Schleicher's Fable
Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2011 4:09 pm
As you may or may not know, Schleicher's Fable (also known as "The Sheep and the Horses") has become a common text to translate into various reconstructions of Proto-Indo-European ever since Scheicher published it and no one else wanted to be one-upped in their PIE authoring skills.
However, it also serves as a very nice way of demonstrating the development of various Indo-European languages over time. So here's what I propose: whoever has knowledge of some Indo-European language (living or dead, though getting as many protolangs here as possible should be a major goal), translate the fable and post it here.
Here's the English version (from the Wikipedia article above):
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The Sheep and the Horses
A sheep that had no wool saw horses, one of them pulling a heavy wagon, one carrying a big load, and one carrying a man quickly. The sheep said to the horses: "My heart pains me, seeing a man driving horses". The horses said: "Listen, sheep, our hearts pain us when we see this: a man, the master, makes the wool of the sheep into a warm garment for himself. And the sheep has no wool". Having heard this, the sheep fled into the plain.
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Here's a Proto-Indo European version, from "An Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Early Indo-European Languages", by Joseph Voyles and Charles Barrack. 3000 BC?
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Owis eḱwōs kʷe
Owis, jāi wl̥nā ne eest, dedorḱe eḱwons, tom woǵʰom gʷr̥um weǵʰontm̥, tom bʰorom meǵm̥, tom ǵʰm̥onm̥ ōku bʰerontm̥. Owis eḱwobʰjos eweket: “Ḱerd angʰetai moi widontei ǵʰm̥onm̥ eḱwons aǵontm̥”. Eḱwos wewekur: “Ḱludʰe, owei! Ḱerd angʰetai widontbʰjos: ǵʰm̥on, potis, wl̥nam owijōm kʷr̥neti soi gʷʰermom westrom; owibʰjos kʷe wl̥nā ne esti”. Tod ḱeḱlōts owis aǵrom ebʰuget.
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And here's a few I've translated myself. (Granted, fairly quickly, so I may have been a few mistakes)
Proto-Slavic (c. 1000 BC)
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Awikā kabuwes če
Awikā, jāi wilnā ne bēt, widet kabuwens, tam wazom tingu wezantiām, tam nasiām welām, tam manžim āsu berantiam. Awikā kabuwimus rečet: “Sirdika anžētai majam widintiāi manžim kabuwens ganintiam”. Kabuwes rekšint: “Slaušiāiāi, awika! Sirdika anžētai widintiamus: manžis, patis, wilnām awijam dēneti sai teplām apidēdiām; awikāmus če wilnā ne esti”. Tad slūšēwas awikā paliam aubēže.
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Notes: Obviously vocabulary is a bit of a problem at times, but I tried to remove all words here that do not have Slavic cognates. A few, such as *āsu "quickly", do not exist in Slavic as independent words, but do appear in compounds, as in Russian ястреб "hawk"; another is *potis, which survives in господь "lord". I also kept the mediopassive verb forms here; I'm not sure how long they survived into Balto-Slavic, but given that Old Church Slavonic has at least one mediopassive form in pristine condition (вѣдѣ "I know") and the new mediopassive was only just beginning to really appear by OCS times, I'm going to assume the mediopassives lasted into at least the earliest stages of Proto-Slavic.
Common Slavic (c. 800 AD)
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Ovьca i kobni
Ovьca, na nejiže ne bě vьlna, uvide kobnь, togo vezǫtja tęgъkъ vozъ, togo velikǫ nosjǫ, togo bystrě nesǫtja mǫži. Ovьca kobnemъ reče: “Sьrdьce moje goritь koda vidjǫ, kako mǫžь ženetь kobnь”. Kobni rěšę: “Slušaji, ovьce! Sьrdьce goritь otъ uvidenьnajego: mǫžь, gospodь, jьzъ ovьkji wilny dělajetь si teplǫ odēdjǫ; a ovьca vьlnǫ ne jьmastь”. Uslyšavъ to ovьca uběže vъ polje.
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This is mostly a continuation of the above, but also incorporating a more typical Slavic syntax, with more use of conjunctions instead of participles and prepositions instead of bare locatives.
Modern Russian
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Ovca i koni
Ovca, na kotoroj ne bylo šersti, uvidela konej, odnogo vezuščego tjažëluju povozku, odnogo bol'šuju nošu, odnogo bystro nesuščego čeloveka. Ovca skazala konjam: “Mojë serdce gorit kogda vižu, kak čelovek upravljajet konjami”. Koni skazali: “Slušaj, ovca! Serdce gorit ot uvidennogo: čelovek, gospodin, iz oveč'jei šersti delajet sebe tëpluju odeždu; a u ovec net šersti”. Uslyšav eto, ovca ubežala v pole.
Овца и кони
Овца, на которой не было шерсти, увидела коней, одного везущего тяжёлую повозку, одного большую ношу, одного быстро несущего человека. Овца сказала коням: «Моё сердце горит, когда вижу, как человек управляет конями». Кони сказали: «Слушай, овца! Сердце горит от увиденного: человек, господин, из овечьей шерсти делает себе тёплую одежду; а у овец нет шерсти». Услышав это, овца убежала в поле.
