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Lesson 20
Translation 3

Vocabulary

dutha

to heal

elahela

celebration

en

to understand

ithedal

lamp [ith (light) + dal (thing)]

–lan

Suffix (Type-of-Sentence Word): said in celebration

náal

night

óotha

soul

rahith

darkness [ra– (NON) + ith (light)]

rilin

to drink

shidi

to be together

Láadan Text

Elahela listen to this paragraph pronounced

listen to this paragraph pronounced Bíide dóhowa rosh oba lenethath wa.listen to this sentence pronounced Héeya amedara Elízhabeth; ada le, izh Máyel shonám.listen to this sentence pronounced Bíi amedara onida lezhetha, i dótháa amedara Donith.listen to this sentence pronounced Mehamedara hothul lezhetha, thul lezhetha i lezh; nin amedara wothal woroth.listen to this sentence pronounced Aril hóya déela; liyen hesh, i metháa yáanin yuthu, i metháa mid.listen to this sentence pronounced

listen to this paragraph pronounced Bíide ril melalom len wa.listen to this sentence pronounced Mehen omid, rul i babí lom lenethoth.listen to this sentence pronounced Mehen mahina, thili i boshum lom lenethoth.listen to this sentence pronounced Dótháa amedara ábed lenethoth; dutha lom óotha lenethath.listen to this sentence pronounced Meshidi len, i mehelash i mehada len.listen to this sentence pronounced Áya zho wa.listen to this sentence pronounced

listen to this paragraph pronounced Bíide mehóoha len aril wa.listen to this sentence pronounced Ham rahith; óol ithedal lenethom.listen to this sentence pronounced Hathal náal.listen to this sentence pronounced Aba wobun wobal berídanetho lezhetha.listen to this sentence pronounced Merilin len worahowa wolaleth i meyod len womeénan woyuthlisten to this sentence pronounced Meháana áwith.listen to this sentence pronounced

Bíilan nin elahela shath i wotheth wa. listen to this sentence pronounced

My English Translation with Morpheme-by-Morpheme Analysis

Elahela

Elahela

Celebration

Celebration

Bíide dóhowa rosh oba lenethath wa. Héeya amedara Elízhabeth; ada le, izh Máyel shonám. Bíi amedara onida lezhetha, i dótháa amedara Donith. Mehamedara hothul lezhetha, thul lezhetha i lezh; nin amedara wothal woroth. Aril hóya déela; liyen hesh, i metháa yáanin yuthu, i metháa mid.

Bíide

DECL + NARR

dóhowa

CAUSEto + BeWarm

rosh

Sun

oba

Body

lenethath

We>5 + POSSbirth + OBJ

wa.

MYPERC


Héeya

BeAfraid

amedara

Dance

Elízhabeth;

Elizabeth

ada

Laugh

le,

I

izh

But

Máyel

Michael + SUBJ

shonám.

Peace + DOER = Peacemaker + IDENT


Bíi

DECL

amedara

Dance

onida

Family

lezhetha,

We2-5 + POSSbirth

i

And

dótháa

CAUSEto + Thrive

amedara

Dance

Donith.

Earth + OBJ


Mehamedara

PL + Dance

hothul

Grandparent

lezhetha,

We2-5 + POSSbirth

thul

Parent

lezhetha

We2-5 + POSSbirth

i

And

lezh;

We2-5

nin

Cause

amedara

Dance

wothal

REL + BeGood

woroth.

REL + Weather + OBJ


Aril

FUT

hóya

BeBeautifulPlace

déela;

Garden

liyen

BeGreen

hesh,

Grass

i

And

metháa

PL + Thrive

yáanin

Tree

yuthu,

Fruit + PARTV

i

And

metháa

PL + Thrive

mid.

Creature

The sun warmed our bodies. Elizabeth was afraid to dance; I laughed, but Michael was the peacemaker. Our family dances and the dancing causes the Earth to thrive. Our grandparents, our parents and we dance; the dancing causes good weather. The garden will be a beautiful place; the grass will be green, and the fruit trees will thrive, and the animals will be well.

Bíide ril lalom len wa. Mehen omid, rul i babí lom lenethoth. Mehen mahina, thili i boshum lom lenethoth. Dótháa amedara ábed lenethoth; dutha lom óotha lenethath. Meshidi len, i mehelash i mehada len. Áya zho wa.

Bíide

DECL + NARR

ril

PRES

lalom

PL + Sing

len

We>5

wa.

