Conlang Relay 17/Buruya Nzaysa

by Jan Strasser

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Buruya Nzaysa text

Lo yuska vono

Na u ru nzo yuska mvunɛ. Ño u tsenɛ́ña ma pɛmo, mpu tsona ɛru rumɛ rɛ gasa tsɛga xə ru ŋkə nzo rələh.

Rabɛ kɛ’u ɛte, nona lo ru lu sɛtsasa ah kume, o na losə rɛ ste’a lu yuska rələh. Dal ntɛ xə ɔdɔwə lo yuska rowastɔ, o ta lu ru botso! Ste’a xə losə rɛ sə posmu. Nə kwɛstaga lo yuska nzəxrə, xutsɔ ɔdɔwah oba sədə oskə. Esaxa tse lu ru xo’a o əño o tul.

Translation

English

The violent yuska

A man had a yuska. As a learned man he was not afraid, because everyone knew that he was the only person who could ride it.

One day the man decided to try his luck, and he tried to ride the yuska. But no, the yuska got angry and attacked the man! He tried to run away. The yuska screamed fiercely, so that many other yuskas would come. They hunted the man down, killed him, and ate him.

English translation of previous text

(Lhenazi, by Arthaey Angosii)

The tale of the violent dragon

A man had a dragon. As a magician, he was at ease because he knew that he was the only one who could ride the dragon.

The man tried to ride the dragon, but the dragon attacked him. The man tried to run away, but the dragon screamed. Many other dragons came, and they hunted and killed the man.

Interlinear gloss

Lo

DEF.NOM

yuska

yuska

vono.

aggressive.

The violent yuska.

Na

PFV.AUX-3SG>3

u

INDEF.NOM

ru

man

nzo

TOP.ACC

yuska

yuska

mvunɛ.

hold.

A man had a yuska.

Ño

as.3

u

INDEF.NOM

tsenɛ́ña

wiseman

ma

NEG.AUX-3SG

pɛmo,

fear,

mpu

because

tsona

HAB.AUX-3SG>3

ɛru

everyone

rumɛ

know

rɛ

SUB.ACC

gasa

PERM.AUX-3SG>3

tsɛga

only

xə

this.NOM

ru

man

ŋkə

same

nzo

TOP.ACC

rələh.

ride.

As a learned man he was not afraid, because everyone knew that he was the only person who could ride it.

Rabɛ

during.3

kɛ’u

one.of

ɛte,

day,

nona

INT.AUX-3SG>3

lo

DEF.NOM

ru

man

lu

DEF.ACC

sɛtsasa

fortune

ah

of.3

kume,

punch,

o

and

na

PFV.AUX-3SG>3

losə

try

rɛ

SUB.ACC

ste’a

PROG.AUX-3SG>3

lu

DEF.ACC

yuska

yuska

rələh.

ride.

One day the man decided to try his luck, and he tried to ride the yuska.

Dal

but

ntɛ

by.3

xə

this.NOM

ɔdɔwə

RES.COP-3SG

lo

DEF.NOM

yuska

yuska

rowastɔ,

angry,

o

and

ta

INC.AUX-3SG>3

lu

DEF.ACC

ru

man

botso!

attack!

But no, the yuska got angry and attacked the man!

Ste’a

PROG.AUX-3SG>3

xə

this.NOM

losə

try

rɛ

SUB.ACC

sə

NULL.AUX-3SG

posmu.

escape.

He tried to run away.

Nə

PFV.AUX-3SG

kwɛstaga

loudly

lo

DEF.NOM

yuska

yuska

nzəxrə,

scream

xutsɔ

therefore

ɔdɔwah

RES.AUX-3PL

oba

many

sədə

other

oskə.

come.

The yuska screamed fiercely, so that many other yuskas would come.

Esaxa

EMPH-AUX-3PL>3

tse

that.NOM

lu

DEF.ACC

ru

man

xo’a

hunt

o

and

əño

kill

o

and

tul.

eat.

They hunted the man down, killed him, and ate him.

---

The yuska is a mythical creature from Miwan folklore, which is said to live in the depths of the Ici Forest south of Buruya. It is twice the size of a man, looks more or less like a panther with a large dinosaur-like tail [1], and it eats people, hunting them by ambushing from the treetops.

