Ebisedian
H.S. Teoh

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Back to Megdevi.
On to Hattic.

[Concerning] [the] ekaleri seen by people.
Ekaleri [are] randomly categorized.
[For example] one of the ekaleri is named the Wandering Kaleri.  Throughout time, it quickly moves across the black sky.
Another kaleri is named the Immobile Kaleri. It continues to be away from the Grand Kaleri.
[Yet] another kaleri is named the Dying Kaleri. Another name of it is the Descending Kaleri. When it moves away from the black sky, it is turned into a landmass(*).
Another kaleri probably [is not] a kaleri [at all]. It is seen in the black sky for a [very] short time. Probably, Ocikolis(**) [has] destroyed the kaleri of a landmass(***) with great force.

ni 3bis33'du fww't3 d3 3Kal33'ri.
3Kal33'r3 kh3l3sa' kesogww'ma.
ni 3Kal33'ri d3 Ka'l3ri. ni kilu d3 g3mi' iKa'l3ri ile'si Ke. kil3 l3r3a' is0' ryy's isu' ni bw3' d0 kh0'si ve.
oro Ka'l3ri. ni kilu d3 g3mi' iKa'l3ri ipoji' Ke. kil3 uta'ro iK00'K3l3r0 isu' ve.
oro Ka'l3ri. ni kilu d3 g3mi' iKa'l3ri ik3kheja'r3ki ke. aro ni kilu d3 g3mi' iKa'l3ri iuburol3si' ce. ni kil3 uta'ro n0 bw3' d0 kho's0 lyy's di iso'i kil3 kww'k3 kacoo'ru re.
oro Ka'l3ri jina my'Kal3ri. kil0 fww't3 ni bw3' d0 kh0'si ni mivi' d3 iso'i Ke. jina ocikol0's 3k3Taa' Kapuu're nu kacoo'ru d0 Ka'l3ru ve.

(*) In this instance, the original word refers to a landmass formed from the coalescing of debris spewed forth from a kaleri. In our terms, we might think of this as a "solid nebula" or a "planet".)

(**) This is a name carried over from the Megdevi text. I do not know what it means. The Ebisedian word is just a proper name with no native meaning.

(***) The landmass that has formed around the kaleri. Here, the sentence is describing the destruction of the landmass caused by the destruction of the kaleri it encloses. This is a rough approximation to what I think the original Megdevi text means. :-)

Interlinear
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The interlinear is grouped into 4 lines:

1) The orthographic rendering of the word

2) The category of the word:
        V       verb
        N       noun
        PN      proper noun (name)
        P       indeclinable particle
        PR      preposition
        NP      nominal particle (may inflect for gender/number/case)
        NNP     double-nominal particle, inflects for number and two cases.

3) For nouns and nominal particles, three letters indicating:
   - gender (Masculine, Feminine, Epicene, Neuter, Double)
   - number (Singular, Plural, Nullar)
   - case (Originative, Receptive, Instrumental, Conveyant, Locative).
   If a dash (-) appears, it means the word does not inflect for that attribute. For nnp.'s, a fourth letter indicates the second case inflection.

   For verbs, three letters indicating:
   - domain (Physical, Introvertive, Abstract),
   - focus (Incidental, Deliberative, Consequential),
   - aspect (Inceptive, Progressive, Perfective).

4) Lexicon form (in orthography), where applicable, broken down into morphemes separated by dashes.

