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Re: Translation question




--- In romconlang@yahoogroups.com, Padraic Brown <elemtilas@...> wrote:
>
> --- On Wed, 12/1/10, Adam Walker <carraxan@...> wrote:
> 
> > > > Today while shipping out orders at work, I got to thinking about how 
> > > > to translate the first clause of John 1:14 into Carrajina. I came up 
> > > > with two (very similar) options, but can't decide which one 
> > > > is "right."
> >
> > > > Nivapud dil carni ul Vervu.
> > > > was.made to/at.the flesh the word
> >
> > > > Nivapud nil carni ul Vervu.
> > > > was.made in.the flesh the word
> >
> > > > What think you?
> >
> > > I guess in some respects it depends on a couple factors: first is
> > > what language the C translator was working from and then what his or 
> > > her translating perspective was (i.e., literal / form for form or "idea
> > > translation") a third is what was the sponsor's agenda (i.e., is
> > > this a verse that in some way impinges on the local church's theology
> > > etc.)
> >
> > I prefer my translations of Scripture on the literal side, but allowances
> > must be made for grammar.
> 
> Understood.
> 
> > I originally strated with the idea the the Donatist C-an translators 
> > worked from the Vetus text, but I can't find whatever fragments of that 
> > may still exist. The Vulgate is too new for Donatist use,
> 
> By Vetus, I take it you mean the older Latin versions that existed before
> Jerome's Vulgate? Particularly the old African versions?
> 
> You might be intersted in Hopkins-James's "The Celtic Gospels" (Oxford).
> As I understand it, the British version is an ante-vulgate version; and
> some scholars even suggest that its origins lie in Africa. Perhaps this
> would be useful to you. Mind you, it only has Matt Mark and Luke, no
> John or letters. But at least you'd be able to compare it with the style
> and different readings of Jerome's Vulgate.
> 
> Have you come across this site? 
> 
> http://arts-itsee.bham.ac.uk/itseeweb/vetuslatina/links.htm
> http://arts-itsee.bham.ac.uk/itseeweb/vetuslatina/GospelMss.htm
> 
> It contains or points to a number of old digitised texts.

Myrtax dratiax od te, Fochic. Ax catenax orun utirax od me poc.th
Thanks, Padraic. These link will be useful to me also[8 (since the Fortunatians are also Donatists). The 

In new Uchunatonc,the verse would be:
ot oc lojoc och huact canhonc
[8t 8kl8d_Z8k 8t_S wakt kaJ8Nk]
Note that Uchunatonc uses lojoc < Gk. logos. borboc < L. verbum means word in the ordinary sense. 
The articles and singular gender suffixes -ync, -onc, -oc are from L. hunc, hanc, hoc.  

-e(x)> 
> > but I make  frequent reference to it when doing C-an translations of 
> > Bible verses. The Greek texts of the NT and the LXX are also references, 
> > but I usually look at every Romance translation I can lay hands on, the 
> > Vulgate, the Greek and/or Hebrew and several English translations
> > before I make my translations. So nothing I wrote in my original email is
> > set in stone, as yet.
> 
> OK!

Very thorough!

> 
> > > Can you say "Nivapud il carni ul Vervu"? If not, why not?
> 
> > That is how I would have done it a couple of years ago, but it seems just
> > plain wrong. It would seem to make ul Veru an agent subject, which, of
> > course, a passive verb does not have.
> 
> Right. So I shouldn't read too much into the preposition itself. It's a
> sort of grammaticalisation of the desire not to have a strong sense of
> agency with a passive / middle verb?
> 
> > > How does nivapud compare with factum est or egeneto?
> 
> > It is practically equal to factum est. It breaks down as ni- + facheri +
> > -ud. It is the past passive of to make. The *p* is the natural result of 
> > *ct* when followed by any vowel but *e* or *i*. The *f* voices in the
> > environment between vowels. *Ni-* is the passivizing prefix. Third person
> > singular past is marked with *-ud.*
> 
> OK. Sound changes are fun!
> 
> > > Not so sure about the Greek, but fieri is a pretty interesting verb 
> > > all on its own, being the passive of facere but having abviously 
> > > active forms (fio/fis/fit as opposed to *facior/*faceris/*facetur). I 
> > > guess a kind of "anti-deponent" verb.
> 
> > I am unsure whether fieri survives in C-a.
> 
> I don't think it survives in Kerno, which is perhaps kind of odd since it
> did retain several passive forms.

 The words I could find meaning "become"
> are derived from "put" and "turn", I guess the semantic fields being one
> of an agent "causing to become" and the other being one of no agency,
> something "simply becoming".
> 
> Of course, feaire (< facere) has survived, as has facker, but I'm not sure 
> that "fier", the 3s past passive, would be used. I think that "gouerer-
> si", to "simply become" would be used. Perhaps "gouerus-si il logos ce 
> caron" or alternatively "fus goueremend il logos ce caron".
> 
> Both verbs are past in time, but the first is "active in form, passive
> in meaning" while the second is a straight middle voice, the meaning of
> which might work better.

I've been toying with the idea of preservation of the finite passive in (at least early) Uchunatonc, due to interference of Semitic/Berber passives.


> 
> Padraic
>