Translation Corrections: Part One
Lindar was kind enough to e-mail me and point out two translation errors I had made on the website.
Both of the errors were some of the earliest Lojban material that I translated, and looking at them now, I could definitely tell something was wrong with them. I didn't have a clear idea of how to fix the problem, but I was really happy to have a reminder that I am learning this language!
My first error was the phrase {.i mi djica lo grana pe do}, which I had translated as "I want your stick." The problem with this is that the x2 place of djica is an event/state, not an object.
I still get tripped up on this distinction, and solving this problem has been an interesting exercise while I work on translating Part 3 of the Universal Speed Curriculum. The sentence is grammatical, but nonsensical. The semantics are wrong, as you can't want an object.
Instead, you can want some event or state related to an object. The most obvious translation (and one of three suggested by Lindar) is {.i mi djica lo nu ponse lo grana pe do}, or "I want the event of possessing the rod associated with you." This translation isn't appropriate for {lo do ckiku ma zvati}, as both {djica} and {ponse} are words in the "Beg, Borrow, Steal" Craig's List (or in Lojban, {.i lo se frati porsi ku gismu}), and I want to introduce {djica} in play without having to introduce {ponse}.
Lindar also suggested {.i mi djica lo nu bevri lo grana pe do}, or "I want the event of carrying the rod associated with you." This translation is also not appropriate for {lo do ckiku ma zvati}, as the symbolic act of possessing an item has you placing it in front of you on the table, rather than carrying it.
His final suggestion is the one I will use. {.i mi djica tu'a lo grana pe do} is "I want some abstraction about the rod associated with you." The particular abstraction that is desired is ambiguous. It is left to the reader to understand this sentence to mean "I want to possess your stick."
I think this sort of ambiguity is helpful during early play. It gives more flexibility in trying out new sentences and rearranging the vocabulary a speaker already knows. As always, actual play experience may reveal a better option.
This fix has been applied to the example section of {tadji fa lo valsi porsi} and will appear in Part 3 of the {le vajrai se tadni}.
The second translation corrections will appear in the next post. Thank you Lindar!
Continue to Part 2