Paragraph breaks are marked by "//".

ni  3bis33'du fww't3 d3  3Kal33'ri. //
NP  N         V      NP  N
-SL EPR       PIP    --C NPL
ni  bis33'di  fa't3  di  Ka'l3ri

3Kal33'r3 kh3l3sa' kesogww'ma. //
N         N        V
NPC       NSI      PIP
Ka'l3ri   kh3l3si' kesoga'ma

ni  3Kal33'ri d3  Ka'l3ri.  ni  kilu d3  g3mi' iKa'l3ri  ile'si  Ke.
NP  N         NP  N         NP  NNP  NP  N     PN        PN      P
-SL NPL       --C NSL       -SL -SLR --C NSL   NSL       NSL     -
ni  Ka'l3ri   di  Ka'l3ri   ni  kili di  g3mi' i-Ka'l3ri i-le'si Ke

kil3 l3r3a' is0' ryy's isu' ni  bw3' d0  kh0'si ve. //
NNP  N      N    V     N    NP  N    NP  N      P
-SLC NSI    N-O  PIP   N-R  -SL NSC  --O NSL    -
kili l3r3i' isi' ree's isi' ni  bui' di  kh0'si ve

oro Ka'l3ri.  ni  kilu d3  g3mi' iKa'l3ri  ipoji'  Ke.  kil3 uta'ro
PR  N         NP  NNP  NP  N     PN        PN      P    NNP  PR
-   NSL       -SL -SLR --C NSL   NSL       NSL     -    -SLC -
oro Ka'l3ri   ni  kili di  g3mi' i-Ka'l3ri i-poji' Ke   kili uta'ro

iK00'K3l3r0    isu' ve. //
PN             N    P
NSO            N-R  -
i-K00'-Ka'l3ri isi' ve

oro Ka'l3ri. ni  kilu d3  g3mi' iKa'l3ri  ik3kheja'r3ki    ke.
PR  N        NP  NNP  NP  N     PN        PN               P
-   NSL      -SL -SLR --C NSL   NSL       NSL              -
oro Ka'l3ri  ni  kili di  g3mi' i-Ka'l3ri i-k3-kheja're-ki ke

aro ni  kilu d3  g3mi' iKa'l3ri  iuburol3si'   ce.
PR  NP  NNP  NP  N     N         N             P
-   -SL -SLR --C NSL   NSL       NSL           -
aro ni  kili di  g3mi' i-Ka'l3ri i-uburo-l3si' ce

ni  kil3 uta'ro n0  bw3' d0  kho's0 lyy's di  iso'i kil3 kww'k3
NP  NNP  PR     NP  N    NP  N      V     NP  N     NNP  V
-SL -SLC -      --O NSC  -SO NSO    PIP   --L NSL   -SLC PIP
ni  kili uta'ro ni  bui' di  kh0'si le's  di  iso'i kili ka'k3

kacoo'ru re. //
N        P
NSR      -
kacoo'ri re

oro Ka'l3ri jina my'Kal3ri.
PR  N       P    N
-   NSL     -    NNL
oro Ka'l3ri jina Ka'l3ri

kil0 fww't3 ni  bw3' d0  kh0'si ni  mivi' d3  iso'i Ke.
NNP  V      NP  N    NP  N      NP  N     NP  N     P
-SLO PIP    -SL NSC  --O NSL    -SL NSL   --C NSL   -
kili fa't3  ni  bui' di  kh0'si ni  mivi' di  iso'i Ke

jina ocikol0's  3k3Taa' Kapuu're nu  kacoo'ru d0  Ka'l3ru ve.
P    PN         N       V        NP  N        NP  N       P
-    ESO        NPI     PIP      --R NSR      --O NSR     -
jina o-ciK0li's k3Tai'  Kap0're  ni  kacoo'ri di  Ka'l3ri ve

Glossary
--------
(This is arranged in the order of appearance in the relay text. Alphabetic order in Ebisedian does not follow the Roman alphabetical order, and I thought it would be too confusing to put this in alphabetical order. All phonetic transcriptions are given in X-SAMPA.)

ni      [ni_L]
        Subordinating particle. (See "Subordinate clauses" in grammar guide.)

bis33'di        [bi.s@\:_R_F.di]
        "Person".

fa't3   [p\a_H.t@]
        "To see". If the seer is absent, it may be understood as "to be seen", or "to appear".

di      [di_L]
        Subordinate clause terminator. (See "Subordinate clauses" in grammar guide.)

