Spectral Paladin Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 Last night I could not sleep. One question was tormenting my mind. It's always been there ever since I came accross the dune universe but it only surfaced just now.It concerns the fremen cry "Ya hya chouhada" which means "Long live the fighters". Is it a statement, as in, the fighters live long? Or is it a wish, as in, may the fighters live long ?If I remember well, in the book the fremen would cry "Ya hya chouhada Muad'dib" meaning "Long live the fighters of Muad'dib". Which would lead me to believe it's more like a wish, but I 'm still not sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunner154 Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 I've always thought it to be more like a blessing, of some sort, which comes closer to your idea of it being a wish. It's like how the subordinates of the emperor in China would keep saying "Long live the emperor" or "may the emperor live till ten thousand years", even when they know that the emperor is as mortal as anyone of us. It's kind of like an escalated wellwish, to put it simply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemafakei Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 I suspect, but cannot prove that the translation is purely idiomatic, and the arabic has its own idiom.The English phrase "Long live..." is a third person imperative, which is a relatively rare sort of expression. It's probably expressed in the subjunctive, but there's no way of telling that in English. You get third person imperatives in a few other stock phrases, e.g. "Peace be with you" (where you can tell it's not a plain indicative, which would be "Peace is with you"). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrFlibble Posted December 22, 2007 Share Posted December 22, 2007 Perhaps this article would be of any help? It explains many instances of Arabic influence in Dune, although the Tleilaxu terms revealed in the last two books are sadly not mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
driftingcloud Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 As an affirmation, it could be simply stated to create a reality. The more you say something, the more truth it carries, the more real it becomes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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