| Torch: |
Getrizor p'getrýk p'getrillem jagãdnuska
Lamatrirâ jatripcansoraj'barat klajamatripcansuj'baratka.
P'trisuj'nus, soratrivegd jazõp'trisuj'casoraka.
Wahartrayr jasorap'sutrimõ jakwencaletivka.
Trilaskiseka.
Yamõfen, p'triGeTezp'tritezralorberonsesek!
HyakstriGebaratseka. Yazadat jakleslanp'trisudezilegose,
Hyakëgatrirâ jafýgëka.
Darlatrord jafýgëka.
Tri Trillem jagrýrpisfartcëcpalti
Farãdsucgrýaberonp'sutrivegd jabworpejevseka.
Yamaloks, p'trigeviragosek!
Viragotripedaj japejjatnumaka.
Trilaskiseka.
Tricagedobracadrâdicawahardobraseka.
Tricagedobranektëdicawahardobraseka.
Getrisýrua p'gatceyog p'getriwakra
Hyaktrisipasfoseka. Latrivort p'getrýk
P'matrifýgtigaylõseka. |
| Smooth translation: |
You want to think that you walk like a tree
I don't know if faith is a lie or if it's not a lie.
Faith, being a tree, has a will of its own.
Fear causes faith to go to my death.
I am alone.
May you leave, God,
For you are a lie. May you take away the mistake of lateness,
For he doesn't know that.
I can move that.
Walking in the lowlands and the grass
Is the same as a cushion in heaven of one feather.
May you not exist, loneliness.
Loneliness lives a slow life.
I am alone.
Your reason is the drink of fear's reason.
Your reason is the food of fear's reason.
You believe that you are not allowed to fear
Because here it is good. I recommend that you think
that this is not a puzzle to us.
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| Glossary/mini dictionary |
VERB LIST
ýk - to think
ayr - to cause
dãfas - to study
gred- to work on, develop
hag - to prohibit, forbid
llem - to walk
loks - to exist
mõ - to go
ord - to move
pedaj - to live
râ - to know
sýrua - to believe
set - to make
vad - to meet
veg(ë)d - to have (the ë is added when [gd]+[following letter] is an illegal
sound combination
vort - to advise, to recommend
wakra - to fear
yog - to allow
zadat - to remove, take away
zor - to want
VOCABULARY (some words not used in poem)
abron - Heaven
ar - before (adv)
balot - store
barat - a lie
beron - supreme
bwor - one
cadrâ - drink
cahah - soft
cpalti - grasslands
dã - page
daj - there is
datc - there was
dezil - late
dezilego - lateness
di - of
dobra - reason
dor - bad
dvaj - there will be
eslan - mistake
etiv - death
fýg - this/that (pron.)
farãd - the same as
fen - away(from)
fnî - planet
glý - inside
gof - land
grãd - like, as
grý - at, in
hyaks - because, for, as... (interjection before a sentence)
ik - never
kla - or
ks - there
kwen - to,towards
ma - without
mer - child
nekt - food
numa - slow
nus - tree
pcan - if
pejev - feather
pejjat - life
penda - language
pisfar - a lowland
polet - grass
ralor - spirit
rayt - fast
riji - there
sõ - well
sagh - two
sefar - a plain
sfo - good
si - here
ski - alone
sora - faith
suc - cushion
tanusi - forest
tc - and
tcra - yesterday
Tezp'tritezralorberonse - The Great Spirit (God)
tiga - puzzle
tril - see
výt - tomorrow
vi- future
vira - lonely
virago - loneliness
wahar - fear
wen - three
y - for
yla - for me, my
yun - man
zõ - a will or desire
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| Grammar notes |
The Mice language incorporates many different phonemes into single words, and is
constructed in a very compacted pattern. The basic differences in pronunciation
of the romanized alphabet are thus:
~ = tilde signifies a nasalized vowel - note: ã is /a(n)/ or /E(n)/, they are
phonemically the same
^ = glottal stop after the vowel over which the circumflex is marked
c = /S/
ý = /y/
Ll = Welsh ll
ë = /@/
' = apostrophe signals a stop after a consonant
r = light trill or single tap
doubled consonants are 'long' much as in Finnish
The basic sentence patterns are as follows:
Declarative/Interrogative
Agent(+pronoun)+Verb(+adverbs) Patient+/Subjunction+[ka(declar.)][kai(inter.)]
