CONLANG Translation Relay 25

Ring B Valaklwuuxa

Ring B next: Emihtazuu
Ring B previous: Dragonian

English Translation

He overcame his childhood thanks to a big domestic cat.
I think it is a big cat.
He lies and opens the bottle because he needs Thomas.
I ask if Thomas is a bottle.
He says that that is Thomas, and Thomas is not a small bottle.
Thomas carries a fish.
The cat ate the fish. That confused them.

Valaklwuuxa Torch

le-poltqwos tu txe skwenbet-la va txe paka dxangaalands.
xe-tahand txe le-paka dxanga.
le-lqase lagu le-kelet txe wohe va pexend wobxasa txe Twonbas-la.
xe-tqwolutsend lak wohe k’a txe Twonbas-la?
le-tqwoluts lak Twonbas tqel lagu lwe-wek’ ta k'umbe wohe-la.
setqwel txendek latqesa txe Twonbas-la
wok'wok'wos txe teketsa txe he-dxanga txe sebe tu txe setqwel-la.

Grammar Sketch

Valaklwuuxa is a verb-heavy language, with V-A word order. I.e., each clause can contain at most one full nominal core argument, whether that is the subject or the object, and the verb comes first. There are no lexical nouns; all nouns phrases contain relative clauses, which are introduced by determiners. The detailed rules for relativization are fairly complex, but in this text the target of relativization (and thus the referent of any noun phrase) is always the subject of the contained verb phrase. If the subject of a matrix verb is not provided as a noun phrase, it is obligatorily marked by a subject proclitic. Both subject and object of a transitive verb can be lexically specified by promoting the subject to matrix predicate position, and turning the transitive clause into a relative clause that serves as the subject of the promoted predicate, which can make it look like it's masquerading as SVO. In that case, definiteness and number will be marked on the relativized transitive clause. Matrix predicates, outside of a noun phrase, are unmarked for definiteness.

What exactly the morphosyntactic alignment is is something of a tricky question, but identifying absolutive arguments (in the ergative-absolutive sense) is rather important for a lot of grammatical processes.

In addition to core arguments, clauses may have oblique arguments introduced by the quotative particle or the preposition . The precise function of oblique arguments may be determined either lexically, by the controlling predicate, by an applicative on the controlling predicate, or by an adverb in the subordinate phrase.

Complement clauses are also introduced with determiners, just like relative clauses, with the exception of direct quoted speech, and are required to show a subject clitic, regardless of whether or not the subject is present as a noun phrase; this is what distinguishes them from relative clauses, where the subject is instead gapped and relativized. When the subject is present as a noun phrase, the obviative clitic is used; agreement suffixes usually make it clear when this is serving as an actual subject, or just as a complementizer.

Grammatical number is only obligatorily marked for absolutive arguments (subjects of intransitives, objects of transitives), in which case plurality is indicated by reduplication of the final CV sequence of the controlling predicate. Plural number may also be optionally marked by a suffix on the determiner introducing a noun phrase.

Attributive possession is indicated by personal pronominal suffixes, which again target the absolutive argument of whatever predicate they are attached to.

There are also some fairly complex verb serialization rules, but I think the only one that matters here is that multiple verbs in the same verb phrase all share a single absolutive argument.

Lexicon, in Order of First Usage

le= : 3sg subject clitic
pol- : instrumental applicative prefix
tqwo : to kill / defeat / overcome
s : 3p absolutive possessive suffix
tu : past tense particle
txe : speaker-definite determiner
skwenbet : (to be) childhood, pre-adolescence, immaturity
=la : absolute substantive article; indicates that the host phrase is unmodified.
va : oblique case marker
paka : (to be) big
dxang : (to be a) cat
-aland : lexical suffix, "relating to a house"
xe= : 1sg subject clitic
taha : (to) believe
-(e)nd : 1p exclusive agreement marker
lqase : (to) lie
lagu : conjunction, and
kelet : (to) open
wohe : (to be a) bottle
pexend : adverb; "in consequence of", "significantly", "because"
wobxa : (to) need
-sa : inverse voice suffix
Twonbas : native adaptation of the English name "Thomas".
tqwoluts : (to) speak, say
lak : direct speech particle
k'a : polar interrogative particle
tqel : this, that (thing near you)
wek' : negative auxiliary, (to) not be.
ta : speaker-indefinite determiner
k'umbe : small
setqwel : (to be a) fish
-ndek : plural marker
latqe : (to) carry
wok'wo : (to be a) head
teket : (to) shatter
-(CV)- reduplication: indicates that the absolutive argument is plural
wok'wo txe teketsa : "to shatter the head" - idiomatic phrase; to confuse someone
he= : Obviative plural subject clitic and complement clause clitic
sebe : (to) eat

page started: 2018.Jan.12 Fri
current date: 2018.Feb.15 Thu
content originated by Logan Kearsley
form originated by qiihoskeh

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