Weekly Vocab 12 (Rihana-ye)

1. Viba-fe sejo-si *wiwavaroha *wewavaro.
Priests separate-d history (old time speech thing)  record (back time
speak: "we" is used instead of "wi" due to the problem with past tense
form explained in the note).
NOTE: I have long had trouble with words meaning "write" and derivatives
(including "history" and "record") because early on I decided that the
word for "to write" (wivaro) was identical with the past tense form of the
verb "to speak" (varo, past wivaro.) I have tried a variety of ways of
fixing this, including a period when I tried making the past tense marker
a suffix (like all the other verb markers) but all of these attempts
failed. I hope I will standardize on this one.

2. Their temples are vast archives.
Veba-fe-ye vibasa-fe fugefi *wiwavarobasa-fe (alternate: wiwavabasa)
They-of temple-pl. very big archive-pl.(old time speech house)

3. Veba-fe fufe *wiwavaba-fe (older form: wivaroba) *jovelajo
   They many scribes (old time mind men) employ (make/do-price-make)

Conculture note: In fact, in Rihana, the scribes are not freelance
employees but actual temple priests supported (like all priests) by temple
offerings and payments from peasants on temple lands.

 4.* Wivama (or wiwavama)-me *hila.
     Ink (oldmindwater)-in lead (clumsy metal).
Note: I thought I had invented names for the common metals, but I do not
find "lead" in my lexicon. This choice is what I think I remember.
Conculture note: Rihana-ye ink does not contain lead. It is made from lamp
black.

5. The scribes tend to go insane after a few years.
Dife fizawa-fe-ve wiwavaba-fe reva-i jo-si *thevajo (or -thi).
Few years-beyond scribes insane made-be incline.(side-mind-make)
Note: There is much confusion about usage of -ve and -we as suffixes.
Separetely, they mean "beyond" or "before" and "behind" or "after" but
which should be used as the suffix indicating the suffixed event took
place before the event in the main clause has varied repeatedly.

6. The priests manage to replace the crazy scribes.
   Viba-fe reva-i wiwavaba-fe *kyjo-gi-ji.
   Priests insane scribes replace (second-make)-to-can

7. They must pay them a lot of money.
   Viba-fe veba-fe-de fugefu fufe lila-ye diha-fe lavejo-bi.
   Priests them-to very greatly much gold-of pieces pay-must.
NOTE: I translated "priests" rather than "they" for clarity, as "they" and
"them" are identical. I translated "must" literally, as a requirement, but
here I think it really means "I strongly believe" in the original, in
which case the construction might be lavejo-gi vivajo (pay-to believe)
There shoud be a "believe" suffix but the logical choice (vi) is the
future suffix.

 8. The church is quite rich.
   * Vibafeha fugelila-i.
     Priesthood (priest plural thing) very rich-adj.
NOTE: I take it church here means the institutional structure, not the
body of all believers.

9. I write neatly.
Seba fugeju *wewavaro (older form: wivaro, see note at #1)
I very skillfully write.

10. Perhaps I could get a job as a scribe.
 *Jehe seba wiwavaba-jele *jomiha bo-ji-vi
Perhaps I scribe-as job take-can-future

John Leland

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