 'involved', just unsure whether it is a verb or an adjective.
völlig - Complete.
in Voraus - In advance.
waren gewesen - Pluperfect form of 'sein', which took me a bit to figure out.
wenig - Little/few.
werdet sehen - Future tense of 'sehen', second person plural, informal.
weil - Because.
wirklich - Real.
wohlhabend(er) - Prosperous, well-to-do.
würde antworten - Present conditional for 'answer'; 'would answer'.
Zauberei - This is clearly coming from 'Zauber', which is 'magic' in my dictionary, but I don't get the -ei ending.
The con has been laid back for me so far. Plenty has been going on, but for the most part I am deliberately taking it very easy, just hanging out in the lobby, occasionally chatting with folks, and reading more of Der kleine Hobbit. And playing with taking German notes on my shiny new frob!
Here are some of those German notes now...
achtbar - I think that this must mean 'respectable', though that isn't the definition in my dictionary. I do have one point of confusion, though, and that is where the word 'für' comes in in the sentence fragment, which is 'die Leute hielten sie für außerordentlich achtbar', and the English is 'people considered them very repsectable'. I'm kind of reading the German as 'people held extraordinary respect for them', except that doesn't quite work either because 'achtbar' is not capitalized, and therefore not a noun.
alltägliche - Everyday.
ausgenommen - Except.
außerordentlich - Extraordinary.
bärtig(en) - Bearded.
bedürfen - To need.
Beschreibung - Description.
eigentlich - Actually, really.
erlebte - Past tense of 'erleben', to see/have/experience.
Gabe - Gift.
Geschichte - Story.
getan hatten - Pluperfect of 'tun', to do.
gewann - Past tense of 'gewinnen', to win.
heutzutage - Nowadays.
hielten - Past tense of 'halten', to hold, to keep, or in this context, to think of or consider. I.e., the people considering the Bagginses very respectable.
jedoch - However.
lautlos - Silent.
die Mühe - The effort.
die Nachbarschaft - Neighborhood.
nie - Never.
noch - Still.
nun - Well (as in the interjection).
nur - Only. I knew this already, actually, but it took me a moment to remember!
ohne - Without.
pflegen - Tend to.
rasch - Quickly.
reden - To talk. The sentence this is in is another weird construction: 'und sich selbst über völlig unvorhergesehene Fragen reden hörte'. I'm not entirely certain but I think this may mean 'heard himself asking completely unforeseen questions'.
reich - This is clearly 'rich', but in the context of the sentence I am actually unsure whether this word is functioning as a verb or an adjective: 'nicht nur weil die meisten der Beutlins reich'. In English, it's 'not only because most of them were rich'. I see a verb 'reichen' in my dictionary, and it means 'to reach' or 'to extend', but I am not sure if that is the right word here.
scheu - Shy.
seit - Since.
selten - Rare.
sind geworden - Have become.
sondern - But.
sozusagen - Not sure about this one. I am guessing by breaking it down that it's something like 'to say about', but I am not sure how it fits into 'Es ist wenig, sozusagen gar nichts von Zauberei an ihnen'.
stellen - To ask.
tragen - To carry/to bear. Used to describe that hobbits 'bear' no beards.
trotzdem - Nevertheless.
überhaupt - Anyway, altogether.
undenklichen - This one is throwing me a bit. The English context is 'The Bagginses had lived in the neighborhood of The Hill for time out of mind', and 'undenklichen' seems to cover the 'time out of mind' part.
ungefähr - Approximately, roughly.
Unvorhergesehenes - This seems to be one of those things that don't translate cleanly across languages. The English fragment is where it says that the Bagginses never had any adventures or did anything unexpected. The German on the other hand says: 'und nie etwas Unvorhergesehenes getan hatten'. This seems to be using 'unforeseen events' as one noun.
verlor - Third person past tense of 'verlieren', to lose.
verschwinden - To disappear.
verstrickt - This is another word I'm unsure about, whether it's a verb or an adjective. The German context is 'sondern weil sie noch nie in ein Abenteuer verstrickt gewsen waren'. I am getting that 'verstrickt' is 'involved', just unsure whether it is a verb or an adjective.
völlig - Complete.
in Voraus - In advance.
waren gewesen - Pluperfect form of 'sein', which took me a bit to figure out.
wenig - Little/few.
werdet sehen - Future tense of 'sehen', second person plural, informal.
weil - Because.
wirklich - Real.
wohlhabend(er) - Prosperous, well-to-do.
würde antworten - Present conditional for 'answer'; 'would answer'.
Zauberei - This is clearly coming from 'Zauber', which is 'magic' in my dictionary, but I don't get the -ei ending.