User:Cedh audmanh/TCR4/Buruya Nzaysa
Contents
Buruya Nzaysa text
Puh lo tivo mɛsu lo ɔtse
Weya uvo lu ɔtse noñə, lɛñɔ tivo axe.
Weya podɔ ɔ pilila xowa.
Wɛ’ɔ ɔ uysɔbo,
alu stɔ gɔla lu vi ñada,
o ɔdɔlaña lu ɔtse u lo təña ah tse ño u ɛflɛ nira kwətu.
Ño’ɔ u tsɔbo, oldɔ o wilu əno,
dal ese ni lu mo roni.
O tselu, mah me xɛvra ləh xɛvrine ləh təña u lo ɔtse ala agɛ.
Weya tsɛga ɔ ñəbo mvunɛ,
rɔmeya ntɛ tse lu guvlu o lu pilila xoñi.
Esə lo pilila lu kɛ xɛtɔy xɛpu axe,
o sah lo təña ah lo mo ñugɛmə əftah.
Wɛxenə puysa kənu:
Pe bu natsu mɛsu lo ɔtse roni?
Pe bu natsu gɔla lu vi ñada?
Dal ste’ɔwa ntidə ɔ nadana nzesu ñugɛ xa ñɔlna mvunɛ.
Translation
English
To the friend at the river
I will soon leave the river, my friend.
I will write a letter to you.
You will become jealous,
even though you sleep under the stars,
and the river is illuminated by their light like a silver necklace.
As a shepherd, you must stay down here,
but I will be living in the city.
At that place, there will be neither sheep nor wool nor any light from the river.
I will only have a knife,
with which I can open the seal on the letter.
The letter is my only possession,
and the lights of the city shine around me.
I will keep asking myself:
Can I live near the river again someday?
Can I sleep under the stars again someday?
But apparently you have different feelings about this.
Translation of previous text
- (Àboshì, by Helen)
My friend who is the only river
I will be living in the only river, my friend.
I will write a letter to you.
You become jealous of me, and you sleep under the stars!
The light shines from the river like lightning.
The shepherd must continue to live down below,
but I will be living in the city.
Sheep and wool and the light from the river do not exist.
I will have only this:
the knife which destroys the letters.
But the letter is my only possession.
And the light of the city surrounds me.
I will ask this: Can I live down below?
Can I sleep under the stars?
Apparently, you don't agree.
Translation of the other previous text
- (Viisyal, by Sam. There was some confusion as to who would send which text to whom, so I received the torch twice. My own translation is based on the Àboshì text, but I decided to also provide an English version of Viisyal text, which in turn was also based on the Àboshì torch.)
My river will be like my only friend
I will only be living here, my friend.
I will write a letter to you.
You must be jealous of me, about to sleep under a starry sky!
Light will shine from the river as in a thunderstorm.
Master of the beasts, you must be dwelling thereunder!
But I will be dwelling in the city.
The beast-master and the fleece and the light of the river are absent.
I only have this: a knife that will destroy the letter.
But the letter was the only one.
The light and the things of the city will be the only ones too.
I'm asking this: Will I be able to dwell thereunder?
Will I be able to sleep under a starry sky?
Anyway, you don't agree.
Interlinear gloss
- Puh
- for.3
- lo
- DEF.NOM
- tivo
- friend
- mɛsu
- near.3
- lo
- DEF.NOM
- ɔtse
- river
- Weya
- FUT.AUX-1SG>3
- uvo
- soon
- lu
- DEF.ACC
- ɔtse
- river
- noñə,
- leave
- lɛñɔ
- 2SG.NOM
- tivo
- friend
- axe.
- of.1
- Weya
- FUT.AUX-1SG>3
- podɔ
- for.2
- ɔ
- INDEF.ACC
- pilila
- letter
- xowa.
- write
- Wɛ’ɔ
- FUT.COP-2SG
- ɔ
- INDEF.ACC
- uysɔbo,
- jealous_person
- alu
- despite
- stɔ
- EMPH.AUX-2SG
- gɔla
- under.3
- lu
- DEF.ACC
- vi
- star
- ñada,
- sleep
- o
- and
- ɔdɔlaña
- RES.PASS.AUX-3SG<3
- lu
- DEF.ACC
- ɔtse
- river
- u
- from.3
- lo
- DEF.NOM
- təña
- light
- ah
- of.3
- tse
- that.NOM
- ño
- as.3
- u
- INDEF.NOM
- ɛflɛ
- necklace
- nira
- silver
- kwətu.
