|
|
|
| ||||
Phonology — Consonants — Vowels — Stress — Writing
Morphology – Clitic prefixes — Verbs — Nouns — Pronouns — Numbers — Derivational morphology
Syntax —
Basic sentences —
Definiteness —
Yes/no questions —
Interrogatives —
Negatives —
NP order —
Verbs of bodily action —
Verbs of perception —
Copula —
Modals —
Possession —
Conjunctions —
Prepositions —
Participles —
Adverbs —
Dative expressions —
Causatives —
‘Do so’ —
Relative clauses —
Compound verbs —
Conditionals —
Comparatives —
Imperatives —
Place and time expressions
Semantic fields —
Greetings —
Names
Sample texts —
Jippirasti —
A Mei on the Mei —
Ajuruja
Lexicon
(Illustration: Mei-speaking areas in purple; political boundaries as of 3480. Names are not in Mei.)
It is part of the Southern family, distantly related to Wede:i (and thus Cuolese) and Lenani-Littoral (and thus Old Skourene, Uṭandal, Tžuro, and Lenani). It closest relative is Fei, but even there the time separation is over 2000 years.
Some of Mei’s features:
The name Mei derives from meyen-niren ‘heart-people’, metaphorically the ‘real people’. The word was reanalyzed as *Meye-niren and then Mei-niren. It is cognate to Fei but not to Wede:i de:i— though the latter word is cognate to niren ‘people’.
The region was conquered by the Skourenes, a nomadic Lenani-Littoral people, around -150. Though many Mei were absorbed by the Skourenes, significant numbers fled across the mountains east or west. The two groups remained out of contact for millennia and their languages diverged; the eastern group are now the Fei, the westerners the Mei.
Around -50 the Mei organized the kingdom of Newor on the eastern shore of Lake Van (Eyra), though the bulk of the Mei lived outside this state. Its capital was Zawei (Wede:i ‘sandy place’).
The kingdom formed part of the mixed Xurnese/Wede:i culture of Xengiman, and ultimately (750) was aborbed by its neighbor Van, and later by Axunai. It used the Wede:i and then the Axunašin writing system, but we have no texts and almost no inscriptions in Old Mei; when something had to be written down, scribes used Wede:i or Axunašin. The language in Newor (now Nior province) shifted to Axunašin.
The Mei continued to occupy the mountainous zone between Xengiman and Skouras, with a spur southward into the Mnau peninsula. They organized the kingdom of Mei Ros around 1500, which persisted till it was conquered by the Kurundasti Tej (i.e. the Tžuro) in 1675.
The state of Sevisor (‘the mountains’) emerged in the early 2100s. It was conquered in the 2600s by the nomadic Sainor, who were themselves fleeing the Gelyet. Sevisor re-emerged in the mid 2700s as the Sainor concentrated their energies on conquering Šura.
The Cuolese made a bid for empire in the 3040s, which led to conflict with Sevisor and the emergence of the cantonal state of Belšai (3212). Belšai not only defended itself against Cuoli but broke the power of the Cuolese, which led to more peoples joining the federation, including some of the northern Mei.
Sevisor was a perennial target of the Xurnese in the 3500s, which led it to join with Cuoli, Belšai, Šura, and the elcari to form the Democratic Union (DU, Waced nirez) in 3591. Though government functions were distributed over all of DU territory, the capital and seat of the Union Senate (Waniri sipæl) was Teland, a mostly Mei-speaking city in southern Belšai.
For most of the last millennium and a half, the most prestigious dialect was that of Saɣow, the capital of Sevisor. It was used for both administration and literature, notably The epic of Cuoli (Najayar ni Culi, 3360). A little grandly, this dialect is called Sevisre; linguists prefer Saɣowis.
However, currently the standard dialect is Telandi, spoken in Teland, in Belšai; not only was it larger than Saɣow, but it is now the capital of the DU. Telandi Mei is one of the three working languages of the DU, alongside Šureni Tžuro and Lenani.
This document describes Telandi, with some reference to differences in Sevisre. An important one is that /v/ is present only in Sevisor! In Teland you say Sewisor, Sewisre.
On a practical level Telandi and Sevisre speakers can usually understand each other. But this was not necessarily the case a couple centuries back. It can be said that urbanization and universal education pulled most Mei dialects toward Sevisre in 3500s period, and toward Telandi thereafter.
As a general rule:
In modern Sevisre, literati tried to replace Tžuro words with what they considered native roots (often themselves Wede:i or Axunaic borrowings)— e.g. šæbru ‘chapter’ for ceuba ‘book’, wenis ‘fort’ for dakaš ‘palace’, ñicima ‘go far’ for ibiša ‘travel’. This effort was largely ignored by ordinary speakers, but it did produce more Sevisre/Telandi differences.
In the 3600s, Telandi borrowed even more Šureni words, e.g. šankali ‘workplace’, pišma ‘delegate’, minanig ‘foundational’. This in turn generated concern about šæšura ‘Šurenification’, and people pointed out that Mei already had yeuželi, žaga, šaubris for these concepts. The lexicon here represents the educated consensus, but be aware that bilinguals will readily import just about any Tžuro word, especially if it’s bureaucratic, scientific, or just hifalutin.
The stops p t k are aspirated (pʰ tʰ kʰ) even in medial position. In Telandi b d g are voiced; in Sevisre merely non-aspirated. These were once allophonic variants of p t k, but borrowings, as well as retention of the aspirated stops in former consonant clusters, have made them phonemic.
Classically, c j were palatal stops, IPA [c ɟ]. They still are in Sevisre, but in Telandi they are normally pronounced [tʃ dʒ], like Tžuro č j. Likewise Telandi š is [ʃ] but in Sevisre it’s alveolo-palatal [ɕ].
ɣ is a voiced velar fricative, the voiced equivalent of kh [x]. But many Telandi pronounce it as [x] or [h], except medially.
ñ is a palatalized nasal [nʲ] as in Spanish.
Sevisre retains word-final ŋ, where Telandi has changed this to n.
Sevisre has phonemes f v, originally from Proto-Southern *pj, e.g. pjasta > fata ‘year’, Telandi yata. It’s been reinforced by borrowings; e.g. Sevisre has fetor for standard yetor ‘stinky’ < Axunašin veturi, or Vredor for ‘Verduria’, Telandi Bredor.
A diphthong can be formed either with i u or y w— e.g. Mei = [mej], Saɣow = [sa ɣow].
Unstressed i e u o, not final and not part of a diphthong, are often laxed to [ɪ ɛ ʊ ɔ]. Thus meyen [mɛ 'yen], menini [mɛ 'ni ni], todosa [tɔ 'do sa], but meiñay [mej 'nʲaj]; touzoi [tow 'zoj].
In Sevisre, the unlaxed vowels may turn into diphthongs: e = [ej], o = [ow]. At the same time, the combinations ei and ou are pronounced as two syllables: Mei = [me i].
Exception: stress final -oi or ai: touZOI, padROI, muƔAI.
The structure of a Mei verbal form:
The tense/subject affixes:
Here is the full conjugation of ñaya ‘speak to’. Like other Southern languages, Mei has polypersonal agreement: the verb agrees with both subject and object.
There are a few non-finite forms:
The passive participle can take the object suffixes, but these refer to the subject. E.g šaɣacno ‘beaten by me’. (If it helps, think of this is a possessive: “my beating of it”.)
The imperative can take the object suffixes; use the VC+ column. E.g. eñayno ‘speak to me’. The prefix is a- in Sevisre.
You can combine the quantifiers with the demonstrative or personal pronouns: šiu ced ‘none of us’, paun koga ‘some of them’.
The ordinals show a bewildering variety of derivational methods. Higher numbers normally use the Tžuro suffix -i, e.g. bodui ‘millionth’.
In modern times, there has been a fad for abbreviating long names by using only the first syllables:
In glosses, 3>3s means “third person acting on third person singular.”
If either argument is pronominal, the remaining argument is fronted:
So the difference between
(B) If there’s only one of something, definiteness is a no-brainer, and can be interpreted as part of the name. Thus Sewisor ‘the (our) mountains’, Sipælor ‘the (our) senate’, Munor ‘God’, Atenor ‘Ënomai’, Ɣacar ‘the earth = Almea’. Note that Jibir (Jippir), Kebir (Kebri), and Bredur (Verduria) are interpreted as definite and force object marking.
More loosely, any proper name can be definite: Zunor ‘the Xurno’, Culir ‘the Cuoli’, Koir ‘the Koi’, Nodar ‘the Noda’. With country names, this is outmoded in Telandi except for a few conventional ones (like Sewisor itself, and Namor ‘the Namal’). With personal names it’s very colloquial, an affirmation of a personal relationship.
Romance speakers use the definite much more widely— l’amour ‘love’, c’est la vie ‘that’s life’, j’aime le fromage ‘I like cheese’. This is to be avoided in Mei, as are cases where English does the same— ‘the art of cheesemaking’, ‘the rule of law’.
Complicating all this is the fact that definiteness is optional on later reference. E.g.:
(The cat is being introduced here, so it starts out as jona ‘a cat’ and becomes This is sometimes used in the Epic of Cuoli, but there we also see another method, prefixing the verb with negative ba. To distinguish these from negative statements, they were fronted.
The most recent method, and the most popular in Telandi, is to use the particle bako (from ‘is it not’):
A mixture of the last two methods produces cleft questions. You use bako, but back the questioned item and prepend ño:
However, under Tžuro influence, it’s now common to place the interrogative last.
You don’t use ba- with negative pronouns like šicuz ‘never’ or šiga ‘nobody’.
The determiner slot before the noun can only be filled one word: quantifier, demonstrative, numeral, or adjective. If you need more description, use a relative clause:
(This distinction seems to be borrowed from Tžuro. In Old Mei adjectives could appear before or after the noun, but not with the same distinction in meaning.)
These exceptions are mainly intransitive verbs of bodily action (not movement), such as sleep, rest, lie, sit, stand, cry, blink, shrug, breathe, sigh, smile, frown, sneeze, drool, yawn, cough, nod, gasp, piss, stumble, shiver, shudder, dance, sweat, stink, bow, be born, die. These are marked ve (for verb/ergative) in the lexicon.
If a bodily action can be transitive, it remains nominative-accusative even if no object is given.
This applies also to saka ‘like’:
However, attributive adjectives are more often simply used as verbs:
Without a predicate, šæka indicates an existential:
The ce- prefix implies obligation or necessity, our should and must together. Naturally ba-ce- describes what one shouldn’t or mustn’t do.
Karašor ba- It’s also used as a near future, especially for promises or fears. It’s like saying you’re so sure that something is going to happen, good or bad, that it’s happening already.
I will discuss the conditional below, but on its own (not part of an if clause), so- highlights a supposition. Pragmatically it’s usually contrary to fact.
Ne- is used the same way, but suggests that the conjoint is contrastive or unexpected: cirda ne-ba-peña ‘angry but not afraid’. Sometimes it suggests an alternative, thus is close to ‘or’.
In list of things, ba- names a missing item: cairank ba-godaɣk ‘iliu but not ktuvoks’.
Other conjunctions, used mainly with entire sentences:
Body parts and directions: can be added to narrow down a location: ca ñum caukar ‘at the front of the table’, ni run rosor ‘from the north of the country’.
Time is considered to rise; besides wor we see this in derivations like wænis ‘located below’ > ‘previous’ and šænis ‘located above’ > ‘later’.
First, they can be used as modifiers:
English speakers should avoid using the active participle as a progressive, like our present participle. You can’t say *Koi šaeko ɣeidra “Koi is reading”; the proper way to express this is Koi ɣeidro using the progressive aspect.
Also, don’t use the participle as a gerund: *Ɣeidra kelo “Reading is good.” For this simply use the infinitive:
Idra kelo.
You can find sentences that look like our passive:
In Telandi, some speakers use Tžuro ye- in place of šæ-. This has produced an unusual construction, the double causative yešæ-. Thus:
The consequence is past tense, because we’re talking about a past event, or more precisely how it would have happened if the patron was hardcore.
For a future event:
To turn this into a superlative, just use a quantifier: rilac toi macoi ‘(prettier than) all women.’
You can’t really have a comparative without giving the comparison class, but recall that an adjective before a noun acts like a relative clause. Thus:
A comparative of equality can be loosely expressed with ñit ‘way’:
A superlative without a comparison class can be expresssed with is ‘first’: moir is ni ñoga ‘the girl (who is) first in strongness’.
It can take object suffixes, or objects: ecaunno! ‘tell me!’ ešeg bidešor! ‘drink the wine!’
You can supply a subject before the verb, in which case it’s a jusssive.
In Saɣow at that time, the most neutral greetings ran:
As modern urban society developed, far more informal greetings appeared. E.g.:
The ancient Southern tradition— seen in Wede:i, Old Skourene, and Classical Tžuro— was to use entire sentences as names. You can use a verb this way in Mei— e.g. Šækeloño ‘he/she blesses us’. But they’ll probably be called Šækela ‘blessing’ anyway.
In modern times (since about the 3200s) Mei have two names: family name, then personal name. Thus Koi Ɣanai belongs to the Koi family, and his given name is Ɣanai. However:
Titles follow the name, e.g. Korud atej ‘emperor Korund’, Noda yokoi ‘aunt Noda’.
The Mei are very fond of nicknames. These are formed in any of these ways (which can be combined):
There has been a Jippirasti minority among the Mei for centuries, since the Kurundasti conquest; this tends to make Jippirasutum feel that the country is ripe for conversion. But the vast majority of the Mei have never been interested.
Ajažril spoke passable Mei, but with some errors, which I’ve noted.
