Conlang Relay 18/gjâ-zym-byn

Smooth English translation from Laefeveshi

The game can be moved to the end of the path. A young man carves a dog; a cloud could be seen to the east, twisting and fading. The young man collapsed and fell before the iron gates of a garden. A rich, proud woman was standing there, having come to walk in the garden; her mouth seemed like a living thing. But discarding every honorable thought, she removed her shimmering helmet and gave the lonely young man a meek smile.

gjâ-zym-byn text

pĭw ĉul-i ðu-Ł-van sun-zô.

Φâ-ƴâw kî'sul-na ķĭn-o mâ-vĭ-ĵĭn. purj sě'gir tyn-van pwĭm-by-daj gru-bô mĭ-i; tâň-ca.

hî'pym-tôn-ĵwa in vě'ty-θaj fâr-na vij tě'θru-van mâ-vĭ-ĵĭn. re i su-van mâ-ŝy. ħĭrn-van kiň kâj-ha-da-van. re o ruŋ-zô kujm-šar hî'pym-tôn-ĵwa iŋ ƴâ-cjaj-zô. gâ-zuň râm-rô ₣um-i ƥ im syl mĭ-i. mǒj rjym-mâ kâj-ha-za mĭ-i zym-zô ħĭrn-bô heŋ mâ-ŝy. ƥ sim kyl-tâlm dě'ĝĭn-kwa ĥy-i tâň-zô kiň mâ-vĭ kâ-i kâ-rĭm-zô kurŋ-cô-bô; pym-vuj-van ƥ im syl.

Smooth English translation from gjâ-zym-byn

One can finish the game.

A young man is carving wooden dogs. There is a twisty cloud high in the sky to the east; it disappears.

The young man collapses in front of the iron gate to the garden. There is a woman there. She is proud and rich. She came there to walk in the garden. Her mouth seems like an independent organism. But the woman does not think snobbishly about social class. She removes her glittering helmet and looks shyly at the young man; her mouth expresses amusement.

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 their meaning seemed hard to figure out from the component morphemes. Feel free to email asking for help, or look at the online lexicon for more information.

Root words are nominal, and are turned into verbs, modifiers, postpositions and conjunctions with appropriate suffixes. Compound postpositions, used to mark case roles, are formed using one of the core spacetime postpositions {i, o, ř} as a suffix on a root word for the appropriate abstract concept.

The main verb suffixes are {-zô} and {-van}. {-zô} marks an active (and agentive) verb. {-van} marks a stative (but not necessarily non-agentive) verb. Subject pronouns can be incorporated into the verb. Sequences of verbs have the auxiliary verb first.

Number is not obligatorily marked on nouns; tense is not marked on verbs.

Typical word order is OVS, but varies since subjects and objects are marked fairly explicitly for theta roles with postpositions. Postpositional phrases almost always precede what they modify. Within a noun phrase, the head noun comes first, followed by its modifiers if any. Most place, time, etc. 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.

Glossary

bô	suff.	quality noun -> adjective
by	n.	air
ca	suff.	reflexive verb suffix
cjaj	suff.	specialized subclass of ~
cô	suff.	opposite, reverse, contradictory quality
ĉul	n.	performance, presentation, recitation
ĉul-i	postp.	performative case
da	suff.	covered with, saturated with ~; ~-full
daj	suff.	a set of ~ in the same place, a mass or collection of ~
dě'ĝĭn	n.	quartz
dě'ĝĭn-kwa	mod.	glittery, shimmering
ðu	n.	ability, capacity, power
fâr	n.	iron (element)
₣um	n.	similarity
₣um-i	postp.	similar to; like
gâ	n.	thing, item, discrete object
gru	n.	twisting, twistedness
ha	suff.	substance with which one does ~, which effects ~
heŋ	mod.	negative, not; no (response)
hî'pym	n.	morning-glory
hî'pym-tôn	n.	flowering plant
ħĭrn	n.	pride, snobbishness
ĥy	n.	patient, thing acted on
ĥy-i	zzz	patient case marker
i	postp.	at, with
im	postp.	in (part of); of, belonging to (body parts)
in	postp.	at the outer surface of, at the edge of
iŋ	postp.	inside
ĵĭn	n.	youth, newness, not being full-grown
ĵwa	suff.	place full of ~, with many ~
kâ	n.	noticing, focusing one's attention upon
kâ-i	zzz	object-of-attention case marker
kâj	n.	exchange of property; trade, barter, purchase, sale
kiň	conj.	and [between clauses] (clausal; xref phrasal {ke, pe})
kî'sul	n.	wood (tree-material)
kujm	n.	purpose, motive, end
kurŋ	n.	boldness, courage, audacity
kurŋ-cô	n.	timidity, shyness
kwa	suff.	color of ~
ķĭn	n.	making, building, constructing
ķĭn-o	postp.	object of result (physical)
kyl	n.	bô, chest, jar; rigid container
kyl-tâlm	postp.	helmet, helm, casque
Ł	pron.	one (third-person generic pronoun)
mâ	n.	person, human
mĭ	n.	topic, subject, theme
mĭ-i	zzz	about; topic case marker
mǒj	conj.	but, however, nonetheless, even so
na	suff.	made of ~
o	postp.	to, towards
pĭw	n.	playing, recreation; game, puzzle
ƥ	pron.	he, she, they (spirits, people, animals already mentioned)
purj	n.	environment, surroundings, local region
pwĭm	n.	water
Φâ	n.	form, figure, shape; sculpture, statue
pym	n.	amusement, hilarity
râm	n.	cat
râm-rô	mod.	independent
re	pron.	there; place-pronoun
rĭm	n.	seeing, vision
rjym	n.	subjectively defined, "I know it when I see it" kind of category
rô	suff.	characteristic quality of (tangible noun -> adjective)
ruŋ	n.	going, coming, moving
sě'gir	postp.	high above and to the east of
sim	postp.	in the upper part of
šar	suff.	forms conjunctions from stem
su	n.	standing, being upright
sun	n.	finish, ending, conclusion
ŝy	n.	female, feminine
syl	n.	mouth
tâlm	n.	head
tâň	n.	taking away; erasing; subtraction; deletion
tâň-ca	v.refl.	to disappear; to remove oneself; to go away
tě'θru	n.	falling; uncontrolled collapse
tôn	suff.	generalized superclass of ~
θaj	suff.	other member of asymmetrical relationship; complement of pair; complement action; opposite
tyn	n.	location, situation, small local area, place, spot, point
van	suff.	stative verb suffix
vě'ty	n.	doorway, gateway; hole, aperture, opening
vě'ty-θaj	n.	door, gate; piece of wood or metal on hinges
vij	postp.	near the front of
vĭ	n.	male, masculine
vuj	n.	concrete expression or manifestation of something
ƴâ	n.	motion with continuous adjustment
ƴâ-cjaj	n.	going for a walk, as recreation
ƴâw	n.	dog
za	suff.	having to do with, associated with root
zô	suff.	active verb suffix
zuň	n.	life, quality of being alive
zym	n.	idea, thought, thinking, theory