Re: All-important phrases

Christopher Wright wrote:
> Bears don't drink beer, do they?
Well, there are neither bears nor beer on my world, but I'll use
_lad'iska_ (which is actually more wolf-like, but it's the only wild
land animal I have a word for.  :-)) and _uanipaskatas_ (which is
actually more like coffee)

Kaftilva fil lavd'issil uanipaskatas, saubu?
[kAf'tSelva fel lav'dzeSSel wAnipAs'kAtas 'saubu]
Kafti    -l -va  fil laf- d'iska   -i -al  ua-nipaskatas sau=bu
Eat/drink-it-hab not G5Pl-wolf.crab-pl-erg G6-Wakewater  yes=question

In Low Uatakassi:
Lauva fai lavd'issiai unipaskatas saubu
['lowv@ fej l@v'dzeSSej unip@s'kAt@s 'soubu]
Lau      -l -va  fai laf- d'iska   -i -al  u-nipaskatas sau=bu
Eat/drink-it-hab not G5pl-wolf.crab-pl-erg G6-Wakewater yes=question

Lad'iska belongs to a small group of nouns that end in {a} in the
singular and drop that {a} when the plural suffix is dropped.  The
illegal cluster _ski_ becomes _ssi_ whenever it occurs in inflections or
compounding.

In High Uatakassi, _kafti_ is used for eat or drink in a *nonsocial
setting* and _lau_ for the same in a *social setting*.  Low Uatakassi
has lost that distinction.  /l/ is lost after the diphthongs ai and au,
and /i/ plus /l/ becomes /ej/ (ai), thus /l@v'dzeSSi/ becomes
/l@v'dzeSSej/ in the ergative.  The extra _i_ in the final -ssiai of
lavd'issiai is orthographic; without it, it would be read /-ssej/

> I would like French fries with my painful death.
:-)  Again, no French fries (no frying or potatoes, for that matter),
but I'll use "cooked roots".

For that matter, I'm not sure exactly how to translate it.  It depends
on what you want the French Fries for.  To eat as you die?  I'll assume
that.  :-)

Kaftininkiku pivdazzi fufannu uiaunnakuaka uaaviasaka
[kAftSi'neJCiku pev'daZZi fu'fAnnu ujawnna'kwAkA wA:vjA'sakA]
Kafti    -ni  -na  -ki      =ku    pif-dazda-i  fufa-na-nu
Eat/drink-want-they-NonPunct=I.nom G7pl-root-pl cook-they-perf
ua-iaunna-kua-ka    ua-aaviasa-ka
G6-death -my -iness G6-painful-iness

"I want to eat cooked roots during my painful death"
Note: pidazda is another {a}-final noun that drops it before plural, and
{zdi} is an illegal cluster, becoming {zzi}

Low Uatakassi:
Launinkiku pivdazzi fufannu uiaunnakuka uaaviskuka
[low'ne~C=ku pev'daZZi fu'fA~nu ujo~w~n@'kuk@ wA:veS'kuk@]

Breaks down the same as above with the following differences:
Lau used instead of kafti, as in the previous example.  -ku (the LU
variant of -kua) is affixed to the adjective as well as the noun, and
the final -ia- in aavias (<aaviasa) becomes -i- when unstressed; also
notice that syllable-final nasals become nasalization

> Am I truly like such a fellow?
Blaivudisukipu sutakin sunklasfunun?
[blajvudZi'soC=pu su'taCen soNklAs'funon]
Blai=  vudis   -u-ki     =bu       su-taki  -nan su-nklasfunu   -nan
Truely=resemble-I-NonPuct=question G3-person-com G3-that.kind.of-com

LU:
Blaivudisukibu sutakin suntlasfunun?
[blejvudZisu'Cibu su'taCe~ so~tl@s'funo~]
Same breakdown, except that -bu is treated as an affix rather than a
clitic, thus affects stress, and nklasfunu became ntlasfunu (regular
kl/gl -> tl/dl sound change), otherwise just different pronunciation.

> Well, at least that was somewhat on-topic. How did all of you handle your
> salutatory expressions?
Formal greeting: Nasubi! - simply the imperative of _nasubi_ "be well"
Informal: Subi! - a simple contraction of the above

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