‘You’ is plural: Ɣanai is talking to an audience.
The novel can be taken in several ways: as a very incompetently written novel with the author’s notes included; as a self-aware novel which is terrified of not being read and seeks to retain the reader by increasingly desperate moves; as the defiant production of a poet who hates his readers and wishes them to suffer. Or all three of these, but the pages got mixed up at the publisher. Someone has written notes to guide the reader: marginal warnings to skip certain paragraphs, or to switch to certain pages in the manner of a choose-your-own adventure story. The book is full of puns and coinages in both Mei and Šureni, and at one point it’s suggested that only the first word of every paragraph should be read; if the reader complies, they find what seems to be a dull political speech, but which can also be taken as a description of a sex session. Sometimes the book itself suggests that things are getting too complicated, and to relax itself or the reader, there are several pages of what Nujar says are his vacation pictures.
The title is itself a bilingual coinage. In Šureni juru is 'rotten, corrupt'; juruja is 'un-rotten', i.e. 'pure'. Ajur would be a corrupt person. You can't really combine these, so ajuruja is an oddity, something like 'un-rotten-person-ness'. Him purity is of course an attempt at a similar oddity in English. Note that it’s a palindrome, also close to an anagram of Nujar.
In Mei ruja is ‘fucking’. Juruja is the Sevisre abilitative— ‘able to fuck’. A- is either the Sevisre imperative (thus, ‘be ready to fuck’) or an agentive (‘someone ready to fuck’).
The original edition (which I’m quoting) is mostly Mei, with Šureni borrowings and asides, and even more bilingual puns.
Etymologies: Ax. = Axunašin, X. = Xurnese, Tž = Tžuro, W. = Wede:i.
Almost always the infinitive of a verb can be used as a noun too. I won’t add entries to the lexicon for this unless it’s non-obvious. In general, search for the verb form— ‘discover’ not ‘discovery’.
1041 words
Introduction
Mei (native meiñay) is the language of the Mei people, who predominate in Sevisor and parts of Belšai. It is one of the three working languages of the Democratic Union (DU, Waced nirez), along with Tžuro and Lenani.
Almeological note: This grammatical sketch is written from the perspective of Z.E. 3678.
—Mark Rosenfelder, May 2023
History
The Mei were the original inhabitants of Skouras. Indeed, Skourasb comes from Mei: it’s a derivation of Skinor, the Old Skourene name for the region’s main river, from Old Mei *Šeginur ‘drink-water’. The Mei adopted agriculture from the Wede:i around -1150. They claim to have invented rye beer (šancæn); its importance can be judged from the fact that the word simply means ‘drink’.
Dialects
Mei is really a constellation of dialects— it’s said that each mountain valley has its own dialect which no one outside can understand, nor wants to.
Language influences
Naturally the Mei have been deeply influenced by the larger cultures around them: Wede:i, Axunai/Xurno, and Tžuro.
This is not a historical grammar of Mei, and I have left out words that are no longer used. Often Tžuro words replaced native or Axunaic ones; Xurnese words often replaced an earlier borrowing. This can make reading medieval sources challenging.
Phonology
Consonants
The consonantal system of Mei:
The dental series (t d s etc.) is dental, as in French, not post-alveolar as in English.
labial lab-dent dental palatal velar
stops p t c k
b d j g
fricatives s š ɣ
z ž
nasals m n ñ
liquids l y
w r Vowels
There are six vowels, which can be equated to their IPA values.
The a is somewhat back, closer to [ɑ] than to cardinal [a]. In Sevisre it may be rounded to [ɒ].
front back
high i u
mid e o
low æ a Stress
Stress is consistently just before the last consonant, excluding semivowels. E.g. YAta, meYEN, meiÑAY, TAUže, SAɣow, seWISre, šaBÆN.
Exception: don’t stress the definite or plural suffix: WÆdas, aMInor, seWIsor.
Writing
Mei has its own writing system, a syllabary devised around 2900. It’s based on the Xurnese writing system. Details will be provided later.
Morphology
Clitic prefixes
Any major head (verb, noun, pronoun) can take these prefixes:
ka conjunctive
ne contrastive
ba negative Verbs
Mei verbs are largely agglutinative, but have been complicated by sandhi effects. Usage notes will appear in the syntax section; here I will just decribe conjugation.
modal + root + tense/subject + object
The modal prefixes:
In Sevisre, me- is replaced by ju-.
šæ causative
ce obligative
me abilitative
ño tentative
ɣe progressive
so conditional
The object endings vary according to the previous consonant (and in some cases, the vowel before that):
pres past
1 iɣ aɣ
2 ir au
3 o a
ø i a
As we’ll see, these suffixes are used in other contexts; the third column applies to any base form that ends in a consonant besides r.
V+ Vr+ VC+
1s ño o no
1p d t Vd
2s g k Vg
2p ye e e
3 w — u
Note the irregular 2>3 form ñayaur in place of the expected *ñayauw.
Present subject
object ↓ 1 2 3
1s ñayiɣno ñayiro ñayoño
1p ñayiɣid ñayirt ñayod
2s ñayiɣig ñayirk ñayog
2p ñayiɣe ñayire ñayoye
3 ñayiɣu ñayir ñayow
Past subject
object ↓ 1 2 3
1s ñayaɣno ñayauño ñayaño
1p ñayaɣid ñayaud ñayad
2s ñayaɣig ñayaug ñayag
2p ñayaɣe ñayauye ñayaye
3 ñayaɣu ñayaur ñayaw
The active participle can take the subject or object suffixes: ɣeñayiɣ ‘(with) me saying’, ɣešaɣno ‘(with them) beating me’
-a ñaya infinitive/gerund
ɣe- ɣeñay active participle
-ac ñayac passive participle
e- eñay imperative (ey- before another e) Nouns
The plural suffix is cognate to Wede:i -ak, but differs by environment:
Nouns are made definite with the suffix -or; after a vowel, -r. (This is cognate to Old Skourene -ul.)
In the plural these are -org and -z7.
wæda sister wædas
ñezli bird ñezlis
sed boundary sedo
kor sea korg
aron colonel aronk
pezaw clan pezawk
Finally you can add the object suffixes, which indicate possession:
s pl
wæda sister wædar wædaz
ñezli bird ñezlir ñezliz
sed boundary sedor sedorg
kor sea koror kororg
aron colonel aronor aronorg
pezaw clan pezawor pezaworg
The 3rd person forms have -u instead of null after an -r.
indef def
s pl s pl
my sister wædaño wædasno wædaro wædazno
my sea koro korkoño kororo kororkno
my boundary sedno sedoño sedoro sedorkno
my clan pezawno pezawkno pezaworo pezaworgno
our sister wædad wædasad wædarad wædazad
our sea kort korkad kororod kororknod
our boundary sedned sedod sedorod sedorknod
our clan pezawad pezawkad pezaworod pezaworgnod
their sister wædaw wædasu wædaru wædazu
their sea koru korkow kororu kororku
their boundary sedu sedow sedoru sedorku
their clan pezawu pezawku pezaworu pezaworgu Pronouns
Personal pronouns
There is rarely a need for personal pronouns, since person is marked on the verb. But they do appear in conjunctions and with prepositions. They are normally formed from nouns, using the person endings; in Telandi they are based on ce ‘body’. In Sevisre they’re based on wa ‘one’.
Though cew ‘he, she, they’ can be found, normally for the third person you use the demonstratives instead.
ceño I
ced we
ceg you (s.)
ceye you (pl.) Demonstratives
riu this (adj)
ko that (adj)
roga this (n)
koga that (n)
riel here
koil there
širor now
kocuz then Quantifiers
Note that quantifiers are used both for individual items and masses, where we often use different words.
These are the modifier forms, used with an NP. There are also standalone pronouns or constructions:
items masses
šiu no none of
wa one the whole
cas other —
paun some some (of)
ɣoc many much
toi every all of
The first column is used for both things and people (i.e. šiga is ‘no one’ or ‘nothing’).
person place time
šiga no one
šiel nowhere
šicuz never
pauga someone
paugel somewhere
wacuz sometime
toiga everyone
toyel everywhere
toicuz always Interrogatives
pes which
waga what
enga why
pegel where
peñoc how much Numbers
The Mei number was originally base 6 (like Wede:i), but changed to decimal under Axunaic influence; numbers 7–10 were borrowed from Cuolese.
In Classical Mei numbers were calqued on Wede:i, thus:
n 10n nth
1 wa dis is
2 ñas keuda yoko
3 šæc ezo šæl
4 tauže taužel
5 piña piñal
6 waɣ bodu waɣar
7 šis šisan
8 iji ijin
9 nei ɣoro nein
10 dis disi
In medieval times, under Tžuro rule, Mei switched to duodecimal, borrowing bima 11, mos 12, ged 144, and run 1728 from Tžuro. The combining rules were also borrowed:
Though this system still has specialized uses, the Mei have switched to base 10. The base 12 rules can be used, using powers of 10: dispiña a-wa = 10x5 + 1 = 51. In Telandi, it’s more common to simply enumerate the digits: piña wa. Sevisre speakers find this barbaric.
Derivational morphology
Nominalizers
ñouna hunt > ñouna hunting
ñita walk > ñit path
ñæda think > ñæžæn soul
ñaja dance > ñajed dance (the art)
yeja massage > yejoi masseur, masseuse
wayna ship > awayn sailor
gabar mess > gabarne fuckup
šega drink > šegne drunkard
waɣa eat > waɣap restaurant
cuɣa grab > wacuɣ fork
Adjectivizers
teš mange > tešis mangy
balar silver > balare silvery
Waced nirez Democratic Union > waniri of the DU
šiza small > ñošiza pretty small
Verbalizers
ñita go > šæñita send
cañita = in-go = enter
Reduplication
næda think > næñæda ruminate on
cæra red > cæcæra reddish, kind of red
Compounds
pedarun dish + wash = dishwasher
meyenceɣ mind + rotten = insane
Toiros all + nation = Ereláe
Waced nirez Democratic Union > waniri of the DU
margac coyedi personal computer > marco
Syntax
Basic sentences
Basic word order is S Aminor pawaw
As we’ll see, this sentence is correct but not typical; it’s been carefully chosen to showcase two arguments and polypersonal agreement.
servant-def desire-past.3>3s cook-def
The servant fell in love with the cook.
Sarnoir
Object affixes are not used if the object is inanimate or indefinite:
cook-def desire-past.1s>3s
I fell in love with the cook.
Aminor
servant-def desire-past.3>2s
The servant fell in love with you.
Aminor
A single, indefinite NP can be backed; this highlights that it’s being introduced, and possibly is somewhat surprising.
servant-def desire-past.3 rye.beer
The servant wanted rye beer.
Aminor
servant-def desire-past.3 cook
The servant fell in love with a cook.
The subject can be omitted, giving something of the effect of a passive. In this case the no-person (ø) suffixes are used:
desire-past.1s be.pres-3 cook
I fell in love with, yes, a cook.
desire-past.3>1s servant
Someone fell in love with me: a servant.
Sarnoir
cook-def care.for.ø>3s
The cook is cared for.
Definiteness
At a first approximation, use the definite suffixes when you’d use the in English. Definiteness is a pragmatic quality which picks a particular referent among all those possible: it amounts to saying “You know which one I mean.”
(A) Piobi ceniɣliɣ.
is that in (A) any old newpaper will do, while in (B) the speaker is thinking of a specific newspaper— probably the most recent one that was delivered to the house. Similarly, if you refer to josoir ‘the king’, with no other context, the presumption is that you’re referring to our king. (Or were, when Sevisor had a king.)
paper must-have-pres.1
I need a newspaper.
paper-def must-have-pres.1>3s
I need the newspaper.
Jona kaimaɣ, ka-
English continues to use ‘the’ in the last sentence, but the -r has disappeared in Mei. It should be obvious that we’re not talking about a new cat and dog.
cat buy-past.1 / and-dog-def hate-pres.3>3s cat-def / and-cat hate-pres.3 dog
I bought a cat, and the dog hates the cat. The cat hates the dog, too.
Yes/no questions
The classical way of asking questions, attested in the time of Newor, was to postpend poru ‘true’.
Niwer kaymiɣu
The answer was pori ‘it’s true’ or šat ‘no’.
king-def devoted-pres.1>3s true
Do we love the king?
The Sevisre upper class started to use the tentative prefix ño- to ask questions, and this became widespread.
not-mangy-pres.3 this horse-def-pl
Are these horses mangy?
Wayma
The genteel way was to respond with the verb: avataɣ ‘we invented’. To deny the statement you repeated the tentative: ñoavataɣ.
ship tentv-invent-past.1
Did we invent the ship?
You can now repond riu ‘this’ or ko ‘it’s (so)’ for ‘yes’, and bako or šat for ‘no’.
Q this restaurant-def work-pres.3
Is this restaurant open?
Q invent-past.1 tentv-ship
Is it the ship we invented?
Q devoted-pres.1>3s god-def tentv-honest
Is it the true God that we love?
Interrogatives
The classic placement for interrogatives was wherever the item would normally go in the sentence:
Waga ‘who/what’ is indefinite and thus never triggers object agreement.
who caus-break-past.3>3 computer-1
Who broke my computer?
Cauñoir keuma
reporter-def find-past.3 what
What did the reporter find?
where stand-pres.3 Teland
Where is Teland?
how.much Mei can-fix-3 light.bulb
How many Mei do you need to change a lightbulb?
Aminor pawa
servant-def desire-past.3 who
Who did the servant fell in love with?
