Draga
This page provides an overview of the draqa (or, "draga", pron. '/t◌̪ɚ. æ. ɦæ/' ) language, and some of its lexical items. Draga is my own personal conlang, and is in daily use by a speakership of one. It is intended to useable by human beings, but I wanted to break a few universals in the process. The phonology comes from analysis of my personal random "babbling". I also wanted to pursue ways of thinking mostly alien to my native language (English) and culture (American), and create a better vehicle for expressing certain personal, perhaps "mystic" experiences in everyday speech. The "lofty" goals, however, are relatively recent. Originally, it was just something fun to do.
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 the 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 1.000 years of that cataclysm, Qhrya was completely sacked, leaving fewer than 2,000 souls to wander for almost 200 years. Finding no respite, apparently the nation astrally projected themselves en masse into a parallel reality, where they have continued to thrive. The prophecies say that eventually the nation will reincarnate into this world in the 20th, 21st and 22nd centuries, at first scattered across the continents but eventually re-unified into a small nation again.
The draga are a dream-travelling people, whose primary mode of long-distance (as well as inter-dimensional and temporal) travel is astral-projection. Hence, culturally and linguistically, they are easily adapted to "primitive", "high-tech" and even "psychic" environments.
Phonetic Inventory
Consonants
labial | dental | alveolar | palatal | velar | post-velar | glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
plosives: | pʼ (p) | t_ | tʼtz ʈ | cʼ(c) | kʷ kʲ | q | ʔ | |
aspirates: | pʰ | tʰ | cʰ | qʰ | ||||
fricative: | f (ʰɸ) | (ð) | s | ʃ (ç) | (x) | ʜ ɦ | ||
liquids: | w | l | j | |||||
trills: | ʙ̥ | r̥ | ʀ̥ | |||||
nasals: | m | (n_) | (n) | ɲ | ||||
implosives: | ɓ (ʘʷ) | ǃ |
Vowels
i | ʊ | |||||||||||
ʷɔˑ | ||||||||||||
ə(ʌ) | ɚ | |||||||||||
æ |
Orthography / Phonological Considerations
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. Traditionally, draga is written in a native alphabetic script that is supplemented by many logographs which are used to represent the most frequently used particles and lexemes. For some unfathomable reason, there is also a rare transliteration scheme which utilizes the Coptic alphabet.
Consonants
p | [pʼ] or [p] | ph | [pʰ] | ||||
d | [t_] initially ; [d_] or [ð] medially ; [ð] after 'ñ': ñd [n_ð] | ||||||
t' | [tʼ] | t | [tʰ] | ty | [ʈ] | ||
c | [cʼ] or [c] | ch | [cʰ] | ||||
q | [q] | qh | [qʰ] | kw | [kʷ] | ky | [kʲ] |
f | [f], [ʰɸ] before 'w': fw [ʰɸw] | ||||||
s | [s] | j | [tʼz] or [tz] | x | [ʃ] | ||
m | [m] | ||||||
ñ | [ɲ], [n_] before 'd': ñd [n_ð] | ||||||
w | [w], [ʘʷ] (bilabial click) following initial syllabic 'm': mw [mʘʷ] | ||||||
l | [l] | ||||||
y | [j] | ||||||
h | [ʜ], [x] before 'l' or 'w', [ç] before 'y' | g | [ɦ] (voiced /h/) | ||||
b | [ɓ] (bilabial implosive) | ||||||
z | [ǃ] (alveolar implosive, i.e. click) | ||||||
p" | [ʙ̥] (voiceless bilabial trill) | ||||||
t" | [r̥] (voiceless alveolar trill) | ||||||
q" | [ʀ̥] (voiceless post-velar trill) | ||||||
' | [ʔ] ; or abbreviated spelling of certain prefixes: x'-, h'-, f'- |
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↘] | ií | [i↗] |
a | [æ] | á | [æ↘] | aá | [æ↗] |
o | [ʊ] | ú | [ʊ↘] | uú | [ʊ↗] |
e | [ʌ] or [ə] | ||||
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 aí.
ea | [iæ] |
eu | [iʊː] |
ae | [æeˑ] |
aer | [æeʳː] |
Other dipthongs include:
ie [iə] | íe [i↘ə] | |
ei [ʌiˑ] or [əiˑ] | ui [ʊi] | |
úi [ʊ↘i] | uí [ʊ↗i] | |
ái [æ↘i] | aí [æ↗i] | |
ía [i↘æ] | iá [i↗æ] | |
ío [i↘ɔˑ] | iú [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)
(C1) - (V) - (C2 |/ʔ/)
- 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 formally as a final vowel, and the phone ' /ʔ/ never ends a word. 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: There is some debate around whether certain "standard" forms of words should be written at all times, or whether actual or intended pronunciation should be indicated.
