Category: Conlanging

Continuing with Gary’s list:

170. I hurt myself.
171. She was talking to herself.

These are reflexives, in the sense that the same argument appears in two different roles. For reflexives (subject to change) the pronoun is not repeated, but suffixed with a reflexive suffix that varies by person and noun class (which is a touch of whimsy on my part).

170. lenada otni tude.

171. mahanɨt deya duso.

Questions?

Continuing with Gary’s list:

169. The little girl made the doll’s dress herself.

The first is similar to the previous two. On the surface it looks like it has a reflexive, but really, that means by herself or alone. Also, I am also going to simplify doll’s dress to doll.

169. laki ɨsa gyɛdɨdɛn omɛt naddeya dɛstɛ.

Questions?

Continuing with Gary’s list:

167. We will make this place our home.
168. The squirrels make their nests warm and snug with soft moss and leaves.

These two use the same structure.

167. leni kohɨdɛn eyɛmɛ da sota dɛga.

168. kyɨlna lomɨdi kyalɨdi kɨdlɨdi eyɛmɛ gɛŋyi mɛsyi malinɛn dɛstɛ.

Questions?

Continuing with Gary’s list:

166. We consider them our faithful friends.

This is two clauses, but the second is elaborating on the subject of the first clause. So it goes in the otherwise empty destination slot.

166. lɛnna dɛɬɛ ono mavna sɛdɛ syanna loŋina.

Questions?

Continuing with Gary’s list:

165. Be satisfied with nothing but your best.

This sentence translates to “Do not go about comfortable without your best.”

At this point I’ve decided to treat adjectives somewhat like Latin adjectives. They look like nouns, but can take their class from what they modify or are assumed to modify. In this case best is assumed to be modifying a class III noun muhe, seen a couple of sentences ago.

I am also experimenting with using a set of adjectival possessive pronouns. We’ll see if they stick or not.

165. ŋidi andanɨdɛn ŋivɨdɛn tɛpa eyaŋi kɨdla voya ka.

Questions?

Continuing with Gary’s list:

164. Show the guests these shells, my son, and tell them their strange history.

Actually, not that complicated, just two clauses. We already covered vocatives, which tend to come in the source slot. And extraneous possessives like “their” are generally assumed rather than expressed.

164. koda, ŋidi dɨdi gɨlɨdi tɨŋi madɛlɛnavi mavnavi doŋinavi ki ladi ŋidi satteneya mɛɬodeya tɨŋi mavnavi sadnavi ki.

Questions?

Continuing with Gary’s list:

163. I stood, a little mite of a girl, upon a chair by the window, and watched the falling snowflakes.

Where does Gary find these? Paraphrasing to very little girl, this requires two serial predicates, a relative clause, and then a second clause.

163. lene esɛdɛ laki ɨsa sɛttɛ tɛnɛ da notɛndɛ kotɬa olaya na le doŋi dolna tadanna tono.

Questions?

Continuing with Gary’s list:

162. Think first and then act.

Good advice. This required a little thought, but eventually I decided on using ɛmɛmɛ in the sense of “make”. Make thought first then make action. The second ŋidi might be omittable.

162. ŋidi syeneya ɛmɛmɛ andaya ka ladi ŋidi muhɨdɛn ɛmɛmɛ ka.

Questions?

Continuing with Gary’s list:

161. She was always shabby, often ragged, and on cold days very uncomfortable.

Hmm. Serial predicates and a second clause and some new vocabulary.

161. mava sɛdɛ paŋa nadi ɨlɨŋyi sɛdɛ gɛŋɛn ɨnavi na loni kyɨldi mava esɛdɛ kɨdla tɛpa dɛstɛ.

Questions?

Continuing with Gary’s list:

160. Will you go with us or wait here?

This, on the other hand, is a different use of or. It is presenting alternatives, but the alternatives are clauses rather than noun phrases. baŋi has been used with noun phrases, but it is not appropriate for clauses as it is syntactically in the same class as amba some. The word bagɛbagɛ, on the other hand, is a combination of the words for yes and no. It means maybe.

160. bagɛbagɛ ŋidi lɛnnanɛn tɨŋi dɛmɛ bagɛbagɛ ŋidi sɛdɛ susi goɬi dɛmɛ?

Questions?