This is the greeting that I sent out on the Conlang Exchange Cards. I should record it as I found the text in my wastepaper basket without making a record of it. Especially since the language after two years has not standardised.
Hastâ uba, sole ya, nin yule
Ya tai ten íhí shúa shradiim e nas
Sha ko kem mera ya lastes hastât
Pocheno piedí ye nas dansa lechon nin gâ
Nin nuan lehú penan shaklútí ye kata
Údin kuatok a lastes brat raran!
Kam ten ítí shim pena wiô ye (yí) kembí, tai laston dâyet lúb.
Stand still, O sun, in the sky
Let there be light in our hearts
As long as summer's day lasts
May our feet dance lightly on the earth
In the dark forest at the end of time
A summer flower brings joy!
If there is winter in your life, then summer returns.
Note to self, the phrase sha ko kem literally means 'only because that'.
All three forms of the accompanitive preposition ya, ye, yí are used here. Ya for the masculine and neuter possessor in a nominative and accusative phrase; ye for the masculine and neuter possessor in an oblique phrase; and yí for the feminine possessor. It took me a while to master this so there is some variation in grammar of the cards.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
Sabbath day at the blue synagogue
The stem for the word for blue is blo, from a Scandanavian language I believe. It looks too obvious to me. I had been toying with the idea that the stem should be bol. Not a foolish idea as one rule I use is that words that end in -o in parent languages become the neuter-gender words ending in -on in Shente. Blue in Shente would be bol, bola, bolon in masculine, feminine and neuter forms.
I recognised a couple of culture words for the Shente. They have a building in their communities called a shagoga, it's a place for the teaching and practice of ritual doctrines. It comes from Greek word synagoge, probably from Teach Yourself New Testament Greek.
From the same source is evidence that they observe a sabbath day as they have the word sambaton. So they appear to keep some form of ritual law-code.
I recognised a couple of culture words for the Shente. They have a building in their communities called a shagoga, it's a place for the teaching and practice of ritual doctrines. It comes from Greek word synagoge, probably from Teach Yourself New Testament Greek.
From the same source is evidence that they observe a sabbath day as they have the word sambaton. So they appear to keep some form of ritual law-code.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Eclectic Language Made Simple
I have finished making notes on Italian and Spanish Made Simple. New ideas arise...
The pronoun system becomes more complex. I had wondered what had happened to the second person plural was after the honorific kembí entered the language. The example of Spanish suggests that it survives as the plural form of the familiar pronoun ako.
I have also learned some conculture about the People. Their mid-day meal is merenda in the early afternoon. I haven't discovered whether they also practice a mid-day nap. Perhaps they are going to turn out to be a Mediterranean climate culture.
I need to do some more writing on grammar of this language. Where to start?
The pronoun system becomes more complex. I had wondered what had happened to the second person plural was after the honorific kembí entered the language. The example of Spanish suggests that it survives as the plural form of the familiar pronoun ako.
I have also learned some conculture about the People. Their mid-day meal is merenda in the early afternoon. I haven't discovered whether they also practice a mid-day nap. Perhaps they are going to turn out to be a Mediterranean climate culture.
I need to do some more writing on grammar of this language. Where to start?
Thursday, July 7, 2011
An Occasional Word: Duona Blaneta
Duona Blaneta, New Year. New Year Celebrations.
Dachant Duonan Blanetan, To celebrate New Year.
I have been working my way through a dictionary of Bislama looking for words that expand the lexicon and the use of words in Bâha. I found this word and decided it worked perfectly. In Bislama it is Boname, an obvious borrowing from French administrators in Vanuatu, who would have called it Bonne Annee.
It works equally as well for the Shente, who call it Duona Blaneta, Good Year. In their calendar they mark the beginning of the month at the new moon. The first new moon after the winter solstice is observed as the beginning of the new year. The Shente count off five days then light fires and celebrate that at the cold of the year they are calling back the sun and the days are getting longer.
If their seasons are in tune with mine then that is what they are doing around this time. Dachú Duonan Blanetan!, Celebrate the New Year!
Dachant Duonan Blanetan, To celebrate New Year.
I have been working my way through a dictionary of Bislama looking for words that expand the lexicon and the use of words in Bâha. I found this word and decided it worked perfectly. In Bislama it is Boname, an obvious borrowing from French administrators in Vanuatu, who would have called it Bonne Annee.
