Longer Holic passage [LONG]

I've finally completed a translation of a short passage into Holic.  When
it seemed no one had a suitable simple connected passage (I wanted a
connected passage in particular to test the articles) I went digging
through my books and found the below, which I give here first in Old
Icelandic (the spelling is updated in this edition), and then in English:

Hrútur var með konungi um veturinn í góðu yfirlæti.  En er voraðist,
gerðist hann hljóður mjög.  Gunnhildur fann það og mælti til hans, er voru
tvö saman:
"Ert þú hugsjúkur, Hrútur?" sagði hún.
"Það er sem mælt er," segir Hrútur, "að illt er þeim, er á ólandi er alinn."
"Vilt þú til Íslands?" segir hún.
"Það vil ég," sagði hann.
"Átt þú konu nokkra út þar?" segir hún.
"Eigi er það," sagði hann.
Siðan hættu þau talinu.
(Brennu-Njáls Saga, ed. Jón Böðvarsson, Reykjavík: Prentsmiðja Jóns
Helgarsonar, 1971: Kap. 6, pp. 17-8)

Hrut spent the winter with the king in high favour; but when the spring
came he grew very silent.  Gunnhild noticed this, and when they were alone
she asked him, "Are you unhappy, Hrut?"
"Far from home is far from joy, as the saying goes," replied Hrut.
"Do you want to go back to Iceland?" she asked.
"Yes," he replied.
"Have you a woman out there?" she asked.
"No," said Hrut.
"I believe you have, nevertheless, said the queen, and they broke off the
conversation.
(Njal's Saga, tr. Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Pálsson, Harmondsworth,
Middx: Penguin Books, 1960: Ch. 6. p. 48)

My full translated text follows; I followed the OI except where my
knowledge of the language failed me.

Rut zinjvú bobbi tjisjé la lesq ratjí si sew go vuv tjesjvú tow
vunj-ríbdjez duv pav-vé.  Lesq zjiyí si sez da let Rut barey-baréy
pav-vé.  Gunhil zinjvú vuy-hán da vuf do ham vinj-wán pav-vé.
Buynjí Rut mu zinj-yí sew zin-níp vun-níp.  Ka sjisó sji vam ranj pavnjí
yig djanj yeg ripyinj sjisí sjiyíp dunj-vé duv mem-vé vus-vé.
Islan zqi vaw zinj-yíg zinj vuy-rípyi duf zin-níp vun-níp.  Vuv vus-vé.
Zinj ta ka sjo va tas sjisí nop vuf vun-níp.  Vuv vus-múz.
Duf oy vosq vuy-hán vuf vunj-vé.  Yeg ven up duv pav-vé.

A sentence-by-sentence breakdown, with comments, follows.  Some initial
comments:

I've made a change since my previous posted sentences: the absolutive
pronoun is now only needed in the absence of the noun (I had had it in
course of becoming a compulsory inflection, but have changed my
mind).  When present it is still written hyphenated to the verb, and
undergoes sandhi with the verb.

ART represents a sort of article which is (roughly) compulsory whenever a
new referent is introduced and does not (ordinarily) occur therefter: it is
thus something like an indefinite article, but far from identical in usage
(it occurs with proper nouns, for instance).  There are several different
articles (which are adjectives in form, but always follow all other
adjectives), which distinguish persons from non-persons, (sometimes)
natural gender and (most importantly) levels of politeness.

The numbers in the glosses refer to "politeness levels", which range from
-2 to +2.  (It's not a good term on the first person pronouns, at least,
because with those it is politer to assign oneself a lower rank in
deference, but I haven't thought of a better term yet.)

Hrútur var með konungi um veturinn í góðu yfirlæti.
Hrut spent the winter with the king in high favour;
Rut zinjvú bobbi tjisjé la lesq ratjí si sew go
      vuv tjesjvú tow vunj-ríbdjez duv pav-vé.
Rut  zinjvú           bobbo    tjisjé    la   lesq       ratjí       si
Hrut ART+1.m.anim.ESg king.GSg ART+2.GSg chez season.ASg young.f.ASg
ART+0.f.inan.ASg
      sew  go  vuv           tjesjvú   tow  vunj-          ríbdjez
duv       pav-    vé.
      pass and he.prox.m.ESg ART+2.ESg very him.prox.m.ASg
favour  I+0.m.ESg you+0.m tell

Hrut, the king and the winter ("young season") are all introduced with
articles - although the first two have already occured in the saga,
chapters in Holic are written to be self-contained.  The article also
occurs with the pronoun _vuv_ to make it clear is refers to the king (level
+2) not Hrut (+1); since _vuv_ must be anaphoric this cannot be introducing
something new.

_Duv pav-vé_ "I tell you that": in Holic speech act is always overt (it
became compulsory when loss of verbal inflection obscured the difference
even between positive and negative indicative statements, let alone
interrogatives, etc.)  There are three clauses here - two joined with the
clausal conjunction _go_, both subordinate to "duv pav-vé".

There is no mention of tense (which is optional), as it typical in narratives.

En er voraðist, gerðist hann hljóður mjög.
but when the spring came he grew very silent.
Lesq zjiyí si sez da let Rut barey-baréy pav-vé.
Lesq       zjiyí          si               sez    da
Season.ASg youthful.f.ASg ART+0.f.inan.ASg happen and-then
      let  Rut  barey-   baréy     pav-    vé.
      CONT Hrut HAB/ITER be-silent you+0.m tell.

"Spring happend and then Hrut repeatedly was being silent."  Reduplication
in verbs indicates a habitual or iterative action.

_sez_ "happen" is etymologically a punctual form of _sew_ "pass" from the
first sentence (there used transitively: "Hrut passed the winter", not "The
winter passed".

Gunnhildur fann það og mælti til hans, er voru tvö saman:
Gunnhild noticed this, and when they were alone she asked him,
Gunhil zinjvú vuy-hán da vuf do ham vinj-wán pav-vé.
Gunhil   zinjvú           vuy-          hán  da       vuf
Gunnhild ART+1.f.anim.ESg him.prox.n.Sg seem and-then she.prox.anim.ESg
      do  ham  vunj-          wán      pav-  vé.
      two with him.prox.m.Asg converse you+0 tell

_vuy_ - strictly a pronoun referring to the "neuters", i.e. a class which
was originally mostly deverbals, can also refer to propositions.  _Vuy-hán_
would thus mean "It seemed so"; but verbs of perception have a transitive
use with the perceiver in the ergative, so here "It seemed so to Gunnhild."

_do ham_, lit. "with two", means "with two people present" - i.e. when they
were alone together.

"Ert þú hugsjúkur, Hrútur?" sagði hún.
"Are you unhappy, Hrut?"
Buynjí Rut mu zinj-yí sew zin-níp vun-níp.
Buynjí        Rut  mu  zinj-   yí  sew       zin[j]- níp vun[j]-      níp.
Unhappy.m.ASg Hrut VOC you+1.m COP I-1.f.ESg you+1.m ask him.prox.ASg ask

This sentence is quite complicated because it introduces a new
dialogue.  We already know the narrators politeness level to the various
referents, but not yet the speakers.  In consequences yet another clause is
required: literally.  "[She] asked him 'I ask you whether you are unhappy,
O Hrut'."

I have Gunnhild assigning herself a level of -1 (showing deference) because
it's conculturally rude for a woman to address a male non-relative without
first being addressed, even if she is a queen.

"Það er sem mælt er," segir Hrútur, "að illt er þeim, er á ólandi er alinn."
"Far from home is far from joy, as the saying goes," replied Hrut.
Ka sjisó sji vam ranj pavnjí yig djanj yeg ripyinj sjisí sjiyíp
      dunj-vé duv mem-vé vus-vé.
Ka       sjisó   sji              vam     ranj          pavnjí      yig
Land.GSg distant ART+0.f.inan.GSG through RELPRON.m.ASg ART+0.m.ASg move
      djanj           yeg  ripyinj     sjisí            sjiyíp
      CORELPRON.m.ASg PERF contentment ART+0.f.inan.ESg leave-behind
      dunj-      vé   duv       mem-    vé   vus-         vé.
      me+0.m.ASg tell I+0.m.ESg you+1.f tell her.prox.ASg tell

I used a substitute proverb here, as the English translation did: literally
"He who travels through a distant land has left his contentment
behind."  The proverb is introduced with _dunj-vé_, "[they] tell me", "I am
told".

