Conlang Relay 18/Šydunam

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Šydunam Text

dhan e’a raimai guang ga iirnedi dhas. etiogyyn tə katuur e’a ga’it-a daa’e amri ii čuvuth ga; inot gami ša’ytha saputha qofy ii du uqovy vung. deimo e’a, thomeitha e’a vedhora ta rečitie dhoga cim. nusežo ciar kevyn masei amri, oni gavydyn, ei ə pežino, gang bum ii a’ongkytyn. rim kianən sa’e nazu ydhmi ga; tutum faći sen ga, qoar vang amri ii. gang gami thana gamyn ga’it-a daa’e amri ii ga’it uubeto ga.

Smooth English

Move, if the game is once again at the street corner. This young man prepares to carve the dog, but awakens within a cloud of twisting and scattering smoke. He falls down into a heap by the iron gate of the garden. Here stands a wealthy lady, proud and arrogant, her mouth rosy. But she throws away every custom of propriety and puts aside the shining veil, like giving the lonely young man a youthful smile.

Interlinear

dhan

move

e’a

Perf

raimai

again

guang

game

ga

ACC

iirnedi

path.end

dhas

LOC

Move, if the game is once again at the street corner.

etiogyyn

prepare

tə

AUX

katuur

carve

e’a

Perf

ga’it-a

young-LIAISON

daa’e

male

amri

person

ii

NOM

čuvuth

dog

ga;

ACC

inot

awaken

gami

self

ša’ytha

twist

saputha

scatter

qofy

smoke

ii

NOM

du

GEN

uqovy

cloud

vung.

within

This young man makes ready the dog to be carved, and awakens within a cloud of twisting and scattering smoke.

deimo

fall

e’a,

Perf

thomeitha

collapse

e’a

Perf

vedhora

garden

ta

GEN

rečitie

iron

dhoga

gate

cim.

nearLOC

He falls, falls down into a heap by the iron gate of the garden.

nusežo

stand

ciar

here

kevyn

wealthy

masei

female

amri,

person

oni

equate

gavydyn,

proud

ei

want

ə

AUX

pežino,

step

gang

similar

bum

mouth

ii

NOM

a’ongkytyn.

alive

Here stands this wealthy lady, of countenance proud and arrogant, her mouth rosy.

rim

CONTRASTIVE

kianən

cast.away

sa’e

every

nazu

proper

ydhmi

idea

ga;

ACC

tutum

shining

faći

head

sen

cover

ga,

ACC

qoar

there

vang

put

amri

she

ii.

NOM

But she throws away these each and every custom of propriety, and puts aside the shining veil.

gang

similar

gami

self

thana

[give

gamyn

lonely

ga’it-a

young-LIAISON

daa’e

male

amri

person

ii

NOM

ga’it

young

uubeto

smile

ga.

ACC

Like giving the lonely young man a youthful smile.

Language Notes

Phonology

Phonology is pretty simple. Most letters are pronounced as they are in IPA.

can be aspirated or unaspirated. Digraphs and Special Characters: [θ]

<dh> [ð] <š> [ʃ] <ć> [ts] <č> [tʃ] <ž> [ʒ] <r> syllable initial [ʁ], syllable final [ɾ] <'> [ʔq] Double vowels are long, and word final <t> is [θ]

Stress is on the penultimate syllable. There are exceptions, though they are not marked.

Grammar

Šydunam is an isolating language apart from a few vowels used in adjective-noun liaisons. Basic word order is VSO, and postpositional particles are used to denote case. Noun phrases and their accompanying particles can be fronted for emphasis or topicalization. <ii> Nominative <ga> Accusative <(u)su> Dative <dhas> Locative <zung> Temporal (used like Locative, but after time NPs)

Verbs are marked only for aspect, temporal distinctions are omitted or denoted by adverbial phrases such as “yesterday”, “tomorrow” etc. <e’a> is the perfective particle.

Other Particles AUX – auxiliary particle Cntr – contradictive particle “but” “however” rim Conf – confirmative particle “is it not?” e CpLOC – comparative locative particle dhyn NI – non-inclusion construct šyn QUE – query particle qua

There is no pluralization, no articles, and pronouns are omitted if the subject can be inferred.

Vocabulary

morpheme	class	meaning
amri	n.	person, 3rd person singular neuter pronoun
a’ongkytyn	adj.	living
bum	n.	mouth
ciar	det.	demonstrative: here, this
cim	part.	alternate Locative particle denoting a short distance
daa’e	n.	male
deimo	v.	fall
dhan	v.	move
dhas	part.	Locative, unspecified distance
dhoga	n.	gate
du	part.	Genitive particle, head-final
ei	v.	want
etiogyyn	v.	prepare
e’a	part.	Perfective particle
faći	n.	head
ga	part.	Accusative
gami	prn.	literally: self; used to introduce subordinating and relative clauses
gang	v.	be similar
gavydyn	adj.	proud (negative), overbearing
ga’it	adj.	young
guang	n.	game
ii	part.	Nominative
iirnedi	n.	end of a path
inot	adj. v.	east, downwards, concave, awaken
katuur	v.	carve
kevyn	adj.	wealthy, rich (negative)
kianən	v.	cast away
masei	adj.	female
nazu	adj.	clean, properly organized
nusežo	v.	stand
oni	v.	equate
pežino	v.	stomp, take a step
qoar	part.	demonstrative referring to something not near the speaker or receiver
qofy	n.	smoke
raimai	v.	be possible, have potential
rečitie	n.	red metal, iron
rim	part.	Contrastive particle
saputha	v.	be scattered
sa’e	adj.	every
sen	n.	cover
ta	part.	Possessive particle, head-first
thana	v.	give
thomeitha	v.	collapse
tutum	adj.	shimmering
tə	Aux	auxiliary marker for etiogyyn
uqovy	n.	cloud
uubeto	n.	smile
vang	v.	put, to place something somewhere
vedhora	n.	garden
vung	part.	Inessive Locative
ydhmi	n.	idea
čuvuth	n.	dog (derogatory)
ša’ytha	v.	twist
ə	Aux	auxiliary marker for ei