Re: Translation Exercise: Probable-Possible

On Sunday, October 3, 2004, at 06:21 , John Cowan wrote:

> Here's a translation exercise.  The English original is by Frederick
> Winsor, and all were published in _The Space Child's Mother Goose_.
>
> Probable-Possible, my black hen,
> She lays eggs in the Relative When.
> She doesn't lay eggs in the Positive Now
> Because she's unable to postulate how.
Sadly, no version of BrSc is in sufficient state for me to offer a
translation. But, as some know, 'Dutton (World) Speedwords' was what
prompted the slow development of the various 'briefscripts'. When I
discovered that a direct Speedwords translation of "Probable-Possible" is
_ibu-ib_ /'Ibu:Ib/, I couldn't resist attempting the whole thing   :)

Ibu-ib, ji wyx avis, je
Ronl sh stax i l Abik Qe.
I l Cer Nu sh ronlz n stax,
zi qa e ib sh pn ax.

Yes, it rhymes  :)

If you stress it as I show, it fits the English rhythm (I hope):
/'Ibu: 'Ib Zi: 'wajkx avis 'Ze:/
/'rQnil sh@ 'staks i: li 'abIk 'kwe:/
/'i: l& tSEr 'nu: S@ 'rQnilz nQt 'staks/
/zi: 'kwa: e: 'Ib S@ 'p@nQt 'aks/

PS - working on a Latin version - not so easy if it's to be verse   :=(

Ray
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Anything is possible in the fabulous Celtic twilight,
which is not so much a twilight of the gods
as of the reason."      [JRRT, "English and Welsh" ]