Re: Names of chess pieces in (con)langs

Mark J. Reed wrote:
> In the original game which eventually became Chess, only
> the king had a name which literally translates as the
> modern English name (raja). The "queen" was the "mantri"
> (counsellor); a "knight" was called simply a "horse"
> ("asva"), the "rook" was called a "ratha" ("chariot"),
> and a "pawn" was called a "pedati" ("soldier").  The
> piece we call the "bishop" was a "gaja" ("elephant").
I wrote on March 25, 2006 4:09 PM:
> I'd use direct translations from the original names I
> guess.
So, for what it's worth, here are those "direct
translations":

King - lanya (king)
Queen - dahapamaya (concellor)
Knight - pel (horse)
Rook - savapen (chariot, lit.: 'fighting cart' *)
Pawn - penaya (soldier)
Bishop - burangvina (elephant **)

Chess - Kongray(ang) ('I attack!')
Checkmate - Petigaiyà Lanyáris ('The king is caught!')
en passant - peabayam ('Passing by')

* cf. German "Streitwagen" -- how unimaginative ...
** 'nose animal' -- I found "Nasentier" quite funny.

Of course, this is only a what-if since they're unlikely to
play chess -- though something similar should be very
likely, since board games have been around for a long time
already and exist in many parts of the world.

Carsten

--
"Miranayam kepauar naranoaris." (Kalvin nay Hobbes)
Tenena, Lahang 1, 2315, ea 04:25:08 pd