Draga

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This wiki provides an overview of the draqa (or, "draga", pron. '/t◌̪ɚ. æ. ɦæ/' ) language, and some of its lexical items. There won't be many examples provided here, however. For more information on the draga language or culture, feel free to visit the draqa homepage.


Introduction

draqa (draga) is a personal constructed language, "spoken" by an exile population who call their homeland Qhyra. Technically, "draqa" (with a 'q') refers to an ancient form of the language, and "draga" (with a 'g') to the modern language; however, the spelling "draqa" is often used for either.


The history of draga people is quite mysterious. Apparently, the civilization of Qhrya arose in the North American continent, contemporary with (but not related to) the Atlantean civilization of the second destruction (~13,500 B.C.) Within 1000 years of that cataclysm, Qhrya was completely sacked, leaving fewer than 2000 to wander for close to 200 years. Finding no respite, apparently the nation astrally projected themselves en mass into a parallel reality, where they have continued to thrive. The prophecies say that eventually the nation will reincarnate into this world in the 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd centuries, at first scattered across the continents but eventually re-unified into a small nation again.


draqa Homepage

Phonology

Consonants

labial dental alveolar palatal velar post-velar glottal
plosives: t◌̪ tz ʈ kʷ kʲ q ʔ
ejectives: p (pʼ) c (cʼ)
aspirates:
fricative: f (ʰɸ) (ð) s ʃ (x) ʜ ɦ
liquids: w l j
trills: ʙ̥ ʀ̥
nasals: m (n◌̪) (n) ɲ
implosives: ɓ (ʘ) ǃ


Vowels

i ʊ
ʷɔˑ
ə(ʌ) ɚ
æ


Orthography

Transliteration of the draga language uses 25 characters of the Roman alphabet: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, ñ, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, w, x, y, z - and both the single-quote ( ' ) and double-quote ( " ) symbols to represent the sounds. In addition, the acute accent is used to represent pitch-accenting: á í ú.


Consonants

p - /pʼ/, or /p/
t - /tʰ/
t' - /tʼ/
ty - /ʈ/
c - /cʼ/, or /c/
q - /q/
kw - /kʷ/
ky - /kʲ/
ph - /pʰ/
ch - /cʰ/
qh - /qʰ/
f - /f/; /ʰɸ/ before 'w': fw /ʰɸw/
s - /s/
m - /m/
ñ - /ɲ/; /n◌̪/ before 'd': ñd /n◌̪ð/
w - /w/; /ʘ/ following initial syllabic 'm': mw /mʘ/
l - /l/
y - /j/
d - /t◌̪/ initially, /d◌̪/ medially, /ð/ after 'ñ': ñd /n◌̪ð/
j - /tz/
x - /ʃ/
h - /ʜ/, /x/ before 'l' or 'w', /ç/ before 'y'
g - /ɦ/ (voiced /h/)
b - /ɓ/
z - /ǃ/
p" - /ʙ̥/ (voiceless bilabial trill)
t" - /r̥/ (voiceless alveolar trill)
q" - /ʀ̥/ (voiceless post-velar trill)
' - /ʔ/



Vowels

There are 6 basic vowels in the draga language: i /i/, a /æ/, e /əˑ/, ou /ʷɔˑ/, o /ʊ/, r /ɚˑ/. Draga is a pitch-accented language, the vowels i, a, and o being found either median- or high-pitched. The acute accent is used to represent a high (and/or falling) tone: í, á, ú (rather than ó). The tone of the vowel 'ou' is always low. The vowels 'e' and 'r' are always stressed, but are not pitch-accented. The vowels 'ou', 'e', and 'r' are typically semi-long in duration. The symbol 'r' following another vowel indicates Rhoticization.

i /i/
í /i↘/
/i↗/
a /æ/
á /æ↘/
/æ↗/
o /ʊ/
ú /ʊ↘/
/ʊ↗/
e /ə/ or /ʌ/
ou /ʷɔˑ/
r /ɚ/


Rhoticization:

The vowels 'a,i,o' can also be found rhoticized: ar, ár, aár, ir, ír, iír, or

ar /æʳ/
ár /æʳ↘/
aár /æʳ↗/
ir /iʳ/
ír /iʳ↘/
iír /iʳ↗/
or /ʊʳ/


Combinations:

ea, eu, ae are spelled irregularly, to contrast with ía, iá, ío, iú, ái and .

