On 8/4/08, peter hering <pjhering@gmail.com> wrote:

1st stanza of Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe:

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

coi ninpre
hello beginner

do fanva za'a lo se nelci be mi pemci
You've translated, I see, a poem that I like.

.i do pu gasnu so'u ninpre se srera noi mi ba .ai dragau
You've made a few beginner errors, which I will try to make right.

.i ku'i ko na xanka .i do lo nu cilre cu snada .ia
But don't worry. I believe you are succeeding at learning.

pu so'isai se nanca

First, "so'isai" is actually "so'i [ge'e] sai" == "many, which I feel something strongly about". I'm not sure how to say "very many" as a number, that's an interesting question. One idea that comes to mind is just "so'i so'i", does that work doi jbocevni?

Also, let's talk a tiny bit about tense tagging. There are a few different categories of tense tag:

- tagging when an event happened relative to another event, using the tense word itself as a tag: "mi klama pu lo nu mi citka" -- I went, before I ate. "do xagji ba lo nu do bajra" -- You're hungry, after you run. (It was confusing to me at first that "pu" means before and "ba" means after; note that the normal tense usage can be understood as before now vs after now.)

- tagging how far one event is from another, using the tense intensity markers "zi" "za" "zu" (usually "za") as a tag: "mi klama ba za pa cacra" -- I will go after one hour. "lo nanla cu citka pu za so'u mentu" -- The boy ate a few minutes ago.

- tagging how long an event lasts, using the tense duration markers "ze'i" "ze'a" "ze'u" (usually "ze'a") as a tag: "mi bajra ze'a ci cacra" -- I ran for three hours. "mi se cfipu ze'a lo snidu" -- I was confused for a second.

So what we want here I think is the second case:

"pu zu so'i so'i nanca"

ne'i lo jecta re'o le xamsi

You probably want "gugde" for kingdom there (or "se turni" or "se jecta"). Also, this is just two unconnected facts about the bridi: That it's in a kingdom, and by the sea. To put the kingdom itself by the sea, you probably want a "be":

"ne'i lo gugde be re'o le xamsi"

jy se xabju lo nixli noi ka'e morji
fa do ny me'e la .anabel ausai

Putting a "me'e" tag like that says (vaguely something like) that the remembering itself has a name. I would say something like:

"jy se xabju lo nixli noi la'a cu'i
do morji fi ny no'u la .anabeLIS."

(J is inhabited by a girl, who maybe
you remember about, and who is Annabel Lee.)

.iji'a ti nixli jmive si'o pamei
prami je se prami mi