A detailed breakdown of the subject-verb would be
Subject noun + adjectives + mood + tense + verb + adverbs
And the predicate:
[the word "ja"]+direct object+indirect object+subjunction(subordinate
sentence)+
[the word "ka" to end declar. sentences] or ["kai" to end interr. sentences]
Copula
[Copula word conjugated for mood & tense]+Subject+[Description of subject+the
word "se"]<-if the copula is being used to describe subj. with an adjective, or
+[the word "j'" + NounDescription] if the copula is being used to describe subj.
with a noun. Again, sentences end in ka or kai.
Thus:
I am good - [Am]+[I]+[good]+[se]+[ka].
I am a boy - [Am]+[I]+[j']+[a boy]+[ka].
Imperative
[Imperative Particle "ya"]+Verb(+adverbs)+Patient+/Subjunction+[ka]
When subjects of declarative sentences are interrupted by subjunctions in
English, in Penda the subjunction travels to the beginning of the sentence so
the sentence actually starts with the subjoiner "P'".
Wherever there is an inexplicable ë, it is simply inserted for pronunciation and
may be ignored. Illegal consonant combos are most often voiced/devoiced pairs
right next to each other, in which case ë is said between them.
Combinations of shortened forms can be very confusing for the translator.
Whenever a group of letters is found that is not in the glossary, break it down
and see if each letter is a shortened form. For example: "He doesn't cause", the
long way would be "Gematriayr", but this would never be an actual phrase uttered
by a Mouse. It would tend to be written more along the lines of "Gatrayr". Here
you must think, "Ga is not a word, but when I look up Ge and Gõ it gives a
shortened form: -g-. Then you can expand to "Geatrayr". You can easily recognize
tr as a shortened form of tri, the present tense marker, yielding "Geatriayr".
That rogue "a" is bothersome, but since it comes before a verb and after a
pronoun, we root around in the mood/tense section until tada! we see: Negative:
(m)a+tense. So we have Ge - he, ma - doesn't, tri - present tense, ayr - to
cause. All long and shortened forms should be elaborated in the glossary.
Isolated verbs with tense but without subject are treated as present participles
/ infinitives, depending on translator taste and context.
When whole phrases act as the subject of a copula sentence, the format is
( [Copula tense] subject([verb object]) [j'(for nouns)]+description+[se(for
adj.)]+[ka]. )
Verbs in the form [subject]+[conjugated]+[infinitive] take in Penda the form
([subject]+[conjugated] [p']+[same-subject]+[second-verb-conjugated]).
PRONOUNS (not all are used in this poem)
First Person
masc sing. La, -l-
fem sing. Lã, -l-
pl. inclusive Llã
pl. exclusive Lõ
Second Person
masc sing. Ge, -g-
fem. sing. Gõ, -g-
gen. pl. Ghõ
Third Person
masc. sing. Tez
fem. sing. Tcu
neut. inan. sing. Su
neut. anim. sing. Zrô
impersonal sing. Pa
masc pl. Tõz
fem pl. Tcõ
neut inan. pl. Sõ
neut anim. pl. Zrê
impersonal pl. Põ
VERBS
Moods: Examples of English Equivalents
Indicative -- "I like it"
Conditional (n)or "You would like it"
Imperative ya "Like it!"
Infinitive al "to like"
Indecisive zu "I might like"
Objective tce "I am liked"
Trans/Intransitive Tenses:
Present tr(i)- Inclusion of the pres. tense marker is MANDATORY
Perfect t(a)- for sentences in present tense
Imperfect tl(a)-
Half-Perfect tc(o)-
Future dz(u)-
Negative: (m)a+tense
Copulaic Tenses:
Present tri, tr- "I am"
Perfect tria Something started & ended in past
Imperfect tris Event started in past and continues
Half-Perfect trio Event started & ended in recent past
Future (n)etra "It will be"
IMPORTANT PARTICLES
ca(t)- posessive prefix
-r- plural
-k! exclamatory suffix (velar click), takes place of [ka]
-(e)go- prefix [the idea of being], turns adj/adv/verbs into abstract nouns
dar- prefix altering verb to (able to + verb) (like English "can")
p'- introduces subjuncted/relative proposition, translates roughly to
"that"
ja, jakl introduces patient/predicate
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