Re: a traditional Nattiki fable
| From: | Sally Caves <scaves@...> |
|---|
| Date: | Monday, June 14, 1999, 3:44 |
|---|
Nik Taylor wrote:
>
> Looks as tho this didn't get much response, in fact, no replies. I
> rediscovered it while cleaning out my mailbox.
I saw it, too, but your translation has inspired me to try my hand
at it. The poor pig, such a maligned creature. By the way, this
was Matt Pearson's class constructed conlang. So this should be
very interesting. Here's the Teonaht; Nattiki at the end, with
a few questions I have.
LI KORMA UOLI TORYO
The Pig and the Oaktree
KORMA-LI NOLMLO PERIM
Pig-indef.art. HAB.pst. he exist
A pig used he (to) exist
"There was a pig"
PONDRE-NOLM HAI HSOB TORYO VOLWEN;
stand-pst.HAB rel. under oak old
stood who under oak old
"who stood under an old oaktree;"
SEND POTO IL NYKKONO NOLMLO ENNYVE.
and all the acorns HAB-pst.he eat
"and he used to eat all the acorns."
ANEB POTO IL NYKKONO NRINOLM TALO DIHHAIN,
adv. all def.obj.art. acorns find.pst.HAB can.pst.he of which
After all the acorns find could he of which
"After he ate all the acorns that he could find,"
NOLMLO O~ SELYB EDDIRME.
pst.HAB.he "of" full sleep.
did he used to of full sleep.
"he slept fully."
MA TYVOR DER ELAI O~ TEMBRAHT DWEKAMA
but hunger/SUBJ him/OBJ pst.it/SUBJ of timely awake-make
but hunger him did it timelily awaken
"but hunger woke him up after a time," [we switch to simple past
instead of habitual past]
SEND VRODAN ILID ETON ELO MIP VONA.
Conj. roots/OBJ gen.obj.art. tree pst.he INCEP. dig.
And roots of the tree did he start to dig.
"and he started to dig up the roots of the tree."
`VERA DEF!' EDDER ELO EBRA LE TAH
NEG. imp.do to-him pst.he say the songbird
Not do! to him did he say the songbird.
"Don't do [that]!" said the songbird to him"
MASSELHAI AR FYRL CELIL TORYO,
sit.pst.who on branch in the/OBJ oaktree,
sat who on etc.
"that sat on a branch in the oaktree,"
UANNER TY IL VRODAN FY TAFWYR
causal conj obj.art. roots/OBJ you/SUB hurt
For if the roots you hurt
"for if you hurt the roots,"
TA KABUO LI TORYO
causal dies the oaktree
"then the oaktree will die."
TY LI TORYO ESLO KABUO TA DETYNDDESRY VERA
conj. subj. fut.he dies CAUS. fut.chatter-teeth I not
If the oaktree he will die then will chatter I with my teeth not
"If the oaktree dies, I won't worry,"
LI KORMA ELO EBRA.
The pig did he say.
"said the pig."
MIMIM TONON TALLOPRY BROTEN NRINA!
collect. acorns mod.fut.HAB.I adv. find.
Some acorns will be able I always find.
"I can always find some acorns."
O TYSTRA LE TORYO VOLWEN ELO JANE:
Of sudden the oaktree old did he speak:
"Suddenly the old oaktree spoke:"
HA HKORMEN, DOVNAKA FY!
Voc. pig fool/COMP you!
Oh pig, fool you!
"Pig, you're a fool."
FYL EPAN KE HAIN UINSE NERIK
poss. eyes see rel. adv. mud
your eyes see which only mud
"Your eyes, which only see the mud,"
TY TALDWAV WEM UOPAKE TA WEMFY PRE
If can they might up see then might you know
"if they could look up then you might know"
RENDDARUOM LI NIKONOWET AROL MAL BRINENYVOMFY HAIN
grow-HAB acorns-DIM. on-me now over-eat HAB which
grow the little acorns on me now over-eat you which
"that little acorns are growing on me that you gorge yourself on"
O NWETIS GORMAIHT!
of much/many gluttonous
"so very gluttonously!"
TO HSENNAL EV FYL VYGGEO,
for reason by your blindness
"Because of your blindness,"
COMMANCO TO MEHUENREM FY MAL HSOVDEN!
OBJ adj. phrase you/SUBJ adv. under-do
feast for arriving you now underdo.
"you are destroying a future feast!"
Looking at Matt's students' rendition below, where
the pig is telling the bird that he "won't worry if the
tree dies," I notice that the simple future seems
to be used here. "If the tree will die, my teeth
won't chatter," I've translated in the Teonaht above,
because Teonaht does the same thing with simple conditionals.
T. doesn't have a subjunctive, and a very poorly worked
out conditional. I notice that Nattiki later has a
word for "could," as in "if your eyes could see..."
in _tetelo_. Is this different in construction from
_shu wisha_ "will worry" and _shu maka_ "will die"
in the sentence with the simple future? Teonaht has no such
conditional construction "could." It has to resort
to a modal, _wem_, meaning "perhaps" or "might" to
express a stronger conditional than that with the
simple future. You also have _na bish_, "you would."
