by Jörg Rhiemeier
The Text
Talal sugunthul
Salétha raiganthal!
Na bá san ratharam, na bá laras silendil,
na bá gribinthid lurusul danal raiganthalal.
Haiesi meneth hanath amath vantesi.
Mar há seraigan am raigan mithinith,
am raigan sallaranath raigenimil cvenimil.
Na hai raigirim phlisirim amal hai.
Chvalasa a vaivasa meneth am thajá bá sam mantham sin.
Thajá dang san caras lindith sin.
Mai dési reigiri deni vernes machar brasteri pichiri?
Mar na dési sam trad.
Interlinear
| Talal |
sugunthul
|
| story |
hide-VN-LOC
|
| Salétha |
raiganthal!
|
| see-SBJ-3PL:P-2SG:A |
dance-VN-LOC
|
| Na |
bá |
san |
ratharam,
|
| not |
ESTAR-PRS-3SG:P |
3PL-DAT |
chief-OBJ
|
| na |
bá |
laras |
silendil,
|
| not |
ESTAR-PRS-3SG:P |
music |
3PL-voice-PL-PRT
|
| na |
bá |
gribinthid |
lurusul |
danal |
raiganthalal.
|
| not |
ESTAR-PRS-3SG:P |
learn-VN-ABL |
plan-LOC |
any-LOC |
dance-VN-LOC-LOC
|
| Haiesi |
meneth |
hanath |
amath |
vantesi.
|
| go-PRS-3PL:A |
way-PERL |
some-PERL |
REL-PERL |
desire-PRS-3PL:A
|
| Mar |
há |
seraigan |
im |
raigan |
mithinith,
|
| but |
SER-PRS-3SG:P |
3PL-dance |
the:I:OBJ |
dance |
graceful-SUP
|
| am |
raigan |
sallaranath |
raigenimil |
cvenimil.
|
| the:I:OBJ |
dance |
harmonic-SUP |
dance-PL-LOC |
all-LOC
|
| Na |
hai |
raigirim |
phlisirim |
amal |
hai.
|
| not |
SER-PRS-3PL:P |
dance-er-PL |
lithe-COMP |
REL-LOC |
SER-PRS-3PL:P
|
| Chvalesi |
a |
vaivesi
|
| turn-PRS-3PL:A |
and |
weave-PRS-3PL:A
|
| meneth |
am |
thajá |
bá |
sam |
mantham |
sin.
|
| way-PERL |
CPL |
seem-PRS-3SG:P |
ESTAR-PRS-3SG:P |
one |
mind-OBJ |
3PL-DAT
|
| Thajá |
dang |
san |
caras |
lindith |
sin.
|
| seem-PRS-3SG:P |
thing |
this |
work |
easy-SUP |
3PL-DAT
|
| Mai |
dési |
reigiri |
deni |
vernes |
machar
|
| INT |
make-PRS-3SG:P-3PL:A |
dance-er-PL-AGT |
any-PL-AGT |
beauty |
great-COMP
|
| brasteri |
pichiri?
|
| effort-INS |
little-COMP-INS
|
| Mar |
na |
dési |
sam |
trad.
|
| but |
not |
make-PRS-3SG:P-3PL:A |
one |
step
|
Smooth English
Story of Hiding
May you see them dancing!
There is no chief to them,
there is no music of their voices,
there has been no learning of any plan for their dance.
They go some way which they desire.
But the dance is the most graceful,
the most harmonic of all dances.
They turn and they weave
along such a way that there seems to be one mind to them.
This work seems the easiest to them.
Do any dancers make more beauty with less effort?
But they do not make one step.
Vocabulary
- a (objective stem am)
- relative pronoun.
- am
- inanimate definite article.
- b-
- to be (momentarily).
- brastar
- effort.
- d-
- to make.
- dan
- any.
- caras
- work.
- cvenim
- all.
- grib-
- to learn.
- h-
- to be (permanently).
- hai-
- to go.
- laras
- music.
- lenda
- voice.
- mach
- great.
- mai
- interrogative particle.
- mantha
- mind.
- mar
- but.
- mithin
- graceful.
- phlis
- lithe.
- pich
- little.
- raig-
- to dance.
- raigan
- dance.
- rathara
- chief.
- sal-
- to see.
- sallaran
- harmonic.
- sam
- one.
- san
- this.
- sug-
- to hide.
- talal
- story.
- thaj-
- to seem.
- trad
- step.
- vant-
- to desire.
- vernes
- beauty.
Grammar
Phonology
The vowels /a/, /i/ and /u/ cause umlaut of the preceding vowel:
- /a/ lowers (/i/ > /e/, /y/ > /ø/, /u/ > /o/)
- /i/ fronts (/a/ > /e/, /o/ > /ø/, /u/ > /y/)
- /u/ rounds (/a/ > /o/, /e/ > /ø/, /i/ > /y/)
Two subsequent vowels of the same quality contract into a long
vowel (marked with acute accent).
Some suffixes undergo vowel harmony with the preceding vowel.
Such harmony vowels are transcribed as ° below.
Morphology
Nouns
Animate nouns have an agentive stem (AS), and an objective stem
(OS) obtained by adding -m to the AS. The AS is listed in the
vocabulary section. Inanimate nouns have only an OS (listed)
and no AS. Cases occuring in the text:
- partitive
- AS-l
- dative
- AS-n
- objective
- OS-0
- instrumental
- OS-i
- locative
- OS-°l
- ablative
- OS-°d
- perlative
- OS-°th
Nouns modifying other nouns undergo suffixaufnahme.
Adjectives
- comparative
- -°r
- superlative
- -°th.
Adjectives agree with their head nouns in gender, number and case.
Verbs
- present tense
- -a-
- subjunctive mood (also used as imperative)
- -i-
- 2nd person singular agent
- -tha
- 3rd person singular agent
- -sa
- 3rd person plural agent
- -si
- 3rd person singular patient
- -a
- 3rd person plural patient
- -i
- verbal noun
- -°nth
There is one instance of a periphrastic perfect formed with
b- 'to be (momentarily)' and the ablative case of the verbal noun.
Syntax
VSO, modifiers follow their heads.
See also Old Albic