Additional Notes: 1. Syllabicized (C2) consonants are fully realized, and do not tend to become consonant clusters: sqa is pronounced [s. qæ], ewjo is pronounced [əˑw. tzʊ]. (The primary exception is mw in "lazy" speech: [mʘʷ]) Like the vowels i/í, a/á, and o/ú, they generally receive an even stress. 2. Unaccented (median-pitched) vowels which follow a rising or falling contour, are pronounced at the final pitch of the contour. e.g. píawañ-ciñ all vowels after í are median-pitched, fbaíyac the a after the í is high-pitched. 3. The Rhoticized vowels tend to be pronounced at a slightly lower pitch than other unaccented vowels. 4. The vowel ou is always low-pitched, and resets the median pitch to the speaker's baseline even when following a pitch contour.
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 theoretically available for modification of any Root. Aspectual concepts actually appear as individual Roots in draga (but are also often expressed using locative constructions). 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 |
-magyi | 2nd Person |
-mei / -(y)añ | *Referent (2nd or 3rd Person) |
-lor | 3rd Person Animate/ Abstract |
-kwui | 3rd Person Inanimate |
-feas | 4th Person (Obviate) Animate/ Abstract |
-kwuifes | 4th Person (Obviate) Inanimate |
- The Referent is the "person" under discussion, or the "main character", per se. In classic draga there was no specific Pronominal form for 2p direct address, and it's use is still relatively infrequent - primarily for clarity, emphasis or endearment. The Referent is a 3rd person form (animate, abstract or inanimate), whose reference can be "switched" to indicate a 2nd person, i.e. "S/he (which is you)." The referent switches include: mú, m and añmagyi.
Examples: (fbaí "table", skyá "running", phuia "joy", siha "green")
- fbaí-xeañ "My table"
- skyá-weiaqs "Our running", "We run/ran"
- phuia-lor "His/her joy", "S/he is happy"
- siha-yañ "It's green-ness", "It is green", "Her/your green (-ness) (-ing) (thing)", etc.
N.B. fbaí literally refers to any surface, upon which (things) may rest.
Locative
Unbound | Semi-bound | Fully Bound | ||
ie | -qor | at, in, on, to, toward, from | ||
yr- | -yir | toward | ||
fwor-, yr- | -dae | at, in, on | ||
hyañ- | -pyir | successfully to | ||
sor- | -sear | unsuccessfully toward | ||
jwor- | -tyui, -chou | (originating) from | ||
-fir | in the general direction of | |||
-teyou | in a general direction away from |
Examples: (lyaña "home", kyíafa "understanding", phuia "joy")
- lyaña-yir (lyañ-yir) "Toward home", "Going home"
- kyíafa-sear "Try unsuccessfully to understand"
- phuia-tyui "Originating from (a place of ) joy," e.g. within one'sself, etc.
Notes:
- Most commonly, it is the Bound form that is used.
- The Semi-bound particles (fwor, sor, jwor) 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.
- Ordinal numbers (7.1) are typically formed with the semi-bound yr, e.g. 'yr-yifa' = "at-1" (i.e. "first").
- 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-dae = lyaña-dae = ie yr-lyaña .
- ie can also mean "from", in context. For example: mú jwor-wañ: ("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- |
Examples: (sbaí "table")
- fwíada-sbaí - "(Somewhere) above the top the table"
- fwíaha-sbaí - "On top of the table"
- fwíasui-sbaí - "Above the table (not touching it)"
Genitive
(cr-), xr-, x- | 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 |
- Note: draga constructions are head-inital, i.e. X cr-Y would mean "X of Y". There is a finalizing particle, 'dei' , which allows for the transformation of the structure: cr-Y dei X. Incidentally, the formal word is cr-, but it is usually pronounced xr- or x-, and generally written x' .
