On 3/16/2017 12:43 PM, Lieven wrote:
I received a request from a student/linguist who asks for help for a linguistic project.
He has written a short poem which, according to him, makes the structure of semantic elements easily visible and therefore seems to be good to compare languages.
I find this claim either dubious or misstated. Semantics are different in different languages; why would English semantics presented in a certain way lead to useful semantic comparisons in other languages?
The original version is English, and he has about 100 translations available already.
Klingon is missing, so maybe someone likes to do this, or we do it on this list as a group:
I tried to stick as closely to the English words and structure as possible, even if there is a better way to say this in Klingon. I kept personified things as non-speaking things.
The Blind Hermit
leghlaHbe'bogh mobwI'
I have no friends; my friends are my senses.
jup vIghajbe'; nochwIj bIH jupwIj'e'.
I have no enemies; my enemy is absent-mindedness.
jagh vIghajbe'; yab jeH 'oH jaghwIj'e'.
I have no allies; the stick that guides my steps is my ally.
boqwI' vIghajbe'; or muboq pagh; muDevbogh naQ jIyItDI' 'oH boqwI'wIj'e'. or muboq muDevbogh naQ jIyItDI'.
I have no companions; the sea is my companion.
tlhejwI' vIghajbe'; or mutlhej pagh; bIQ'a' 'oH tlhejwI'wIj'e'. or mutlhej bIQ'a'.
I have no songs; I hear the birds in the wood.
bom vIghajbe'; or jIbombe'; ngemDaq bo'Degh vIQoy. or ngem bo'Degh vIQoy.
I know no tales; the wind and the rain whisper to me.
lut vISovbe'; jIHvaD tlhup SuS SISbogh bIQ je
I have no books; my memories are my books.
paq vIghajbe'; Doch vIqawbogh bIH paqwIj'e'.
I have no games; my game is life.
Quj vIghajbe'; yIn 'oH QujwIj'e'.
I have no mother; my mother are the plants and the streams that sustain me.
SoS vIghajbe'; mutaHmoHbogh tI bIQtIqHom je bIH SoSwIj'e'.
I have no father; the cave that shelters me is my father.
vav vIghajbe'; muQanbogh DIS 'oH vavwIj'e'.
I have neither master nor disciples; I am both myself.
pIn ghojwI' ghap vIghajbe'; chang'eng jIH.
I have no quarrel with anyone; I rarely speak.
paghvaD jISol; pIjHa' jIjatlh.
I do not fall sick; the only true disease is doubt.
jIropchoHbe'; ropna' ghaj HonwI' neH.
I pray to none; my belief is that which I know.
paghvaD jIjIn; Doch vISovbogh vIHar. -- SuStel http://trimboli.name