- be_bright
- Ño’ɔ
- as.2
- u
- INDEF.NOM
- tsɔbo,
- shepherd
- oldɔ
- OBL.AUX-2SG
- o
- at.3
- wilu
- this_place
- əno,
- stay
- dal
- but
- ese
- EMPH.AUX-1SG
- ni
- in.3
- lu
- DEF.ACC
- mo
- town
- roni.
- dwell
- O
- at.3
- tselu,
- that_place
- mah
- NEG.AUX-3PL
- me
- no
- xɛvra
- sheep
- ləh
- nor
- xɛvrine
- wool
- ləh
- nor
- təña
- light
- u
- from.3
- lo
- DEF.NOM
- ɔtse
- river
- ala
- without.3
- agɛ.
- exist
- Weya
- FUT.AUX-1SG>3
- tsɛga
- only
- ɔ
- INDEF.ACC
- ñəbo
- knife
- mvunɛ,
- hold
- rɔmeya
- REL.AUX-1SG>3
- ntɛ
- by.3
- tse
- that.NOM
- lu
- DEF.ACC
- guvlu
- seal
- o
- at.3
- lu
- DEF.ACC
- pilila
- letter
- xoñi.
- tear_apart
- Esə
- EMPH.COP-3SG
- lo
- DEF.NOM
- pilila
- letter
- lu
- DEF.ACC
- kɛ
- one
- xɛtɔy
- property
- xɛpu
- alone
- axe,
- of.1
- o
- and
- sah
- NULL.AUX-3PL
- lo
- DEF.NOM
- təña
- light
- ah
- of.3
- lo
- DEF.NOM
- mo
- town
- ñugɛmə
- around.1
- əftah.
- shine
- Wɛxenə
- FUT.AUX-1.REFL
- puysa
- CONT.AUX
- kənu:
- ask
- Pe
- COND.AUX-1SG
- bu
- again
- natsu
- sometime
- mɛsu
- near.3
- lo
- DEF.NOM
- ɔtse
- river
- roni?
- dwell
- Pe
- COND.AUX-1SG
- bu
- again
- natsu
- sometime
- gɔla
- under.3
- lu
- DEF.ACC
- vi
- star
- ñada?
- sleep
- Dal
- but
- ste’ɔwa
- PROG.AUX-2SG>3
- ntidə
- apparently
- ɔ
- INDEF.ACC
- nadana
- emotion
- nzesu
- different
- ñugɛ
- about.3
- xa
- this.ACC
- ñɔlna
- situation
- mvunɛ.
- hold
Vocabulary
| morpheme | type | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| agɛ | v.erg | be, exist |
| ah | pp. +NOM | of, belonging to, with regard to |
| ala | pp. +NOM | without, except for, unless |
| alu | cj. | although, despite |
| axe | (pp.) | (1st person object form of ah: "of me") |
| bu | adv. | again |
| dal | cj. | but, however |
| ɛflɛ | n. | necklace |
| esə- | aux. | (emphatic/abilitative auxiliary: "do indeed, can indeed") |
| əftah | v. | shine, glow |
| əno | v. | linger, remain, stay |
| gɔla | pp. +ACC | under, below |
| guvlu | n. | seal, badge, symbol |
| kɛ | det./qu. | one |
| kənu | v. | ask, inquire, demand |
| kwətu | v.erg | be bright, be illuminated |
| lɛñɔ | det./pron. | (2nd person singular pronoun, nominative) |
| ləh | cj. | neither/nor |
| lo | det. | (definite article, nominative) |
| lu | det. | (definite article, accusative) |
| ma- | aux. | (negative auxiliary: "do not") |
| mɛsu | pp. +NOM | near, next to |
| me | det./qu. | no, none of |
| mo | n. | town, city |
| mvunɛ | v. | have, own, hold |
| nadana | n. | emotion, feeling |
| natsu | adv./pron. | someday; at an unspecified time |
| ni | pp. +ACC | in, into |
| nira | n. | silver |
| noñə | v. | leave, depart, go away |
| ntɛ | pp. +NOM | with, like, by (adverbial/instrumental) |
| ntidə | adv. | apparently, seemingly |
| nzesu | n. | unusual, different |
| ñada | v.erg | sleep |
| ñəbo | n. | knife, blade |
| ñɔlna | n. | state of affairs, setting, situation, circumstances |
| ño | pp. +NOM | as, like (essive) |
| ño’ɔ | (pp.) | (2nd person object form of ño: "as/like you") |
| ñugɛ | pp. +ACC | around, about, concerning |
| ñugɛmə | (pp.) | (1st person object form of ñugɛ: "around/about me") |
| ɔ | det. | (indefinite article, accusative) |
| ɔdɔlə- | aux. | (resultative passive auxiliary: "have had done to oneself") |
| ɔtse | n. | river |
| o | cj. | and |
| o | pp. +ACC | at, on |
| olə- | aux. | (obligative/necessitive auxiliary: "must") |
| pɔ- | aux. | (conditional/irrealis auxiliary: "might, would, could") |
| pilila | n. | letter, message |
| podɔ | (pp.) | (2nd person object form of puh: "for you") |
| puh | pp. +NOM | to, for (benefactive) |
| puysa- | aux. | (durative auxiliary: "keep, continue") |
| rɔma- | aux. | (relative clause auxiliary; relativized noun is topic but not necessarily subject of subclause) |
| roni | v. | dwell, live (at a place) |
| so- | aux. | (null auxiliary: "do") |
