OT: Anyone read Dutch?

"Jean Staffen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I bought a lovely carved wood plaque with a quote in Dutch. Can't read it.
It says:

Al had ik al de schatten van de wereld ik gaf ze door een kinderherte
geere

?????

http://www.wordlingo.com came up with this:

Already I had already the treasures of the world I
gave them bykinderherte geere

......whatever THAT means.......

Ken
307/204/180
1/1/04

Yeah, I found the same translation site, but it didn't satisfy me, either.
I suspect it needs a familiar, human translator. I took it to a friend who
is from Germany, and she said the 2nd line is "shadows of the forest" or
some such.

"Ken Bessler" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Jean Staffen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I bought a lovely carved wood plaque with a quote in Dutch. Can't read

it.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

It says:

Al had ik al de schatten van de wereld ik gaf ze door een kinderherte
geere

?????

http://www.wordlingo.com came up with this:

Already I had already the treasures of the world I
gave them bykinderherte geere

.....whatever THAT means.......

Ken
307/204/180
1/1/04

My Dutch is very rusty, but I suspect it's a version of "Everything I need to
know I learned in Kindergarden".

The fish says:

Already I had already the treasures of the world I gave them by kinderherte geere

I suspect it means "all the important things in life I learned in
kindergarten" but that's just a random guess.

I was guessing it said something like, "I'd trade all the treasures of the
world for a childlike heart."

"DJ Delorie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The fish says:

Already I had already the treasures of the world I gave them by

kinderherte geere

Quoted message said:

I suspect it means "all the important things in life I learned in
kindergarten" but that's just a random guess.

Jean Staffen said:

I bought a lovely carved wood plaque with a quote in Dutch. Can't read it.
It says:

Al had ik al de schatten van de wereld ik gaf ze door een kinderherte geere

The first part seems to be "If I had all the treasures of the world",
but I'm unsure of the second part. It comes across to me as something
like "I'd (give?) them through a (fawn? literally child-deer)."

There's a certain temptation to try to turn "kinderherte" into
"child's heart", since you could then make the whole thing something
poetic like "If I had all the treasures of the world I'd give them
(away) through a child's heart", but my (admittedly meager) knowledge
of Dutch doesn't support doing this. The Dutch word for "heart" is
"hart". Maybe this is some bilingual pun involving the Dutch
deer/stag "herte" and the slightly archaic English deer/stag "hart"
leading back to the Dutch word meaning "heart"??

Harold Groot said:

Jean Staffen said:

I bought a lovely carved wood plaque with a quote in
Dutch. Can't
read it. It says:

Al had ik al de schatten van de wereld ik gaf ze door een
kinderherte geere

The first part seems to be "If I had all the treasures of
the world",
but I'm unsure of the second part. It comes across to me
as something
like "I'd (give?) them through a (fawn? literally
child-deer)."

There's a certain temptation to try to turn "kinderherte"
into
"child's heart", since you could then make the whole thing
something
poetic like "If I had all the treasures of the world I'd
give them
(away) through a child's heart", but my (admittedly
meager) knowledge
of Dutch doesn't support doing this. The Dutch word for
"heart" is
"hart". Maybe this is some bilingual pun involving the
Dutch
deer/stag "herte" and the slightly archaic English
deer/stag "hart"
leading back to the Dutch word meaning "heart"??

It's not Dutch, it's Flemish...a Dutch dialect. And it is a
quote from a poem by Guido Gezelle, a Flemish
poet/writer...sorry, I don't know which poem or what year it
was written yet.

My Dutch is pretty good but I can't interpret this one
perfectly. I think a non-literal translation will end up
being something like:

"If I had all the riches in the world I would give it all
for one more childhood."

At least that's how I read it, but I could be wrong. I've
asked one of my Belgian acquaintances to translate for me,
I'll see if I can get a more expert answer.

--
JJ.
275/175/175 - as of August 29, 2004
Atkins since Sep 1, 2003
http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jjsmythe/my_photos
1, 2, 3...98, 99, 100. Done!

Jean Staffen said:

I bought a lovely carved wood plaque with a quote in Dutch. Can't read it.
It says:

Quoted message said:

Al had ik al de schatten van de wereld ik gaf ze door een kinderherte geere

Doing a quick Google - it's a version of a saying of 19th century Flemish
poet Guido Gezelle.

