وإن كان القارئ لوهلة ما سيربط

[J.F. de TROYES]

In this text ( p.7, chapter المكون العلاماتي في عنوان الرواية ) the following clause ( l.4-6 ) is puzzling me ; don't you think a verb is lacking :

... وإن كان القارئ لوهلة ما سيربط فقط بين لوحة العلاف و شخصية إيليا الكفري

even if the reader only manages ( to establish ? ) a link between the cover of the edition and the character E.Alkhury...

Thanks so much for your explanations.

 

[Mahaodeh]

I would translate it as: … even though the reader for an instant would link the cover with the character…

Within the whole context, the writer is saying that the reader of the novel would find that the picture on the cover and the narrative of the novel are different… even though the reader will find a link for an instant.

don't you think a verb is lacking

It does have two verbs, one is فعل ناقص and the other is a regular verb. Do you mean another? Why do you think it needs a verb?

 

[analeeh]

It's a long sentence, so I can see why you're struggling. Here's a fairly literal translation:

'A person who looks at the title of the novel, July Rain, and the cover art for the Saqi edition, consisting of a picture of a small child raising his hand, and the narrative structure of the novel, will see a great difference between them. Even if the reader briefly connects the cover art with the character of Ilya Kfoury as a young boy playing in the streets of his village, presented by the narrator in the first few chapters of the book, they may find it difficult to connect the main title (July Rain) and the events of the Burj Hawa massacre, especially since the word 'rain' appears only two or three times in the novel.'

 

[elroy]

don't you think a verb is lacking

Why do you think it needs a verb?

I'm curious too. Where do you think a verb is missing? What (kind of) verb would you expect there?

 

[J.F. de TROYES]

It's a long sentence, so I can see why you're struggling. Here's a fairly literal translation:

Exactly ! It's very kind of you to have spent time reading the text and clearly translating it.

I would translate it as: … even though the reader for an instant would link the cover with the character…

Within the whole context, the writer is saying that the reader of the novel would find that the picture on the cover and the narrative of the novel are different… even though the reader will find a link for an instant.

It does have two verbs, one is فعل ناقص and the other is a regular verb. Do you mean another? Why do you think it needs a verb?

I'm curious too. Where do you think a verb is missing? What (kind of) verb would you expect there?

Thanks a lot for your replies. What I mean is that I don't understand how what I suppose to be a free relative clause ( but maybe I am wrong about the word ما) : ما سيربط فقط بين لوحة العلاف و شخصية إيليا الكفري is linked to كان القارئ . In other words what is the difference between the text and وإن القارئ سيربط فقط بين لوحة العلاف و شخصية إيليا الكفري ... ?

 

[elroy]

Oh! You've misunderstood the ما! This must be a nightmare for non-native speakers, since there are about 70* types of ما's!

لوهلة ما = for some brief moment

It's only attached to وهلة and doesn't affect the grammar of the rest of the sentence.

*I'm exaggerating, but there are a lot.

 

[J.F. de TROYES]

Wow! That makes all the difference . After reading your previous explanations, I suspected I was unaware of something , but I did'nt think at all that ما could be related to لوهلة , especially since it is postponed. Is this usage commonplace or literary ? One more question : Does كان + a future form سيربط express the future in the past ?

 

[elroy]

Is this usage commonplace or literary ?

It's common and not literary.

Does كان + a future form سيربط express the future in the past ?

It can, but I don't think that's what's going on here.

To me, إن كان here means "although": "Although (إن كان) the reader is going to connect (سيربط)..."