Re: Sentences from "Introduction to Kerla"

On Fri, Oct 03, 2003 at 01:33:40PM -0400, Estel Telcontar wrote:
> I decided to steal Rob Haden's sentences from his "Introduction to
> Kerla"; here they are in Ikanirae Seru.
Alright, I might as well do this for Ebisedian also, as wella as the newly
born Tama-i. :-)

> > I can speak Ikanirae Seru.
[snip]

Ebisedian:
        eb0'    ta'maa          n3 3bis33'di d3 3t3m33'.
        I(masc) speaking(ptcpl) {  of-people }  words
        "I speak the words of the people."

Tama-i:
        hir    t3'masl0i tamah3'.
        indeed speak-I   Tama-i
        "I do speak Tama-i."

> > Can you speak Ikanirae Seru?
[snip]

Ebisedian:
        a'ne jum0'     tww'ma n3 3bis33'di d3 3t3m33'?
        QUES you(dist) speak  {  of-people }  words
        "Can you speak the words of the people?"

Tama-i: (This one should look familiar! ;-)
        ha'nt3majm0i         tamah3'?
        QUES-speak-you(dist) Tama-i
        "Can you speak Tama-i?"

(You can see here how the Ebisedian evolved into the Tama-i:
        a'ne -> ha'n
        tww'ma -> t3'ma
        jum0' + i -> (j)m0i.
)

> > He/she can't speak Ikanirae Seru.
[snip]

Ebisedian:
        my'e   jum0'        ta'maa          n3 3bis33'di d3 3t3m33'.
        not-so he(epi,dist) speaking(ptcpl) {  of-people }  words
        "It is not the case that he/she speaks the words of the people."

Tama-i:
        mi't3majm0i        tamah3'.
        not-speak-he(dist) Tama-i
        "He does not/is not speaking Tama-i."

> > The man is big.
[snip]

Ebisedian:
        tha't33       pii'z3du.
        tallness(cvy) man(rcp).
        "The man is tall."

Tama-i:
        Ta'tua hir    pi'zdi.
        tall   indeed man
        "Indeed a tall man".

> > The men are big.
[snip]

Ebisedian:
        tha't33       3pii'z3du.
        tallness(cvy) man(rcp,plur)
        "The men are tall."

Tama-i:
        Ta'tua hir3   h3pi'zdi.
        tall   indeed men
        "Indeed, tall men."

(Note: _hir3_ and _hir_ are in fact the same word; the final _3_ is latent
and is elided in the previous sentence, but shows up here because of the
_h3_ that follows.)

> > The big (thing) is a/the man.
[snip]

Ebisedian:
        pii'z3di ni tha't33       d0n.
        man(loc) {  tallness(cvy) }-SUBSTANTIVE
        "That which is tall is a man." Or, "The tall (thing) is the man."

Tama-i:
        Ta't3d0i          pi'zdi.
        tall(substantive) man
        "The tall (thing) is the man."

> > The big things are men.
[snip]

Ebisedian:
        3pii'z3di     3ni tha't33      3d0n.
        man(loc,plur) {  tallness(cvy) }-SUBSTANTIVE(plur)
        "The tall (things) are men."

Tama-i:
        h3Ta't3d0i             h3pi'zdi.
        tall-ones(substantive) men
        "The tall (ones/things) are men."

> > I go to the city.
[snip]

Ebisedian:
        lyy's eb3'   moo'ju.
        go    I(cvy) city(rcp)
        "I go/went to the city".

Tama-i:
        li's3slei     m3'ju.
        go-1PERS(cvy) city(rcp)
        "I go to the city".

> > I went to the city.
[snip]

Ebisedian:
        is0'i        lyy's eb3'   moo'ju.
        in-past(loc) go    I(cvy) city(rcp)
        "In the past, I went (lit., go) to the city."

Tama-i:
        h0li's3slei         m3'ju.
        go-PAST-1PERS(cvy) city(rcp)
        "I went to the city."

