Seventh lesson [To Index]
Seventh lesson [To Index] In the bar
Urek Loži Vuî Mörî
Aluatas OntecaNanes comes to the bar, sits down, orders a mead. He looks around the bar— he knows everyone already; there are no pretty women. It seems that he will not be lucky today.
The innkeeper gives him his mead. Nanes drinks. Just then a beautiful girl enters the bar. She blinks in the darkness of the bar.
Great Enäron, let her sit here, prays Nanes.
The girl comes and sits down next to Nanes. “Glass of wine,” she says, when the innkeeper comes.
Thank you, Enäron, says Nanes. Tomorrow, the first beer is for you.
“Hello!” says Nanes. “How are you? My names is Nanes.”
The girl says nothing.
“You’re thinking that I’m some rascal, that I like to romance chicks in bars,” says Nanes. “Oh, no! I never come into bars— they disgust me, really.”
The innkeeper laughs to himself.
“I admire women like you,” says Nanes. “Pretty, but not talkative. Don’t you think the wine is good here? Perhaps you want to dine here as well. I’m rather sad and lonely tonight...”
The girl looks at him, smiles slightly, but says nothing.
“You truly are lovely,” says Nanes. “The other girls are worth nothing, after I see you! The man who kisses you will truly be a happy man.”
The girl drinks her wine. She is no longer looking at him.
“I’m sorry! It seems that I’ve offended you. Or perhaps you’re bored? I know another bar, it’s very pleasant, and it isn’t far. Do you like soup? Their soup is delicious.”
The girl finishes drinking her wine, stands up, pays the innkeeper, and leaves the bar.
Nanes looks at her as she leaves.
“Did you see that, Pavel? I’m never lucky! She sure didn’t like me! Yes, I disgusted her...”
“Not exactly,” says the bartender. “That girl is from Ismahi— she doesn’t speak Verdurian.”
Words
Urek Loži Vuî Mörî
Aluatas Onteca
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sounds
Urek Loži Vuî Mörî
Aluatas Onteca
Culture
Urek Loži Vuî Mörî
Aluatas OntecaEnäron, ruler of the gods, god of the sky and weather
Išira, his wife, goddess of light and the stars, patron of navigation and marriage
Caloton, the god of the sun and daytime
Fidra, his wife, goddess of the moons, of nighttime, and of winter
Řavcaena, goddess of agriculture and of spring, patron of farmers
Ažirei, goddess of the sea, understandably important for a seafaring state
Mëranac, god of fire and the afterworld
Vlerë, goddess of love
When Nanes tells Enäron that tomorrow's first beer is for him, he is not proposing a toast, but promising a sacrifice: he will buy a beer and pour it over an altar of Enäron's. Paganism tends to be terribly practical; if Enäron did not cooperate in making the girl sit next to him, Nanes would have been capable of punishing his god by depriving him of a sacrifice.
The other major religion of Verduria is called Eleďát, which originated in Avéla some six hundred years ago, and is zealously monotheistic. Its adherants normally pray to Eleď, the active manifestation of their god. The population in Verduria is a little more than half pagan.
Grammar
Urek Loži Vuî Mörî
Aluatas Onteca
vulir want teker stand -u vulu I want teku I stand -eu vuleu you (sing.) want tekeu you stand -e vule he or she wants teke he or she stands -um vulum we want tekum we stand -o vulo you (pl.) want teko you stand -ü vulü they want tekü they stand
To form the past tense, you use the same personal endings, but insert -r- before them:
vulir want teker stand -ru vulru I wanted tekru I stood -reu vulreu you (sing.) wanted tekreu you stood -re vulre he or she wanted tekre he or she stood -rum vulrum we wanted tekrum we stood -ro vulro you (pl.) wanted tekro you stood -rü vulrü they wanted tekrü they stood
Some of the verbs in this lesson have irregular past roots:
Sentences as complements. With some verbs, the object is not a noun but an entire sentence (which is said to be a subordinated clause). The subordinated clause is marked with the particle dy:
Ašu dy so malsfaom pyere loži lië. I think the barbarian regrets his words.
Ihano miže dy řo žanne. Ihano said he wasn't coming.
Dy corresponds to 'that' in English. But 'that' is optional, and dy is required.
