Re: [lojban] translation exercise...

[Rob Speer <lojban-out@lojban.org>]

First of all, I really like the idea of translating this song. I could
start singing it (to people who already know I'm strange) and then
they'd have to ask what the heck language that was.

On Tue, Aug 27, 2002 at 08:32:25AM -0700, Allan Bailey wrote:
> le selsa'a cu na sisti
"The song does not end".

For "_This_ is the song that does not end", you would do something like
"dei me le selsa'a poi na sisti". (At first I was going to put "ti", but
"this" doesn't refer to anything being indicated, but the actual words
being sung.)

> ri ranji ije ranji noi mi pendo

"ri ranji ije ranji" means "It persists, and something persists". For
"it persists and persists", you would use "ri ranji _gi'e_ ranji".

Then again, I'm not certain that idiom works at all in Lojban. I think
"ri ranji cai" (it continues [intense!]) would work better.

With "noi" I assume you mean "doi".

Though "mi" is glossed as "my", you can't use it like that alone (which
is a common gotcha for anyone who has learned, say, Spanish). You need
"lemi pendo".

> le prenu  co'a  sanga le selsa'a poi ri na djuno ru
For "some people" I would say "lo prenu".
"le selsa'a" could be expressed as "sy", and then the whole part "lo
prenu co'a sanga sy" actually fits into the song.

With the "poi ri na djuno ru", the whole line means "The people start
singing the song which doesn't know it". The "poi" should probably be
after "prenu", and should be "noi" because it isn't necessary to
determine who they are. Of course, this thoroughly mangles the line.

> .ije ko'e ke'u sanga le selsa'a

"ko'e" hasn't been assigned yet.
"ke'u" works here, but it's a modifier that should go after "sanga".
And then you need the phrase which makes the song loop around - "ki'u le
du'u" would be the most accurate version of "because..." and would fit
grammatically with the beginning of the song.

Now I've started thinking about how to shuffle words around to make it
actually fit the tune. Here's one possible version:

dei na'e sisti selsa'a
(This is a not-ceasing song.)
.ije ri ranji sai za'a
(And it continues [intense!], I observe.)
  [The "my friend" part of the original song is really just there to
  make it rhyme, so "za'a" can be used for the same purpose.]
.i lo prenu co'a sanga sy .i ra na djuno ru
(Some people start singing it. They don't know that.)
  ["la'ede'u" would be more correct than "ru", but there's no way in
  heck that will fit.]
  [".i lo" will have to be crammed onto the same note, or the rhythm
  changed slightly.]
.i caku py ci'iroi sanga ki'u le du'u
(Now they sing it an infinite number of times because...)

Here's the song with the stress and all pauses marked:

dei NA'e SISti SELsa'A     [SELsa'A is horrible pronunciation. I claim
                            artistic license.]
.iJE ri RANji SAI za'A
.ilo PREnu CO'a SANga SY .i RA na DJUno RU
.i CAku PY. ci'Iroi SANga KI'u LE du'U      [The strange accent on "le
                                             du'u" is allowed.]

Again, I like the idea! .ui!
-- 
mu'o mi'e rab.spir.