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