Re: Conlang T Shirt - Quenya

Hello all.

Today I was talking to Maans /mOns/ Bjoerkman (a member of
the Mellonath Daeron - the linguistic part of the=20
Swedish Tolkien Society). Incidentally we're in the
same class at uni. Anyway. I told him about the project
and about the phrase, and he, as well as I, thought some
things were a little strange with the translation.

The proposed phrase is 'Lambelya nai hiruva sinomesse'.

First off. Neither of us see why there should be an
'-esse' ending on 'sinome'. Afaik, 'sinome' already has a
locative connotation. '-esse' seems very redundant.

I'm a little confused about the 'nai hiruva' construction.
I may be wrong, but it sounds like 'lambelya' is the
subject and that 'your lang' is to find something. Not
that it is to be found.

So the question is: is the phrase translated back into
English as 'Your lang may find here' and lack an object,
and sound somewhat strange. OR, is the phrase 'nai hiruva'
already in a passive voice and thus translated
'your lang may be found here'?
Or as a third alternative. Is it:=20
'Your lang, may (it) be found here'. With the 'it'
read between the lines and understood from context?

A totally different rending of the phrase might be:
(suggested, but very reluctantly, by Maans)
'Lambelya tuula sinome'. Although this sounds like
the lang is actually *walking*. A better suggestion
is the word 'ea' (be, exist). That would lead to=20
'lambelya ea sinome'. Unfortunately there is no
'should' or 'could' in that phrase.=20
Just 'your lang is/exists here'.

We also have a phrase 'ear ullier', which means
'seas should pour'. 'ullier' supposedly comes
from 'ulia' - 'pour'. But to get 'hirrier' -
'should find' from that feels like taking too big
a step.

So what do you Quenya knowing people out there say?

I still think 'lambelya nai hiruva sinome' is good.
As long as 'nai hiruva' can mean 'may be found' and
as long as we get rid of the '-esse' in 'sinomesse'.

/ Daniel Andreasson