2. The Karaim language of the translation
2.8 Syntax
2.8.2 Order of clauses and phrases
The clause ordering properties of HKB represent, in Floor’s terminology, a strict correspondence with source language clause order. Thus the order of Hebrew clauses is maintained in the Halich Karaim translation, see (136). This example contains six clauses which are translated in the same order into Karaim. Only the tracking pattern differs from the Hebrew original. See more about this in Section 2.8.4 (Reference disambiguation and tracking) below.
(136)
Biblical Hebrew waTTëºred
and she came down.CONJ.QAL.W.CONS.IPRF.FEM3SG
Bat- Par`ò
daughter of.N:FEM.SG.CONST Pharaoh
lirHöc `al- hayü´ör
to bathe.PREP.V:QAL.INF.CONST at.PREP the river.DEF.PROP
wüna`árötʺhä hölköt and her
maid-ens.CONJ.N:FEM.PL.CONST.SUFF:FEM3SG
walked.V:QAL.PTCP.FEM.PL.ABS
`al- yad hayü´ör
on.PREP hand of.N:FEM.SG.CONST the river.DEF.PROP
waTTëºre´ ´et- haTTëbâ
and she
saw.CONJ.V:QAL.W.CONS.IPRF.FEM3SG
DIR.OBJ the box.DEF. N:FEM.SG.ABS
Bütôk hassûp
in midst of.PREP.N:MASC.SG.CONST the reeds.DEF.N:MASC.SG.ABS
waTTišlaH ´et- ´ámätäh
and she
sent.CONJ.V:W.CONS.FEM3SG
DIR.OBJ her
hand-maid.N:FEM.SG.CONST.SUFF:FEM3SG
waTTiqqäHeºhä
and she took it.CONJ.V:QAL.W.CONS.FEM3SG.SUFF:FEM3SG
‘now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, and her maidens walked beside the river; she saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to fetch it’
Exod. 2:5 Halich Karaim
dạ en:di ḵiz:i parʻōh:nun
and go down:DI.PST3SG daughter:POSS3SG Pharaoh:GEN
yubun:mạ ol nil:ge
wash:INF the Nile:DAT
da ḵirḵin:lar:i anin yiri:r-e:di:ler
and maiden:PL:POSS3SG she:GEN walk:R.NPST-be:DI.PST:3PL
ḵiriy:i ḵat:i:nạ ol nil:nin
edge:POSS3SG side:POSS3SG:DAT the Nile:GEN
dạ ker:di ḵiz:i parʻōh:nun
and see:DI.PST3SG daughter:POSS3SG Pharaoh:GEN
osol ol sunduḵ:nu orta:si:ndạ ol ḵamus:nun that the chest:ACC midst:POSS3SG:LOC the reed:GEN
dạ iy:di osol ḵaravạs:i:n ez:i:nin
and send:DI.PST3SG that handmaid:POSS3SG:ACC self:POSS3SG:GEN
daʼal:di ani
and’take:DI.PST3SG it (ACC)
‘and went down the daughter of the Pharaoh to bathe to the river, and her maidens walked beside the river; and the daughter of the Pharaoh saw the chest in the midst of the reeds and sent her handmaid and she took it’
Exod. 2:5 (128/8) The Hebrew clause ordering is also preserved in verses which contain additional Karaim texts, i.e. texts added by the translator. In the following example, the Karaim translator added the explications: artḵari sezimden ‘back from my word’, kibiḵ ki ḵaytadi sezinden ʻlike (a man) who turns away from his word’, dạ ol keleši zamandạ ʻand in the future’, ḵaytarsam ḵaytubun ulusumnun literally ‘when I turn the return of my nation’, toxtatmạ šǝkinahmni ancaḵ saharinạ yǝrušalayimnin ‘to place my divine presence, but to the city of Jerusalem’. The order of the clauses –disregarding the additions– corresponds to the order of the Hebrew clauses.
