Relay: Boreneasian to Asiteya

For continuity's sake, here's the Boreneasian I received from Kristian, sans
notes, avec simple translation: (She'll send her notes...)

ngye.llal3 Twiyh 3e.mnaw3
ngnge.l3u33 3e.hke.hka33 pe.lh3h Twiyh 3e.lkuyh
ngsse.lpi3h 3Ne.pliy3 3Ne.pngungh Twiyh 3e.ylal3
ke.ngke.llelh 3e.ylal3 Ne.knengh

When a singer - a bird of a greatness,
When a ruffler of its feathers at a mist - a bird of a river,
When a glorifier of the stars of the night - a bird of a song,
(Then) a hearer of a song - rulers

And the Asiteya translation:

[1]axa watalu wa k@ e sa ise xerehan
[2]axa adoyamu wa k@ isiuh xiuhine ihwedy@h hu ta ayera
[3]axa xerehu wa k@ iso nolane ayihxek alayu hu
[4]tah axereha wa na seikimes sayanine inya hu

A great bird, if she sings...
A bird of the river, if she ruffles her feathers in the mist...
A bird of song, if she praises the stars of the night...
Then the song, that every ruler hears it...

[1]     axa watal.u wa k@ e sa ise xerehan
        bird greatness.GEN TOP if she AGT MET sing

[2]     axa a.doyam.u wa k@ isiuh xiuhin.e ihwe.d.y@h ta a.yera
        bird DEF.river.GEN TOP if MET ruffle.3SF feather.COL.3SFn ACC in/at
DEF.mist

[3]     axa xereh.u wa k@ iso nolan.e ay.ihxe.k a.lay.u hu
        bird song.GEN TOP if MET praise.3SF DEF.star.PL DEF.night.GEN ACC

[4]     tah a.xereha wa na seikime.s sayan.ine in.ya hu
        then DEF.song TOP REL ruler.DIS hear.3P it.RES ACC


abbreviations:
GEN : genitive
TOP : topic/focus
AGT : agent
MET : metaphoric; verbal particle that indicates that the action is not
happening in quite      the same way as a simple indicative, sort of "outside"
the indicative;         appropriate     to use after "if"
DEF : definate article prefix
3SF : third person singular feminine verb ending
COL : collective plural; in this case, the feathers considered as a whole
3SFn: third person singular feminine noun ending, shows possession
ACC : accusative particle / direct object argument marker
PL  : unmarked/default plural
REL : relative pronoun
DIS : distributive plural, glossed "each" or "every"
3P  : third person plural verbal ending
RES : resumptive

notes:
1. I know it seems odd to introduce an argument as a topic and then use it
as an agent, but it's a classical poetic device in Asiteya called "siukat
awahangitema," or "doubling the subject". Anyway, I like the parallel
structure it gives it.
2.Asiteya doesn't have adjectives; it uses verbs or genitive nouns.
3.Only a transitive verb may take an enclitic personal ending, so having a
personal ending implies that the subject is an agent (see note 1).
Intransitve, like in line one, must have a free pronoun.
4.Notice the metaphoric particle has a different form in each line. This is
because if the particle directly precedes the verb, the final vowel of the
particle is brought into direct vowel harmony with the first syllable of the
verb.
5. A plain relative clause (like in line 4) is often understood as "May
(something happen)".
6. Pronunciation : x = English sh; vowel + h = breathy aspirated vowel (in
Standard dialect) / voiceless vowel (in Northern dialect); r = tap; t, d,
and n are dental; @ = mid central vowel; other vowels approximately Italian
7. I don't think Asiteya has gender per se, but there are a number of items
and concepts that for cultural reasons I haven't yet fully explored take the
feminine pronoun, especially in poetry.

I still haven't found where understanding birdness came to include something
about a ruler, though I think its neat how a bird "washing its clothes"
mutated into ruffling its feathers.

Jennifer


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