Mêlázêla - Prayers

The following texts are prayers to the gods of Dombellus, which were originally created as a way to roleplay divine spellcasting in a LARP. While prayers on Dombellus vary from individual to individual and from location to location, poems like these are frequently used in various rituals and ceremonies across the continent of Azallasto, so the style below is representative of a typical Azallan or Zolduan prayer ceremony. Priests who are fluent in Mêlázêla often compose their own prayers or modify popular ones for a given circumstance.

The prayers include glosses and smooth translations for each line, as well as recordings of me reciting/singing the text. I use DEP to gloss ë, meaning that it marks dependent clauses, although I'm not sure this is the right way to describe it. Really, ë indicates that a second clause follows with some connection to the current one; I'm not sure if dependent clauses even exist in Mêlázêla. Anyway, I'm not sure what notation to use for this, so I'll use DEP for now. In cases where tones have been shifted due to tone differentiation, the text itself uses the shifted versions while the gloss below uses the dictionary forms. Similarly, trill reduplication has been changed to full reduplication in the glosses for convenience.

Poetic Forms

The prayers below use specific Mêlázêla poetic forms: the ùdëla, a type of free verse with relatively few restrictions apart from requiring each phrase to end in a different tone in ascending order, commonly used in prayers; and the médàlï, a strict format with 15-syllable phrases which requires the 8th and 14th syllable to be rhymed at least in quality, often used for battle hymns. (Other forms likely exist, but these are two of the most popular.) The Celestial text for the LCC11 Relay is now out of date, but was a médàlï. See the entries for ùdëla and médàlï in File:Celestial Dictionary.pdf for more information on these styles.

Këtûshí â "O Azalla" (ùdëla)

Text and Recording

Këtûshí â

Ùmo jï umö û fá o

Këtûshí â

Ngále chí êä pavû hÿ tí ë

Këtûshí â

Shè chî sénu-sénù pavü vê

Këtûshí â

Dókè hé pàla jëhè tí

Këtûshí â

Pàla jëhè tí, lädô hé tè

Këtûshí â

Tüné chî älô pavû ho hÿ o

Gloss

Këtûshí	â
Azalla	VOC

"O Azalla"

umö	jï	umö	û	fâ	o
sage	GEN	sage	TOP	2	AFF

"You are a sage among sages"

Këtûshí	â
Azalla	VOC

"O Azalla"

ngále	chî	êä	pavû	hÿ	tí	ë
foolish_act	ACC	forgive	give	FUT	Q	DEP

"If you will please forgive our follies"

Këtûshí	â
Azalla	VOC

"O Azalla"

shè	chî	sénu~sénu	pavû	vê
1	ACC	FREQ~shelter	give	IMP

"Please continue to shelter us"

Këtûshí	â
Azalla	VOC

"O Azalla"

dókè	hé	palä	jëhé	tí
home	DAT	return	bring	Q

"Will you bring them back home?"

Këtûshí	â
Azalla	VOC

"O Azalla"

palä	jëhé	tí	lädô	hé	tè
return	bring	Q	kin_member	DAT	NEG.Q

"Won't you bring them back, back to their loved ones?"

Këtûshí	â
Azalla	VOC

"O Azalla"

tünê	chî	älô	pavû	hö	hÿ	o
door	ACC	show	give	can	FUT	AFF

"Please, you can show them the way"

Shè lé jï hâbý â "O our friend" (ùdëla)

Text and Recording

Shè lé jï hâbý â, hâbý â

Mòlo chî jévô chí kâí o

Ä vê, Këtûshí â, Këtûshí â

Lö û lamë chî hé chití tè ë

Vëhu ö dûlu chî dähé-dähé hŷ ë

Fâbé lö chî palä pavü vê

Shè lé jï hâbý â, hâbý jï hâbý â

Fá û ladö chî më vê, ä pavû tí

Ä vê, Këtûshí â, umö jî Këtûshí â

Fá û héêéî chí âlá tè

Ä vê, Këtûshí â, gòde jî Këtûshí â

Fá ö dûlu hâ chí kâí o

Gloss

shè	lé	jï	hâbý	â	hâbý	â
1	PL	GEN	friend	VOC	friend	VOC

"O our friend, our friend"

mòlo	chî	jévô	chî	kâí	o
special_one	ACC	important_one	ACC	actively_morally_perceive	AFF

"You are special and important to us"

â	vê	Këtûshí	â	Këtûshí	â
actively_perceive_at_range	IMP	Azalla	VOC	Azalla	VOC

"Listen, O Azalla, O Azalla"

lô	û	lamë	chî	hé	chití	tè	ë
3	TOP	kin_group	ACC	go	return_self	NEG.Q	DEP

"If they do not return to our community"

vëhu	ô	dûlu	chî	dähé~dähé	hÿ	ë
sorrow	NOM	soul	ACC	FREQ~enter	FUT	DEP

"Our souls will remain filled with sorrow"

fâbé	lô	chî	palä	pavû	vê
thus	3	ACC	heal	give	IMP

"So please heal them"

shè	lé	jï	hâbý	â	hâbý	jï	hâbý	â
1	PL	GEN	friend	VOC	friend	GEN	friend	VOC

"O our friend, our friend"

fá	û	lädô	chî	më	vê	â	pavû	tí
2	TOP	kin_member	ACC	join	IMP	actively_perceive_at_range	give	Q

"Join your kin, will you please listen?"

â	vê	Këtûshí	â	umö	jï	Këtûshí	â
actively_perceive_at_range	IMP	Azalla	VOC	wise_one	ADJZ	Azalla	VOC

"Listen, O Azalla, O wise Azalla"

fá	û	héî~héî	chî	âlá	tè
2	TOP	very.many~tears	ACC	magically_perceive	NEG.Q

"Do you not see our abundant tears?"

â	vê	Këtûshí	â	gòde	jï	Këtûshí	â
actively_perceive_at_range	IMP	Azalla	VOC	agapé	ADJZ	Azalla	VOC

"Listen, O Azalla, O loving Azalla"

fá	ô	dûlu	hâ	chî	kâí	o
2	NOM	soul	all	ACC	actively_morally_perceive	AFF

"It is you who judges all souls"

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