FEELINGS (Abstract Notions) + JOHN
Clive Bloomfield
cbloom at ozemail.com.au
Sat Dec 8 10:40:35 UTC 2007
Hello Bruce & other Lakotanists,
Physical & emotional (metaphysical?) feelings probably
require someone with more extensive philosophical training than mine
to distinguish between!
Regarding physical feelings, I have found the following two sentences
in Emil Afraid-Of-Hawk's 1944 Lakota version of Ann Nolan Clark's
"Brave Against the Enemy", where (imho) the relevant verbs might well
be rendered in English as "he did not feel it". (One realizes that
other translations may be possible.)
Both on Page 168 of BAE :
1) "Chuwita sece, eyas^ kiksuye s^ni." [=he may have been cold, but
he didn't feel it]
I suppose more literally, that might be : "he wasn't mindful/
conscious/aware of it."
2) "Hustaka aye sece, eyas^ slolkiye s^ni." [=Perhaps he'd become
tired, yet he didn't feel (his own exhaustion)/He wasn't aware of his
own probable growing fatigue]
Nolan Clark's original has : "If he grew tired, he did not know it."
Regarding more abstract emotions, I find this interesting
metaphorical description of a state of emotion in the same Lakota
translator's version of Nolan Clark's "Bringer of The Mystery
Dog" (1941)
I realize that the original bold metaphor is in the English there,
but perhaps such an experienced translator as E.A-O-H might well have
transformed & "lakota-fied" it, if the thought-pattern had been too
alien to a Lakota-speaker's psychology?? :
(To set the scene : S^uNka Cik'ala, Little Dog, has just witnessed an
exciting buffalo-hunt, but is browned-off, because he longs to become
a man by accomplishing a deed of derring-do)
I will need to quote a little more extensively!
On Pages 37 & 38 :
"Wanasapi hehaN lila ohitika oh^'aN s^ni k'uN he e cha el hi. YuNkhaN
he woawachiN kin thaz^us^ka wichayah^takapi kin he iyecheca. Takuni
echuN s^ni."
........................."Thaz^us^ka woawachiN ciscila kiN he akhe hi
na akhe yah^take nag^iyeyiN kta el hi. Tokhel iyokiphipi thaN'iNs^ni
waN anpetu ota nag^iyeye na haNhepi ota oihaNkes^ni kakis^ye."
[=At the time of the hunt, he had performed no deed of bravery, that
was the sort of (feeling/realization) which came to him. And now that
feeling/awareness was like an ant which stung people. He'd done sweet
Fanny Adams!...................That little ant feeling came again &
again, to sting & annoy him. A feeling of general dissatisfaction
aggravated him for many days, and tormented him through endless nights.]
On Page 62 (ibid.) :
"(S^uNka Cik'ala lila waNkayeic'iye.) Ithokap taku ok'oka woawachiN
ichaNteiyapha k'uN he woawachiN lechala kin ahi ichiyutakuni s^ni na
lila sutaya yuze."
[=Little Dog jumped high into the air. His present emotions, when
juxtaposed (lit. : ' brought to) with those feelings of excitement
which had struck his heart previously, diminished (them) by
comparison (ichi- 'together") to nothing, and held him firmly in
their grip.] (Perhaps that translation is a little 'free'!)
Lastly, there is this intriguing passage depicting feelings of
emotional preference :
On Page 46 (ibid.) :
Grandmother (UNci) and Young Girl (WichiNcala Theca) and Singing
Woman (LowaN s'a) are quite happy to be confined in their tipi during
the onset of the winter blizzards, in preference to less desirable
alternatives) Again, to give some context, it seems necessary to
extend the quotation.
"Thima aonathak yaNkapi chaNkhe iyokiphipi. Wichasha kin iyuha
thiokshaNla unpi chaNkhe he uN oonakiphe na okhophewanilya iyokphiya
uNpi kiN he uN hecheca.
[=They were pleased to be shut up indoors. Their menfolk weren't far
away from home, and so they felt happy living in safety (in a safe
location) & in the absence of anxiety.]
"LochiNpi kiN he iyes^ akhiphapi kta thawat'elyapi na iyoks^ica uNpi
kiN he e athawat'elyapi s^ni kiN hecha."
[=As for themselves, they preferred facing hunger, to living in
sadness (i.e. loneliness) - such were their (feelings) or 'such was
their situation'.]
(lit. : they felt willing to face the prospect of hunger, and they
did not feel a greater willingness to be living in desolation -
that's the way it was).
"Na tokeh^ci osni k'eyas^ chuwitapi kiN he akhiphapi kta
thawat'elyapi na nawichakiciz^iNpi chola okhopheya yaNkapi kte kiN he
e athawat'elyapi s^ni kiN hecha."
[= And no matter how cold the weather became, they preferred to face
feeling fozen, to a life of fear, bereft of men to defend them - such
was their predicament.]
Incidentally, I find the syntax of the last two sentences
fascinating! That use of the locative-prefix "a-" [="on; added;
more"] to express comparison is most interesting.(IF that surmise IS
correct - See B&D pp. 39-40 : although the remarks there do seem to
specify " with adverbs". But I also had in mind the sense of
"awas^te" meaning : "be better than")
Regards,
Clive Bloomfield.
On 30/11/2007, at 9:22 PM, shokooh Ingham wrote:
> True abstract notions are difficult to sort out. In Lakota I note
> that I have a word woableze 'perception' and would think that
> ableza 'to perceive, understand' could stand for 'feel' as well'.
> The word slolya 'know, experience' also comes near to it as in
> teh^i slolya 'experience difficulties, have a hard time'. Often as
> you note there is a specific word for things like 'feel sad', feel
> happy' sometimes involving chante 'heart' obviously in Lakota the
> seat of emotions. So one finds chante s^ica 'feel sad', chante
> was^te 'feel happy'. The word thawacin is also often translated
> 'feelings, emotions' though I can't think how it could be used in a
> sentence. I would love to know what other Lakotanists think might
> stand for 'feel, feelings'.
> Bruce
>
>
>
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