Ka'l3ri [k_ha_H.l@.r`i]
        "Fountain", "Starburst", "geyser".
        Refers to an energetic, expulsive phenomenon in Ferochromon. Depending on its extent and its spatial location, one might think of it as "fountain", "geyser", or "starburst".

kh3l3si'        [x@.l@.si_H]
        "Randomness", "scatteredness", "arbitrariness".

kesoga'ma       [kE.so.ga_H.ma]
        Compound verb, composed of _kesi-_ ("cutting") and _ga'ma_ ("to call", "to name"). It means to analyse and name into different categories, to name so as to distinguish between categories.

kili    [ki_L.li_L]
        Back-referencing particle, inflected for *two* noun cases.  You may think of this as a short-range pronoun that refers back to a noun in the previous sentence(s). The first noun case agrees with the case of the noun being referred to in the previous sentence(s); the second noun case is the function of the noun in the current sentence. When the first case is locative, it usually refers to the noun nominated in the last nominator sentence.

g3mi'   [g@.mi_H]
        Noun. "Calling", "name". (I.e., what one calls it.)

iKa'l3ri        [?i.k_ha_H.l@.r`i]
        i-      neuter proper noun suffix
        Hence, _iKa'l3ri_ means the *name* "Starburst", "Fountain", or "Geyser". (Same idea as when we capitalize "Sun" in English.)

ile'si  [?i.lE_H.si]
        i-      neuter proper noun suffix
        le'si   "motion", "wandering"
        Hence, _ile'si_ "Wanderer", "the Moving One".

*NOTE: the compound phrase _iKa'l3ri ile'si_ should be treated as a single proper name composed of two proper nouns. Similarly with subsequent names that occur in the text.

Ke      [k_hE_L]
        1st dichotomy correlative particle (see grammar guide).

l3r3i'  [l@\.r`@\.?i_H]
        "Flowingness", "haste", "speed".
        When used as adverb (instrumental case), "quickly", "smoothly".

isi'    [?i.si_H]
        Irregular temporal noun, used as temporal marker. Only occurs in originative, locative, and receptive.
        is0'    "From the beginning", "since the past"
        isi'    "Now"
        isu'    "Until the future", "from now on"

ree's   [r`E:_R_Fs]
        Intensive of _le's_. "To move quickly", "to run", "to rush", "to race".

bui'    [bu.?i_H]
        "Black".

kh0'si  [xA_H.si]
        "Upper flows", "sky". In the Ferochromon, the Ebisedi live on _jhusi'_ "the land"; above the land is _l3r3si'_ the "moving space", or "the air", and at the threshold of this "moving space" is the _kh0'si_, which may be understood as "sky".

ve      [BE_L]
        2nd dichotomy correlative particle (see grammar guide).

oro     [?o_L.r`o_L]
        Prepositional demonstrative: "the next one", "the next one in the sequence".

ipoji'  [?i.po.dZi_H]
        i-      neuter proper noun prefix
        poji'   "immobility", "stillness", "the state of having stopped".
        Hence, _ipoji'_ "the Stopped One", or "the Unmoving One".

uta'ro  [?u.ta_H.r`o]
        Preposition:
        u-      "towards"
        -ta'-   "the distant point from"
        -ro     prepositional prefix
        Hence, "away from".

iK00'Kal3ri     [?i.k_hA:_R_F.k_ha.l@.r`i]
        i-      neuter proper noun prefix
        K00'    "universe", "grandeur", "greatness"

ik3kheja'r3ki   [?i.l@.xE.dZa_H.r`@.ki]
        i-              neuter proper noun prefix
        k3<verb>ki      conveyant participial construct: "to be (conveyant noun) under action of <verb>"
        kheja're        "to kill"; victim goes in conveyant case.
        Hence, _ik3kheja'r3ki_ "The One Being Killed", or "The Dying One".

aro     [?a.r`o]
        Prepositional demonstrative, "another", "the other".

