Re: translation exercise

Amanda Babcock criviva:


 > In your language, express a native speaker's opinion of the
appropriateness
 > of the cat (or other domestic animal) peeing (or other disgusting action)
 > on the bed (or other inappropriate place).

Whee! A translation exercise!  We haven't had one in quite some time
now, and the premise is funny.



In Obrenje:

A: |Setas!  Brullu salime i edin!|
    /Stas  "brMllM sa"li:m i @"din/
    yonder  pee:PST:3e  cat:d OBJ bed:d
    "Look!  The cat peed on the bed!"

B: |Ac!  Onje gjam!  Ti ducte, ensoe fyreze.|
    /ax  "Onj@ gjam  ti "dMxt# @n"so: hy"re:Z/
    yuck  such!  disgusting  this  night  couch:d sleep:FUT:1
    "Yuck!  How disgusting!  We'll sleep on the couch tonight."

Notes:  |Gjam| /gjam/ "disgusting" comes from |gexam| /gE"am/
"stinking".  |Enso| /"EnsO/ "couch; bunk" is the thing-derivation
of |ense| /"EnS#/, the present passive participle of |en-| "to lie",
so literally it means "lain-upon thing".  |Endi| /"Endi/ "bed" is
obviously related to the same stem, but much older and thus less
analysable.  The verb |en-| is probably derived from it, rather than
vice versa.


In Jovian:

A: |Ec!  Feile uernava in lictun!|
    [eC  "fejl yr"na:vim"bliCt@n]
    behold!  cat  urinate:PST:3s  on  bed:ACC
    "Look!  The cat urinated on the bed!"

B: |Fu!  Nò vou auzire en!  Faege faumblun purgare en!|
    [fu:  no vow o"Di:r en  fajg "fombl@m pUr"ga:r en]
    fie!  not  want:1s  hear:INF  3s:ACC  make:IMP  butler:ACC
    cleanse:INF 3s:ACC
    "Fie!  I don't want to hear it.  Have the butler clean it up."

This isn't all too interesting linguistically, but it nicely shows
a bit of genuine Jovian attitude.  :-)

Also, I guess there is a more colloquial word for peeing than
|uernare|, but my ancient German-Latin dictionary doesn't list any
words referring to peeing beyond "Urin".  =P



-- Christian Thalmann