Conlang Relay 15/Ayeri
by Carsten Becker
The Text
Ningambakar
New words marked with °, extensions to existing words marked by *
Linyareng °kumeng silvyam eda-°tuyānyam. Ang mea silvongu mengay enya adanyās! Silvu yoa! Adanyāng voy mətuyānas-nama, nārya sa telbayong ku-malinoang adanya nyam sas ang sompoyyo tingra nas. Kada adanyāng ranyās *pang °bihānya keynamena, nārya adanyāng miranas sungyam vetānas ranitisu. Sitadaya tuyaiyan ikanang yomasāra °irayisu adanyareng. *Arēn epangya kivo sa tavyong tipinyam padang nana nay kyunnang mangayam demingeri, sa telbanang manganye kalam si payratong tenanas keynamena. Kada narānyeang si narayos ri Nahang °birenyānya kaivay, nay naratong veta. Ya ming lingiyan tuyamayāng-ikan da-mesam? °Mangasara sitang-iliyan keynamang-aril nay kyuntang °tandangyam bangalyeas yilana, nay saratang mangayam demingeri.
Smooth English
Tell Tale
To watch this dance is a unique thing. Everyone should have seen it! Look at it! It is not just some dance, but like a song it shows us what music does not teach us. Thus it is nothing beyond human comprehension, but it is a way to find the hidden truth. When all dance it is usually something exalting. However, shortly after we get excited and we begin to move purposefully, we show the feelings which surpass the human soul. Thus the words spoken by the Lord are without doubt and they speak veritably. Can all dancers ascend to such a level? Some people surrender themselves and they begin to pay attention to the traces of feet and they cease to move purposefully.
Smooth English Translation of Previous Text
A tell tale
This dance is unique to watch. Everyone should have seen it! Look at it! It is not just a dance, but like a song it shows us what music does not teach one. Hence it is not something beyond human comprehension, but it is a way to find the hidden truth. When all dance together it is usually something exalted. However, soon after we get excited and we start to move purposefully, we show the true feelings that transcend the human soul. Thus the spoken words of God are without doubt and speak truth. Can all dancers ascend to that degree? Some people surrender themselves and start to pay attention to the footprints; and they cease to dance purposefully.
Interlinear
To watch this dance is a unique thing.
Everyone should see it once!
Look at it!
It is not just some dance but what music does not teach us is what it shows to us like a song.
Thus it is nothing beyond human comprehension, but it is a way to find the hidden Truth.
When all dance it is usually something exalting.
However, shortly after we get excited and we begin to move purposefully, the feelings which surpass the human soul we show.
Thus the words spoken by the Lord are without doubt and they speak veritably.
To such a level, can all dancers ascend to it?
Some people surrender themselves and they begin to pay attention to the traces of feet and they cease to move purposefully.
Vocabulary
This information is copied straight from the dictionary.
| Ayeri | Part of speech | ID | English |
| -nama | adverb suffix | 64 | (1) just (2) only |
| Nahang | noun singular, animate | 1517 | (1) lord (2) the Lord (as in the Bible) |
| adanya | pronoun 3rd person | 100 | that one |
| arēn | adverb | 134 | (1) in every way (2) in any way (3) anyway (4) however |
| bangal | noun animate, singular | 766 | trace |
| bihān | noun animate, no plural | 1639 | (1) comprehension (2) understanding |
| birenyān | noun animate, no plural | 1641 | doubt |
| da- | 3rd person, prefix | 745 | such |
| deming | noun animate, singular | 471 | purpose |
| eda- | article prefix | 353 | this |
| enya | pronoun 3rd person, plural | 621 | (1) everybody (2) anybody (3) everything (4) anything |
| epang | adverb | 627 | (1) after (2) next |
| ikan | adjective | 858 | (1) all (2) complete |
| il- | verb | 862 | (1) to be less ... than ... (2) to give |
| irayisu | adjective | 1640 | exalting |
| kada | conjunction | 763 | (1) then (consequence) (2) thus |
| kaivay | adverb | 203 | without |
| kalam | noun animate, no plural | 239 | truth |
| kalam | adjective | 240 | true |
| kalam | adverb | 1254 | to be honest ... |
| keynam | noun animate, plural by default | 244 | (1) humans (2) people |
| kivo | adjective | 259 | (1) small (2) little (3) short (span of time) |
| kumeng | adjective | 1637 | unique |
| kyun- | verb | 257 | (1) to begin with sth. (2) to start |
| ling- | verb | 1341 | to ascend |
| linya | noun inanimate, singular | 900 | thing |
| malino- | noun animate, singular | 930 | song |
| manga- | verb | 948 | (1) to move (2) to remove |
| mangan | noun animate, singular | 942 | (1) feeling (2) sentiment (3) dream |
| mangasara | adposition | 946 | away |
| mangasara ilao | verb | 1642 | to surrender (lit. 'to give away') |
| mea- | verb | N/A | (1) shall (2) to be to |
| mengay | adverb | 1174 | once |
| mesam | noun inanimate, singular | 1242 | degree |