Examples: (skyá "running", seahañ "deer", hlui "light", aqa "person, i.e. a focal perspective", fañta "wall", píoñ "stone", )
- skyá xrseahañ - "Deer's running"
- seahañ ho-skyá - "Deer which is running"
- hlui hañ-aqa - "Light-Body", "light which is also or correlates to (the) person"
- fañta mes-píoñ - "Wall made of stone"
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- | -seaf | Reflexive |
- | -tyigi | Reciprocal |
fr- | -fir | Immediate |
qhwo- | -kwo | Proximal |
yelo- | Peri-Proximal | |
báwo- | Distal | |
t'ou- | -tou | Absent |
Examples: (aqa "person", phuia "joy")
- aqa-seaf "The person her/himself"
- phuia-seaf "Self-joy, enjoy one's self"
- aqa-tyigi "Those reciprocating each other"
- phuia-tyigi "Enjoy each other, Give each other joy"
- fr-aqa "This person here, me"
- phuia-fir "This (immediate) joy"
- t'ou-aqa "Person who is not here"
- phuia-tou "Joy which is (perhaps figuratively) 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, (-se'ao) | Done un-intentionally |
-xui | Name Indicator |
-hui | One associated with, Do-er of, sim. '-er' |
-xa | Pleasure |
-lyañ | Home, Place |
-ñou | Lower |
-kyeax | System |
-jir | Capability, Ability |
-ci | Principalia, Secret, Mystery, Foundation, Theory |
Classification:
aqa- | person: human, animal, spirit, etc. |
phoña- | plant |
dowa- | location, situation |
hayou- | 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 |
mú | 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 described as head-initial, with a free word order.
- The syntactical pattern can also be described (perhaps more confusingly) 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.
- Typical roles of "Agent", "Patient", "Subject", "Object", et cetera, are not grammatically marked in draga. These roles are not necessarily important in the "whole-picture"-view of the culturally draga perspective, especially since they are often apparent from context. The concepts however, can be very clearly expressed by use of locative constructions, or (even more frequently) conjunctive particles. Single-word clauses are not at all unusual in draga, since any given Root is implicitly both active and substantive.
So... for years I've tried to describe draga sentence structure in "technical" or "scientific"-type terminology, but it has been so unintuitive with regards to how the language is actually used to translate thoughts into sounds. Very little gets done this way. draga really does have quite a simple structure, probably better described in terms of its regular sentence patterns:
ía ... / mú ...
This is a very basic, common and useful sentence pattern. Learn a few vocabulary words and you can begin very rudimentary draga conversation. The Speech Act Particle (SAP) ía means I experience(d) it internally or subjectively. The SAP mú is used to ask a question where you (2nd person) are the subject. Thus:
- ía sofa: I am content.
- mú phui: Are you happy?
- mú yrlyaña: Are you (going) toward home?
- ía lyañadae: I am at home.
- mú skyá: Are you running? Do you run?
- ía haña: I am (a) human/person -or- I experience (that it was) a person/human. So, further clarification (See Root Morphology):
- ía hañatui: I experience (that it was) a person.
- ía yíamhaña: I [experience(d)] becoming-a-human. i.e. I am human. But this more likely means "I am becoming human":
- ía yíamhaña hae: I becoming-a-human have-done-it(perfective). Which fully clarifies "I am (a) human" .
The word hae belongs to a class of words that are phrase-final forms of specific roots. These forms always appear only at the end of a phrase, and cannot be modified by prefix or suffix. hae is the phrase final form of hañ which means "Something that has (already) been done or completed":
- mú hañ: / mú hae: Have you done it (yet)?
A couple other useful phrase finals: kyae (kyeañ) Need or want, sae (sei) No, not
- mú sofa kyae: Do / don't you need contentment?
- ía sae: Not me. It wasn't me. It's not mine. etc.
fwuia ...
a ... h' ...
a ... dañ ...
fo ... ( a ... )
xe'a wañ ... ( dañ ... )
xe'a ... ( dao ... )
a ...