ea / iæ/
eu /iʊː/
ae /æeˑ/
aer /æeʳː/


Other dipthongs include:

ie /iə/ íe /i↘ə/
ei /əiˑ/ or /ʌiˑ/ ui /ʊi/
úi /ʊ↘i/ /ʊ↗i/
ái /æ↘i/ / æ↗i/
ía /i↘æ/ /i↗æ/
ío /i↘ɔˑ/ /i↗ʊ/


Syllable and Word Structure

draga Syllables are formed as follows:

C1 = Any Consonsant, or †Cluster ; V = Any Vowel or Compound ; C2 = Any Final Consonant: ( f, m, w, p", s, c, x, ñ, q)

  • V (/ʔ/).
  • C2.
  • C1 - V (/ʔ/).
  • C1 - C2.
  • C1 - V - C2.

†Allowable Consonant Clusters: pw, py, phw, phy, phl, tw, tl, jw, zw, z', qhw, qhl, xw, xl (sl), fw/hw, hl, hy, gw, gy, ml, lw, ly, bw, by


draga Words (Roots) are typically 2-4 syllables in length, and generally begin with any sound but g /ɦ/. The phone e /ə/ is thus far unattested as a final vowel. Many Roots may also have more than one related form, which are pretty much interchangeable and are selected for by context, e.g. ftyeañ /f. ʈiæɲ/, might alternatively be pronounced 'ftyañ' /f. ʈæˑɲˑ/, or 'ftyaña' /f. ʈæ. ɲæ/. Orthographically, this phenomenon is very much up in the air, since the language is typically written in a native script. There is much debate around whether certain "standard" forms of words should be written at all times, or whether actual or intended pronunciation should be indicated. Thus far, it seems the "standardizers" have the upper hand in the debate - however, this comes at the expense of learning-accuracy.


Root Morphology

draga Roots fall into a single category, i.e. there is no noun-verb distinction. Neither are there adjectives nor adverbs. All morphological functions are available for modification of any Root. Aspectual concepts actually appear as individual Roots in draga. The primary modifications of draga Roots are locative (position / direction) and genitive (relationship), but of course there are many others:


Pronominal

-xeañ / -(y)ac 1st Person Exclusive
-weax / -weiaqs 1st Person Inclusive
-mei / -(y)añ *Referent (2nd or 3rd Person)
-lor 3rd Person
-feas 4th Person (Obviate)


  • The Referent is the "person" under discussion, or the "main character", per se. There is no specific Pronominal form for 2p direct address - draga goes to great lengths to avoid this. The Referent is a 3rd person form, whose reference can be "switched" to indicate a 2nd person, i.e. "S/he (which is you)." The referent switches include: mú, -magyi and añmagyi


Locative

Unbound Semi-bound Fully Bound
ie at, in, on, to, toward, from
-yir toward
yr- -tyiar at, in, on
wíar- -pyir successfully to
síar- -swor unsuccessfully toward
jor- -chou (originating) from
-fir in the general direction of
-teyou in a general direction away from


  1. Most commonly, it is the Bound form that is used.
  2. The Semi-bound particles (wíar, síar, jor) usually add emphasis when used to modify a Root. Pronoun-like Roots, however, tend to prefer the semi-bound particles - and the interrogative pronominal 'wañ' ("where?") never takes a bound locative. The semi-bound Locatives are also used to modify whole clauses.
  3. Locatives yr and -tyiar "at,in" are fairly interchangeable, but in this case it is the Bound form -tyiar that is also used for emphasis, rather than the semi-bound particle. Ordinal numbers (7.1) are typically formed with the semi-bound yr, e.g. 'yr-yifa' = "at-1" (i.e. "first").
  4. The unbound Locative 'ie' is a very casual particle that basically conveys the general idea of location or direction. It can also be used in combination with the other locatives for emphasis, specification or re-inforcement: e.g.' ie lyaña-yir = lyaña-yir || ie lyaña-teyou = lyaña-teyou || ie lyaña-tyiar = lyaña-tyiar = ie yr-lyaña .
  5. ie can also mean "from", in context. For example: mú jor-wañ kwae: ("Where are you coming from?") → (ía) ie lyaña ("From home").