> > It was I who went to the city.
[snip]

Ebisedian:
        iro  eb3'   lyy's moo'ju.
        EMPH I(cvy) go    city(rcp)
        "It is I who goes to the city."

Tama-i:
        hi'r3slei          li's m3ju.
        indeed-I(cvy/subj) go   city(rcp)
        "Indeed it was I who went to the city."

(Note to Tama-i fans ;-) : here is another example of the strange
behaviour of clitics in Tama-i. The cliticized 1st person pronoun has
attached itself to the emphatic particle _hi'r(3)_ rather than to the
verb. So the verb appears here in bare root form, seemingly having shed
its inflection onto the emphatic particle. :-) Can you say "reverse
trigger marking"? :-P :-P)

> > I am going to the city.
[snip]

Ebisedian: same as "I go to the city."

Tama-i: ditto.

> > I was going to the city.
[snip]

Ebisedian:
        l3li's    eb3    moo'ju.
        go(progr) I(cvy) city(cvy)
        "While I was going to the city when ..." (the progressive verb
        here indicates an interruption in the action)

Tama-i: no difference from "I go to the city". Tama-i does not have an
analogous construct for the Ebisedian progressive verb. (Etymologically,
the Ebisedian progressives have turned into participles.)

> > The boy saw the man who went to the city.
[snip]

Ebisedian:
        bii'l3nu fww't3 n0 lyy's moo'ju    d3      pii'z3d0.
        boy(rcp) see    {  go    city(rcp) }-(cvy) man(org)
        "The boy sees the went-to-the-city man."

Tama-i:
        bi'lnui       f3't m3julli's         pi'zd0.
        boy(rcp/subj) see  city-going(ptcpl) man(org)
        "The boy saw the city-bound man."

(Note the noun-incorporation on the participle. :-)
        m3julli's = m3'ju (city-ORG) + lli's (go-PTCPL)
Oh and BTW, _m3julli's_ is pronounced [m@\dzul="lis].)

> > The boy who threw that ball that he stole broke the window.
[snip]

Ebisedian: (oh boy, did you *have* to do this? :-P)

na karww't3 n3 chi'du  gusyy'ng d3      jw3'         d0      b33'l3na
{  throw    {  he(rcp) grab     }-(cvy) sphere-(cvy) }-(org) boy(instr)

        Cww'ne r3ta'c3.
        break  window(cvy)

-> "The who-threw-the-grabbed-by-him-ball boy broke the window."

This sounds silly, though. A more usual way of saying the same thing would
be:

b33'l3na   na n3 chi'du  gusyy'ng d3      jw3'      da
boy(instr) {  {  he(rcp) grab     }-(cvy) ball(cvy) }-(instr)

kara'taa      Cww'ne r3ta'c3.
throw(gerund) break  window(cvy)

-> "The boy broke the window by throwing the ball that he grabbed."

Of course, the Ebisedi would probably break this up into several
sentences, but I thought I'd give the entire thing a shot to see how
robust Ebisedian grammar is. :-P

I'll skip the Tama-i for now, as I haven't finalized how non-trivial
relative clauses would be formed.

> > The boy who stole another boy's ball broke the window.
[snip]

Ebisedian:

na gusyy'ng n3 aro   bii'l3nu d3      jw3'      du      b33'l3na
{  grab     {  other boy(rcp) }-(rcp) ball(cvy) }-(rcp) boy(instr)

Cww'ne r3ta'c3.
break  window(cvy)

-> "The grabbed-the-to-other-boy-ball boy broke the window."

Tama-i: skipping for now...

> > I think that the girl is pretty.
Ebisedian:
        vi'ty    ebu'   d3 mil3d30'  d3      d3m3'l.
        perceive I(rcp) {  girl(org) }-(cvy) prettiness(cvy)
        "I perceive the prettiness of the girl."

