In this series, I will present the Proverbs in the order wherein I translate them.
Proverb 4:10
KJV: Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.
Dyirbal: Ŋaygu galbin, ŋamba – dimba, guwal ŋaygu;
Dyudyubaŋgu ŋinu walŋga dyiŋgaligu.
ŋaygu galbin means my child: ŋaygu means my and galbin means child of a Father.
Of course, I put ŋaygu at the start and end of this line because Christ is the Alpha and the Omega. All things come from Him.
(I am aware that the Proverbs are spoken by Solomon: the symbolism stands.)
ŋamba means hear/listen, and dimba means carry (in other than the hand).
Both are in the Imperative.
A follower of the Way of the Lord carries His voice in his or her heart.
I chose dimba because it is a partial rhyme with ŋamba.
I did this to reflect the prosody in the original Hebrew šəma (hear) and wəqah (and receive).
As mentioned before, guwal means voice.
With the first line,
Dyudyubaŋgu is built from two components:
1. Dyudyunba = a word which means time of the creator.
2. -ŋgu = a Suffix which roughly means time until.
ŋinu means thy (or your), whilst walŋga means breath.
dyiŋgaligu is built from two components:
1. dyiŋgali = a Verb stem meaning run or play.
2. -gu = the Purposive Suffix.
Roughly, this translates as in order to run/play.
By itself, the Purposive Suffix roughly translates as in order to.
In Dyirbal, the Suffix –gu serves many functions.
Another function is as the Allative Case, whom we met in the previous entry in this series.