(137)
Biblical Hebrew lö´ ´e|`éSè
not I will do.V:QAL.IPRF1SG
Hárôn ´aPPî
anger of.N:MASC.SG.CONST my anger.N:MASC.SG.CONST.SUFF:1SG
lö´ ´äšûb
no I will turn.V:QAL.IPRF1SG
lüšaHët ´epräºyim
to ruin.PREP.V:PIEL.INF.CONST Ephraim
Kî ´ël ´ä|nökî wülö´- ´îš
for God I.PRN:1SG and not.CONJ.NEG man.N:MASC.SG.ABS
BüqirBükä qädôš
in midst of you.PREP.N:MASC.SG.CONST.SUFF:MASC2SG holy.ADJ:MASC.SG.ABS
wülö´ ´äbô´ Bü`îr
and not.CONJ.NEG I will come.V:QAL.IPRF1SG in city.PREP.N:MASC.SG.ABS
‘I will not execute my fierce anger, I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come to destroy’
Hosea 11:9 Halich Karaim
anin icin ḵil:ma:mẹn ḵaxir acub:um:nu
it:GEN for.POSTPOS do:NEG.R.NPST:1SG fierce anger:POSS1SG:ACC ḵayt:ma:mẹn artḵari sez:im:den
turn:NEG.R.NPST:1SG backward word:POSS1SG:ABL caypa:mạ ẹprayim:ni
destroy:INF Ephraim:ACC
ki tẹnri mẹn:mẹn dạ tivil:mẹn kiši kibiḵ for God I:COP1SG and not:COP1SG man like.POSTPOS
orta:n:dạ sẹnin aziz tẹnri mẹn:mẹn midst:POSS2SG:LOC you (GEN) holy God I:COP1SG dạ ol keleši zaman:dạ
and the future time:LOC
ḵaytar:sa:m ḵaytub:u:n ulus:um:nun
give back:HYP:1SG return:POSS3SG:ACC nation:POSS1G:GEN
kel:me:men ezge šahar:gạ
come:NEG.R.NPST:1SG other city:DAT ki ḵayt:a:di sez:i:nden
who turn:A.NPST:3SG word:POSS3SG:ABL
toxtat:mạ šǝkinah:m:ni ancaḵ sahar:i:nạ yǝrušalayim:nin place:INF presence of
God:POSS1SG:ACC
but city:POSS3SG:DAT Jerusalem:GEN
‘because of that I will not execute the ferocity of my anger, I will not turn back from my word to destroy Ephraim, for I am God and I am not like man, who turns from his word, I am the holy God in the midst of you, and in the future, when I make my nation to return, I will not come to another city to place my divine presence, but to the city of Jerusalem’
Hosea 11:9 (487/9) In some exceptional cases, the order of the Hebrew clauses is changed in HKB. See, for instance, (138), in which the clause ol yẹrge ki ant ettin atalarinạ ‘to the land you swore to his fathers’ precedes the clause nẹciḵ eltedi ol estirivci osol ol eme-dogan ulanni ‘as the nursing one carries the sucking child’ despite the reverse order of the Hebrew original.
(138)
Biblical Hebrew
Sä´ëºhû büHêqeºkä
carry it.V:QAL.IMP.MASC.SG.SUFF: MASC3SG
in your bosom.PREP.N:MASC.SG.CONST. SUFF:MASC2SG
Ka´ášer yiSSä´
like that.PREP.REL carries.V:QAL.IPRF.MASC3SG
hä´ömën ´et-hayyönëq
the nursing.DEF.V:QAL.PTCP. MASC.SG.ABS
the young plant.DIR.OBJ -DEF.N:MASC.SG.ABS
`al hä|´ádämâ ´ášer nišBaº`Tä
to.PREP the land.DEF.N:FEM.SG.ABS which you swore.V:NIPH.PRF.MASC2SG
la´ábötäyw
to his fathers.PREP.N:MASC.PL.CONST.SUFF:MASC3SG
‘carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries the sucking child, to the land which thou didst swear to give their fathers?’
Num. 11:12 Halich Karaim
elt:kin ani ḵoyn:un:dạ ol yẹr:ge ki
carry:IMP2SG him bosom:POSS2SG:LOC the land:DAT which
ant et:ti:n ata:lar:i:nạ a:nin alay ki swear:DI.PST:2SG father:PL:POSS3SG:DAT he:GEN so that nẹciḵ elt:e:di ol estirivci
as carry:A.NPST:3SG the cattle-breeder
osol ol emedogan ulan:ni
that the sucking child:ACC
ʻcarry him in your bosom to the land which you swore to his fathers as the nursing one carries the sucking child’
Num. 11:12 (328/20) The order of phrases in HKB generally follows the Hebrew order. The basic Hebrew word order is VSO. This basic order varies according to the information structure so that the subject or the object constituent can be in preverbal position (Gibson 1994:
164). Karaim has a basic SVO order which can also be freely varied (Csató 2011: 9).
Thus the Karaim translator could easily accommodate to the Hebrew phrase order.
Therefore, the Karaim translation generally follows the Hebrew order, whereas in English, for example, that is not always possible. For instance, the original order of
‘sevenfold’ and ‘vengeance shall be taken’ is preserved in HKB, whereas the Eng-lish translation (RSV) represents a reversed phrase order, see (139).
(139)
Biblical Hebrew
šib`ätaºyim yuqqäm
sevenfold.N:FEM.DUAL.ABS shall be avanged.V:HOPH.IPRF.MASC3SG
‘vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold’
Gen. 4:15 Halich Karaim
yẹdi dor:ga:dẹyin ec alin:ir
seven generation:DAT:POSTPOS be taken a vengeance:R.NPST3SG
‘until seven generation vengeance shall be taken’
Gen. 4:15 (8/20)
Similarly, the order of the phrases ‘said to her’ and ‘the daughter of the Pharaoh’ is maintained in the Karaim translation of Exod. 2: 8; see (140). The English transla-tion (RSV), on the other hand, changes the order of the phrases to ‘Pharaoh’s daughter’ followed by ‘said to her’. Moreover, the order of the elements in the geni-tive construction is also changed in English; ‘Pharaoh’s daughter’ is used instead of
‘the daughter of the Pharaoh’.
(140)
Biblical Hebrew
waTTö|´mer- läh
and said.V:QAL.W.CONS.IPRF.FEM3SG to her.PREP.SUFF:FEM3SG
Bat- Par`ò
daughter of.N:FEM.SG.CONST Pharaoh
‘and Pharaoh's daughter said to her’
Exod. 2:8 Halich Karaim
dạ ayt:ti anar ḵiz:i parʻōh:nun
and say:DI.PST3SG (s)he:DAT daughter:POSS3SG Pharaoh:GEN
‘and said to her the daughter of the Pharaoh’
Exod. 2:8 (128/18) See more about the ordering of phrases in the previous chapters.