"Verimak": jumping into the translation marathon
| From: | Sally Caves <scaves@...> |
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| Date: | Sunday, May 9, 1999, 1:07 |
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Alright, I'm baaack... but not for long! The graduation
ceremony is next weekend, and I have to compute senior
grade-point averages as well as fit some 800 slides to
all the right music. It's a little like building your
conlang glossary. As I was working on my html glossary
I thought... this is almost as tedious and as creative
as making that darn slide show of all the seniors.
At any rate. Here's a poem with a catch. It's called
"Verimak," the meaning of which you will learn quickly
enough. It's a grim subject, but a famous one. It's not
original to the Teonim, alas, but written by a poet
admired by them and known, I'm sure, to you.
They've made their own fairly straightforward
version of it, with embellishments, but the trick will
be to translate it using only my glossary and my minimal
grammatical guides. Then, afterwards, guess the original.
But only after we've got some conlang versions up.
Teonaht is not grammatically convoluted;
its analytical structure makes it easy to unpack meaning,
since there are so few declensions. You just have to
remember a few simple rules: OSV or SOV structure, adjectives
follow the noun, "and" is often postpositional, copula is
zero (zeaamna fy). I have provided an exhaustive glossary.
It will be easier to read the text on my webpage, which has
the poem and the gloss in lateral tables, which I can't do
here. You'll have to print it out to do a translation, I'm
afraid. This page can be found at:
http://www.frontiernet.net/~scaves/verimak.html
But I'll reproduce it here for those folks who don't like
visiting webpages. Whisper your guess for the author in
my ear and I'll print only the wrong ones, but I think it
will be pretty obvious. What would be best is for us to
hold off guessing the author until we have some conlang
translations. I hope you can't guess it from the glossary,
so don't even try!
Here goes; the asterisk after an "o" means it's the "o-tilde,"
pronounced /u/:
VERIMAK
Kale ilid vepat verimak vrydaf
ro* nivvuo*rod ilid tenuo tehsat.
Fy fyl ofykya uarfy ritimika,
uarfy hovikary eua,
fyl rilbet uarfy uena.
Beto*n orwemaht jetan-jo,
hdo hmekivarn ilid kodyrn,
il fo*m hmai nomdwav uoa.
Vekte ilid hrelen verimak vrydaf;
zeaamna fy vilrrandoid takto*rl;
enyvo fimuo*l-jo vera tepilaf;
rin fyry tsema toryo tenvvyo.
Reik, kyam, kado*hs-jo,
aibban poto hmai omdwa sendra,
send fo*mp hmai nomdwav uoa.
Fepre ilid fefiril verimak vrydaf,
ro* mro*molid ouo to dorifan.
Vera vrydaf viljjano ro* rendyn rankoid.
Fyl taitfo uo tabllyso uarfy trammalta.
Amyelden jo*ven, deluanharn, ravo*yarn:
e aibban nomdwa tanahs,
send fo*mp nomdwav uoa.
GLOSSARY:
AIBBAN, "this (thing)," accusative.
AMYELDA(N), "suitor(s)."
BETO*(N), "boys."
DELUANHAR(N), "beloved one(s)."
E, "to."
EUA, "go," from EUAREM, "to go."
FEFIRIL, "lightning."
FEPRE, "touch," "stroke," "bolt."
FO*M(P), "dust." Accusative.
FY, "you" (fam.sing)."
FYL, "your" (fam.sing.).
FYRY, emphasized pronoun, "you" (fam.sing.).
HDO, "as."
HMAI, from HMAIREM, "be constrained to," "must."
HMEKIVAR(N), "cleaner(s)."
HREL(EN), "lord(s)."
ILID, "of the" (def.art.+ gen.)
JETA(N), "girl(s)."
-JO, "and" (post-positional).
JO*VIN, "young" (adj.)
KADO*HS, "caduceus," i.e. Hermes' staff, i.e., "medicine."
KALE, "heat."
KODYR, "chimney."
KYAM, "book."
MRO*MOL, "thunder."
