Re: functions (zo'o)

["Mark E. Shoulson" <shoulson@CS.COLUMBIA.EDU>]

>Date:         Thu, 25 Dec 1997 19:52:51 -0300
>From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Jorge_J._Llamb=EDas?=" <jorge@INTERMEDIA.COM.AR>
>
>Here are some possible translations. I'm sure they could be improved:

I'm not sure I am qualified to improve on Jorge, but some thoughts...

>>>       How many times did he beat you ?
>            i ko'a do xoroi darxi

This comment actually doesn't apply to this sentence, but to others I've
seen.  People have been overly fond of using "ko'a" as a generic
he/she/it.  That's NOT what it is.  It is a specific he/she/it that only
makes sense *once it's bound*.  Someone had something with "Bob went to the
store but Alice didn't know it" (or some such construction) and used "ko'a"
for that "it."  Ugh.  Here, I presume the ko'a has been bound.

>>>       One day our driver fell from the steps.
>            i ca lo djedi le mi'a jatna cu farlu fi le serti

Does {ca lo djedi} actually mean anything here?  Considering that
{djedi}, as the 24-hour measure of time, is simply how we whack time up
into pieces, EVERYTHING happens on some day or another.  This timestamp is
totally meaningless; it's just a direct translation of an English idiom,
right?

>>>       He slapped his wife repeatedly.
>            i ko'a so'oroi xanda'i le ri speni
>
>>>       Ali kicked the dog repeatedly.
>            i la alis so'oroi jmada'i [tikpa] le gerku

I can't help thinking there's an event contour or something just for this;
there's something insufficient about "so'oroi" for "repeatedly" in this
sense.  {za'o}?  Hrm.

>>>       Agus, your clothes are dirty, do not sleep in my bed !
>            i doi agus le do se dasni cu toljinsa i ko na vreta le mi ckana

Something with [se]mu'ibo after the .i?

~mark