| ming- | verb | 1496 | (1) to be able to (2) can |
| miran | noun animate, singular | 1498 | (1) way (of doing something) (2) style (3) custom (4) kind (of something) |
| nana | pronoun 1st person, plural, genitive | N/A | our |
| nara- | verb | 1534 | (1) to speak (2) to talk |
| narān | noun animate, singular | 1533 | word |
| nas | pronoun 1st person, plural, patient | N/A | us |
| nay | conjunction | 1542 | and |
| ningambakar | noun animate, singular | 1645 | tell tale (lit. 'lie story') |
| nyam | pronoun 1st person, plural, benefactive | N/A | to us |
| nārya | conjunction | 1581 | (1) but (2) although (3) though (4) nevertheless (at the end of the sentence) |
| padang | noun animate, singular | 1588 | (1) heart (i.e. where the feelings are) (2) mind |
| pang | noun animate, singular | 397 | back |
| pang | adposition | 626 | (1) behind (2) at/to the back of (3) at/to the end of (4) beyond |
| payr- | verb | 960 | to surpass |
| ranitisu | adjective | 803 | hidden |
| ranya | pronoun 3rd person, singular | N/A | (1) nobody (2) nothing |
| sara- | verb | N/A | (1) to go (2) to leave (3) to cease |
| silv- | verb | 1310 | (1) to see (obj. = PAT) (2) to watch (obj. = BEN) (3) to look at (obj. = LOC) |
| sitadaya | adverb | N/A | when |
| sitang- | pronoun | N/A | self |
| somp- | verb | 1217 | (1) (itr) to learn (2) (tr) to teach |
| sung- | verb | N/A | to find |
| tandang- | verb | 1643 | to pay attention |
| tav- | verb | 1324 | (1) to get (2) to become (3) to conceive |
| telba- | verb | N/A | to show |
| tenan | noun animate, singular | 1204 | soul |
| tingra | noun animate, no plural | N/A | music |
| tipin- | verb | 1401 | to itch |
| tuya- | verb | N/A | to dance |
| tuyamaya | noun animate, singular | N/A | dancer |
| tuyān | noun animate, singular | 1638 | dance |
| veta | adjective | 553 | (1) true (as a virtue) (2) veritable |
| vetān | noun animate, singular | 555 | (1) truth ('truth' as a virtue) (2) verity |
| voy | interjection, colloquial | 310 | no |
| yila | noun animate, plural | N/A | feet |
| yoa | pronoun 3rd person neuter, singular, locative | N/A | in/at it |
| yoma- | verb | N/A | (1) to be (2) to exist |
Words with an ID can be directly accessed by opening http://benung.freehostia.com/?i=<ID> in a browser, where <ID> is to be replaced with the ID given in the table above. Most other words can be found in the old vocabulary list at http://beckerscarsten.de/conlang/ayeri/dictionary.html.
Grammar
All grammar that is up so far can be read at http://benung.freehostia.com/?go=grammar&action=grammar.The grammar notes presented here are rather incomplete in that they only contain things that are most important in order to translate this text.
Typology
- Ayeri has V-A-P-Obl constituent order (Obl = oblique arguments, i.e. non-core arguments).
- Whether it is Nom/Acc or Erg/Abs is not very clear.
- Modifiers (including possessive pronouns) commonly follow their heads.
Nouns
- Nouns are marked for these cases:
- Agent - Who does something? (also, origin in ditransitive clauses)
- suffix: -ang (animate), -reng (inanimate)
- prefixed to a verb to mark focus on that argument: ang (animate), eng (inanimate)
- prefixed before name: ang (animate)
- Patient - Who is affected by the action? (also, thing given in ditransitive clauses)
- suffix: -as (animate), -ley (inanimate)
- prefixed to a verb to mark focus on that argument: sa (animate), le (inanimate)
- prefixed before name: sa (animate)
- Benefactive - Who is in benefit of the action? (also, recipient of ditransitive clauses)
- suffix: -yam
- prefixed to a verb to mark focus on that argument: yam
- prefixed before name: yam
- Genitive - Who does something belong to? Where is it from?
- suffix: -(e)na (the ‘e’ is infixed when the stem ends in a consonant)
- prefixed to a verb to mark focus on that argument: na
- prefixed before name: na
- Locative - Where is something?
- suffix: -ya when the stem ends in a vowel, -ea when the stem ends in a consonant
- prefixed to a verb to mark focus on that argument: ya
- prefixed before name: ya
- Instrumentative - By means of what or whom is the action done? Who helped?
- suffix: -(e)ri (‘e’ is infixed when the stem ends in a consonant)
- prefixed to a verb to mark focus on that argument: ri
- prefixed before name: ri
- Causative - What is the reason for the action? Who made it happen (on purpose)?
- suffix: -isa
- prefixed to a verb to mark focus on that argument: sā
- prefixed before name: sā
- Agent - Who does something? (also, origin in ditransitive clauses)
- Nouns are also marked for number
- Marker: -ye
- If there is a measurement either implied or given as e.g. “three”, “many” etc. nouns are not marked for number.
- Nouns are by default without any articles
- The closest thing to an indefinite article is mə-, which means “some X” in the sense of something rather general, like German irgendein.
