Re: translation exercise

On Tue, Feb 03, 2004 at 11:18:35PM -0800, Elliott Lash wrote:
> 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..
I guess I'll run them through Ebisedian & Tamahi as well. As usual, to
keep the number of variations sane (since Ebisedian and Tamahi inflect for
gender obsessively), I'll assume the speaker and audience are all male,
and the person(s) being addressed is/are considered "intimate" and
everyone else distant.

I'll include IPA as well, for people who actually care to pronounce these
things (if there are any): X-SAMPA with /&/ and /{/ interchanged as usual.

> (1) Io ei nowad ?l?
> "What is your name"
[snip]

Ebisedian:	ghi'     ni      co'mu     d3      g3mi'?
		what-LOC SUB-LOC INTIM-RCP AUX-CVY name-LOC
		"What [is] the to-you name?"
	IPA:	"Gi ni "tSomu d@\ g@\"mi

Tamahi:		gi'      c3mua     gmi'?
		what-LOC INTIM-ADJ name-LOC
		"What [is] your name?"
	IPA:	"gi ts@\mwa "gmi

> (2) Pan ei Dinneg i.
> "My Nindic is limitted/small"
[snip]

Ebisedian:	mw'tras33'      n0      eb0'    da        t3m30'.
		NUL-fluency-CVY SUB-ORG 1sp-ORG AUX-INSTR speaking-ORG
		"My speaking (of Ebisedian) is not fluent."
	IPA:	"m8tras@\: nA ?&bA da t@\m@"\?A

Tamahi:		mi'tras3        heslua' tamahu'.
		NUL-fluency-CVY 1sp-ADJ speaking-RCP
		"My speaking (of Tamahi)[*] is not fluent."
	IPA:	"'mitras@\ hes"lwa tama"hu

[*] _tamahi'_ is an archaic form of the gerund _t3mai'_, "speaking", which
became calcified as the name of the language itself.

> (3) Ni belchyr efann  echidd. Neiddaw, seffraenaw ni.
> "Do not question her. Please, I will take care of
> her."
Ebisedian:	myso' ta'ni        jhitu'.
		ADV   inquire-PERF FEM-DIST-RCP
		"Ought-not question her."
	IPA:	my"so "tani Zi"tu

		uso' eb0'    ni'jy     jhitu'.
		ADV  1sp-ORG care-PERF FEM-DIST-RCP
		"Please I care [for] her."
	IPA:	?u"so ?&"bA "nidZy Zi"tu

Tamahi:		mi'stanistui          c3m0.   hu'snijisl0i          tu'.
		NOT-ask-her-RCP-TOPIC you-ORG wish-care-I-ORG-TOPIC her-RCP
		"Ask not her, you. Pleased I care to her."
	IPA:	"mistanIstuj ts@\mA. "husnIdzIslAj "tu.

I love this one... 7 words in Ebisedian got contracted into 4 in Tamahi.
Just lovely. :-P

[snip]
> (4) Ni ei mi boed, ei mi nachen echyth.
> "I am no fool, but I am lost"
Ebisedian:	my'khas3n3          ebi'  Ke.
		NUL-foolishness-CVY I-LOC -
		"On the one hand, I am not scatter-minded."
	IPA:	"myxas@\n@\ ?&"bi k_h&

		my's3r0     vi'ty        ebu'  ve.
		NUL-way-ORG realize-PERF I-RCP -
		"On the other hand, I perceive no way (out)."
	IPA:	"mys@\r`A "Bity ?&"bu B&.

Tamahi:		mi'Kasn3        heslui.
		NUL-foolishness I-RCP-TOPIC
		"No foolishness is in me;"
	IPA:	"mik_hasn@\ hesluj

		mka' mi'svitislui         misr0.
		But  NOT-perceive-I-TOPIC NUL-way-ORG
		"... but I don't see no way (out)."
	IPA:	m="ka "mis.wItIsluj mIsr`A

[snip]
> (5) Ei gwechod ?l nenne eraedd. Ban gwior i ieder
> negior ni goth?
>
> "Your anger is very dangerous. Who will save her if
> you hurt her?
[snip]

Ebisedian:	fee'ri     ni      co'mi   d3      gafa'ni.
		danger-LOC SUB-LOC you-LOC AUX-RCP anger-LOC
		"The anger in you is a danger."
	IPA:	"F&:r`i ni "tSomi d@\ ga"p\ani

		ji'ne    cum0'   Kyy'kh    jhitu'  Ke.
		+SUBJUNC you-ORG harm-PERF her-RCP -
		"If indeed you harm her---"
	IPA:	"dZin& tSu"mA "k_hy:x Zi"tu k_h&

		hogha'         milu'e      jh3t3'  ve.
		what-EPI-INSTR assist-PERF her-CVY -
		"---who [would] assist her?"
	IPA:	ho"Ga mi"lu?& Z@\"t@\ B&

Note that _jine_ marks a hypothetical statement the speaker believes is
likely to be true; i.e., the speaker is convinced the other party is ready
to harm her.

Tamahi:		fe'ri      c3mua    g3fa'ni.
		danger-LOC your-ADJ anger-LOC
		"Your anger is a danger."
	IPA:	hwer`I ts@\mwa g@\hwa'nI

		ji'nkiKC3m0i          tu't,
		if-hurt-you-ORG-TOPIC her-RCP+CONT
		"If you hurt her, ..."
	IPA:	"dzinkIkts_hAj "tut

	        milueg0i'          tu?
		help-who-ORG-TOPIC her-RCP
		"... who assists her?"
	IPA:	milwe"gAj tu

A few features of interest here:

1) The two clauses of the conditional statement "if ... her, who ..." are
joined by the particle _t_ which attaches itself to the pronoun _tu'_,
thus forming _tu't_.

2) There is also a prominent accent shift in the final verb _milueg0i'_:
the usual stress position on a Tamahi verb is on the verb stem, which in
this case is _milue_ [mi"lwe]. In a normal sentence, the stress would fall
on _lue_. However, here, the accent falls on the suffixed interrogative
_g0i'_ [gAj], as a way of marking the sentence as an interrogative.


T

--
We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will
eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the
Internet, we know this is not true. -- Robert Wilensk

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