Conlang Relay 15/gjâ-zym-byn

by Jim Henry

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The Text

flĭŋ ðĭ-i ₣um-van kâ-rĭm kǒ. te kâ-i rĭm-van mwe mâ-zla hǒl. !kâ-rĭm-ť-zô mwe. flĭŋ-zô žǒŋ źǒ Ќ-ť, mǒj ŝrun pe twâ-cu-ŝrun kâ-i hyw jâ-o mwe. hî'mâr-van heŋ mâ jǒm, mǒj flĭŋ kǒ gân-ř kî'ĥu-kě'ĝu-źa jâ-o mâ. vĭj lǒ i flĭŋ-zô ƥ reŋ, râ-van huw-fwa.

nu ƴu-cô-bô ši, Ќ-ť im fâ-ŋĭw ĥy-i źum-ga-zô ƥ reŋ, kiň Ќ-ť ĥy-i rĭm-ķy jâ-o. žâw-van Ќ-ť, hǒŋ cu-rô-sra jâ-o šî'fy mâ-za ðĭ-i. ?ru nǒ i flĭŋ-pja kǒ ŝu-i hu jâ-o Ќ-ť.

ʝĭl-plâŋ kâ-i ðu-van kâ-zô mâ jǒm, mǒj flĭŋ kǒ ŝu-i kujm ķy-bô kâ-i hî'mâr-van heŋ.

Smooth English

This watching is like a dance. The whole world must see it. Watch! We must not only dance, but learn the music and song. Most people do not understand, but from this kind of dancing people take great secret strength. When they dance, good things happen.

After a brief moment, they touch our hearts and give us a true vision;we feel we become more complex than human souls. How can we become like this dancer?

Most people can observe the movement of feet, but do not understand the true purpose of this dance.

Grammar overview

gjâ-zym-byn (gzb) is an agglutinative language, fairly minimalistic lexically, which leads to some long and sometimes not perfectly perspicuous compounds. In the glossary I've listed mostly only the root words, particles and suffixes, but also listed a few compounds used in the text where they seemed especially hard to guess from the component morphemes. Feel free to email asking for help, or look at the online lexicon.

Root words are nominal, and are turned into verbs and modifiers --also postpositions and conjunctions — with appropriate suffixes.Compound postpostions, used to mark case roles, are formed using one of the core spacetime postpositions {i, o, ř} as a suffix on a rootword for the appropriate abstract concept. I've listed a few of the most abstract compound postpositions in the glossary; others should be clear enough from their component morphemes.

The only verb suffixes used in the text are {-zô} and {-van}. {-zô}former marks an active (and agentive) verb. {-van} marks a stative(but not necessarily non-agentive) verb.

Number is not obligatorily marked on nouns; {mâ} by itself could mean either "person" or "people" for instance.

Typical word order is OVS, but varies since subjects and objects are marked fairly explicity for theta roles with postpositions. Postpositional phrases almost always precede what they modify. Most complements tend to precede the direct object and verb. If the subject is at the end of a clause or sentence, the subject postposition can be omitted. gjâ-zym-byn allows for omitting the subject when it is the same as in the previous sentence.

Punctuation: all sentences end in a period. The exclamation point ! marks an imperative sentence. The apostrophe or single quote ' marks syllable boundaries in polysyllabic roots.

Glossary

bô

suff. quality noun -> adjective

cô

suff. reverse, contradictory quality from root

cu

n. complex system, organized group

cu-rô

mod. complex, synergetic

ðĭ

n. relationship, connection, assocation

ðu

n. ability, capacity, power

fâ

n. love, friendliness

fâ-ŋĭw

n. emotional faculty

flĭŋ

n. dance; moving about for fun

fwa

suff. causative suffix

₣um

n. similarity

ga

suff. metaphorical extension of root's meaning

gân

n. cause; determining condition

heŋ

mod. negative particle; not, no

hî'mâr

n. understanding, comprehension

hǒl

mod. whole, entire(ly)

hǒŋ

conj. that (introduces subordinate clauses)

hu

n. essence, nature, set of essential qualities

huw

n. happiness, contentment

ĥy

n. patient, thing acted on

ĥy-i

postp. patient case postpostition

hyw

n. direct, interior knowledge; memory, experience

i

postp. at, with

im

postp. in (part of); of, belonging to (body parts, faculties)

jâ

n. role, state, form

jâ-o

postp. entering a state of, becoming

jǒm

mod. most of, a majority of

ʝĭl

n. motion in place; change of orientation, shift of position

kâ

n. noticing, focusing one's attention upon, watching

kě'ĝu

n. hiding, privacy, secrecy

kiň

conj. and

kî'ĥu

n. strength

kǒ

dem. this

Ќ

pron. I, me

kujm

n. purpose, motive, end

ķy

n. truth, fitting reality

lǒ

mod. relativizer particle (who, which...)

mâ

n. person, human

mǒj

conj. but, however, nonetheless, even so

mwe

mod. imperative particle

nǒ

mod. WH-question particle

nu

n. time, moment, occasion

ŋĭw

n. faculty, body part

o

postp. to, towards

pe

conj. and (links words within clause, not clauses)

pja

suff. person who does ~ avocationally, not for money; amateur, hobbyist, volunteer

plâŋ

n. foot, feet

ƥ

pron. he, she, they (spirits, people, animals already mentioned)

râ

n. occurrence, happening, event, process

reŋ

mod. many, much

rĭm

n. seeing, having within view

rô

suff. characteristic quality of (tangible noun -> idiomatic adjective)

ř

postp. out of, away from

ru

n. method, way, manner, style

ši

postp. after (time)

šî'fy

n. spirit, soul; angel

sra

suff. more, greater; comparative suffix

ŝrun

n. music

ŝu

n. possess, have (quality, part, faculty)

teL

pron. it (plants, inanimate things, abstractions already mentioned)

ť

pron. you, y'all

twâ

n. sentence; strophe of a poem; proverb, saying, prophecy, quotation, aphorism

twâ-cu

n. poem, lyric, text

van

suff. stative verb suffix

vĭj

n. time, while

ƴu

n. length (duration)

za

suff. having to do with, associated with root

zla

suff. universal collective suffix

zô

suff. active verb suffix

žâw

n. feeling, sensing, perceiving

žǒŋ

mod. only, just, merely; no more than

źa

suff. augmentative suffix

źǒ

mod. imperative negative particle

źum

n. touching, feeling; contact

Abbreviations

conj.

conjunction

dem.

demonstrative

mod.

modifier (adjective/adverb)

n.

noun

postp.

postposition

pron.

pronoun

suff.

suffix