Conlang Relay 15/Wenedyk

by Jan van Steenbergen

The Text

DESKARS FRUDLĘCI

Ił daniec je wiortablemięć jelkód, kód fole widziar! Wień i gwarda bień! Łu nie je sięgłamięć daniec, wolkąk li nie kętą - nękwa miecim sie nie dokierą jekar muzyka. Nę, li traszczędą sie sułór i en ił mód deskoprzę Wiortać Profędzieśma. Daniec ił je mółt gracuzy i strarodnarzemięć harmonicy. Uta nostrzy dańcarzy nie faczę sięgłamięć mumien płerześmie elegantór: kędy wirą, li rzekątą historia wiora, traszczędzięć świe proprze jenie. Pro miej je kłar: zocemięć en ił mód li sprzymą Poruła sułu Dzieju. Szy zista jałtra splekaceń, prokoju łu kosta nostrzew dańcarzew szyk pieskieł oprze? Jałtrzy sur łór łoku się miecim nie stacier wynu posu!

Smooth English

A FRAUDULENT SPEECH

This dance is really something you should see! Come and take a good look! It is not merely a dance, although they are not singing - they never even learned how to play music. No, they are transcending themselves and in that way discover the Deepest Truth. This dance is very graceful and extraordinarily harmonious. Yet, our dancers are not just making the most elegant movements: when they whirl around, they are telling a true story, thereby transcending their own souls. To me it's clear: in this very way they are expressing the Word of God Himself. Can there be another explanation for that fact that it costs our dancers so little effort? Others in their place wouldn't even be able to make a single step!

Grammar

Wenedyk is quite an ordinary romlang. As you may or may not know, it's essentially based on Vulgar Latin, combined with the sound changes that distinguish Modern Polish from Common Slavic. Virtually all vocabulary is Romance, morphology is predominantly Latin- based, but syntax, orthography and pronunciation are mostly Polish.

Wenedyk has three genders (m, f, n), and two numbers (sg, pl). There are three cases: direct case, genitive, and dative. The direct case is nothing more than the nominative and the accusative in one; the latter two have separate forms only in the case of personal pronouns.

Word order is basically free, although SVO would be the "normal" way of saying something.

There are two things you need to know about negations:

• Wenedyk often has double negation ("I don't want no present for Christmas")
• The object of a negation is always in the genitive case.

A question that can be answered with a simple "yes" or "no" is often preceded by the particle "szy".

Pronouns:

• The forms "ił", "łu", "li", and "łór" can both be personal pronouns of the third person and demonstrative pronouns.
• "Miej" is the genitive of the first person personal pronoun "jo".
• Pro-drop is allowed in Wenedyk, but not compulsory.

Adjectives:

Adjectives, demonstrative pronouns, possessive pronouns and the like agree with the noun they modify in gender, number and case. They can be placed before and after the noun they modify. Some will usually go first, some will almost always go after, but that doesn't really matter in this case. The ending "-eśmy" is used for superlatives.

Verbs:

In this text, you will encounter the present tense, the perfect tense, the imperative, the infinitive, the present active participle, and the conditional. It is important to know that in most cases the conditional is based on the infinitive + the conditional of the verb "szer" (to be). These two components may be separated: "jemarsi" or "si jemar": "I would love".

Everything else you can find in the grammar: http://steen.free.fr/wenedyk.

Word list

Most words used in this text you can find easily in the dictionary: http://steen.free.fr/wenedyk/vocabulary.html.

The list below shows you which entries to search for. In cases where it might not be obvious which word in the text I'm referring to, I'll quote it from the text first.

• bień (adv.)
• daniec (m.)
• dańcarz (m.)
• deskars (m.)
• deskoprzer (v.)
• dokierą -> doczar (v.)
• Dzieju -> Dziew (m.)
• eleganty (adj.)
• en (prep.)
• faczer (v.)
• fole (v.)
• frudlęci (adj.)
• gracuzy (adj.)
• gwardar (v.)
• harmonicy (adj.)
• historia (f.)
• i (conj.)
• jałtry (adj.)
• je -> szer (v.)
• jekar (v.)
• jelkód (pron.indef.)
• jenia (f.)
• kędy (adv./conj.)
• kętar (v.)
• kłary (adj.)
• kostar (v.)
• kód (pron.interrog.)
• miecim (adv.)
• mód (m.)
• mółt (adv.)
• mumię (n.)
• muzyka (f.)
• nę (intj.)
• nękwa (adv.)
• nie (adv.)
• nostry (pron.poss.)
• opra (f.)
• pieskieł (adv.)
• płerześmie (adv.)
• poruła (f.)
• pos (m.)
• pro (prep.)
• profędy (adj.)
• prokoju (adv.)
• proprzy (adj.)
• rzekątar (v.)
• sie (pron.refl.)
• sięgłamięć (adv.)
• splekaceń (f.)
• sprzymier (v.)
• stacier (v.)
• strarodnarzemięć (adv.)
• suły (adj.)
• sur (prep.)
• szy (conj.)
• szyk (adv.)
• świe -> swej (pron.poss.)
• traszczędzier (v.)
• uta (conj.)
• widziar (v.)
• wiortablemięć (adv.)
• wiortać (f.)
• wiory (adj.)
• wirar (v.)
• wień -> wnier (v.)
• wolkąk (conj.)
• wyn (num.)
• zistar (v.)
• zocemięć (adv.)