Compound Locatives

This set of locatives express relative position rather direction. They are combined forms of 2 parts:


Heads: fwía- "Above", jeuq- "Below", daea- "Level with", qhow- "In front of", qhaw- "Behind", duia- "Next to"

Codas: -da- "Located", -ha- "Touching, Connected or Attached", -sui- "Not touching or attached, disconnected, separate from"


The combined forms appear as prefixes:

fwíada- jeuqda- daeada- qhowda- qhawda- duiada-
fwíaha- jeuqha- daeaha- qhowha- qhawha- duiaha-
fwíasui- jeuqsui- daeasui- qhowsui- qhawsui- duiasui-


Genitive

cr- Of (generic)
hañ- Associated with, Correlated with, Identified with
em- Portion, part of
ho-, húa- Attributed with, Filled with
mes- Composed of
war- Functioning as, In the role of


Articles

Negative

sei, sei- Negative Article


Definite

fae- Plural Definite Article
pha- Strong (Direct) Definite Article
-pa Weak (Iconic) Definite Article



Indefinite

híewa- Indefinite Article
yeya- Generic Article


The usage of the definite and indefinite articles is much different than that of Indo-European languages:

  • The plural article is not used every time more than one is involved. Its use places emphasis on the fact that there are more than one, and usually indicates that in fact several, many or a group are under discussion. It usually does not refer to just two or three.
  • The strong article indicates not only a specific instantiation, but also may point to the specific concept. So, given seahañ 'deer' - the word pha-seahañ can mean "That (those) deer" specifically under discussion, but it can also mean "A deer", e.g. "It is a deer" or "There's a deer"
  • The weak definite article creates a word referencing an iconic or essential form of the concept at hand. Examples of this kind of thing in English would be: "The MAN", "Big Government", "Justice", "The Law", "God", "They", etc. Fittingly, of course, none of those particular examples are concepts that actually exist in the draga language.
  • The indefinite article generally translates to "Any", "Some" or "Whatever". Its meaning is specifically indefinite. It is never used to merely indicate singulars or hypothetical instances.
  • The generic article means "In general". Given seahañ "deer", the word yeya-seahañ means "Deer in general".


Demonstrative

-síaf Reflexive
-tyigi Reciprocal
-fíar Immediate
-qho Proximal
-yelo Peri-Proximal
-bawo Distal
-t'ou Absent



Miscellaneous

Prefixes:

yíama- Approaching / arriving at a state
sama- Departure from a state
hi-, hieñ- Associated action or result
yñ- Individual instance or part of normally grouped items
fía- Multiple manifestations grouped as a single instance; Done totally, completely, to the fullest extent
heu- Using
fi- Upper


Suffixes:

-meu Strongly postive experience
-tui Strongly visceral experience
-phíw Strongly negative experience
-far Similarity
-sieñ Without, Lacking
-kwae One, Thing
-lae Liquid
-jw'áo Done intentionally
-se'ago Done un-intentionally
-xui Name Indicator
-hui One associated with, Do-er of, sim. '-er'
-xa Pleasure
-lyañ Home, Place
-ñou Lower


Classification:

aqa- person: human, animal, spirit, etc.
phoña- plant
dowa- location, situation
hyayou- action, process, occurrence, state
hío- Tool
sbor- spatial area; integral portion, body part
tfuio- (tfoyo-) flat discrete object
xwalo- mass object
peda- long, narrow object
xigi- round object
hyoci- open sided structure
quiyo- box-shaped object
kwú- type, class; ethnic group
sakyií- flying thing
o'ya- container, ceramic, dish
phesqa- textile, clothing
tíeqma- machine



Sentence Structure

Speech Act Particles

Any draqa sentence begins with a Speech Act Particle (SAP), often used in conjunction with a Qualifier. The SAPs fall into three types: Evidentials, Mood Indicators, and Speech Act Indicators. More than one SAP can also be used sometimes at the beginning of a sentence. A complete sentence often may consist of nothing but the Speech Act Particle:


