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Re: TRANS: a child's exercise

From:Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...>
Date:Tuesday, September 7, 1999, 6:44
Okay, here's my attempt.  Note that birthday gifts are an alien concept
to the Kass=ED, but other than that, I don't think that the story would b=
e
seen as too odd.

G# =3D Gender#

Wizazaba'du palti'ilidu

Paflabi'u, pla'ssita watya'nikwa waka'zkwa, pinaabbi'li tinani'kwal.=20
Pinaabbi', wizazaba' ta'lkwatu, plisyala'su.  Fazaba'tai palti'iv
pinbla' nannaati'situ nannaama'nyasaitu.  Nallaku'si yuka'z palti'iv, ku
suflufaki'ltan wani'paba wavluka'ili.  Pil pifu'nu, sufmittu'tanki
wavluka'i paflauni'l kifi'dikaili kivvabi'lili.  Sufgli'tanki wani'pali
wavabi'li.  Flufaki'llaki ta'laiswaba wanafaki' tisaurunal
tinani'kwaval.  Zi flauni'taski fil tisaurun nannaati'siz.  Pla'ssita
pikaisu' nli'sfumiz, fakasyawava'tanki pil fakapa'atannu walali'lal.=20
Zi, pil pifu'nu, fakalassi'ltu ta'lmaz plilusi'l pidaya'l.  Ku
sufsyanmittu'tan wavuka'i paflauni'l fil kifi'dikaili.  Ku flufaki'lla
palti'i nli'sfumil pibiiyalti'iba.  Pil pifu'nu, favuli'itai palti'idu.
Fasyangwatya'litu wani'pa ku wakazka'z.  Ku fasayawava'taski fil
tinani'kwa, zi fasayawava'uki plassi pikaisu'

W-iza-zaba'-du     p-alti'i-li-du
G6-time-travel-ELL G7-boat-INST-ELL
Thus, literally, "Concerning a time of traveling by boat", more
naturally might be simply "Wizani'palidu", "Concerning a time of
traveling-by-water", but since we're speaking of the journey, wizazab=E1d=
u
palt=EDilidu would probably be used.

Pa-    f-   labi'-u    pla'ssita wa-tya'ni-kwa wa-ka'z-kwa pi-naabbi'-li
DatObj-Past-give-1Sabs because   G6-year-my    G6-ten-my   G7-gift-INST
ti-nani'-kwa-l
G1-mother-my-ERG
To make ordinals, the cardinal numbers take regular inflections, as
cardinal numbers, they don't, thus "Because [it was] my tenth year, my
mother gave me a gift."  Also, due to the lack of a word for father
(other than the scientific nlannani', literally co-mother), I changed it
to "mother"

Pinaabbi' w-izazaba' ta'lkwa-tu, plis-yala'su.
Gift      G6-journey I-BEN,      In.order.to-amuse.
The gift [was] a journey for me, to amuse
Note the circumlocation necessary to avoid having an object for "amuse",
one could also use the word plisli (related to plis-), so that the verb
could take an object, but that sounds unnatural, and is therefore
avoided most of the time.

Fa-zaba'-tai      p-alti'i-v  pinbla' nan-naati's-i-tu
Past-go-we(pauc.) G7-boat-LOC for     G2Pl-hunter-pl-BEN
nan-naama'n-yasa-i-tu
G2Pl-lazy.person-adj.-pl-BEN
Fishermen are called "lazy hunters"   Yes, I know that fishing is not an
easy job, but the phrase was created by hunters, who looked down upon
those who, in their view, used trickery to get their prey, rather than
using their own strength and speed (hunters traditionally use no weapon
other than a knife, tho arrows are occasionally used if absolutely
needed).  The fishermen themselves usually call themselves simply
"hunters" or "hunters of fish", however, since the figure seems to be
the child of a ship's captain, and not a fisherman himself, he'd
probably have the same contempt for the actual fishers that most have.=20
However, altho the fishermen are looked down upon, seafood itself is
greatly enjoyed by the Kass=ED.  Also, they'd find it curious that all th=
e
fishers were male (G2 =3D male), as fishing is one of the few occupations
open to both males and female.

Nal-laku's-i       yu-ka'z   p-alti'i-v,  ku
G2pl-adult.male-pl about-ten G7-boat-LOC, and
su-f-lu-faki'l-tan-ki        wa-ni'pa-ba  wa-vluka'-i-li
AP-past-cause-go-3PlRat-INCH G6-water-ILL G6-net-Pl-INST
"About ten men [were] on the boat, and they were/kept causing the nets
to go into the water"

