2. The Karaim language of the translation
2.5 Adjectives
2.5.2 The non-Turkic characteristics of adjectival expressions in HKB
2.5.2.1 Copied syntactic features: The Hebrew order of adjective and noun
Although the translator usually translates the adjectival expressions of the Hebrew Bible in accordance with the Turkic order of adjective and noun, other solutions also occur in the corpus. In some samples the Hebrew order, i.e. noun + adjective, can be found. (78) shows this order; thus the adjective (ullu ‘great’) follows the noun (yạriḵ
‘light’).
(78)
Biblical Hebrew
wayyaº`aS ´élöhîm […]
and creates.CONJ.V:W.CONS.IPRF.MASC3SG God […]
´et-hammä´ôr haGGädöl
DIR.OBJ-the luminary.DEF.N:MASC.SG.ABS the great.ADJ:MASC.SG.ABS ʻand God made […] the greater lightʼ
Gen. 1:16
Halich Karaim
dạ yạrat:ti tẹnri […] osol ol yạriḵ:ni ol ullu
and create:DI.PST3SG God […] that the light:ACC the great
‘and God created […] the great light’
Gen. 1:16 (2/13)
The adjectival expression ʻthe greater light’ preserves the Hebrew word order in the Trakai Karaim translation as well; see (79). In addition, the adjective is marked with the comparative suffix -raχ and the accusative marker -ni is added (oł i̯aryχ:ny oł uŋłu:raχ:ny ʻthe greater light’, Kowalski 1929a: 46). The Crimean Karaim transla-tion, on the other hand, shows the Turkic order, i.e. adjective + noun order, and the adjective is unmarked (šol ulu yarïq:ni ʻthe great light’ taken from Jankowski 1997:
31). Generally speaking the Crimean Karaim translator mostly prefers the adjective + noun order.
(79)
Trakai Karaim
da i̭arat:ty t́eńri […] oł i̭aryχ:ny oł uŋłu:raχ:ny and create:DI.PST3SG God […] the light:ACC the great:COMP:ACC
‘and God created […] the greater light’
Gen. 1. (16) Crimean Karaim
da yarat:tï taŋrï […] šol ulu yarïq:nï
and create:DI.PST3SG God […] that great light:ACC
‘and God created […] the great light’
1b (21)–(22) 2.5.2.1.1 The order of elements in predicative adjectives
Copula markers based on e- ‘to be’ as well as on bol- ‘to become, be’ are used when an adjective or a noun is the predicate of a sentence. As for the order of the elements in adjectival predicates, in his description of Karaim predicative adjectives, Musaev states that the adjective usually precedes edi ‘was’, but it may also follow it with other elements intervening between them (2004: 227).62 Regarding bol- ‘to become, be’, however, Musaev does not mention the same feature (2004: 228).63
The word order features described by Musaev can also be observed in HKB. The adjective mostly precedes the copula, e.g. ḵargisliraḵ bolursẹn ‘you will be cursed’
in (74); but sometimes it follows the copula, e.g. edi veren ‘was devastated’ in (80) 62 Cf. the Russian translations of the Karaim examples given by Musaev, where the order seems to be the same. Thus the order of similar Russian constructions might have influenced the order of the Karaim expressions. As for Russian predicative adjective constructions, see Chapter The adjective in Wade 2002 (43–62).
63 Two of his examples (except Ko, 15) show inverse order however (2004: 228).
and edi ak ‘was white’ in (81). Trakai Karaim and Crimean Karaim translations reflect the inverse order as well (Kowalski 1929a: 46; Jankowski 1997: 29).
(80)
Biblical Hebrew
wühä´äºrec häytâ
and the earth.CONJ.DEF.N:FEM.SG.ABS was.V:QAL.PRF.FEM3SG
töºhû wäböºhû
formless.N:MASC.SG.ABS and emptiness.CONJ.N:MASC.SG.ABS
‘the earth was without form and void’
Gen 1:2 Halich Karaim
da ol yẹr e:di veren da bos
and the earth be:DI.PST3SG devastated and empty
‘and the earth was devastated and empty’
Gen. 1:2 (1/2) Trakai Karaim
da oł i̭er e:di γ́eč́ da boš and the earth be:DI.PST3SG vacant and empty
‘and the earth was vacant and empty’
Gen. 1. (2) Crimean Karaim
da ol yer e:di viran da boš
and the earth be:DI.PST3SG devastated and empty
‘and the earth was devastated and empty’
1a (3)
The order of adjective and copula in HKB is, however, not obviously related to the original Hebrew text. In the Hebrew Bible, the text fairly often does not contain any grammatical element, but the Karaim translation has edi or bol- preceding or fol-lowing the adjective, for instance in (81).
(81)
Biblical Hebrew
wühû´ Küzeºra`
and it.CONJ.PRN:MASC3SG like seed of.PREP.N:MASC.SG.CONST
Gad läbän
coriander.N:MASC.SG.ABS white
wü†a`mô
and taste of it.CONJ.N:MASC.SG.CONST.SUFF:MASC3SG
KücaPPîHìt Bidbäš
like wafer.PREP.N:FEM.SG.ABS in honey.PREP.N:MASC.SG.ABS
‘it was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey’
Exod. 16:31 Halich Karaim
dạ tiršin:i a:nin e:di aḵ
and appearance:POSS3SG it:GEN be:DI.PST3SG white dạ tatuw:u a:nin
and taste:POSS3SG it:GEN
solaḵ:ta:gi ciybal kibiḵ tatli e:di
honeycomb:LOC:KI.DER honey like sweet be:DI.PST3SG
‘and its appearance was white and its taste was sweet, like honey in a honeycomb’
Exod. 16:31 (163/15) 2.5.2.1.2 The order of elements in comparison
In Karaim expressions of comparison the order of elements is basically the follow-ing: standard of the comparison + ablative marker followed by the property com-pared (Csató 2001a: 13). In Biblical Hebrew, however, the adjective precedes the noun on which the comparison is based and the preposition min- ‘from’ is attached to this noun (Gibson 1997:45).
Few examples attested in HKB show that the translator preferred to maintain the original Hebrew word order properties for expressions of comparison; see (82). The Trakai Karaim translation reflects the same property (Kowalski 1929a: 49).
(82)
Biblical Hebrew
wühannäHäš häyâ
and the serpent.CONJ.DEF.N:MASC.SG.ABS was.V:QAL.PRF.MASC3SG
`ärûm miKKöl
crafty.ADJ:MASC.SG.ABS from all.PREP.N:MASC.SG.ABS
Hayyat haSSädè
animal of.N:FEM.SG.CONST the field.DEF.N:MASC.SG.ABS
‘now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature’64 Gen. 3:1 Halich Karaim
dạ ol yilan ustat:raḵ e:di
and the serpent clever:COMP be:DI.PST3SG
bar kiyig:i:nden ol tiz:nin
all wild:POSS3SG:ABL the field:GEN
‘and the serpent was more clever than all the wild animals of the field’
Gen. 3:1 (5/21) Trakai Karaim
da oł iłan ustat:raχ e:di
and the serpent clever:COMP be:DI.PST3SG
bar kii̭ig:i:ńd́ań oł t́uź:ńuń
all wild:POSS3SG:ABL the field:GEN
‘and the serpent was more clever than all the wild animals of the field’
Gen. 3. (1)
No example can be found in the Crimean Karaim translation published by Jankowski.
It is worth noting that the change from Hebrew word order to Turkic order, does not include the order of the comparison elements, i.e. the adjective being followed by the standard of the comparison, but only the order of the adjective and the exis-tential verb.
2.5.2.2 Copied agreement features