# Albanian: A fejti aj ci ka paje po smund te gjeje mal



## *cat*

Hello to all!

I have one sentence. I thought at first that it is written in Turkish, but they told me that it isn't. I still think that it is written in one of the Slavic languages. 
Maybe there is someone here that could help me... I would like to know in what language this sentence is written and what does it mean.

Sentence: _A fejti aj ci ka paje po smund te gjeje mall.

_Thanks in advance.


----------



## Maroseika

*cat* said:


> Hello to all!
> 
> I have one sentence. I thought at first that it is written in Turkish, but they told me that it isn't. I still think that it is written in one of the Slavic languages.
> Maybe there is someone here that could help me... I would like to know in what language this sentence is written and what does it mean.
> 
> Sentence: _A fejti aj ci ka paje po smund te gjeje mall._
> 
> Thanks in advance.


Maybe Hungarian?


----------



## *cat*

I have no idea... It's just very important for me to know the meaning of this sentence. I really hope that someone will be able to help me.


----------



## jazyk

I don't think it's a Slavic language.


----------



## Duya

I'm fairly sure it's Albanian (http://www.google.com/search?q=gjeje+mall). Well, that was half of the answer.


----------



## *cat*

Thank you for that. I'll keep trying...


----------



## Arrius

I was directed by _Ask Jeeves_ to the artificial language Interlingua, but it can't be that because there are insufficient romance elements in this sentence. For the same reason it is not Esperanto or Ido, and Volapük is largely distorted English, which this is not. There can't be all that much Slav in it either otherwise you would have been able to understand at least some of it. 
By just allowing the sentence to set off semantic associations based on the languages I know, to me it would seem to mean something like:
*A cake shoved into your mouth will hurt you*. (i.e. Even nice things are unpleasant if forced upon you).


----------



## *cat*

*Arrius*, thank you for your opinion. This sentence doesn't make sense to me  at all, but that doesn't mean that your translation is wrong. Maybe you are right. 
Anyone else?


----------



## OldAvatar

*cat* said:


> *Arrius*, thank you for your opinion. This sentence doesn't make sense to me  at all, but that doesn't mean that your translation is wrong. Maybe you are right.
> Anyone else?



I think it is Albanian without diacritics... I'm not sure but it sounds like Albanian...
mall (in Albanian) = nostalgia, yearning etc.


----------



## *cat*

*OldAvatar*, thank you too. 
I'm so sad... Why didn't I studied Albanian?!


----------



## Breogan

What about asking the translation in an Albanian Forum? I guess someone could help you there.


----------



## *cat*

Albanian forum?
I was searching, but couldn't find it...


----------



## Arrius

*Duya'*s Albanian link contains several of the words of the sentence. Albanian is an Indo-European language, though not so obviously so, that it didn't have to be proved in the century before last. On vague similarities to Romance and Germanic languages I know, I based my translation (which may be totally erroneous), except for the first word which reminds me of the Arabic for cake, that might have been borrowed during Ottoman domination. Consulting the Albanian forum is obviously the right thing to do. I wasn't aware of its existence. 
PS Just saw your post#12, **cat** : Try "Other Languages" ar the bottom of the menu in Forum Jump at the bottom of this page on the right.


----------



## Arrius

It's almost ten p.m. Spanish time and no Albanian expert has shown up yet. 
To revive the thread and draw the attention of some of the many Albanian-Americans in the States (they have far more Irishmen than Ireland and it is probably the same with Albanians, especially since the troubles in Kosovo), I am writing this new post. 
In case **cat** grows impatient waiting, here is a link to an Albanian-English dictionary that appears to work. http://www.argjiro.net/fjalor/
There are links to many more Albanian dictionaries at the bottom of the Wikipedia article on Albanian Language, translating into several other languages. I myself am not overkeen to confirm that my translation based largely on intuition is quite wrong, so best of luck. A.


----------



## xeneize

So...i've asked a friend of mine that is Albanian, just for that...
And well, this phrase is effectively Albanian, but not standard Albanian, even if most of words can be found in the standard too.
It could be northern Albanian dialect, ghegh, or maybe kosovar, or even the ancient Albanian spoken in Piana degli Albanesi-Hora e Arbëreshëvet, in Sicily...
The meaning is:
*he slept, he that has seen* (_*paje*_ in standard Albanian is *dowry*, meaning all the money that a bride brings when she gets married, but according to my friend it seems kinda strange in this context, and it actually would be...,so he guessed it could mean "seen", participle from "to see", perhaps in some northern dialects) *but that cannot find the mountain* (_mall_ is _homesick_, _*mal*_ with one l is _*mountain*_)....
I'm sure about the meaning of every single word, as they are like that in standard Albanian too, except "aj", "ci", and the doubt about "paje", but the phrase translated is like the one I put above, for sure.
Anyways, I keep guessing what this phrase could mean, and now I'm kinda curious even about the story behind it, as it doesn't seem to be a common phrase, at least to me..., like those phrases that you may hear or read in your daily life....
Ah, and my Albanian friend also couldn't understand the meaning of this phrase...
Bye for now


----------



## *cat*

Hello again!

Thank you all for trying, for helping me. I'm still wandering in the darkness...

*Arrius*, thanks for everything. You're very kind. No Albanian experts - strange. Where else could I find them... No idea.