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) |
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 Animate/ Abstract |
phakwui | 3rd Person Inanimate |
phafías | Obviate Animate/ Abstract |
phakwuiaf | Obviate Inanimate |
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, paí | Mother, Mama |
paya | Mother, Mother's sibling |
fi-pea, fipaí | Mother's younger sibling |
pea-ñou, paí-ño | Mother's older sibling |
fía-fi-paí | Mother's youngest sibling |
fía-paí-ño | 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 | Lover, 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 |
Temporary immediate 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
xweiam, xwemi | 1p Excl. → 2p | "I do it to you", "What I did to you" |
xweiar, xir | 1p Excl. → 3p | "I do it to her/him", "What I did to her/him" |
xweiaf | 1p Excl. → 4p | "I do it to the other one", "What I did to the other one" |
------------ | ||
phweiañ | 1p Incl. → 3p | "We do it to her/him", "What we did to them" |
phweiaf | 1p Incl. → 4p | "You do it to the other one", "What we did to the other one" |
------------ | ||
mweiax, mwexi | 2p → 1p | "You do it to me/us", "What you did to me/us" |
mweiar, mir | 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, lwix | 3p → 1p | "S/he does it to me/us", "What s/he did to me/us" |
lweiañ, lwim | 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/us", "What the other one did to me/us" |
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" | |
wíwa | "Ending gradually" | |
sya'atr | "Short and suddenly ending" | |
sya'awíw | "Short and gradually ending" | |
íotr | "Lengthy and suddenly endling" | |
íowiw | "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 |
phwíawo | 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 |
Useful Expressions
a píawañ ciñ: | Hello, Goodbye |
a cawa: | Thank you, Your welcome, Please, It's okay |
mú wañ: | How are you? What's up with ya? |
ía phuia: | I'm happy |
ía phíw: | I'm not doing so well |
ía xapo: | All's well, I'm chillin' |
fo mae: | Excuse me, May I?, Help! |
a jwae: | Yes |
a seiañ: | No |
ía meqeña: | I'm hungry |
mú meqeña: | Are you hungry? |
mú fwae: | Do you like it? Would you recommend it? |
ía fwae: | I like it |
a hleu: | How nice! Beautiful! |
qhwúi! a jwae: | Let's do it! |
kyeafasae: | I don't know |
íasefwae: | I don't like it |
ía ñamaxa-meu: | I very much enjoy the meal |
fei-acawa:, acawafei: | Thank You Universe! (Almost like "Thanks be to God" or "Thank (you) God") |
xe'a wañ mieqs dañ... | Where can I find ... |
xe'a wañ t'aí dañ... | Which way to ... |
xe'a wañ dañ fou: | What's up with the cannabis - (could you pass it please?) |
añ dañ phíacaxou-papeloxui ("The Tower of Babel") | .mp3
a phawui pei -
eia fe'alatew dañ pígwokyeax ho-feañsieñ dirxeñamesis:
eia cada x'kyíeñewapa, hei hyañ-doasbaí húahamorxiñdarxui, hei yíamphalyaña-mei:
eia pígwotyigi, báwa - "qhwui! a xígwo, hei heuxaeq dañ phawui,
hei píoñ war quiokwae, hei lofoña war cwae":
eia pígwotyigi, báwa - "qhwui! a pehwo, hei xígwo dañ phíacalyañ xwui phaphíaca húa-úaloxou":
h'báwa - "yíamhíesda-skwaer dañ xeñaweiaqs: h'xweña, fo phawuisieñ ou yamargya-daqtew yíamxqaweipaweiaqs":
eia fwíatyui YaHWaHoxui, dada yíamkyeafalor dañ xígwo-phahaña, hei phíacalyañ xwui phíaca-xou:
eia pígwo YaHWaHoxui, báwa - "qoei! a-wui dañ haña":
h'báwa - "añfe'alatew fwuia dañ phakyíeñewa: añfe'alatew fwuia dañ hyiírxñ:
fwuia añpehwo hokwihayom, ou phyáoqo sei jiwa dañ híewajorga-mei":
báwa - "fo jeuqyir-xeañ, hei phapígwomei xqemi x'phayac, dada kyíafasieñtyigi hañpígwo-mei":
eia wui YaHWaHoxui, pái fíaxqaweipa-fñmei yamargya-daqtew,
he'eia sehae x'phíacalyañ hopapoloxui-dirxeña, dasi ie yr-mieqspa xqemi-YaHWaHoxui dirpígwo,
ou mieqspachou yíámfíaxqaweipa-hañapa, hei yarmargya-daqtew: