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Re: Translating Cortazar - into Valdyan

From:FFlores <fflores@...>
Date:Sunday, April 25, 1999, 1:39
Irina Rempt <ira@...> wrote:
>=20 > On Fri, 23 Apr 1999, FFlores wrote: >=20 > > Let me propose this short story for Julio Cort=E1zar, > > in the original Spanish version, plus interlinear glosses. > > Not really that different from English, but... >=20 > [...] >=20 > > Well, this should be easy...=20 >=20 > Well, I had to make up a lot of words, even "sun" (I did have "star", > "moon" and "planet") and there was one very awkward sentence in it.
"Sun" is a very strange word to find oneself lacking it after a time. But it can happen. Some time ago I was writing something in Drasel=E9q and I found out that there was no word (in a dictionary of 1200 words) for "go".
> cyne vurie lushean gylat =20 > presently inspired message writes > "Then, being inspired, he writes a message." >=20 > Not the proclamation, but the general is inspired, because _vurie_ > "divinely inspired" can only apply to people. I could have juggled > participles, but that would give a very archaic flavour that I don't > want here.=20
I think it's perfectly OK; in fact "an inspired message" sounds awkward except you interpret it as "a message that was inspired (to the writer, by someone else)".
> hanii arani airenen le denayt > adolescents two.hundred to-ruler they-go > "Two hundred boys go [over] to the general." >=20 > I thought at first that _infantes_ might mean "infantrymen", but my > mother-in-law (who knows Spanish) consulted her dictionary and > confirmed the meaning as "children". As I can't conceive of 200 > *small* kids in an army, I translated it as _hanii_ "adolescents, > boys" (in their early teens). _Le dena_ "to go (to)" is reflexive in > Valdyan like in Spanish, "to put oneself".
Oh my! You were right, I glossed the word wrong. It was "infantrymen". I was sure I had heard "infants" in English with this meaning, but I was wrong. But you mother-in-law (or her dictionary, in any case) was right: Spanish _infantes_ means "children", though it's very rare in that sense nowadays; but it also means "infantryman" (the collective is _infanter=EDa_ "infantry"). Sorry to Boudewijn -- he did the same thing based on my incorrect translation :(
> tamustin ili ruyen len le denayt > DIM.armies two to-right.side to-his they.go > "Two regiments go [over] to his side."
Is that the standard order, noun + number?
> _Tamustin_ can mean a city militia or a regiment maintained by a noble > house; as Valdyas has no standing army, these groups make up the army > in times of war. As "army" is a collective plural it can't be > pluralized again, but _ili_ "two" is enough to determine it. _Ruyen_ > "right side" (as opposed to "left side", not "wrong side") is the > usual way of expressing "being on someone's side" as well as > "standing at someone's side".
So "they go to his right side"? If they go to his left side, does that mean they go to his enemy's side?
> cyne airenan lushean hyrna gylat =20 > presently ruler message other writes > "Then the general writes another message." >=20 > (meaning "a different message", not "one more message")
Very interesting distinction.
> lea nysat mustinan airenein > is-sent-away army of-ruler=20 > "The general's army disbands." >=20 > My first effort had _mustin airenein vilat_ "the general's army falls > apart" but _vila_ implies complete disintegration or destruction; > there is no army any more, whatever the cause. _Lea nysat_ conveys > the impression that the individual soldiers go away.
If I understood right what you said once about _lea_, it's not passive voice but an impersonal construction, is it?
> gyrn chylat. > sun appears > "The sun rises."
How do you pronounce <gyrn>? Very nice work. You got an A. :) I agree with you that these exercises are very useful for enlarging our vocabularies. I'll see to it that they don't stop coming in. Now that I see it, I haven't tried this myself! --Pablo Flores PS You can try this: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * En gian idgrivar fr=FAmneltel frasi=E9rraser about your ill-fate guilty NEG.point_at.2sFUT gian pavonn be i malladhar siqged=FCer. your enemy.ACC if PRT chance PRF.give.2sPST "Don't blame your enemy for your disgrace=20 if you've just given them a chance." (Traditional Dr=E1selhadh saying)