Chapter10exercises_MicheleWoods

Exercise 2

A. This exercise has the student read the passage from the Gospel of Mark written in Camaroon English Pidgin  and see how much is understood before reading the English translation.

a. Dos fos tok fo di gud nuus fo Jesus Christ God Yi Pikin

My first attempt to translate:
The first talk of the good news of Jesus Christ God he was picked.

English translation:
The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Son of God.


b. I bi sem as I di tok fo di buk fo Isaiah, God yi nchinda (prophet) "Lukam, mi a di sen man nchinda fo bifo yoa fes weh yi go fix yoa rud fan."

My first translation:.
I am the same as I did talk of the book of Isaiah the prophet, "Look here, I am a prophet man sent before you and fix the road that you follow"

English translation:
As it is written in the book of Isaiah the prophet, "Behold I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare the way before thee."

c. Di vos fo som man di krai fo bush: "Fix di ples weh Papa God di go, mek yi rud tret."

My first translation:
The voice of some man did cry from the bush:"Fix a place where father walks and make your road straight."

English translation:
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight."

B. Some words from Tok Pisin are given and the student is asked to translate.

Tok Pisin                                  Gloss                                         Answer
taim bilong kol                         winter                                        time belong cold
pinga bilong fut                         toe                                            part belong foot
sapos                                       if                                               suppose
haus moni                                 bank                                         house money
kamup                                      arrive                                        come up
tasol                                          only                                          that's all
olgeta                                        all                                             all together
solwara                                     sea                                            saltwater
haus sik                                     hospital                                      house sick
handet yia                                   century                                     hundred years

The CEP I found to be very phonetic and though different from SAE, when given the context of the writing and having learned to read and spell phonetically in grade school I could see similarities in words that I could make meaning from.  I don't beeleive that I could understand only hearing the CEP - I would have to look at patterns in the spelling and translate from that - understanding the spoken words would be more challenging.