Kalmyk and Judeo-Tat/Lexical Selection
Contents
jdt → xal
Solved Problems
- (jdt) муй → (xal) үсн (general; of human); килhсн (of animal, usually horse) "hair"
The generalization for this ambiguity depends on the subject. If the subject is a person, it will translate to үсн. If the subject is an animal, it will translate to килhсн.
- муйдуразе геде (youth with long hair) - should be translated as үсн
- муйдуразе зен (woman with long hair) - should be translated as үсн
- муйзарзарийе гусбенд (a sheep with curly hair) - should be translated as килhсн
- муйзарзарийе кечи (a goat with curly hair) - should be translated as килhсн
Unsolved Problems
- (jdt) вокурде → (xal) тосхах (to build); неегдх (to open)
The generalization for this ambiguity depends on the object. If the object is a built structure, such as house or hut, it will translate to тосхах.
- у ез хуьшге гийовгьо ери хуьшде е куме вокурдедебу (He built a hut out of straw.) - should be translated as тосхах
- тозе хунегьо едейе вокурде оморенуьт гьерчуьтам бисдо. (The new houses will be built no matter what) - should be translated as тосхах
- киниге дере асдалай вокурд (someone slowly opened the door) - should be translated as неегдх
- йедоне гъуш лэгӀэ вокурде жогьоб недо (No bird answered or open their mouths) - should be translated as неегдх
xal → jdt
Solved Problems
- (xal) зүркн (heart) → (jdt) гъирйет (courage); дуьл (heart)
The default translation will be дуьл (heart), since that seemed to be how it was most frequently used. The default translation is overridden when it is followed by "need" or "glow."
- энүг күцәхин төлә зүркн кергтә (to do this, we need the courage) - should be translated as гъирйет
- Хальмг ТаңҺчин зүркнд герлтҗ (The Kalmyk people’s courage glows) - should be translated as гъирйет
- зүркн һундах (cause cardiac injury / emotional pain) - should be translated as дуьл
- зүркн догдлад бәәнә (heart is beating) - should be translated as дуьл
Unsolved Problems
- (xal) бәәх → (jdt) дуланмиш (live); поис (stand)
This ambiguity is difficult to solve. In most (if not all) cases, бәәх as "live" seems to be used intransitively, which makes transitivity a difficult point for disambiguation. It is also difficult to make generalizations based on the adverbs that precede бәәх, since many adverbs can be used for both instances.
- (jdt) бирор → (xal) ах (older); дүү (younger) "brother"
- (jdt) хэьер → (xal) эгч (older); дү күүкн (younger) "sister"
These problems are impossible to solve; it requires much more knowledge of the context and personal information.
