Satritain babel text II (with English re-translation and notes)

       I'm probably going to post this on the langmaker site later today or
tomorrow, but here's a (somewhat messy) English re-translation of the
Satritain babel text, and a few quick notes/glossary about some troublesome
words. This isn't really necessary for reading the retranslation of the
Babel text, but if you're interested, it will give you a certain feeling for
the kinds of attitudes and ambiguities common to the Satritain language.



qlaug: This word is difficult to translate. It's usually qualified; for
example, "mm qlaug idadache" would mean "the Dadache dynasty" or "the
Dadache clan" or "the Dadache tribe". A qlaug is a social unit -- it's not a
clan or royal family, because it doesn't deal with blood ties. Even though
it is a political unit, it is not a state, because a qlaug refers only
incidentally to geographic boundaries. Unqualified, the terms means "group
of people", which isn't as vague as it might seem; the Satritain only regard
themselves as people. So to say "qlaug" or "qlaugthal" might mean "the true
people" or "the nation of true people".



thal: This word could mean "nation". It could also mean "standard" or
"custom". The Satritain don't associate land with political ownership so
much as they associate it with the standards observed by the people who live
in it. So (just to make up a word) one could say something like
"Basquethal" -- in one sense it might mean "the nation of the Basques",
regardless of whether or not its a distinct political entity. It just means
that the people of the land are of that standard or custom.



owke/owkethal: The Satritain word for "world" or "Earth" or "universe" is
"owke", which means "allness". And so "owkethal" would be something like
"the Nation of Allness" or the "Country of Earth".



[-ly]: This is just my way of representing a common Satritain grammatical
device in English. In Satritain, any word can be turned into an adjective by
placing a certain vowel infront of it, which initiates a descriptive string.
This piling-on of adjectives can make statements difficult to understand
without context.





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And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech.



                nao, wanhe owkethal mm dethe ian wa huich ian



                And so, possessed the allness-nation the language one-ly and
speech one-ly



And it came to pass, as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the
land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.



                wa thgah de, tarvethuch idost, ker artkwinnamm hkhyra kumm
shinarthal, wa targowa da.



                And was that, undertaking an expedition easterly, that they
found the cleared hill in the shinar nation, and they occupied that.



And they said one to another: 'Come, let us make brick, and burn them
thoroughly.' And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.



                wa tarhuich komm qlaug: 'prava, knavejih saukerne, wa kgthsa
de imeru.' wa tarwanhe saukerne sur akere, wa tarwanhe giglekfeywa sur
fopeg.



                And they said to the clan: 'Come, you will create bricks,
and will burn that sufficiently.' And they possessed bricks for stones, and
they possessed concoction for mortar.



And they said: 'Come, let us build us a city, and a tower, with its top in
heaven, and let us make us a name; lest we be scattered abroad upon the face
of the whole earth.'



                wa tarhuich: 'prava, kvudujihmm sudre, wamm lajoon, solnmm
hij sh da iavuku, wa knavejih mm keich; hacha na, kgahjih inatritleeya
owkehij.'



                And they said: 'Come, we will build the city, and the spire,
with the top of it in-skyly, and we will make the calling; if not, we will
be disorderly upon the allness..



And HaShem came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of
men builded.



                wa thpravadutmm hashem, nao kaqfathmm sudre wamm lajoon, ker
tvudumm ipwich shmm qlaug.



                And came-down the HaShem, so that he will see the city and
the spire, that was built [by the] children of the clan.



And HaShem said: 'Behold, they are one people, and they have all one
language; and this is what they begin to do; and now nothing will be
withholden from them, which they purpose to do.



                wa thuich hashem: 'guich ayn, argahmm thal ian, wa arwanhemm
dethe ian; wa gahda maq arpowda ko pok; nao kte nnthote na sur ar hah, pdemm
arkorodmach.'



                And said HaShem: 'Look there, they are the nation one-ly,
and they possess the language one-ly; and is that what they begin to do; and
so will be no obstacles for them now, regarding their initiatives.



Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not
understand one another's speech.'



prava, kgauhjihdut, wa kpedowmm ardethe, nao karjuchlao na mm arhuich.



Come, we will go-out-down, and will confuse their language, so they will
come to know not the their-speech.'



So HaShem scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth;
and they left off to build the city.



                nao, ade hashem mm arnatrileetyach iheja hede de iowkehij;
wa tarvathujin ivudukomm sudre.



                And so, HaShem caused their far scatteredness from then upon
the allness; and they went out on an expedition to build the city.



Therefore was the name of it called Babel; because HaShem did there confound
the language of all the earth; and from thence did HaShem scatter them
abroad upon the face of all the earth.



                adeteche, thgahmm keich sh da babel; adete tnaveda hashem mm
pedowne shmm dethe iowke kude; wa hede da tnave hashem mm iarnatrileeyach
owkehij.



                And so because of that, it was the name of it Babel; because
created that HaShem the confusion of the language [of the] allness' in it;
and from that made HaShem the disorderlyness upon [the] allness.