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"About the Stars"
As far as stars go, there are four types:
We call the first "Walker," because it walks through the night sky.
We call the second "Stander," because it is a distant sun.
We call the third "Decedent" or "Faller," because it's a stone, and
falls to the earth from the sky.
We call the fourth "Foreigner" because it becomes visible in the night
sky--but not for long. Those (stars) are worlds' suns that the Goddess
has destroyed in a rage.
Rinil Tilvan
Vulttilvan, toad frem htelra perim:
Atwavar euil dytsots uelo soys 'tearda, uanner atwa omai hynyil ilvaz
.
Pondrenivar euil dytsots tilo soys 'tearda, uanner nomai vepat vemuis.
Ahdhkendivar Kebönivar-ro euil dytsots ilno soys 'tearda, uanner
nomai mevar--send aryil takremp tandyil ve nomai kebö.
Nuehrivar euil dytsots frimo soys 'tearda, uanner olan nomai to kerem
celil ilvaz, ma vyheddorla. Tsöllain mimnyhhterlid
hobban uan bahdma uarly cel vuörod le Teuimast.
Verbum pro verbo:
"About-the stars."
"Star-wise, for them four type exist:
"Walker" to-the aforesaid first we give-name, for walks habitually-it
through-the night-sky.
"Stander" to-the aforesaid second we give-name, for habitually-it (is)
sun distant.
"Dying-one Faller-or to-the aforesaid third we give-name, for habitually-it
(is) stone -- and to-the earth from-the sky habitually-it falls.
"Foreigner" to-the aforesaid fourth we give name, for becomes habitually-it
for-viewing in-the night-sky, but not-for-long. Worlds of-suns
those are (that) destroyed has-she in rage the Goddess.
Sample interlinear:
Pondre.n.ivar
eu.il dytsots
tilo soys
'tear.da
Verb.ni.agent-sfx prep.art
subs.adj ord. 1.pl.nom.incl.pron noun.verb-sfx.
Stand- er to-the
aforesaid third we
name-give
We call the third "Stander"
uanner
n.om.ai
vepa.t
vemuis
conj. -ned.verb.pfx-hab.-3.sg.neut.pron
ve + epa-to adj.
because non-volitionally-habitually-it
sky eye-for far-off.
because it is a distant sun.
Glossary of abbreviations.
Most of the time it’s the expected:
adj. adjective
n. noun
nom.sg.3.pron, "nominative singular third person pronoun."
v. "verb"
etc.
But you might have some trouble with these unless I explain them:
mot.prep. "motive preposition"; i.e., a preposition that
is not static, which expresses motion towards, across, or away from.
ni. "non-volitional intransitive verb" I explain volitionality
in the grammar.
nt. "non-volitional transitive verb."
vol. "volitional."
vi. "volitional intransitive verb."
vt. "volitional transitive verb."
stat.prep. "static preposition"; i.e., a preposition that is
not motive, which a fixed place in space or time.
Glossary of terms:
ad, dat/acc.3.pl.pron. "them."
ai, nom.3.sg.neut.pron. "it."
adhkendi, stat.v. "be dead," "die."
adhkendivar, n. (see adhkendi and suffix -ivar, -var)
aittear n. "name"
aitearda(rem). vt.v. "give name (to)" (see 'tearda),
"name," "call."
ary, mot.prep. ar+y, "to, towards, at."
aryil, ary+il. See -il.
atwa(rem), vi. "move, walk, march, go."
atwavar, n. (see atwa and suffix -ivar, -var) NOTE:
this is the direct object of 'teada, its first argument.
bahd, n. "conflagration, destruction, devastation
by fire."
bahdma(rem), vt. bahd + marem. See -marem.
cel, stat.prep. "in, inside, within."
celil, cel + -il. See -il.
dytsots, n. and pron. "aforesaid, aforementioned (thing,
item)." From L. dictus. NOTE: This is the indirect object of
'teada, its second argument.
e, rel.prep. "to," used only with verbs of giving, especially
used with the objects of verbs ending with -da(rem).
euil, prep. and art. e + il
frem, card.num. "four"
frimo, adj. and ord.num. based on frem.
heddorla, adv. "for a long time."
hobban, dem.pl.pron. "those (way out/over there)"
htelra, n. "kind," "sort," "type," "variety," "category."
hyny, mot.prep. "through, throughout."
hynyil, hyny + il.
-id, gen.suffix. Express possession.
il, acc./dat.art. "the."
-il, acc/dat.art. "the" attached to preceding preposition.
See Grammar.
ilno, adj. ord.num. "third."
ilvaz, n. "night sky."
kebö(ned), ni.v. "fall," "collapse."
kebönivar, n. kebön + -var.
kerem, inf./gerund "see," "seeing." See to.
le, vol.nom.art. "the."
ly, 3.sg.nom.fem.pron. "she."
ma, conj. "but."
-ma(rem), verbal suffix meaning "cause," "make." Turns
a noun into a verb, with the
meaning "creating or making the condition expressed by the noun."
