Greek punctuation (I think) - Don Camillo translation

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daivid
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Greek punctuation (I think) - Don Camillo translation

Post by daivid »

This is from the translation of the Don Camillo story (translator Juan Coderch)
κατ' ἐνιαυτόν, τῆς ἑορτῆς ἐν τῇ κόμῃ γιγνομένης, οἱ κωμῆται τὸν τοῦ χρίστου σταυρὸν ἔφερον πομπεύοντες, τῆς δὲ πομπῆς πρὸς τὸ φράγμα ἀφικομένης ὁ ἱερεὺς τῷ ποταμῷ καθιέρωσιν ἐνετίθει ἵνα ὁ ποταμὸς μὴ μανικῶς ἔχοι καὶ τῇ κώμῃ ποσφέροιτο.
I am fairly sure that I understand what Coderch has written (see below). What I can't understand is why there is no full stop after πομπεύοντες. Either I don't understand Ancient Greek punctuation or my translation is off.

Every year, the festival in the village happening, the villagers would carry the cross of Christ (while) parading,
the procession up to the fence having arrived, the priest a dedication would place-in the river so-that the river should not be crazy and should behave in ordered way towards the village.
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Markos
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Re: Greek punctuation (I think) - Don Camillo translation

Post by Markos »

daivid wrote:Either I don't understand Ancient Greek punctuation...
As you know, there is really no such thing as Ancient Greek punctuation. The particles and connectives handle this. Punctuation is at best medieval, and always is a matter of the editor's discretion.

Having said this, δέ in τῆς δὲ πομπῆς surely starts a new idea, so yes there should be a period right before it.

It's probably just a typo, but thanks for bringing this book to our attention.

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Don-Cam ... 9606796173


How easy is the Greek? All things being equal, I find works like this to be very useful for learners of Ancient Greek, although again I am at a disadvantage as I am not familiar with the original.

daivid
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Re: Greek punctuation (I think) - Don Camillo translation

Post by daivid »

Markos wrote:
daivid wrote:Either I don't understand Ancient Greek punctuation...
As you know, there is really no such thing as Ancient Greek punctuation. The particles and connectives handle this. Punctuation is at best medieval, and always is a matter of the editor's discretion.

Having said this, δέ in τῆς δὲ πομπῆς surely starts a new idea, so yes there should be a period right before it.

It's probably just a typo, but thanks for bringing this book to our attention.
That's a relief. At the back of my mind was the thought that it might be a missprint but I avoid letting such suspicions bubble to the surface because much more often the mistake is on my part. That missprint really threw me becasuse it meant the first sentence was 40 words long which resulted in a real failure to process.
Markos wrote:
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Don-Cam ... 9606796173

How easy is the Greek? All things being equal, I find works like this to be very useful for learners of Ancient Greek, although again I am at a disadvantage as I am not familiar with the original.
It is easier than the Harry Potter translation but I am still finding it quite hard.
It is the sort of thing I would have expected to find in my local public library which would make checking with the origional easy but I was out of luck. The second story, the Sherlock Holmes one, is of course in public domain and so downloadabe http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/108/pg108.txt It's the " The Adventure Of The Three Students".
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Qimmik
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Re: Greek punctuation (I think) - Don Camillo translation

Post by Qimmik »

I don't seen anything wrong with the punctuation. A new clause connected to the previous clause with δὲ is often treated like καί or English "and," with a comma, rather than a stronger punctuation mark (colon or period), indicating the end of the previous clause.

daivid
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Re: Greek punctuation (I think) - Don Camillo translation

Post by daivid »

Qimmik wrote:I don't seen anything wrong with the punctuation. A new clause connected to the previous clause with δὲ is often treated like καί or English "and," with a comma, rather than a stronger punctuation mark (colon or period), indicating the end of the previous clause.
I guess you right. I still think it would have been helpful for less able readers like myself had Coderch used a full stop. However I guess the real lesson for me should be to learn to look out for <word> + δὲ and add a break before it.
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Cambrinus
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Re: Greek punctuation (I think) - Don Camillo translation

Post by Cambrinus »

"Every year, the festival in the village happening, the villagers would carry the cross of Christ (while) parading,
the procession up to the fence having arrived, the priest a dedication would place-in the river so-that the river should not be crazy and should behave in ordered way towards the village."

Here's a better English translation - Sr Coderch may confirm, but there are so many Don Camillo stories, I am not going ton try to find the original!

Every year, when the holy day was celebrated in the village, the villagers would carry the cross of Christ in procession, and when the procession arrived at the altar-rail, the priest would utter a prayer that the river should not act crazily and should behave in orderly way towards the village.

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