Morphemic breakdown

(as included in the torch that I sent on to Eugene Oh for translation into Zesovian)

lo  yuska vono.
DET N     N

n   -a u   ru nzo yuska mvunɛ.
AUX -P DET N  DET N     V

ño u   tsenɛña ma  -ə pɛmo,
PP DET N       AUX -P V

mpu tson -a ɛru  rumɛ rɛ gas -a tsɛga xə  ru ŋkə nzo  rələh.
CJ  AUX  -P PRON V    CJ AUX -P ADV   DET N  N   PRON V

rabɛ kɛ’u ɛte, non -a lo  ru lu  sɛtsasa ah kume,
PP   QU   N    AUX -P DET N  DET N       PP V

o  n   -a losə rɛ ste -a lu  yuska rələh.
CJ AUX -P V    CJ AUX -P DET N     V

dal ntɛ xə   ɔdɔ -ə lo  yuska rowastɔ, o  ta  -a lu  ru botso!
CJ  PP  PRON AUX -P DET N     N        CJ AUX -P DET N  V

ste -a xə   losə rɛ s   -ə posmu.
AUX -P PRON V    CJ AUX -P V

n   -ə kwɛstaga lo  yuska nzəxrə, xutsɔ ɔdɔ -ah oba sədə oskə.
AUX -P ADV      DET N     V       CJ    AUX -P  QU  N    V

es  -axa tse  lu  ru xo’a o  əño o  tul.
AUX -P   PRON DET N  V    CJ V   CJ V


KEY:

ADV  - adverb
AUX  - auxiliary verb
CJ   - conjunction
DET  - determiner
N    - noun
P    - person agreement
PP   - preposition
PRON - pronoun
QU   - quantifier (can also act as a determiner)
V    - verb

Vocabulary

-a	P	3rd person singular subject, 3rd person object
ah	PP	"of, belonging to"
-ah	P	3rd person plural intransitive
-axa	P	3rd person plural subject, 3rd person object
botso	V	"to attack"
dal	CJ	"but"
ɛru	PRON	"everyone"
ɛte	N	day
es-	AUX	emphatic auxiliary ("do indeed")
-ə	P	3rd person singular intransitive
əño	V	"to kill"
gas-	AUX	permissive auxiliary ("may")
kɛ’u	QU	partitive quantifier ("one of")
kume	V	"to punch; to test"
kwɛstaga	ADV	"loudly"
lo	DET	definite article ("the"), nominative
losə	V	"to attempt, to try"
lu	DET	definite article ("the"), accusative
ma-	AUX	negative auxiliary ("don't")
mpu	CJ	"because"
mvunɛ	V	"to have, to own, to hold"
n-	AUX	perfective auxiliary ("have done")
non-	AUX	intentional auxiliary ("going to")
ntɛ	PP	"by, with, like"
nzəxrə	V	"to scream, to shout"
nzo	DET/PRON	topic marker, accusative
ño	PP	"as"
ŋkə	N	"same, identical, -self"
ɔdɔ-	AUX	resultative auxiliary ("have become")
o	CJ	"and"
oba	QU	"many"
oskə	V	"to come, to arrive"
pɛmo	V	"to fear, to be afraid of"
posmu	V	"to run away, to escape"
rabɛ	PP	"at the time of, during"
rɛ	CJ	complementizer ("that"), accusative
rələh	V	"to ride"
rowastɔ	N	"angry, furious"
ru	N	"man"
rumɛ	V	"to know, to be aware of"
s-	AUX	null auxiliary ("do")
sɛtsasa	N	"good luck, good fortune"
sədə	N	"another"
ste-	AUX	progressive auxiliary ("be doing")
ta-	AUX	inceptive auxiliary ("start")
tsɛga	ADV	"only, exclusively"
tse	DET/PRON	distal deictic ("that, those"), nominative
tsenɛña	N	"scholar, wiseman" (lit. "one who loves the scrolls")
tson-	AUX	habitual/gnomic auxiliary ("be always")
tul	V	"to eat"
u	DET	indefinite article ("a"), nominative
vono	N	"aggressive, violent"
xə	DET/PRON	proximal deictic ("this, these"), nominative
xo’a	V	"to hunt, to pursue"
xutsɔ	CJ	"so, therefore"
yuska	N	a legendary creature that eats people

Grammar

Typology

• mostly isolating
• head-initial
• basic word order: AuxSOV with occasional topic fronting
• basic morphosyntactic alignment: NOM-ACC
• pro-drop

Nominals

• no distinction between nouns and adjectives
• nouns/adjectives do not inflect at all
• determiners are mandatory in all full (i.e. non-pronominal) noun phrases
• nouns without a determiner usually have adjectivial function
• most determiners are marked for case
• number is unmarked (to specify plural, a quantifier must be used)

Prepositions

• prepositions inflect for the person of their object (all instances in the text are 3rd person)
• objects of prepositions can be omitted if clear from context

Verbs

• content verbs do not inflect at all
• auxiliary verbs are mandatory in all clauses
• auxiliary verbs inflect for person and number of the subject AND person of the object
• aspect and mood are indicated by the choice of the auxiliary
• no tense marking

Links

Buruya Nzaysa grammar