Nov 13, 2009 14:21
14 yrs ago
1 viewer *
English term
Not a translator
green
English to Swahili
Other
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
I would like to know if there is a one-word translation for this color adjective (kijani?) or if you have to use a longer phrase in Swahili (something like "the color of green"). Do all colors work the same way? Or are some translated with one word and some with a phrase?
Proposed translations
(Swahili)
| 4 | rangi ya majani |
Mwananchi
|
| 5 | -a kijani |
NinoV
|
Proposed translations
45 mins
Selected
rangi ya majani
For green, orange and the like, it is better to go with colour of(rangi ya) to remove any ambiguity, as both majani or machungwa may also depict vegetation and the orange fruit respectively as well. However for colours such as white and black(nyeupe/mweupe, mweusi/nyeusi) where there is no probability of ambiguity the colour of(rangi ya) can be dropped in favour of direct description such as: Nyumba nyeupe - white house, gari nyeusi - black car, etc.
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "thank you!"
5 hrs
NinoV
Specializes in field
-a kijani
You can use "-a rangi ya majani" or "-a rangi ya kijani", but "-a kijani" is enough.
As you know colors and family terms are the most difficult words to translate from one language to another, specially if the cultures of the speaker are very different. So in swahili only three colors have a single term: -eupe, -eusi, -nyekundu. But "orange" in English is a color or a fruit?
As you know colors and family terms are the most difficult words to translate from one language to another, specially if the cultures of the speaker are very different. So in swahili only three colors have a single term: -eupe, -eusi, -nyekundu. But "orange" in English is a color or a fruit?
Example sentence:
Rangi ya kijani katika bendera ya kitaifa inaonyesha .... The color green of the national flag shows....
Something went wrong...