Re: translation exercise

Here are some Nindic Sentences that I was translating
the other day. Choose one if you'd like...I'd like to
see some translations though..

(1) Io ei nowad íl?
"What is your name"

Io    ei    now-ad     íl
what  is    name-def.  your

------------------------

(2) Pan ei Dinneg i.
"My Nindic is limitted/small"

Pan   ei  Dinneg  i
small is  Nindic  my

(Notice that with a proper name, the -ad suffix
marking definite need not be added)

-------------------------------

(3) Ni belchyr efann  echidd. Neiddaw, seffraenaw ni.
"Do not question her. Please, I will take care of
her."

Ni  belch-yr   efann    ech-idd
NEG ask-imprv. question from-her

Neiddaw,      seffraen-aw         ni
By-permission, care.for-fut-1sts. her

--------------------------------

(4) Ni ei mi boed, ei mi nachen echyth.
"I am no fool, but I am lost"

Ni  ei  mi  boed,  ei  mi  nachen   echyth
NEG am  I   fool   am  I   however  lost

(echyth is a stative adjective, not a past-passive
participle, and hence does not have the ending -edd.
It is a frozen form from Old Nindic, where in fact it
was a participle. In Modern Nindic, echedd 'lost' is
used in the passive construction: Ceis echyth "It was
lost by.."

-----------------------------
(5) Ei gwechod íl nenne eraedd. Ban gwior i ieder
negior ni goth?

"Your anger is very dangerous. Who will save her if
you hurt her?

Ei gwecho-d   íl   eraedd
Is anger-def. you  dangerous

Ban gw-ior          i     ieder  neg-ior            ni
who save-fut-3rds.  her   if     suffer-fut3rds.
she

go-th
by-you.

(Note: The word order can be changed to "Geraedd ei
gwechod íl", in the first sentence. With the Adjective
first, it emphasises and sometimes contrasts the
adjective, see (2))

(Note: the objective pronoun <i> "her" is used as well
as the objective pronoun <ni> "her" as seen in (3).
The difference between these is one of style. With the
n-less form, the writer/speaker runs into the problem
that sometimes the form <i> can be interpreted as the
pronoun <mi> "I" which can undergo lenition to become
<fi> or <i>. The n-form is coming to predominate.
However, this n-form runs the risk of being
interpreted as a subject pronoun. Hence the following
variants arise:

Tilai i "I see" or "I see her"
Tilai ni "I see her"
Tilai mi i "I see her"
Tilai mi ni "I see her"
Tiler i "He sees her" or  "It sees her"
Tiler ni "He sees her" or "She sees"
Tiler ni i "She sees her"
etc.

Anyways, I hope there are some takers.

Elliott










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