bamboobird

Below is the first Tunu children's tale of more ones to come that will
scientifically explain why things are how they are. I spare you the interlinear
part because it would read as boring as the language does--no flexion, no
article, no case, no tense, no gender, no plural, no suffix, no nothing :-). My
priority from now on is to flesh out the "literature" and the culture of the
Tunu people as well as the geography of their archipelago. I wrote the Tunu
version first, then I translated it in English while trying to keep the latter
as close as possible to the former, which is why it sounds clumsy--but still is
understandable, I hope. I'm thinking of two ways to pronounce the Tunu 8
consonants: one for women and one for men.

The Story of The Bamboobird

In our island there is the bird called "bamboobird." You ride this bird every
day. Do you know why this bird is so called? I will tell you now: In the ancient
time the bamboobird had feathers covering both her legs and the bamboo had
flowers all year long. The bamboo flower wasn't of red colour like nowadays but
was of blue colour. The bamboobird in that time used to eat the flowers of many
plants yet not of the bamboo. The reason for that was that bamboo flowers were
blue. However, one day a hog was wounded by a hunting arrow in such way that the
hog's blood poured in contact with the bamboo flower which then became
completely dark-red.  And then a bamboobird ran through the bamboo forest. As
you know that a bamboobird is very stupid, she sees the flower that had turned
red and she thinks that the flower so turned red is some lipfruit and she eats
it! Ouch! The skyfish in the river shouts this way because her backfin is the
sister of the bamboo flower and she feels bitten by the bamboobird. This is why
the skyfish doesn't have a big backfin like the snailfish has. Then the skyfish
jumps outside the water of the river four times and all the feathers fall off
the bamboobird's legs! The bamboobird is very angry so that she cries with
strength four times: "toko-toko-toko-toko!" and all the bamboo flowers fall off
as well except for the bamboo flower that was red from the hog's blood. "May you
not have any flower anymore except for the ones that are red when you are about
to die," the bamboobird cries as a conclusion.

Noli Bisu Buto ("Story Bird Bamboo")

U nola kamikami a bisu ia mai kibu "bisu buto". Kamu a bai nane kama bisu u koto
cali. Time ai kamu a casa bani maso kibu kama bisu? Kami u bisi a tai noli e
kamu ue kame: U cama loco ai bisu buto a mai nele ia kula noni tole kama uai
buto a mai loti u mai tumi sela moka. Loti buto a toli kela mai bema same u teka
iu cama bisi au toli mai bema nubi. Bisu buto u kame cama a tola bai tumu
lotiloti io buna lucu au kela o buto. Kono kame a lai loti buto a mai bema nubi.
U sali kame ai u kune cali ai kune bubi a nai kica uo cebo cesu u kamo kita i
nico bubi a culi e neko loti buto iu talo a cani mai bema same babali u tasa. U
talo ai kune bisu buto a bele u tuse suma buto. Ui kamu a casa i bisu buto a
mata bibiti uai kama a kite loti ia sai cani same ua numi i loti ia sai same u
kama kita a lai nobi mola ua bai tumu loti buto! Tiku! Ai toba lubi u nila a
cola u kame kita o kono i kuso kama a mai bami loti buto ua miti nai kaki uo
bisu buto. Kame a lai kono i toba lubi e cama bisi a kela mai kuso ia mala u
teka toba toti. U kame cama a toba lubi a neka e cacana luli nila u sani cama
uai keta nele tole io bisu buto a tataki! Bisu buto a mata cike u kamo kita i
kama a bika ua subo u sani cama ue: "toko-toko-toko-toko!" uai keta loti buto a
bai tataki u tani wa sasatu loti buto ia same o nico bubi. "Ai kamu a bibila mai
cema ua sasatu bica ia same u cama i kamu a bisa bebesi!" ai bisu buto a bai
bika u kitu.

Note:
c = tS, dZ, dz, ts or tz
ai, ei, oi, au = aj, ej, oj, aw
ia, ie, io, iu = ja, je, jo, ju
ua, ue, ui, uo = wa, we, wi, wo

Mathias
www.geocities.com/kalatunu/index.htm