The Kamigawa cards were pretty interesting. For example, Arashi, the Sky Asunder, is literally just "storm," but they didn't write it on the Japanese cards with the simple character 嵐 that means storm, they broke it out into characters that have the sounds "A-ra-shi" (閼螺示) but that are only being used for their sounds, unless they intended it to mean "conceal-small shellfish-indicate." The properties of written Japanese made it possible to write normal Japanese words in a way that made them look like ancient words, such as the religious words imported from Sanskrit that have characters assigned to fit their sounds, not their meaning (although you can alternatively use different-sounding characters that preserve the original meaning in some cases).
uh...I'm not sure how actual Japanese people felt about the names of Kamigawa cards. Is Magic published in Greek?
I wouldn't say "for flavor", it's more because it's theoretically impossible to keep all the semantics of a particular word when translating it to an other language (especially when there's such a long temporal distance between those 2 languages) - so keeping these words in their source-language indicates visually that this word is (after all) NOT the same as it's equivalent in the target language.
So you can avoid - or at least call attention to the danger of - anachronistic transfers of modern semantics and associations on historical settings.
Well, yeah. That's what I'd call flavor if nothing else.
Wow, I almost regret reading this. Some of the name's etymologies are so obvious that I wonder if Greek players who are reading the articles are rolling their eyes at the uncreativeness of the names. But hey, as a non-Greek, the names do sound cool and foreign. I guess that's the American way.
As if there aren't card names in English that make me roll my eyes...
Megantic Sliver and Colossal Whale from this most recent set do exactly that. The former is just mega + gigantic slapped together, and the latter is just redundant.
For what it's worth, the opposite of evergreen is "deciduous" so I suggest we start using that from now on to refer to shroud, banding, islandhome, etc.
Nah...It's ανηλεής which comes from έλεος (mercy) and the negative α, so without mercy, ruthless. I don't think "anileis" was the word which inspired Nylea. They just found a Greek-sounding word (perhaps inspired by Nileus) and used it.
'Setessa' sounds a lot like 'Thalassa' to me- they have exactly the same punchy, hissing rhythm when spoken aloud. I'm guessing its a made up word designed to sound roughly the same.
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Does anyone know how to pronounce Cymede? I don't even know where to begin with that one (SY-mead? Sy-ma-day? Si-meedee? Sy-mee-day? Kai-mee-dee? THERE ARE TOO MANY POSSIBILITIES).
Does anyone know how to pronounce Cymede? I don't even know where to begin with that one (SY-mead? Sy-ma-day? Si-meedee? Sy-mee-day? Kai-mee-dee? THERE ARE TOO MANY POSSIBILITIES).
In MTG, it's probably pronounced sai-MEE-DEE, as an English pronunciation of Greek looking words.
Ah true. Just found it. In Odyssey 12.72 it's "νηλέι ὕπνῳ" (ruthless or merciless sleep). In Greek there were many dialects and many different ways to say or write the same word. Homer's language (which was far more ancient) is very different to the Attic dialect of Classic era Athens for example. But we find this in Homer; do you really think they went that deep to find one word in Homer's poems while we have so many obvious transgressions in other departments (like Setessa)?
Amateur Ancient Greek translator here (mostly working with early Christian and Gnostic texts).
Anywho, I found the Nylea form referenced in the big dictionary.
Still working in Setessa. Closest I've found is σητες, "this year" but I doubt if I'm on the right track.
Are there any other words that haven't been explained yet?
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I always find it so interesting how much of stuff like this I am able to glean just due to my medical terminology training. My mother taught medical terminology when I was a teenager, so we had some of the most boring (but educational) road-trip games.
Nylea's nymph companion. Comes from theo, meaning "god", and phil, meaning "love".
Arixmethes
Not sure yet, but the whole sinking city thing reeks of Atlantis. -meth- isn't really a word part you typically see in place names.
Meletis
Most likely a corruption of the name Miletus, which was an ancient city famed for its view of the sea. It was also pretty much the birthing grounds for all of Ancient Greek philosophy--something very blue indeed.
The philos-relationship describes a wider spectrum than love ranging from love to friendship and possibly other relationships. It is wider than in English and probably than in current greek.
Methe was a spirit personificating drunkeness. Having drunk in the meaning having taken in water is a possibility if it's based on Atlantis, though that is quite probably accidental.
On a sidenote Meletus was the main accusor in the prosecution and subsequent execution of Socrates, also probably accidental.
I'm going to drive my friends crazy by pronouncing the names as close to actual Greek as possible. They already hate me for insisting on saying "jitte" correctly - this will be a million times more annoying.
From the Greek agnos and makhos meaning "pure" and "fight". A "pure battler".
Androphages
From aner (gen. andros), meaning "man", and phago, meaning "I eat".
Anthousa
Greek name meaning "in blossom".
Ephara
???
Formalists
This is actually a Greek philosophy term for those who fell into Plato's Theory of Forms. The Forms were abstract ideas that each corresponded to each state of being, each object, or anything there could potentially be a "form" of--speaking generally of course. So, the whole "back to Aether" lore thing is a play on this completely.
Hypatia
Greek name coming from (a female version of) hypatos, meaning "highest". She rides her pegasus to the highest heights, I guess.
Korinna
It's a Greek name coming from kore, meaning "maiden".
Medomai
Comes directly from medomai, meaning "I intend".
Mogis
Comes from mogis that means "toil" or "pain".
Perisophia
Really just comes from peri and sophia, meaning "about" and "wisdom". He's really all about wisdom. Clever, Wizards.
Thrasios
Comes from Phrasios, "speaker," from phrasdo, "I speak".
--------
Amatrophon
Probably from ama, meaning "together", and trophon, meaning "one who feeds"--as in, "species in unison".
