I think that depends on the accuracy of the translation and its pertinence. I do something similar, although not just with Arabic but also with reconstructed languages.
Number one advice is to consult a good dictionary. Number two is that there should be some kind of link between the setting and the real-world language you use. Mine is an archipelago off the western coast of Africa, so I use proto-Afro-Asiatic toponyms.
Edited by SeptimusHeap on Jun 25th 2022 at 9:22:48 PM
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
^ good to know. im trying to match the kingdoms to languages from similar biomes
A Self-inflicted Disaster
As long as you put in the effort to do the research, I don't find it offensive, but I suggest going a bit deeper. It would be better if you would look up what the suffixes, prefixes, etc mean, and how different languages shorten different words, so people who actually speak the languages don't laugh at you. In your example, the city of "Keungja", most people would shorten 'big pavillion' as "Keunjeong" or more commonly, "Daejeong", since '-jeong' is a suffix that ends the names of pavilions.
"Enshittification truly is how platforms die"-Cory Doctorow
so im working on this worldbuilding project with multiple kingdoms of sentient dragons. to make things more interesting, i was planning to use real-world languages to name different kingdom's cities, giving each group a different feel. for example: one city, "keungja", is derived from the korean translation of "big pavilion" (keun jeongja), because the city center is a pavilion. i just mixed the words together so it isnt a direct translation.
thing is... im worried this could come off as ignorant? i guess people do this with english plenty but since im a white american i dont wanna look appropriating or anything.
any advice?