Interrogations

dạ tirki:ši:ne a:nin ḵayril:ma:di and offering:POSS3SG:DAT he:GEN turn:NEG:DI.PST3SG

‘and the LORD turned toward Abel and his offering, and for Cain and his offering he did not turn’

Gen. 4:4–5 (7/25) Trakai Karaim

da kabuŋłuχ b́er:di adonai̭ Γevel:ǵa and give acceptance:DI.PST3SG LORD Abel:DAT

da tirki:si:ńa a:nyn : da Kai̭in:ǵa

and offering:POSS3SG:DAT he:GEN and Cain:DAT

da tirki:si:ńa kabuŋłuχ b́er:ḿa:di

and offering:POSS3SG:DAT give acceptance:NEG:DI.PST3SG

‘and the LORD gave acceptance toward Abel and his offering, and for Cain and his offering he had no regard’

Gen. 4. (4)–(5)

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Halich Karaim

ol agac:tan:mo ki zinharla:di:m sanạ the tree:ABL:Q that forbid:DI.PST:1SG you.DAT

asa:maskạ andan:mo asa:di:n

eat:NEG.IMP it:ABL:Q eat:DI.PST:2SG ʻfrom the tree I had forbidden you to eat did you eat?’

Gen. 3:11 (6/14)

The particle is also used with verbs, in which case it is always written together with the verb and follows the declined form of the verb. However, there are examples where the particle comes after the tense marker and the personal suffix is attached to it, just as is usual in Turkic. It may take the form -mu or -mo in such cases.⁸⁸

The particle may follow the copula marker, for example when the copula is at-tached to existential words or to predicative adjectives.

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Halich Karaim

yaxsi:raḵ tivil:di:mo biz:ge ḵayt:mạ micri:ge good:COMP not:COP.3SG:Q we:DAT return:INF Egypt:DAT ʻwould it not be better for us to return to Egypt?’

Num 14:3 (334/19)

In the book of Isaiah, the Halich Karaim translation of the questions ‘Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things?’ is ungrammatical, because apart from the question word kim ‘who?’ the question particle is also used with the verbs, i.e. esit-timo ‘did (s)he hear?’, kerdimo ‘did (s)he see?’; see (149). However, this translation cannot be explained as coming from Biblical Hebrew, where only the question word mî ‘who?’ occurs; we only wish to illustrate this interesting peculiarity of HKB.

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Biblical Hebrew

mî|- šäma` Käzö´t

who.Q heard.V:QAL.PRF.MASC3SG like this.PREP.ADJ:FEM.SG

mî rä´â Kä´ëºllè

who.Q saw.V:QAL.PRF.MASC3SG like these.PREP.ADJ:BOTH.PL

‘who has heard such a thing? who has seen such things?’

Isa. 66:8

88 Musaev also describes the tendency to add a suffix to the particle (1964: 328–329).

Halich Karaim

kim ešit:ti:mo bu:nun kibiḵ

who.Q hear:DI.PST3SG:Q this:GEN like

kim ker:di:mo bu:lar kibiḵ

who.Q see:DI.PST3SG:Q this:PL like

‘who did hear such a thing? who did see such things?’

Isa. 66:8 (476/9) 2.8.7.1.2 Copied Hebrew features of interrogation

There are certain similarities between Halich Karaim and Biblical Hebrew concern-ing interrogatives. Both languages employ question particles in yes/no questions, while question words are used in other type of interrogatives. The question words are of pronominal and adverbial origin in both languages (cf. Waltke & O’Connor 1990: 316–329).

Due to their similar techniques for forming questions, the translation of Hebrew interrogatives into Halich Karaim caused basically no problems for the translator.

Nevertheless, there are certain characteristics of the interrogative in Biblical Hebrew that are not found in Halich Karaim. In the following, we demonstrate what solu-tions the translator found to render the special features of Hebrew interrogative forms.

2.8.7.1.2.1 Selective copying: the semantic and combinational properties of Biblical Hebrew hálö´ copied into Halich Karaim

In Biblical Hebrew, hálö´ ‘whether not?’, a combination of the question particle há and the negative particle lö´, is used in negative rhetorical question (Gibson 1997:

183). In HKB two strategies are applied for the translation of hálö´: interpretative translation and literal translation. In interpretative translations the semantics of hálö´, i.e. its rethorical function, are mirrored; see (150). In literal tranlsations, the combination of há and lö´ is reflected in the most accurate manner by a question particle and negation; see (151).