Pil   pi-fu'nu, su-f-mittu'-tan-ki       wa-vluka'-i
After G7-that,  AP-past-pull-3PlRat-Inch G6-net-pl  =20
pa-f-launi'-l             kif-i'dika-i-li   kiv-vabi'-li-li
DatObj-Past-be(loc)-3SIrr G4Pl-fish-Pl-Inst G4Pl-fish-pl-INST
Technically, pif=FAnu should've ben pif=FAnuta, with the ablative suffix,
however colloquial speach often used absolutive for all prepositions.
"After than, they kept/were pulling the nets, which had many fish" (I
doubt that the pulling was a one-time thing, hence the inchoative)

Su-f-gli'-tan-ki         wa-ni'pa-li   wa-vabi'-li.
AP-past-make-3PlRat-Inch G6-water-INST G6-much-INST.
"They were making a lot of water"
Natives don't sweat, rather, they pant if hot.  Out of context,
sufgl=EDtanki wan=EDpali could be interpreted as a poetic device meaning
"they were crying", but that's unlikely

F-lu-faki'l-la-ki        ta'laiswa-ba wa-nafaki' ti-saurun-al=20
Past-Cause-go-3SIrr-Inch us.dual-ILL  G6-wind    G2-sauron-ERG
ti-nani'-kwa-v-al
G2-mother-my-GEN-ERG
I decided it felt more natural to simply adapt "sauron" than to
translate it.  Altho the Kass=ED have slaves, they would find a
"shadow-maker" to be just completely decadent
"My mother's _sauron_ kept making the wind go on us"; incidentally,
nafak=ED is derived from fak=EDl (the l was lost in the noun, but not in =
the
verb, due to the fact that the verb very rarely occurs without suffixes,
while the noun frequently did, especially in Old W, when the
cases-suffixes were still just postpositions), and means "that which
goes"

Zi  f-launi'-tas-ki         fil ti-saurun nan-naati's-i-z.
But past-be(loc)-3SRat-Inch not G2-sauron G2Pl-hunter-Pl-Dat.
I'm not sure why the usually obligatory modifier "lazy" is not used
here.  Perhaps observing that they did not have the advantage of a
Sauron, he felt pity for them, thus did not insult them by calling them
"lazy".

Pla'ssita pi-kaisu' nl-i'sfum-i-z,   =20
Because   G7-heat   G2Pl-PRON-Pl-Dat,=20
The singular of nl=EDsfumi is n=EDsfunu, the u becomes w after plural i, =
and
nw becomes m (just as tw --> p, and dw --> b)

fa-kas-yawava'-tan-ki         pil   fa-kapa'a-tan-nu     wa-lali'la-l
past-become-happy-3PlRat-INCH after past-hit-3PlRat-Perf G6-wave-ERG
"They became happy after a wave had hit them"

Zi,  pil   pi-fu'nu, fa-ka-lassi'-l-tu        ta'lma-z    p-lilusi'l=20
But, after G7-that,  Past-EO-see-3SIrr-INCEPT we.pauc-dat G7-cloud
pi-daya'
G7-bad
ka- is used to turn a verb from Experiencer-Subject to Experiencer
object, with lass=ED, it's effect is to change the meaning from "to see"
to "to be visible"
"But, after that, a bad cloud became visible"

Ku  su-f-syan-mittu'-tan            wa-vuka'-i pa-f-launi'-l        fil=20
And AP-past-immediately-pull-3PlRat G6-net-Pl  DatObj-Past-be-3SRat not
kif-i'dika-i-li.
G4Pl-fish-Pl-INST
"And they immediately pulled the nets, which did not have fish"

Ku  f-lu-faki'l-la      p-alti'i nl-i'sfum-i-l    pi-bii-yalti'i-ba.
And past-cause-go-3SIrr G7-boat  G2Pl-PRON-Pl-Erg G7-place.of-boat-ILL
"And they made the boat go to the boat-place"

Pil   pi-fu'nu, fa-vuli'i-tai   p-alti'i-du.
After G7-that,  past-go-we.pauc G7-boat-ELL
Hmm, this translator does seem to overuse "pil pif=FAnu".  :-)
After that, we went from (got off) the boat

Fa-syan-gwatya'-li-tu       wa-ni'pa ku  wa-kazka'z.
Past-immediately-fall-3DIrr G6-water and G6-thunder
"And water and thunder began to fall"
Water is falling is the normal way to say "it's raining", normally to
say "it's thundering", one says "thunder is being audible" (more or
less), but with "raining and thundering", one occasionally sees them
both being the subject of "fall"

Ku  fa-sa-yawava'-tas-ki     fil ti-nani'-kwa, zi  fa-sa-yawava'-u-ki=20
And past-be-happy-3SRat-INCH not G2-mother-my, but past-be-happy-I-INCH
plassi     pi-kaisu'
because.of G7-heat
"And my mother was not happy, but I was happy because of the heat.

This seems to be much longer than the original.  Watakass=ED has a
lamentable tendancy towards lengthiness.

--=20
"If all Printers were determin'd not to print any thing till they were
sure it would offend no body, there would be very little printed" -
Benjamin Franklin
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