Conlang Relay 17/Vašt î Kûvik
Text:
Mukl lk Vânk î Hoh
Tfo lenent a vânk. Lenent âtra ol iskrek dan vânk hî vânk iskrekiks ih dviv ak tesk ol lenent ak klâ jîs to. Akî lenent âtra lâ ûlokast hî vânk ôhak ol akî zviag vna ôg ârag ôg vânk û ol. To slî ol lenent ih dviv aka tl to ženj.
Akî pê kûolt ol.
Smooth English:
A Story about an Evil Elephant
Once upon a time there was a man and an elephant. The man tried to stand on the elephant, but the elephant stood up on its feet and threw the man and hit him over and over. Then the man tried to run away, but the elephant trumpeted and then one thousand and seven hundred elephants came. They crushed the man with their feet until he was dead.
And then a little furry animal cried.
Vocabulary:
mukl = story, narrative
lk = about
î = connects nouns and adjectives
hoh = evil
tfo = there exists, there is, once upon a time there was
len = person, human
a = and
vânk = elephant
âtra = to try
ol = perfective aspect marker
iskrek = to stand
da = at
hî = but
ih = using, by means of
dviv = hand, foot, appendage
ak = and (links actions)
tesk = to throw
klâ = to hit, strike
jîs = progressive aspect
to = 3rd person pronoun (gender and number inspecific)
akî = and then
lâ = to run, move quickly
û = towards
ôhak = to shout, yell, vocalize loudly
zviag = thousand
vna = seven
ôg = partitive preposition
ârag = hundred
slî = to crush, smash
aka = before, until
tl = starts subordinate clause
ženj = dead
pê = small, furry animal
kûolt = to cry
Suffixes:
-ent = male
-iks = action is purposeful and dynamic
-n = on top of (suffixed to preposition)
-lok = far away from (suffixed to preposition)
-ast = makes preposition into an adverb (in this case directional)
Grammar:
Word order is SVO. When prepositions have no obvious object, the assumed object is the present context (time and place). Adjectives follow nouns and are connected to them by î. Aspect markers come immediately after verbs.
