Re: Conlang Travellers' Guide (was Re: I have a dream)

--- In conlang@y..., Roger Mills <romilly@E...> wrote:

> >Some of you have been around long enough to remember the Conlang
> >Traveler's Phrasebook. Well, it has been a while, and I think it
> >is time to create the second edition.
Fun idea.  Here are the phrases for Obrenje.



> A TRAVELER'S PHRASEBOOK...
> >Section 1:  Pleasantries
>
> >Hello!
|O raw mizale| /O raw mi"za:l/ "May you <miza> well"
|O raw nukre| /O raw "nMkr@/ "May you go/happen well"
|O raw| "May ... well", generic greeting like "ciao".
|Miz| "Hi", colloquial, familiar.

|Miza-| is very difficult to translate, although the concept is
very basic.  It's the opposite of |fyro-| "to sleep", derived
from |miza| "day, daytime".  "To be active, to be awake" doesn't
quite cover it, since there's more deliberation to it.  "To spend
time awake, to spend the day" might be more to the point.



> >Goodbye!
|O raw mizale|, |o raw nukre|, |o raw|... (see above).
|O raw senre| /O raw "SEnr@/ "May you leave well".



> >Yes
> >No
|Ow| /ow/ affirmative.
|maj| /maj/ contrastive yes.
|tash| /taS/ contrastive no.



> >Please
Use the optative, e.g.:

|Ze senre u cenje| /Z@ "SEnrM "sEnj@/ "You leave me alone".
|O ze senre u cenje| /O Z@ "SEnrM "sEnj@/ "May you leave me alone"
     = "Please leave me alone".



> >Thank You
|Vyga| /"vy:ga/ "Thanks".
|Le vygaze| /l@ vy"ga:Z/ "I thank you".
|O vygarde| /O vy"gard@/ "May you be thanked".



> >Do you speak (English/Spanish/French/Dutch/<whatever>)?
|Vy tsanre u (inglish/espanjol/francee/nederlandxe/<jece>)|
/vy "tsanrM iN"gliS Espan"jOl fran"se: nEd@r"landz@ je:s/

"Do you know/understand/command ...?"



> >I don't speak (conlang) very well.
|Taraw zinze u Obrenje| /ta"raw "ZinZM O"brEnj@/
"I speak Obrenje unwell."



> >My name is...
|Renazde u ...| /r@"nazdM/ "I am named ...".



> >What is your name?
|Ve renarde| /vE r@"nard@/ "(With) what are you named?"



> >How are you?
|Ve ne krile| /vE n@ kri:l/ "What do you feel yourself?"

The use of |ne kri-| "to feel oneself" for the intransitive
meaning of English "to feel" is shamelessly plagiarised from
German "sich fühlen".  =P



> >I am well.
|Ral ne krize| /raw n@ kri:Z/ "I feel myself good"
|Iganje moze| /i"ganj@ mo:Z/ "I am healthy"

Note that the Obrenje sentence uses the noun |ral| "good" in the
predicative case, rather than the adverb |raw|.  A more exact
translation might be "I experience myself as good".



> >I am not well.
|Taral ne krize| /ta"ral n@ kri:Z/ "I feel myself ungood"
|Fwiganje moze| /fwi"ganj@ mo:Z/ "I am mishealthy"



> >I am the walrus, coo coo ca choo.
|Moze u obroe arol kwete, kue kue ka tshue|
/"mo:ZM Ob"ro: a"rOl kwe:t_h ku: ku: ka tSu:/
"I am the fat river antelope, coo coo ca choo."



-- Christian Thalmann

Reply