If you want to refer to an entire sentence with a pronoun— "I didn't say it"— do you use ilu or ila? Neither; you use a special neuter pronoun il, accusative iler:
So pruso řo iler aše. The innkeeper doesn't think it.
Ihano řo iler miže, ac Susana. Ihano didn't say it— Susana did.
Il e ďaye. That is correct.
Impersonal expressions. Many sentences don't really have a subject. In English one must be supplied anyway, but in Verdurian you just leave it out. (You use the third person singular verb forms, though— by process of elimination; nothing else makes sense.)
Parete dy Ihano e nrüsk. It seems that Ihano is a fool.
E agoläm dy suzanei soa milka. It's important that you remember the sausage.
Pluye. It's raining.
Don't be tempted to insert il on the model of il e ďaye; il always refers to a specific previous sentence.
'There are'. A special form of impersonal expression is an existence formula. In English you use 'there is' or 'there are'; in Verdurian you just use e or eu without an explicit subject at all.
E malsfaom im prusin. There's a barbarian in the inn.
Eu ďinî žöhî u malsfaomán. There's three meads in front of the barbarian.
Rho e šual? Isn't there a horse?
In the past tense, the irregular fue or fueu is used for predicative sentences (saying what kind of thing something is); the regular forms esne or esnu are used for existential sentences (saying that something exists):
Esne prusi u hutorán Pavelei. There was an inn near Pavel's farm.
Soa prusi fue pava er sala. The inn was small and dirty.
Nouns in -e and -i. Nouns ending in -e or -i are always feminine. Here's how they decline in the singular:
nom -i prusi čivi levati -e sfahe leve kyole acc -a prusa čiva levata -a sfaha leva kyola gen -ë prusë čivë levatë -ei sfahei levei kyolei dat -in prusin čivin levatin -en sfahen leven kyolen
The accusative ending is -a, just as for nouns in -a (but for these declensions that produces a difference between nominative and accusative). The -ei genitive is reminiscent of the masculine declensions we've learned. And note that the dative is formed by adding -n to the nominative.
The plural endings are:
nom -î prusî čivî levatî -î sfahî levî kyolî acc -em prusem čivem levatem -em sfahem levem kyolem gen -ië prusië čivië levatië -ië sfahië levië kyolië dat -in prusin čivin levatin -en sfahen leven kyolen
These are exactly the same as for nouns in -a, except for the dative of nouns in -i, whič is -in rather than -en (yes, the same as the singular form).
Exercises
Urek Loži Vuî Mörî
Aluatas OntecaRaheli's dress is pretty. She has another dress in the city. Her lips are beautiful and her kisses are very pleasant. I like the inn's mead, but I say the wine came from a horse. I don't understand the speech of the barbarians. It gives me a pain to hear what leaves their lips.
There's a man at (ne) the door. It seems that he's from Vyat. Is there a boat that goes to Vyat? I don't think so ['it']. It's raining today and it was raining when I left Pelym. I think it's good for the farm that it's raining.
2. Take the text from the second or third lesson and rewrite it in the past tense.
3. Write a joke or a very short story, in Verdurian of course. If you're at a loss for a subject. try one of these:
Ihano's first visit to a bar. Susana's parents want her to marry Pavel but she's in love with a barbarian.A farmer gets lost in the city.
Eighth lesson [To Index] An expedition to Erruk
Urek Loži Vuî Mörî
Aluatas Onteca
A man enters the Corona— the most popular inn in Verduria. He does not like the Corona, himself—it is too crowded, and he does not like to be seen. But he is looking for some followers, and there is not a better place to find such men than at the Corona.
The innkeeper, Abend Monteneon, greets him. “I am your servant! What do you want? Beer, a meal, a room, some mercenaries?”
The man looks closely at Abend; but decides that Abend is only joking. Abend is always joking.
“Beer,” he says. Abend shows him to the common room. It seems that everyone in Verduria is in the common room. Everybody is talking and everybody is drinking.
The man sees another who seems to be a friend of his. “Ihano!” he calls out.
“Kaidrot!” exclaims Ihano. “Come, sit by me.”
Kaidrot (for thus indeed was the man’s name) sits by Ihano. He orders a beer from the servant girl.
“Listen to me, Ihano, and you will be very rich,” says Kaidrot.
“I want to be rich,” says Ihano.
