Fifth Linguifex Relay/Nessanese

Páphēnai Néssa Text

Ηθάσπη παινἐνόναση πας χυίλλη ἑνόυση καιπή,

πάχα ύδεςμαι αθάσση.

Λαι βαζήα: ἱναι, πάζι ιντυκόσον θαλόςκαι δαώνι,

λαι παςμα παιλώ ήια λαι βυλόνι λαι θαυίσι

– ἱα μαζήυα πασθαδάς.

– ναι Παιναζόυθαι Άωβύαἰ, Υλόψα θόυρροξ

Transliteration

Ēthái̧pē painenónąsē pai̧ chýillē henóusē kaipḗ,

pácha ýdei̧mai athái̧sē.

Lai bazḗa: hínai, pázi intykóson thalóskai daṓni,

lai pai̧ma pailṓ ēia lai bylóni lai thavísi:

hía mazḗva pai̧thadás.

– nai Painazóųthai Aōbýai, Ylópsa Thóųrrhox

Background

The Nessa (or Nyssa) people have a strong maritime background combined with an expansionist and exploratory drive. As a result they frequently come in contact with other more disjoint cultures who had presumably spread in different directions to the Nessa long ago, and thus have acquired different customs.

This is a poem that was first come upon by a Nessanese outrigger pilot. The poem was translated without regard for meter or other artistry, as procuring resources in the foreign language was difficult enough. An attempt to discern the author's social role was made based on their apparent pen name, Ylópsa Thóųrrhox, who was presumably someone who hunts for wild dogs in order to tame them.

It is the guess of the translator that the society this poem originated in must have been both primitive, lacking dogs of their own such that they must find strays in the wilds, but also sophisticated, such that they can write poetry.

Others have suggested that the Ylópsa is in fact not a wild dog, despite vague descriptions given, but is a mythical beast, thus explaining why a society capable of such sophistication would want to collect them rather than breed them from existing stock.

In such a case, the original author may simply be using an extravagant pen name.

Regardless of the background, it is hoped the poem will speak for itself, despite the conversion to the Nessanese language.

Gloss

Line #1

Ηθάσπη	παινἐνόναση	πας	χυίλλη	ἑνόυση	καιπή,
Ēthái̧pē	painenónąsē	pai̧	chýillē	henóusē	kaipḗ,
/e'θaj̊pe	pεnε'nonase	paj̊	xyl:e	hε'nuse	kεpe/
ēthái̧-pē	pai-in-henón-en-sē	pai̧	chýillē	henón-sē	kai-pḗ
want-1s	CAUS-PERF-content-(PATfoc)-1p.INCL	like	before	content-1p.INCL	ACT-1s

Line #2

πάχα	ύδεςμαι	αθάσση.
pácha	ýdei̧mai	athái̧sē.
/'paxa	'yðεj̊mε	a'θaj̊se/
pácha	ýdei̧-mai←	←athái̧-sē.
despite	later-STAT←	←die-1p.INCL

Line #3

Λαι	βαζήα:	ἱναι,	πάζι	ιντυκόσον	θαλόςκαι	δαώνι,
Lai	bazḗa:	hínai,	pázi	intykóson	thalóskai	daṓni,
/lε	ba'ze.a	'hinε	'pazi	inty'koson	θa'loskε	d(a)'o:ni/
Lai	bazḗ-a:	hí-nai⇇,	pázi	in-tykós-on	thalóz̊-kai←	←daṓn-i,
and	understand-PAT:	3s-GEN⇇,	future	PERF-(grow/sprout)-LOC	fallowland-ACT←	←leaf-PL,

Line #4

λαι	παςμα	παιλώ	ήια	λαι	βυλόνι	λαι	θαυίσι:
lai	pai̧ma	pailṓ	ḗia	lai	bylóni	lai	thavísi:
/lε	paj̊ma	pε'lo:	i:.a	lε	by'loni	lε	θa'viz̊i/
lai	pai̧-ma	pailṓ	ḗi-a	lai	bylón-i	lai	thavís-i:
and	like-STAT←	←go	sun-PL₂	and	moon-PL	and	year-PL

Line #5

– ἱα	μαζήυα	πασθαδάς.
– hía	mazḗva	pai̧thadás.
/'hi.a	ma'zeva	paj̊θa'daz̊/
– hía	ma-zḗva	pai̧-thadás
– 3s	STAT-breath	like-long_ago

Line #6

– ναι	Παιναζόυθαι	Άωβύαἰ,	Υλόψα	θόυρροξ
– nai	Painazóųthai	Aōbýai,	Ylópsa	Thóųrrhox
/nai/	/pεna'zuθε/	/(a).ō'by.ε/,	/y'lopsa/	/'θur:oks/
nai←	←Pai-nazón-thai←	←Aō-býas-i	Ylópsa	Thóųrrhox
GEN←	←CAUS-(tame/familiar)-PAT←	←dog-wild-PL	[personal name]

Gloss-glossary

ACT – actor

CAUS – causative

GEN – genitive

INCL – inclusive

LOC – locative

PAT – patient

(PATfoc) – patient focus

PERF – perfective

PL – plural

PL₂ – plural #2 (used mostly where the normal plural doesn't make phonetic sense)

STAT – stative

Grammar notes

While the above gloss should go a long way towards familiarising foreigners with the Nessanese language, some important things to note include:

• There is little clear distinction between verbs and nouns morphologically speaking.

painazón = tame smthing; one who tames

• An exception: a(n)- is generally a clear verb marker as it marks transitivity.

• Word order tends to be VSO (the syntactic pivot tends to follow the verb).
• The verb, or noun in its role, will focus one of its arguments. This makes that argument the syntactic pivot.
• The syntactic pivot (subject)'s case is generally unmarked.
• Modifiers follow their heads.

aō-býas = dog-wild = a wild dog.

• Noun cases are generally preposed or prefixed, but they can be joined onto the preceding word. This can be for 3 reasons:

• Phonology: because the preceding word is more likely to be phonologically affected by the following consononant, e.g.: painazón thai-aōbýas ⇒ painazóų thai-aōbýas ⇒ painazóųthai aōbýas,
• Semantics: because the speaker is attempting to indicate some sort of special relationship between the phrases,
• Style: because the speaker felt like it.

This is an optional process.

Pass the Particle Parcel

The latter "particle passing" is indicated with arrows. For example, later-STAT← ←die-1p.INCL indicates that the STAT particle has been given to later by die; the prefix ultimately applies to die though. And finally, ⇇ indicates that a particle applies to an entire clause.

Infinitives and Imperatives

A verb phrase that is an argument to another verb (e.g., I want to eat) may focus patients instead of the actor. The patient voice is also often used for imperatives.

Noun cases and Verb focus

The language has the following noun cases:

• Actor – kai-
• Patient – thai-
• Locative – -on
• Oblique – ho-
• Instrumental – (h)e-

The correlate with the following focus/voice affixes verbs use:

• Actor – a(n)- (transitive), mai- (stative or active)
• Patient – -a, -en-
• Locative – -on
• Oblique – -i
• Instrumental – (h)e-

Other verbal particles

• pai- is a causative marker.
• The perfective aspect particle is -(i)n-, which goes after any other prefixes and before the root.