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However, it also serves as a very nice way of demonstrating the development of various Indo-European languages over time. So here's what I propose: whoever has knowledge of some Indo-European language (living or dead, though getting as many protolangs here as possible should be a major goal), translate the fable and post it here.
Here's the English version (from the Wikipedia article above):
-----
The Sheep and the Horses
A sheep that had no wool saw horses, one of them pulling a heavy wagon, one carrying a big load, and one carrying a man quickly. The sheep said to the horses: "My heart pains me, seeing a man driving horses". The horses said: "Listen, sheep, our hearts pain us when we see this: a man, the master, makes the wool of the sheep into a warm garment for himself. And the sheep has no wool". Having heard this, the sheep fled into the plain.
-----
Here's a Proto-Indo European version, from "An Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Early Indo-European Languages", by Joseph Voyles and Charles Barrack. 3000 BC?
-----
Owis eḱwōs kʷe
Owis, jāi wl̥nā ne eest, dedorḱe eḱwons, tom woǵʰom gʷr̥um weǵʰontm̥, tom bʰorom meǵm̥, tom ǵʰm̥onm̥ ōku bʰerontm̥. Owis eḱwobʰjos eweket: “Ḱerd angʰetai moi widontei ǵʰm̥onm̥ eḱwons aǵontm̥”. Eḱwos wewekur: “Ḱludʰe, owei! Ḱerd angʰetai widontbʰjos: ǵʰm̥on, potis, wl̥nam owijōm kʷr̥neti soi gʷʰermom westrom; owibʰjos kʷe wl̥nā ne esti”. Tod ḱeḱlōts owis aǵrom ebʰuget.
-----
And here's a few I've translated myself. (Granted, fairly quickly, so I may have been a few mistakes)
Proto-Slavic (c. 1000 BC)
-----
Awikā kabuwes če
Awikā, jāi wilnā ne bēt, widet kabuwens, tam wazom tingu wezantiām, tam nasiām welām, tam manžim āsu berantiam. Awikā kabuwimus rečet: “Sirdika anžētai majam widintiāi manžim kabuwens ganintiam”. Kabuwes rekšint: “Slaušiāiāi, awika! Sirdika anžētai widintiamus: manžis, patis, wilnām awijam dēneti sai teplām apidēdiām; awikāmus če wilnā ne esti”. Tad slūšēwas awikā paliam aubēže.
-----
Notes: Obviously vocabulary is a bit of a problem at times, but I tried to remove all words here that do not have Slavic cognates. A few, such as *āsu "quickly", do not exist in Slavic as independent words, but do appear in compounds, as in Russian ястреб "hawk"; another is *potis, which survives in господь "lord". I also kept the mediopassive verb forms here; I'm not sure how long they survived into Balto-Slavic, but given that Old Church Slavonic has at least one mediopassive form in pristine condition (вѣдѣ "I know") and the new mediopassive was only just beginning to really appear by OCS times, I'm going to assume the mediopassives lasted into at least the earliest stages of Proto-Slavic.
Common Slavic (c. 800 AD)
-----
Ovьca i kobni
Ovьca, na nejiže ne bě vьlna, uvide kobnь, togo vezǫtja tęgъkъ vozъ, togo velikǫ nosjǫ, togo bystrě nesǫtja mǫži. Ovьca kobnemъ reče: “Sьrdьce moje goritь koda vidjǫ, kako mǫžь ženetь kobnь”. Kobni rěšę: “Slušaji, ovьce! Sьrdьce goritь otъ uvidenьnajego: mǫžь, gospodь, jьzъ ovьkji wilny dělajetь si teplǫ odēdjǫ; a ovьca vьlnǫ ne jьmastь”. Uslyšavъ to ovьca uběže vъ polje.
-----
This is mostly a continuation of the above, but also incorporating a more typical Slavic syntax, with more use of conjunctions instead of participles and prepositions instead of bare locatives.
Modern Russian
-----
Ovca i koni
Ovca, na kotoroj ne bylo šersti, uvidela konej, odnogo vezuščego tjažëluju povozku, odnogo bol'šuju nošu, odnogo bystro nesuščego čeloveka. Ovca skazala konjam: “Mojë serdce gorit kogda vižu, kak čelovek upravljajet konjami”. Koni skazali: “Slušaj, ovca! Serdce gorit ot uvidennogo: čelovek, gospodin, iz oveč'jei šersti delajet sebe tëpluju odeždu; a u ovec net šersti”. Uslyšav eto, ovca ubežala v pole.
Овца и кони
Овца, на которой не было шерсти, увидела коней, одного везущего тяжёлую повозку, одного большую ношу, одного быстро несущего человека. Овца сказала коням: «Моё сердце горит, когда вижу, как человек управляет конями». Кони сказали: «Слушай, овца! Сердце горит от увиденного: человек, господин, из овечьей шерсти делает себе тёплую одежду; а у овец нет шерсти». Услышав это, овца убежала в поле.
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