Re: Translations: work slogans (was Re: Which language is this? (once again))

On Sat, Feb 04, 2006 at 12:57:32PM -0500, Paul Bennett wrote:

> I suggest a translation challenge for maybe a selection of those
> work-oriented slogans. I'd like to invite you to translate the following
> into your conlangs:
>
> Discover life. (I don't know whether this was originally work-oriented,
> but it seems like the kind of nonsense some managerial type might thing
> makes for more productive workers)
Abbreviations in interliners:

OBL: obligative mood
IMP: imperfective
DEF: definite article
ACC: accusative
IRR: irrealis: in Toma Heylm, encompasses future, subjunctive, optative...
COLL: collective (derivational)
PART: partitive (derivational)

mërèchi (mangled orthography explained at
http://www.quandary.org/~langs/merechi/index.html):

dökanéyep'da àn èaty'c!
do-  kA'nejE  -p   -da  'An  'eAti -k
OBL- discover -IMP -2SG  DEF  life -ACC
You must discover life!

Amusingly, this reads like "discover life on Mars" or "discover intelligent
life".  Probably a better translation would be along the lines of "discover
the joy of living", but I imagine the poster-drones translating it this
way instead :)

Toma Heylm:

Lhi delye mi descaldre trengeyu!
You.pl IRR OBL discover(pl) life-ACC
You should discover life!

This has the same translation problem as the mërèchi above. :)
In a workplace situation, Toma Heylm uses the plural to avoid having
to decline the verb as either female or male.

> None of us is a strong as all of us. (Based on the original, I'd suggest a
> more or less culturally suitable thematic translation rather that a tight
> word-for-word attempt)
I almost had to make up a word here, mërèchi lacking "strong", but
then I rephrased....

mërèchi:

fàyis hàlasap'n na'c ka'hàlasap'n fàkes.
'fA -yis  'hAla -sa  -p   -n    na  -c    ka- 'hala -sa  -p   -n   'fa  -kes
2PL -COLL  do   -POT -IMP -3SG  REL -ACC  not- do   -POT -IMP -3SG  2PL -PART
The mass of us can do that which (one, some) of us cannot.

I'm really proud of this one.  It swings.

Toma Heylm:

Rhelye tamre dava kerelid tamyev, ahol doras simeli.
People all(adj) IMP strong-PL more(adv), as/than someone alone.
The people united are stronger, than one alone.

(Somehow that came out sounding incredibly communist in both versions.)

> I don't know, I only work here. (If you don't use this at least once a
> day, you're not trying hard enough)
mërèchi:

ka'tèrenp'a; tan fídëp'a tévin.
kA- 'tErEn -p   -A      tAn  'fide -p   -A   'te  -vIn
not- know  -IMP -1SG    only  work -IMP -1SG  3PL -for
I don't know; I just work for them.

Toma Heylm:

Eff dava kennot lek.  Eff dava ikya davot.
I IMP know(f) not.   I IMP merely worker.
I don't know.  I'm just a worker.

Toma Heylm has a zero copula.  Additionally, the above is spoken by a
woman; a man would use the masculine form kennyik of "to know".

What I don't know, is if either of these languages can just say "I don't
know" like that :)  Perhaps the syntactics of tèren and kennal are not
identical to English "know" after all?  Maybe there should be an object,
like "I don't know that" or "I don't know the answer"...

> Feel free to add your own cliches to the list...
Gah, I'd love to, but then I'd have to translate them and it's almost 2 am!

Amanda