I think 'schatten' may mean 'value' or 'regard'. 'Door' should probably be
'voor' or 'for', and the last word would be 'geeren' or 'gladly'.

Any idea of its provenance? Sometimes sayings in the old country's
language lost something around the edges when written down by people who
were no longer fully fluent or were phonetically writing out something
they remember a grandparent quoting.

Dan
325/197/190
Atkins since 1/1/02 (yeah, it was a New Year's Resolution)
Besetting sins: good beer, German bread, and Krispy Kremes

JJ said:

It's not Dutch, it's Flemish...a Dutch dialect. And it is a
quote from a poem by Guido Gezelle, a Flemish
poet/writer...sorry, I don't know which poem or what year it
was written yet.

Quoted message said:

My Dutch is pretty good but I can't interpret this one
perfectly. I think a non-literal translation will end up
being something like:

"If I had all the riches in the world I would give it all
for one more childhood."

That sounds pretty reasonable, perhaps in Flemish the "child's heart"
works where it didn't in Dutch (AFAIK). I'd guess the "innocence and
wonder of a child's heart" is what he's driving at, though perhaps the
"freedom from responsibility" in childhood is a factor as well. The
rest of the poem might provide some clues.

Quoted message said:

At least that's how I read it, but I could be wrong. I've
asked one of my Belgian acquaintances to translate for me,
I'll see if I can get a more expert answer.

Harold Groot said:

JJ said:

It's not Dutch, it's Flemish...a Dutch dialect. And it is
a
quote from a poem by Guido Gezelle, a Flemish
poet/writer...sorry, I don't know which poem or what year
it
was written yet.

Quoted message said:

My Dutch is pretty good but I can't interpret this one
perfectly. I think a non-literal translation will end up
being something like:

"If I had all the riches in the world I would give it all
for one more childhood."

That sounds pretty reasonable, perhaps in Flemish the
"child's heart"
works where it didn't in Dutch (AFAIK). I'd guess the
"innocence and
wonder of a child's heart" is what he's driving at, though
perhaps the
"freedom from responsibility" in childhood is a factor as
well. The
rest of the poem might provide some clues.

I think that all of those could just as easily capture the
essence of this one, but that's why I offered mine as a
non-literal translation...I was trying to translate its
meaning and intent, not just the words as--as with
you--there are a couple words there I don't know nor could I
find in reference. I couldn't find the poem which contains
this line to put it in context either, only a reference to
it and the reference could be wrong.

For all I know it is a standalone quote but now I'm curious
so I'll find out. So far as his real meaning...heck, I
often have trouble figuring that out for poetry written in
English ;-) Just another learning opportunity I guess.
I've just read a couple other poems segments of his
tonight...I think now I need a study guide.

In any case, I've asked a person who will know far better
than I, hopefully I'll get a timely response.

Is poetry low carb? Thinking about Holland makes me miss
many of the foods there...I wish we could get salt herring
here (here being Georgia) in the same quality as Hollandes
Nieuwe...most other foods can be mocked up but there is no
substitute for fresh fish...sigh.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

At least that's how I read it, but I could be wrong.
I've
asked one of my Belgian acquaintances to translate for
me,
I'll see if I can get a more expert answer.

--
JJ.

Hi,

Jean Staffen said:

I bought a lovely carved wood plaque with a quote in Dutch. Can't
read it.
It says:

Al had ik al de schatten van de wereld ik gaf ze door een
kinderherte geere

From a bit of digging I don't think it's Dutch. It may have come from
Belgium.
I'll keep looking

Take care,
Carmen

I'm sorry. I ought to have read further, since someone else had
already said it was Flemish.
Duh. <G>

Take care,
Carmen

You all are quite correct about the author. There is a small GG carved just
above and to the right of the last letter in the last word. I should have
mentioned that in the first place. Sorry.

I appreciate your help and will look forward to the final translation of
this pretty plaque.

"Daniel Hoffmeister" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Jean Staffen said:

I bought a lovely carved wood plaque with a quote in Dutch. Can't read

it.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

It says:

Quoted message said:

Al had ik al de schatten van de wereld ik gaf ze door een kinderherte

geere

Quoted message said:

Doing a quick Google - it's a version of a saying of 19th century Flemish
poet Guido Gezelle.

