Nindic Texts

  The following email is a commentary on three
versions of the same text written in three different
periods of Nindic. The commentary deals with apparent
anachronisms and other interesting points.


OLD NINDIC
A, e: pennyt i ecainid nerel,
e:nta myo:nat i nid ryeu nos nuchryn!
Ment E:uti o nochna i uaip le:nn ha yer
Luid nos da ne:chtyn ech cenyathan dhenuat i.

GLOSS, INTERLINEAR
A, e:          pennyt   i  ecainid nerel,
oh be.subj.3s  head-def my like    water

e:nta       myo:nat      i  nid  ryeu   nos nuchryn!
be.subj-3p eye-pl-def  my like fountain of  tear-pl

Ment e:uti       o  nochna   i uaip le:nn ha  yer
then be-cond-1s at weep-ger both   day  and night

luid nos      da  ne:chtyn    ech  cenyathan dhenuat
 i.
 for for-def  the slay-pp-pl from un-luck-y people-def
my

"Oh, that my head were like water,
my eyes a fount of tears!
Then I would weep both day and night
for the slain ones of my hapless people."

EARLY MODERN NINDIC (With Some Weird Points)
A ydd ei pennad i ‘nidd nerel
Eith mionad i ‘nidd rie no nychrín.
Daleir, nychaw mi faeb edde llein ‘bo dorn
Lluinos y neicheddín ech dened i, e ní ra iath .

A  ydd ei         pennad i  ‘nidd nerel
oh if  be.subj.3s head-def   my like  water

Eith        mionad     i ‘nidd rie      no nychrín.
be-subj-3p  eye-pl-def my like fountain of tear-pl

Daleir, nychaw      mi faeb edde   llein ‘bo dorn
then,   weep-fut.1s I  both during day   and night

Lluinos y   neicheddín ech dened       i,  e   ní  ra
 iath.
for-def the slay-pp-pl from people-def my, who not
have luck

Interesting Points:
 1) ydd - Extremely Archaic, Old Nindic _hyd_ /hi:D/
This ought to have disappeared by the time this text
was written. However, it's probably an archaicising
attempt by the scribe.
 2) Lost of many /v/ phonemes, represented in Old
Nindic as <u>
   ex. ryeu > rie, dhenuat > dened.
This change happened in Late Middle Nindic.
 3) nychaw - first attested here, in this Early Modern
Text. Replaces the Middle Nindic <nuchu> "I will weep"
 4) dorn - This word is very strange in this context.
It is a Late Nindic form, usually from the phase of
the language called "Classical", the language of most
modern prose litterature. However, in an Early Modern
Text it seems out of place. Probably a slip up from a
Classical Scribe copying an older text.
 5) y - the definite article is pronounce /i/, and
usually spelled <i>. The spelling <y> is a feature of
Early Modern and Middle/Old Nindic.
 6) neicheddín - This past participle turned noun is
slightly strange. It has the vowel /e/ in the first
syllable, rather than /e:/ which is found in Middle
Nindic. However the consonant /D/ is a feature of
Modern Nindic. In Middle Nindic the form would be
pronounced /ne:xedi:n/, in Modern Nindic, one expects
/nexeDi:n/. To find /ne:xeDi:n/ represents a hybrid
form.
 7) ní - the negative particle is rare in poetry,
since it is mostly a colloquial feature. It feels out
of place in this verse, where the negative verb <ena>
might have been expected.

MIDDLE NINDIC
ieter ei pennyt i nid nerel
einth mionat i nid rief no nuchyn
Da leir ydi edeiut o nochna faip leinn bo dawrn
lluii nos i neichetyn ech deneat i.

ieter ei          pennyt   i  nid  nerel
if    be.subj.3s  head-def my like water

einth       mionat     i  nid  rief     no nuchyn
be.subj.3p  eye.pl.def my like fountain of tear.pl

Da   leir ydi ed-eiut        o  nochna   faip leinn bo
 dawrn
that time me  who-be-cond-3s at weep-ger both day
and night

lluii nos  i    neichetyn  ech  deneat      i.
for   for  the  slay-pp-pl from people-def  my

The only weird part of this version is:
 1) <ieter> "if" replaces <ydd/yd/hyd>
 2) <ydi ed-eiut>
  <ydi> = yd + i, where <yd> is a pronoun carrier
particle that occurs in Old Nindic and is carried over
into Middle Nindic, occasionally.
  <ed-> "who"
  <eiut> = eiu "will be" + <t> representing the past
tense. This "future in the past" is a "conditional"
form. This does not survive in other verbs, and could
be a so called aberrant form.


- Elliott


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