User:Cedh audmanh/TCR3/Buruya Nzaysa

Text fragment 2 in Buruya Nzaysa

Nzɔ tselu stəñə ena. Ɔde ɔ təñu, ño u stasavo rɔma lo sɔmɛ mpəlɔ ñire ɔ ɔgi mola alpu. Seya ɔ ɔrovo goga la’e, o ste’ɔ sade xa tsɔve.

Translation

There I see myself. I have become a stone, as a changed person that the water of the rain has turned into a sculpture of ice. I hold a broken mirror, and you are looking through it.

Interlinear gloss

Nzɔ     tselu, stəñə          ena.
TOP.NOM there  PROG.AUX-1SG<1 see
There I see myself.

Ɔde         ɔ         təñu, ño   u         stasavo
RES.COP-1SG INDEF.ACC stone as.3 INDEF.NOM changed_person 
I have become a stone, as a changed person

rɔma          lo      sɔmɛ  mpəlɔ ñire    ɔ         ɔgi       mola alpu.
REL.AUX-3SG>3 DEF.NOM water rain  until.3 INDEF.ACC sculpture ice  manufacture
that the water of the rain has turned into a sculpture of ice.

Seya           ɔ         ɔrovo  goga   la’e,
NULL.AUX-1SG>3 INDEF.ACC mirror broken lift
I hold a broken mirror,

o   ste’ɔ        sade     xa       tsɔve.
and PROG.AUX-2SG beyond.3 this.ACC watch
and you are looking through it.

Vocabulary

morpheme	type	meaning
alpu	v.	make, create, manufacture, transform into
ena	v.erg.	see, notice
goga	n.	broken thing, defunct object
la’e	v.	lift, hold up
lo	det.	(definite article, nominative)
mpəlɔ	n.	rain
mola	n.	ice
nzɔ	det./pron.	(topic marker/article, nominative)
ñire	pp. +ACC	as far as, until, before, resulting in
ño	pp. +NOM	as, like
ɔ	det.	(indefinite article, accusative)
ɔd(ɔ)-	aux.	(resultative auxiliary: "has become")
ɔgi	n.	sculpture, statue
ɔrovo	n.	mirror
o	cj.	and
rɔm(a)-	aux.	(relative clause auxiliary: "which does")
sade	pp. +ACC	outside of, behind, beyond, through
sɔmɛ	n.	water
s(o)-	aux.	(null auxiliary: "does")
stasavo	n.	changed person, convert
st(e)-	aux.	(progressive auxiliary: "is doing")
təñu	n.	stone, rock
tselu	pron.	there, that place
tsɔve	v.	watch, look, observe, keep an eye on
u	det.	(indefinite article, nominative)
xa	det./pron.	this, these (accusative)

Auxiliary verb suffixes:

morpheme	type	meaning
-a	suffix	3rd person singular subject, 3rd person object
-e	suffix	1st person singular intransitive
-eya	suffix	1st person singular subject, 3rd person object
-əñə	suffix	1st person singular subject, 1st person agent/source (used with ergative verbs)
-’ɔ	suffix	2nd person singular intransitive

Grammar notes

Typology

• mostly isolating
• head-initial
• basic word order: AuxSOV with occasional topic fronting and subclause postposing
• 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 (nom vs. acc)
• each preposition governs a specific case for their object
• nominal number is unmarked

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
• there is a small class of "ergative verbs" whose subjects are marked with the accusative case, and which require a special set of transitive person markers on the auxiliary
• aspect and mood are indicated by the choice of the auxiliary
• no tense marking
• in clauses which have no content verb but contain an accusative-marked noun phrase, the auxiliary functions as a copula

Links

Grammar sketch: http://akana.conlang.org/wiki/Buruya_Nzaysa