I think 'schatten' may mean 'value' or 'regard'. 'Door' should probably be
'voor' or 'for', and the last word would be 'geeren' or 'gladly'.

Any idea of its provenance? Sometimes sayings in the old country's
language lost something around the edges when written down by people who
were no longer fully fluent or were phonetically writing out something
they remember a grandparent quoting.

Dan
325/197/190
Atkins since 1/1/02 (yeah, it was a New Year's Resolution)
Besetting sins: good beer, German bread, and Krispy Kremes

"JJ" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:AkJ6d.47952$He1.15425@attbi_s01...

Quoted message said:

Is poetry low carb? Thinking about Holland makes me miss
many of the foods there...I wish we could get salt herring
here (here being Georgia) in the same quality as Hollandes
Nieuwe...most other foods can be mocked up but there is no
substitute for fresh fish...sigh.

You know, JJ, herring is one of the great LC treats I've discovered since
being here. And, of course, they're available at little stands all over
town! I just tried the Nieuwe Haring for the first time this year, and I'm
hooked. The only problem is my breath after downing one of those covered in
onions...

On the flip side, stroopwafels are NOT LC, and they are also very very good.
🙂

S t a c i
www. very pink . com

S t a c i said:

You know, JJ, herring is one of the great LC treats I've
discovered
since being here. And, of course, they're available at
little stands
all over town! I just tried the Nieuwe Haring for the
first time
this year, and I'm hooked. The only problem is my breath
after
downing one of those covered in onions...

On the flip side, stroopwafels are NOT LC, and they are
also very
very good. 🙂

I've never had too difficult a time avoiding the really
sweet stuff like stroopwafels because after a bite or two
the sweetness overwhelmed me so I tended to never want more.
They are very good though, warmed up over coffee. You are
getting close to the holidays and the appelflappen and
olieballen vendors will be out in mass...these would be
trouble for me.

Herring is definitely an acquired taste but once had it is
hard to beat. It is also one of those foods that I always
say if one person eats the significant other has to also eat
in self defense. Another food of that type is Shoarma...it
takes three days to get rid of the garlic smell. But they
are so good.

--
JJ.

B.deBurcht said:

The original saying goes as follows: "Hadde (had) ik (I)
al (all) de
(the) schatten (treasures/riches) van (of) de (the) wereld
(world) ik
(I) gaf (give) ze (them) voor (for) een (a) kinderherte
(children's
heart) geeren (gladly)".

So it means: "Even if I had all the treasures in the world
I'd gladly
trade them for a child's heart".

Thank you B. I could tell that there were many "versions"
of this quote but hadn't been able to find the original.

Quoted message said:

I tried to be brief.. didn't happen.

In this case I personally prefer the detail.

--
JJ.

B.deBurcht said:

"Jean Staffen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I bought a lovely carved wood plaque with a quote in Dutch. Can't read it.
It says:

Al had ik al de schatten van de wereld ik gaf ze door een kinderherte geere

?????

Quoted message said:

The original saying goes as follows: "Hadde (had) ik (I) al (all) de
(the) schatten (treasures/riches) van (of) de (the) wereld (world) ik
(I) gaf (give) ze (them) voor (for) een (a) kinderherte (children's
heart) geeren (gladly)".

Quoted message said:

So it means: "Even if I had all the treasures in the world I'd gladly
trade them for a child's heart".

Quoted message said:

The only difference between standard Dutch and this West-Flemish
variant (there's *many* Flemish dialects, a fair amount of them
incomprehensible amongst eachother) is kinderherte (--which in
standard Dutch would be kinderharten--) and geeren (--st. Dutch:
graag--). Keep in mind that Dutch in itself (--if used correctly and
in its original form (coming from Diets/Dietsch/Duytsch)--) is not one
single language but a collective of regional languages and dialects.
It's only in English that it refers strictly to the modern Netherlands
and Nederlands. In reality Dutch (--Diets--) refers to both Flemings
(--southern Netherlands--) and Netherlanders and all the
languages/dialects in that area (--Lage Landen/Low Countries--).
Modern Dutch is the end-result of the dialects spoken in 3 ancient
areas: (--in order of dominance at the time--) Countship of Flanders,
Duchy of Brabant and Duchy (--or was it Countship? don't remember--)
of Holland. Many people (--including Flemings & Netherlanders--) also
seem to be confused with the Netherlands (--the ancient region
encompassing the modern Netherlands, Belgium (which was a commonly
used Latin name to designate the Netherlands. New York State was known
as Nieuw Nederland in Dutch and Nova Belgica in Latin before the
Anglo's kicked Kees' ass hundreds of years ago--), Luxembourg and
parts of N. France (--a part which was once part of Flanders--) and
the Netherlands (--the country--). The country is a fairly recent
development taking its name from the region. Belgium adopted the Latin
name of the area.

