Talking Rock in a Funlang

This is a new, unnamed funlang. It is an experiment in topic – comment with only intransitive predicates. So each full sentence is only two words and two words only. Pronouns include one that refers to the topic of the previous sentence (SAME) and one that refers to the comment of the previous sentence (COMMENT). It might even be non-recursive, but not being a theoretician, I won’t swear to that.

yunara
yunara
1SG.NEW
bandasa
banda-sa
walk-RECPAST+IMPERF+VIS
I was walking.

du
du
COMMENT
yundatasa
yundata-sa
yesterday-RECPAST+IMPERF+VIS
This was yesterday.

Ɂa
Ɂa
SAME
habasusa
haba-su-sa
shore-LOC-RECPAST+IMPERF+VIS
And this was on the shore.

Ɂa
Ɂa
SAME
pasarat
pasara-t
be-interrupted.RECPAST+PERF+VIS
And this was interrupted.

yi
yi
1SG.OLD
waɁat
waɁa-t
trip-RECPAST+PERF+VIS
I tripped.

du
du
COMMENT
Ɂidusut
Ɂidu-su-t
rock-LOC-RECPAST+PERF+VIS
This (tripping) was on a rock.

du
du
COMMENT
surahigudiy
sura-higu-diy
speak-POTENTIAL-RECPAST+IMPERF+INF
This (the rock) might talk.

yi
yi
1SG
Ɂasayut
Ɂasa-yu-t
grasp-UP-RECPAST+PERF+VIS
I picked something up.

Ɂa
Ɂa
SAME
surat
sura-t
speak-RECPAST+PERF+VIS
And I spoke.

Ɂidubiya
Ɂidu-biya
rock-round
hutat
huta-t
be.in.hand-RECPAST+PERF+VIS
The rock was in hand.

Ɂa
Ɂa
SAME
zinit
zini-t
be.spoken.to-RECPAST+PERF+VIS
And it was spoken to.

yi
yi
1SG
tanit
tani-t
say-RECPAST+PERF+VIS
I said something.

du
du
COMMENT
Ɂuŋut
Ɂuŋu-t
question-RECPAST+PERF+VIS
This (what was said) was a question.

Ɂa
Ɂa
SAME
yirut
yiru-t
follow-RECPAST+PERF+VIS
This was as follows.

Ɂidubiya
Ɂidu-biya
rock-round
guya
guya
be.this-NONPAST+IMPERF+VIS
Is this a rock?

Ɂa
Ɂa
SAME
sura
sura
speak-NONPAST+IMPERF+VIS
And it speaks?

Ɂa
Ɂa
SAME
tanit
tani-t
say-RECPAST+PERF+VIS
And it said something.

du
du
COMMENT
yirut
yiru-t
follow-RECPAST+PERF+VIS
This was as follows.

Ɂidubiya
Ɂidu-biya
rock-round
yunara
yunara
1SG-NONPAST+IMPERF+VIS
A rock I am.

Ɂa
Ɂa
SAME
sura
sura
speak-NONPAST+IMPERF+VIS
And I speak.

yi
yi
1SG
tanit
tani-t
say-RECPAST+PERF+VIS
I said something.

du
du
COMMENT
yirut
yiru-t
follow-RECPAST+PERF+VIS
This was as follows.

yi
yi
1SG
zinibidit
zini-bi-dit
be.spoken.to-NEG-RECPAST+PERF+INF
I was not spoken to.

wisata
wisata
2SG.NEW
surabidit
sura-bi-dit
speak-NEG-RECPAST+PERF+INF
You did not speak.

Ɂa
Ɂa
SAME
tanibidit
tani-bi-dit
say-NEG-RECPAST+PERF+INF
And you did not say something.

du
du
COMMENT
yirudit
yiru-dit
follow-RECPAST+PERF+INF
This was possibly as follows.

yi
yi
1SG
zusahigudiy
zusa-higu-diy
watch.for-POTENTIAL-RECPAST+IMPERF+INF
I should watch out.

du
du
COMMENT
wisatanudiy
wisata-nu-diy
2SG-RECPAST+IMPERF+INF
This (watching out) would be for you.

biya
biya
round
tanirusut
tani-rusu-t
say-back-RECPAST+PERF+VIS
It replied.

du
du
COMMENT
yirut
yiru-t
follow-RECPAST+PERF+VIS
This was as follows.

Ɂidubiya
Ɂidu-biya
rock-round
yunara
yunara
1SG-NONPAST+IMPERF+VIS
A rock I am.

Ɂa
Ɂa
SAME
sura
sura
speak-NONPAST+IMPERF+VIS
And I speak.

Ɂa
Ɂa
SAME
puna
puna
be.mean-NONPAST+IMPERF+VIS
And I am mean.

du
du
COMMENT
zuna
zuna
reason-RECPAST+PERF+VIS
This is the reason.

taniya
tani-ya
saying-GENERIC
nurutudu-t
nuru-tudu-t
anger-cause-RECPAST+PERF+VIS
The speech caused anger.

du
du
COMMENT
yunarasut
yunara-su-t
1SG-LOC-RECPAST+PERF+VIS
This (anger) was in me.

Ɂa
Ɂa
SAME
zunat
zuna-t
reason-RECPAST+PERF+VIS
And was the reason.

du
du
COMMENT
yirunut
yiru-nu-t
follow-RECPAST+PERF+VIS
This was for the following.

yi
yi
1SG
tuyawat
tuyawa-t
throw-RECPAST+PERF+VIS
I threw something.

biya
biya
round
tuyawapat
tuyawa-pa-t
throw-PASS-RECPAST+PERF+VIS
It (the rock) was thrown.

Ɂa
Ɂa
SAME
haraharasut
harahara-su-t
ocean-LOC-RECPAST+PERF+VIS
And it was in the ocean.

yi
yi
1SG
wunurusubidit
wunu-rusu-bi-dit
see-back-NEG-RECPAST+PERF+INF
I did not see (something) again.

biya
biya
round
wunurusubipadit
wunu-rusu-bi-pa-dit
see-back-NEG-PASS-RECPAST+PERF+INF
It (the rock) was not seen again.

I like the repetitiveness of otherwise transitive verbs. It amuses me.

I also like the fact that speak and spoken to are different, unrelated words. And that the converse of pick up is be in hand.

I like that pronouns come in two sets: new and previously mentioned. With regular nouns, this is accomplished by using noun plus classifier for a new mention and the classifier only as a previous mention.

I am a bit worried about the lack of clarity in where a quote ends. Adding something like “saying finished” might work, but it would probably involve repeating the noun tani-ya rather than just ya, which I don’t like.

The comment words ought to be less cleanly agglutinative, at least when it comes to multiple suffixes, those should blend a bit more, maybe.

What do you think?

I will do the Eye Juggler next, and then maybe the South Wind and the Sun. Short texts become such long texts that I am not sure I dare tackle the longer texts that I usually use.