CHAT translating the Paternoster (was: Liturgical thou/thee
| From: | John Cowan <jcowan@...> |
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| Date: | Monday, July 15, 2002, 18:25 |
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Ray Brown scripsit:
> In his "After Babel" (a book all
> would-be translators ought to read IMO), George Steiner spends two pages [...]
> French: Que la lumi=E8re soit; et la lumi=E8re fut.
> [...]
> He finds the French version the least satisfactory. The definite article
> which French needs in his view 'posits a conceptual essence before
> phenomenality'. The conceptual pre-existence is not there in the
> other versions: the creation of light is immediate & stunning.
Or (which I believe more likely correct), "le" etc. in French is no longer
a *definite* article at all, but merely a default determiner that begins
noun phrases when no other determiner applies. The *definite* determiner
is "ce" etc. Etymology is not always the friend of semantics.
--
John Cowan <jcowan@...> http://www.reutershealth.com
I amar prestar aen, han mathon ne nen, http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
han mathon ne chae, a han noston ne 'wilith. --Galadriel, _LOTR:FOTR_
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