“There is a ruined castle, Erruk, three days’ ride from Verduria-city. We will ride there from the city, with four or five companions. We will see what we will see. I believe that we will find both dangers and treasure.”
“I am not afraid of danger,” says Ihano. “But— it’s said that there are monsters there... tell me that monsters will not kill us and eat our bones!”
“In one week you will be so rich that stories of monsters will be nothing to you. Now, listen. You will find one or two men, trustworthy and brave, and you will meet me at the house of Andorot the barbarian, in two days’ time.”
“I will go with you,” says the servant girl, suddenly.
“By Enäron! This inn is too crowded, and the servants hear what is not said to them,” exclaims Kaidrot. “But what are you now, wench, except a danger to us, since you know our secret? You are not a warrior, but a woman!”
For answer, the girl takes a dagger and swings it onto the table— pinning Kaidrot’s sleeve to the wood.
“For your speech, I should put my dagger in your arm,” says the servant-girl. “But I will be kind to you, my friend. I never kill a companion!”
Words
Urek Loži Vuî Mörî
Aluatas Onteca
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sounds
Urek Loži Vuî Mörî
Aluatas Onteca| Letter | as in | Remarks |
| a | father | Never as in fate. |
| e | bet | Never as in meet. Doesn't end in a y sound. Never silent! |
| i | machine | Never as in shine. |
| o | boat | Don't let it end in a w sound as in low. |
| u | loot | Never with an initial y sound as in mute, or as in put. |
| î | bit | |
| ä | aaah! | Just like a, only longer. Not like German ä. |
| ë | yet | Don't forget the y sound. Palatalizes a preceding n or l. |
| ö | schön | German ö, French oe. Tongue says e while lips say o. |
| ü | fünf | German ü, French u. Tongue says i while lips say u. |
| b | bed | |
| c | Scot | Always hard: ce = keh not seh! Unaspirated. |
| č | church | |
| d | do | |
| ď | that | |
| f | fat | |
| g | go | Always hard: ge = gheh not jeh! |
| h | -- | Silent! (Unless used to represent č š ž ř ď without diacritics.) |
| k | Iraq | Arabic q, not unlike milk. Farther back in throat than c. |
| l | law | Always clear, never dark as in wall. |
| m | me | |
| n | now | Before a c or k, sounds like ng. (English n does this too.) |
| p | spy | Unaspirated. |
| r | row | Spanish r: single-tap trill. An English but not an American r is OK. |
| ř | la rue | French or German uvular r. Say h, move tongue forward and up. |
| s | sassy | Never voiced as in rose. |
| š | shoe | |
| t | stun | Unaspirated and dental, as in French. |
| v | vow | |
| y | you | Palatalizes a previous n or l. |
| z | zap | Never a ts as in German or Italian. |
| ž | leisure | Voiced counterpart of š. |
Culture
Urek Loži Vuî Mörî
Aluatas OntecaToday Erruk lies in ruins, and Toṫios as well. The ruins are picturesque, and the nearby village of Ďnseli does a brisque business in lodging, art supplies, blank ledgers for writing down poetic impressions, etc.
What lies in the dark cellars, dungeons, and caverns (many excavated by unknown hands or claws long after the ruin of the castle above) below Erruk? The treasure of the Caďinorian emperors, hid against the incursions of barbarians? Trinkets and coins lost through the centuries, or hidden away by treasure hunters, themselves peřaps now but skeletons adding to the subterranean gloom, their hoard availing them nought against the final despoiler, death? Or is it, as others say, merely the abode of monsters and nameless horrors?
Continue up the Svetla for two days and you'll come to Vyat, which has aptly been called "the Peoria of Verduria."
Grammar
Urek Loži Vuî Mörî
Aluatas Onteca
lädmai I will go vulretu I will want elirtao I will live lädmei you (s.) will go vulreteu you will want elirteo you will live lädme he will go vulrete he will want elirte he will live lädmam we will go vulretum we will want elirtom we will live lädmo you (pl.) will go vulreto you will want elirto you will live lädmu they will go vulretü they will want elirtu they will live
A few of the verbs we've learned have irregular future roots:
Zaftra fäsretu [future]. I'm going [present progressive] tomorrow.Ilet lelmai kiam fäsreteu [future].
I'll see him when you go [present]— Verdurian literally has "...when you will go."