*Xeneize*, thank you too. I don't understand the meaning of "_he slept, he that has seen"_... And about "the mountain" - at the end of my sentence is word _"mall"_ for which you said "homesick". It could be a typo (so _mall_ instead of _mal_), but I don't know this.


Here's what I have for now.
First part of the sentence - someone told me that it has to have some kind of mistake, but it has something to do with money (Xeneize mentioned money in her post, but it's confusing because she said that it is the money which bride brings into marriage). Possibilities given to me are:
- if you have money
- if you don't have money
- if you owe money.
Confusing.

Second part of the sentences:
- you can't find the stuff
- you can't get the stuff.
Also confusing.

One more thing: they said it looks like a male would write this to another male person. So much about the gender. I know the author of this sentence is male, but don't know if the recipient is male or female.


I don't know if all this (given possibilities that I have written above) is correct or not and what possibility is the most correct one. What do you think? Is it possible?


----------



## Breogan

What about asking your translation here?

http://www.albanian.com/community/vbl/forumdisplay.php?f=49


----------



## *cat*

*Breogan*, thanks for the link. I'll try.


----------



## xeneize

Who says this is a male, no doubt.
Well, i really doubt that the sentence could have any other meaning that the one that i gave...Why so?
Because my friend is Albanian from Durres, and he speaks Standard Albanian, and he knows Ghegh, Toskh, a bit of Kosovar and Piana degli Albanesi Albanian too (he lives in Sicily).
So, more than that....it's difficult to find, I guess...
So, it is impossible that this phrase mean some other things in this language.
And it couldn't be in some other languages: it's Albanian for sure, 100%.
So I'll explain again:

*A* = form added to the verb
*fejti*= _*slept*_, past of to sleep; like that in standard Albanian;
*aj*= _*he*_, masculine reference; it's *ai* in standard Albanian, but *aj* in the northern dialects or in Piana degli Albanesi;
*ci ka* = _*that has*_; its *që ka* in standard Albanian, but again *ci* instead of *që* in Piana and in the north;
*paje*= *the dowry*, money brought by the bride, in standard Albanian; it DOESN'T mean "money in general", but just what i put; in the northern dialects it could be participle of the verb *to see (seen)*;
*po s'mund*= *but that cannot*; it lacks the apostroph before *mund*; it's like that in standard Albanian;
*te gjeje*= *find*; it's a verb, and it's like that in standard Albanian too;
*mall*= with two l, *homesick*; with on l, _*mountain*_...So, it's up to you 

Honestly, I guess it's impossible more than that....It's the phrase itself that doesn't make sense at all, but the words mean just what i put.
There's no clue neither about the recipient, nor about the writer, but the phrase speaks about a *male* person, not female.
And it's not "you", no ways: it speaks about *another person*, it's *him*, _*aj*_ means _*he*_.
Maybe if you gave us some more clues about where did you find the phrase, which context, etc, we could help you even more....
Like that, it seems kind of "mistery"...
Ah, for sure, if there are other mistakes it could be totally another thing, but about that I can't do anything....
Bye


----------



## *cat*

*Xeneize*, thank you very much. I appreciate your help.

The guy that gave me those possibilities (written above) is also Albanian like your friend. So it's a little confusing...



> Maybe if you gave us some more clues about where did you find the phrase, which context, etc, we could help you even more....


There is no other content... That's the problem. It's only one sentence. It was sent by the phone, as sms.



> ...it seems kind of "mistery"...


Everything unknown is a mistery until you find a solution.


----------



## xeneize

Hi, I don't know if you have solved the "mistery", I hope so, anyways I had other confirmations that is just like I put, 'cause I asked to some other people.



> The guy that gave me those possibilities (written above) is also Albanian like your friend. So it's a little confusing...


 
Perhaps your friend doesn't really know ghegh. Or perhaps he doesn't know kosovar.
Or perhaps he doesn't know Piana degli Albanesi Albanian (unless he lives in Sicily, he really can't). Does he really know and master all of these??.....
So, unless it is like that, I guess he has less clues than my friend.
So, trust me, if you want, of course 



> There is no other content... That's the problem. It's only one sentence. It was sent by the phone, as sms.


 
Let me at least say that is really weird, just one sentence, without any apparent meaning, sent by sms, in a language that you didn't even know which language it was...
And the sentence is like "really important" to you, as you said...
So why don't you ask the person who sent to you the message, provided that you said you know him/her?...Maybe he/she could tell you what's the matter...or am I wrong?




> Everything unknown is a mistery until you find a solution.


 
Of course. But to find a solution, you gotta have at least some clues, isn't it? And in these case, there are not any.
So, unless you are Sherlock Holmes, it's hard....


----------



## *cat*

*xeneize*,

I asked about this sentence on an Albanian forum too. Breogan gave me the link www.albanian.com

They said the translation is _The person whom has money, but still cannot find goods! _and that there could be some mistakes in my sentence, what would mean that the correct form would be: 
_A fjeti aj cik pa-je po smund te gjeje mall.

_Anyway, thanks for all your help.


----------



## xeneize

Ahhh, now it's a bit more clear.
Yes, if there was a mistake is another thing. I saw the forum too.
Ok, no problem anyways.


----------



## opjeshke

My dear, I am Albanian, but I cannot understand this thing. It sounds to me like some remote Kosovo village dialect or some dialect from Dibra. I am going to ask some people from those areas if they can tell me what it means, cause I can understand some word here and there, but definitely not the real meaning. Hope I can help you....


----------