Pawaw sarnoir
desire-past.ø>3s cook-def who
Who fell in love with the cook?
Negatives
In classical Mei, and often still in Sevisre, the negative is ša-:
Niwai ni Akšuɣai
In Telandi, the verb (or anything really) can be negated with the prefix ba-.
emperor of Axunai not-serve-pres.1
We do not serve the emperor of Axunai.
Riu sunor
You can form negative questions with any of the methods described above:
this arrow-def not-hurt-pres.3>1s
This arrow doesn’t hurt.
Tezoir tezow
barber-def shave-pres.3>3s no-man active-shave->3s
The barber shaves no man who shaves himself.
Riu soun
this law not-democratic denounce-pres.1
We denounce this undemocratic law.
The answer bako/šat ‘no’ will be taken as ‘correct, it doesn't hurt.’ You can’t answer riu ‘this, yes’; to assert that it does hurt you must repeat the verb: pirɣog ‘it hurts you’.
Q this arrow-def not-hurt-pres.3>1s
Does this arrow not hurt me?
NP order
Overall NP order:
determiner
Examples:
Unlike English, the definite suffix is used normally even if a possessive or quantifier is present. (Cf. Italian il mio libro.)
a book
my book
riu this book
a good book
keli books, which are good
those books that are good
tou every good book
ñas the two books
the red book on the table
a book I’m reading
A single adjective can be placed before the noun, and takes a restrictive meaning. That is, keli
book-def.pl prog-stand good and-old
the books which are good and also old
Verbs of bodily action
Of the Southern languages, the Wede:i family is nominative-accusative, while Lenani-Littoral is ergative-absolutive. Mei is also nominative, but with some exceptions that hint that it was once ergative.
For a full explanation of ergativity see the Old Skourene or Tžuro grammars. The key point here is that for ve verbs:
sit-past.ø>1s and-cry.past.ø>1s
I sat down and cried.
Mei grammarians don’t talk about ergativity, but simply say that bodily actions are deemed to happen to us. You can think of it that way if it helps!
Ñosor šegaɣ. Šegaɣ.
Transitive bodily actions on another person are nominative-accusative; but if they’re done on oneself (i.e. they’re reflexive), they’re ergative.
jar-def drink-past.1s / drink-past.1s
I drank the pitcher. I drank.
Koi tezaɣu.
As one more complication, ñeja ‘lie, rest’, šæka ‘stand’, yaɣa ‘sit’, and raña ‘cry’ are ergative if they’re expressing a state, nominative if they refer to a change of state (i.e. ‘lie down, stand up, sit down, start crying’). Thus:
Koi shave-past.1>3s / shave-past.ø>1s
I shaved Koi. I shaved (myself).
Verbs of motion are not ergative: ñitaɣ ‘I walked’.
rest-pres.ø>1s
I am resting.
Ñejaɣ.
rest-past.1
I lay down.
Verbs of perception
Verbs of perception have the opposite cases from English. These are marked vp in the lexicon.
Moir
That is, the case relation is that the girl, and the music, are doing something to you.
girl-def see-3>2s and-hear-3>2s music
You see the girl and hear music.
Yæla puras
This may be easier for Spanish speakers: cf. Me gustan las nalgas grandes.
big butt-pl like-pres.3>1s and-not-can-lie-pres.1
I like big butts and I cannot lie.
Copula
The full copula is šæka ‘stand’. In this sense it is not ergative.
Anak
Note the fronted predicate in the second half of the sentence; this is exactly the same behavior as any other transitive object when the subject is pronominal.
Anak stand.3 Saɣowan but-smart stand.3
Anak is from Saɣow, but he’s smart.
Anak
In Telandi (but not Sevisre), the copula often becomes just k-: Anak
Anak smart-past.3 / Koi dumb-past.3
Anak was smart. Koi was stupid.
Munor ba-
Clefting is done with ora ‘come, happen’. If this leaves an object after the verb, it’s fronted.
god-def not-stand-pres.3 / but-stand-pres.3 divinity
God does not exist, but Divinity does.
Ca cañitor
at door-def stand-past.3 elcar
There was an elcar at the door.
Šanum šæbaka riu ceuba.
idiot write-past.3 this book
An idiot wrote this book.
>
come-past.3 idiot / this book write-past.3
It was an idiot that wrote this book.
>
come-past.3 this book / idiot write-past.3
It was this book that was written by an idiot.
Modals
With all of the modal prefixes, ba negates the verb or even the sentence as a whole— there is no way to divide “I can’t swim” into ¬(can swim) and can(¬swim). For clarity I’ve indicated how the ba- alternative is interpreted.
Ɣoc jimalis
With value judgments, the meaning is that one must agree:
many railroad-pl must-build-pres.1
We must build more railroads.
artillery-def not-must-place-pres.1 here / because this.one stay-pres.3 lake
We should not put the artillery here, because that is a lake.
Munorg
The me- prefix implies ability; ba-me- then implies inability.
god-def-pl must-stand-pres.3 insane
The gods must be crazy.
Curoñay
The ɣe- prefix emphasizes that the action is in progress, very much like the English progressive. It usually suggests that the action was not completed.
Tžuro-speech can-speak-pres.1 / but-not-can-listen-pres.1>3
I can speak Tžuro, but they can’t understand me.
Riu kolig
The negative, as in the sample sentence, indicates that the action is not in progress.
this monster prog-fight-pres.1>3s / but-not-prog-win-pres.1
We’re fighting this monster, but we’re not winning.
Ko rijoño
The ño- prefix has several uses, all expressing some form of doubt. It can be used when you’re unsure if something happened or not:
yes room-1 prog-clean-pres.1
Yes, I’m cleaning my room!
Zunoiz
Or that it’s probable or possible, but not confirmed:
Xurnese-def-pl tentv-invade-past.3>1p / otherwise die-past.ø>3 storage-def of camera
The Xurnese may have invaded, or else the camera battery died.
Ñasnizioño
It’s also a genteel way of referring to other people’s actions, as if it’s impolite to say for sure that you know what someone else is doing or thinking.
editor-1s tentv-stand-pres.3 in bar-def / active-drink / otherwise in office-3 / active-drink
My editor is probably at the bar, drinking, or in his office, drinking.
With all of these uses ba- continues to indicate doubt, but leans toward the negative. E.g. Zunoiz ba-
tentv-know-pres.2s that.thing / horse-def-2s tentv-stand-pres.3 in garden-def-1s
You may not know that your horse might be in my garden.
Breduroir
Using ba-
Verdurian-pl tentv-stand-pres.3 honest
Let’s suppose that the Verdurians are honest.
Possession
As noted, the object suffixes can be attached to nouns to indicate possession:
Ɣag
More generally, you can say NP1 ni NP2, where NP2 is the possessor:
dog-1s lose-past>3 ball-3
My dog lost his ball.
Sipælor
To assert possession, use the verb niɣla ‘have’ (related to ni):
senate-def of nation-def of Sevisor
the Senate of the nation of Sevisor
Kor
ocean have-past.1 / but-Čeiyu-def-pl steal-past.3>3
We had an ocean, but the Čeiyu stole it.
Conjunctions
NPs and adjectives are usually just concatenated:
Reiziosod šæko Zuno, Cei, Belšai, Šura, Namor.
This includes disjunctions; but you can disambiguate conjunctions with toi ‘all’ and disjunctions with wa ‘one’:
neighbor-pl-1p stand-pres.3 Xurno Čeiy Belšai Šura Namal-def
Our neighbors are Xurno, Čeiy, Belšai, Šura, and the Namal.
Noda šæko nidran nimrow.
Noda be-pres.3 beautiful inteligent
Noda is beautiful and intelligent.
Ñezli šaña
You can use ka- to join any constituents (ñezli
chicken fish all like-pres.3>1s
I like chicken and fish both.
Kelio, mewaɣir ñezli šaña
sir / can-eat-pres.2 chicken fish one
Sir, you can have chicken or fish.
casñit or, otherwise
ekoga because
neko though, however
ñat therefore, so
tiga afterward, then Prepositions
Mei does not have a rich set of prepositions:
Ablative meanings are conveyed with šic: poka šic caukar ‘fall off the table’; ñita šic dour ‘leave the city’.
ca in, inside, at ca dour in the city, ca šærcuz at noon
en for, because of, to, in order to en ñasniziorno for my editor
je with, and, accompanied by je ñumior with the boss
ni of, from, belonging to ni moi the girl’s
ñit like ñit orkiri like an assassin
šæn above, over, on šæn nerun on or over the bed
šic without, lacking, away from šic kacar without money
ti after ti ñas širos after two hours
wæn below, under wæn piobir under the newspaper
wor before wor orcuz before tomorrow Participles
Participles are heavily used in Mei.
moir
The active participle can take object suffixes, which turns it into a relative clause:
girl-def active-dance
the dancing girl
yær
gem-def steal-passive
the stolen jewel
moir
The passive participle can too, but these indicate the subject:
girl-def active-love->1s
the girl who loves me
yær
Second, they are used for subordinating one action to another. The active participle indicates what was going on when something else happened:
gem-def steal-passive-3
the jewel he/she/they stole
The passive participle is used for a completed event that allows or triggers another event. (It’s used much like the Latin ablative absolute.)
active-read-pres.1 newspaper.def / bandit-pl steal-past.3 razor-1s
While I was reading the newspaper, bandits stole my razor.
In both case the participle comes first, underlining that it is used in a subordinating sense and not as a simple modifier.
elect-passive senate-def / can-sleep-pres.ø>1p
The Senate being elected, we can go back to sleep.
Waɣapor šæko
But these are simply predicates, parallel to “the restaurant is good.” More intriguingly:
restaurant-def stand-pres.3 close-passive
The restaurant is closed.
Asiktor šæka
This can in fact be given an argument:
villain-def stand-past.3 caus-die-passive-1
The villain was killed by me.
Asiktor šæka
However, as we’ll see, šækokac agridor is headless relative clause. A closer translation in fact would be “The villain was the one killed by the policeman.” A more colloquial way to put focus on the victim is simply to front the NP, with an ordinary verb:
villain-def stand-past.3 caus-die-passive policeman-def
The villain was killed by the policeman.
Asiktor šækokaw.
If you want to give a non-pronominal argument, use the verb ɣoja ‘do so’:
villain-def caus-die-past.ø>3
The villain was killed. Or: someone killed the villain.
Asiktor šækokaw, agridor ɣojo.
villain-def caus-die-past.ø>3 / policeman do.that-past.3
The villain was killed by the policeman. Or: The villain was killed; the policeman did it.
Adverbs
The classical way of forming an adverbial was ñit Pažwar culis ɣeñædo
The modern way is to use the adjective as an active participle: misporu ‘honest’ > ɣemispor ‘honestly’. It should go directly after the verb.
master-def Cuolese prog-think-past.3 path long
The Cuolese king took thought for a long time.
Ñasnizioño šacuɣaw
Ñit is still used, but in the sense ‘like an X’:
editor-1s remove-past.3>3 prog-careful all part-def-pl good
My editor carefully removed all the good parts.
Dimir
make.love-pres.2 way virgin
You make love like a virgin.
Dative expressions
For verbs of giving, Mei makes Noda cira
Verbs of speaking like ñaya ‘say’ or cauña ‘tell’ work this way as well. However, if there is no addressee, the thing said becomes the object, and takes object suffixes when definite:
Noda give-past.3>3 husband-3 pitcher-def of rye.beer
Noda gave her husband the pitcher of rye beer.
Šæñitau
send-past.2>1p glass of wine
You gave us a glass of wine.
Anebor ɣecauñow regor.
Suya ‘name’ also works this way:
cleric-def prog-tell-pres.3>3 poem-def
The cleric is reciting the poem.
Anaño suya
Naming yourself is ergative (or, if you like, only the object— yourself— is expressed):
mother-1s name-past.3>3 child-def idiot / not-know-pres.1 why
My mother named the child Idiot; I don’t know why.
Suyi
name-pres.ø>1s idiot
My name is Idiot.
Causatives
Causatives are formed with the prefix šæ-. With intransitive verbs, they are conceptually simple: the subject becomes the object, with the causer as the new subject:
With ergative verbs (ve in the lexicon), the experiencer remains the object:
Ñitiɣ en Teland.
go-pres.1 to Teland
I’m going to Teland.
Anaño
mother-1s caus-go-pres.3>1s to Teland
My mother is making me go to Teland.
With transitive verbs, the subject is of course the causer, and the object is the previous subject:
Rañaño ñit tada.
cry-past.ø>1s way baby
I cried like a baby.
Cauñæn
story caus-cry-past.3>1s way baby
The story made me cry like a baby.
Šæbakor šacuɣaw šæbrur.
When the original sentence has two animate arguments, the causative can agree with either of them, with a preference for first or second person arguments.
writer-def remove-past.3>3 chapter-def
The writer removed the chapter.
Ñasnizior
editor-def caus-remove-past.3>3 writer-def chapter-def
The editor made the writer remove the chapter.
Muñois ɣaɣiɣu.
Many causatives are lexicalized, e.g. ñita ‘go’ > šæñita ‘send’, yaɣa ‘sit’ > šæyaɣa ‘put’, koka ‘die’ > šækoka ‘kill’.
shaman-pl hate-pres.1>3
Asutorg
chapter-def-pl caus-hate-pres.3>1s shaman-pl
The scriptures made me hate shamans.
Anebo ɣaɣoye.
cleric-pl hate-pres.3>2p
Jippirasti clerics hate
Šegnede
drunkenness-2p caus-hate-pres.3>2p shaman-pl
Your drunkenness makes the clerics hate you.
Tadar ñejaw.
baby-def sleep-past.ø>3
The baby slept.
Tadar
baby-def caus-sleep-past.1>3
I put the baby to sleep.
Ana
mother caus-caus-sleep-past.3>1 baby-def
Mother made me put the baby to sleep.
‘Do so’
The verb ɣoja (related to ɣojis ‘same’) is used as a verbal anaphor, like our ‘do so’ or ‘do that’.
Enga
Colloquially, ɣoja can be used when a verb is repeated.
why do.that-pres.2
Why did you do that?
Noda koɣo paun yæs ka-Jona
Noda steal-past.3 some jewel-pl and-Jona do.that-past.3
Noda stole some jewels and Jona did too.
Sarna neilemi pawiɣ. Ko
There is no do-support in Mei, so don’t use ɣoja for sentences like “I don’t understand” or “Do robots sleep?”
cuisine Nanese love-pres.1 / yes do.that-pres.1
I love Nanese food. Oh do I love it.
Ba-mepamiɣ. Bako sajašoir meñejiw?
not-can-hear-pres.1 / Q robot-pl can-sleep-pres.ø>3
I don’t understand. Do robots sleep?
Compound verbs
Sometimes the object of a verb is an entire sentence, or just a VP. This is clearest with verbs of belief or speech, which use the subordinator koga:
Ñaediɣ koga,
Ñaya ‘say’ can be used the same way, but the convention in modern writing is to state the speaker’s name with no verb or subordinator, and indicate the reported speech typographically:
know-pres.1 that.thing / stand-pres.3 divinity but-not-like-pres.1>3
I believe that Divinity exists, but doesn’t like us.
Nujar,
The same construction is used for (say) verbs of wanting, if the subjects differ:
Nujar / book-1 stand-pres.1 answer-def to book-1 / and-must-have-pres.3>3
Nujar (says), “My book is the answer to my book, and it needs one.”
Niɣliɣ koga,
If the subjects are the same, use the infinitive instead:
want-pres.1 that.thing / neighbor-1 Jippirasti-adj close-pres.3
I want my Jippirasti neighbor to shut up.
Niɣliɣ
want-pres.1 hide-inf at basement-def
I want to hide in the basement.
Relative clauses
Relative clauses use the participles.
An overt subject or object must follow the participle:
Codas šæko mei
Ñasnizioño pawiɣu.
editor-1 love-pres.1>3
I love my editor.
>
ñasnizior
editor-def love-passive-1
the editor I love
Ñasnizioño ɣaɣoño.
editor-1 love-pres.3>1s
My editor hates me.
>
ñasnizior
editor-def active-love-pres.1>3
the editor who hates me
stand-pres.3 brother-pl Mei not-active-drink and-Cuolese not-active-lie all
A Mei who doesn’t drink and a Cuolese who doesn’t lie are brothers.
Jeñitiɣu anel
You can have headless relative clauses:
know-pres.1>3 pilot active-hate-pres.3 airplane-pl
I know a pilot who hates airplanes.
Ba-neñejiɣ
not-hang.with-pres.1 active-worship mother-3
I don’t date (men) who worship their mother.
Conditionals
A conditional is not marked by a particle like if; rather, the condition is marked with conditional so- and the consequence with tentative ño-.
English signals the irrealis nature of a conditional by changing tenses in a complicated way (past for the condition, past perfect for the consequence). Don’t do that in Mei: the modal prefixes do that work. Note that the condition here is in the present, as we’re talking about a present quality of the patron who threw an empty bottle.
cond-stand-2 badass / full bottle tentv-throw-past.2
If you were hardcore, you’d have thrown a full bottle.
In English we use conditionals for deductions as well; this is better done in Mei with ñat ‘therefore’:
cond-wrong-1 / tentv-can-slap-pres.2>1s tomorrow
If I am wrong, you can slap me tomorrow.
Riu ɣan ni šoror šæko ñaje,
this side of tree-def be-pres.3 green / so this direction south-pres.3 / but-north-pres.3
If this side of the tree is green, that is south. Or north.
Comparatives
Comparatives are formed simply by mentioning the comparison class, usually with the participial construction rilac X ‘seeing X’:
Momiog
There’s no way to say ‘less pretty’; instead just use ‘ugly’, or negate the sentence.
girlfriend-2s see-passive grandmother-1 pretty-pres.3
Your girlfriend is prettier than my grandmother.
That is, ñoga moiz is equivalent to “the girls who are strong”, which is adequately close to “the stronger girls.” If the sentence had moiz ñoga instead, it would be describing all the girls as strong: “The girls, who are strong, make good archers.”
strong girl-def.pl work-pres.3 archer-pl good
The stronger girls make good archers.
Aneb šæko pažman
Of course this literally means “is tyrannical like an emperor.” To make it clear that equality is intended, you can say ñit ɣojis atej, literally “in the same way as the emperor.”
cleric stand-pres.3 tyrranical way emperor
A Jippirasti cleric is as tyrannical as an emperor.
Imperatives
The simplest imperative is e- plus the verb root: eñit! ‘go!’ ecaun! ‘tell!’ These are negated with šat: šat eñit! ’don't’ go!’
Ajenorg
archer-def-pl imper-forward
Let the archers advance.
Place and time expressions
Place and time expressions tend to be either fronted or backed; that is, they shouldn’t intervene between the verb and an argument.
Konior ɣeidro ceubar ni Nujar
A place/time demonstrative can have a sentence as an argument, and optionally a headword:
pundit-def prog-read-pres.3 book of Nujar tomorrow
The pundit is reading Nujar’s book tomorrow.
in stable that child be.born-past.3
That boy was born in a stable.
(atibar)
stable-def there be.born-past.1
(the stable) where I was born
(cuzor)
day-def then break-past.3 group
(the day) when the band broke up
Semantic fields
Greetings
There have been a wide range of greetings in Mei— it’s not much of an exaggeration to say that around 3400, the first words in a conversation would establish the speakers’ dialect, sex, numbers, religion, general attitude, and relative status.
A: Ɣanai, ašækeleg.
This could be varied in several ways:
friend / imper-bless-2s
Blessings on you.
B: Ɣanaiño, ka-wag.
friend-1 / and-one-2s
And on you.
Jocular variants like ašækacaz ‘enrich’ and ašækud ‘break’ go back a long time.
A: Abas, waga oro?
In modern Telandi, it might go like this:
Abas / what come-pres.3
Abas, what’s up?
B: Šiga ñit toicuz.
nothing way always
Nothing, like always.
A: Æi Abas!
Modern Mei bristle at displays of status; the above exchange is equally suited to greeting a hobo on the street, your editor, or the Convener (ñaɣojoi) of the DU. Exceptions:
Abas / what come-pres.3
Yo, Abas!
B: Ko Ɣanai!
yes Ɣanai
It’s Ɣanai!
There are infinite variations; a common one is waga ‘what’, short for waga oro. The vulgar Ko badar? ‘how’s the dick?’ has become so common that it’s unremarkable. (It’s normally used between men; but women use it among themselves too. It’s extremely familiar if used between the sexes.)
Names
Rather like English, Mei has accumulated names from all over, usually unanalyzed, and of course accommodated to Mei phonology. In order of popularity:
Where do native Mei names come from? Basically, anything in the lexicon that sounds good. Natural objects, animals, gems, and nice qualities are always appropriate. Or bad qualities: an old Mei belief was that naming a child after something feared would disempower that thing, so you get names like Tæred ‘bad omen’ and Kulat ‘sickness’. The person derivation -oi is common in personal names, e.g. Cæroi ‘red one’, Cusoi ‘sharp one’. (It’s -ai in Sevisre, and you’ll see that in Telandi, but only in names.)
In the DU, this produced a situation where everyone calls the man Ɣanai: Mei because you use the given name for quick reference, non-Mei because they think it’s the family name. When computer systems came along, this created enormous confusion, till protocols were worked out (give up to three names, unlabeled; indicate which should be used for quick reference).
And though the Mei like foreign names, the gods help you if you have one and they don’t like you. E.g. cont Scušana (the Verdurian leader during the Ereláe War) was commonly called Sugošana (‘hot nose’).
Sample texts
Jippirasti
This text comes from a Šureni aneb or cleric, Ajažril, who was invited to give an introduction to his religion by a philosophical society in Teland in the 3470s. The entire text (in English) is available on Almeopedia.
Waga šæko riu Jibir? Roga ñošæko ñæžnoi jeñitace?
Ajažril treated rila ‘see’ as an ordinary transitive. It should be rilid, as seeing is something that happens to you in Mei.
who stand-pres.3 this Jippir / this.on tentv-stand-pres.3 mind-person know-passive-2
Who is this Jippir? Perhaps this is a being that you know?
Ko šæko, ɣanoisno. Jibir šæko Munor.
yes stand-pres.3 / friend-pl-1 / Jippir stand-pres.3 god-def
Yes, my friends, it is. Jippir is God.
Rilir koga, Telandi mis jeɣojiɣ.
see-2 that.one / Telandi word use-pres.1
You see that I use the Telandi word.
Toi rosk, toi nirenk, niɣlo omoc ni Munor; ba-oro pauga avataɣacno ca teneli!
Ajažril used the Tžuro word for ‘steppe’, forgetting šænsaud.
all nation-pl / all people-pl / have-pres.3 idea of god-def / not-come-pres.3 something invent-passive-1 on steppe
All nations, all people have the notion of God, this is not something that we have invented up on the steppe!
Cas kelios, ɣešæril mejmeled, ñayo koga, Jibir šæko mun ni curo.
More colloquial would be Roga ba-poro, i.e. using the adjective as a verb.
some gentleman-pl / active-show courtesy / say-pres.3 that.one / Jippir stand-pres.3 god of Tžuro
Some gentlemen, intending to be courteous, say that Jippir is the god of the Tžuro.
Roga ba-šæko porud. Jibir šæko munor ni Ɣacar.
this.one not-stand-pres.3 truth / Jippir stand-pres.3 god-def of earth-def
This is not truth. Jippir is the god of the world.
Munor šæko ca toi eli. Ñaya ca ɣoc elis ka-ɣoc ñito.
Igalna is the ordinary Tžuro word for ‘confusion’, which Mei borrowed as igana. However, Ajažril is using it in its theological sense— the chaos of belief of humans not in direct contact with Jippir; thus he uses the Tžuro word directly.
god-def stand-pres.3 in all place / speak-past.3 in many place-pl and-many way-pl
He is present in every location. He has spoken in many places and in many ways.
Ne-šæko ɣoc igalna. misk ni Munor ñašæcaw je misorg ni cois, ka-šiu ros jeñitaw Munor.
but-stand-pres.3 many confusion / word-pl of god-def mix-past.3>3 with word-def-pl of human-pl / and-none nation know-past.3>3 god-def
But there has been much confusion; God’s words have become mixed up with men’s, and no nation knew God correctly.
Koga, enga Jibir ñayow Babur.
Out of familiarity, Ajažril uses Tžuro Babur (founder of Jippirasti) but in Mei he is Bæbor.
that.one / why Jippir speak-past.3>3 Babur
That is why Jippir spoke to Babur.
Ñopawa olaca ɣewamis ka-ɣetoimalac, roga ka-ɣoja.
Bako ceye is not incorrect, but ne-ceye ‘but you?’ would be more colloquial.
tentv-want-past.3 explain-inf active-clear and-active-complete / this.one and-do.that-past.3
He wished to explain himself clearly and thoroughly, and this he has done.
Mecariloye tuksas ni cois, ekoga coiz pawo menebame.
can-perceive-pres.3>2p teaching-pl of human-pl / because human-def.pl love-pres.3 paradox
You may recognize the teachings of man, because men love paradox.
Roga šæko ñit niuga Munor.
this.one stand-pres.3 way hide-inf god-def
This is a way of hiding God.
Coiz ñayo, «Munor šæko toyel ka-šiel», ñayo «Eñæd orañit wa ɣeñay ñæda šiga.»
human-pl.def say-pres.3 / god-def stand-pres.3 everywhere and-nowhere / say-pres.3 / imper-believe only one active-say knowing nothing
Men say, “God is everywhere and nowhere”, or “Believe only the one who says he knows nothing.”
Ko ñaynes ba-pamiɣ, bako ceye? Enga Munor sopawo igalnad?
this saying-pl not-listen-pres.1 / Q you.pl / why god-def cond-want-pres.3 confusion-1p
I do not understand such sayings, do you? Why would God want us to be confused?
Jibir wamis ɣetisaun toi zenisas.
Ajažril has used the participle ‘answering’, because that’s what he’d say in Tžuro. Also, he’s incorrectly placed the bare adjective wamis ‘clear’ before the verb; it should be ɣewamis, after the verb.
Jippir clear active-answer all question-pl
Jippir answers all questions clearly.
Munor šæko toyel; ne-ba-šiel.
god-def stand-pres.3 everywhere / but-not-nowhere
God is everywhere; he is not nowhere.
Ɣoc ñædad šæko ɣoc ñædad; šanumad šæko šanumad.
many knowledge stand-pres.3 many knowledge / foolishness stand-pres.3 foolishness
Much knowledge is much knowledge; foolishness is foolishness.
Oro ñagazroda, šicyaɣa igalnar ni cois!
come-pres.3 relief / dispose-inf confusion-def of human-pl
It is a relief to put aside the confusion of men!
A Mei on the Mei
The Mei are known for pessimism and a self-deprecating sense of humor; both are on display in this excerpt from a 3500s Telandi writer, Koi Ɣanai.
Cas Gucidane enwagaño wacuz, waga šæko jolac ni Meir?