Evidentials

huia 1st Person Objective, i.e. "I experienced it (external perception)"
fwuia 1st Person Visual. i.e. "I witnessed it"
awo 1st Person Auditory, i.e. "It sounds to me like"
ía 1st Person Subjective, i.e. "I experienced it (internal perception)"
skyea-tae 1st Person Psionic i.e. "I know it from a dream, vision, intuition, etc."
ámiña ,i.e. "I heard from someone who said s/he experienced it"
ámiñ-tae ,i.e. "I heard from someone who said s/he witnessed it"
(a') phx-a ,i.e. "I heard from someone unreliable who said s/he experienced it"
phx.a-tae ,i.e. "I heard from someone unreliable who said s/he witnessed it"


Mood Indicators

mpaha Opiniative (Probable) Mood
sempa Opiniative (Negative Probability) Mood
xweña Expectant Mood
qhwui-a 1st Person Imperative Mood
fo Irrealis Mood
(a)skyea Dreaming (Psionic) Mood


Speech Act Indicators

eia Narrative Speech Act
a Subjective (Non-Realis) Speech Act
xe'a Interrogative Speech Act
2nd Person Interrogative Speech Act
sei, es Negative Statement or Negative Imperative Speech Act


Qualifiers

ido- Indicates the Evidential source
añ- Topicalizing Particle
-magyi Indicates a 2nd Person Referent


Syntax

draga makes no noun-verb distinction, so its syntactical pattern cannot be accurately described in terms of VSO, VOS, etc. It might be best defined as head-initial, with a free word order. The syntactical pattern can also be described as a linkage of Predicate - (Relationship Particle) - Argument constructions, which are themselves linked by meta-Relationship Particles. A Predicate will necessarily be present in any construction. The Argument modifies the idea established by a Predicate, and is optional but usual. A Predicate may also be distributed over multiple Arguments. The Relator (relationship particle) explicates the relationship between the Predicate and its Argument, and is also optional in many cases. Often, the relationship may be implied from context. The relationship particles themselves fall into two categories: Genitives and Conjunctions.


Examples: (P=Predicate, R=Relator, A=Argument, RR=meta-Relator)


fwuia phyala
[EVID:1pVis] "grass" (P)
  • "I see (the) grass", "I see it is grass", etc.


fwuia siha
[EVID:1pVis] "green" (P)
  • "I see (the) green", "I see it is green", etc.


fwuia siha cr- phyala
[EVID:1pVis] "green" (P) GEN:"of" (R) "grass" (A)
  • "I see the green (of the) grass", "I see the grass is green"


fwuia siha phyala
[EVID:1pVis] "green" (P) "grass" (A)
  • "I see the green (of the) grass", "I see the grass is green"


fwuia phyala siha
[EVID:1pVis] "grass" (P) "green" (A)
  • "I see green grass"


fwuia siha dañ phyala
[EVID:1pVis] "green" (P) [CONJ:"with respect to"](RR) "grass" (A:P)
  • "I see the grass is green", i.e. "It is green, with respect to the grass"


ía phyala-tyiar
[EVID:1pSubj] "grass"+[Loc] (P)
  • "I am at/on (the) grass"


eia phyala-tyiar cr- woha
[SA:Narr] "grass"+[Loc] (P) [GEN:"of"] (R) "dog" (A)
  • "(The/a) dog (is) in the grass",


eia woha hei phyala-tyiar
[SA:Narr] "dog" (P) [CONJ:"And"] (RR) "grass"+[Loc] (A:P)
  • "(The/a) dog is in the grass", i.e. "It's a dog, and (it's) in the grass"


ía woha phyala-tyiar hei pogi-weiaqs
[EVID:1pSubj] "dog" "grass"+[Loc] (P) [CONJ:"And"] (RR) "playing"+1pIncl (A:P)
  • "I played with a dog in the grass"



Arguments Distributed:

eia laqa kyío haña-chou woha-pyir
[SA:Narr] "stick" (P) "giving" (A:P) "human"+[Orig] (A:A1) "dog" +[Lat] (A:A2)
  • "A human gives a stick to a dog"


This can also be said:

  • eia kyío (cr-)laqa woha-pyir haña-chou:
  • eia woha-pyir kyío (cr-)haña dañ laqa:
  • eia kyío (cr-)woha haña-chou dañ laqa:
  • eia laqa kyío cr-haña woha-pyir:

... et cetera. Note, haña, translates as "human", i.e. "man. woman. girl. boy".



