Conlang Relay 17/Buruya Nzaysa

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by Jan Strasser

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Buruya Nzaysa text

Lo yuska vono

Na u ru nzo yuska mvunɛ. Ño u tsenɛ́ña ma pɛmo, mpu tsona ɛru rumɛ rɛ gasa tsɛga xə ru ŋkə nzo rələh.

Rabɛ kɛ’u ɛte, nona lo ru lu sɛtsasa ah kume, o na losə rɛ ste’a lu yuska rələh. Dal ntɛ xə ɔdɔwə lo yuska rowastɔ, o ta lu ru botso! Ste’a xə losə rɛ sə posmu. Nə kwɛstaga lo yuska nzəxrə, xutsɔ ɔdɔwah oba sədə oskə. Esaxa tse lu ru xo’a o əño o tul.

Translation

English

The violent yuska

A man had a yuska. As a learned man he was not afraid, because everyone knew that he was the only person who could ride it.

One day the man decided to try his luck, and he tried to ride the yuska. But no, the yuska got angry and attacked the man! He tried to run away. The yuska screamed fiercely, so that many other yuskas would come. They hunted the man down, killed him, and ate him.

English translation of previous text

(Lhenazi, by Arthaey Angosii)

The tale of the violent dragon

A man had a dragon. As a magician, he was at ease because he knew that he was the only one who could ride the dragon.

The man tried to ride the dragon, but the dragon attacked him. The man tried to run away, but the dragon screamed. Many other dragons came, and they hunted and killed the man.

Interlinear gloss

Lo
DEF.NOM
yuska
yuska
vono.
aggressive.
The violent yuska.


Na
PFV.AUX-3SG>3
u
INDEF.NOM
ru
man
nzo
TOP.ACC
yuska
yuska
mvunɛ.
hold.
A man had a yuska.


Ño
as.3
u
INDEF.NOM
tsenɛ́ña
wiseman
ma
NEG.AUX-3SG
pɛmo,
fear,
mpu
because
tsona
HAB.AUX-3SG>3
ɛru
everyone
rumɛ
know
rɛ
SUB.ACC
gasa
PERM.AUX-3SG>3
tsɛga
only
xə
this.NOM
ru
man
ŋkə
same
nzo
TOP.ACC
rələh.
ride.
As a learned man he was not afraid, because everyone knew that he was the only person who could ride it.


Rabɛ
during.3
kɛ’u
one.of
ɛte,
day,
nona
INT.AUX-3SG>3
lo
DEF.NOM
ru
man
lu
DEF.ACC
sɛtsasa
fortune
ah
of.3
kume,
punch,
o
and
na
PFV.AUX-3SG>3
losə
try
rɛ
SUB.ACC
ste’a
PROG.AUX-3SG>3
lu
DEF.ACC
yuska
yuska
rələh.
ride.
One day the man decided to try his luck, and he tried to ride the yuska.


Dal
but
ntɛ
by.3
xə
this.NOM
ɔdɔwə
RES.COP-3SG
lo
DEF.NOM
yuska
yuska
rowastɔ,
angry,
o
and
ta
INC.AUX-3SG>3
lu
DEF.ACC
ru
man
botso!
attack!
But no, the yuska got angry and attacked the man!


Ste’a
PROG.AUX-3SG>3
xə
this.NOM
losə
try
rɛ
SUB.ACC
sə
NULL.AUX-3SG
posmu.
escape.
He tried to run away.


Nə
PFV.AUX-3SG
kwɛstaga
loudly
lo
DEF.NOM
yuska
yuska
nzəxrə,
scream
xutsɔ
therefore
ɔdɔwah
RES.AUX-3PL
oba
many
sədə
other
oskə.
come.
The yuska screamed fiercely, so that many other yuskas would come.


Esaxa
EMPH-AUX-3PL>3
tse
that.NOM
lu
DEF.ACC
ru
man
xo’a
hunt
o
and
əño
kill
o
and
tul.
eat.
They hunted the man down, killed him, and ate him.


The yuska is a mythical creature from Miwan folklore, which is said to live in the depths of the Ici Forest south of Buruya. It is twice the size of a man, looks more or less like a panther with a large dinosaur-like tail [1], and it eats people, hunting them by ambushing from the treetops.

