Conlang Relay 15/gjâ-zym-byn

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by Jim Henry

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The Text

flĭŋ ðĭ-i ₣um-van kâ-rĭm kǒ. te kâ-i rĭm-van mwe mâ-zla hǒl.  !kâ-rĭm-ť-zô mwe. flĭŋ-zô žǒŋ źǒ Ќ-ť, mǒj ŝrun pe twâ-cu-ŝrun kâ-i hyw jâ-o mwe. hî'mâr-van heŋ mâ jǒm, mǒj flĭŋ kǒ gân-ř kî'ĥu-kě'ĝu-źa jâ-o mâ. vĭj lǒ i flĭŋ-zô ƥ reŋ, râ-van huw-fwa.

nu ƴu-cô-bô ši, Ќ-ť im fâ-ŋĭw ĥy-i źum-ga-zô ƥ reŋ, kiň Ќ-ť ĥy-i rĭm-ķy jâ-o. žâw-van Ќ-ť, hǒŋ cu-rô-sra jâ-o šî'fy mâ-za ðĭ-i. ?ru nǒ i flĭŋ-pja kǒ ŝu-i hu jâ-o Ќ-ť.

ʝĭl-plâŋ kâ-i ðu-van kâ-zô mâ jǒm, mǒj flĭŋ kǒ ŝu-i kujm ķy-bô kâ-i hî'mâr-van heŋ.

Smooth English

This watching is like a dance. The whole world must see it. Watch! We must not only dance, but learn the music and song. Most people do not understand, but from this kind of dancing people take great secret strength. When they dance, good things happen.

After a brief moment, they touch our hearts and give us a true vision;we feel we become more complex than human souls. How can we become like this dancer?

Most people can observe the movement of feet, but do not understand the true purpose of this dance.

Grammar overview

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 rootword 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}former 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. The apostrophe or single quote ' marks syllable boundaries in polysyllabic roots.

Glossary

suff. quality noun -> adjective
suff. reverse, contradictory quality from root
cu
n. complex system, organized group
cu-rô
mod. complex, synergetic
ðĭ
n. relationship, connection, assocation
ðu
n. ability, capacity, power
n. love, friendliness
fâ-ŋĭw
n. emotional faculty
flĭŋ
n. dance; moving about for fun
fwa
suff. causative suffix
₣um
n. similarity
ga
suff. metaphorical extension of root's meaning
gân
n. cause; determining condition
heŋ
mod. negative particle; not, no
hî'mâr
n. understanding, comprehension
hǒl
mod. whole, entire(ly)
hǒŋ
conj. that (introduces subordinate clauses)
hu
n. essence, nature, set of essential qualities
huw
n. happiness, contentment
ĥy
n. patient, thing acted on
ĥy-i
postp. patient case postpostition
hyw
n. direct, interior knowledge; memory, experience
i
postp. at, with
im
postp. in (part of); of, belonging to (body parts, faculties)
n. role, state, form
jâ-o
postp. entering a state of, becoming
jǒm
mod. most of, a majority of
ʝĭl
n. motion in place; change of orientation, shift of position
n. noticing, focusing one's attention upon, watching
kě'ĝu
n. hiding, privacy, secrecy
kiň
conj. and
kî'ĥu
n. strength
dem. this
Ќ
pron. I, me
kujm
n. purpose, motive, end
ķy
n. truth, fitting reality
mod. relativizer particle (who, which...)
n. person, human
mǒj
conj. but, however, nonetheless, even so
mwe
mod. imperative particle
mod. WH-question particle
nu
n. time, moment, occasion
ŋĭw
n. faculty, body part
o
postp. to, towards
pe
conj. and (links words within clause, not clauses)
pja
suff. person who does ~ avocationally, not for money; amateur, hobbyist, volunteer
plâŋ
n. foot, feet
ƥ
pron. he, she, they (spirits, people, animals already mentioned)
n. occurrence, happening, event, process
reŋ
mod. many, much
rĭm
n. seeing, having within view
suff. characteristic quality of (tangible noun -> idiomatic adjective)
ř
postp. out of, away from
ru
n. method, way, manner, style
ši
postp. after (time)
šî'fy
n. spirit, soul; angel
sra
suff. more, greater; comparative suffix
ŝrun
n. music
ŝu
n. possess, have (quality, part, faculty)
teL
pron. it (plants, inanimate things, abstractions already mentioned)
ť
pron. you, y'all
twâ
n. sentence; strophe of a poem; proverb, saying, prophecy, quotation, aphorism
twâ-cu
n. poem, lyric, text
van
suff. stative verb suffix
vĭj
n. time, while
ƴu
n. length (duration)
za
suff. having to do with, associated with root
zla
suff. universal collective suffix
suff. active verb suffix
žâw
n. feeling, sensing, perceiving
žǒŋ
mod. only, just, merely; no more than
źa
suff. augmentative suffix
źǒ
mod. imperative negative particle
źum
n. touching, feeling; contact

Abbreviations

conj.
conjunction
dem.
demonstrative
mod.
modifier (adjective/adverb)
n.
noun
postp.
postposition
pron.
pronoun
suff.
suffix