Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Psalm 1

kalama nanpa wan

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+1&version=NRSV

1
jan seme li pona?
ona li tawa ala kepeken toki nasin pi jan ike.
ona li lon ala lon nasin pi jan pi pali ike.
ona li supa ala lon supa pi jan pi toki ike.

Notes: Although the English starts with an inverted predicate, that structure does not work in Toki Pona. Consecutive li-clauses were a possibility, but I felt that each clause was sufficiently modular to warrant individual sentences. By structuring the verse as a question followed by a three-part answer, the topic remains clear.

2
nasin pi sewi lawa li pona mute tawa ona.
suno la pimeja la ona li pilin insa sewi e nasin ona.

Notes: 'pilin insa sewi' is 'meditate (upon)'; a Sufi might 'pilin pi insa sewi' instead.

3
ona li sama kasi suli.
jan li palisa e kasi suli lon poka telo linja tawa telo.
ona li pana e kili lon tenpo pona.
lipu kasi ona li kama moli ala.
jan li pali e ijo jan la ijo ni li kama pona.

Notes: This verse has a thesis statement ("They are like trees"), but the structure of the sentences which describe their similarity to trees vary in syntax. Toki Pona does not handle alternative syntax well, so it was necessary to divide the first line in two and specify that it is trees which someone plants.
'kama moli ala': this is not really satisfactory for 'wither'. Suggestions welcome.
'ijo jan': here 'jan' is 'any' rather than 'human' (as opposed to divine).

4
jan ike li sama ala a!
ona li sama ko pan.
kon li weka e ona.

5
tan ni la jan ike li lon ala lon pi kama lawa nasin.
tan ni la jan ike li lon ala lon kulupu pi jan pona.

Notes:'lon ala lon': this is not the question format, but rather the negative verb followed a preposition. 'kama lawa nasin' 'judgment': 'the legal event/time/enactment of a way'. 'pilin lawa nasin' could mean the opinion alone.

6
sewi lawa li selo e nasin pi jan pona.
taso nasin pi jan ike li moli.

Notes: Can 'moli' be used for an inanimate/abstract? 'pakala' is a possible alternative, but 'nasin pi jan ike li pakala' could be construed as 'the way of the wicked is broken' without the finality of 'moli'.

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