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Re: translation exercise

From:John Fisher <john@...>
Date:Friday, April 2, 1999, 20:55
In message <000201be7c67$00fcdd40$1f77d4d4@myth>, Fabian
<rhialto@...> writes
>Father, what are those lights? > >That is the city of the Goyanim. They are a strange people. They light their >cities at night, as if the stars weren't sufficient for their needs. They >fight and kill eachother, not realising the greater danger beyond their >small world. And they do not hunt eachother with bows and arrows. No, they >have strange devices that kill from far away without arrows. And take care >near their strange iron horses they use to travel. They travel faster than >any natural beast ought to, and ignore the strength of the bow and arrow. >Best if you avoid their cities, my son. > >Father, whats a city?
Ha pani, ish-shilsu lyur? Oan combad Goyanaye. Aha washt. Laymua cos shil ahaye combada rentwa i, srinayas do lema ahaye shildasuvaw. Afat escath tal chark yu, do amari sofora tanassuma amy' ormasucray ahaye. Tali do afat tsaris coy tal coytalhipsaw. Do, washty' arnacelva, cwac do-coytalhipsaw chark urfow. Tali 'nel menec ahaye washtye loedye bratheldaw, cwacipsaw aha evarn. Aha evarn sof raktwa yuvaw, shey aralie alan nasel oc, tali ovonda coyasye varadsuma. Loy yonel atyawn ahaye combada, ha loyandi. Ha pani, "combad" ro tolon venia lyura? ...And here are the dread interlinear hoojums: Ha pani, ish-shilsu lyur? Oh! father the-shine-N what-thing? Oan combad Goyanaye. Aha washt. Laymua cos shil That.is city Goyan-people-ATR people be.strange night-ADV make shine ahaye combada rentwa i, srinayas do lema ahaye people-ATR city-ACC be.like-ATR EMB star-mass not be.enough people-ATR shildasuvaw. Afat escath tal chark yu, do amari need-N-be.of-ADV each.other fight and slay EMB-ADV not be.aware.of sofora tanassuma amy' ormasucray ahaye. more.of be.dangerous-N be.little-ATR around.N-outside+ATR people-ATR Tali do afat tsaris coy tal coytalhipsaw. Do, washty' And not each.other hunt bow-and-arrow-use-ADV no be.strange-ATR arnacelva, cwac do-coytalhipsaw chark urfow. Tali machine-have REL-machine not-arrow-use-ADV slay far+FROM+ADV and 'nel menec ahaye washtye loedye bratheldaw, IMPERATIVE be.careful people-ATR be.strange-ATR iron-ATR horse-near-ADV cwacipsaw aha evarn. Aha evarn sof raktwa yuvaw, REL-use-ADV people travel people travel more be.fast-ADV EMB-be.of-ADV shey aralie alan nasel oc, tali ovonda coyasye any be.natural-ATR animal ought do.that and ignore bow-mass-ATR varadsuma. Loy yonel atyawn ahaye combada, ha loyandi. be.strong-N-ACC boy ought avoid people-ATR city oh! son Ha pani, "combad" ro tolon venia lyura? oh! father "city" APPOSITION word mean what-thing-ACC Some notes: ** For "they", the EA version uses "aha" throughout. This means a people or a nation. ** The relative "cwac" means "which machine". There are relatives for all of EA's short nouns, so you could have "cwen"="which person", "cwaha"="which people", etc. In "cwacipsaw aha evarn" the relative is governing postpositioned verb, so that it means "using which machines the people travel" ** The postpositioned verb -uva translates a number of things, two of which are here: enough FOR something, and, more x THAN something ** "World" here doesn't seem to mean the planet, so I have used "ormasu" ="situation, circumstances" ** The two questions come out differently: What is that light? and What does "city" mean? ** "Bow and arrow" I translated as "coy tal coytalh" the first time, but the second time it seems to be speaking of the power of archery in general, so I have used "coyas"="bows in general, collectively" -- John Fisher john@drummond.demon.co.uk johnf@epcc.ed.ac.uk Elet Anta website: http://www.drummond.demon.co.uk/anta/ Drummond ro cleshfan merec; fanye litoc, inye litoc