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Biblical Hebrew

hálö´ Gam- Bäºnû diBBër

whether not also with us.PREP.SUFF:1PL he spoke.V:PIEL.PRF.MASC3SG

‘has he not spoken through us also?’

Num. 12:2

Halich Karaim

munạ dạgin biz:nin bilạ sezlẹ:y:di behold also we:GEN with.POSTPOS speak:A.NPST:3SG

‘behold, he has also spoken to us’

Num. 12:2 (330/27) (151)

Biblical Hebrew hálö´ tiKKälëm

whether not is she humiliated.V:NIPH.IPRF.FEM3SG

šib`at yämîm

seven days.N:MASC.PL.ABS

‘should she not be ashamed seven days?’

Num. 12:14 Halich Karaim

imen:me:giy:di:mo yẹdi kin:ler aln:i:ndan anin

be

ashamed:NEG:OPT:COP.DI.PST3SG:Q

seven day:PL front:POSS3SG:ABL he:GEN

‘shouldn’t she be ashamed for seven days in front of him?’

Num. 12:14 (331/26) The examples taken from other Karaim translations show that their translators pre-ferred to provide an interpretation rather than a literal translation when rendering hálö´, i.e. muna ‘behold!’ is used with declarative clauses. For a rendering in Trakai Karaim; see (152) (Kowalski 1929a: 9). The Crimean Karaim translation is pre-sented in (153) (Jankowski 1997: 47).

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Biblical Hebrew hálö´ keHäläb

whether not like the milk.PREP.DEF.N:MASC.SG.ABS

TaTTîkëºnî

you poured me.V:HIPH.IPRF.MASC2SG.SUFF:1SG

‘didst thou not pour me out like milk […]?’

Job 10:10

Trakai Karaim

muna śut́:ńu kibik kui̭ uštur:du:i̭ ḿeni, behold milk:ACC like cause curdled:DI.PST:2SG I:ACC

‘behold, you caused me to be curdled like milk’

Job 10. (10) (153)

Biblical Hebrew hálö´- hû´

whether not it

Kämùs `immädî

stored up.V:QAL.PASS.PTCP.MASC.SG.ABS with me.PREP.SUFF:1SG

Hätùm Bü´ôcrötäy

sealed up.V:QAL.PASS.PTCP.MASC.SG.ABS in my

treasur-ies.PREP.N:MASC.PL.CONST.SUFF:1SG

‘is not this laid up in store with me sealed up in my treasuries?’

Deut. 32:34 Crimean Karaim

muna ol saqlanγan:dïr birgä:m:ä

behold the preserved:COP3SG together with:POSS1SG:DAT möḥörlängän:dir χazna:lar:ïm:da

sealed:COP3SG treasure:PL:POSS1SG:LOC

‘look, it is preserved with me, it is sealed in my treasures’

244a (21)

The Hebrew hálö´ ‘whether not?’ is usually translated by H̠aki with ʼişte^h ‘lo!, be-hold!’ In his translation the clause following ʼişte^h contains no element of interroga-tion or negainterroga-tion, e.g. (154) (Neudecker 1994: 14).⁸⁹

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Biblical Hebrew

hálô´ ´ä|nökî †ôb

whether not I.PRN:1SG good.ADJ:MASC.SG.ABS

89 In verses where ʼişte^h, as the translational equivalent of hálö´, is omitted, there is still no trace of question form, e.g. 1Sam. 9:21 (Neudecker 1994: 39).

läk më`áSärâ Bänîm

to you.PREP.SUFF:FEM2SG from ten son.N:MASC.PL.ABS

‘am I not more to you than ten sons?’

1Sam. 1:8 Haki’s Turkish translation

ʼişte^h ben saŋa^h ʼẹyü:yịm çoḳ ʼevlad:dan behold I you:DAT good:COP1SG much son:ABL

‘behold, I am better to you than many sons’

1Sam. 1:8

2.8.7.1.2.2 Syntactic copying: rendering of Hebrew double or triple questions Translation of double or triple questions caused obvious problems for the translator, because different equivalents of similar Hebrew constructions occur in different verses of the Bible. In Biblical Hebrew the question particle há ‘whether’ is used in the first clause and the particles ´im or wü´im in the second and third clauses, often with ellipsis (Gibson 1997: 184; Waltke & O’Connor 1990: 684–685). The particle

´im , however, has the basic function of the conditional particle ‘if’ (Waltke &

O’Connor 1990: 510). The special feature of the particle ´im leads to different translations. On the one hand, the translator may translate such double or triple questions in a very literal way, i.e. render the basic function of ´im in the translation, for instance (155) in HKB. This characteristic can also be found in H̠ aki’s transla-tion, e.g. (156).