Mei folklore usually confused Kurund and his son Attafei. It was Attafei who conquered Mei Ros. Kutaj was Attafei’s son.
some Gurdago-guy ask-past.3>1s sometime / what stand-pres.1 fruit of Mei-def
Some Gurdagor guy asked me once, what are the Mei known for?
Ka-bograño, ekoga mepamaɣu. Šagiɣ, waga cauñaw?
and-stun-past.ø>1 / because can-hear-past.1>3 / mean-pres.1 / what tell-past.3>3
And I was shocked, because he'd heard of us. I mean, who told him?
Ko šiga mepamiɣu. Poriko šænad, šañædod.
yes nobody can-hear-pres.1>3 / even conquer-past.3>1p / forget-pres.3>1p
It's true, no one's heard of us. Even when we're conquered, they forget us.
Ñædir waga suyac Korud: «Šækiɣ josoir ni Tejor ka-šurisk ka-muɣašes, ka… æ tikeli… ko niren cas.
know-2 what name-passive Kurund / stand-pres.1 king-def of Tej-def and-Šureni-pl and Munkhâshi-pl and / oh hell / that people other
You know what Kurund called himself: “I am ruler of the Tej, the Skourenes, Munkhâsh, and... oh hell, those other people.
Eyenɣenno, Kutaj. Muwor? En tikeli.»
imper-help-1s / Kutaj / Moo-def / to hell
Help me out, Kutaj. The Moo? Hell with it.”
Toicuz šæko koga, oriɣ ti takri «ka» ca sudakašor ni atej.
In Mei “and-the-Mei” is one word, ka-meir. The joke is that the emperor is using it as an unanalyzed adjective.
always stand-pres.3 that.one / come-pres.1 after last ‘and’ at title-def of emperor
It's always like that, we appear after the last "and" in the emperor's title.
Paun roga ñædo ɣemeyez koga, suyid «kameir».
some this.one think-past.3 active-actual that.one / call-pres.ø-1p and-Mei-def
Some of them actually thought that's what we're called, “And-The-Mei”.
«Ecuɣno paun ajenk kameir ko riel.»
The switch to ɣoya ‘do that’ is very colloquial.
imper-get->1s some archer-pl and-Mei-def yes here
“Get me some of those And-the-Mei archers over here.”
Ɣepeɣiɣ wæñiziu. Šiga pawow ajenorgod.
prog-play-pres.1 obvious / nobody want-pres.3>3 archer-def-pl-1p
I'm joking, of course. No one wants our archers.
Neko najaya rosis niɣliɣ.
though epic national have-pres.1
We have a national epic, though.
Ko šækiɣ bodu, najaya ɣoyiɣ.
yes stand-pres.1 million / epic do.that-pres.1
Yeah, we're heavy, we got an epic.
Waga šæko pabar? Šænaño ni Culi.
This is a jocular coinage, of course. “Conqueror” is šænoi.
what stand-pres.3 talk / conquest-1 of cuoli
What's it about? Our defeat of Cuoli.
Peñoc mauda ko? Šænaɣ cas ros pamac šiga.
how.much sad is / defeat-past.1 other country hear-passive nobody
How lame is that? We beat up on another country nobody's heard of.
Toicuz sætid ɣetakri neko.
always laugh-pres.ø->1p active-final though
We always have the last laugh though.
Ko mešænirt. Bako ne-mekeumir ñagaz elir?
yes can-conquer-pres.2>1p / Q but-can-find-pres.2 again place-def
Sure, you can conquer us. But can you find the place again?
Bako ba-ñorilag koga, šænne?
Q not-tentv-see-pres.ø-2s that.one / conquer-guy
Didn't think of that, huh, conquer-guy?
Šancæn awataɣ neko.
Note the string of infinitives (awata šæbaka).
rye.beer invent-past.1 though
We invented rye beer, though.
Cas šiga meɣojo.
other nobody can-do.that-past.3
Nobody else could do that.
Roga ekoga runa gabaru.
this.one because clean-past.3 mess-3
That's because they cleaned up after themselves.
Paun Meine ñitaw orañit tugar ɣeceɣ.
some Mei-guy go-past.3>3 only rye-def active-rot
Some Mei guy just left the rye to rot.
Ceɣac toiga, ñažoiw, «Erun riu ñuš» ka-cew «Ko šænis.»
rot-passive everything / wife-3 / imper-clean that shit / and-3 / yes later
And once it was all rotten his wife said, “Clean that shit up,” and he was all “Yeah, later.”
Ka-ɣeñagazora, ko bako, ka-ba-šacuɣa, ñat teuda šega ko ɣuj.
and-active-return-past.3 / is Q / and-not-remove-past.3 / therefore decide-past.3 drink that crap
And then she was coming back, you know, and he hadn't thrown it out, so he decided to drink it.
Munkud, mešæko jadi yæniz, ne-ba-todosaw ti ños šæl.
god-pl-1p / must-stand-pres.3 pot swampy / but-not-worry-past.ø>3 after pitcher third
Gods, it must have been nasty stuff, but after the third pitcher he didn't care.
Tiga šæšegaw ñažoiw, ka-bograw sau. Orañit ñumur.
then caus-drink-past.3>3 wife-3 / and-stun-past.3>3 flat / just unconscious
Then he got his wife to drink it, and it knocked her flat. Just unconscious.
Ner, «Ko cuskeliño. Ɣecæciɣ nerunor širor!»
guy-def / is chance-1s / prog-push-pres.1 bed-def now
“Now's my chance,” he said. “Gonna get some tonight!”
Tiga ñeja.
then sleep-past.3
And then he fell asleep.
Roga ka-koga, šæji ñokeli šæka.
this.one and-that.one / night tentv-good stand.past-3
All in all it was a pretty good night.
Ti koga, ko bako, takra niɣlaɣ.
after that.one / is Q / end have-past.1
So you know, after that, we were done.
Næñædaɣ awata šæbaka— ɣemispor ɣoyaɣ.
ruminate-past.1 invent write / prog-true do.that-past.1
We thought of inventing writing— we really did.
Mešæbakaɣ awdegor ni šancæn.
‘Ship’ is not a previous reference, so it’s not definite. Mei does not refer to abstract classes with the article.
can-write-past.1 recipe-def of rye.beer
We had the beer recipe to write down.
Ñædaɣ, «Šat, ko wedois eɣoy, ɣeneñejiɣ.»
think-past.1 / no / yes Wede:i-pl imper-do.that / prog-chill-pres.1
But we thought, no, let the Wede:i do it, we're chilling.
Neko avataɣ wayma, bako ñædir?
though invent-past.1 ship / Q know-2
We invented the ship though, did you know that?
Šæyeužaɣ waymaz is ni jijaped tegendi— ñojosaɣ kor.
build-past.1 ship-def.pl first of quality pathless / tentv-dominate-past.1 ocean
We built the best gods-damned ships— we were going to rock the ocean.
Ne-koga, ɣeko, irširor riloye. Kor ba-niɣliɣ.
but-that.one / OK / problem-def see-pres.3>2p / ocean not-have-pres.1
But... OK, you see the problem. We don't have an ocean.
Ko šiga ora koil.
yes nothing come-past.3 there
So nothing came of that.
Ne-cauñiɣe, toicuz Meir šašækiɣ riel. Ba-mešacuɣod.
but-tell-pres.1>2p / always Mei-def remain-pres.1 here / not-can-remove-pres.3>1p
But I tell you, the Mei will always be here. They can't get rid of us.
Ko ekoga ñæžænæn— mikarad en ros… šicuz ɣeliɣ purazad ka-koga.
yes because spirit-1p / link-def-1p to country / never lift-1 ass-def.pl-1p and-that.one
And that's because of our spirit— our connection to the land— we'll never get off our asses, is what it is.
Ajuruja
This is the beginning of Ajuruja, or Him purity, published in 3608 by Ɣen Nujar in Sevisor.
Kocuz idrau riu misk, ñošækiɣ kokac.
when read-pres.2 this word-pl / tentv-stand-pres.1 dead
When you read these words, I will be dead.
Oro agridedor ñasniziorno wa.
come-pres.3 police-def editor-def-1 one
It will either be the police, or my editor.
[Ñas. Ɣen, niñayaɣ roga, ba-šæko jænis.]
ed. / Ɣen / discuss-past.1 this.one / not-stand-pres.3 funny
(Ed.: Ɣen, we’ve talked about this, it’s not funny.)
[Abas, egosot šat ešæceɣ širacor? Oro is šæbrune.]
Abas / please not imper-spoil air-def / come-pres.3 first paragraph
(Abas, can you please not spoil the mood? It’s the first paragraph.)
Ko ño-kokac, ba-sooro awdegno, ka-sošækiɣ misporu, šicuz awdegoño yeužo.
yes tentv-dead / not-if-come-pres.3 plan-1 / and-if-stand-pres.1 honest / never plan-pl-1 work-pres.3
Dead, yes, if things do not go according to my plan, and if I’m honest, my plans have never worked out.
Sooro agridedor, ceño ñošæko ronjimac marmanes, tiga ñowac šic kanašæn. Tiga jesrudac.
if-come-pres.3 police-def / body-1 tentv-stand-pres.3 cheese-passive bullet-pl / then throw-passive from parapet / then poison-passive
If it’s the police my body will be riddled with bullets, then thrown off a parapet. Then poisoned.
Sooro ñasnizi, ñošæko orkira ni ranoric.
if-come-pres.3 editorial / tentv-stand-pres.3 killing of character
If it’s editorial, it will be character assassination.
Lexicon
Parts of speech: n = noun, v = verb, ve = verb (ergative), vp = verb of perception, a = adjective, adv = adverb, pr = pronoun, pp = preposition, # = number, q = quantifier, cj = conjunction, intj = interjection.
a- pfx imperative prefix (Sevisre)
abas n cavalryman [Tž.]
abij n invader
acasas n stallion [Tž. ačasak]
acir n prophet [Tž.]
adep n voter
aduk n lieutenant [Tž.]
agrid n policeman [Tž. ‘guard’]
agrided n the police
ai intj oy! hey! (expression to elicit attention or express surprise or pain)
ajen n archer, bowman [Tž.]
Akšuɣai n Axunai [Ax.]
aman n companion, partner [Tž. amand]
amaned n companionship
amanto n group, band [collective of aman]
amin n servant [Tž.]
ana n mother [babytalk]
anak n rascal, rogue [Tž. ‘con man’]
anaz a motherly, maternal
aneb n Jippirasti cleric [Tž. ‘teacher’]
anebaz a overbearingly pious
anebazad n religiosity
anel n pilot
antudo n nuclear fusion [X. ameatudo]
apaba n babbler, mutterer
areg n poet [Tž.]
Arkeli n Arcél [Tž., confused with -eli]
aron n colonel [Tž. aruŋ]
asev n geezer, old dude [Tž. ‘elder’]
asikt n bastard, villain [Tž ‘tax collector’]
asikted n villainy
asut n chapter of a religious book; (in pl.) scriptures [Tž.]
astir n prophet, seer [Tž.]
ašok n tailor [Tž. ‘outfitter’]
atej n emperor [Tž.]
Atafei n Attafei, Tžuro atej and conqueror of Munkhâsh [Tž.]
ateni a solar; (n) solar panel
Atenor n the sun, Ënomai [Tž. ateŋ]
atiba n stable [Tž. ativa]
ca atiba caga be hopelessly rustic or uncivilized [‘born in a stable’]
awat n inventor, discoverer [Tž. avat]
awata v invent, discover [back-formation from awat]
awayn n sailor [from wayna ‘ship’]
awdeg n recipe, formula; plan [Tž. audeg ‘how’]
ažbar n innkeeper, tavernkeeper [Tž. ašembar]
ažbarap n tavern, inn
ažnas n wizard, magician [Tž. ažanak]
æ intj aw, oh (expression of exasperation, disgust, impatience)
æi intj hi, yo, hello
æmon n coward [Tž. amoŋ]
Æmuneu n northern Čeiy [Čeiyu Ämünel]
ænak n con man, trickster [Tž. anaŋk]
Ærnad n Érenat [Ver.]
ærnadi a Érenati
æžran n Trustee, leader of Šura [Tž. ažraŋ]
ba- adv negative [Lenani]
badar n mast, beam (on a ship); (slang) cock, dick [Tž. fadar]
badimac n virgin [‘not-sexed’]
badimed n virginity
badporu a hardcore, badass [‘true dick’, cf. misporu]
bako adv question particle [‘is it not’]
balar n silver [Tž.]
balare a silvery, made of silver
bamepam n deaf [‘can’t hear’]
bameril a blind [‘can’t see’]
bawac a disunited
bawaced n disunity
Bæbor n Babur [Tž.]