How did you derive these and not extend the sense to the
first sentence? "If the tree were to die, I would
not worry." A linguistic conundrum for me: how is
this semantically different from "If the tree dies,
I won't worry"? Is it just a matter of using the
subjunctive or the conditional in one case and not
in the other, or is the Nattiki sentence a relex of
English in this one instance? (Because it is still
a language in formation?) Teonaht gets itself
into knots over this type of thing.
Sally Caves
http://www.frontiernet.net/~scaves/verbs.html
============================================
The Nattiki version:
>
> > KUNUG DA SISIILA
> >
> > Odee kunug baakatem otoose tus chonaop sisiilaop da
> > olholho bapasisiilaop. Bado olholho zuzop bapasisiilaop
> > sashaaop opila kada, omiibod limaa. Ep ochaguweo booa
> > aooweotem, da omiba diche katlhosop.
> >
> > "Mi nalhee dogop!" ozii ka lapop kunugop wudugitem
> > baakatem oluduu lhi hanchaop bap sisiilaop. "Zigaa
> > tat nashudiza katlhosop, shumaka lhostem."
> >
> > "Mi ishuwisha tat shumaka lhostem," ozii kunugtem.
> > "Ishupila kada lam bapasisiilaop be lhiichubop."
> >
> > Oduu atapa chonatem sisiilatem. "Men nadee, kunug!
> > Tat tetelo kima hanchalaop lhononitem sashaatem heo
> > nebee udifaop, nabish baafa kan uuji lhila uumunmutem
> > gibuktem sashaaop nalholho ukuuli. Zigaa nabobluka
> > aa, nabobasfoo ujoshop waafimonoop!"
> >
> > MORPHEME-BY-MORPHEME GLOSS
> >
> > KUNUG DA SISIILA
> > pig and oak.tree
> >
> > O-dee kunug baaka-tem o-toose tus chona-op
> > Pst-is pig who-Nom Pst-stand under old-Obj
> >
> > sisiila-op da o-lholho bapasisiila-op.
> > oak.tree-Obj and Pst-eat acorn-Obj
> >
> > (N.B.: "bapa-sisiila" = "oak.tree-fruit")
> >
> > Bado o-lholho zuz-op bapasisiila-op sashaa-op
> > after Pst-eat all-Obj acorn-Obj what-Obj
> >
> > o-pila kada, o-miibod limaa.
> > Pst-able.to find Pst-sleep.soundly satisfied
> >
> > Ep o-chagu-weo booa aoo-weo-tem,
> > but Pst-awaken-him after.a.while hunger-his-Nom
> >
> > da o-miba diche katlhos-op.
> > and Pst-begin poke/prod tree.roots-Obj
> >
> > "Mi na-lhee dog-op!" o-zii ka lap-op
> > not you-do that-Obj Pst-say to that-Obj
> >
> > kunug-op wudugi-tem baaka-tem o-luduu lhi
> > pig-Obj bird-Nom who-Nom Pst-sit on
> >
> > hancha-op bap sisiila-op.
> > branch-Obj in oak.tree-Obj
> >
> > "Zigaa tat na-shu-diza katlhos-op,
> > because if you-Fut-damage roots-Obj
> >
> > shu-maka lhos-tem."
> > Fut-die tree-Nom
> >
> > "Mi i-shu-wisha tat shu-maka lhos-tem,"
> > not I-Fut-worry if Fut-die tree-Nom
> >
> > o-zii kunug-tem. "I-shu-pila kada
> > Pst-say pig-Nom I-Fut-able.to find
> >
> > lam bapasisiila-op be lhiichub-op."
> > always acorn-Obj for food-Obj
> >
> > O-duu atapa chona-tem sisiila-tem.
> > Pst-speak all.at.once old-Nom oak.tree-Nom
> >
> > "Men na-dee, kunug!
> > stupid you-are pig
> >
> > Tat tetelo kima hancha-la-op lhon-oni-tem
> > if they-could see branch-my-Obj eye-your-Nom
> >
> > sashaa-tem heo nebee udifa-op, na-bish
> > what-Nom only look.at dirt-Obj you-would
> >
> > baafa kan uuji lhi-la uumunmu-tem gibuk-tem
> > know that grow on-me lovely-Nom morsel-Nom
> >
> > sashaa-op na-lholho ukuuli.
> > what-Obj you-eat greedily
> >
> > Zigaa na-bob-luka aa, na-bob-asfoo
> > because you-Prog-act blindly you-Prog-destroy
> >
> > ujosh-op waafimono-op!"
> > future-Obj feast-Obj
>
> --
> Happy that Nation, - fortunate that age, whose history is not diverting
> -- Benjamin Franklin
>
http://members.tripod.com/~Nik_Taylor/X-Files/
>
http://members.tripod.com/~Nik_Taylor/Books.html
> ICQ #: 18656696
> AIM screen-name: NikTailor