Tama-i:
        vi'tislui          mlda'     mm3'l.
        perceive-1PERS-RCP girl(adj) prettiness(cvy)
        "I perceive the girl-prettiness."

(Pronunciation: ["witIsluj ml="da m="m@\l]. I apologize for the nasty
Romanization; Tama-i seems to have a lot of syllabic consonants and I
haven't decided how to properly present them yet.)

> > The girl is a duck.
[snip]

Ebisedian:
        mil3dai'  CaKi'k.
        girl(loc) roach(loc)
        "The girl is a roach."

Pronunciation: [mil@\da"?i tS_ha"k_hik]

(Sorry, there are no ducks in Ferochromon, so I have to resort to
something less savory...)

Tama-i:
        mildai'   caki'k.
        girl(loc) roach(loc)

Pronunciation: [mil"daj tsa"ki?].)

> > The girl becomes a duck.
[snip]

Ebisedian:
        mil3d33'  kww'k3 CaKu'k.
        girl(cvy) cause  roach(rcp)
        "The girl was turned into a roach."

OR:     mil3d30'  kww'k3 s0l3          CaKu'k.
        girl(org) cause  self(org/cvy) roach(rcp)
        "The girl turned herself into a roach."

Tama-i:
        k3'k  mildei'        caku'k.
        cause girl(cvy/subj) roach(rcp)
        "The girl was turned into a roach."

OR:     mild0i'   k3'k3sl3         caku'k.
        girl(org) cause-REFLEX-ORG roach(rcp)
        "The girl turned herself into a roach."

> > The potion turns the girl into a duck.
[snip]

Ebisedian:
        laha'        kww'k3 mil3d33'  CaKu'k.
        slime(instr) cause  girl(cvy) roach(rcp)
        "The slime caused the girl to become a roach."

Tama-i:
        k3'k  l3h0'      mild3     caku'k.
        cause slime(org) girl(cvy) roach(rcp)
        "The slime causes the girl to become a roach."

> > I want a cookie.
[snip]

Ebisedian:
        0so' cwgr3'    ebu'.
        OPT  food(cvy) I(rcp).
        "It ought to be that there's food for me."

Tama-i:
        h0's3slui         c3gr3'.
        demand-1PERS-RCP food(cvy).
        "I demand for myself food!"

> > I saw those three gray wolves that were in the forest.
[snip]

Ebisedian:

fww't3 ebu'   d0 taa'rui     d3n0 mw3'      d0      3ch3'r3drore0.
see    I(rcp) {  forest(loc) }-{  grey(cvy) }-(org) giant-ram-three(org)
"I saw the three giant rams which were in the forest and were gray."

Note: the "giant ram" here is the _cha'radri_, a very large quadruped
herbivore with a facial plate and many horns. It is known for its tendency
to charge and gore anything that moves too close to it (except others of
its kind).


Tama-i:

lu     f3't hicr3 ta'ria      mua       h3sa'rdra           reh0i'.
I(rcp) see  in    forest(adj) grey(adj) giant-ram(plur,adj) three(org/subj)
"I saw the three grey forest giant rams."

This sentence is particularly pathological. When describing sights, the
subject is usually what is seen rather than the seer. Hence the pronoun
appears in isolated form here, and the subjective case appears on the
other noun phrase. Then we see Tama-i's obsession with turning every noun
modifier into an adjective; so "forest" and "grey" appear as adjectives.
Finally, we see Tama-i's bizarre handling of cardinal numbers by turning
the noun into an adjective modifying the number(!). So the subject, "giant
ram", itself has become an adjective, and the originative-subjective case
ending actually appears on the *number*. (This is not quite so strange
from the Ebisedian perspective, though: Tama-i has simply taken the
Ebisedian cardinal number construction (<noun-prefix>-<number>) and split
it into an adjective-number form.)


T

--
Why waste time learning, when ignorance is instantaneous? -- Hobbes