| Torch: |
Dehosza szaszizuren szeqasen.
Derahat na verahiz, na szaéqazis,
ko zekariye narat besaziz,
ko szeszezat na mezariz.
Szeszezat yebiruye vesore bedaziz.
Narat vesorat reszore meraniz.
Vesorat na yehevis na,
ko na hesaris na,
rakaéna derahat.
|
| Smooth translation: |
God of the silent word.
I was in the Shadow, I cried in the darkness,
and thus lost my hearing,
and departed from the silence.
In silence I bargained for a faraway forest.
I discovered the people in my forest.
I named myself in the wood,
and I saluted myself,
the Sower of Shadows.
|
| Interlinear |
If part-of-speech isn't given, assume it's a noun. :-p
Derahat szaszizuren szeqazen.
loc/inal-poss adj:al-poss. al-poss
(al-poss = alienable posessive, inal-poss = inalienable possessive)
Derahat na verahiz, na szaéqazis,
loc/inal-poss vol-actor past:reportive vol-actor past:reportive/instrumental
(the last word has a + e-with-acute-accent)
(vol = voluntary, invol = involuntary)
ko zekariye narat besaziz,
conj invol-actee loc/inal-poss past:reportive
ko szeszezat na mezariz.
conj loc/inal-poss vol-actor past:reportive
Szeszezat yebiruye vesore bedaziz.
loc/inal-poss adj:vol-actee vol-actee past:reportive
Narat vesorat reszore meraniz.
loc/inal-poss loc/inal-poss vol-actee past:reportive
Vesorat na yehevis na,
loc/inal-poss vol-actor past:reportive reflexive
ko na hesaris na,
conj vol-actor past:reportive reflexive
rakaéna derahat.
vol-actor loc/inal-poss
|
| Glossary/mini dictionary |
verbs: dynamic/static
bedazu: to bargain/seek advantage
besazu: to lose (something)/be derelict, not pay attention
dehosza: god
deraha: shadow, void (in the Book of Five Rings elemental sense)
hesaru: to salute/honor
ko: and, also
meranu: to search/discover, find
mezaru: to depart/grieve
na: first person pronoun, I or we
rakaéna: sower
reszora: people, army, clan
szaéqazu: to sing/speak (intensive form)
szaszizu: silent(ly), unobtrusive(ly), adj/adv from
szeszazu, to be silent/disappear
szeqaza: word
verahu: to stand/be stable, reliable
vesora: forest
yebiru: faraway, adj/adv from yebaru, to set out on a journey/walk
yehevu: to take responsibility for/(give a) name
zekara: hearing, noun |
| Grammar notes |
Default word-order is SOV.
Czevraqis has triconsonantal morphology, summarized as follows if it helps:
verb: C_CaCu
adj: C_CiCu
noun: CeC_Ca
where the capital C's are consonants (this includes "sz", a digraph for [S]).
For the blank slots:
verb/adj infix noun
-------------------------------
generic -e- state
causative -aé- doer (professional) (a + e-with-acute-accent, [eI])
instrumental -a- tool
habitual -aí- doer (casual) (a + i-with-acute accent, [aI])
intensive -o- emphatic
attenuative -i- diminutive
An example paradigm:
verbs:
resaru: to rally/lead
raésaru: to cause to rally/lead
rasaru: to rally/lead in order to..., or with the result that...
raísaru: to rally/lead habitually/usually
rosaru: to rally/lead!!!
risaru: to rally/lead diffidently, only a little
adjectives:
resiru: charismatic
etc.
nouns:
rekera: charisma
rekaéra: leader
rekara: leader (for the moment)
rekaíra: leadership (ability)
rekora: army, tribe, people
rekira: elder sibling
Because the semantics can be quirky at best, I'll give the meaning for
whatever form (causative, state, whatever) appears in the text rather
than leaving it completely up in the air. :-/ The above is more for
edification than slogging-through.
The only verb conjugation that shows up :-] is:
-iz/-is (dynamic/static)
which is past reportive. This is used both for personally experienced
facts and "known facts" (a believer's religious tenets, a philosopher's
"fundamental truths," someone reporting from a known and trusted source).
Adjectives are actually adjective/adverbs. When used to modify nouns,
they keep the -u infinitive/imperative suffix and *add*
noun-declensions. Nouns *drop* the -a "dictionary" suffix (which also
appears as -a, the voluntary-actor suffix) and replace it with the
appropriate inflection.
Noun inflections:
-(y)a: voluntary actor
-(r)iya: involuntary actor
-(y)e: voluntary actee
-(r)iye: involuntary actee
-(r)en: alienable possessive
-(r)at: inalienable possessive or locattive
It's not a very good active language, but it is an active language. :-p
Important note: there are no articles, and no grammatical plural/singular
distinction.
Pronouns are often dropped as sentence-subjects if they are considered to
be clear from context. When used *after* a verb, they are usually reflexive.
Cultural notes:
The "Shadow" in Qenaren culture can be likened to the Void in Musashi's
_Book of Five Rings_. There are 5 elements, divided 3 ways: the elements
that give (water and earth), the elements that take (air and fire), and
shadow, which stands between the first two groups.
The Sower of Shadows is another name for the Shatterer, one of two gods
that dominate Qenaren culture: a trickster and tragedy figure who always
finds a way to bend or break the limits, and suffers for it. (The other
god is the Horned Mare, known as Huntress, Sower of Stars, who rules both
death and birth.) The Shatterer's "people" are the wraiths, who are
similar to the Japanese kami in some ways, and are creatures out of
legend who cast no shadows, never age, and are forever lost once killed.
They are the final arbiters of Qenar's law, sometimes propitiated as gods
themselves, and feared or disbelieved in other lands.
In this recasting the poem undoubtedly refers to the Shatterer's
legendary bargain with the Ghostwolf, Qenar's first marshal (ruler), who
offered the wraiths a home in Qenar's Gatewood so they might be safe from
being hunted as demons, in exchange for a supernatural, literal-minded
and uncorruptible set of guards for Qenar's law and magic.
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