16 Comments
Again I ask if we can get a simple conjugation table of "to be" on the base page for this lesson.
It'd be useful but here it is anyway:
- I am - Iksan (singular)
- You are - iksā (singular)
- She/He/It is - Issa (singular)
- We are - Iksi (plural)
- They are - Issi (plural)
- Y'all are - iksāt
Hope that helps :)
The thing is that "to be" is an irregular verb in HV, but there's this conjugation table https://wiki.dothraki.org/High_Valyrian_Verb_Tables#sagon It's confusing all at once but it's something
1436
I am obviously not a native speaker of High Valyrian, but I lived for decades in the Southern United States including Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. I think the primary consideration for this translation is that modern standard English does not have a 2nd person plural.
Southern English however does have a second person plural Y'all. You all is in essence a single word 2nd person plural. In English unlike say German it isn't common to split such words with another word or words in between.
Further, for me, the two sentences have quite different meanings. "You all are mothers" simply means "2nd person plural are mothers." or "Sie sind Mütter" in German. or "Ustedes son madres." in Spanish.
However the sentence. "You are all mothers." emphasises that each member in the group is a mother and could be rewritten "Every one of you are mothes."
"Iksāt" just means "You all are" - it's just the plural form of "you", so it should just be "You all are", and not "You are all". Hope that helps.
When translating any language, I try to be as literal as possible. since iskaat is "you all are", keep it in that order. It sounds awkward, but it helps solidify the word to word composition.
I think "you all are mothers" has a different translation into HV. I think there are 4 different types of number: singular, plural, collective and the other one I don't remember. For example: the popular sentence: "Valar Morghulis" means "All men must die", but the plural form of "Vala" is "Vali".