Meta-Relators (Conjunctive Particles)

As discussed above, there are two types Relator particles, Genitive and Conjunctive. A list of Genitive particles can be found in the Root Morphology section above. Some of the Conjuctive Particles include:


dañ "About, Regarding, With respect to, Concerning..."
ou "And correspondingly / correlatedly / provoking..."
pái "Intentionally provoking..."
la.qs.a "Unintentionally provoking..."
z'ou "And of increasing correlation... "
dasi "In response to...", "Motivated by... "
dada "Intending (that)...", "In order to..."
he'ae "And surprisingly..."
chúmae "And unsurprisingly..."
kwmaskwa, msqa "And then / simultaneously / simulfactively..."
m.yamwa "Otherwise... "
saáñ "Rather / Instead / But not... "
ñáwa "However..."
ñúwi "Although / Despite..."
m.miema "Except... "
haf "In comparison to... "


Other Conjunctions

kyá And; And / Or (Inclusive 'Or')
s.ña Exclusive 'or'; Negative 'Or' ("nor")
ñaña Interrogative 'Or' (Inclusive)
ñeya Interrogative 'Or' (Exclusive)
xweu Together with (inclusive emphasis)
xwui Along with (exclusive emphasis)

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Special Roots

There are many Roots in draga whose meanings are often grammaticized in other languages. These include Roots that are Pronomial, Aspectual, that indicate Number, Intensity, Frequency, Consistency and even words with meanings like 1p acting on 2p ("I do to you"), 3p acting on 1p ("S/he does to me"), etc.


Pronominal

phaxeañ 1st person exclusive
phaweiqs 1st person inclusive
phamei Referrent
phalor 3rd Person
phafías Obviate
phawui Demonstrative
híewui Indefinite
wañ Interrogative


Kinship / Relationship

More commonly than Pronominal Roots, especially when talking in the Second person, it is preferable and considered much more sociable to use kinship or other personal-relationship terms:

pea Mother, Mama
peaya Mother, Mother's sibling
fi-pea Mother's younger sibling
pea-ñou Mother's older sibling
fía-fi-pi Mother's youngest sibling
fía-pi-ñou Mother's oldest sibling
mae Grandma
maya Grandmother, Grandmother's sibling
fi-mae Grandmother's younger sibling
mae-ño Grandmother's older sibling
fía-fimae Grandmother's youngest sibling
fía-mae-ñou Grandmother's oldest sibling
wica Younger sibling
wiwica Youngest sibling
píwi Older sibling
pipíwi Oldest sibling
tíowa Cousin
fitíowa Younger cousin
tíowa-ñou Older cousin
twí Offspring, Sibling's offspring
------------
figwi Primary partner
pwouxi "Soul" friend or partner
swae Sexual friend or partner
xaf Survival, domestic friend or partner
sehwiñ Mother's partner
sepaxi Mother's romantic / sexual partner at the time of pregnancy
se'alo Mother's friend
------------
hiñda Acquaintance
hiña Friendly Acquaintance
hui Friend
haxa Very close friend
fago Stranger
xamtií Suitor, Person of mutual interest
twiís Classmate, Fellow, Group member
q"aña Friendly client or customer
q"om Regular client or customer
t'aám Business partner; Co-worker
chakyi Rival
jáo Adversary


Interpersonal Action

xweiañ, xweiam 1p → 2p "I do it to you", "What I did to you"
xweiar 1p → 3p "I do it to her/him", "What I did to her/him"
xweiaf, xweias 1p → 4p "I do it to the other one", "What I did to the other one"
mweiax 2p → 1p "You do it to me", "What you did to me"
mweiar 2p → 3p "You do it to her/him", "What you did to her/him"
mweiaf 1p → 4p "You do it to the other one", "What you did to the other one"
lweiax 3p → 1p "S/he does it to me", "What s/he did to me"
lweiañ, lweiam 3p → 2p "S/he does it to you", "What s/he did to you"
lweiaf 1p → 3p "S/he does it to the other one", "What s/he did to the other one"
feiax 4p → 1p "The other one does it to me", "What the other one did to me"
feiañ, feiam 4p → 2p "The other one does it to you", "What the other one did to you"
feiar 4p → 3p "The other one does it to her/him", "What the other one did to her/him"