It works equally as well for the Shente, who call it Duona Blaneta, Good Year. In their calendar they mark the beginning of the month at the new moon. The first new moon after the winter solstice is observed as the beginning of the new year. The Shente count off five days then light fires and celebrate that at the cold of the year they are calling back the sun and the days are getting longer.
If their seasons are in tune with mine then that is what they are doing around this time. Dachú Duonan Blanetan!, Celebrate the New Year!
Friday, May 27, 2011
How to learn an eclectic language
The conlang list was talking about this link a week ago as I write. Without considering the debate on the list I wondered how the sentences would work in Bâha:
Ta yablok tí kidmit, The apple is red.
Ta tí yablok a Yônú, It is John's apple.
Bodú dô ta yablok kapena Yône, I give the apple to John.
Nas dôyen ta yablok kapena tamú, We give him the apple.
Ta dôt ten kapena Yône, He gives it to John.
Da dôt ten kapena damú, She gives it to her.
Bodú mí múhant dôyant ten kapena tamú, I must give it to him.
Bodú wol dôyant ten kapena damú, I want to give it to her.
Well, creating the sentences and comparing them proved to be an interesting exercise. The first sentence shows how to use a predicative adjective, although says nothing about attributive adjectives. The rest of the first group of sentences give examples of various pronouns with number and gender and how they work. More enquiry would fill in more gaps. There is no example of a noun as subject. It also shows that Bâha declines nouns. From the examples above a learner has all the forms of the present tense finite verb, which is lucky.
And, my god, this is a long-winded language, especially when auxiliaries are used!
I think the theory has merit. A learner could be introduced to a language. It would take longer to master it, at least to the point ordering beer!
Ta yablok tí kidmit, The apple is red.
Ta tí yablok a Yônú, It is John's apple.
Bodú dô ta yablok kapena Yône, I give the apple to John.
Nas dôyen ta yablok kapena tamú, We give him the apple.
Ta dôt ten kapena Yône, He gives it to John.
Da dôt ten kapena damú, She gives it to her.
Bodú mí múhant dôyant ten kapena tamú, I must give it to him.
Bodú wol dôyant ten kapena damú, I want to give it to her.
Well, creating the sentences and comparing them proved to be an interesting exercise. The first sentence shows how to use a predicative adjective, although says nothing about attributive adjectives. The rest of the first group of sentences give examples of various pronouns with number and gender and how they work. More enquiry would fill in more gaps. There is no example of a noun as subject. It also shows that Bâha declines nouns. From the examples above a learner has all the forms of the present tense finite verb, which is lucky.
And, my god, this is a long-winded language, especially when auxiliaries are used!
I think the theory has merit. A learner could be introduced to a language. It would take longer to master it, at least to the point ordering beer!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Reading and Writing
After watching the thread on this theme on the Conlang list I went and looked up these words in Bâha. To read, recite, or learn, is lehant, and to write is kiribant.
yao/bodú les/kirib, I read, I write.
nas/te lehen/kiriben, we, they read, write.
X lest/kirift, X reads, X writes (X can be any other pronoun or noun).
Lehant is borrowed from Germanic, kiribant from Romance with some changes to the stem that reflect influences from similar forms in other languages.
Related verbs to kiribant are nakiribant, to finish writing, and shakiribant to make notes, to note down. Kiriba, a feminine noun, means writing, usually as read on a page.
Out of curiosity I looked up the same words in Maori. To read is korero pukapuka, to talk book, and to write is tuhi or tuhituhi, which if I understand it correctly, originally meant to stitch patterns into a wall panel. I think both of those are kind of cool.
yao/bodú les/kirib, I read, I write.
nas/te lehen/kiriben, we, they read, write.
X lest/kirift, X reads, X writes (X can be any other pronoun or noun).
Lehant is borrowed from Germanic, kiribant from Romance with some changes to the stem that reflect influences from similar forms in other languages.
Related verbs to kiribant are nakiribant, to finish writing, and shakiribant to make notes, to note down. Kiriba, a feminine noun, means writing, usually as read on a page.
Out of curiosity I looked up the same words in Maori. To read is korero pukapuka, to talk book, and to write is tuhi or tuhituhi, which if I understand it correctly, originally meant to stitch patterns into a wall panel. I think both of those are kind of cool.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Pronoun notes: There is
Bâha has a number of rules about saying 'there is'. I'm settling down to this contrast. Ten ítí, literally 'it is (at)'. If somebody asks if there is a port in the village, you can say 'there is, it exists,' which is what the first sentence means. If you are going to point something out then the topic marker is used to mean 'there is'.
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