Relay: 19. From Brithenig to Dublex
| From: | Sally Caves <scaves@...> |
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| Date: | Sunday, December 5, 1999, 20:47 |
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Jeffrey Henning wrote:
>
> Here is the complete translation in Dublex. Please note that vowels are
> pronounced as in Esperanto and that 'h' is pronounced /sh/ as in 'shed'.
> Stress is on the penultimate syllable if the word ends in a vowel, otherwise
> on the last syllable.
>
> Poamdevio. Comunu u von o voc, io seb cisu o veona cis io.
> /poh-ahm-deh-VEE-oh. koh-MOO-noo oo vohn oh vohk EE-oh sehb KEE-soo oh
> veh-OH-nah kees EE-oh/
> Nuna ventleta feort comartonu.
> Toana fonsens feinu.
> Vat rastu o gid.
> Toan tele fonsensu, iom o toan lete siucu.
> Toana fonsens feinu.
> Cazio von muce comunu, o <<Vonpoamio. Nin sahe fonsensu o von.>>.
> Hazar sahu o nest.
> Toana fonsens feinu.
> O suma sialfper teroru dinsolbez.
> Toana vissens feinu.
> Vone poama vissens feinu, iom giertempio vona nuptu.
> Cazio von muce comunu, o <<Vonpoamio. Nin sahe vissensu o von.>>.
>
> Now the idiomatic translation.
>
> Fatherly God, impart to us the word that narrates this story.
>
> Now the breeze is stronger.
> His hearing begins.
>
> The water grows food.
> He hears afar; he saddens a little.
> His hearing begins.
>
> Because of this, I say, "O My Father, You hear us with favor."
>
> The tree makes a house healthy.
> His hearing begins.
>
> All the elders fear the night.
> His seeing begins.
>
> My Father's sight begins, as we marry.
>
> Because of this, I say, "O My Father, You see us with favor."
>
> When I initially received the Brithenig poem, it seemed almost gibberish to
> me. Not because of the Brithenig translation itself, but because the text
> had changed so much it just seemed like words strung together. It
> definitely lacked continuity. Finally, after reading it a half dozen times
> and after diving into translating it, I interpreted it as the ritual
> phrasing of a wedding ceremony, phrasing which had become a comforting
> patter and paternoster of the nuptial rites. The breeze was a
> representation of the spirit and voice of the Father-God. The food-growing
> water was a sign of future fertility and a reproach that the couple has
> consummated their relationship and conceived a child before the ritual of
> marriage ("he hears afar; he saddens a little"). The tree is a
> representation of the God (whether the tree as cross, the tree as in Odin's
> sacrifice or simply the wind in the trees as the voice of God in the land is
> unclear and awaited more details of the culture of the people who created
> this ritual) as he makes a house healthy, blessing the new home of the new
> couple. "All the elders fear the night" was a veiled reference to the fear
> of death ending the union of marriage, but it is only in recognizing how a
> marriage should end (through death of a partner rather than divorce) that
> you can see what a marriage means, and with that seeing, with that
> recognition, be married.
>
> I still prefer "You may kiss the bride" as the ending to a wedding ceremony!
> :-) In all other things I am afraid my own biases and preferences are
> evident in my interpretation, but with no other context, what could I look
> to but my own views? Alas, Dublex doesn't come with an imagined conculture.
>
> Now the interlinear translation. Note that pronouns are not marked for
> number, which can make interpretations ("his" or "their", "my" or "our"?)
> difficult. Dublex relies on a root vocabulary of just 400 words, with other
> words nonce forms, allowing me to have finished the lexicon to the language
> and yet always be reinventing it. Dublex prefers literal forms to
> figurative forms.
>
> Poamdevio. Comunu u von o voc, io seb cisu o veona cis io.
> Parent+masculine+god+{vocative}. Communicate+{verb} {indirect-object}
> {first-person-pronoun} {direct-object} word {relative-clause-initiator}
> {subject-placeholder} narrate(story+{verb}) {direct-object} this+{adjective}
> story {relative-clause-terminator}.
>
> Nuna ventleta feort comartonu.
> Present+{adjective} wind+diminutive+{adjective} strength(strong+abstraction)
> compares+{augmentative}+{verb}.
>
> Toana fonsens feinu.
> {third-person-pronoun}+{masculine}+{adjective} sound+sense
> end+{opposite}+{verb}.
>
> Vat rastu o gid.
> Water grow+{verb} {direct-object} food.
>
> Toan tele fonsensu, iom o toan lete siucu.
> {third-person-pronoun}+{masculine} far+{adverb} sound+sense+{verb}
> {clause-conjunction} {direct-object} {third-person-pronoun}+{masculine}
> {diminutive}+{adverb} happy+opposite+{verb}.
>
> Toana fonsens feinu.
> {third-person-pronoun}+{masculine}+{adjective} sound+sense
> end+{opposite}+{verb}.
>
> Cazio von muce comunu, o <<Vonpoamio. Nin sahe fonsensu o von.>>.
> cause+{clausal-modifier} {first-person-pronoun} mouth+{adjective}
> communication+{verb} {direct-object}
> <<{first-person-pronoun}+parent+{masculine}+{vocative}.
> {second-person-pronoun} favorableness+{adverb} sound+sense+{verb}
> {direct-object} {first-person-pronoun}>>.
>
> Hazar sahu o nest.
> /shah-ZAHR sah-SHOO oh nest/
> tree make-healthy(health+{verb}) {direct-object} house.
>
> Toana fonsens feinu.
> {third-person-pronoun}+{masculine}+{adjective} sound+sense
> end+{opposite}+{verb}.
>
> O suma sialfper teroru dinsolbez.
> {direct-object} all+{adjective} old+{opposite}+person fear+{verb}
> daily+sun+absence.
>
> Toana vissens feinu.
> {third-person-pronoun}+{masculine}+{adjective} vision+sense
> end+{opposite}+{verb}.
>
> Vone poama vissens feinu, iom giertempio vona nuptu.
> {first-person-pronoun}+{adjective-modifier} parent+{masculine}+{adjective}
> vision+sense end+{opposite}+{verb}, {clause-conjunction}
> while(among+time)+{clause-modifier} {first-person-pronoun} marriage+{verb}.
>
> Cazio von muce comunu, o <<Vonpoamio. Nin sahe vissensu o von.>>.
> cause+{clausal-modifier} {first-person-pronoun} mouth+{adjective}
> communication+{verb} {direct-object}
> <<{first-person-pronoun}+parent+{masculine}+{vocative}.
> {second-person-pronoun} favorableness+{adverb} vision+sense+{verb}
> {direct-object} {first-person-pronoun}>>.
>
> I had resolved not to expand the grammar at all (the language has a strictly
> defined BNF-notated syntax) and had to improvise for the vocative. I've
> since added a vocative, and <<Vonpoamio. Nin sahe vissensu o von.>> would
> now be <<Namo vonpoam, nin sahe vissensu o von.>> where 'name' is a
> preposition and could be strictly interpreted as "I request the attention of
> the one I name", which in this case is the "fatherly God".
>
> All in all, I was surprised with how pleasant the poem sounded when read
> aloud, but I felt that Dublex's literal approach removed the poetry from the
> piece and made it more literal than appropriate.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Jeffrey Henning
>
http://www.LangMaker.com/ - Invent Your Own Language
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