Translation help.

[Audrada Rôibeardét]

I'm trying to translate 'The Bull's Head'. Since I'm a cestourat, I need some help.

'The Bull's Head' translates to 'El Caps del Toreu'?

Thanks in advance.

[Sir C. M. Siervicül]

Apr 7, 2017 2:24:13 GMT -6 Audrada Rôibeardét said:

I'm trying to translate 'The Bull's Head'. Since I'm a cestourat, I need some help.

'The Bull's Head' translates to 'El Caps del Toreu'?

Thanks in advance.

Cäps (with umlaut), but yes that's correct.

[Iac Marscheir]

You could also say "El Toreu sè Cäps," right?

[Sir C. M. Siervicül]

Apr 7, 2017 7:58:36 GMT -6 Iac Marscheir said:

You could also say "El Toreu sè Cäps," right?

Yes indeed. I tend not to use sè very much, and when I do it seems to be mostly with people (especially proper nouns). I wonder whether that's a general tendency or just a personal quirk of mine.

[Iac Marscheir]

Apr 7, 2017 10:25:51 GMT -6 Sir C. M. Siervicül said:

Apr 7, 2017 7:58:36 GMT -6 Iac Marscheir said:

You could also say "El Toreu sè Cäps," right?

Yes indeed. I tend not to use sè very much, and when I do it seems to be mostly with people (especially proper nouns). I wonder whether that's a general tendency or just a personal quirk of mine.

I'm inclined to believe that sè is used more often in informal circles like right now than on formal occasions, in the same way that informal texts in English use "[thing]'s [thing]" more often than "[thing] of [thing]" than formal ones.

[Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial]

Apr 7, 2017 10:25:51 GMT -6 Sir C. M. Siervicül said:

Apr 7, 2017 7:58:36 GMT -6 Iac Marscheir said:

You could also say "El Toreu sè Cäps," right?

Yes indeed. I tend not to use sè very much, and when I do it seems to be mostly with people (especially proper nouns). I wonder whether that's a general tendency or just a personal quirk of mine.

Tangentially related question: is there a difference between ün(a) and 'n? I personally only use 'n next to c'e (—> c'e'n), while you seem to use it more regularly.

[Iac Marscheir]

Usually, I use 'n at the beginning of sentences that aren't titles, and after the following sounds: vowels (as a proper contraction), the semivowels l (pronounced ll) and r and certain consonants, usually alveolar obstruents (s, t, z, d, xh, tx, sch, tsch, but not n), and sometimes v, f, c(h), and g. All other cases I use ün(a). Notice that I said "sounds". I use this becaise it sounds good.

[Sir C. M. Siervicül]

Apr 7, 2017 17:36:02 GMT -6 Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial said:

Tangentially related question: is there a difference between ün(a) and 'n? I personally only use 'n next to c'e (—> c'e'n), while you seem to use it more regularly.

In Ben's grammar, the chapter on indirect articles starts off by saying that the indefinite article is ün before masculine nouns and ünâ before feminine nouns. He goes on to note that "in casual speech and even in writing, both ün and ünâ are often shortened to 'n." If you look at the examples given throughout the grammar, though, Ben almost exclusively uses 'n. If I recall correctly, the longer forms only appear at the beginning of utterances, and are less common than 'n even in that context. I think this is generally consistent with Ben's usage outside of SG. For this reason, I view 'n as the "ordinary" form of the indefinite article, and ün/üna feels old-fashioned or formal to me. I generally only use the longer forms in formal writing and sometimes for emphasis.