Kélen saying

So, I was thinking about the saying "Kill first and ask questions later." and
I cam up with the following Kélen saying about the differences between
Kéleñi, Humans, and Íráñi.

pa ankéleñi ñamma é jaLáta aT jakéña la
        réha ñi ankíri-mma rá Tó kéñ;
pa anámáñi ñamma é jaLáta aT jakéña la
        héja órra ñalla jaká jáo kéñ;
pa aníráñi ñamma é jaLáta aT jakéña la
        pa lecáe anwájílne tó-kéñ;

pa ankéleñi/anámáñi/aníráñi
PA [whole] [part]
The whole is the collective noun referring respectively to Kéleñi, Humans, and
Íráñi. The part is the unexpressed 3p singular agent referenced by 'ñamma': a
Kéleñi, a human, an Íráñi.

ñamma
NI + 3p-sg-agent [something made/changed/done]
é ... aT
sequential conjunction: something, and then something else...
jaLáta
something (recently) killed
jakéña
something asked, a question
la
referential pronoun linking the noun 'jakéña' to whatever comes next.

Among/with Kéleñi/Humans/Íráñi, one kills something/someone and then asks:

réha ñi ankíri-mma rá Tó kéñ;
future-marker NI the-kin-associated-with-some-3p to here question-marker
Will their kin come here? (i.e. do I have to deal with the consequences of
this killing?)

héja órra ñalla jaká jáo kéñ;
should completion-marker NI+1p-sg-agent deed this/that question-marker
Should I have done this? (Humans have the reputation for being sticklers about
rules, regulations, and the law.)

pa lecáe anwájílne tó-kéñ;
PA my-belly indigestion why+question-marker.
Why do I have indigestion? (Íráñi practice cannibalism.)

What about your concultures?

-Sylvia
--
Sylvia Sotomayor
sylvia1@ix.netcom.com

The Kélen language can be found at:
http://home.netcom.com/~sylvia1/Kelen/kelen.html

This post may contain the following characters:
á (a-acute); é (e-acute); í (i-acute); ó (o-acute); ú (u-acute);
ñ (n-tilde);