NIVUO*ROD, from VUO*ROD, "rage"; "rages," "tantrums."
NOMDWA(V), from NOM, non.volit.habitual particle + TWAV, "they";
"they habitually," "they always."
OFYKYA, "office," "occupation," "job."
OMDWA(V), same as NOMDWAV only volitional.
ORWEMAHT, "golden."
OUO, "sound," "noise."
POTO, "all."
RANKO, "scorn," "derision."
RANKOID, "scorn's."
RAVO*YVAR(N), "lover(s)."
REIK, "crown."
RENDY(N), "scar(s)."
RILBET, "coin, payment."
RIN, "concerning, as for."
RIN FYRY, "as for you."
RITIMIKA, from RITTIMIKAREM, "accomplish."
RO*, "or."
SENDRA, from SENDRAREM, "follow."
TABLLYSO, "weeping" (noun).
TAITFO, "laughter."
TAKREMAIT, "worldly, secular, earthly."
TAKTO*RL, "cruelty."
TANAHS, "succumb," "give in," "capitulate."
TEHSAT, "anger, rage, fury."
TENUO, "winter."
TENUOID, "winter's."
TENVVYO, "grassblade, reed."
TEPILAF, from TEPILREM, "heed," "care about." Imperative.
TO, "for."
TO DORIFAN, "for fearing, fearable."
TORYO, "oaktree."
TRAMMALTA, "finish," "end," from TRAMALTAREM.
UAR- completive or perfective particle, prefixes the pronoun.
UARFY, "YOU HAVE DONE etc."
UENA, "take," from UENAREM.
UO, "and."
UOA, from UOANED, "to become, turn into."
VEKTE, "frown" (noun).
VEPAT, from VE EPAT, "eye of the sky," i.e., SUN.
VILRRANDOID, "of a bad king" (VILRRANDO, "bad king").
VILJJANE, "bad-speaking, calumny, slander."
VERA, "not"; precedes the imperative.
VERIMAK, "not any more, no longer."
VRYDA, from VRYDAREM, "To fear."
VRYDAF, "fear" (imperative).
ZEAAMNA, "beyond."
ZEAAMNA FY, "you (are) beyond."
The above should make it really easy. Give me a minute
to fix my website; I left out a few words. Let me know
if there is anything else missing.
Sally Caves
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<TT>Alright, I'm baaack... but not for long! The graduation</TT>
<BR><TT>ceremony is next weekend, and I have to compute senior</TT>
<BR><TT>grade-point averages as well as fit some 800 slides to</TT>
<BR><TT>all the right music. It's a little like building your</TT>
<BR><TT>conlang glossary. As I was working on my html glossary</TT>
<BR><TT>I thought... this is almost as tedious and as creative</TT>
<BR><TT>as making that darn slide show of all the seniors.</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>At any rate. Here's a poem with a catch. It's called</TT>
<BR><TT>"Verimak," the meaning of which you will learn quickly</TT>
<BR><TT>enough. It's a grim subject, but a famous one. It's not</TT>
<BR><TT>original to the Teonim, alas, but written by a poet</TT>
<BR><TT>admired by them and known, I'm sure, to you.</TT>
<BR><TT>They've made their own fairly straightforward</TT>
<BR><TT>version of it, with embellishments, but the trick will</TT>
<BR><TT>be to translate it using only my glossary and my minimal</TT>
<BR><TT>grammatical guides. Then, afterwards, guess the original.</TT>
<BR><TT>But only after we've got some conlang versions up.</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>Teonaht is not grammatically convoluted;</TT>
<BR><TT>its analytical structure makes it easy to unpack meaning,</TT>
