Thursday, March 18, 2010

Laresol Redodo

I figure that the best way to learn a language is probably not to simply work through a massive dictionary (Sudre’s). Also, not everyone has access to French. Therefore, I’ve decided to start making small conversations or lessons touching on the more common words I think would come up in daily life. So here's the first. Mila:


A: Simi, Sifafa!

B: Simi, Sisido! Redofafa?
A: Redofafa, dore, re domi?
B: Redofafa, solsi! Fado fasolla-domi lado?

A: Dore do sollasire. Mirelala, dore mimi farefa fa la lalarela.

B: O! Falare-dore farefa midodosi domi?

A: Si! Solsol farefa!

Translation:

A: Hi/Good Day, Sifafa!

B: Hi, Sisido! How are you?

A: I’m well, and you?

B: Good, thanks! What are you doing today?

A: I don’t know. Maybe I will go to the bookstore.

B: Oh! Can I go with you?

A: Yes! Let’s go!


Notes:


"O" is obviously not one of Solresol's syllables and is of my own devising. I hope Sudre wouldn't mind ;) Solresol does in fact have several interjections (my favorite is "Misifafa" - "Alas!"), I just haven't come across one for "Oh!", but I've admittedly been lazy lately.


"Sisifa" literally means "sun," and "sisido" means "rain," but I've used them here as names. Upon further analysis of Sudre's phonetic alphabet, it does seem that he would have allowed for proper names - Marcia, London, Luigi - to enter Solresol despite not being composed (solely) of Solresol syllables. That said, I still like the idea of Solresol names...I may eventually use other names. But baby steps :)


"Simi" is "Good day" but can be used as a general greeting. I also think it'd be fine to use the noun form of "do'solfasi" (greetings/salutations) to greet people.


Lastly, "Solsol farefa" here is translated as "Let's go!". "Solsol" merely indicates the imperative (command) form of a verb and one could be more specific and say "Dorre solsol farefa," where "dorre" is we ("dorree" if a group of women is speaking). However, from the context, I think (hope!) it's clear that the speaker is referring to himself and the listener. Since Sudre was all about simplicity, especially when context allows, then I think this is how it would be expressed. Similarly, if you're talking to one person and say "Solsol domilado!" or "Speak!" it's not necesary to be more specific by saying "Domi(i) solsol domilado!"


Hope some of this was useful.


Cheers.