First Linguifex Relay/Kiwi

Here follows the Kiwi source text for the First Linguifex Relay. Note that it is strictly forbidden to create public English translations of this text and its derivations while the relay is running, so please avoid doing so. It only spoils the fun. If you are not partaking in the relay, do not worry, a proper translation will be published after the relay has run its course.

This time it's really important you read all the notes.

Kanāti hikaukaʻinā

Ōnatahāʻi wakaʻi, ma keʻeli,
kanāti me telēaheʻ,
kanāti maʻorīkilāʻ,
wewiʻakānia nuhuʻ kikaukaʻime,
ʻūluna tāʻingīne wetāʻitelā,
ʻūluna tāʻipīriʻ, ūluna tāʻiwuʻe.
Kata yilāʻ yititelāʻinā
kilāʻ wewiʻakānia nuhuʻ kikaukaʻime,
ʻĀlunu ana me naʻi,
ʻālunu ana mei taʻ hikōloʻi.

Interlinear gloss

Glossing abbreviations used on this page
Abbreviation	Meaning
1	first person
2	second person
3	third person
~	reduplication (preceded by its significance)
-	morpheme separator
.	grammatical function separator
VN	verbal noun
cX	noun class
ADZ	adjectiviser or adverbialiser
NOM	nominative case
ACC	accusative case
INST	instrumental case
BEN	benefactive case
GEN	genitive case
SUPL	superlative case

Kanāti hikaukaʻinā
kanātia hi-kaukaʻi-nā
to_sing.vn-nom c8.gen-song_bird.pa-gen
Ōnatahāʻi wakaʻi, ma keʻeli,
ōna-tahāʻi wakaʻi-∅ ma keʻeli
supl-to_drift.vn-nom ground.pa-acc a.art to_dream.vn
kanāti me telēaheʻ
kanāti me telēa-heʻ
to_sing.vn-nom no.art reason.pa-ben
kanāti maʻorīnā
kanāti maʻorī-nā
to_sing.vn-nom murder.pa-gen
kilāʻ wewiʻakānia nuhuʻ kikaukaʻime
ki-lāʻ we~wiʻakāni-a nuhuʻ ki~kaukaʻi-me
c6-two pl~lover-nom to_fly.vn-nom pl~song_bird-inst
ʻūluna tāʻingīne wetāʻitelā
ʻūluna tāʻi-ngīne we-tāʻi-telā
ocean.pa.acc c6.adz-gust and-c6.adz-change
ʻūluna tāʻipīriʻ, ʻūluna tāʻiwuʻe.
ʻūluna tāʻi-pīriʻ, ʻūluna tāʻi-wuʻe
ocean.pa.acc c6.adz-cold ocean.pa.acc c6.adz-ice
Katā yilāʻ yititelāʻinā
kata-a yi-lāʻ yi-ti~telā-ʻinā
kata.pa-nom c8-two c8.gen-pl~change-gen
kilāʻ wewiʻakānia nuhuʻ kikaukaʻime,
ki-lāʻ we~wiʻakāni-a nuhuʻ ki~kaukaʻi-me
c6-two pl~lover-nom to_fly.vn-nom pl~song_bird-inst
ʻĀlunua ana me naʻi,
ʻālunu-a ana me naʻi
abyss.pa-nom past not to_speak
ʻĀlunua ana taʻahumei taʻ hikōloʻi.
ʻālunu-a ana taʻahu-mei taʻ-∅ hi-kōloʻi
abyss.pa-nom past 3>4.pa-to_see that.rel-acc c8.adz-secret

Dictionary

All the word appear in their basic form: accusative paucal for nouns, and infinitive or verbal nominal form for verbs. Any additional informaion is provided in the Notes column.

The Kiwi languages has little distinction between noun and verb. Thus, the Notes column will display which function the word has in this text, as well as which classes the nouns have.

Harākti	English	Notes
kanāti	to sing	verb
kaukaʻi	song bird	noun, c1
tahāʻi	to drift, to fly	verb
wakaʻi	land	noun, c6
ma	indefinite article	article
keʻeli	to dream	verbal noun, c8
me	no, no one	negative article
telēa	to have a reason, to originate	verbal noun, c8
maʻorī	to murder, to die	verbal noun, c8
lāʻ	two	numeral
wiʻakāni	lover	noun, c1
nuhuʻ	to swim, to fly	verb
ʻūluna	ocean	noun, c6
ngīne	gust	noun, c1
telā	to change	verbal noun, c8
pīriʻ	to freeze	verbal noun, c8
wuʻe	ice	noun, c8
kata	time	noun, c8
ʻĀlunu	abyss, the personification of the abyss	noun, proper noun, c6
ana	morning, PAST	particle
naʻi	to speak	verb
mei	to see	verb
taʻ	that	relative pronoun
kōloʻi	to conceal, to keep secret	verbal noun, c8
we-	and	conjunction

Grammar

The following are the cases used in the text.

Kiwi	Case	Notes
-heʻ	benefactive
-me	instrumental	Has a comitative function, as well as an instrumental one.
-ʻinā, -nā	genitive	The possessor agrees with the possessee, by means of class prefixes. In this case, the class prefixes do not adjectivise. If there is no ADZ-prefix on the possessor, the genitive means about.
-a	nominative	If the subject is not a verbal noun, it gets a marked nominative.
-a	accusative	If the accusative is a verbal noun, the accusative is marked.
ōna-	superlative	Denotes movement over something else.

Notes

• Kiwi
• Formation of the plural
• What does c8, c6 and ADZ mean?

Morphosyntactic alignment and copula

Kiwi is unusual in that it has a marked nominative morphosyntactic system, which means that the nominative is marked on nouns, but the accusative is not. The language also does not have a copula, but two arguments lacking a verb get connected.

• Anā wōri

ana-a wōri-∅

me-NOM girl-ACC

I am a girl

VN: The verbal noun

Kiwi makes use of verbal nouns when the subject and tense is unknown. Verbal nouns take many forms in English, in Kiwi, however, they all take the same form, the infinitive::

• To err is human.
• I like singing.

• Ramā miraʻ.

ramā miraʻ

to_regret.VN to_understand.VN

Regretting is to understand.

As it happens, the marked nominative alignment does not apply to verbal nouns. Instead, they get a marked accusative.

• Wehaʻākani kanātia.

weʻa-ʻākani kanāti-a.

1>3-to_like to_sing.VN-ACC.

I like singing.

cX and ADZ

Kiwi has noun classes, simple as that. To derive adjectives and adverbs, a noun gets a class prefix that agrees with the attributed noun's class.

ʻūluna tāʻikulāʻ
/ʔuːluˈnɑ taːʔɪquˈlaːʔ/
ʻūluna tāʻi-kulāʻ
ocean.c6.PA ADZ.c6-darkness.c8.PA
dark ocean

X>Y: The bipersonal agreement

In the Kiwi language, the object and subject of a transitive verb are both marked with one prefix, this is called bipersonal agreement.

• A subject X acts upon an object Y.