Translating Cortazar (WAS: Translating from a conlang into aconlang)

Boudewijn Rempt <bsarempt@...> wrote:
>=20
> Nice story, and of a manageable length, too, but I encountered some
> unexpected difficulties in this text, especially in the construction
> of complex sentences. And it necessitated the extension of the lexicon
> with several new words.=20
That's it!

> Yomu    tan pexen
> subject GEN cloth
>=20
>   I've translated tapestry as literally as possible. Tapestries
>   are unknown in the Charyan culture, as are all possible connotations.=
=20
>   For the rest, this was a remarkably context-free exercise.
Yes, I chose it mainly for that reason. Most of the other
stories in the book were full of specific references and/or
were terribly complex (this guy Cort=E1zar tended to write
one-page-long sentences).

> Tan Daine k=EA   terno.berai adan,
> GEN daine only eight.ten   man
_Adan_?!

>   It is possible to pluralize counted nouns, but it is rather
>   unusual, and in this case would imply that the general has
>   eighty men and campfollowers, especially since campaigning
>   soldiers in Charya are almost always followed by spouse and
>   children and various tradesmen and tradeswomen bent on relieving
>   the soldiers from their spoils. Most campaigns in Charya
>   are of the tax-gathering kind, amongst the peasant population
>   in the mountains. See for some background:
>   http://www.xs4all.nl/~bsarempt/tiscim.html
Hell of a tax evasion problem, I'd say ;)


> Feinta shauldan yetsamin'nanin'gasat   qishen
> then   3sVHGH   proclamation.full.soul write
>=20
>   A _shauldan_ won't simply write a note, but is
>   more refined than that: therefore, he writes a=20
>   _yetsamin_, which is a word derived from the
>   official literary language, Den'wenray, Classical=20
>   Charyan. Good Denden is often a matter of mixing
>   in enough Den'wenray.
Could Den'wenray be thought of like a parallel to
Latin in the Middle Ages (or nowadays)? Or does
someone actually speak it for quotidian uses?

Is yetsamin'nanin'gasat a compound, or are what you
glossed as full.soul two derivative suffixes?


 =20
> Weru.brai.brai aday   nahan lohe tan Daine.
> 2.10.10        child  go    to   GEN daine
>=20
>   In contrast to Valdyan, which doesn't have a word
>   from 1000, Denden hasn't a word for 100: 100 is
>   literally ten ten.
You were peeping, weren't you? :)
BTW, see my post to Irina... I made a mistake. It
should have been "infantrymen", not "infants"!

[snip rest]

Tell me when you discover more about those strange=20
particles (_ga_, _tan_...).


> On Fri, 23 Apr 1999, FFlores wrote:
> >=20
> > Well, this should be easy... Maybe later I'll give you
> > some Drasel=E9q :)
> >=20
>=20
> Yes, please!
Well, I sent you something already. Hope you like it...
It's not that good or easy. Good luck!


--Pablo Flores

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
En gian idgrivar fr=FAmneltel frasi=E9rraser gian pavonn
be i malladhar siqged=FCer.

"Don't blame your enemy for your disgrace=20
 if you've just given them a chance."

(Traditional Dr=E1selhadh saying)