Re: Weekly Vocab 8

I think "no matter what" (see example 9) is a weird little phrase to try
and translate. I'd like to see how people treated this in their conlangs. I
used "whatever comes".

Christopher Wrote (heh heh):

>1. kilogram (appropriate unit of weight or mass for you and your
conculture)
plok - "stone" (probably just under two pounds; not to be confused with the
British unit called "stone") named for the stone weights that were
standardised in the eighth century SZ.

>I need a kilogram of flour.
Pulvada adin plok laazam.
flour-GEN one stone(-ACC) need-1SG

>2. bread
k'leba (yep!)

>It's for the bread that I must serve to my cousin.
Naik'imu kudak fadimna k'lebat bic'azec'.
cousin-DAT give-INF must-1SG-REL bread-DAT intended.

>3. fever
nec'ru

>He has a fever.
Nec'run dozna.
fever-ACC suffer-3SG

>4. delirious
ekfibmec'

>He is delirious with it, hallucinating that I am a (conculturally
appropriate monster).
Nap erom ekfibmec'ige, du borojob c'em ikmiris'.
by it-INST delirious-BE-3SG , THAT "borojob" be:1SG hallucinate-3SG
(the |job| part in |borojob| I stole from Chinook jargon |le jaub| which
itself comes from French |le diable| !)

>5. medicine
gvurud

>The illness requires expensive medicine.
Biakiba c'evez gvurud yelme.
sickness expensive medicine(-ACC) need*-3SG
(|yelmek| = warrant, call for, "need" in a much different sense than
|laazak|)

>6. witch / quack / healer / shaman
k'polzic - witch doctor
k'rudgaji - faith healer in Yadsevno
gworno - shaman, witch, sorcerer

(but the Rhean attitude towards these would be something like: |Jio s'iner
anc'e ba, s'ede sik'rinik kyurit?!| "The guy is dying and you hire a
magician?!")

>The witch says that her cure only requires a few yams.
Gaji kos'i nemer zar yelmis' ai k'polzic zdua.
cure few yams(-ACC) only "need"-3SG SUBJ witch-doctor say-3SG

>7. useless
bizbikzec'

>I thought, if her cure turns out to be useless, I can still order the
doctor's medicine.
K'rudaim du adis gaji bizbikzec'ie ödoris' ba, izutar gvurud vispac'ak au
rem.
think-1SG:PAST THAT if cure useless-ADV result-3SG COND , doctor-GEN
medicine(-ACC) order-INF still can-1SG

>8. poultice
majan - paste, mash

>The witch concocted a simple poultice of yams.
K'polzic' nemeksoi sadai majan k'laltolais'.
witch yam-made simple poultice(-ACC) concoct-3SG:PAST

>9. to assure
abes'nak - "promise"

>S/he assured me that it couldn't fail no matter what.
Du dirnui kuras' ba, mu nidas'nir yant abes'nais'.
THAT whatever comes COND , NEG fail-3SG:FUT me-DAT assure-3SG:PAST

>10. to work, succeed
udajak

>I am certain it would have worked if she had told me to put it on my
cousin's chest rather than eating it! (That is to say, I ate it since it
was made of yams.)
Zerem du udajalor adis du ot naik'ima sadrat kodyam tafaka üsom radalor!
(Zduak plök'aim du daze nameksoi as'e ba tafaim.)
certain THAT succeed-3SG:HYP:PAST IF THAT on cousin-GEN chest-DAT put-
1SG:IMP eat-INF-GEN place-INST tell-3SG:PAST:HYP ! ( say-INF intend-
1SG:PAST THAT because yam-made be:3SG:PAST COND eat-1SG:PAST )

That one was difficult, but it pushed the Rhean lexicon above 2500 words!

M

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