Iain to Colin, letter 2

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>
> ni'o ca le nu mi ra'i pu cusku le lampru notci kei
> mi jmina lu
>
> ni'o ta'o ki'unai le nu ti na'e xamgu se ciksi le tavla tadji gidva kei
> mi jinvi le du'u lemi cmene cu na nitcu le ka me ga'e kei
> le nu le drani slaka cu se basna kei
> gi'eku'i le romoi slaka cu ja'a cmima le se kancu
> ki'unai ba'e ra ka'e na se basna
>
> li'u
> .i mi ca djuno.ua le du'u do drani
> .i mi ze'aba pu facki re mupli pe sera'a le preti
> zi'e noi fi'o remei cu pagbu le kuspe jvinu
> .i le pamoi noi su'emei cfipu ku'o du zo KAtr,in.
> .i le drata du zo miri,m. noi se basna ta'i MIri,m.
> .iseki'ubo mi pu vimcu leva selsku lemi lampru notci
>
> ni'oji'a mi ca nalnei le selsku po'u lu le tavla tadji gidva li'u
> .i mi zmanei lu le bacru tadji gidva li'u
> .aje'abo lu le su'u bacru kei gidva li'u
>
> co'omi'e .i,n .alegZANdr.

>"le nu mi ra'i pu cusku le lampru notci kei":
>        "ra'i" was intended to translate "originally", or "the first time".
>It might be better as "le pamoi nu mi pu cusku li'o".

Definitely better. {ra'i} indicates where something originates from; I doubt
the metaphor extends to "originally".

>"le nu ti na'e xamgu se ciksi":
>        "ti" doesn't mean anything in this context.  Perhaps "le selsnu".
>"The thing I'm about to elaborate on in the next few sentences".

Try {ledi'e selsnu}, the next sentence's thing to be discussed.

>        "le ka me ga'e" was the only thing I could come up with to talk
>about capitalisation.  Does it work?

It'll do for a first approximation. mela'ezoga'e would be a bit more
precise.

>"zi'e noi fi'o remei cu pagbu le kuspe jvinu":
>        "fi'o remei" was an attempt to translate "both", but even
>if it works, or you turn it round into e.g. "noi remei co pagbu li'o",
>I'm now wondering whether it links the two examples too closely
>as a pair.  Perhaps "no'u re pagbu be li'o"?

Much better. "both" really is redundant here, and trying to make a
{fi'o} of it --- which is a preposition first and an adverb second ---
makes little sense to me.

---
'Dera me xhama t"e larm"e,	      T  Nick Nicholas, EE & CS, Melbourne Uni
 Dera mbas blerimit		      |         Mail: nsn@munagin.ee.mu.oz.au
 Me xhama t"e larm"e!		      |  Omiloume ellhnika/Esperanto parolata/
 Lumtunia nuk ka ngjyra tjera.'	      |  {mika'e tavla baula lojban.je'uru'e}
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