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Biblical Hebrew hácö´n ûbäqär whether flock and cattle

yiššäHë† lähem

is slaughtered.V:NIPH.IPRF.MASC3SG to them.PREP.SUFF:3PL

ûmäcä´ lähem

and is enough.V:QAL.W.CONS.PRF.MASC3SG to them.PREP.SUFF:3PL

´ìm ´e|t-

Kol-if DIR.OBJ all.N:MASC.SG.CONST

Dügê hayyäm

fishes.N:MASC.PL.CONST the sea.DEF.N:MASC.SG.ABS

yë´äsëp lähem

he assembles.V:NIPH.IPRF.MASC3SG to them.PREP.SUFF:3PL

ûmäcä´ lähem

and is enough.V:QAL.W.CONS.PRF.MASC3SG to them.PREP.SUFF:3PL

‘shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them?’

Num. 11:22 Halich Karaim

ḵoy:mo dạ sigir:mo soyul:ur alar:gạ

flock:Q and cattle:Q be slaughtered:R.NPST3SG they:DAT

ki yẹt:kẹy alar:gạ soyul:sa:lar alar:gạ

that be enough:OPT3SG they:DAT be slaughtered:HYP:3PL they:DAT

dạ yẹt:er:mo alar:gạ

and be enough:R.NPST3SG:Q they:DAT

yẹmese osol bar baliḵ:lar:i ol tengiz:nin or that all fish:PL:POSS3SG the sea:GEN

istirin:sạ alar:gạ dạ yẹt:er:mo alar:gạ

be gathered:HYP they:DAT and be enough:R.NPST3SG:Q they:DAT

‘flock or cattle will be slaughtered for them that it shall be enough for them? or if all the fishes of the sea be gathered together for them shall it suffice for them?’

Num. 11:22 (329/17) (156)

Biblical Hebrew

hátäbô´ lükä

whether she shall come.Q.V:QAL.IPRF.FEM3SG to you.PREP.SUFF:MASC2SG

še|ba` šänîm rä`äb seven years famine

Bü´arceºkä ´im- šülöšâ Hódäšîm

in your land.PREP.N:FEM.SG.CONST.SUFF:MASC2SG if three months nuskä

you flee.V:QAL.INF.CONST.SUFF:MASC2SG

lipnê|- cärʺkä

in front of.PREP.N:MASC.PL.CONST your foes.N:MASC.PL.CONST.SUFF:MASC2SG

‘shall three years of famine come to you in your land? or will you flee three months before your foes […]?’⁹⁰

2Sam. 24:13 H̠aki’s Turkish translation

gel:sün mi yedi yıl ḳıtlıḳ yer:iŋ:e^h ve ya come:VOL3SG Q seven year famine land:POSS2SG:DAT or ʼüç ʼay ḳạç:ar:sa:ŋ düşmen:ler:iŋ:iŋ ʼöŋ:i:nden three month flee:R.NPST:HYP:2SG foe:PL:POSS2SG:GEN front:POSS3SG:ABL

‘shall seven years of famine come into your land? or three months if you flee before your foes […]?’

2Sam. 24:13 On the other hand, interpretative translation may be given, for example (157), taken from HKB. The Hebrew há -´im constructions can have various translational equivalents in HKB. In (158), the Karaim question particle -mo is attached only to the verb yiri- ‘to walk’ and not to the negative yok ‘there is no’. In (159), though, the question particle occurs three times, but it is attached to other elements then ´im in the original Hebrew text.

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Biblical Hebrew

háyëš yhwh

whether being.Q.PTCL:ADV LORD

BüqirBëºnû ´im- ´äºyin

in midst of us.PREP.N:MASC.SG.CONST.SUFF:1PL if nothing

‘is the LORD among us or not?’

Exod. 17:7 Halich Karaim

bar:di:mo hašgaxa:si ha:nin orta:miz:dạ

exist:COP3SG:Q divine presence:POSS3SG LORD:GEN midst:POSS1PL:LOC biz:nin yẹmese yox:tu:mo

we:GEN or not exist:COP3SG:Q

‘is the divine presence of LORD in the midst of us or not?’

