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RainDog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-31-07 01:48 AM
Original message
What language is this?
This is the cover for a comic book. I think it might be hindi because the story looks like a Krishna or Shiva story. thank you.

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krispos42 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-31-07 01:56 AM
Response to Original message
1. Looks like Hindi
But I'm not a linguist and, more to the point, I did not stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
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CaliforniaPeggy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-31-07 01:56 AM
Response to Original message
2. No idea, my dear RainDog...
But it sure is pretty!

Sorry...

:hi:
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sakabatou Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-31-07 02:03 AM
Response to Original message
3. Wakaranai (Dunno)
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RainDog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-31-07 10:46 AM
Response to Original message
4. kick
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MrScorpio Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-31-07 10:48 AM
Response to Original message
5. Looks like Sanskrit
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RainDog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-31-07 11:12 AM
Response to Reply #5
7. from the mouth of the Guru
which is the meaning of the word Gurmukhi, which is also, it seems, the name of this particular script. It seems to be a language from the Punjabi region (both Pakistan and India) - at least that's what I've found online so far. --and associated with a Sikh guru.

okay, so any Gurmukhi speakers around here?

thank you for the help! still have no idea what it's about, tho.
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ZombieNixon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-31-07 11:18 AM
Response to Reply #7
11. No, it's definitely Devanagari (Sanskrit).
If it was Punjabi, I wouldn't be able to read it. It's a somewhat blocky font, which is why it might look like Gurmukhi to some, but trust me, the cover clearly says "Mahabharata."
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rug Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-31-07 10:49 AM
Response to Original message
6. This must be what it feels like to be illiterate.
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RainDog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-31-07 11:13 AM
Response to Reply #6
8. mreaebte waqwareare? u/x
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bif Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-31-07 11:14 AM
Response to Original message
9. Looks like Sri Lankan
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ZombieNixon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-31-07 11:17 AM
Response to Original message
10. Sanskrit. It's the Mahabharata.
:)
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Rabrrrrrr Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-31-07 11:20 AM
Response to Original message
12. Sanskrit
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quip Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-31-07 11:24 AM
Response to Original message
13. If you turn it upside down, it says "go fuck yourself"
There's a little story there if anyone is interested...

:hi:
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bikebloke Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-31-07 11:49 AM
Response to Reply #13
15. Something like that in Israel
There used to be a t-shirt in Israel (probably still is) printed with Hebrew lettering. Only upside down, it clearly says in English, "go fuck yourself". Israeli friends told me that in Hebrew it doesn't say anything.
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quip Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-31-07 01:33 PM
Response to Reply #15
17. Yup. That is to what I was referring
I saw them when I studied in Israel back in the 80's. I'll see if I can find an image of it.... (While looking, I found this interesting derivation):

http://www.fuckoffshirts.com.nyud.net:8090/images/white_gofuckyourself_tee.jpg
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bikebloke Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-01-08 10:35 AM
Response to Reply #17
18. Same time period there
I was working there in the early 80's on a kibbutz, thdn a moshav. We probably walked past each other:hi:
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RainDog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-31-07 11:50 AM
Response to Reply #13
16. do tell... n/t
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RainDog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Dec-31-07 11:49 AM
Response to Original message
14. Thank you!
I'll go look for more info now with this new info. you all are the best. :hi: :hi: :hi:
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RainDog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-01-08 12:39 PM
Response to Original message
19. May I post a couple of pages?
the comic is in b&w. I'm going to scan a couple of pages and post them on this thread, since it's back from the lounge basement. You guys who know the language want to translate? I'm just curious about this thing.
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billyskank Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-01-08 12:57 PM
Response to Original message
20. I've looked through my sanskrit letters and I'm 90% sure it says "Mahabharata"
though there are a couple of letters or marks I cannot find, specifically the two that look like lowercase ls.
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ZombieNixon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-01-08 01:25 PM
Response to Reply #20
26. They're just long A diacritics.
It's kind of a stylized font, which is why it looks weird.
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RainDog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-01-08 12:59 PM
Response to Original message
21. 1&2
hope this is readable.




