The Relay Museum

Miri Tuli jeNaja

Padariz me desa u xuiri qiut.
Lirkarin ja xuiriz,
 te megarin me kuanadri,
 te tagarin ja nusuz.
Me takki qiut,
 teptarin me rev ja nusuz.
Taka ve rev javarin me levor namaz sze sera.
I hravatin na lé me luxi tuli me manta u rev,
 te lupatiz ké, me luxi tuli.

Pronunciation:
/'pada4Iz m@ 'dEsa u 'xwi4i 'Njut/
/'K\irka4In Za 'xwi4Iz t@ mEga4In m@ kwa'nadrI t@ 'taga4In Za 'nusuz/
/m@ 'takkI 'Njut 'tEpta4In m@ 'rEv Za 'nusuz/
/'taka v@ 'rEv 'Zava4In m@ K\@'vOr 'namaz S@ 'sE4a/
/'i 'r_oavatIn na 'K\e m@ 'K\uxI 'tuK\I m@ 'manta u 'rEv/
/t@ 'K\upatIz 'ke m@ 'K\uxI 'tulI/

The Words of the Great Spirit

I was standing in the middle of a dark place.
I cried out in the darkness,
 lost my hearing,
 and departed in silence.
In the distance,
 I made the world in the silence.
There in the world I found my place with the people.
They called me "Holy Spirit" all over the world,
 and they admired me, the sacred spirit.

miri tuli je  -naja
adj  n    POSS-n

pada -ri -z   me  desa u   xuiri qiut
v    -EXP-IMP OBJ n    GEN adj   n

lirka-ri -n  ja   xuiri-z   te   mega-ri -n
v    -EXP-PF conj v    -IPF conj v   -EXP-PF

me  kuana-adri te   taga-ri -n  ja   nusu-z
OBJ v    -n    conj v   -EXP-PF conj v   -IPF

me  takki qiut, tepta-ri -n  me  rev ja   nusu-z
OBJ adj   n     v    -EXP-PF OBJ n   conj v   -IPF

taka ve   rev java-ri -n  me  le  -vor nama-z   sze  sera
adv  prep n   v   -EXP-PF OBJ POSS-n   v   -IPF prep n

i        hrava-ti -n  na  lé   me  luxi tuli me  manta u   rev
pron-AGE v    -OBS-PF DAT pron OBJ adj  n    OBJ n     GEN n

te   lupa-ti -z   ké,  me  luxi tuli
conj v   -OBS-IPF pron OBJ adj  n

adri [n] ability, power
desa [n] middle, center
hrava [v] call, name (direct object: the name, indirect object: the one
being named)
i [pron] he, she, it, they
ja [conj] while, as, in
java [v] find out, discover
je- [poss] his, her, its, their
ké [pron] me (object case)
kuana [v] hear
le- [poss] my
lé [pron] I, me
lirka [v] cry out, shout, yell
lupa [v] admire
luxi [n] sacred, holy
manta [n] throughout, all over
mega [v] lose, misplace
miri [v] great, wonderful, excellent
naja [n] word
nama [v] be located
nusu [v] silent
pada [v] stand
qiut [n] place, site
rev [n] world
sera [n] folk, people
sze [prep] with, together with
taga [v] depart, leave
taka [adv] there
takki [v] distant
te [conj] and
tepta [v] build, construct, make
tuli [n] spirit, ghost
ve [prep] at
vor [n] place, range, extent, realm, field
xuiri [v] dim, dark, unlit

Typical word order is SVO. Adjectives and adverbs precede the words they
modify.

Nouns have six cases. The case of a noun is signified by a particle at the
beginning of the noun phrase. Some pronouns have fused with the case
markers into a single word. Nouns have no distinct forms for singular or
plural.

Noun cases:
subject (not used in this text)
agent (se)
co-agent (ke) -- (not used in this text)
object (me) -- object of a transitive verb, also used as a locative case
(some verbs may have two objects: a direct object and a locative)
dative (na) -- indirect object
genitive (u) -- object of a locative noun (among other uses)

Verbs are inflected for aspect, mode, and evidential. Tense is deduced from
the combination of evidential suffix and aspect, but the only two
evidentials used here are typically used in the past tense. Verbs in
dependent clauses may lack an evidential marker, but they are obligatory in
the main clause. Verbs are also used in uninflected form as adjectives.

Evidentials:
-ri- EXP: Personal experience. The subjject pronoun is normally omitted when
this evidential is used, and assumed to be "I".
-ti- OBS: Personal observation.

Aspect:
-n PF: Perfective. Events seen as a whoole; completed events.
-z IPF: Imperfective. Events in progresss; continuing events.