| Torch: |
N'nzal relkerd rir, kilkerd rir, yrkøm rir m'rkoz.
Zenkom d'ndom dydom m'rkoz.
Omom, ziun d'ldal zulan lyzoz zik, m'rkoz.
Akend nyldald yrøm zik m'rkoz.
Møm døerd dyrøm, møldiøm d'ndin.
Riru kald memdez:
"Nø larkuz nimdund?
Markiurd rumduz
Z'mand komom nimdon rir zazuz
Zian kirierd elzøm kiroz." |
| Smooth translation: |
Winter resembles the old, the sick, the children.
It resembles a great hunting cat.
It resembles [a] stone, over which moss cannot grow.
It resembles shameless teeth
Or sharp claws borne for hunting.
Therefore we ask it:
"Are you generous in springtime?
You wander through the kingdom;
You greet the loving god of spring
Who leaves behind green tracks." |
| Glossary/mini dictionary |
akan (n) tooth
d'ldal (n) moss
d'ndan (v) to hunt
døar (n) claw
dydan (v) to be great, large, big
dyran (v) to be sharp
elzan (v) to be green
kal (pron) he/she/it
kilkan (v) to be ill, sick
kiran (v) to drop, leave behind
kiriar (n) track, trail
koman (v) to love
larkan (v) to be generous
lyzan (v) to be able to; can
markan (v) to rule over (as king)
markiar (n) kingdom
memdan (v) to ask, to (pose a) question
møldan (v) to bear (a burden), carry
møm (conj) or
m'rkan (v) to resemble, to be like
nimdan (n) spring, springtime
n'nzal (n) winter, wintertime
nø (part) interrogative marker
nyldal (n) shame
omo (n) stone, rock
relkan (v) to be old, aged
rir (det) definite article (the)
riro (pron) that, that thing (in causative case riru = "because of
that thing" = "therefore")
rumdan (v) to wander
yrko (n) child
yran (v) to have
zazan (v) to greet
zenko (n) cat
zian (pron) that, which, who(m) (used in relative clauses)
zik (adv) not
z'man (n) god
zulan (v) to grow
|
| Grammar notes |
Okaikiar has a general word order of SOV. Actually, it's more like
(EverythingElse)V; the verb usually comes last. It's a highly-inflected
language; there are a large number of noun cases so that many adverbial concepts
which require prepositional phrases in English are a noun in some case in
Okaikiar.
Instead of adjectives, Okaikiar has verbs - e.g. "dydan" which means "to be
great/large". But there's an "attributive mood" so that these verbs can be used
as adjectives without circumlocution; in fact, an attributive verb form can
often replace a relative clause.
Morphology: Nouns
Nouns come in two declensions. Nouns in the first declension have a nominative
singular ending in -aC, where C represnts one of the consonants l, n, or r, and
decline like this:
Sing Pl
Nom -aC -eC subject of verb
Acc -aCd -eCd direct object of verb
Dat -aCk -eCk indirect object of verb
Cau -iC -iC reason for action
Ins -iCd -iCd method of action
Abl -uC -yC movement away from
Loc -uCd -yCd action located at
All -uCk -yCk movement toward
Gen -oC -øC possessive relationship
Nouns in the second declension have a nominative singular ending in -o, and
decline like this:
Sing Pl
Nom -o -ø
Acc -om -øm
Dat -on -øn
Cau -u -y
Ins -um -ym
Loc -im -im
Abl -i -i
All -in -in
Gen -e -i
Morphology: Verbs
Verbs end in -an in the infinitive, which is also a noun (of the first
declension with C=n) referring to an occurrence of the action or the action in
the abstract, like the English gerund. If you replace the -n with an -r, you get
another first-declension noun referring to a doer of the action. This is also
how you get a noun out of an adjective: "dydar" means "someone or something
which is great", or just "a great one". "The meek" in "The meek shall inherit
the earth" is "dumker rir" - "the ones-who-are-meek."
The attributive is formed by replacing the -an with -o, yielding an adjective
which is declined, like a second-declension noun, to agree with the word it
modifies.
Inserting a -i- between the verb stem and the ending results in a passive
construction, flipping the meaning of the verb. Thus lilkan means "to break";
lilkar means "breaker, thing which breaks"; "lilkiar" means "breakee, thing
which is broken"; and "lilkio" is the adjective "broken".
In the indicative, subjunctive, conditional, and imperative moods, the verb
ending also indicates person and number of the subject.
Infinitive = stem + an
Drop the -an and add:
-i to indicate passive voice
-r or -l to indicate progressive or perfective aspect,
respectively
The mood ending:
-an infinitive
-o attributive
-az/-uz/-oz/-ez/-yz/-øz indicative (1s/2s/3s/1p/2p/3p subject)
Then comes tense, but all the verbs in the relay text are in the present, which
has the zero tense marker.
Punctuation Note
In the Roman transcription, descriptive clauses (whether formed with an
attributive verb or relative pronoun) are often offset with commas. |
