The Relay Museum

axa watalu wa k@ e sa ise xerehan
axa adoyamu wa k@ isiuh xiuhine ihwedy@h hu ta ayera
axa xerehu wa k@ iso nolane ayihxek alayu hu
tah axereha wa na seikimes sayanine inya hu

A great bird, if she sings...
A bird of the river, if she ruffles her feathers in the mist...
A bird of song, if she praises the stars of the night...
Then the song, that every ruler hears it...

axa  watal.u       wa  k@ e   sa  ise xerehan
bird greatness.GEN TOP if she AGT MET sing

axa  a.doyam.u     wa  k@ isiuh xiuhin.e   ihwe.d.y@h
bird DEF.river.GEN TOP if MET   ruffle.3SF feather.COL.3SFn ACC

     ta    a.yera
     in/at DEF.mist

axa  xereh.u  wa  k@ iso nolan.e    ay.ihxe.k   a.lay.u       hu
bird song.GEN TOP if MET praise.3SF DEF.star.PL DEF.night.GEN ACC

tah  a.xereha wa  na  seikime.s sayan.ine in.ya  hu
then DEF.song TOP REL ruler.DIS hear.3P   it.RES ACC

I know it seems odd to introduce an argument as a topic and then use it as an
agent, but it's a classical poetic device in Asiteya called siukat awahangitema
or "doubling the subject". Anyway, I like the parallel structure it gives it.

Asiteya doesn't have adjectives; it uses verbs or genitive nouns.

Only a transitive verb may take an enclitic personal ending, so having a
personal ending implies that the subject is an agent (see note 1). Intransitive,
like in line one, must have a free pronoun.

Notice the metaphoric particle has a different form in each line. This is
because if the particle directly precedes the verb, the final vowel of the
particle is brought into direct vowel harmony with the first syllable of the
verb.

A plain relative clause (like in line 4) is often understood as "May (something
happen)".

Pronunciation : x = English sh; vowel + h = breathy aspirated vowel (in Standard
dialect) / voiceless vowel (in Northern dialect); r = tap; t, d, and n are
dental; @ = mid central vowel; other vowels approximately Italian.

I don't think Asiteya has gender per se, but there are a number of items and
concepts that for cultural reasons I haven't yet fully explored take the
feminine pronoun, especially in poetry.

I still haven't found where understanding birdness came to include something
about a ruler, though I think it's neat how a bird "washing its clothes" mutated
into ruffling its feathers.