Conlang Relay 22/Maurang

Text

Swo Estaxas Vejdowaakjan

Mjaalwoswuk swo vejdowaakj bandejni vejdowong.
Swownikaj hid zjew swo kwojandeseowo daxashejni,
Et3 zhowuk swo vowken hid sjen twaarejni.
Shekjenishik t3ee'en swuijep mejdeleng.

Lik njazin tirik swo swuijep vupajmo,
T3ee'ikaj 3exlejni sher 3ixlev'haj 3iikem.
Kjer bje 3ixtev swo hhixta shen swo kajmo isjekem,
Ngas m3iilik swuijepid hhemejni swo kajmo.

Senejem m3iilev swo kwojandes swo vejdowaakjid,
Kjer swashem sjilsavik swo saaqi hejni.
Shavohik sjen swo kajmoowo hid swo saaqi: Sjaakwojni!
Et3 sjeljenik hid kajmo, feja gwuilik sjeljenaakjid

Kjer hid bje duwvom si3amik swo kajmo
Et3 dahakik swo kajmo et3 twasilik twaar hid
Et3 thakjik swo daxa ke kwojandes swash jaalid
Estaxik sjen gjebejni swo vejdowaakj alajmo.

Glossary

alajmo

adj poor, unfortunate

bande

n journey, trip

bje

adv not

dahak

v to bellow, bark

daxa

n cart, wagon

duwvom

adv on purpose, intentionally

estax

v to fall

et3

conj and

feja

pron who/that (relative pronoun)

gjeb

n thorn, prickle

gwuil

v to hug

h-

pron he, she, it

hhem

n tree

hhixta

n chief, host, boss, owner

isjek

prep in, inside of

isjekem

adv inside

jaal

n idiot

kajmo

n dog

kjer

conj but

kwojandes

n goods, merchandise

lik

prep after

mejdel

n farm

mjaalwo

v to prepare (something)

m3iil

v to bind, tie (up)

ngas

conj so, therefore

njazin

n period of time, time

saaqi

n rope

senejem

adv at the same time, meanwhile

shav

v to notice

she

v to be (at a place)

shekjenish

v to ask

sher

conj because

si3am

v to strike, hit

sjaakwojni

interj Yay!, Aha!

sjeljen

v to liberate, set free, release, loose

sjen

prep on

sjilsav

v to run out

swashem

adv then, at that time

swo

art the

swowno

v to pack

swuijep

n child, boy, girl

thakj

v to flip, topple, roll, upset

t3ee'

v to go

twaar

n a pachyderm used as a beast of burden, akin to a horse

twasil

v to surprise, startle

vejdowong

adj pertaining to trade

vejdowaakj

n merchant, trader

vowken

n harness

vupajmo

adj hungry

zhow

v to put, place

zjew

prep with, using

3exle

n restaurant, bar, tavern, galley

3iikem

n snack eaten in the afternoon

3ixle

v to want

Grammar

Maurang is an Ergative language; normal sentence order is verb - absolutive - ergative - oblique. In verse, however, this order can be freely permutated. The letters <o> and <e> in the transliteration represent different allophones of the same phoneme, as do <i> and <u>. Sometimes, especially in verse, we see e/o elided; this will be marked with an apostrophe (however, an apostrophe indicates a glottal stop when it occurs between two vowels).

Nouns:

Possessives

Possessive suffixes are used in lieu of pronouns to indicate pronomial possessors; in this text we encounter only -(e/o)sh (his/her own; reflexive).

Cases

Absolutive

(no suffix)

Ergative

-id/-ud

Genitive

-an

Dative

-ejni/-ojni

Oblique

-eowo/-oowo

The dative is used for motion towards an object, as well as the usual indirect object.

Verbs

Tense/aspect suffixes come before personal suffixes. Personal suffixes agree with the absolutive argument always, but if there is an ergative argument, double marking takes place, with the ergative agreement suffix placed second.

Tense/aspect suffixes

Present

(no suffix)

Preterite

-ik/-uk

Imperfect

-(e/o)v

Future Perf

-(e/o)s3

Future Imperf

-s3a

Personal Suffixes

	Singular !Plural
1	-(e/o)l	-mar/-kish*
2	-(e/o)q	-(e/o)wothw
3	(none)	-aj

• -kish is the first person plural exclusive, whereas -mar is inclusive.

If the absolutive argument is 3rd person singular, and the ergative argument is not, the absolutive argument is marked with -(e/o)h-.

Additional Verbal Suffixes

-(o/e)n creates a conjunctive form of the verb.

-(e/o)swo creates a reflexive form of a verb, and is used in lieu of a dedicated reflexive pronoun.

-aakj is an agentive suffix, similar to -er in English.

-as creates a gerund of sorts, although it isn't used as often as the English gerund.

Modifiers

These generally follow their heads, and don't agree. Adjectives can be formed from nouns with the suffix -(e/o)ng.