Tag: Modifiers

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jalā

jalaa

jalā

This looks like a noun, but it isn’t. In the third sentence of the LCC2 Relay Text, concerning a talking rock, it occurs between a relative pronoun ien and the relational la. The only things that can occur in this position are conjunctions, clause-level modifiers, and peripheral phrases headed by some sort of prepositional particle. jalā functions as a clause-level modifier and indicates complete agreement with the statement one is responding to.

temle ke makīþa matēnnā ien jalā la liēn makīþa matēnnā;
The talking rock said to me, “Yes, I am a talking rock.”

Notice that the talking rock does not use the reduced first person pronoun.

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pēxa

peexa

pēxa

Finally, we get to the end of the fifth sentence of the Babel text:

ē teteñ ien hēja ñanna lewēra tō tūaþ wā ñi ñēim makkepōlien rā anmārwi āñ pēxa;

And they to each other said: We should make ourselves a name in order that we not become scattered….

rā anmārwi āñ pēxa is a locative phrase designating the location of the scattering. anmārwi means “world” and āñ in rā anmārwi āñ means among or throughout. pēxa modifying āñ adds the meaning “far” so “far throughout”.

…far throughout the world.

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wā

waa

wā

Continuing on the fifth sentence of the Babel text:

ē teteñ ien hēja ñanna lewēra tō tūaþ wā ñi ñēim makkepōlien rā anmārwi āñ pēxa;

wā is one of those words that can modify a noun phrase or a clause. In either case it carries a meaning of negation.

So far we have:
And they said to each other: We should make ourselves a name in order that not ….

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ān tēna

aanspaceteena

ān tēna

This phrase is a combination of the numeral one (ān) and a modifier meaning “all of a set” (tēna). Together they denote a complete set of one. In the first sentence of the Babel text:

iēlte la anmārwi pa antaxōni ān tēna;

ān tēna modifies yesterday’s word antaxōni “language” to make a phrase meaning a set of only one language. So the sentence can be translated as:

Once long ago, the world had only one language.

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āñ

aanj

āñ

This particle, when it follows a noun or pronoun denotes a reflexive. In the sentence

il ñamma anūri nā ā mūrāna masīrien
il ñamma jalūra rā sāen āñ nō ā marāona;

āñ modifies the 3rd person singular pronoun sāen to mean “himself/herself”. nō means “to, along”. The second clause of the sentence thus means “the wanderer made/held/kept the cloak to him/herself”.

The sentence can now be fully translated:

Happening at the same time:
the North Wind is making lots of wind,
the wanderer is causing the cloak to be to him/herself.

or

“The north wind made much blowing and the wanderer held the cloak to himself.”

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nā

naa

nā

many or much. This is a modifier denoting quantity. In our sentence:

il ñamma anūri nā ā mūrāna masīrien
il ñamma jalūra rā sāen āñ nō ā marāona;

nā is modifying the collective anūri or wind. Now we know:

Happening at the same time:
the North Wind is making lots of wind,
the wanderer is causing/doing something.

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cēja

ceeja

cēja

So, yesterday we covered the fifth sentence of the North Wind and the Sun except for the last word, cēja. cēja is a modifier meaning that the clause which it modifies is seen as something possible and readily doable.

teteñ anñēīki
They to each other gave agreement

ien la ma pa antāken anānexa
that s/he would have the most strength

ma ñamma jalūra rū marāona pēxa cēja;
who could make the cloak become away from the wanderer.

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hēja & cī

hēja

This is a deontic modal marker that modifies the third clause of the Kēlen rephrasal of the 1st article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It usually translates as ‘should’, and indicates an admonishment to be as described in the third clause.

cī

Is a commissive mood marker and commits the speaker (which in this context is the 1st person paucal/collective encompassing everyone) to do as described in the third clause. Since the 4th clause is subordinate to the third, it is included in this as well.

Confused yet? These two operate together to put a mild imperative and a should into the third clause, like so:

tō jāo hēja senneñ anēla anciēri ke mān mo mīþa
therefore should we to each other personhood courtesies from one to other
therefore we should give to each other the courtesies of personhood
ien sexe mo maþūskīri mo sāim maþūskīriēma cī
that to them to weft-kin to them their weft-kin must
that are given to weft-kin and to their weft-kin

And that concludes the Kēlen rephrasal of the 1st article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Our progress:
tō la mēli manaren tēna ñe anhēnārīki anīλi jañāona jañēie
‘Because each person is an equal thread in the cloth of society…’
tō pa ñēim tēna ē lenārre ē lewēren
‘Because we each of us have soul and identity…’
tō jāo hēja senneñ anēla anciēri ke mān mo mīþa
‘Therefore we should give to each other the courtesies of personhood’
ien sexe mo maþūskīri mo sāim maþūskīriēma cī;
‘That are given to weft-kin and to their weft-kin.’

Tomorrow, more emotions.

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tēna

teena

tēna

is a modifier that follows nouns and pronouns and means, basically, each one in a set. So, for a set of two it means both, and for a set of more than two, each. It can only modify dual and paucal pronouns and collective nouns. In the Kēlen rephrasal of the 1st article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this word occurs twice, once in the first clause and once in the second.

In the first clause, tēna modifies mēli manaren, a noun phrase consisting of the collective form of mēla followed by the collective pronoun/modifier manaren ‘everyone’. So, mēli manaren tēna ‘each one of all people.’

In the second clause, tēna modifies ñēim, a first person paucal (collective) inclusive pronoun, so again, ‘each one of all of us’.

Today’s word plus yesterday’s:
tō la mēli manaren tēna ñe anhēnārīki anīλi jañāona jañēie
tō pa ñēim tēna ē lenārre ē lewēren
tō jāo hēja senneñ anēla anciēri ke mān mo mīþa
ien sexe mo maþūskīri mo sāim maþūskīriēma cī;