Bægon n the moon Iliažë [W. Begoŋ]
Bei n the Bé
beleš n cloud; mist [Ax. ber]
beleše a cloudy, misty
Belešo n Belesao [Tž., confused with beleše]
belešoi n Bélé person
Belšai n Belšai [‘cloudy place’]
belšaine a Belšayin
bežno n plastic [Tž. bežnu]
bideš n wine [X.]
biga n coin [Tž.]
bigaz n greedy, miserly [‘coin-loving’]
bija v invade [X.]
bima # eleven [Tž.]
bodu # million; (slang) a big deal [X. bondu]
bogra v stun, shock [imitative]
ɣebogor stunning
Brebi n the moon Iliacáš [W. Birbi:]
Bredur n Verduria [Tž. Vredura]
bredure a Verdurian
bredurñay n Verdurian language
breduroi n Verdurian person
bruso n bar [Ver. pruso]
ca pp in, inside [*ca]
cad n insides, interior; (slang) vagina
cada n seed [*cata]
cadcene n (formal) vagina [‘interior body’]
caga ve be born; (n) birth [*cak-]
cairan n iliu [Tž. čailan]
Cairaneli n the iliu enclave north of Feináe
cal n sand [*calu]
cale a sandy
camoi n electron [Keb. camio, ending reinterpreted as ‘person’]
cañit n door, portal [‘entrance’]
cañita v enter; (n) entrance [‘go in’]
carag n stirrup [Tž. čarag]
carila vp recognize; perceive
carilaz a perceptive, observant, canny
cardeš n compass [Tž. čardeše]
cas q other, another [*kjok]
casñit cj or, otherwise [‘other way’]
cauka n table [Ax. čalka]
cauña v tell, report, inform, recite [*kjalanj-]
cauñæn n story, report
cauñoi n reporter, storyteller
cæba v bow to, submit to [*kjep-]
cæbac a submitted, submissive, servile; (leftism) proletarian
cæca v push [*cjec-]
cæca nerunor (slang) have sex, get some
cæcoi n penis [‘pusher’]
cæn n forest, woods [*cjeŋ]
cæne a woodsy, foresty
cæra a red
ce n body [Ax. kie]
ce- pfx must, should
Cei n Čeiy [X.]
ced pr we
ceg pr you (s.)
ceis a Čeiyu
ceiz a bodily, physical, material
ceized n physicality, materiality
cej n storm
ceja v be stormy, blow [*cekj-]
cejæn n hive, wax [Ax. čeijan]
cejis n rifle [X. cejijis]
cek a cold [*cekt]
ceked n coldness
ceksaj n refrigerator [‘cold machine’]
cene n bodily organ [dim. ‘body’]
ceuba n book [Tž. čelepa]
ceubaz a bookish, literary
ceño pr I [‘my body’]
ceñoaz a egostistical, selfish
ces n rapier [Tž. česk]
Cetæs n Ṭetäs, capital of Čeiy [Čeiyu]
cew pr he, she, it, they
ceye pr you (pl.)
ceɣa v rot, ferment [*ceɣ-]
ceɣac n pickled vegetables
Cibor n Cibri, a city in Belšai
cike n sword [Ax. čenke]
cikoi n swordsman; soldier, private
cin a stupid, dumb [Cuolese ‘frog’]
cined n stupidity
cira v give [Cuole cüru]
cirac n gift, present
cirda v be angry; anger [*cenet-]
ciz a light (not heavy) [from cized, reanalyzed as ciz + ed]
cized n lightness [*cisit-]
ciziu n egg [*cisil]
coda n brother [*cota]
coi n person, individual; human [‘body person’]
coisaj n robot, android [‘human-machine’]
cona n uncle [*cosna]
Coraw n Curau, city in Xurno [X.]
coyed n individuality; customization
coyedi a individual, personal, private; customized
cu a east [*kju]
Culi n Cuoli [Cuolese]
culis n Cuolese
curo n Tžuro [Ax. Čurou]
curoñay n Tžuro or Šureni language
cus a sharp; (colloq.) smart [*cuk]
cused n sharpness
cuskeli n chance, opportunity [‘good time’]
cuskelis a opportune, by chance, felicitious
cuskudo n nuclear fission [X. čuzikudo]
cuyoi n easterner, esp. Tžuro/Šureni
cuz n day, daytime; time [*calcusu]
cuzi a daily
cuɣa v take, grab, get [*culiɣ-]
Dahnand n Dhekhnam [Tž.]
dahnandi a Dhekhnami
dahnañay n Dhekhnami language
dakaš n palace, court (of a ruler) [Tž.]
dakaši a courtly; official; governmental
dam n Xurnese System unit of area (0.58 ha) [X.]
dawdeg n park, public garden [Tž. ‘garden’]
dega n robe, long dress [Tž.]
degyeužoi n dressmaker
deim n deym, Xurnese System measure of time (720 Almean seconds) [X.]
depa v elect, vote for [Tž.]
dima v make love, have sex [Tž. dimi]
dimoi n lover, sex partner
dis # ten [Cuolese]
disi a tenth
dogun n bandit, gangster [Cuolese dṍgum ‘horseman’]
doguned n banditry, gangsterism
dragoi n major general [Tž. draggei]
dou n city [W. dau]
douz a urban
e intj oh, uh (expression of confusion, or just a placeholder while one thinks)
e- pfx imperative prefix
egosot adv please [‘pardon!’]
ekoga cj because [‘for that’]
eli n place, location [*ali]
en pp for, because of, in order to, to
encæba a communist [‘for the abased’, calque on X. biacu]
encæbed n communism
enga pr why [‘for what’]
enwaga v ask, request [‘what to’]
enɣena v help, assist [‘to the side’]
enɣenoi n helper, assistant
Eyra n lake Van [Ax. Evonanu]
ezo # (classical) 1296, (modern) 1000 [W. ezer]
ezoi a thousandth
gabar n mess, trouble, shenanigans [Tž. ‘cow manure’]
gabarac a messed up, fucked up
gabarne n shlemiel, fuckup
galun n perverse, heretical [Tž. ‘unorthodox’]
garad n die, game piece [Tž.]
garadoi n gambler
ged # 144, a gross [Tž.]
gema n noblewoman, lady; Mrs., Miss [X. geyma]
gis n gix, Xurnese System measurement of mass (.38 kg) [X.]
godaɣ n ktuvok [Munkhâshi gotalh]
goka v defend (in court or opinion) [back-formation from gokoi]
gokoi n defendant [Tž. gokkir]
gosota v pardon, forgive [Tž. gosoti ‘expiate’]
gowtu n duck [Ax. guetu]
Gucida n Gurdago [Tž. Gučidak]
ii intj ah! (expression of understanding or dismissal)
ibiša v travel [Tž.]
ibišoi n traveler
Icip n Inčip river of Feináe [Tž. Inčip]
idra vp read [Ax. ituri]
idroi n reader
igana n alienation, confusion [Tž. igalna]
iganaz a alienated
iji # eight [Cuolese]
ijin a eighth
ir a bad, awful [Cuolese ür]
ired n badness
iroi n villain
irega n music [Tž.]
iregaz a musical; melodious
iregoi n musician
irširo n trouble, problem [‘bad hour’]
is a first [earlier *wis]
is ni X the most X
isapa n orthodoxy, fundamentalism [Tž.]
isapaz a orthodox, fundamentalist
Istou n a city in Sevisor; site of the DU Air Academy [‘first city’]
jadi n pot, bowl; stuff, batch [Ax.]
jadine n small pot, a dash (of something)
jahaš n electricity [Tž.]
jahaši a electric
jašnem n light bulb [Tž. jahašnem]
jæn n salt [Tž. jan]
jænis a salty; funny, humorous
jænised n humor
Jæšim n Jaešim, Jaeš [Tž.]
je pp with, and, accompanied by
jeko n steel [Tž. jekuku]
jejok n rocket [Tž.]
jeñai n Jippirasti shrine or holy spot [Tž. jeŋali]
jeñita v hang out with, get together with; know (someone) [‘go with’]
jeñitoi n acquaintance
jeɣoja v use, make use of [‘do that with’]
jeɣojoi n user, operator
Jewor n Jeor [Ax.]
Jibir n Jippir [Tž.]
jijapa a fine, good quality [Tž. jinjapa ‘fine horse’]
jijaped n quality, fineness
jimali n railroad [Tž. jimali si hamam]
jimaloi n conductor
Jipras n Jippirasti [Tž.]
jiprasi a Jippirasti
Jiprim n Jippirim, capital of Šura [Tž.]
jolac n fruit; specialty, what one is known for [X.]
jona n cat [W. jo:na]
josa v rule (esp. at the top), dominate [Tž.]
josod n monarchy, kinghood
josodi a monarchical
josoi n king, monarch, ruler
ju- pfx can, could (Sevisre; cf. me-)
jui n dzuy, Xurnese System measure of volume (.44 l) [X.]
jukso n spear [Ax. juxou]
juksoi n spearman
jurma v advise, counsel [Ax. jurumik]
jurmoi n advisor, counsellor
ka- pfx and
kacar n gold; money, wealth [Tž. kačar]
kacaroi n rich person
kacaz a rich, wealthy
kaima v buy, purchase [Ax. kaymi]
kaimoi n buyer, purchaser
kanas n wall [Tž. kanak]
kanašæn n parapet [‘high wall’]
karaš n cannon, artillery [Tž.]
karašoi n cannoneer, artilleryman
kayma v be devoted to, revere, love (kings etc.); worship [W. kayo:mo ‘marvel’]
kaymoi n worshipper
kaɣon n Kahon division of Jippirasti; the Qarau lands [Tž. Kahon]
kaɣoni a Qarau, Carhinnian
kæza v sell [Ax. kaynesi]
kæzoi n seller, vendor
Kebir n Kebri [Tž. Kevvir]
kebiri a Kebreni
keli a good [*skal-]
kelyed n goodness
kelio n gentleman, noble; sir, mister [earlier kelioi ‘good person’]
kepram n parley, meeting to settle differences [Tž. gepram]
kete # 216 (a gross and a half) [Ax.]
ketoi n (military) major [Tž. geddei]
keuda # hundred [*keleta]
keudai a hundredth
keuma v capture; find [*kelim-]
keumoi n tracker, bounty hunter
keɣ n knee, elbow [*keɣ]
kica n wax [Tž. gitla]
kig n barbarian [W. ge:ŋgu]
kiged n barbarism
kike n shoe [Ax. kenke]
kikoi n shoemaker, cobbler
kiri n lemon [Ax. kirti]
kiriz a lemony; sour, acidic
kirmin n tannin [W. kenurmiŋ]
kirpi a fat [*skirp]
kirped n fatness
kiryed n sourness, acidity
kiu n sky [Ax. kiul]
kiuce n moon [‘sky body’]
kiuceis a lunar, of the moons
kiucenim n lunar colony [‘moon’ + ‘space station’]
kiuñit n ecliptic; Almea’s galaxy [‘sky path’]
kiuz n heaven [‘the skies’]
kiwes a non-binary; gay or lesbian [Ax. giwez ‘young third-sexer’]
kiwesoi n non-binary person, homosexual
kiweded n non-binariness; homosexuality
kiwibišoi n planet [‘sky traveler’]
kiwis n celestial, heavenly, of the sky
ko pr that [*ko]
ko adv it’s; yes, really [šæko ‘it is’]
kocuz adv then, at that time [‘that day’]
Kodaš n Kutaj, son of Attafei [Tž.]
Kodreu n Gotanel [Ax. Gotanneli]
koga pr that one [‘that thing’]
ka-koga that’s it, that’s what it is
Koi n a family name [‘sea person’, with kor reanalyzed as ‘sea-def’]
koil pr there [‘that place’]
kojla n bone [*kocala]
kogru n zombie, undead [W. goŋŋerul]
koka ve die; (n) death [*kosk-]
kokac a dead
Kolig n Kulig, enemy of Jippir; any monster [Tž.]
koligi a monstrous, evil
kon n mouth
konio n pundit, critic [‘mouth person’]
koña v lie, deceive [W. goŋe ‘false’]
koñio n liar, deceiver
kor n sea, ocean, esp. the Xurnese Sea [W. go:rtu]
koroi n seaman, sailor
Korud n Kurund, founder of Tžuro empire [Tž.]
koɣa v steal, rob [back-formation from koɣas]
koɣas n thief [Ax. gonas]
krolit n pistol, revolver [Tž.]
kron n hoof [Tž. kruŋ]
Kšigi n Xengi river [Ax. Xengi]
kuda v break, fall apart [*kut-]
kuja v host, harbor [*kuluc-]
kulat n sickness, illness; (a) sick [Tž.]
kulatoi n sick person, patient
kušæn n piece, part [*kutjan ‘broken-off piece’]
kušæne a in pieces, broken
kušik a honorable, worthy [Ax. gušik]
kušikad n honor, respect
lejem n radio [Tž. ledjem]
loc n park, garden [Tž. ‘oasis’]
locaz a park-like; romantic, idyllic
Low n Lo, the Losainu component state in the DU
lowñay n the Losainu language
loz n moose, elk [Ax. losu]
luj n money [X.]
lujoi n tycoon, big businessman
macoi n woman [‘female person’]
majan n wheel; disk [Tž. majam]
majañay n phonograph; record, CD [‘talk-wheel’]
mala v fill [*mal-]
malac a full
malaced n fullness
mæñi n star [*manjiŋ]
mæñis a stellar
mapal n the Šureni senate [Tž. mafali]
mapaloi n senator
mar n warp (of loom) [Ax.]
marco n personal computer [margac coyedi]
marcoñay n computer language
margac n computer [nativized from Tž. margluj]
margac coyedi personal computer
marma n ball, circle [*marama]
marmane n little ball; bullet
mauda vp be sad; (slang) be lame
mazic a female [*masac]
me- pfx can, could, able to
mefajoi n gatekeeper, secretary [Tž. ‘gatekeeper angel’]
Mei n Mei [‘heart people’ or ‘real people’]
mein n mayn, Xurnese System unit of length (7.608 cm) [X.]
meiñay n the Mei language
mejmel a courteous, polite [X. medzimel]
mejmeled n courtesy, politeness
menebame n paradox [mešæko ne-bamešæko ‘can and can’t be’]
Menin n a city in Belšai, Sevisre Meniŋ [poss. ‘Mei’ + niŋ, Sevisre ‘hill’]
menini a of or from Meniŋ
meyen n heart; reality, validity [*meljeŋ]
meyenceɣ a insane, crazy; (n) insanity [‘rotten heart’]
meyez a authentic, real, actual, core (more emotive than misporu)
mezga v fight [*mesak-]
mezgap n arena
mezgoi n fighter
mic n worm [*mic]
miga n pine [*mila]
mijiku n photograph [Tž.]