<BR><TT>since there are so few declensions. You just have to</TT>
<BR><TT>remember a few simple rules: OSV or SOV structure, adjectives</TT>
<BR><TT>follow the noun, "and" is often postpositional, copula is</TT>
<BR><TT>zero (zeaamna fy). I have provided an exhaustive glossary.</TT>
<BR><TT>It will be easier to read the text on my webpage, which has</TT>
<BR><TT>the poem and the gloss in lateral tables, which I can't do</TT>
<BR><TT>here. You'll have to print it out to do a translation, I'm</TT>
<BR><TT>afraid. This page can be found at:</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT> <A
HREF="http://www.frontiernet.net/~scaves/verimak.html">http://www.frontiernet.net/~scaves/verimak.html</A></TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>But I'll reproduce it here for those folks who don't like</TT>
<BR><TT>visiting webpages. Whisper your guess for the author in</TT>
<BR><TT>my ear and I'll print only the wrong ones, but I think it</TT>
<BR><TT>will be pretty obvious. What would be best is for us to</TT>
<BR><TT>hold off guessing the author until we have some conlang</TT>
<BR><TT>translations. I hope you can't guess it from the glossary,</TT>
<BR><TT>so don't even try!</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>Here goes; the asterisk after an "o" means it's the "o-tilde,"</TT>
<BR><TT>pronounced /u/:</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>VERIMAK</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>Kale ilid vepat verimak vrydaf</TT>
<BR><TT>ro* nivvuo*rod ilid tenuo tehsat.</TT>
<BR><TT>Fy fyl ofykya uarfy ritimika,</TT>
<BR><TT>uarfy hovikary eua,</TT>
<BR><TT>fyl rilbet uarfy uena.</TT>
<BR><TT>Beto*n orwemaht jetan-jo,</TT>
<BR><TT>hdo hmekivarn ilid kodyrn,</TT>
<BR><TT>il fo*m hmai nomdwav uoa.</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>Vekte ilid hrelen verimak vrydaf;</TT>
<BR><TT>zeaamna fy vilrrandoid takto*rl;</TT>
<BR><TT>enyvo fimuo*l-jo vera tepilaf;</TT>
<BR><TT>rin fyry tsema toryo tenvvyo.</TT>
<BR><TT>Reik, kyam, kado*hs-jo,</TT>
<BR><TT>aibban poto hmai omdwa sendra,</TT>
<BR><TT>send fo*mp hmai nomdwav uoa.</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>Fepre ilid fefiril verimak vrydaf,</TT>
<BR><TT>ro* mro*molid ouo to dorifan.</TT>
<BR><TT>Vera vrydaf viljjano ro* rendyn rankoid.</TT>
<BR><TT>Fyl taitfo uo tabllyso uarfy trammalta.</TT>
<BR><TT>Amyelden jo*ven, deluanharn, ravo*yarn:</TT>
<BR><TT>e aibban nomdwa tanahs,</TT>
<BR><TT>send fo*mp nomdwav uoa.</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>GLOSSARY:</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>AIBBAN, "this (thing)," accusative.</TT>
<BR><TT>AMYELDA(N), "suitor(s)."</TT>
<BR><TT>BETO*(N), "boys."</TT>
<BR><TT>DELUANHAR(N), "beloved one(s)."</TT>
<BR><TT>E, "to."</TT>
<BR><TT>EUA, "go," from EUAREM, "to go."</TT>
<BR><TT>FEFIRIL, "lightning."</TT>
<BR><TT>FEPRE, "touch," "stroke," "bolt."</TT>
<BR><TT>FO*M(P), "dust." Accusative.</TT>
<BR><TT>FY, "you" (fam.sing)."</TT>
<BR><TT>FYL, "your" (fam.sing.).</TT>
