Conlang Relay 19/Jayus

This is the Jayus torch from Conlang Relay 19, as submitted to Lars Finsen (<Dándul>) by Fenhl (<Labás>) and Anka (<Sára>), copied from the Google doc.

Jayus text

The text in the Jayus syllabary (bisús jayús)

1. Visás vásaxu na lizánan bit tux fu gíjugíju.
2. Dazánga yarisíyarisí na fúnda gúragúran jayúfas linfúnadúra na gíju dánda. Bun li lif láril lizánan jiríf lif faví linfúnadúra.
3. Gúragúran birás linfúnadúra nuníf. Bun nixánu táli raxúva linfúnadúra.
4. Gúragúran bit gíjugiju bit tux zínvatári sus ranári.
5. Xánu lif linfúnalinfúnadúra yuxi lili lif. Gúragúran linfúnalinfúnadúra jayúfas lili. Bun gíjugíju jáni! Bun táli rínza lizánan nagát bit baxú zínvatári sus ranári.
6. Gúragúran júnyu linfúnalinfúnadúra. Gúragúran lanjú zínvatári sus ránari.
7. Gíjal xánu na firanbú gúragúran túru zínvatári. Bun gúran zínva zínvatári gadíju lizánan bit. Bun gúran bilánru bánrul sus dilú yutíra sus júlujúlux tu júrada zínvatári.
8. Gúragúran jayúfas linfúnadúra na gíju dánda. Bun tánbi na li júrada fíbu gíjugíju zizú.
9. Gúragúran birás linfúnadúra nuníf. Bun nixánu táli fisuvun gíjugíju.
10. Dánda bindá na firanbú gúragúran túru ranári. Bun gúran baxú ranári gadíju lizánan tivás bit. Bun gúran vu na víndu tivás sus vu na rúnga tivás sus rasadárasadáx tivás júrada ranári.
11. Gúragúran linfúnadúra dánda jayúfas. Bun nix, tánbi na lili júrada nix gíjugíju.
12. Gúragúran birás linfúnadúra nuníf. Bun tanbíxanu táli fisuvun gíjugíju.

The text above is color-coded for the speakers:

• first stone
• second stone
• mouse
• bird
• mouse and bird
• narrator

Audio

Speakers

• Fenhl (<Labás>) as the narrator
• Anka (<Sára>) as both stones
• Sarah (<Jínlan>) as the bird, and the mouse

Unfortunately, Nina (<Yúnta>) had to leave early and could not participate in the recording session.

Vocabulary

• bánrul — (adjective) broad, wide
• baxú — (verb) to go, to walk, etc.
• bilánru — (noun) river
• bindá — (noun) day
• birás — (verb) to answer
• bit — generic locative marker
• bun — speech marker
• dánda — (numeral) one
• dazánga — (numeral) much/many
• dilú (noun) valley
• -dúra — (word class) abstract noun
• -fas — (word class) verb
• faví — (verb) to wonder
• fíbu — (verb) can, to be able
• firanbú — (noun) future
• fis — (adjective) happy
• fu — (numeral) two
• fúnda — (noun) past
• gadíju — (locative marker) across
• gíjal — (numeral) few
• gíju — (noun) rock/stone
• gúran — (temporal marker) past
• gúragúran — distant past
• jáni — (verb) to greet, also used as an actual greeting
• jayús — (noun) language
  • -verb — to say
• jiríf — question particle
• júlux — (noun) tree
• júnyu — (verb) to agree
• júrada — (verb) to see
• lanjú — (verb) to leave
• láril — (verb) to be, immutable like Spanish “ser”
• linfúna — (noun) body
  • -abstract noun — soul
• li — (pronoun) 3rd person singular
  • lili - 3rd person plural
• -lif — (word class) adjective 2 (property)
• lizánan — (noun) hill
• na — (adjective) genitive marker
• nagát — (adjective) over there
• nix — negative, no
• nixánu — never
• nuníf — (adjective) the other
• ranári — (noun) nouse
• rasadáx — (noun) insect
• raxúva — (verb) to know
• rínza — (locative marker) to/towards
• rúnga — (noun) grain
• sus — and (joins phrases)
• táli — (temporal marker) future
• -tari — (word class) animal
• tánbi — all
• tanbíxanu — always
• tivás — (adjective) the same
• tu — (adjective) tall
• túru — (verb) to return
• tux — (verb) to be, mutable like Spanish “estar”
• vásaxu — (noun) slope
• víndu — (noun) grass
• visás — (locative marker) on
• vu — (noun) uncountable mass
• -vun — (word class) state verb
• xánu — (noun) time
• yarisí — (noun) year
• yutíra — (adjective) green
• yúxi — (verb) to hear
• zizú — (verb) to wish
• zínva — (verb) to fly
  • -animal — bird

Grammar notes

• The sentence structure is Temporal, (locative), indirect object, direct object, verb, subject, (locative). The locative phrase, if any, can be in either of the two positions.
• Temporal phrases always end in one of the three temporal particles, specifying the time relative to the narration. Before that, a noun phrase can be used to specify the time relative to the preceding sentence.
• Locative phrases begin with a word that specifies the relative position, and ends with a generic locative marker.
• Noun phrases begin with the quantifier, if any, then follows the noun and all adjectives, genitives and relative clauses are simply chained after the noun.
• To form a genitive/possession, the genitive marker (called “of” in the vocabulary) is used like an adjective to the possessed noun. The possessor is then simply placed after the genitive marker.
• Ordinal numbers use the same number words as cardinal numbers, but are placed behind the noun like an adjective.
• Every sentence of quoted speech additionally has one of the speech markers as its first word. The preceding sentence that details who is speaking can be omitted if that is obvious.
• Relative clauses are treated like adjectives, and start and end with one of the adjective word class suffixes, used as a stand-alone word.
• The speaker is implied as the subject if none is specified.
• A notable feature of Jayus is its lack of first and second person pronouns. If someone does not have a Jayus name, they are always addressed by <Li> “he/she” of a descriptive noun. They will refer to themself using the same noun.
• Jayus uses reduplication for multiple purposes. A word root is always reduplicated in its entirety, except if its last syllable has a coda (other than <N>). For example, <Jani> becomes <Janijani>, but <Jayus< becomes <Jayujayus>.
• A reduplicated noun indicates plural.
• The question particle can represent different questions depending on which part of speech it replaces.
• Words can obtain a different meaning when a word class suffix is used on them. These meanings are not always intuitive and are listed in the vocabulary in that case. When a single-syllable word with a coda (other than <N>) gets a suffix, an <U> is inserted in between. When a word with multiple syllables and a coda (other than <N<) on the last one gets a suffix, the coda is removed.

Smooth English

1. There are two stones on the slope of a hill.
2. Many years in the past, the soul of the first stone said, “What kind of hill is this, I wonder.”
3. The other soul answered, “I will never know.”
4. A bird and a mouse were nearby.
5. When they heard the souls, they told them, “Hey, stones! We will go to the hill over there!”
6. The souls agreed and the bird and the mouse left.
7. After a short time, the bird flew back and said, “I have flown across the hill and have seen a wide river and green valleys and tall trees.”
8. The first stone’s soul said, “I wish we could see all of this!”.
9. The other soul answered, “We will never be happy.”
10. After a day had passed, the mouse came back and said, “I have walked across the same hill and I have seen the same grass and the same grain and the same insects.”
11. The first soul said “No, we cannot see any of them.”
12. The other answered “We will always be happy.”