Exod. 17:7 (164/19)

90 Consider the ERV translation in which the number ‘seven’ is maintained: ‘Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thy foes […]?’.

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Biblical Hebrew háyëlëk

whether he walks.Q.V:QAL.IPRF.MASC3SG

Bütôrätî ´im- lö´

with my law.PREP.N:FEM.SG.CONST.SUFF:1SG if not

‘whether they will walk in my law or not’

Exod. 16:4 Halich Karaim

yiri:r:mo ṯorah:m bilạ yẹmeše yoḵ walk:R.NPST3SG:Q law:POSS1SG with or not

‘whether he walks with my law or not’

Exod. 16:4 (161/10) (159)

Biblical Hebrew

ha´ánî ´ašBîr

whether I.Q.PRN:1SG I bring to birth.V:HIPH.IPRF1SG

wülö´ ´ôlîd […]

and not I beget.V:HIPH.IPRF1SG […]

´im- ´ánî hammôlîd

if I.PRN:1SG begetting.V:HIPH.PTCP.MASC.SG.ABS

wü`äcaºrTî […]

and I restrain.V:QAL.W.CONS.PRF1SG […]

‘shall I bring to the birth and not cause to bring forth, shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?’

Isa. 66:9 Halich Karaim

mẹn:mo tolgaḵ:ḵạ keltir:se:m I:Q labour pains:DAT bring:HYP:1SG

dạ tubdurt:ma:mẹn:mo […]

and bring to birth:NEG:R.NPST:1SG:Q […]

yẹmese mẹn ol tubdurubcu:nu

or I the the one who brings to birth:ACC

da’aya:ma:mẹn:mo tubdurmaḵ:tan and spare:NEG:R.NPST:1SG:Q bringing to birth:ABL

‘what if I bring (her) to labour pains (and) shall I not bring (her) to birth or shall I not spare the one who gives birth from delivery?

Isa. 66:9 (476/12) In the available Trakai Karaim material, we find only interpretative translations of Hebrew double or triple questions; that is the Karaim question particle is applied two or three times in the rendering, e.g. (160). The equivalents of ´im in the Trakai Karaim text can also be omitted; see (161) (Kowalski 1929a: 6–7).

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Biblical Hebrew

háyi|nhaq- Peºre´

whether brays.Q.V:QAL.IPRF.MASC3SG a wild donkey.N:MASC.SG.ABS

`álê- deºše´ ´ìm

yig`è-on.PREP grass. N:MASC.SG.ABS if lows.V:QAL.IPRF.MASC3SG

ššôr `al- Bülîlô

ox.N:MASC.SG.ABS on.PREP his fodder.N:MASC.SG.CONST.SUFF:MASC3SG

‘does the wild ass bray when he has grass, or the ox low over his fodder?’

Job 6:5 Trakai Karaim

ḿuv́ŕe:i̭:mu:dur kii̭ik at ḱoǵot́ üśt́:u:ńa, bray:A.NPST:Q:COP3SG wild horse grass top:POSS3SG:DAT γ́em čuvłe:i̭:mu:dur öǵuź i̭em:i üśt́:u:ńa, or low:A.NPST:Q:COP3SG ox fodder:POSS3SG top:POSS3SG:DAT

‘does the wild horse bray over grass, or does the ox low over his fodder?’

Job 6:5 (161)

Biblical Hebrew

há|yäm- ´änî ´im- Tannîn

whether sea.Q.N:MASC.SG.ABS I.PRN:1SG if sea monster.N:MASC.SG.ABS

‘am I the sea, or a sea monster’

Job 7:12

Trakai Karaim

t́eńgiź-mo ḿeń γ́em ačdaγa sea-Q I or sea monster

‘Am I the sea or a sea monster?’

Job 7:12

2.8.7.1.2.3 Selective copying: the use of demonstrative pronouns in interrogative forms copied from Biblical Hebrew

In exclamatory questions and presentatives the enclitic zè ‘this’ is used to emphasize the question (Walkte & O’Connor 1990: 312). This enclitic is translated into Halich Karaim with the pronoun bu ‘this’, e.g. nege bu? ‘why?’ See more about it in Section 2.4.2.2 (Semantic and combinational copying of the deictic force of the Hebrew domonstrative pronouns).

In document To Amelija Abrahamowicz (Pldal 177-187)