Re: A saga for translation

FFlores wrote:
>=20
> Sally Caves <scaves@...> wrote:
>=20
> > (assuming that "i" means, as John has suggested,
> > "some unspecified quantity of something"):
>=20
> > > Smasin au getnit prant padhanth,
> > > lostel b=FCrthon, qek k=E4s? qek i untur?
> > > A funin famp farqololimb olusst!
> > > Qreven t=F6m=F6n i =E4lan l=E1dhasuit.
> > > N=FCs sian =EDdanhadh i gal i stef
> > > nots=FCr not=FCr qualbl=FAilotaqeik ke?
> >
> >   Beyond the boat's stern (are) many waves;
> >   They are all cold; are they friends? foes?
> >                         WHY PRT BEFORE UNTUR AND NOT KAS?
>=20
> Hm... poetic license? I can only assume that
> _k=E4s_ "friend" (which is singular BTW) is indefinite
> enough as it is, while _untur_ carries a more
> specific meaning, "the enemy, the foes, the bad guys"
> (not just any enemy, which would be _pavon_, from
> PAVE "to face, to rival"), it has to be added some
> indefiniteness by the use of _i_. It could do well
> without it, though.
How 'bout the rest of my translation... did I totally
mangle your poem?  I hope not!  :-(   It was a nice
poem, very evocative.  Send us another one.  I think
these translation exercises, while hard work, are also
a way to get out of the AFMCL rut we sometimes get into,
which prevents us from scrutinizing another invented
language.

May I borrow _smalk_ into Teonaht?  And the lovely word
for "gull"?  They would probably have slightly different
meanings in T, and I would be sure to note their etymology in
my main glossary!

Sally