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Like Father, Like son

by Evildela, September 24, 2010

Messages: 14

Language: English

Evildela (User's profile) September 24, 2010, 2:37:31 PM

I found this phrase online, and apparently it means something similar to the English "Like father like son" But I don't see how that could possibly be the case. Can someone explain now 'Kia' works within this phrase.

Kia naskinto, tiaj naskitoj

ceigered (User's profile) September 24, 2010, 2:52:03 PM

I believe it's like saying "Whatever sort of parent (one has), (one will be) that sort of child"

Evildela (User's profile) September 24, 2010, 3:11:32 PM

ceigered:I believe it's like saying "Whatever sort of parent (one has), (one will be) that sort of child"
So would it be grammatically correct to say:
Li estas kia naskinto, tiaj naskitoj

ceigered (User's profile) September 24, 2010, 3:33:30 PM

Evildela:
ceigered:I believe it's like saying "Whatever sort of parent (one has), (one will be) that sort of child"
So would it be grammatically correct to say:
Li estas kia naskinto, tiaj naskitoj
Well, as grammatical as "He is like father like son" is in English lango.gif

But I am honestly not really sure. But I don't think in this case grammatical sense is being prioritised.

erinja (User's profile) September 24, 2010, 6:30:27 PM

Evildela:So would it be grammatically correct to say:
Li estas kia naskinto, tiaj naskitoj
No.

I would consider the proverb to be a shortened version of "Kia estas la naskinto, tiaj estas la naskitoj"

Whatever the one who gives birth is like, that's how the ones who are birthed are/will be.

(you could turn the second "estas" into an "estos" for that "will be" meaning; useful if this person hasn't actually had any children)

darkweasel (User's profile) September 24, 2010, 6:49:35 PM

Why not just: Kia la patro, tia la filo?

erinja (User's profile) September 24, 2010, 7:04:24 PM

darkweasel:Why not just: Kia la patro, tia la filo?
That would be just fine as well. The phrase "kia naskinto, tiaj naskitoj" comes from Zamenhof's long list of Esperanto proverbs, so it has a history behind it, and you might say that it's a "native Esperanto" proverb. It isn't meant to be an exact translation of the English proverb (it's likely that many languages have a similar proverb).

Zamenhof wrote his list of proverbs to help give Esperanto speakers a stock of proverbial things to say. "National" languages all have proverbs, so Zamenhof gave Esperantists their own common set of proverbs to use, to help it be a complete language.

Evildela (User's profile) September 25, 2010, 3:34:04 AM

erinja:Zamenhof wrote his list of proverbs to help give Esperanto speakers a stock of proverbial things to say. "National" languages all have proverbs, so Zamenhof gave Esperantists their own common set of proverbs to use, to help it be a complete language.
Is there a list of these proverbs with there equivalent meanings in English, and how to use them

darkweasel (User's profile) September 25, 2010, 8:10:57 AM

Evildela:
erinja:Zamenhof wrote his list of proverbs to help give Esperanto speakers a stock of proverbial things to say. "National" languages all have proverbs, so Zamenhof gave Esperantists their own common set of proverbs to use, to help it be a complete language.
Is there a list of these proverbs with there equivalent meanings in English, and how to use them
Not with English-language equivalents, but there's a list of Esperanto proverbs on this site.

Evildela (User's profile) September 25, 2010, 8:19:09 AM

Yeah I know there’s a list on this website - but a proverb is something that doesn’t always mean literally what it says. So reading Esperanto versions without knowing hidden meaning behind it is kinda pointless.

Like for instance:
Aprila vetero -- trompa aero.
Aprils weather --- fake air

What’s that meant to mean? When would it be used. What situation would it be used in.

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