Aspectual

yom Progressive "Right now", "Doing it right now"
hae Perfective "[Something that] Has/had/will have been done or completed"
seu Discontinuous "Used to do / was doing, but no longer"
pyío Continuous "Still doing, Keep on doing"
kyila Habitual "Done regularly", "Habit"
------------
kwiha "Not yet", "Something not yet happened", before
kyaha "Already", "Something already completed", after
yom-kwiha "About to begin"
kwiha-yom "Just starting"
yom-kyaha "Finishing up"
kyaha-yom "Just finished"
------------
sya'a "A short time"
íoyo "A long time"
trwa "Ending abruptly, suddenly"
oíwa "Ending gradually"
sya'atr "Short and suddenly ending"
sya'awíw "Short and gradually ending"
íotr "Lengthy and suddenly endling"
íowiíw "Lengthy and gradually ending"



Others

Intensity

úalo , úgalo, lawor Extreme intensity, "Very, very"
skwui High intensity,"Very"
skwaer Moderate intensity, "Moderately"
skwala Mild intensity, "Mildly"
skwemya Low intensity, "Very slightly"
fewa / kyeu Overly-intense, Too (much)
sasa Under-intense, Too little
phweilo Good, "right" intensity or level
áwei(kya) More, More intense
weiwa(kya), wiwi Less, Less intense
ajíawa Of varying/ modulating/ oscillating intensity


Number

fía-fikwo All, every, each
fikwo Most
fíañ Many
kyíeca Some
tío A few
síama Very few
síama-fiq None
fewei Too many
míewei Too few
phweawei Good or "right" number
ajíawei Of varying/ modulating/ oscillating degrees of number
áwei More
wiwi Fewer, Less
zewetya Usual, Quite Often
sbaelo Half the time, Somewhat often or common
sfíoña, safíoñ Infrequent, Unlikely
sfeudiñ Rare, Highly unusual / unlikely


Constistency

wáowo Extremely consistent
íwo Highly consistent
pomwo Moderately consistent
eswo Mildly inconsistent
p"ckya Highly inconsistent
fewo Overly-consistent
síawo Under-consistent
áweiwo More consistent
weiwo Less consistent
phweawawo Good, or "right" consistency, About the same consistency as
ajíawo Of varying/ modulating/ oscillating consistency



Numbers

The draga number system is base-6. During the material height of the draga civilization, a base-30 system was devised and used for hundreds of years alongside the original base-6, and some vestiges can still be found, especially in the writing system and the calendar.

base-6 base-10 base-6 base-10
yifa 01 * pinky 1 ñe-xwae waer (ñxwaewar) 24 16
yeña 02 * add ring 2 ñe-xwae mawo (ñxwaemo) 25 17
dowx(a) 03 * add middle 3 dowx-xwae 30 18
waer 04 * add pointer 4 waer-xwae 40 24
mawo 05 * add thumb 5 mawo-xwae 50 30
xweilo 10 * close fist 6 xwae-xwae / welo 1,00 36
hyawo 11 7 welo-yifa 1,01 37
fawo 12 8 welo-xwae 1,10 42
pií 13 9 yeña-welo 2,00 72
qhowei 14 10 dowxa-welo 3,00 108
amwae 15 11 waer-welo 4,00 144
ñe-xwae 20 12 mago-welo (magwelo) 5,00 180
ñe-xwae yifa (ñxwaefa) 21 13 xwae-welo 10,00 216
ñe-xwae yeña (ñxwaeña) 22 14 welo-welo / wegwelo 1,00,00 1,296
ñe-xwae dowx (ñxwaedow) 23 15 áwolo 1,00,00,00 46,656


The ancient numbers 1-30 are still in use, but are not productive - slightly altered - beyond the number 36, (which is 1,00 in base-6):


1 fe- 11 fada 21 chor
2 ña- 12 faw 22 chomwax
3 da- 13 fm 23 chox
4 wa- 14 fax 24 choiax
5 mye- 15 ofo 25 mema
6 xe- 16 fiáñ 26 fmña
7 hyaá 17 chofañ 27 bada
8 fwuí 18 ñabwi 28 hyawa
9 bií 19 miñaqoei 29 xomi
10 qúi 20 choda 30 xwoufa


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