Conlang Relay 22/iljena

Text

heqre nikta

unkita ehawm wofra
ahwemo ugert danqe
ohwum aklat agarte
eknis utled ehewni
ahips etildo stava
ehawm adamse hwomu
okafume uknes adamse
atiladu oknis iberdu
anikatu aklat gort
uhuwumu ehwem haws
uhwami keneso bnaga hwemo ahiwasu
iknosa kanosi hwima pruba inikiti
nukt hwasu kensa danoqi
gort klatu nikto baradu

Smooth English

The Echo Song of the Merchant's Fall

A merchant prepared to go on a journey. He harnessed his wagon to a donkey. He loaded his cargo onto the wagon. A child came to watch with a dog. Eventually the child felt hungry. He went to the house to eat. The family forbade the dog to come into the house. The child tied the dog to a bush. The merchant tied the cargo to the wagon. He did not have enough rope. He untied the dog to use the rope. The dog began to run around, making trouble, and the merchant panicked. The merchant sung the rope at the dog, it yelped and the donkey ran. The cargo on the wagon knocked the merchant into the bush.

Grammar

iljena is spoken by the Leyen people, who live on the fourth planet of the Delta Pavonis system. They are crepuscular bipeds with vibrissae all over their bodies. As a result of their sensitivity to air movements, they perceive themselves as being immersed in an active world, and their language reflects this. Every word is a noun and a verb at the same time. The noun consists of a triconsonantal root, which is interdigitated with a vowel pattern representing the verb. Everything is seen as an participant in the overall action of the sentence, playing a particular role. Word order is used to group together related participants, and to indicate the overall flow of the action.

This text is written in a popular form of iljena verse that is organised in couplets. The word shapes in the second line of each couplet echo those in the line before.

Vocabulary

Noun roots

bng

reason

brd

bush

dms

house

dnq

a species of pack or draft animal

grt

wagon

hps

time

hqr

echo, couplet, verse composed of couplets

hwm

3rd person singular

hws

rope

kfn

family

klt

cargo

kns

a species of sociable, domesticated carnivore

nkt

merchant

prb

trouble

stv

hunger

tld

child

wfr

journey

Verb patterns

(Numbers represent consonant positions)

12a3a

be

12a3u

hit

12e3o

use

12i3a

make

12o3u

eat

12u3a

obstruct

1a23

suffice

1a23e

pull

1a2a3u

entangle

1a2o3i

run

1e23a

yelp

1e23e

sing

1e2e3o

get up

1i23a

fall

1i23o

leap

1o23

hold

1o23a

carry

1u23

swing

a12a3

lie

a12e3o

harness

a1a23e

receive

a1i23

bring

a1i2a3u

tie

e12e3

have

e12i3

accompany

e1a23

go

e1e23i

watch

e1i23o

feel

i12o3a

begin

i1e23u

restrain

i1i2i3i

panic

o12i3

sit

o12u3

load

o1a2u3e

forbid

u12a3i

untie

u12e3

come

u12e3a

prepare

u1e23

contain

u1u2u3u

not do