Re Boas and translations

[Bernard]

Always keep in mind that Franz Boas was a native German that likely
learned a learned French as a second language and a English as a third.

As someone that is a native German speaker, I did not learn English till
I started school, I have spend a since age 7 that translation of words
between differing languages is almost always an approxiamation of the
real meaning of the word.    His internal brain language would have been
German and his fundamental understanding and language aqusition would
have been structured by German.

Therefore I am not suprised  Boas  has a differing  understanding of
what the words in CJ mean.

>/Cultus kopa nika
>     Spose mika mahsh nika.
>Hiyu "puti boys" cooley kopa town;
>     Alki weght nika iskum.
>Wake kull kopa nika./
>
>(Boas translates this:
>
>'I don't care
>     If you desert me.
>Many pretty boys walk in town;
>     Soon (one will) take me again.
>It is not hard on me.')
>
>It's not for me to question Boas' notably gifted ear, but I would have
>translated this as:
>
>"I don't care
>     If you leave me.
>There are lots of pretty boys around town;
>     I'll get another one.
>It's easy for me!"
>

In German to leave someone is verlassen, but in reality that word in
German means more of an word like desert or abadoned.

In the context of the fourth line he uses a more gender neutral term for
the "boys" which rings true to me if one were to do a translation of the
equivilant from German.

In German there is no direct word for It's easy for me, but there is a
direct Es faellt mir nicht schwer which word for word becomes It falls
me not heavy, which idiomatically translates as It is not hard for me.

What this all says to me is that sub-concisously Boas was working from a
German context (you can ask my wife how often I still do this to this day)

Bernard


Automatic digest processor wrote:

>
>     CHINOOK Digest - 5 Dec 2003 to 8 Dec 2003 (#2003-110)
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>       Table of contents:
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>     * Note on "Note on the Chinook Jargon" <#S1>
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>    1. Note on "Note on the Chinook Jargon"
>           * Re: Note on "Note on the Chinook Jargon"
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>             (12/08)
>             From: "Bruce, Colin" <Colin.Bruce at FRASERHEALTH.CA>
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