Conlang Relay 22/Qmachah

Text

Gy maqan džvośak

Naqi dla sava omo, gy maqan baqi bijoqošyjukyt qvini qlogigak. O džot ča gy tunogy hu gy babađo ubijukym, hu o plidu sa va ap o džot gvogomyjukyt.

Otyn sa tma, gy kunot o ganutyk ću śimujuk hni ću. O kunot voklojuk, mo čnajuk gy kaba nuqvonakit. Gy śmuč ap susutajuk. Gy vip ap o ganut kušajukyt - momo gju o amaqi hu o ataqi gukjuk, ot bi nokyt - hu đogo ap śimujuk.

Hjanu, o maqan sutajuk. Čnajuk o džot kušagakit gju o dzicik imijuk slo. Tun o kunot sa o dzit o vip sa guś ap minjukyt. Malujuk, hu kala o džot hnadučakit. O maqan o dzit hnadučajukyt hu o ganut mjosošyjukyt ! O ganut hihojuk hu o maqan ap gidžujuk. O maqan dzilydzilyćajuk hu o džot ča džvośajuk. O džot baqi gvogomyjukyt hu gy gipas ćuva čapijuk. Ky putoputojuk slo !

a merchant fall-SBJ-3SG

year-PL many of-PL before, a merchant REFL ready-CAUS-PST-3SG-3SG busy travel-SBJ-3Sg. the boat-3SG in a basket and a stove put-PST-3SG-3PL, and the river of end at the boat drive-PST-3SG-3SG.

there of near, a boy the dog-3SG with go-PST-3SG foot with. the boy hungry-PST-3SG, so want-PST-3SG a food find-SBJ-3SG-3SG. a house at arrive-PST-3SG. a tree at the dog tie-PST-3SG-3SG - so-so but the mother-3SG and the father-3SG say-PST-3SG, that NEG must-3SG-3SG - and inside at go-PST-3SG.

now, the merchant come-PST-3SG. want-PST-3SG the boat tie-SBJ-3SG-3SG but the rope-3SG short-PST-3SG very. then the boy of the rope the tree of side at see-PST-3SG-3SG. long-PST-3SG, and maybe the boat grab-SBJ-3SG-3SG. the merchant the rope grab-PST-3SG-3SG and the dog free-CAUSE-PST-3SG-3SG! the dog bark-PST-3SG and the merchant at chase-PST-3SG. the merchant scared-scared-PST-3SG and the boat in fall-PST-3SG. the boat itself drive-PST-3SG-3SG and a rock-PL with-PL crash-PST-3SG. 3SG break-break-PST-3SG very!

=That a merchant fell

Many years ago, a merchant was busy preparing to go travelling. Into his boat he put a basket and a stove and drove it to the bottom of the river.

Nearby, a boy was walking with his dog. The boy was hungry, so he wanted to find food. He came to a house. He tied the dog to a tree - even though his mother and father told him that he mustn't - and went inside.

Now the merchant came. He wanted to tie the boat up but his rope was too short. He saw the boy's rope around the tree. It was long, and might just reach the boat. The merchant grabbed the rope and freed the dog! The dog barked and chased the merchant. The merchant was terrified and fell into the boat. The boat drove off by itself and crashed into some rocks. It was completely destroyed.

Grammar

Qmačah is an agglutinative, suffixing, mostly head-marking SOV lanuguage. It is characterised by relatively simple noun morphology, no case marking, an accusative alignment, and postpositions. It also has some weak vowel and sibilant harmony in most suffixes. It was designed to have the most common language features according to WALS (wals.info).

Nouns mark for plural and possession. The plural markers are -i/y after consonants and -s/š/ś after vowels, with the variant forms according to vowel and sibilant harmony. The only relevant possessive marker is for 3SG, which is -qi/qy after vowels and -ik/yk after consonants. The possessive markers come after any plural marker.

Pronous are usually dropped when they are retrievable from context - this is true of object and subject, which are normally only distinguishable by word order, and can lead to ambiguities. Demonstratives and quantifiers follow the nouns they modify, but articles come before. Demonstratives and postpositions agree in number with the noun they are modifying if they directly follow it or a quantifier, using the pronominal plural suffix -va.

Adjectives, when modifying nouns attributively, simply follow the noun uninflected. When used predicatively, they behave just like verbs, taking the same marking and agreement. They can also be used substantively.

Verbs mark both subject and object, in that order. The only relevant suffixes are for third person; for subject: 3SG is -k after vowels and -i/y after consonants, and 3PL is -ži/žy after vowels and -ot after consonants; for object: 3SG is -t after vowels and -it/yt after consonants, and 3PL is -ži/žy after vowels and -im/ym after consonants. Verbs also mark two tenses, with the present being zero and the past being ju in affirmative phrases and ja in negative phrases, which come after the mood suffixes but before the person marking.

There are three moods, indicative being zero, imperative being -ki/ky after vowels and -i/y after consonants, and the subjunctive being -ga after vowels and -a after consonants. The subjunctive is mainly used in certain complements, but is often used where a non-finite verb or verbal noun would be used in English (as these don't exist in Qmačah). The negative particle bi precedes the verb, and any serialised verbs or adverbs come after.

Qmačah utilises both partial and full reduplication. Partial reduplication isn't always obvious and so is marked in the lexicon. Full reduplication is usually used for verbs to derive a more intensive meaning. There is also the suffix -(q)ošy which derives causative verbs.

Also note that t becomes c before i.

Lexicon

(in native order)

ama

mother

ap

at, to

ata

father

babađo

n. stove

baqi

him/her/it-self

bi

not (negative particle)

bijo

adj. ready

va

n. end, bottom

vip

n. tree

voklo

adj. hungry

ganut

n. dog

gvogomy

v. drive, pilot

gipa

n. rock

gidžu

v. chase

gju

but

guk

v. say, tell

guś

n. side

gy

a, some (indefinite article)

dla

many

đogo

n. inside

imi

adj. short

dzily

adj. scared, afraid

dzit

n. rope

kaba

n. food

kala

maybe

kunot

n. boy, child

kuša

v. tie, fasten

ky

he/she/it (3SG pronoun)

qvini

adj. busy

qlogi

v. travel

maqan

n. merchant

malu

adj. long

min

v. see

mjos

adj. free

mo

so, thus

momo

even though

naq

n. year

no

v. must

nuqvon

v. seek, find

o

the (definite article)

omo

before

ot

that (demonstrative)

otyn

there

plidu

n. river

puto

v. break

sa

of

slo

very

susuta

v. arrive, come to

suta

v. come

tma

n. nearby

tun

then

tunogy

n. basket, case, chest

ću

with

ubi

v. put, place

hiho

v. bark

hjanu

now

hnaduč

v. grab, reach, grasp

hni

n. foot

hu

and

ča

in, into

čapi

v. crash

čna

v. want

džvoś

v. fall

džot

n. boat

śimu

v. go

śmuč

n. house