Re: Translating from a conlang into a conlang

On Wed, 21 Apr 1999, Nik Taylor wrote:

> (prose):
> Xipu! The plums fall [what does this mean?  Is it an idiom?]
Yes, quite. It refers of course to ripeness, especially of
girls. The exact details I'd like to leave to your imagination,
I'll just note that the Charyans are rather matter-of-fact
as regards the baser facts of life.

> Someone shall court me
> Because I am beautiful like a cherry blossom
>
> (P.s., are the last two lines part of the sister's quote?)
No, not really, as can be seen from the parallellism in the rest
of the stanzas. Interesting thought, though.

> They do not see any seperation between the soul and the "heart", they
> see emotions as being seated in the soul, therefore, "soul" would be
> more accurate than "heart" (using "heart" would make it sound like some
> sort of bizarre ritualistic sacrifice or something)
I'm afraid the Charyans are not very original - experiencing the feel of
a flutter in their breast when falling in love had lead them to the
rather standard idiom, I'd guess. I'm getting jealous at all the nice
idioms around here!

>
> Nai-z-ku'ta-u-ki         na-taki'-l
> FUT-DEF-court-1SAbs-INCH G2-person-ABS
> I just adapted "court" as _ku'ta_, since no such concept exists in W.
> By "urgative", do you mean some kind of emphasis?  That's how I
> interpreted it, that is, someone WILL court me.
No, that was some terminological confusedness of my part. An attempt
to translate 'aansporende wijs', as my Dutch grammar has it. I guess I
meant adhortative: let someone court me (before it's too late).

>
> Now, for a truly interesting excercise, a back-translation by someone
> with a cheap dictionary :-)
>
> Lo! Plums are falling
> 13 births are to someone
> Who wants that my soul is to someone?
> My head-stuff is black and is thick
> "I am pretty" - my sister
> Because I am pretty as a nauzi-flower
> I am sure that a person will court me.
>
Ah those dictionaries! Who would still maintain that a lexicographers
is a harmless drudge?

Boudewijn Rempt  | www.xs4all.nl/~bsarempt