Re: a King's proverb

Hi!

Guy Wade wrote:
> "Before you choose your enemy, speak his language."
In Tyl Sjok:

Xjohe xo sal i lu twxo hw tuk ling it lu i sjok xan.

`Let the choising of your enemy happen only after your speaking of his language.'

`You' is not quite the correct translation, as the sentence does not
refer to any 2nd person, it is stated impersonally.

Vocab:
------
xjohe     want; let..., optative mood
xo        particle: marks the beginning of a sub-phrase
          (makes clear that `xjohe' modifies the whole phrase,
          not only the first part.)
sal       choose, choice
i         particle: reference to that unmentioned entity that,
          in a normal phrase, would replace this very `i'.
lu        to do (actively), resultative aspect particle
i lu      `the doer': reflexive agent pronoun: here: `your'
twxo      enemy
hw        happen-when (event preceeds, time follows)
tuk       all
ling      one
tuk ling  alone, only
it        word; speak
lu i      `the one which it is done to': reflexive patient
          pronoun: here: `his'
sjok      tongue; language
xan       end; after

**Henrik