| Jim Henry | Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 3:21 PM |
sun i, fâ-ŋĭw mĭ-i ₣ĭ-gô heŋ ŋĭn-i; wǒn jâ-purj hĭ-bô i, ƥ
dâm-ř râ-van ryň mĭ-i, gâ lǒ mĭ-i râ sâ-cô-fwa krĭ-o gân-van.
!wǒn ť ĉi purj pe ť ŝu-i ryň ĥy-i ĉâm-ť-zô mwe, wǒj
dlâw-ť-van heŋ kĭ-zô hǒŋ ť sâm-i mâ ʝǒ mĭ-i.
wǒj sâm-cô-van mâ ʝǒ mĭ-i, ƥ ŝu-i ru ryň-zla-za mĭ-i hu pǒ
ŋĭn-i mwe.
gjâ-zym-byn (gzb) is an agglutinative language, fairly minimalistic lexically, which leads to some long and sometimes not perfectly perspicuous compounds. In the glossary I've listed mostly only the root words, particles and suffixes, but also listed a few compounds used in the text where they seemed especially hard to guess from the component morphemes. Feel free to email asking for help, or look at the online lexicon.
Root words are nominal, and are turned into verbs and modifiers -- also postpositions and conjunctions — with appropriate suffixes. Compound postpostions, used to mark case roles, are formed using one of the core spacetime postpositions {i, o, ř} as a suffix on a root word for the appropriate abstract concept. I've listed a few of the most abstract compound postpositions in the glossary; others should be clear enough from their component morphemes.
The only verb suffixes used in the text are {-zô} and {-van}. {-zô} marks an active (and agentive) verb. {-van} marks a stative (but not necessarily non-agentive) verb.
Number is not obligatorily marked on nouns; {mâ} by itself could mean either "person" or "people" for instance.
Typical word order is OVS, but varies since subjects and objects are marked fairly explicity for theta roles with postpositions. Postpositional phrases almost always precede what they modify. Most complements tend to precede the direct object and verb. If the subject is at the end of a clause or sentence, the subject postposition can be omitted. gjâ-zym-byn allows for omitting the subject when it is the same as in the previous sentence.
Punctuation: all sentences end in a period. The exclamation point ! marks an imperative sentence.
| bô | suff. | derives quality noun -> adjective |
|---|---|---|
| cô | suff. | opposite, reverse, contradictory quality |
| ĉâm | n. | evolutionary, gradual change |
| ĉi | postp. | around, surrounding |
| dâm | n. | origin; authorship; source |
| dlâw | n. | duty, obligation, need (personal) |
| fâ | n. | love, friendliness, affection |
| fwa | suff. | causative suffix |
| ₣ĭ | n. | trust, confidence, reliance, faith |
| gâ | n. | thing |
| gân | n. | cause |
| gô | suff. | deserving ~, worthy of ~; ought to have ~ done to it |
| heŋ | mod. | not; no |
| hĭ | n. | difficulty |
| hǒŋ | conj. | that (introduces subordinate clauses) |
| hu | n. | essence, nature, set of essential qualities |
| ĥy | n. | patient, thing acted on |
| i | postp. | at, with, during, near |
| jâ | n. | role, state, form |
| ʝǒ | mod. | other, another |
| ĵy | n. | need; requirement; necessity |
| kĭ-zô | v. | deem, consider, regarding as having certain qualities |
| krĭ | n. | creating, causing, resulting |
| krĭ-o | postp. | resultative case marker |
| lǒ | mod. | relativizer; who, which... |
| mâ | n. | person |
| mĭ | n. | topic, subject, theme |
| mĭ-i | postp. | topic marker |
| mwe | mod. | must; imperative, hortative, optative adverb |
| ŋĭn | n. | comment, explanation, description |
| ŋĭn-i | postp. | comment marker |
| ŋĭw | n. | mental/spiritual faculty or body part |
| pe | conj. | and |
| pǒ | dem. | remote demonstrative; that |
| ƥ | pron. | he, she, they |
| purj | n. | environment, surroundings, local region; situation, circumstances |
| râ | n. | occurrence, happening, event, process |
| ř | postp. | out of, away from |
| ru | n. | method, way, manner, style |
| ryň | n. | act, action, deed, doing |
| sâ | n. | moral approval |
| sâm | n. | sameness, exact identity in some important respect |
| sun | n. | finish, ending, conclusion |
| ŝu-i | n. | of (genitive for inherent qualities) |
| ť | pron. | you, y'all |
| van | suff. | stative verb suffix |
| wǒj | conj. | because |
| wǒn | conj. | therefore; thus |
| za | suff. | pertaining to ~ |
| zla | suff. | the set of all ~ in existence, or in a given context |
| zô | suff. | active verb suffix |
| conj. | conjunction |
| dem. | demonstrative |
| mod. | modifier (adjective/adverb) |
| n. | noun |
| postp. | postposition |
| pron. | pronoun |
| suff. | suffix |
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page started: 2008.Dec.07 Sun
last modified: 2008.Dec.09 Tue
form originated by qiihoskeh;
content copyright Jim Henry.