CONLANG Translation Relay 25

Ring B Hav-Kay

Ring B next: Tulvan
Ring B previous: Anyuvin

English from Hav-Kay

My okume completely used all its patience. I remember the okume to be bigger. It bothered me when Tomas many times opened the barrels of beer.
“Eva, are you thinking this shroud is yours?”
“I’m wondering if it’s in the corner market where Tomas can be found,” I said.
“It’s not a barrel. Tomas is a person.”
But the okume which was eating fish. It was not my understanding Tomas was a person. The okume got the fish from Tomas.

Relay Text in Hav-Kay

Habbabenda hube per banka okiume hirokampa kanton per benda halhaiti. Klerbanka himpo okiume mantaraya noyen. Mabimbenda hubeini win-van kena Tomabino krampon mita ta merancha rumbo lel limpa lisa.
“Mankakriti ini Evabina ika per manka harisana?”
Wimbanka hube,“Wungobanka ini gaya malli woomminti ranchokimpo hemu Tomabino ganraya mantakuchon ,”
“Hava du li rumbo. Rayarancha Tomabino van.”
Magabenda hubeini okiume na ta lingu. Hava du per banka hoorhurzon Tomabino van. Lakabenda okiume lingu hube kampo Tomabino.

Hav-Kay Grammar Overview

Phonology and Word Construction

The Hav-Kay language uses a fully romanized alphabet of the following sounds: a,æ,b, bl, br, by,tʃ, d, dr, e, f, g, gl, gr, h, i, ɨ, dƷ, k, kl, kr, ky, l, ly, m, n, o, ɔ, p, pl, pr, r, s, t, tr, u, Ə, v, w, y, z. Short vowels occur in double consonant sequences, especially before /n/. Long vowels occur before most blends, exceptions being /by/ky/ly/. Words two syllables or more can only end in vowels, n or r and all the words in the language must be between 1 and 5 syllables. There is only one word that is five syllables in Hav-Kay, which is legeiboka (charity). Phonologically, o never precedes u unless there is an I between the sounds or the o ends one two-syllable block that is followed by the next syllable block that has a u. For example, there is a borrowing in this exercise which has been changed to ‘okiume’ from its original ‘okume’. To assimilate the nasals with b and p, b and p are preceded by m while all other consonants follow n, except v which only follows hyphens. Any syllable combination that ends in –n and precedes m- will become a double consonant mm. Prefixes and suffixes are added to the word stem itself.

Common Prefixes by Part of Speech

Nouns

Honki-, Kempa-, Kilo- are sometimes used to describe man-made things (school supplies, clothes, other) if the thing being described is two syllables or less.

Verbs

Verbs always contain a subject. If the sentence is declarative, the subject will be attached to the verb at the end. If the sentence is a question, the subject is attached to the beginning of the verb. Infinitive verbs always carry the prefix manta-. To create tenses the four words (hube, ini, yuno, ware) (yesterday, between which is used to mark a continuation of action, now, future) are sometimes combined with each other to communicate incomplete, ongoing, subjunctive, or present perfect sentence structures. Although they too follow the syllable rule and no more than two are used per verb. When asking someone to do something, the prefix Keri- (greeting) is used and when used as a prohibitive as on a sign, the prefix Hazi- (danger) is used. The only verbs that do not have subject pronouns are Hava (It is, That is), Keri- verbs, Hazi- verbs and Kin/Kina (watch or to get someone’s attention). The verb mantaraya (to be) changes to mantahemi (to be) when the subject is ill, injured or unconscious.

The following pronouns attach to the end of verbs in declarative sentences.

Banka - I
Manka - you
Benda - it, he/she (for peer relationships)
Rancha - he
Wenga - she
Kati - we
Karyon - they

Common Suffixes by Part of Speech

Nouns

Nouns can be made from adjectives and verbs using particular suffixes. To create a noun from an adjective the suffix –iti (it) is used. To create a noun from a verb (a gerund), the suffix –hurzon is used.

