German composition : $b A theoretical and practical guide to the art of translating English prose into German · Hermann Lange
Chapter 1
Chapter 6 of 173 · 2 min read
Enveloping this solid globe of ours are two oceans, one partial, and the other universal. There is the ocean of water, which has settled down into all the depressions of the earth’s surface, leaving dry above it all the high lands, as mountain-ranges, continents, and islands; and there is an ocean of air, which enwraps the whole in one transparent mantle.
Through the bosom of that ocean, like fishes with their fins (App. § 14), birds and other winged creatures swim; whilst man and other mammalia creep like crabs at the bottom of this aerial sea.
+Das Luftmeer.+
Say ‘Two oceans envelop (+umgeben+) our solid globe (+Erdkugel+).
the one partial (+teilweise+) and the other universal (+ganz+). The subsequent sentence is best introduced by a colon (:), which we use to direct attention to what is following. The words ‘There is’ must then be omitted.
+das Weltmeer.+
‘which — all’, say ‘which fills (+erfüllen+) all’.
+Vertiefung+, f.
To render ‘of the earth’s surface’, form a compound noun by combining the corresponding German terms of the nouns ‘earth’ and ‘surface’.
A. When the component parts of =Compound Nouns= are substantives, we combine them often without any connecting link; as—+das Lasttier+, beast of burden; +das Stadtviertel+, the quarter of a town, ward.
B. Neither do we require a connecting link for the formation of =Compound Nouns= the first component of which is an adjective or a particle; as—+die Großmutter+, grandmother; +das Unglück+, misfortune; +der Urquell+, fountain-head.
C. The =Gender of Compound Nouns= (with the exception of a few compounds with +Mut+, m.) is determined by the last component, which is always a noun.
‘leaving — islands’. This passage may be rendered thus: ‘so that all the high lands (+Erhöhungen+), as (+wie+) mountain-ranges, etc. ... rise dry above the same; to rise, +sich erheben+.
+und das Luftmeer.+
+umhül´len+; say ‘the whole globe’ (+Kugel+, f.); ‘in’, here +mit+.
In this ocean of air.
Since the four subsequent nouns in this passage represent a whole class, the def. art. is required before each (S. 3, N. 2).
Use this noun in the plural, since the noun with which it is connected by the conj. ‘and’ stands in the same number.
+gleich Krebsen+; to creep, +umher kriechen+. The word ‘whilst’ being a subordinative conj., the verb must be placed?
+Luftmeer+.
Section 37.
THE AIR-OCEAN.