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billyskank Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-01-08 01:02 PM
Response to Reply #21
22. If it's in comic book form it's extremely unlikely to be sanskrit.
It will almost certainly be hindi.
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billyskank Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-01-08 01:12 PM
Response to Reply #22
23. Yes, I'm now certain it's Hindi.
Edited on Tue Jan-01-08 01:13 PM by billyskank
Look at this chart:



The letters on the front cover are:

(7th row, rightmost) - m
(8th row, rightmost) - h
(2nd row, leftmost) - aa
word break
(7th row, 2nd from right) - bh
(2nd row, leftmost) - aa
(8th row, 2nd from left) - r
(10th row, leftmost) - t

mhaa bhaart, which (trust me on this) is pronounced "mahabharat," emphasis on the second and third syllables (maHA-BHArat).
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GirlinContempt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-01-08 01:18 PM
Response to Reply #22
24. Yeah
Sanskrit is mostly now a religious language, like latin for prayer sort of.
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ZombieNixon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-01-08 01:24 PM
Response to Reply #21
25. Yeah, it's Hindi.
The man's first sentence in the first panel reads "Devi, tum kaun ho?" ("Lady, who are you?")
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RainDog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-01-08 01:27 PM
Response to Reply #25
27. this is so exciting!
I'm so happy I can post this here and find others who can read the language. I think this is sort of a storybook for children in comic format. I've also seen these for Tibetan Buddhist stories but the format is smaller. The story of Buddha, that sort of thing.
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ZombieNixon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-01-08 01:31 PM
Response to Reply #27
28. Yeah, the religious stories-as-comics market is big in India.
Edited on Tue Jan-01-08 01:32 PM by ZombieNixon
There's multilingual editions for local languages as well as English.

My Hindi's also really bad, so I like the opportunity to practice it. :P
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RainDog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-01-08 01:37 PM
Response to Reply #28
29. well anything you can read
is more than I can read. one of my sons took japanese his freshman yr in high school, then switched to french b/c everyone else in his family knows (at least a little bit of) French. I've never tried to study a language that doesn't have a western alphabet. I can recognize some script- like Korean vs Chinese - just because of work stuff, but I don't have to read it. I've just seen the texts side by side and they're diff. It seems like this is the same thing with various languages in India (and Pakistan).

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ZombieNixon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-01-08 01:50 PM
Response to Reply #29
31. Well, not all languages in India use the same script, either.
A chunk of languages in the north use Devanagari (Hindi script), but regional languages like Bengali, Punjabi, and languages in the south use their own specific scripts. The diversity of language is so much that after Independence and a couple of protests here and there, the Indian government decided to keep English as the nationwide lingua franca. India has 30+ official languages, 20-something of which are on the paper currency. :crazy: :P
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billyskank Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-01-08 01:38 PM
Response to Reply #27
30. It's one of the two big folk stories in India.
That and the Ramayana. They're both huge.
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RainDog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-01-08 01:59 PM
Response to Reply #30
32. hey
:* :* :* :* :* :* :* :* :* :* :* :* :*

(smooches to say thanks.)

are you familiar with the story? -- as in, which part? I looked up the title before and it has sooo many parts. An epic. later in the comic it looks like Ganesh is helping out the guy on the cover. I was trying to find where, in the story, Ganesh plays a big role.
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billyskank Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-01-08 02:10 PM
Response to Reply #32
33. You're welcome.
:*

I am familiar with some of the story, from when Lord Krishna is born until He speaks Bhagavad-Gita to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. That is Arjuna pictured on the cover, by the way, in the said battle. But I think I probably only know the highlights. The Mahabarat is quite long indeed.
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clayton Donating Member (5 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-01-08 02:13 PM
Response to Original message
34. definitely Hindi
It reads "MAHA BHARAT' The cover represents the battle at Kurukshetra(not sure of spelling) the Pandavs (good) against evil (Kavravs). It has Arjuna, one of the main characters, waging the final battle with the help of Lord Krishna
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