- Some nouns are in plural by default, they have been given in their respective form in the vocabulary list.
- The demonstrative articles are:
- near: eda-
- far: ada-
- "such": da-
- The demonstrative pronoun adanya is frequently used instead of third person pronouns.
Noun phrases and topic marking
- The topic of a sentence, which comes closest to the Subject of IE languages, is marked by omitting the case marker of an NP’s head noun and putting it in front of the verb as an anaphora to the NP.
- Topic marking does not work with objects of participles.
Verbs and Verb phrases
- Verbs can have a very high information load in Ayeri.
- Focus markers are always the first element of a verb phrase. They are anaphora to the argument of the sentence that is in focus (see above).
- After that (if present) follow preverbal adverbs: Words like ming have been classified as adverbs in this grammar, though not undisputedly so. They are derived from regular verbs, so they might as well be regarded as auxiliaries — except that they are not inflected for anything because the content verb carries the inflections instead.
- The verb stem itself can be further modified by the tense prefixes as well as suffixes for mood and person agreement with the agent of a transitive clause or the only argument of an intransitive sentence, which may be both an agent or a patient.
- The word manga can also be put in the place of preverbal adverbs in order to indicate progressive aspect. It is not as widely used as in English however.
- When the agent (or the single argument of an intransitive clause) of a sentence is expressed as a pronoun, this pronoun attaches to the end of a verb word, replacing the person agreement with a case-marked form of it.
- Adverbs of degree and measure are always appended to the end of a verb phrase, usually hyphenated.
- Adverbs of manner always follow the whole verb complex, temporal adverbs often precede it.
- The copula yoma-, ‘to be, to exist’, is usually omitted, except when the context explicitly requires TAM marking.
- Tense markers:
- Present: Ø-
- Near or immediate past: ka-
- Past: ma-
- Remote past: va-
- Near or immediate future: pa-
- Future: se-
- Remote future: ni-
- Mood markers (preceding vowel is always deleted):
- Indicative: Ø-
- Imperative: -u
- Subjunctive: -ong
- Habitative: -asa
- Participles following modal verbs are formed by marking a verb with the benefactive case ending, e.g. verb tuyayam, ‘verb dancing’ or ‘verb to dance’.
Adjectives and Adverbs
- Adjectives and adverbs always follow their heads
- They do not show agreement with their heads, except in some very old-fashioned styles
Pronouns
- Ayeri has got a lot of personal pronouns, which are irregularly formed due to the unmarked person agreement clitics having merged with the case markers over time
| Agent | Patient | Genitive | Benefactive | Locative | Instrum. | Causative | Person agreement/ Unmarked | |
| 1s | yang | yas | nā | yām | yā | rī | sā | ay |
| 2s | vāng | vās | vana | vayam | vaya | vari | vasa | va |
| 3s masc | yāng | yās | yana | yayam | yāy | yari | yasa | (-i)ya* |
| 3s fem | yeng | yes | yena | yeyam | yea | yeri | yesa | (-i)ye* |
| 3s neut | yong | yos | yona | yoyam | yoa | yori | yosa | (-i)yo* |
| 3s inanimate | reng | raley | ran | rayam | raya | reri | rasa | ara |
| 1p | nang | nas | nana | nyam | nya | ni | nisa | ayn |
| 2p | vāng | vās | vana | vayam | vaya | vari | vasa | va |
| 2p hon | vayang | vayas | vayena | vayyam | vayea | vayeri | vayisa | vay |
| 3p masc | tang | tas | tan | tyam | tya | tri | tis | (-i)yan* |
| 3p fem | teng | tes | ten | teyam | teya | teri | teys | (-i)yen |
| 3p neut | tong | tos | ton | toyam | toya | tori | toys | (-i)yon |
| 3p inanimate | teng | ratey | ten | ratyam | ratya | ray | ratas | aran |
- when pronouns beginning with 'y' are suffixed to verbs, ‘i’ is inserted when the preceding morpheme ends in a consonant.
- Reflexive pronouns are formed with sitang- plus the respective pronoun.
Relative clauses
- The relative pronoun is s(i)-, or si when it is directly following the NP that is described by the relative clause
- The relative pronoun can be marked for its head’s case in order to disambiguate. The head is in the matrix clause. The relative clause is usually a complete clause in that it contains at least an agent/patient and a verb. It can be used as an attributive clause as well (i.e. like an adjective).
- It can be double-marked to derive forms like “of which”, e.g. sangena is the relative pronoun marked both for agent and for genitive.
Prepositions/postpositions
- Ayeri usually has prepositions, although for example kaivay ‘without’ is usually a postposition. The number of such words is very small though.
- Adpositions are technically nouns, though they already include the ‘of' that would be necessary in English, e.g. ling Xya = top_of X-LOC, i.e. ‘on X’. Dependants of locatives must be marked with the locative case. When there is no adposition but only an NP marked for the locative case, the adposition is implied by semantics. It is usually ‘in’ or ‘at’.
- The word manga put before an adposition denotes moving along the path that is defined by the preposition: manga ling Xya = MOT top_of X-LOC, i.e. ‘over X’
