Hi all. My friend's birthday is coming up. I wonder how to say "happy birthday" in Quenya. Is it valin nosta? Valin is happy and nosta is birthday, right? And is "happy birthday to you" valin nosta allen or something? Annon allen!
Yes, i think valin/valima/alassëa nosta stands pretty well for happy birthday. And about "to you" i would attach the dative ending to the 2 person independent pronoun (le+n), like "Valin nosta len". Also, i've seen the fan-invented form "Maitulië" for "happy arraival" so i'd say that "Mainosta" could work for happy birthday, but that's just speculation :b Happy birthday to your friend!
Valin is a word from very early in Tolkien's life that doesn't really hold up in later stages of Quenya because the Valar aren't the "happy ones". I would suggest to derive alassea from alasse and then construct Nai alassea nostarelya "May your birthday be happy" (cf. nai amanya onnalya ter coivierya “*may your (sg.) child be blessed throughout his/her life”).
Allen is Sindarin, len is Quenya, that's why you can't use the former here.
Sure! I would consider putting that into a birthday card. Thank you for the advice. Annon allen!