English
"According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way that a bee should be able to fly."
Hip'alŭk'
Li hiro p'ɔlo, öx erar, son p'ʌp'rŭkiki, la hisŭ qlakyru, öx inner, son susus ky p'ʌp'rŭ, kĭn tɔn.
[ˈli ˈçiɾo ˈpʰɔlo ˈøx ˈeɾaɾ ˈson ˌpʰʌɸɾʊˈkiki ˈla ˈhizʊ qlaˈkyɾu ˈøx ˈinːeɾ ˈson ˈsuzus ˈky ˈpʰʌɸɾʊ ˈkɪn tɔn]
Gloss
Li hiro p'ɔlo, öx era-r, son p'ʌp'rŭkiki,
given all wall PREP.COM know-GER PREP.POSS study-of-flight
la hisŭ qlakyru, öx in-ne-r, son susus ky p'ʌp'-rŭ, kĭn tɔn.
be no way PREP.COM be_able-SUBJ-GER PREP.POSS bee PREP.DAT fly-GER PREP.INS 3.INAN
Notes
- P'ɔlo, literally meaning the wall or foundation of a building, can also denote other kinds of supports. Here, it means "law".
- Since Hip'alŭk' doesn't have a past participle, it instead uses the gerund with the comitative preposition. Öx erar could be literally translated, "with knowing".
- P'ʌp'rŭkiki is a combination of p'ʌp'rŭ (the gerund of *p'ʌp', "to fly" and the derivational suffix -kiki, which is like English's -logy.
- In mainly means "to stand", but it can also mean "to remain", "to be ready", and (in this passage) "to be able". Its subjunctive gerund, inner, is used here.
- Son and ky, when used with a gerund (in this case inner), denote the subject and object of the verb respectively. More info on gerunds and dependent clauses in Hip'alŭk' can be found here.
- Sus, a word meaning "flying bug", is meant to be somewhat like a buzzing sound. Since bees buzz a lot, this onomotopoeia is reduplicated to get susus.
- Tɔn here refers to qlakyru (meaning "path, way, method"). La hisŭ qlakyru, öx inner, son susus ky p'ʌp'rŭ, kĭn tɔn, could be be more literally (but also more confusingly) translated, "There is no path with a bee's ability to flight using that path."
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