two questions:
I know that translation is very rarely about literal one to one translations and instead about translating the idea or the feel of a thing. Idioms and insults and all of that. In that mind, what would the Quenya equivalent of the insult "Bitchboy" be? I need something petty and diminutive to call Melkor in a fic I'm prepping notes for. In the context of an elder being that's hanging around and annoying him and stuff.
Also relevant to the fic, would Avakúmaien be grammatically correct as a name given to a (womanish) entity that had its origins in the Abyss? If not, what would be most appropriate?
Thanks for the help! If/when you get to this ask.
Oooooh this is fun to figure out!
So, after looking up a few definitions of "bitchboy" I think the definition of some who is annoying and whines/cries a lot was fitting for this context. I tried finding a good word for whining or crying and found "mawa" from early primitive Elvish. It can mean cry or bleat which I thought was fitting. I'd tack "mo" at the end there from primitive Elvish to denote person. End result would be "mawamo" which I like because it remind me of someone going 'waaaawaaa' and crying about something in an annoying way. Plus the added insult of bleating like a sheep, which can symbolize blindly following a shepard or the herd.
As for Avakúmaien, I'm assuming yo're using "ava" - "outer/beyond" and "kúma" - "void/empty" while "ien" would translate to "daughter of". So, Daughter of the Outer Void or Beyond the Void. This would be a good Ataresse or Father-Name. This is usually a childhood name and like a surname or as close to as the elves can get.
I think this is a really neat name, but at the same time makes me wonder. Melkor later gets cast into the Void from which he can't return until the end of all things, but the Ataresse you created makes it sound like your character is from beyond even that Void? Wouldn't that be where Ilúvatar would be? I still think it works fine though.
There are quenya words for abyss or hell though. "Undume" and "fatanyu" respectively. Those can be turned into Undumiel/-ien or Fatanyiel/-ien to mean Daughter of the Abyss or Daughter of Hell.
I hope this helps anon! 🤗