Another Translation Question

[sherubtse]

In the _Pali Primer_, Lesson 6, the following sentence is given for translation:

"Vaa.nijaa gaame manussaana.m pi.takehi macche aaharanti."

The answers to this lesson translate it thus:

"The merchants bring fish in baskets to villages for the people."

Could this also be translated as:

"The merchants bring fish in men's baskets to the village."

Thanks.

With metta,
Sherubtse

[Dhammanando]

Hi Sherubtse,

In the _Pali Primer_, Lesson 6, the following sentence is given for translation:

"Vaa.nijaa gaame manussaana.m pi.takehi macche aaharanti."

The answers to this lesson translate it thus:

"The merchants bring fish in baskets to villages for the people."

I would prefer to take gāme as a locative singular: "in the village", translating:

"The merchants bring fish to [or for] the people in the village by means of baskets."

Or in more natural English:

"The merchants bring fish in baskets for the people in the village."

Could this also be translated as:

"The merchants bring fish in men's baskets to the village."

It would have to be "villages" if you're taking gāme as an accusative plural. Such a translation would be grammatically possible, but semantically less likely, for any fishmonger worth his salt would transport his fish using his own baskets, not other people's.

Best wishes,
Dhammanando Bhikkhu

[Peter]

...any fishmonger worth his salt would transport his fish using his own baskets, not other people's.

What if they were freshwater fish?

[sherubtse]

Bhante, thank you very much for your help, again.

I assume from your reply that "aaharati" is not one of those "verbs of motion" that require the destination to be in the accusative case (otherwise "gaame" would have to be in the accusative case).

With metta,
Sherubtse

[Dhammanando]

Hi Sherubtse,

I assume from your reply that "aaharati" is not one of those "verbs of motion" that require the destination to be in the accusative case (otherwise "gaame" would have to be in the accusative case).

I'm not sure whether āharati is one of those verbs or not, but if gāme is locative singular then it doesn't matter one way or the other, for in that case gāma wouldn't be an object of the verb but rather a qualifying phrase for manussānaṃ.

Best wishes,
Dhammanando Bhikkhu

[sherubtse]

Very true, Bhante.

Many thanks for your time and help with this.

With metta,
Sherubtse