Like you Joanna, I only spoke a smattering of bazaar Malay, but yes, I think
you are correct about the inbuilt metaphor. I have a vague memory of reading
a Malay Grammar some time ago and the translations of the prose examples
were definitely not straightforward. If one did a direct translation with a
dictionary it would come out as flowery elegant allusion to the subject in
hand. People translating from English to Malay must have seemed barbaric to
the educated Malays.
Roger
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joanna Boulter" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, February 11, 2005 11:45 PM
Subject: Re: Translation and the ghazal
>I believe that the Malay pantun has rules about references to nature and
> love etc, not unlike the seasonal reference expected in a haiku. As to
> rhyme
> in the Malay language, I don't know literary Malay, though I used long ago
> to be able to get about a bit in bazaar Malay. I don't remember noticing
> rhyme, though it's a language which forms its plurals by reduplication;
> but
> I do remember a wealth of sort of 'inbuilt' metaphor. Roger, can you add
> anything here?
>
> best joanna
>
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