Lower Sorbian to Kinyarwanda: clock time and participant number need separate readings
A spoken hour expression may not repeat the source clock numeral
The Peace Corps Kinyarwanda course maps Ni saa moya to 07:00 or 19:00 and Ni saa mbiri to 08:00 or 20:00. Its table describes a twelve-hour daytime and nighttime cycle, with additional wording available to specify the period. A Lower Sorbian appointment written as 07:00 should consequently not be judged by whether a Kinyarwanda hour expression visibly contains a word glossed as seven.
The intended time is the invariant information. Preserve it before evaluating the conventional target expression. The course also contrasts morning and nighttime forms for the same numbered hour. For a Lower Sorbian message arranging a morning departure, losing the part of day can create ambiguity even when the target hour phrase is otherwise valid. Conversely, replacing the target numeral by the source clock numeral would not necessarily correct the expression. Distinguish a conventional spoken time from a retained numeric timestamp.
A change of initial material can change who works
Ngabonziza’s thesis illustrates Ndakora, Turakora and Murakora for the speaker working, the speaker’s group working and the addressees working. The discussion identifies Kinyarwanda subject markers at the beginning of the verb. A Lower Sorbian work schedule can therefore convey participant reference through a compact target form rather than a separately repeated pronoun.
The thesis’s learner study concerns Oluchiga-speaking learners; its results should not be presented as measured errors by Lower Sorbian speakers. The directly useful evidence here is the attested contrast between the Kinyarwanda forms. If a source says the speaker works, changing an initial marker can make the target refer to a group or to the listener. A recognizable work root is not enough to confirm that the same person has retained the responsibility.
A source respectful plural must be interpreted before choosing target number
Stone notes that Lower Sorbian wy can be used honorifically for one person or two. He also distinguishes colloquial and literary agreement in respectful address. A plural-looking source form therefore does not settle whether an appointment message is directed to an individual, a pair or a larger team.
The source dual raises a different question: when the original identifies precisely two workers, that real quantity must remain recoverable. It should not be confused with a polite plural address to one person. In the Kinyarwanda work forms above, changing from speaker to speaker’s group establishes a person-and-number contrast, but the plural alone does not identify every member or state that the group contains exactly two.
For a scheduled task, interpret the hour and the participant relationship independently. The source can specify one listener receiving a message about two workers who leave at 07:00. A faithful Kinyarwanda rendering must retain all three relationships: who receives the instruction, who performs the task and when it begins. Neither an unfamiliar hour numeral nor a compact verb should be corrected by visual resemblance to Lower Sorbian endings.
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