Conlang Relay 17/Vašt î Kûvik

Text:

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Mukl lk Vânk î Hoh

Tfo lenent a vânk. Lenent âtra ol iskrek dan vânk hî vânk iskrekiks ih dviv ak tesk ol lenent ak klâ jîs to. Akî lenent âtra lâ ûlokast hî vânk ôhak ol akî zviag vna ôg ârag ôg vânk û ol. To slî ol lenent ih dviv aka tl to ženj.

Akî pê kûolt ol.

Smooth English:

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A Story about an Evil Elephant

Once upon a time there was a man and an elephant. The man tried to stand on the elephant, but the elephant stood up on its feet and threw the man and hit him over and over. Then the man tried to run away, but the elephant trumpeted and then one thousand and seven hundred elephants came. They crushed the man with their feet until he was dead.

And then a little furry animal cried.

Vocabulary:

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mukl = story, narrative lk = about î = connects nouns and adjectives hoh = evil tfo = there exists, there is, once upon a time there was len = person, human a = and vânk = elephant âtra = to try ol = perfective aspect marker iskrek = to stand da = at hî = but ih = using, by means of dviv = hand, foot, appendage ak = and (links actions) tesk = to throw klâ = to hit, strike jîs = progressive aspect to = 3rd person pronoun (gender and number inspecific) akî = and then lâ = to run, move quickly û = towards ôhak = to shout, yell, vocalize loudly zviag = thousand vna = seven ôg = partitive preposition ârag = hundred slî = to crush, smash aka = before, until tl = starts subordinate clause ženj = dead pê = small, furry animal kûolt = to cry

Suffixes:

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-ent = male -iks = action is purposeful and dynamic -n = on top of (suffixed to preposition) -lok = far away from (suffixed to preposition) -ast = makes preposition into an adverb (in this case directional)

Grammar:

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Word order is SVO. When prepositions have no obvious object, the assumed object is the present context (time and place). Adjectives follow nouns and are connected to them by î. Aspect markers come immediately after verbs.