| ste- | aux. | (progressive/durative auxiliary: "be doing") |
| təña | n. | light, brightness |
| tivo | n. | friend, companion |
| tsɛga | adv. | only, just, merely |
| tse | det./pron. | (distal deictic, nominative: "that, those") |
| tselu | pron. | there, that place |
| tsə | det./pron. | (distal deictic, accusative: "that, those") |
| tsɔbo | n. | shepherd |
| u | det. | (indefinite article, nominative) |
| u | pp. +NOM | of, from, relating to (associative/genitive) |
| uvo | adv. | soon |
| uysɔbo | n. | jealous person |
| vi | n. | star |
| wə-/wɛ- | aux. | (predictive/future auxiliary: "will do") |
| wilu | pron. | here, this place |
| xa | det./pron. | (proximal deictic, accusative: "this, these") |
| xɛpu | n. | alone, on one's own, solitary |
| xɛtɔy | n. | property, possessions |
| xɛvra | n. | sheep |
| xɛvrine | n. | wool |
| xoñi | v. | break, tear apart |
| xowa | v. | write |
Auxiliary verb suffixes:
| morpheme | type | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| -’ɔ | suffix | 2nd person singular intransitive |
| -’ɔwa | suffix | 2nd person singular subject, 3rd person object |
| -ah | suffix | 3rd person plural intransitive |
| -aña | suffix | 3rd person singular subject, 3rd person agent/source (used with ergative verbs and passive voice auxiliaries) |
| -e | suffix | 1st person singular intransitive |
| -eya | suffix | 1st person singular subject, 3rd person object |
| -ə | suffix | 3rd person singular intransitive |
| -xenə | suffix | 1st person reflexive |
There are some important morphophonological alternations when a suffix is added to an auxiliary verb stem:
- Vowel-initial auxiliary suffixes usually delete a preceding vowel.
- The suffix-initial glottal stop in the 2nd person suffixes -’ɔ and -’ɔwa becomes /d/ after /l/. With the emphatic/abilitative auxiliary esə-, it surfaces as /t/ and triggers deletion of the auxiliary-initial vowel.
- The predictive/future auxiliary wə- appears as wɛ- before suffixes beginning with a consonant.
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; if no other determiner is present, non-numeral quantifiers can also fulfil this role
- nouns without a determiner usually have adjectivial function
- most determiners are marked for case (but quantifiers and some pronouns aren't)
- nominal number is unmarked
- several nouns can be used within a single NP (i.e. subordinated to a single determiner) in a construction that connects them with a conjunction, and closes the list with a stranded preposition
Prepositions
- prepositions inflect for the person of their object (most but not all instances in the text are 3rd person)
- if an overt noun appears in prepositional phrases marked for 1st or 2nd person, the noun is interpreted as being in apposition to the implied pronoun
- each preposition governs a specific case for their object
- objects of prepositions can be omitted if clear from context
- preposition stranding may occur when the object of a preposition is topicalised
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
- aspect, mood, and voice are indicated by the choice of the auxiliary
- no tense marking
- passive voice auxiliaries use a special set of transitive agreement suffixes
- there is a small class of "ergative verbs" whose subjects are marked with the accusative case, and which require passive voice agreement suffixes on the auxiliary, even if the auxiliary itself does not express passive voice
- additional distinctions may be made by adding a second, uninflected auxiliary right before the content verb
- in clauses which have no content verb but contain an accusative-marked noun phrase, the auxiliary functions as a copula
- with semantically intransitive content verbs, the passive voice can be used causatively to add a noun phrase in the role of agent or instigator
