Topical mess

Started by Eltu Lefngap Makto, February 16, 2011, 02:39:40 PM

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Eltu Lefngap Makto

I'm going from Ancient Greek to Na'vi.  The original sentence is something like:
There came to be a sent-from-God man, name for him John.
The naming construction is similar to Na'vi, but it needs to be in the topical.  Wm.A taught me that "it happens that" is best rendered len faw so my first stab at it is thus:
Leren faw tutan a fpalme' ta Yawä fko syeraw Yohannan.
but I didn't get the topical in there.  Should I use a fìpori or what?  Please help since I'm so confused!  ???  :'(
'Ivong, Na'vi!

`Eylan Ayfalulukanä

But what is the topic here?

It could be argued that it is Yawä as that is the case in the entire Bible, and no real topical marker is needed.

Or, a good case could be made for Yohannan

fipori is interesting, but is the topic still topical after this person is identified as John the Baptist?

You might try splitting this idea up into two sentences, so you can put your topical at the beginning of one of them, wherever it best belongs.

Yawey ngahu!
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Sireayä mokri

Well, first of all, it's fwa, not faw ;) Second: I don't really see any necessary in using topic here. You always can, if you wish, but do you really need it? :) So, my suggestion is:

Leren fwa Yawäl fpalme' tutanit a syaw poru (fko) Yohanan.

Here, if you really want, you can attach topic to any noun and move it to the beginning of a clause.
When the mirror speaks, the reflection lies.

Eltu Lefngap Makto

Awesome, ma Sireayä.  I was killing myself for nothing.  Thanks for the typo catch too.
'Ivong, Na'vi!