Quoted message said:

I tried to be brief.. didn't happen.

Awesome answer! Thanks!

'Kinderherte' didn't sound Dutch which is what tipped me off to begin
with. I was going both ways about 'schatten' but it does make more sense
as 'treasure', no doubt related to the German 'Schatz'.

This is the problem when you know a little of a lot of languages ;-)

Dan
325/197/190
Atkins since 1/1/02 (yeah, it was a New Year's Resolution)
Besetting sins: good beer, German bread, and Krispy Kremes

Thank you for the awesome information, Sir. I was intuiting the saying was
"I'd trade all the treasures of the
world for a childlike heart."

It is so great to finally have such an excellent and detailed translation of
my dear little wooden plaque.

Jean

"Daniel Hoffmeister" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

B.deBurcht said:

"Jean Staffen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I bought a lovely carved wood plaque with a quote in Dutch. Can't

read it.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

It says:

Al had ik al de schatten van de wereld ik gaf ze door een kinderherte

geere

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

?????

Quoted message said:

The original saying goes as follows: "Hadde (had) ik (I) al (all) de
(the) schatten (treasures/riches) van (of) de (the) wereld (world) ik
(I) gaf (give) ze (them) voor (for) een (a) kinderherte (children's
heart) geeren (gladly)".

Quoted message said:

So it means: "Even if I had all the treasures in the world I'd gladly
trade them for a child's heart".

Quoted message said:

The only difference between standard Dutch and this West-Flemish
variant (there's *many* Flemish dialects, a fair amount of them
incomprehensible amongst eachother) is kinderherte (--which in
standard Dutch would be kinderharten--) and geeren (--st. Dutch:
graag--). Keep in mind that Dutch in itself (--if used correctly and
in its original form (coming from Diets/Dietsch/Duytsch)--) is not one
single language but a collective of regional languages and dialects.
It's only in English that it refers strictly to the modern Netherlands
and Nederlands. In reality Dutch (--Diets--) refers to both Flemings
(--southern Netherlands--) and Netherlanders and all the
languages/dialects in that area (--Lage Landen/Low Countries--).
Modern Dutch is the end-result of the dialects spoken in 3 ancient
areas: (--in order of dominance at the time--) Countship of Flanders,
Duchy of Brabant and Duchy (--or was it Countship? don't remember--)
of Holland. Many people (--including Flemings & Netherlanders--) also
seem to be confused with the Netherlands (--the ancient region
encompassing the modern Netherlands, Belgium (which was a commonly
used Latin name to designate the Netherlands. New York State was known
as Nieuw Nederland in Dutch and Nova Belgica in Latin before the
Anglo's kicked Kees' ass hundreds of years ago--), Luxembourg and
parts of N. France (--a part which was once part of Flanders--) and
the Netherlands (--the country--). The country is a fairly recent
development taking its name from the region. Belgium adopted the Latin
name of the area.

Quoted message said:

I tried to be brief.. didn't happen.

Awesome answer! Thanks!

'Kinderherte' didn't sound Dutch which is what tipped me off to begin
with. I was going both ways about 'schatten' but it does make more sense
as 'treasure', no doubt related to the German 'Schatz'.

This is the problem when you know a little of a lot of languages ;-)

Dan
325/197/190
Atkins since 1/1/02 (yeah, it was a New Year's Resolution)
Besetting sins: good beer, German bread, and Krispy Kremes

From dictionary.langenberg.com the dutch for the phrase below would be
Alles moest ik weten ik in Kindergarden leerde
"SMICK818" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My Dutch is very rusty, but I suspect it's a version of "Everything I
need to
know I learned in Kindergarden".