2. The Karaim language of the translation
2.2 Postpositions
2.2.2 Hebrew characteristics of postpositional phrases
As was mentioned above, postpositions of HKB usually follow their complement.
Sometimes, however, the postposition precedes its complement; see (42). In this sample, the Hebrew preposition ´ëºcel ‘beside’ is translated with the postposition based on yạn ‘side’, and the Karaim construction follows the Hebrew order of ele-ments.
(42)
Biblical Hebrew wüSämô
and he shall put it.CONJ.V:QAL.W.CONS.PERF.MASC3SG.SUFF:MASC3SG
´ëºcel hammizBëªH
beside the altar.DEF.N:MASC.SG.ABS
‘he shall put it beside the altar’
Lev 6:10 Halich Karaim
dạ ḵoy:sun a:ni yạn:i:ndạ ol mizbẹax:nin
and put:VOL3SG it:ACC side:POSS3SG:LOC the altar:GEN
‘and he shall put it at the side of the altar’
Lev. 6:10 (236/11)
The Bible translations of other Karaim varieties share this property with HKB. Both the Trakai Karaim material and the Crimean Karaim translations reflect the inverse order of the postposition and the complement (Kowalski 1929a: 46, Jankowski 1997: 29).
(43)
Biblical Hebrew
yühî räqîª`
let there be.V:QAL.IPRF.MASC3SG.JUSS expanse.N:MASC.SG.ABS
Bütôk hammäºyim
in midst of.PREP.N:MASC.SG.CONST the waters.DEF.N:MASC.PL.ABS
‘let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters,’
Gen. 1:6
Trakai Karaim
boł:sun avłaχłyχ orta:sy:nda oł suv:łar:nyn be:VOL3SG firmament middle:POSS3SG:LOC the water:PL:GEN
‘let there be a firmament in the middle of the waters’
Gen. 1:6 Crimean Karaim
bol:sun tabaqa orta:sï:nda ol suw:lar:nïŋ be:VOL3SG expanse middle:POSS3SG:LOC the water:PL:GEN
‘let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters’
1a (12)
When the complement is a genitive construction, the postpositions appear after the head noun.24 The following example illustrates the postposition sayin ‘for each’ in such an intervening position. The Hebrew preposition lǝ- ‘to, for, according to’ in the expression ‘to the house of their fathers’ is attached to a construct state con-struction in (44), which is translated into Halich Karaim with the postposition sayin
‘for each’ inserted between the possessed item, iv ‘house’, and the possessor, atalari
‘their fathers’, expressing ‘for each house of their fathers’.
(44)
Biblical Hebrew
´îš ´eHäd ´îš ´eHäd lüma††Ë
man one man one according to-tribe.PREP.N:MASC.SG.CONST
´ábötäyw
his fathers.N:MASC.PL.CONST.SUFF:MASC3SG
‘from each tribe of their fathers [you shall send] a man’
Num. 13:2 Halich Karaim
bir:er kiši bir:er kiši
one:DISTR person one:DISTR person
iv:i sayin ata:lari:nin
house:POSS3SG for each father:POSS3PL:GEN
‘one person one person for each house of their fathers’
Num. 13:2 (332/7)
Such constructions are translated in the same way in the Trakai Karaim Bible trans-lations as well as in the Crimean Karaim corpus. In (45), both in the Trakai Karaim
24 This type of word order in spoken Trakai Karaim was described by Csató (2001: 280).
material and in the Crimean Karaim translation, the postposition occurs between the possessed item and the possessor (Kowalski 1929a: 46; Jankowski 1997: 29).
(45)
Biblical Hebrew
würûªH ´élöhîm müraHeºpet
and wind of.CONJ.N:BOTH.SG.CONST God hovering.V:PIEL.PTCP.FEM.SG.ABS
`al- Pünê hammäºyim
over.PREP faces of.N:BOTH.PL.CONST the waters.DEF.N:MASC.PL.ABS
‘and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters’
Gen. 1:2 Trakai Karaim
da i̭el:i t́eńri:niń t́ob́ŕan:ir-e:di
and wind:POSS3SG God:GEN stir up:R.NPST-be:DI.PST3SG i̭uź:lar:i üśt́:u:ńa oł suv:łar:nyn face:PL:POSS3SG top:POSS3SG:DAT the water:PL:GEN
‘and the wind of God was stirring up (on) the face of the waters’
Gen. 1:2 Crimean Karaim
da yel:i taŋrï:nïŋ es:är-e:di
and wind:POSS3SG God:GEN blow:R.NPST-be:DI.PST3SG
yüz:ü üst:ü:nä ol suw:lar:nïŋ
face:POSS3SG top:POSS3SG:DAT the water:PL:GEN
‘and the wind of God was blowing on the face of the waters’
1a (4) 2.2.2.2 Hebrew influence on the use of postposition civre ‘around’
The postposition civre ‘around’, as was described above, can be used as bare postpo-sition, but also as a possessive-marked postposition. We will provide some examples to show that the position of civre ‘around’ in HKB renders the word order properties of the Hebrew counterpart.
Civre ‘around’ is usually used when säbîb ‘round about’ occurs in the Hebrew Bible. In Biblical Hebrew, säbîb ‘round about’ can either precede or follow a noun, see (46) and (48).