I.e,
bahdmarem: "destroy," esp. "destroy by fire," "burn-up," "explode."
mevar, n. "stone, rock."
mimnyhhterlid, plur.pref. + nyhhterla + -id.
nyhhterla, n. "world," "realm."
nom-, aspectual prefix. Expresses not only the habituative,
but non-volitionality.
nomai, nom + ai. See grammar and the Law of Detachability.
nuehra, adj. "foreign," "strange," "alien," "outlandish,"
"uninvited."
nuehrivar, n. one who/which is nuehra.
ola(ned), ni.v. "become," "turn," turn into."
om-, aspectual prefix, volitional. Expresses habituative
or consuetudinal aspect.
omai, om- + ai. See Law of Detachability in Grammar.
perim(ned), ni. "exist," "be." Used as we do "there
is/are," etc.
pondre(ned), ni. "stand," "remain upright," "remain still,"
"be there."
pondrenivar, n. "one who/which pondre."
rin, prep. "about," "concerning," "with regard to," "of"
rinil, prep. and art. rin + il.
-ro, coord.conj. suffix "or"
send, coord.conj. "and"
soys, 1.pl.nom.pron. (inclusive), "we."
takrem, n. "earth," "ground," "land."
takremp, n.acc. takrem + acc. suffix
'tearda(rem), vi. Abbreviation of aiteardarem
teuimast, nf. "god" + feminine suffix: "goddess."
tilo, adj. ord.num. "second"
tilva, n. "star." (see vul-)
tilvan, n.pl. tilva + plural suffix. (see vul-)
to, rel.prep. 1) "for," i.e., the direction of an act or an intention.
2) "Of" (used with htelra and other nouns and verbs. 3) Used as a
phrase with the gerund/infinitive in special ways: See the Grammar.
toad. prep and pron. to + ad.
tsöllain, n.pl. "sun" (tsöllai) + -n.
uan, 3.pl.pres.ind. of parem, "be."
uanner, caus.conj. "for," "because."
uar, aspectual preffix, affixes to pronouns, and expresses the
present perfect of the related verb. See "Law of Detachability" in
the Grammar below.
uarly, uar + ly.
uelo, adj. ord. num. "first."
-var, -ivar, agentive suffix. One who performs the
action of the verb. Corresponds to English suffix "-er."
ve, n. "sky."
vemuis, adj. "distant, far, foreign."
vepat, n. (poetical): ve + epa: "eye for day," i.e., "sun."
vul-, prep.prefix, "concerning," "as for." It's like
our suffix "-wise," only used far more frequently.
vulttilvan, vul + tilvan
vuörod, n. "rage, fury, wrath," from L. furor.
vy-, neg. pref. "no," "not," "un"; prefixes adverbs, adjectives,
and nouns.
vyheddorla, adv. vy + heddorla.
Grammar:
Teonaht is basically Indo-European, we think, but has undergone some
mysterious influence from a non-Indo-European source (we think).
Teonaht is zero-copula. If there is no evident verb, assume a
missing "be."
Teonaht is OSV, sometimes SOV, in the main clause.
In the subordinate clause the word order is reversed: VSO. The
easiest way to tell that there is a relative or subordinate clause is by
noting the juxtaposition of two verbs: "The boy I saw struck
he the ball (who)."
The pattern will be the same even if there is a conjunction like uanner.
Not with send, though.
There is very little case declension in Teonaht. I think the
only example in this text is with takrem.
Plural nouns are usually made with the suffix -n, -in; sometimes (due
to the Law of Detachability--see below) you get a plural prefix ni-, mim-
etc.
There is quite a lot of "resumption": if the subject is fronted for
emphasis, the subject is "resumed" or "repeated" in a pronoun right before
the verb. It seems as if the Teonim give up their rare OSV structure
with difficulty. This also occurs with a
fronted object: the object pronoun will be repeated (see the
very first line)
Adjectives follow nouns.
An adjective can be made from a verb in several ways, but the one way
crucial to this text is with the preposition to, "for": in front of the
infinitive/gerund, it renders a verb adjectival. Example: "for eating"="edible."
Cardinal numbers precede nouns, but the noun is left singular: "four
bird."
Ordinal numbers follow the nouns like the good adjectives that they
are.
Verbs have an infinitive/gerund that is marked with the suffix -rem,
-ned, or -ndi.
The active verb has no conjugations. See the next statement:
Teonaht is big on making a distinction between volitional and non-volitional
action. It's a distinctive feature that adds to the psychological
"feel" of the language. A volitional subject (or agent) is one that
performs the action of the verb willfully (even if it’s a non-thinking
force like wind). A non-volitional subject (or experiencer) undergoes
the action of the verb non-willfully; it experiences or participates in
the action. Verbs and articles express this difference: the infinitive/gerund
ending in -rem is a volitional verb. The one ending in -ned is a
non-volitional verb. The one ending in -ndi is a stative verb, for
which you will find only one example in this text.
The "Law of Detachability" is key in Teonaht, and a somewhat confusing
feature. What were once verbal suffixes, especially those expressing
tense and aspect, have detached and become pronominal prefixes, so that
you will get the preterite particle or the perfective particle affixed
to the pronoun and not to the verb, which remains bare and without inflection:
as though we were to say "ed-he listen," i.e, "he listened.
The Law of Detachability pertains as well to the prefixing of the letter
"n" to the detached and prefixed tense and aspect particles, thus further
distinguishing the --ned from the -rem verbs. This explains the distinction
between the nomai and the omai conjuncts. The Law of Detachability
also pertains to the conjunction of preposition and article. Instead
of the article prefixing the noun it modifies, it will often suffix the
preposition that precedes the noun.
Some conjunctions, like "and" and "or" are post-positional.