Verbs

To mark a passive or a past participle the suffix –raya (be) is used.

Adjectives

There are two type of adjectives, those that describe the general mood of something (Biki) and those that describe a characteristic -minti. If a word contains more than two syllables –minti is added as a separate word, otherwise it is combined with the suffix.

Adverbs

Adverbs are created from adjectives and verbs combined with the suffix –kampa (how)

Sentence structure

The language follows a VSO structure and must begin each sentence with a verb unless followed by ta (that). Some verbs will not even allow for that, however. For example, Hava (It is, That is) can only be used at the beginning of a sentence. The verbs Keri- (greeting) and Hazi-/Kin (danger/watch) occur at the beginning of sentences. Following the verb, its tense marker and negator (du) when applicable, the word order is rather flexible as long as an adjective precedes a noun and adverbs follow what is being modified. The only time a verb does not start a sentence is when the adjective Biki is used.

Cases, Gender, Possession, Plural and Determiners

There is no case or gender in Hav-Kay. A direct object marker is used in verbs to mark the speaker (win-van) or to mark the listener (hunevan). Possession is marked by the word per, followed by the subject. For example,

Per banka - my, mine
Per manka - you, yours
Per benda - its, his, hers (peer relationship)
Per rancha - his
Per wenga - her, hers
Per kati - our, ours
Per kawan - their, theirs, them

Plurals are used if not preceded by a number, or quantifier such as many or few. The word lel (mirror) is used to mark a plural or anything doubled or more than doubled. Determiners are used sparingly, usually one type per passage. The indefinite determiner is li (one) and the definite determiner is himpo (the).

Names

Any name where the gender is known, but the birth month and year is not is cut to fit the four syllable structure: NAME+BINA/BINO (Name+January+female/Name+January+male).

Borrowings

Borrowings are kept intact when they fit the syllabic and phonological structure. As described earlier, o can only precede u if found in two separate syllable blocks such as kattokuan (wrapped chocolate candy) though an i must be inserted in between otherwise. Also for sound combinations not found in the language (Frappuccino) the letters are separated by the vowel /a/ to create (farapuchi), though there are very few borrowings. The language relies more on sound symbolism and less on etymology.

Examples

Joe waited for the train. /Rorancha hube Jobino ria himpo kuno.
The train was late. /Rayabenda hube himpo kuno sari.
Mary and Samantha took the bus. /Digakaryon hube Marbina ba Samambina himpo lachi.
Is Joe waiting for the train? /Rancharo ini ria himpo kuno?
Was Joe waiting for the train? /Rancharo hubeini ria himpo kuno?
Take the train! /Keridiga himpo kuno!
No smoking /Hazinosa /Kin nosa.
It’s late. /Hava sari.

Relay Vocabulary

Du not
Gaya if conj.
Halha patient adj.
Harisana shroud (lit. death veil) n.
Hiro complete adj.
Hoorhurzon understanding n.
Ika this adj.
Kampo from prep.
Kanton all adv.
Kena when conj.
Krampon many adj.
Limpa of prep.
Lingu fish n.
Lisa beer n.
Malli indoors adv.
Mantagan to be able v.
Mantahabba to use v.
Mantaholor to understand, in non-infinitive becomes hoor- v.
Mantakler to remember v.
Mantakriti to think v.
Mantakuchon to find v.
Mantalaka to get v.
Mantamabin to bother v.
Mantamaga to eat v.
Mantame to open v.
Mantaraya to be v.
Mantawin to say v.
Mantawungo to wonder v.
Mita time n.
No big adj.
Noyen bigger adj.
Okiume okume n. (An arboreal predator resembling a small cat. Renowned for their grace and the ability to stalk in almost total silence.)
Ranchokimpo market n.
Rumbo barrel n.
Van person n.
Where hemu prep.
Win-van me (direct object) pron.
Woon corner n.

page started: 2018.Feb.05 Mon
current date: 2018.Feb.15 Thu
content originated by Shannon Mootz
form originated by qiihoskeh

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