mika v tie, connect, link [W. miku]
mikoi n in-between, negotiator; marriage arranger
mikšes n kohl, antimony; eye makeup [W. miksek]
min n grass [*misni]
mina v serve, work as a servant [Tž.]
mine a grassy
minæm n foundation, basis [Tž. minan]
mis n word [Ax. mi, gen. misiš]
misceuba n dictionary [‘word book’]
miskoña n dishonest; inauthentic, fake [‘lie word’]
mispawa n lexicographer [‘loves words’]
misporu a honest; authentic, real [‘true word’]
misporud n honesty
mlan a great, grand [*melaŋ]
mlaned n greatness
mlanoi n great person
moga n ear [*moŋka]
moi n girl, maiden, young woman [‘young one’]
mojro n vizier, minister [W. moganopaźiwa]
momoi n girlfriend, beloved [redup. of ‘girl’]
mona ve dream [*mosn-]
monoi n dreamer
mos # twelve [Tž. mog]
mou a young [*molu]
moud n youth
mow n saddle [Losainu muol]
moyaz a girlish, maidenly
muca v turn, rotate [*muc-]
mun n god [*muŋ]
muned n divinity, godhead
Munor n God, in monotheistic religions [‘the god’]
muñaya v pray [calque on W. na:nyonu]
muñoi n shaman, priest of Mei religion [‘pray-er’]
mur n sand
murac n plane (of being); the spiritual world [Ax. mureč]
Murap n a city on Lake Lenan [‘sandy place’]
mure a sandy
murus n grammar [Ax. muruvax]
murusi a grammatical; proper, according to the rules
muw n moo, the sound of a cow
Muɣaš n Munkhâsh [Munkhâshi]
muɣaše n Munkhâshi
muɣai n temple [W. muna:i]
nadizoi n neutron [Tž. nadizio]
Nakman n Lebiscuri [Tž. Nakmana]
Namor n the Namal, calqued as definite [Tž. Namau]
najaya n epic, legend [W. nanuŋ ja:ia]
najayani a legendary; (n) hero
naraj n bullet train [Tž.]
narge n orange [Ax. narange]
næcun n iron [Ax. neičun]
næcune a of iron
næñæda v ruminate on, think over [redup. of ‘think’]
næñæded n philosophy
næñædoi n philosopher
næraj n eagle, falcon [Tž. naraj]
ne n (colloq.) guy, dude
ne- pfx but
nebnoi n proton [Tž. nevnio]
Neilem n Nan [Nanese]
nein a ninth
neko cj though, however
nela v fly (a plane), pilot [Tž.]
nelir n airplane [Tž. nellir]
neloi n pilot
neñeja v hang out, chill; date (casually) [redup. of ‘rest’]
nepaz a busy, in a hurry [Tž. nep + -az]
nepazed n hurry, busyness
nerun n bed [W. neruwen]
Newor n ancient kingdom [dialectal ‘west Mei’]
newori a of Newor or the ancient Mei
ni pp of, from, belonging to [from niɣla]
nibloji n taxes [Ax. nivelouji]
niblojoi n tax collector
nidran a beautiful, lovely [Tž. nidiram]
nidranad n beauty
niñaya v discuss, talk about [‘talk of’]
niñe a hilly
niño n hill [*niŋe]
nimroud n intellligence
nimrow a intelligent, smart [Tž. nimeraf]
niren n people [*nenanj]
nirez a popular; democratic
nirezed n democracy
niuga v hide [*nilig-]
niwai n emperor (of Xurno or Axunai) [Ax. niweï]
niwais a imperial
niwe n title of kings of Newor and Mei Ros; cf. josoi [Ax.]
niɣla v have, possess; (with ce-) need [*niɣul-]
niɣloi n possessor
noda n strawberry [W. no:ta:]
noji n redcane (a common reed) [Ax. nobiči]
Nuimo n a name [variant of ñumio ‘boss’]
nusag n doctor, physician, healer [W. nu:lsagu]
nusaga v heal, cure
nusagad n healing; medicine
nusane n pill; drug, drugs [dim. of ‘medicine’]
ñagaz adv again, once more
ñagazora v return, go back [‘again come’]
ñagazroda ve be relieved, calm down, chill; (n) relief [‘calm again’]
ñagažoja n repeat, do again [‘again do.that’]
ñaja n leaf [*njaca]
ñaja ve dance [*njoc-]
ñaje a green [‘leafy’]
ñajed n dance as an art
ñajoi n dancer
ñaka n hemp [*ŋaska]
ñas # two [*njok]
ñasnizia v edit, review [calque on Tž. ŋokješi from ‘two eyes’]
ñasnizio n editor
ñašæca v mix, intermingle [‘two-three’, i.e. several things]
ñat cj so, therefore [poss. related to ‘know’]
ñauja v close, shut; (without object) shut up [*ŋalj-]
ñay n speech, language
ñaya v speak, say [*njoŋ-]
ñayne n saying, proverb [dim. ‘speaking’]
ñayoi n speaker
ñaža a soft [*njatja]
ñaɣoja n agree, consent [‘say same’]
ñaɣojoi n Convener (head of the DU government) [calque on Tž. ašap]
ñažed n softness
ñažoi n wife [‘soft one’]
ñæda v think, know (something); maintain, believe [*njet-]
ñædad n science, scholarship, knowledge
ñædoi n scholar, scientist
ñæu n river [*njel]
ñæžæn n spirit, soul; mind [from ‘think’]
ñæžæne a spiritual; mental, of the mind
ñæžnoi n rational being, Thinking Kind
ñæɣa v move [*njeɣ-]
ñeja ve lie, rest, sleep; (v) lie down [*ŋec-]
ñejaz a sleepy; lazy
ñeuɣ n beard [*ŋeleɣ]
ñezli n bird, esp. the chicken [*nesali]
ñicim a far, distant [‘long path’]
ñicuz adv yesterday [‘going day’]
ñin n field, farm [*ŋinj]
ñinita v wander [redup. of ‘walk’]
ñinitoi n wanderer, vagrant
ñinoi n farmer
ñit n path, way; direction
ñita v walk, go; leave [*ŋent-]
ñitoi n walker
ñiziu n eye [*njisil]
ño- pfx tentative mood
ñoga a strong
ñogad n strength
ños n jar, pitcher [W. ñok]
ñosne n small jar, vial
ñouna v hunt [*ŋolusn-]
ñounoi n hunter
ñousa n glass [W. ŋolsau]
ñousane n small glass
ñouse a glassy, made of glass
ñowa n throw, cast [imitative]
ñoɣ a wrong, incorrect [*ñoɣe]
ñoɣad n wrongness
ñum n head; front (side) [*njum-]
ñuma n father [from ‘head’]
ñuma v advance, move forward, march [from ‘head’]
ñumaz a fatherly, paternal
ñumio n boss, chief; sergeant
ñumur a unconscious, out of it [‘sand head’]
ñumarad n unconsciousness
ñuš n shit, crap
ñuše a shitty, crappy
očæn n an Uṭandal [Tž. Učand]
očæni a Uṭandal
olaca v explain, define [X. auliac]
omoc n idea, notion [X. ómuc]
omudec n puzzle, riddle [X.]
ora v come, arrive; appear; happen, proceed
oracuz adv tomorrow [‘coming day’]
orañit adv just, only [‘it happened’ + adverbial ending]
orkira v assassinate, murder
orkiri n assassin, killer [Ax. orkirti]
paba v babble, mutter; (slang) talk about [imitative]
Waga šæko pabar? What’s the deal?
pabitoi n pagan (Jippirasti term) [Tž. papit]
padra a old
padrad n age, oldness
padroi n old person; (colloq.) boss
palat n civilization, culture [Tž. ‘politesse’]
palati a civilized, cultured
pama vp hear, listen; understand; (with me-) hear of [*pam-]
pamoi n listener, (pl) audience
pana n man (male only); husband[*pasnima]
Panak n Fananak [Tž.]
panakis a Fananaki
Paneli n Feináe, Feidal [‘Fei place’]
panda v bless (in Jippirasti contexts) [Tž.]
panoi n Fei person [Tž. Fan]
pauga pr someone, somebody, something
paugel pr somewhere [pauga + ‘place’]
paun q some [*paluŋ]
pawa v desire, want, love, be in love with; (with tentv) wish, hope for
pawaz a desirable, lovable
pawkas a eccentric, weird; (n) weirdo [Tž. pabakas ‘wild horse’]
pažman a despotic, tyrannical [Tž. pašmandi]
pažmanoi m despot, tyrant
pažwa n lord, master; (medieval, or in context of Cuoli) king [W. paźiwa ‘king’]
pažwad n lordliness, dominance; arrogance
pæn n oats [W. ba:n]
peda n dish, plate [Ax. beida]
pedane n small dish; saucer
pedarun n dishwasher [‘dish-wash’]
peja n steam [Tž.]
pejwayna n steamship
pegel pr where [‘what place’]
peña v fear, be afraid
peñoc pr how much [*pek-ɣoc ‘which much’]
Pereli n Flora [‘flaid place’]
peri n flaid [Tž.]
pes pr which one [*pek]
peudo n elcar; dwarf [Ax. beivito]
peudois a elcarin
peudoñay n Elkarîl (esp. the dialect spoken in the DU)
pezaw n clan (esp. a Tžuro one) [Tž. fsava]
peɣa v play, have fun; joke [*peɣ-]
peɣoi n player; joker, jester
pidi n grape [Ax. bidi]
pima n harp [W. pirma]
piña # five [*piŋa]
piñal a fifth
piobi n paper; newspaper [W. piluvi]
pioboi n journalist, reporter
pirda vp wonder, marvel [*penut-]
pirɣa v hurt, harm [*peneɣ-]
pirɣoi n predator
pita n a division of Jippirasti [Tž.]
poka v fall, drop [imitative]
poñit n bicycle [Keb. pocnitnu, nativized]
poriko adv even, even though [‘true-it’s’]
porñæda v know for sure, have proved [‘true-know’]
poru a true, correct [Ax. burun]
pori yes
porud n truth
poyos n price, cost, value [Ax. boyok]
poyosi a pricey, costly, expensive
poɣ n dust [*poɣ]
poɣe a dusty
pula n hair, fur [*pulo]
pulaz a hairy, furry
pulši n animated cartoon [Ismaîn pulṣi]
puno n wood [*puɣno]
pune a wooden
pura n butt, ass
ɣela puraz get up [‘lift the buttocks’]
puroi n (slang) mark, victim
rabos n cloth [W. ra:boak ‘bolt of cloth’]
raga v harvest [W. raka]
ranoric n nature, character [X. ranauric]
ranorice a typical, characteristic
raña ve cry [imitative]
raz n shell [*lasu]
ræzdo n magic [X. ransudo]
ræzdoi n magician, wizard, witch
ræzdois a magical
reg n poem [Tž. ‘song, poem’]
regad n poetry
rena v care for, watch over, tend [*lesn-]
renaz a careful
renoi n caretaker, watcher
Ræna n lake Lenan [poss. Lenani]
rænoi n Lenani
reiros n revolution [X. reyros]
reirosi n revolutionary
riel pr here [‘this place’]
riez a near, close by [‘here-ish’]
riezad n nearness
riezio n neighbor
riezyad n neighborliness, friendliness
rijo n room, cell [Ax. rijou]
rima v weave [Tž. rimi]
Rima n a city in Sevisor [‘weaving’, its medieval specialty]
rimoi n weaver
rila vp see, observe; (colloq.) think of, notice [*lir-]
rilac n observer
rilsaj n camera [‘see machine’]
riri n light, brightness [*lenali]
ririz a bright
riu pr this [*lil]
riusirk n advisor, consigliere [W. rilsirgu ‘eunuch’]
rodu n peace, calm [*lotan]
roduz a peaceful
roga pr this one [‘this thing’]
roga ka-koga with all that, all in all, all that said
ronjim n cheese [Tž. romajim]
ronjima v make cheese; (slang) make holes in
ros n nation, country, state [X.]
rosis a national; (DU) at the member level, not federal
ruja v poke; fuck [imitative]
run a north [*luŋ]
run # 1728 [Tž. ruŋ]
runa v wash, clean [‘apply water’]
runoi n cleaner
runsaj n dishwasher [‘wash machine’]
ruwin n loom [W. ruwen]
ruɣ n water [*lunu]
ruɣe a watery, liquid
sacas n clock [Tž. sačaš]
sacasoi n clockmaker
sahut n movie, film [Tž.]
sajaš n machine [Tž.]
sajašoi n robot, android [‘machine person’]
saka vp like, please [Tž. saki ‘enjoy’]
sakac a pleasing, nice
saloi n general, commander [W. sela:i]
sarna v cook, fix food; cuisine [Tž.]
sarnoi n cook, chef
sau a flat [*sal]
saud n flatness; plain
Saɣow n capital of Sevisor [poss. W. Saidau ‘center city’]
saɣowis a of or from Saɣow
sæcut n Sačutu (Šureni) division of Jippirasti [Tž.]
sæta ve smile, laugh [*sant-]
sed n border, boundary [Ax. zetu]
sedoi n provincial, rustic
sega (j) ve (have a) smell, stink [*sik-]
sewis n mountain range, mountains [Tž. sava plus Mei -is]
Sewisor n the Mei country; in Sevisre, Sevisor [‘the mountains’]
sewisre a Sevisre, of Sevisor
sidu a weak [*kitil-]
sidud n weakness
sima v bite, chew [*kim-]
sipæl n senate [Ṭeôši simäpäl]
Rosis sipæl the Sevisre senate
Waniri sipæl the Union Senate
sipæloi n senator
so- pfx conditional mood
sokloɣ n drunkard, alcoholic [Tž. sukluj]
sokloɣad n alcoholism
soñin n jade [W. soŋmiŋ]
soun n law, order [W. sa:un]
soune a lawful, legal
soža n house, dwelling [*sosja]
su n name [Cuolese]
sudakaš n title [‘court name’]
sugo n nose; (slang) informant, stool pigeon [*suko]
sun n arrow [Ax. zunu]
suñæn n bow [‘arrow thing’]
suɣ n bug, insect [*suɣ]
suya v name, call oneself [cf. su]
ša- pfx not [*sja-]
šabæn n oatmeal [W. śoba:n]
šabar n beer (from barley) [Tž.]
