Conlang Relay 18/Naisek

Naisek Translation

1. Hi fortekla gaiti dobyasax wix him doftekum him jafastum.
2. Soku pexkax banrasnar gofo,
3. gorme singwem donabhepim kiskesim ementati raxiniksu.
4. Ta defkoda pone glefa u him demastum isarsu jardinum.
5. Daxme ticwara daka tesu:
6. troxkta pone hoxati natax;
7. tam kolo jada holje.
8. Nage, jabloku swi dempek moxkisi,
9. cofkata tam caubrus sinsenoki.
10. Sofata hai kwaswarai banrasnai milba bani.

English, from Naisek

1. The game can be moved to the end of the path.
2. While a young man was about to carve a dog,
3. a cloud of twisted scattered smoke appeared to the east.
4. He collapsed and fell at the iron gate to the garden.
5. A rich woman was standing there:
6. she was proud and willing to walk;
7. her mouth was like a living being.
8. However, discarding every honorable thought,
9. she removed her shimmering helmet.
10. She gave the lonely young man a young smile.

Naisek Vocabulary

• ban adj young
• banrasna NA young man
• byas VP-E move
• caubrus NI helmet, veiled bonnet
• cofk VP-E remove
• dak VI-A stand
• daxme NA woman
• defkod VP-A collapse
• demastu NI gate
• dempek NI thought, idea
• doftek NI end
• fortekla NI game
• gait VI possible
• glef VP-A fall
• gofo NA dog
• gorme NI cloud
• h det definite article (like adjective)
• holje NA living being
• hox VM-D want
• -iks adj direction
• isar NI iron
• jabl VP-E discard
• jad VM-A seem
• jafastu NI path
• jardinu NI garden
• kiskes adj scattered
• kolo NI mouth
• kwaswar adj lonely
• ment VM-D see
• milba NI smile
• moxkis adj honorable
• nabh VP-E twist
• nage conj but, however
• nat VP-E walk
• pexk VP-E carve
• pone conj and (joins clauses or predicates)
• raxin NI east
• s VI-A copula
• singwe NI smoke
• sinsen VP-A shimmer
• sof VP-E give
• sw Q each, every (like singular adjective)
• t pron 3rd person singular (like adjective)
• tes det that/those, there
• ticwar adj rich, wealthy
• troxk adj proud
• u prep at, near, by
• wix prep to

Abbreviations

• adj adjective
• conj conjunction
• det determiner
• NA Noun, Animate
• NI Noun, Inanimate
• prep preposition
• pron pronoun
• Q quantifier
• VI Verb, Imperfective
• VM Verb, Mixed
• VP Verb, Perfective
  • -E Ergative subject
  • -D Dative subject
  • -A Absolutive subject

Grammatical Notes

Overview

Naisek has a mostly suffixing morphology.

Nouns are inflected for number and case. Adjectives are inflected for animacy, number, and case; regularly derived verbs are used instead of predicate adjectives using -(i)t. Finite verbs are inflected for tense, person, number, and case of subject; there are also grammatical voice prefixes.

Syntax

The order of phrase components is:

• Determiner Quantifier Noun Modifiers

Declension

Cases Used Singular

• Absolutive 0
• Dative -i
• Ergative -r, -a
• Genitive -m, -um
• Partitive -su

The subject can be ergative, dative, or absolutive, depending on the verb; the precedence is ergative > dative > absolutive. Objects of prepositions take the genitive case. The partitive can be used for material or source as well as part.

-u forms adverbs and secondary predicates.

Conjugation

Person

• 0 3rd person singular, absolutive
• -ti 3rd person singular, dative
• -ta 3rd person singular, ergative

Verb Stem Formants

• -(i) finite present
• -a finite past
• -ok participle, progressive
• -ep participle, retrospective
• -ax participle, prospective, and infinitive

Prefixes

• do- passive
• e- passive