[lojban-beginners] Re: POM: Hold! Stop!

[Robin Lee Powell <rlpowell@digitalkingdom.org>]

Translation is not a beginner activity, so this isn't the best place
for it.  This list is for beginner questions and such.  I'm not
going to say you can't do it, because no-one's complained yet; just
wanted to point it out in case someone does.

On Wed, Jan 31, 2007 at 04:05:35PM -0800, Cortesi wrote:
> 
> ko kankla .i lo damba cu rinsa .ei
> 
> SUPER: Come! Battle calls!

Hoo-boy.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Translation -- note the
second paragraph.  "Battle calls!" is an idiom; it has nothing to do
with anyone or anything verbally calling or greeting anything else.
See http://www.answers.com/calls&r=67 , noun forms, #4, #5, #6 and
#10. This could be considered any of those, but seems to me to be
mostly #10 b.  (Yes, I'm aware the above usage isn't actually a noun
usage; welcome to English; it's clearly a transformation of "the
call of battle", meaning the urge to participate in a battle.)

bancus' ".ei damba" is much more reflective of the idiomatic
meaning, although I'd say "damba .ei" myself, but that's just
stylistic.

-Robin


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