Dénuo. This adverb indicates a repeated or habitual action. Compare:
Siča pitre im Coronam. He was drinking at the Corona.
Dénuo pitre im Coronam. He was always drinking / He used to drink at the Corona.
Ya pitre im Coronam. He no longer drank at the Corona.
Pitre soa šerä im Coronam. He drank the beer at the Corona.Ihano dénuo nkaše soi ďëfkom. Ihano is always afraid of monsters.
Ne, im, u. The preposition im indicates a position inside something: im veraen 'in the glass', im mažtanan 'in the city'.
Ne indicates a more abstract location at a particular place: ne ďerán 'at the door', ne hutorán 'at the farm'. It's also used for institutions: ne šriftanáen 'at the university'. And with a person as an object, it means at that person's home: ne Ihanon 'in Ihano's house, at Ihano's'.
And u indicates location near something: u mettan 'near the table', u ďerán 'by the door'. With a person, it implies that something is near enough to reach: if you say soa šerë e u Ihanon it means the beer is right next to Ihano, it's within his reach.
Nouns in -u and -ë. Nouns in -u are always masculine, and nouns in -ë are always feminine. Here's how they're declined in the singular:
nom -u uestu dalu baraďu -ë alcalë šerë redelcë acc -um uestum dalum baraďum -ä alcalä šerä redelcä gen -ui uestui dalui baraďui -ëi alcalëi šerëi redelcëi dat -un uestun dalun baraďun -en alcalen šeren redelcen
Nouns in -u are easy, adding the typical accusative ending -m, genitive -i and dative -n to the nominative forms. For nouns in -ë, the forms are those of the -e declension, except that in all the cases but the dative there's a " sign on the first vowel.
The plural forms are:
nom -î uestî dalî baraďî -î alcalî šerî redelcî acc -om uestom dalom baraďom -em alcalem šerem redelcem gen -uë uestuë daluë baraďuë -ië alcalië šerië redelcië dat -uin uestuin daluin baraďuin -en alcalen šeren redelcen
Plural nouns in -u are a little tricker. The plural -î is found for most nouns. The accusative and genitive are like nouns in -o, with -u- substituted for -o-. The plural forms for -ë nouns are exactly the same as for -e nouns, without any added " diacritics.
Another way of looking at -ë nouns: they work exactly like the feminine forms of Declension II adjectives (like dobre/dobrë).
The impersonal pronoun tu. The pronoun tu works much like French on, German man. It's an 'impersonal' pronoun, so it never refers to anyone in particular (with an important exception we'll get to below). In English we'd translate it with 'one', 'everyone', 'people', or even 'we' and 'you':
Tu dénuo läde ne Corona. Everybody goes to the Corona.
Tu aše dy baraďu esë e nrüsk. People think my brother is a fool.Kiam malsfaomî keku cumyonom tuë, tu vule iskričen Enäronán.
When barbarians kill your partner, you want to cry out to Enäron.Ac Enäron tana tu acine? But does Enäron really hear us?
Tu is often used where we'd use the passive in English:
Tu desidre soa šerä. Tu platne soa kuna.
The beer was ordered. The money was paid.
(Literally: Someone ordered the beer. Someone paid the money.)Kaidrot řo ambre dy tu ilet lele.
Kaidrot doesn't like to be seen.
(Literally, he doesn't like that someone sees him.)
Here's its declension:
nom tu acc tu gen tuë dat tun
As seen above, tu always takes third-person singular verb forms.
The formal 'you'. Tu has another, important usage, as a formal 'you'. As in many European languages, Verdurian prefers not to use the ordinary second person pronouns (le and mu) in formal situations, or with socially superior persons. Its replacement is the pronoun tu; when used in this sense the accusative becomes tü.
Tu e otál beluana dy soa cira dalui. You are as beautiful as the king's consort.
Tun domai so muďe dobrem atun prusë. I'm giving you the best room in the inn.
E tecai tuë im brakán esë, graženka? Is this your dagger in my arm, Ma'am?
Exercises
Urek Loži Vuî Mörî
Aluatas Onteca2. Look over the texts from the previous lessons. Some of them should more realistically have used the formal tu instead of le. Which ones? Rewrite the appropriate sentences using forms of tu.
3. Write a continuation of the text for this lesson— What happened next? (You can answer this in terms of the next few minutes, or the next few days.)
