Could anybody parse these words, please, because I am not sure I get all the subtleties. I am intereseted not in their semantics, but rather sentence syntax.
On which soil we stand on, that is where we carry the weight of the sky
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That is not a grammatically valid sentence in Standard English. What is the source? Is there some context?– Erik KowalCommented Nov 21, 2014 at 7:13
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It's a proverb. Sources: special-dictionary.com/proverbs/source/m/malay_proverb/… listofproverbs.com/keywords/weight No context. I just run across it while surfing.– olegstCommented Nov 21, 2014 at 7:29
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2 Answers
The second on should be omitted.
Looking at the English versions of other Malay proverbs at the link OP provided, this is not the only poor translation. I don't know the original, but would imagine it means something like:
On whichever soil we stand, that is where we carry the weight of the sky.
If this is the case, then On whichever soil we stand is the subordinate or dependent clause (in this case an adverb clause), and that is where we carry the weight of the sky is the main or independent clause
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And how this constraction (on whichever...that is) can be paraphrased? Does it mean: "we carry the of the sky on whichever soil we stand"?– olegstCommented Nov 21, 2014 at 7:48
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Yes, that is how I interpret it: Wherever we are, we will still have to deal with the problems life throws at us. It would be good if a Malay speaker could confirm that my rephrasing is indeed a correct translation, and that the interpretation is also correct.– ShoeCommented Nov 21, 2014 at 7:53