šacuɣa v remove, take out; throw out [‘un-grab’]
šaga n finger [*tjaka]
šaga v point to, indicate; mean; use a finger on [‘finger’]
šagabara v repair, fix [‘un-mess’]
šaji n scales [W. ja:tuji]
šan n heat [*tjoŋu]
šane a hot
šancæn n liquor; rye beer [‘a drink’]
šanum n fool, idiot, moron [‘no head’]
šanumad n idiocy, foolishness
šaña n fish [*sjakaŋa]
šañæda v forget [‘not know’]
šañoi n fisherman
šarap n cycle; eon, epoch, cosmic cycle [Ax. šarus]
šasa v slap, spank [a softening of ‘hit’]
šašæka v remain, stay (a long time) [redup. of ‘stand, be’]
šat adv no [from ša-]
šaubri n bottom [X.]
šaubris a basic, fundamental
šaɣ a south [*sjaɣ]
šaɣa v hit, beat [*sjoɣ-]
Šaɣuci n Šiji or Ṣiḍḍi island [‘south island’]
šæ- pfx causative prefix
šæbak n scribe, writer [W. śebargu]
šæbaka v write [from ‘scribe’]
šæbakap n office [‘writing room’]
šæbawa v disunite, break up [‘make disunited’]
šæbru n chapter, text [W. śebarul ‘scroll’]
šæbrune n paragraph [‘little text’]
šæc # three [*tjec]
šæcæra v redden
šæceka v make cold; freeze
šæceya v embody, incarnate
šæceɣa v ferment or spoil (something) [‘make rot’]
šæcina v stupefy
šæciza v lighten (in weight or density)
šæcusa v sharpen
šæji n night [*sjeki]
šæka ve stand; (v) stand up; be
šækacaza v enrich
šækela v bless; improve [‘make good’]
šækirpa v fatten
šækoka v kill [‘cause to die’]
šækuda v break something
šækulata v sicken, make ill
šæl n spine; keel [*tjel]
šælne n pin, needle [‘little spine’]
šæl a third
šæmlana v make great, glorify
šæmowa v rejuvenate, reform
šæn pp above, over, on
šæna v get on top; master, win; conquer, defeat
šænidrana v beautify
šænis a superior, located above; high, tall; next, later
šænoi n winner, conqueror
šænsaud n steppe, plateau [‘high plain’]
šæña a pretty, beautiful [*tjanja]
šæñaža v soften
šæñeja v put to sleep; be boring
šæñita v send (someone); make someone go [‘make go’]
šæñoga v strengthen
šæñoi n pretty girl
šæñoɣa v get wrong; lead astray
šæpadra v age, make older
šærcuz n noon, midday
šæri n middle, center [*sjani]
šærieza v bring closer
šærila v show, point out, express [‘make see’]
šæririza v brighten
šæriz a central, middle
šæroduza v pacify, bring peace
šærsa v govern, rule (esp. at a lower level) [*tanuk-]
šærsoi n governor
šæruɣa v melt (something)
šæsawa v flatten
šæsida v weaken
šæšana v heat up
šæršej n midnight
šæšima v lengthen
šæšiza v reduce, make small
šæšura n Šurenification, making things too Tžuro
šæwaca v unite, bring together
šæyaɣa v put, place, set down [‘make sit’]
šæyæla v enlarge
šæyeuža v build, erect, make, construct [‘make work’]
šæyira v worsen
šæyora v summon, send for [‘make come’]
šæyoɣa v assimilate, make the same
šega v drink [*tjaŋk-]
šegne n drunkard
šegned n drunkenness
Šegruɣ n Šinour river [Old Mei *Šeginur ‘drink-water’]
šeuja n keep, treasure; barrel [*tjelj-]
šeuja ni jahaš electric battery
ši n lake [*tji]
šic pp without, lacking, off [*sjic, related to *sja- ‘not’]
šicuz pr never [‘no day’]
šicwa a bare, naked [‘without one (item of clothing)’]
šicyaɣa v dispose of, get rid of, put away [‘away-sit’]
šiel pr nowhere [‘no place’]
šiga pr no one, nobody, nothing [‘no thing’]
šim a long [*tjim]
šimad n length
šimñay n telephone [‘long-speak’, calque on Tž.]
šimril n television [‘long see’]
širac n air, gas; mood [X. širc]
širace a airy, gaseous
širaz a fast, quick [‘like wind/air?’]
širazed n quickness, speed
Širazne n the moon Naunai [dim. ‘fast’]
širo n hour [W. jiro]
širois a hourly
širor adv now; today [‘the hour’]
šis # seven [Cuolese]
šisan a seventh
šiu q no (things), not any, none [cf. ša- ‘not’]
šiwæn n string, cord, wire [‘long’ + -æn]
šiza a small, little [*tjisa]
šizad n smallness
šizoi n child; boy, young girl [‘small one’]
šiɣua v reject; denounce, protest [‘spit out’]
šor n tree [*tjol]
šudoad n middlingness, mediocrity
šudoi n mediocre person, loser [Tž. šundo ‘middling horse’]
šuka v have sex with [*sjusk-]
Šura n Skouras, Šura [Tž.]
Šurakor n the Skourene Sea
šuris n Skourene or Šureni
šus n stone [*tjuk]
šuse n stony
šusne n pebble
tada n baby [babytalk]
takra v end, finish
takri a last, final [X. tagri]
tarat n magic spell [Tž. ‘Skourene syllabary’]
taratoi n stage or fake magician
tauže # four [*talusje]
taužel a fourth
taɣ # 36 [*taŋ]
tæred n bad omen, jinx [Tž. terad ‘omen’]
tæredis a ominous
tæsu n gelding [Tž. tensu]
tætir n Jippirasti syllabary [Tž. tettir]
tec n Xurnese System measure of temperature (.44 °C) [X.]
tegendi a damned, cursed [X. ‘pathless’]
tegruna n outer space [Tž. teŋkruna]
tegrunim n space moon [Tž. teŋkrunim]
tegrunoi n astronaut
Tei n the Tei people
teiñay n the Tei language
tej n a Jippirasti empire [Tž.]
Tejori n Jecuor island [Ax. Deijubori]
Teland n city in Belšai, capital of DU [prob. OS teḷand ‘craftsman’]
telandi a of or from Teland
teš n mange [Tž.]
tešis a mangy
teu n weft (of loom) [Ax. tel]
teuda v judge, decide [*telet-]
teudoi n judge
teza v shave, cut (hair) [Tž. tezi]
tezoi n barber
ti pp after [*ti]
tiblas n army [Ax. tibelax]
tiblasi a military
tiga cj afterward, then [‘after that’]
tikeli n hell [Tž. itikali, partially nativized]
tin n dawn, morning [*tiŋ]
tird n face; front [*tiratu]
tireu a male, masculine [*tenel]
tireud n masculinity
tisauña v respond, answer [‘after-say’]
tizja v flow, run (water) [*tisic-]
todosa ve shudder, shiver; worry; care about [imitative]
tok a blue [*tosk]
toi q all, every, each; both [*tol]
toicuz pr always, at all times [‘all day’]
toiga pr everyone, everybody, everything [‘all thing’]
toimalac a complete, thorough [‘all full’]
toimalaced n completeness, thoroughness
Toiros n (classical) the world; (modern) Ereláe [‘all lands’]
totok n click, tap; telegraph
totoka v click, tap
touga n whale [Ax. douga]
tour n season (of year) [W. taur]
touzi n court of law [Ax. douzi]
touzoi n clerk (of a court)
toyel pr everywhere [‘all place’]
Trelas n Tyellakh [Munkhâshi Trêlag]
tuga n rye [W. tuka]
tuksa v teach, instruct [Ax. duxi]
tuksoi n teacher, professor
tulis n genitals (genteel term) [Ax. dulis]
tuma v bend; wrap [*tulum-]
turba v rub, caress; massage [*turab-]
tuwa v cross [*tulu]
tuzu n slave [W. duzul]
Udan n Uytai [Tž.]
wa # one; (as mass quantifier) whole [*mjo]
wacuz pr sometime; once
waga pr what [*mjoka ‘thing’]
waji n island [*mjoci]
wac a united, at one
waced n unity, union
Waced nirez Democratic Union (DU)
wacuɣ n fork [‘grabber’]
wad pr we, us (Sevisre)
wag pr you (s.) (Sevisre)
wamisi a simple, clear [‘one word’]
wamuc n shaft, axle [‘turner’]
waniri a of or from the DU; federal [Waced nirez]
waño pr I, me (Sevisre)
watez n razor, shaver
watum n wrapper; skirt, loincloth
waye pr you (pl.) (Sevisre)
wayma n ship [W. wa:ima]
waɣ # six [*baŋ]
waɣa v eat [*mjaɣ-]
waɣap n restaurant [‘eatery’]
waɣar a sixth
wæda n sister [*mjeta]
wæm n lip [*mjeme]
wæn pp below, under [*mjeŋ]
wænis a inferior, located below; previous
wæñiziu a obvious; (adv) of course, naturally [‘under one’s eyes’]
wænrij n basement, cellar [‘under-room’]
wedoi n a Wede:i person [nativization of W. wede:i]
Weires n Inex, capital of Xurno [Ax. Weinex]
wenis n fort, castle [W. we:niz]
wor pp before [*mjur]
worana n grandmother [‘before-mother’]
worñuma n grandfather [‘before-father’]
wuga n deer [*mjuka]
yac n west [*pjoc]
yacoi n westerner, esp. Xurnese
yas n flea [*pjok]
yata n year [*pjasta]
yaɣa ve sit, (v) sit down [*pjaɣ-]
yæ n jewel, gem [Cuolese yé]
yædaɣ a awake [*pjetaɣ]
yædaɣa ve wake
yæla a big, large; (adv) very [*pjele]
yæni n swamp, marsh [W. yeni:]
yæniz a swampy; nasty, horrible
yæp n cup, glass [Elkarîl lyêp]
yæri n boat [*pjenali]
yæyæn n bottle, glass jar [‘glass’ + æn]
ye- pfx causative, alternative to šæ- [Tž.]
yetor a stinky, terrible smelling [Ax. veturi]
yeuža v work, craft; be functioning or on; (workplaces) be open; serve as [*pjeletj-]
yeuželi n workshop; workplace
yeužoi n worker, craftsman
Yior n Yuor, capital of Cuoli [W. Yewor]
yoko a second [W.]
yokoi n aunt [‘second (parent)’]
yokrin n vinegar [W. yokriŋ]
zenisa v ask, question [X. zenise]
zenisaz a interrogative; curious, full of questions; perplexed
Zuno n Xurno [X.]
zunoi n Xurnese person
zunoñay n Xurnese language
žaga v trust, delegate [Tž. žraŋi]
žisa v miss (e.g. an arrow); lose, misplace [imitative]
ɣaca n earth; (esp. with definite) Almea [*ɣacala]
ɣacañit n subway [‘earth way’]
ɣag n dog [*ɣark, or perhaps imitative]
ɣan n side, flank
ɣanoi n companion, friend
ɣapal a unwise; uneducated [Tž. hafal ‘fool’]
ɣaɣa v hate [*ɣaɣap- ‘vomit’]
ɣæru n tongue [*ɣanu]
ɣe- pfx progressive mood
yeja v massage [Tž. yedaji]
ɣega n flower [*ɣeka]
ɣegaz a flowery
ɣeja v live, reside [*ɣec-]
ɣejoi n resident, inhabitant
ɣeko adv OK, that’s good [prog. prefix + ko]
ɣela v rise, lift up [*ɣel-]
ɣen n brave
ɣenad n bravery
ɣeñag(ažoj) n machine gun [‘repeating’]
ɣezda ve sweat [*ɣenja-]
ɣiñæn n linen [*ɣenjan]
ɣira v sing [*ɣin-]
ɣiro n flax [*ɣeno]
ɣiroi n singer
ɣoc q much, many [*ɣoc]
ɣoced n amount, size, quantity [‘muchness’]
ɣol n horse [Tž. hol]
ɣoloi n rider
ɣoja v do that, do so [*ɣoc-]
ɣojis a same; (with adjectives) just as
ɣordi n plant [*ɣorati]
ɣoro # billion (1012) [Xurnese System for-]
ɣowa v burn [*ɣol-]
ɣozda v pursue, chase [*ɣosotu]
ɣozdoi n pursuer
ɣua v spit [imitative]
ɣuj n crap, snot, pus [Tž. huj ‘phlegm’]
ɣuje a crappy, snotty
ɣuzma n mountain [*ɣusuma]