Dakra
Comes from dakr- meaning "tear" (like crying). The lore from the Planeswalker Guides say the Dakra were formed by Thassa's tears.
Dekatia
Seems like it comes from the root deka- for "ten".
Kelema Veil
From kelema, meaning "magic spell".
Kolophon
Colophon was actually a real city. It means "summit".
I'm highly tempted to make several throwaway accounts and use some amalgamated greek words as card names as see if any of them stick. If they do, I can spend the rest of my tenure as a prophet proclaiming that not only is thoughtseize reprinted as common, but the alpha duals are replacing the basic lands in every pack.
Kronologos is a thaumaturge that is cast for XXU and does scry X when it enters the battlefield.
Lysistrata is a 0/1 Creature -- Human Literary-Incarnation-of-Ancient-Greek-Male-Sexual-Neuroses for W that prevents all combat damage from cards whose art depicts heterosexual men, homosexual women, or bisexual lhurgoyfs.
Hypobatracho Costs BU. Can be cast for free and with flash if your devotion to B or U is at least 5. Art depicts a giant frog beast of the deep, swallowing what appears to be a Boros Reckoner. Is 10/10, because f*** it.
Lucifer is pure Latin: lux, lucis 'light' + ferre 'to bear or bring'. But this root does appear in the Greek name of the figure, Eosphoros 'Dawnbringer'. And, of course, ferre and pherein are related words.
And phenyl, too!
Yeah, I always have fun with Lucifer. "The missionaries sure like to bring light to us benighted primitives." They don't realize I'm calling them devils.
While we're here, the name Luke actually comes from Lucania, which ultimately derives from lykos, wolf. (And yeah, I'm surprised there's no rhyme or reason to whether WotC transliterates upsilon as y or u either.)
Thassa is thalassa, or ocean.
Polukranos is from poloi (many) and kranos (helmet).
(BTW, I thought karametra meant "unmeasured heart". Kar means heart, as in cardiovascular. That was before we learned she was green, and we were still looking for a red god.)
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Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
uh...I'm not sure how actual Japanese people felt about the names of Kamigawa cards. Is Magic published in Greek?
Well, yeah. That's what I'd call flavor if nothing else.
As if there aren't card names in English that make me roll my eyes...
Megantic Sliver and Colossal Whale from this most recent set do exactly that. The former is just mega + gigantic slapped together, and the latter is just redundant.
Learn about something else, they said.
Thank you for this by the way, it's pretty awesome. Will you continue doing this as more cards are released? If so, thanks in advance!
Quotes:
Not according to this
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/resolveform?type=start&lookup=Nhle&lang=greek
Remember that etas can also be transliterated as A's, so νηλεης can be nēleas too.
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In MTG, it's probably pronounced sai-MEE-DEE, as an English pronunciation of Greek looking words.
Amateur Ancient Greek translator here (mostly working with early Christian and Gnostic texts).
Anywho, I found the Nylea form referenced in the big dictionary.
Still working in Setessa. Closest I've found is σητες, "this year" but I doubt if I'm on the right track.
Are there any other words that haven't been explained yet?
Every English card ever printed: 99.02%
Arabian Nights through Lorwyn: Complete
Alpha: 94.2% Beta: 95.0%
Unlimited through M10: Complete
Nicol Bolas, a balance of Vorthos and PowerUBR
Nath of the Gilt LeafBG
Others
Squee, Goblin of AwesomenessR
Nekusar, the Mindblazer!UBR
Vela the NightcladUB
I used to be a world champion, but then I took a wolf to the knee. And three Galvanic Blasts to the face.
Concerning when returning to Kamigawa would be acceptable
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Setessa is kind of like Sitia (Seteia) in Crete. Or a mashup of Seteia, and Edessa in Macedonia.
read my article!
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The philos-relationship describes a wider spectrum than love ranging from love to friendship and possibly other relationships. It is wider than in English and probably than in current greek.
Methe was a spirit personificating drunkeness. Having drunk in the meaning having taken in water is a possibility if it's based on Atlantis, though that is quite probably accidental.
On a sidenote Meletus was the main accusor in the prosecution and subsequent execution of Socrates, also probably accidental.
WotC, please hire me already.
Androphages
Anthousa
Ephara
Formalists
Hypatia
Korinna
Medomai
Mogis
Perisophia
Thrasios
--------
Amatrophon
Dakra
Dekatia
Kelema Veil
Kolophon
Pharagax Bridge
Phoberos Badlands
Kronologos is a thaumaturge that is cast for XXU and does scry X when it enters the battlefield.
Lysistrata is a 0/1 Creature -- Human Literary-Incarnation-of-Ancient-Greek-Male-Sexual-Neuroses for W that prevents all combat damage from cards whose art depicts heterosexual men, homosexual women, or bisexual lhurgoyfs.
Hypobatracho Costs BU. Can be cast for free and with flash if your devotion to B or U is at least 5. Art depicts a giant frog beast of the deep, swallowing what appears to be a Boros Reckoner. Is 10/10, because f*** it.
Athanatos Has Undying and Persist.
And phenyl, too!
Yeah, I always have fun with Lucifer. "The missionaries sure like to bring light to us benighted primitives." They don't realize I'm calling them devils.
While we're here, the name Luke actually comes from Lucania, which ultimately derives from lykos, wolf. (And yeah, I'm surprised there's no rhyme or reason to whether WotC transliterates upsilon as y or u either.)
Thassa is thalassa, or ocean.
Polukranos is from poloi (many) and kranos (helmet).
(BTW, I thought karametra meant "unmeasured heart". Kar means heart, as in cardiovascular. That was before we learned she was green, and we were still looking for a red god.)
On phasing: