[Lexicog] Equivalents for German "Heimat"

[Fritz Goerling]

Marco,

The problem with "Heimat" is that it is difficult to translate into other
languages.
None of the following Italian words functioning in a similar semantic field
are equivalents: "natio", "patria", "paese", "terra natia", "casa"
French has "le pays natal" (land of birth), "la patrie" (fatherland), the
latter being more a term which belongs to the national or juridical domain
Spanish has "patria."
Dutch: "geboortestreek" , "vaderland" (fatherland) , "bakermat" (= cradle),
"tehuis" (at home)
          I don't know Dutch, but "tehuis" might come close to the warmth of
the German term
Swedish: hem = home; hemland or hembygd = home(land)
Russian: rodina (fatherland)
Arabic: el-Watan
           This word seems to have the nostalgic, romantic component as
German "Heimat". It occurs in many Arabic songs.
Polish: Translators of German literature into Polish either paraphrase the
word or just borrow it because it is diffiuclt to translate.

Fritz Goerling


 I think there is no proper translation for Heimat in Italian, either.

"Patria" works for the more political meaning -- country one belongs to
and should defend in case of a war? -- and at least to me it has a vaguely
negative connotation because it was over-used during fascism and it
strongly collocates with war-related terms.

"Casa" in the sense of English "home sweet home" (but, as far as I can
tell, we don't even distinguish between "home" and "house", either -- they
are both "casa").

Regards,

Marco



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