Re: An Aelya translation

On Tue, 31 Jul 2001, andrew wrote:

>Am 07/24 13:53  Aidan Grey yscrifef:
>>  This is the prayer popularized by the movie 13th
>> warrior. Someone translated it on Elfling, and it
>> seemed like a good exercise for me.
>>
>> 1.Lo, I see here my father and mother.
>> 2.Lo, now I see all my deceased relatives sitting.
>> 3.Lo, there is my master, who is sitting in Valinor.
>> 4.Paradise is so beautiful, so green.
>> 5.With him are his men and boys.
>> 6.He calls to me, so bring me to him.
In Kerno:

1. Ech, wedu eo 'laci mo pharun e ma varun.
2. Ech, wedu eo aur ndoth ma nglanypleint mortue sedement.
3. Ech, ilalla mo Vaystoers, sedement in Valinoer.
4. Que bel il Paradisos, que wiredh.
5. Ilalla cul.lo, so varren e so vappen.
6. Domllam, que daverroerme a lo!

Interlinear:

Ech, wedu eo 'laci mo pharun e ma varun.
Lo,  see  I  there my father & my mother.
     1sIND   adv      ACC         ACC

Ech, wedu eo aur ndoth ma nglanypleint mortue sedement.
Lo,  see  I  now all   my house        dead   sitting
     1sIND   adv          ACC          PPP    MPP

Ech, ilalla mo Vaystoers, sedement in Valinoer.
Lo,  there  my Master     sitting  in Valinor
     adv       NOM        MPP         ACC

Que bel       le  Paradis, que wiredh.
So  beautiful the Paradise so  green
    adj           ACC          adj

Ilalla cullo,   so  varren e so  vappen.
There  with-him his men    & his lads
adv    ACC          ACC          ACC

Domllam,         que       daverrarme      a  lo!
to-me-calls (he) therefore to-him-bring-me to him
3sIND                      1sSUBJ.Mid

Of curious note is the MPP, the middle present participle.
Originally borrowed into the poetic level of the language
from Greek; it has since filtered into more mundane speech.

The survival of the middle/passive is also of note in the
modern language. Its forms are much reduced (the 3s is the
only one that has a distinctive termination) and is most
often found doing the duty of the impersonal.

The two verbs in the last line both contain the preverb do-
(to) and have infixed object pronouns. The -m- in domllam
is first singular dative; the -a- in daverrarme marks the
third singular dative masculine. The -me on the end is the
direct object pronoun.

Words to note are la clanypleint and il Paradisos. The
former is composed of a Gaelic word (clan) and an archaic
Brithenig word (plentina). It describes the ancient or
traditional family form in the province, namely, the
Roman family and its associated (and usually Irish) slaves.
Paradisos is transparently a borrowing from Greek. Not
surprising, I suppose, due to the contacts maintained with
the Greek East after 476. It's not completely naturalised
yet; as you can see, it's still got the Greek -os ending
for the nom. singular. The other forms are naturalised,
though.

Sadists amongst us might try to read it:

/Ex wEDujo lasi: m@farUn e m@varUn
Ex wEDujo aur~ (n)dot_h ma~glaniplEnt morty sEDEmEnt
Ex Ilaja m@vejstWrs sEDEmEntin valinWr
ke bEl l@~baradis ke (N)wireD
Ilaja kul lo: s@var@n e s@ vap@n
domhlam ke davErarmi @ lo:/


>(ffadad=lucky, ffadyd=deceased; my god, the Kemrese comedians must get
>plenty of mileage out of that old saw!)
Indeed! But the man with the duck on his head has _got_ to go.

>4.Paraduis es si fel, si wirdd.
>Paradise be.PRES.SG so beautiful, so green
>Paradise is so beautiful, so green
>
>(Paraduis from Greek Paradeisos rather than VL Paradi:sum, I think.  I
>am still debating whether the -d- should be -dd- or not.  It isn't in
>Welsh, but that may be because it is a learned borrowing.)
Could be a learned / religious borrowing in B as well.

Padraic.

>- andrew.