The proverb shows a relative clause, which is preposed as if it were a
complement clause.  It can be identified as a relative clause because it
contains a relative pronoun, which corresponds to a correlative pronoun in
the superordinate clause.  The article with the relative pronoun indicates
an indefinite use.

Again it is necessary to end with "[He] told her 'I tell you ...'," in
order to show how polite he is being (+1 is appropriate for a queen).

"Vilt þú til Íslands?" segir hún.
"Do you want to go back to Iceland?" she asked.
Islan zqi vaw zinj-yíg zinj vuy-rípyi duf zin-níp vun-níp.
Islan   zqi              vaw zinj-   yíg  zinj    vuy-          rípyi
Iceland ART+1.f.inan.GSg to  you+1.m move you+1.m him.prox.n.sg want
      duf       zin[j]- níp vun[j]-      níp.
      I+0.f.ESg you+1.m ask him.prox.ASg ask

As a "proper country", and not just a territory, Iceland gets level +1.

_vuy_ appears again referring to the clause "Islan zqi vaw zinj-yíg": the
grammatical slot is filled with the addressee for speech verbs but not for
_ripyi_, hence the need.

Gunnhild, having now been spoken to, reassigns herself at non-deferential
politeness level - once again requiring a depth of an extra clause.

"Það vil ég," sagði hann.
"Yes," he replied.
Vuv vus-vé.
Vuv         vus-         vé.
He.prox.ESg her.prox.ASg tell

Literally "He tells her".  What he tells her is of course the proposition
from the last sentence - that he wants to go back to Iceland - and so this
just means "yes".  In fact "Vus-vé", leaving the speaker understood, would
be adequate.  Note that the extra clause depth is no longer required,
because they aren't changing politeness levels.

"Átt þú konu nokkra út þar?" segir hún.
"Have you a woman out there?" she asked.
Zinj ta ka sjo va tas sjisí nop vuf vun-níp.
Zinj    ta ka       sjo       va tas       sjisí
you+1.m of land.GSg yon.m.GSg at woman.ASg ART+0.f.anim.ASg
      nop   vuf               vun[j]-      níp.
      exist she.prox.anim.ESg him.prox.ASg ask

This could also be read "Does a woman exist in that far land of yours?"
because postpostional phrases precede the nouns they modify, but that's not
enough of a problem to require deviating from normal word order.

The question is not specifically of a wife, which would be worded
differently (inherrent possession is handled differently).

"Eigi er það," sagði hann.
"No," said Hrut.
Vuv vus-múz.
Vuv         vus-         múz.
He.prox.ESg her.prox.ASg deny

"No", parallel to "yes" above.  _muz_ is really "to assert the negation",
but "deny" makes for a shorter gloss.

"Það hef ég þó fyrir satt," segir hún.
"I believe you have, nevertheless, said the queen,
Duf oy vosq vuy-hán vuf vunj-vé.
Duf       oy            vosq   vuy-          hán  vuf
I+O.f.ESg him.iste.n.sg across him.prox.n.sg seem she.prox.anim.ESg
      vunj-        vé.
      him.prox.ASg tell

The deictic system used makes a 3-way distinction (this, that near you,
yonder); the "oy" here is the "that near you" equivalent of "vuy" - so
"your assertion".  "My proposition seems [so] to me despite your assertion."

Siðan hættu þau talinu.
and they broke off the conversation.
Yeg ven up duv pav-vé.
Yeg  ven          up  duv       pav-    vé.
PERF conversation end I+0.m.ESg you+0.m tell.

"The conversation is ended."  Note that _ven_ does not need the article
because it is implicitly anaphoric - it refers to the entire text of the
conversation.

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I hope all this is of interest and not just a waste of bandwidth!

Ian