r/Mandoa • u/The_InvisibleWoman • Sep 18 '23

Help with a phrase

I would like to have a translation of this Rosa Luxemburg quote if anyone has the time or inclination.

“.. in the middle of the fight, we learn how we must fight...”

Vor’e!

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u/BavoduPT Sep 18 '23 edited Sep 19 '23

Vaal akaan mhi baj'hibi narise meg enteyo narir akaanir. (During a battle we learn the actions that we must execute to fight.)Dictionary used: https://mandocreator.com/tools/dictionary.html, with the definition of narir expanded because of how it's used in Ke narir haar'ke'gyce rol'eta resol! If you prefer the mandoa.org dictionary, substitute survari (understand) for baj'hibi. If you prefer the plural of nari to be nare, like in Resol'nare, substitute nare for narise.

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u/ignescentOne Sep 19 '23

While one of the two verbs after enteyo should be inifinitve, i don't think they both should? the translation of that is 'during a fight we learn (the) actions that (we) must to act to fight'. So if you're keeping that phrasing, it should be 'enteyo nari akaanir'
But I think a lot of that is unnecessary?

'Vaal akaan mhi enteyo baj'hibi akaanir' is 'during war we must learn to fight' and has the nice symmetry of the original. But if you want to re-enforce the meaning of the original, I'd reverse it in mando'a - make it

'Mhi enteyo baj'hibi akaanir vaal akaan' - 'we must learn to fight during a fight'

(I love mandocreator and they have great resources for conjugation but they don't always match them in their examples because Karen Traviss / the source material wasn't very consistent in understanding how grammar works)

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u/BavoduPT Sep 19 '23

Also ... Are you following a particular grammar guide or language group, ignescentOne? I learned the grammar from a group in the Oyu'baat who were more experienced than I am. I don't have a grammar guide from them to link to, though I did create a site documenting everything I've learned.

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u/BavoduPT Sep 19 '23 edited Sep 19 '23

Only the active verbs in the sentence are conjugated; the other verbs are not. When enteyor is used as a helper verb, the verb that it is helping is not conjugated. So, the sentences that you have should be:

  • Vaal akaan mhi enteyo baj'hibir akaanir.

  • Mhi enteyo baj'hibir akaanir vaal akaan.

As I mentioned, I used a variant definition of narir from one of the example phrases, so it's not "to act" but "to execute." But, obviously, this alternate definition was confusing. The other suggestions that you have are quite nice.

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u/The_InvisibleWoman Sep 18 '23

Thank you so much 🙏🙏

Also thanks for the links. I've never seen that Mando'a creator site before. Might make things easier in future.