(46)
Biblical Hebrew
ûbaBBöºqer hä|ytâ
and in the morning.CONJ.PREP.DEF.N:MASC.SG.ABS became.V:QAL.PRF.FEM3SG
šikbat ha††al
coating.N:.FEM.SG.CONST the dew.DEF.N:MASC.SG.ABS
säbîb la|mmaHánè
round about to the camp.PREP.DEF.N:BOTH.SG.ABS
‘and in the morning dew lay round about the camp’
Exod. 16:13 Halich Karaim
erten bilạ:dạ e:di eniv:i
morning POSTPOS:LOC be:DI.PST3SG descending:POSS3SG
ol ciḵ:nin civre avul:gạ
the dew:GEN around camp:DAT
‘in the morning there was descending dew around the camp’
Exod. 16:13 (162/5)
The Hebrew säbîb ‘round about’ is always translated by č́uvŕa ‘around’ in the Trakai Karaim material, but we have only one instance of č́uvŕa ‘around’ in a postpositional phrase; see (47). As the example illustrates, the postposition precedes the complement (Kowalski 1929a: 17).
(47)
Biblical Hebrew wayyaHánû
and they encamp.CONJ.V:QAL.W.CONS.IPRF.MASC3PL
säbîb lü´ohólî
round about to my tent.PREP.N:MASC.SG.CONST.SUFF:1SG
‘and (they) encamp round about my tent’
Job 19:12 Trakai Karaim
da toχta:dy:łar č́uvŕa čatyr:ym:a and stay:DI.PST:3PL around tent:POSS1SG:DAT
‘and they stayed around my tent’
Job 19:12
In (48), the Hebrew Bible contains a noun prefixed with `al- ‘on’ and the adverb säbîb ‘round about’ following the prepositional construction. Due to its use of two postpositions in one expression –ištine ‘on, onto’ and civre ‘round about’– the Halich Karaim translation is rather unusual. This phenomenon can be explained, however, with reference to the original Hebrew construction. The usual translational equivalent in HKB of the Hebrew prefix `al- ‘on’ is ištine ‘on’, and of the Hebrew adverb säbîb ‘round about’, civre ‘round about’. Thus the combination of the prefix and the adverb in the original text results an extraordinary translation using two postpositions in Halich Karaim.
(48)
Biblical Hebrew25 wü´et- Dämô
and DIR.OBJ its blood.N:MASC.SG.CONST.SUFF:MASC3SG
yizröq
shall be sprinkled.V:QAL.IPRF.MASC3SG
`al- hammizBëªH säbîb
on.PREP the altar.DEF.N:MASC.SG.ABS round about.ADV
‘and its blood shall be thrown on the altar round about’
Lev. 7:2 Halich Karaim
ḵan:i:n anin birḵ:šin
blood:POSS3SG:ACC (s)he:GEN sprinkle:VOL3SG
ol mizbẹax išt:i:ne civre
the altar top:POSS3SG:DAT around
‘its blood he shall sprinkle around the altar’
Lev. 7:2 (238/4)
The Crimean Karaim Bible translations and H̠aki’s Turkish translation have no example of this postposition in postpositional phrases.
2.2.2.3 Hebrew influence on the double use of postposition derived from ara ‘space betwen’
The postposition based on the noun ara ‘space’ is the translational equivalent of the Biblical Hebrew preposition Bên ‘an interval, space between’. As this preposition is used with both elements of an expression like ‘between x and y’, HKB, as a literal translation of the Hebrew Bible reflects this feature. The postposition arạsinạ ‘be-25 ERV translation: ‘and the blood thereof shall he sprinkle upon the altar round about’.
tween’ is used twice, arạsinạ ‘between’ + N1:GEN da arasina ‘between’ + N2:GEN, in the expression, see (49).
(49)
Biblical Hebrew
wayyabDël ´élöhîm Bên hä´ôr
and divided.CONJ.V:HIPH.W.CONS.IPRF.MASC3SG God between the light
ûbên haHöºšek
and between.CONJ.PREP the darkness
‘and God divided the light and the darkness’
Gen. 1:4 Halich Karaim
da ayir:di tẹnri arạ:si:nạ ol yạriḵ:nin
and separate.DI.PST3SG God space between:POSS3SG:DAT the light:GEN
da arạ:si:nạ ol ḵarangiliḵ:nin
and space between:POSS3SG:DAT the darkness:GEN
‘and God separated the light and the darkness’
Gen. 1:4 (1/6)
The postposition derived from ara ‘space between’ used before both complements can be also attested in the translations into other Karaim varieties (Kowalski 1929a:
46, Jankowski 1997: 29). This is demonstrated in (50).
(50)
Trakai Karaim
da ai̭yr:dy t́eńri ara:sy:na oł i̭aryχ:nyn
and separate:DI.PST3SG God space between:POSS3SG:DAT the light:GEN
da ara:sy:na oł karaŋγy:nyn
and space between:POSS3SG:DAT the darkness:GEN
‘and God separated the light and the darkness’
1. (4) Crimean Karaim
da ayïr:dï taŋrï ara:sï:na ol yarïq:nïŋ
and separate:DI.PST3SG God space between:POSS3SG:DAT the light:GEN
da ara:sï:na ol qaranγuluq:nïŋ and space between:POSS3SG:DAT the darkness:GEN
‘and God separated the light and the darkness’
1a (7)