iuburol3si'     [?i.?u.bu.r`o.l@\.si_H]
        i-      neuter proper noun prefix
        uburo   preposition, "downwards", "descending"
        l3si'   "motion", "movement".
        Hence, "the One with Downward Motion"; "the Falling One".

le's    [lE_Hs]
        Verb, "to go", "to move". Thing in motion always in conveyant case.  Locative noun indicates current location of movement or the space wherein movement occurs.

iso'i   [?i.so_H.?i]
        "Time".

ka'k3   [ka_H.k@]
        "To cause", "to become". Generic verb meaning to bring (conveyant noun) from the state of (originative noun) to (receptive noun).

kacoo'ri        [ka.tSo:_R_F.r`i]
        "Continent", "plane". Refers to the large landmass that coalesces from the debris spewed forth by a _Ka'l3ri_. Depending on where the _Ka'l3ri_ is, this mass may form relative to an observer's _kh0'si_ as a "sky land"; but to an entity on the landmass itself, it is the _jhusi'_, "the land".

jina    [dZin_L.na_L]
        Positive subjunctive particle. Marks the sentence as hypothetical, but leans towards it being true. When used with the conjunction _keve_, forms a conditional if-then statement biased towards being true.

mivi'   [mi.Bi_H]
        "Smallness".

ociK0li's       [?o.tSi.k_hA.lis_H]]
        o-              Epicene proper noun prefix.
        ciK0li's        Proper name (transliterated from Megdevi).
        No native meaning in Ebisedian.

k3Tai'  [k@.t_ha.?i_H]
        (1) "Strength", "power", "force".
        (2) Technical term for the instrumental case.
        (3) Ferochromon physics jargon, referring to that which brings about change, the forces that cause regions of instability in space.


==============================
Ebisedian Crash-course Grammar
==============================

NOUNS
-----

Nouns have 3 attributes: gender, number, and case.

There are 5 genders: masculine, feminine, epicene, neuter, double.
- Noun gender always reflects biological gender.
- Epicene is used when the noun referent is either masculine or feminine
- Neuter is for genderless things and abstract concepts.
- Double is for hermaphroditic creatures and collective nouns referring to couples.

There are 3 numbers: singular, plural, nullar.
- Plural is often used as an intensive ("much" or "very").
- Nullar indicates the absence of the noun referent. Where possible, the nullar is preferred over verb negation ("I see none-of-him" is preferred over "I do not see him").

There are 5 cases: originative, receptive, instrumental, conveyant, locative.
- Noun case is semantic, and operates according to the Noun Case Model (see below). IMPORTANT: understanding how noun cases work is *essential* to making any sense of Ebisedian.

VERBS
-----

Verbs have 3 attributes: domain, focus, aspect.

There are 3 domains: physical, introvertive, abstract.
- Physical is for physical events
- Introvertive is mainly for psychological events
- Abstract is for "collective" events (e.g. verb "to plan" is abstract; it consists of other actions such as talking, writing, drawing, thinking, etc.)

There are 3 focii: incidental, deliberative, consequential.
- Incidental is for events that just happen
- Deliberative marks events that happened "for a purpose"
- Consequential marks events that result from preceding events.

There are 3 aspects: inceptive, progressive, perfective.
- Inceptive is for events that are starting, or about to start. (It is also used sometimes as an imperative.)
- Progressive is for events in progress, either interrupted or simultaneous with another event.
- Perfective is for complete events, even if completion is in the future. The progressive is only used when (1) describing "while X is happening, Y also happened" (2) the event is interrupted.
 

NOUN CASE MODEL
---------------

Understanding of this model is essential to understanding the meaning of sentences in Ebisedian. Every sentence fits in the following "mental model":

Originative: the originating point of something
Receptive: the destination point of something
Instrumental: the thing fuelling the current action from origin to destination. If verb is present, instrumental often used as adverb.
Conveyant: the thing being propelled.
Locative: the place where the conveyant noun is in currently.

