NJV. I would say to myself, ‘I will not think about him, I will not speak in his name any more,’ but then there seemed to be a fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones. The effort to restrain it wearied me, and I could not do it.
Garrwa. Yañba ŋayi: “Miku mankumanku ŋakaja naŋaŋi, miku jañindu ñulundu nijina.” Baki ŋulya jaŋuwañi dañka, mulamba ŋulina. Ŋarujba ŋayi, miku kijijba ŋayiyi.
I would say to myself = yañba ŋayi
yañba = say
ŋayi = I did
Compare this to:
yañba ŋayu = I say
I will not think about him = miku mankumanku ŋakaja naŋaŋi
miku = not
ŋakaja = I will do to myself
naŋaŋi = about him
mankumanku = think
“think about” comes from the Hebrew (זכר) zawkar’, which means remember or the broader call to mind.
I could not find a direct Garrwa equivalent to “remember”, so I chose mankumanku, which means think about, is a Reflexive Verb.
ŋakaja has two components:
1. ŋaka = myself.
2. –ja = will.
I will not speak in his name any more = miku jañindu ñulundu nijina
miku = not
ñulundu = in Him
nijina = in the Name
jañindu = will call
nijina means in the name, and comes from niji, meaning name.
but then there would be a fire burning in my heart = baki ŋulya jaŋuwañi dañka
bakili = and (there) was
jaŋuwañi = fire
ŋulya = blood
dañka = burn
jaŋuwañi is the Ergative Case form of jaŋu meaning fire.
Unlike in other Australian languages, Garrwa allows Inanimate Objects to take the Ergative Case. These are usually related to weather-related things.
In any case, the Ergative Case indicates Agency. It is the fire that has agency, rather than Jeremiah himself.
I could not find the Garrwa word for “heart”, so I went with blood.
imprisoned in my bones = mulamba ŋulina
ŋulina = in the bone
mulamba = it wraps up
A more literal translation: (the fire) wraps (the blood) into the bones.
This really emphasises the sheer level of torment currently racking Jeremiah’s body – both physical from his beating by Pashhur and his feeling that God has betrayed him.
This newsletter has an Afterword, which deals with the linguistics.
it wearied me = ŋarujba ŋayi
ŋarujba = be tired
ŋayi = I was
Compare this to:
ŋarujba ŋayu = I am tired.
I could not restrain it = miku kijijba ŋayiyi
miku = not
ŋayiyi = I could not
kijijba = tie up
-yi is the Negative Ability Suffix, i.e. cannot.
It only attaches to Pronoun.
Does Garrwa have a direct equivalent to “can”?
As far as I can tell, it does not. If a person “can” do something, they just “do” it. Do you really need to say that “theoretically, he is able to do X”?
If someone can’t do X, it makes sense to distinguish between the theory and reality.
KJV. Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.
Garrwa. Yañba ŋayi: “Miku mankumanku ŋakaja naŋaŋi, miku jañindu ñulundu nijina.” Baki ŋulya jaŋuwañi dañka, mulamba ŋulina. Ŋarujba ŋayi, miku kijijba ŋayiyi.
Postscript:
This verse is where the Hebrew and Garrwa collide head on.
Hebrew has Grammatical Gender – Masculine and Feminine. Garrwa and English do not.
Nouns in Garrwa follow Absolutive – Ergative Alignment.
Nouns in Hebrew and English follow Nominative – Accusative Alignment.
Unlike other Australian languages, Garrwa does not have an Anti-Passive Mood. This feature is the bridge between the two Alignments.
This was a quick, 50-word explanation. Currently, I am not prepared to write down the 5,000-word explanation, which is the next size up.
Anything in between would be both too short and too long.
Post-Post-Script:
In both Hebrew and Garrwa, Pronouns follow Nominative – Accusative Alignment.
I mention this to make things more complicated.