Morphemic breakdown

(as included in the torch that I sent on to Eugene Oh for translation into Zesovian) 

lo  yuska vono.
DET N     N

n   -a u   ru nzo yuska mvunɛ.
AUX -P DET N  DET N     V

ño u   tsenɛña ma  -ə pɛmo,
PP DET N       AUX -P V

mpu tson -a ɛru  rumɛ rɛ gas -a tsɛga xə  ru ŋkə nzo  rələh.
CJ  AUX  -P PRON V    CJ AUX -P ADV   DET N  N   PRON V

rabɛ kɛ’u ɛte, non -a lo  ru lu  sɛtsasa ah kume,
PP   QU   N    AUX -P DET N  DET N       PP V

o  n   -a losə rɛ ste -a lu  yuska rələh.
CJ AUX -P V    CJ AUX -P DET N     V

dal ntɛ xə   ɔdɔ -ə lo  yuska rowastɔ, o  ta  -a lu  ru botso!
CJ  PP  PRON AUX -P DET N     N        CJ AUX -P DET N  V

ste -a xə   losə rɛ s   -ə posmu.
AUX -P PRON V    CJ AUX -P V

n   -ə kwɛstaga lo  yuska nzəxrə, xutsɔ ɔdɔ -ah oba sədə oskə.
AUX -P ADV      DET N     V       CJ    AUX -P  QU  N    V

es  -axa tse  lu  ru xo’a o  əño o  tul.
AUX -P   PRON DET N  V    CJ V   CJ V


KEY:

ADV  - adverb
AUX  - auxiliary verb
CJ   - conjunction
DET  - determiner
N    - noun
P    - person agreement
PP   - preposition
PRON - pronoun
QU   - quantifier (can also act as a determiner)
V    - verb

Vocabulary

-a P 3rd person singular subject, 3rd person object
ah PP "of, belonging to"
-ah P 3rd person plural intransitive
-axa P 3rd person plural subject, 3rd person object
botso V "to attack"
dal CJ "but"
ɛru PRON "everyone"
ɛte N day
es- AUX emphatic auxiliary ("do indeed")
-ə P 3rd person singular intransitive
əño V "to kill"
gas- AUX permissive auxiliary ("may")
kɛ’u QU partitive quantifier ("one of")
kume V "to punch; to test"
kwɛstaga ADV "loudly"
lo DET definite article ("the"), nominative
losə V "to attempt, to try"
lu DET definite article ("the"), accusative
ma- AUX negative auxiliary ("don't")
mpu CJ "because"
mvunɛ V "to have, to own, to hold"
n- AUX perfective auxiliary ("have done")
non- AUX intentional auxiliary ("going to")
ntɛ PP "by, with, like"
nzəxrə V "to scream, to shout"
nzo DET/PRON topic marker, accusative
ño PP "as"
ŋkə N "same, identical, -self"
ɔdɔ- AUX resultative auxiliary ("have become")
o CJ "and"
oba QU "many"
oskə V "to come, to arrive"
pɛmo V "to fear, to be afraid of"
posmu V "to run away, to escape"
rabɛ PP "at the time of, during"
rɛ CJ complementizer ("that"), accusative
rələh V "to ride"
rowastɔ N "angry, furious"
ru N "man"
rumɛ V "to know, to be aware of"
s- AUX null auxiliary ("do")
sɛtsasa N "good luck, good fortune"
sədə N "another"
ste- AUX progressive auxiliary ("be doing")
ta- AUX inceptive auxiliary ("start")
tsɛga ADV "only, exclusively"
tse DET/PRON distal deictic ("that, those"), nominative
tsenɛña N "scholar, wiseman" (lit. "one who loves the scrolls")
tson- AUX habitual/gnomic auxiliary ("be always")
tul V "to eat"
u DET indefinite article ("a"), nominative
vono N "aggressive, violent"
xə DET/PRON proximal deictic ("this, these"), nominative
xo’a V "to hunt, to pursue"
xutsɔ CJ "so, therefore"
yuska N a legendary creature that eats people

Grammar

Typology

  • mostly isolating
  • head-initial
  • basic word order: AuxSOV with occasional topic fronting
  • basic morphosyntactic alignment: NOM-ACC
  • pro-drop

Nominals

  • no distinction between nouns and adjectives
  • nouns/adjectives do not inflect at all
  • determiners are mandatory in all full (i.e. non-pronominal) noun phrases
  • nouns without a determiner usually have adjectivial function
  • most determiners are marked for case
  • number is unmarked (to specify plural, a quantifier must be used)

Prepositions

  • prepositions inflect for the person of their object (all instances in the text are 3rd person)
  • objects of prepositions can be omitted if clear from context

Verbs

  • content verbs do not inflect at all
  • auxiliary verbs are mandatory in all clauses
  • auxiliary verbs inflect for person and number of the subject AND person of the object
  • aspect and mood are indicated by the choice of the auxiliary
  • no tense marking

Links

Buruya Nzaysa grammar

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