<BR><TT>FYRY, emphasized pronoun, "you" (fam.sing.).</TT>
<BR><TT>HDO, "as."</TT>
<BR><TT>HMAI, from HMAIREM, "be constrained to," "must."</TT>
<BR><TT>HMEKIVAR(N), "cleaner(s)."</TT>
<BR><TT>HREL(EN), "lord(s)."</TT>
<BR><TT>ILID, "of the" (def.art.+ gen.)</TT>
<BR><TT>JETA(N), "girl(s)."</TT>
<BR><TT>-JO, "and" (post-positional).</TT>
<BR><TT>JO*VIN, "young" (adj.)</TT>
<BR><TT>KADO*HS, "caduceus," i.e. Hermes' staff, i.e., "medicine."</TT>
<BR><TT>KALE, "heat."</TT>
<BR><TT>KODYR, "chimney."</TT>
<BR><TT>KYAM, "book."</TT>
<BR><TT>MRO*MOL, "thunder."</TT>
<BR><TT>NIVUO*ROD, from VUO*ROD, "rage"; "rages," "tantrums."</TT>
<BR><TT>NOMDWA(V), from NOM, non.volit.habitual particle + TWAV, "they";</TT>
<BR><TT> "they habitually," "they always."</TT>
<BR><TT>OFYKYA, "office," "occupation," "job."</TT>
<BR><TT>OMDWA(V), same as NOMDWAV only volitional.</TT>
<BR><TT>ORWEMAHT, "golden."</TT>
<BR><TT>OUO, "sound," "noise."</TT>
<BR><TT>POTO, "all."</TT>
<BR><TT>RANKO, "scorn," "derision."</TT>
<BR><TT>RANKOID, "scorn's."</TT>
<BR><TT>RAVO*YVAR(N), "lover(s)."</TT>
<BR><TT>REIK, "crown."</TT>
<BR><TT>RENDY(N), "scar(s)."</TT>
<BR><TT>RILBET, "coin, payment."</TT>
<BR><TT>RIN, "concerning, as for."</TT>
<BR><TT>RIN FYRY, "as for you."</TT>
<BR><TT>RITIMIKA, from RITTIMIKAREM, "accomplish."</TT>
<BR><TT>RO*, "or."</TT>
<BR><TT>SENDRA, from SENDRAREM, "follow."</TT>
<BR><TT>TABLLYSO, "weeping" (noun).</TT>
<BR><TT>TAITFO, "laughter."</TT>
<BR><TT>TAKREMAIT, "worldly, secular, earthly."</TT>
<BR><TT>TAKTO*RL, "cruelty."</TT>
<BR><TT>TANAHS, "succumb," "give in," "capitulate."</TT>
<BR><TT>TEHSAT, "anger, rage, fury."</TT>
<BR><TT>TENUO, "winter."</TT>
<BR><TT>TENUOID, "winter's."</TT>
<BR><TT>TENVVYO, "grassblade, reed."</TT>
<BR><TT>TEPILAF, from TEPILREM, "heed," "care about." Imperative.</TT>
<BR><TT>TO, "for."</TT>
<BR><TT>TO DORIFAN, "for fearing, fearable."</TT>
<BR><TT>TORYO, "oaktree."</TT>
<BR><TT>TRAMMALTA, "finish," "end," from TRAMALTAREM.</TT>
<BR><TT>UAR- completive or perfective particle, prefixes the pronoun.</TT>
<BR><TT>UARFY, "YOU HAVE DONE etc."</TT>
<BR><TT>UENA, "take," from UENAREM.</TT>
<BR><TT>UO, "and."</TT>
<BR><TT>UOA, from UOANED, "to become, turn into."</TT>
<BR><TT>VEKTE, "frown" (noun).</TT>
<BR><TT>VEPAT, from VE EPAT, "eye of the sky," i.e., SUN.</TT>
<BR><TT>VILRRANDOID, "of a bad king" (VILRRANDO, "bad king").</TT>
<BR><TT>VILJJANE, "bad-speaking, calumny, slander."</TT>
<BR><TT>VERA, "not"; precedes the imperative.</TT>
<BR><TT>VERIMAK, "not any more, no longer."</TT>
<BR><TT>VRYDA, from VRYDAREM, "To fear."</TT>
<BR><TT>VRYDAF, "fear" (imperative).</TT>
<BR><TT>ZEAAMNA, "beyond."</TT>
<BR><TT>ZEAAMNA FY, "you (are) beyond."</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>The above should make it really easy. Give me a minute</TT>
<BR><TT>to fix my website; I left out a few words. Let me know</TT>
<BR><TT>if there is anything else missing.</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>Sally Caves</TT>
<BR><TT></TT> </HTML>
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