MYPERC


Mehen

PL + Understand

omid,

Horse

rul

Cat

i

And

babí

Bird

lom

Song

lenethoth.

We>5+ POSS + OBJ


Mehen

PL + Understand

mahina,

Flower

thili

Fish

i

And

boshum

Cloud

lom

Song

lenethoth.

We>5 + POSS + OBJ


Dótháa

CAUSEto + Thrive

amedara

Dance

ábed

Farm

lenethoth;

We>5 + POSS + OBJ

dutha

Heal

lom

Song

óotha

Soul

lenethath.

We>5 + POSSbirth + OBJ


Meshidi

PL + BeTogether

len,

We>5

i

And

mehelash

PL + Play

i

And

mehada

PL + Laugh

len.

We>5


Áya

BeBeautiful

zho

Sound

wa.

MYPERC

We (many) sang. The horses, the cats and the birds understood our song. The flowers, the fish and the clouds understood our song. The dance made our farm thrive; the song healed our souls. We were together, and we played and laughed. The sound was beautiful, to my way of thinking.

Bíide mehóoha len aril wa. Ham rahith; óol ithedal lenethom. Hathal náal. Aba wobun wobal berídanetho lezhetha. Merilin len worahowa wolaleth i meyod len womeénan woyuth. Meháana áwith.

Bíide

DECL + NARR

mehóoha

PL + BeWeary

len

We>5

aril

FUT

wa.

MYPERC


Ham

BePresent

rahith;

NON + Light = Darkness

óol

Moon

ithedal

Lamp

lenethom.

We>5 + POSS + IDENT


Hathal

BeGoodTime

náal.

Night


Aba

BeFragrant

wobun

REL + BeNew

wobal

REL + Bread

berídanetho

Aunt + POSS

lezhetha.

We2-5 + POSSbirth


Merilin

PL + ToDrink

len

We>5

worahowa

REL + NON + BeWarm = BeCold

wolaleth

REL + Milk + OBJ

i

And

meyod

PL + Eat

len

We>5

womeénan

REL + BeSweet

woyuth.

REL + Fruit + OBJ


Meháana

PL + Sleep

áwith.

Baby

We were weary afterward. It was dark; the moon was our lamp. It was a good night. Our aunt’s fresh bread was fragrant. We drank cold milk and ate sweet fruit. The babies slept.

Bíilan nin elahela shath i wotheth wa.

Bíilan

DECL + CELEB

nin

Cause

elahela

Celebration

shath

Harmony + OBJ

i

And

wotheth

Wisdom + OBJ

wa.

MYPERC

The celebration causes harmony and wisdom!

Free Translation

Celebration

The sun warmed our bodies. Elizabeth was afraid to dance; I laughed, but Michael was the peacemaker. Our family dances and the dancing causes the Earth to thrive. Our grandparents, our parents and we dance; the dancing causes good weather. The garden will be a beautiful place; the grass will be green, and the fruit trees will thrive, and the animals will be well.

We (many) sang. The horses, the cats and the birds understood our song. The flowers, the fish and the clouds understood our song. The dance made our farm thrive; the song healed our souls. We were together, and we played and laughed. The sound was beautiful, to my way of thinking.

We were weary afterward. It was dark; the moon was our lamp. It was a good day. Our aunt’s fresh bread was fragrant. We drank cold milk and ate sweet fruit. The babies slept.

The celebration causes harmony and wisdom!

Comments

English has many, many tenses and modes; its narrative tradition is to put a story’s action in the past, invoking many of its tenses to adjust to this tense-shift. In comparison, Láadan’s set of tenses is fairly limited. This is not a problem, but it is convenient that Láadan’s narrative structure is set in the present with the “‐de” suffix on the Type-of-Sentence word; story events that take place in the past are rendered in the past with “eril” or “eríli,” and those in the future with “aril” or “aríli.” Of course, those merely supposed or hypothesized get “rilrili.”

Part-way through the first paragraph, our narrator stops the story to explain the family’s activities. You’ll notice this change by the repetition of the Declarative Type-of-Sentence word without the Narrative Mood Suffix. Of course, in the English, this change is less explicit; the English narrative past-shift is suspended for the duration of the digression.

In the first sentence of the final paragraph, we see a new use of a familiar word. Used postpositionally (at the end of a clause), “aril” or “eril” locate the action “later/after” or “earlier/before” in time, respectively, relative to some other action.

Note the Mood Suffix in the last sentence. It lends a sense of celebration to the otherwise simple declaration of the benefits derived from the celebration.

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