To visualize this, think of the conveyant noun, currently sitting in the locative noun, having come from the originative noun, and heading towards the receptive noun, being propelled by the instrumental noun (and verb, if there is one).

This mental model applies both to physical descriptions as well as abstract concepts. See also the section on Stative Sentences to get a feel for how this works.

SENTENCE TYPES
--------------

There are a few distinct sentence categories which one should be familiar with.

Nominator Sentence:
-------------------
        Single locative noun or noun-phrase. Sets the topic of subsequent discourse. Often used as a title, but also used when the speaker wishes to make several statements about a single topic.
        A favorite Ebisedian construct is: <locative noun>. kili <comment>.  kili <comment>. E.g., "That house. It is red, it is big, it has many rooms." (_kili_ is the back-referencing particle, inflected for two cases.)

Stative sentence:
-----------------
        Describes a continual state of things. Stative sentences do not have verbs. Very idiomatic interplay between noun cases.
Common idioms:

1) noun A locative, noun B locative:
   A is B.

2) person A, originative; adjectival noun B, conveyant:
   A shows forth B. (B is "expressive" attribute)

3) noun A conveyant, noun B locative:
   A is in B. Or, B belongs to category A; B is an instance of A.

4) adjectival noun A conveyant, person B receptive:
   A is a "receptive attribute" of B.
   (E.g. th0't33 ebu' - I(rcp) am tall(cvy).)

5) thing A conveyant, person B receptive:
   B is the owner of A (possession).

6) person A conveyant, person B receptive:
   A is B's special friend / spouse.

Verbal sentence:
----------------
        Only used for events (changes of state). For unchanging state of things, stative sentences are used instead. Verbal sentence consists of verb with any combination of nouns. NOTE: multiple nouns in the same case has "implicit conjunction": _A B_ = "A and B".

Noun cases are chosen according to Noun Case Model. Things to watch out for:

1) _fa't3_ "to see" -- the seer is in the RECEPTIVE, the thing seen in the ORIGINATIVE.
2) _zota'_ "to look" -- looker in ORIGINATIVE, thing looked at in RECEPTIVE.
3) _le's_ "to go" -- the thing/person going is in the CONVEYANT; originative and receptive marks the source/destination of the journey.

SUBORDINATE CLAUSES
-------------------

Because of the flat structure of sentences in Ebisedian, almost every noun modifier has to expressed using subordinate clauses.

Subordinate noun-clauses are marked by the particles _ni_ and _di_. The clause appears between these two particles. _ni_ introduces the clause, and _di_ terminates the clause. The clause itself may contain nested subclauses; it is never ambiguous because the particles always match up. (In practice, however, it rarely goes beyond two levels.)

_ni_ is inflected for number and case, which must agree with the noun being modified.

_di_ is inflected for case. This case marks the function of the modified noun within the clause. For example:

        ni    juli'r d3    biz3tai'.
        (loc) (loc)  (cvy) (loc)
        "The woman in the house." (Literally, "the who-is-in-the-house woman".)

Here, _ni_ (singular locative) matches biz3tai' (feminine singular locative).  The function of the modified noun (biz3tai') in the subclause is the conveyant case, because _d3_ is the conveyant of _di_. Therefore, the subclause is equivalent to:
        juli'r b3z3t33'.
        (loc)  (cvy)
        The woman is in the house. (See examples from the "Noun Case Model" section.)

CORRELATIVES
------------

Correlatives are sentences parallel to each other, that either describe a chain of successive events, or different views/aspects of the thing being described. It is similar to the English "on the one hand ... on the other hand ...", except more concise and elegant.

Ebisedian has two kinds of correlatives: the dichotomy (equivalent to the Classical Greek correlatives _men_ and _de_) and the trichotomy.

Correlatives are marked by correlative particles, which appear at the *end* of a sentence. Dichotomy particles are _Ke_ and _ve_ (in that order), and trichotomy particles are _ke_, _ce_, _re_.

END OF CRASH COURSE
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