First Linguifex Relay/Rigwayavo

Here follows the 리과야뽀/Rigwayavo 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.

[Every even line is a transliteration of the preceding line.]

카토하 아뻬차오/Katoha avechao

라보하리 테라아 호모차오소뇨,
rabohari teraa homochaosunyo
호하리 카아오 따쿄빠네
hochari kaao thakyovane
호 카 모트차,
ho ka motücha,
아모하도 뽀로아 아뻬까오
amohado voroa averhao
이초하 마레차모레
ichoha marechamore
마아게 마게로.
maage magero.
테포하 모레차
tepoha morecha
아모 뽀 아뻬
amo vo ave
미노하 로퀘하네
minoha rokwehane
사뻬하리 레레아오오브스쿠로.
savehari rereaoobüsükuro.

Dictionary

Note: all words (except the suffixes) are defined as standalone nouns in this glossary, but they can see several uses, as pseudo-verbs (described below) and when suffixed to another noun, as adjectives. They should be translated thus, so if a word is glossed as "fire", do not hesitate to translate it as "burn", "fiery", or "burning" if context and placement demands it.

• kato - song, chant
• ave - bird
• rabo - work, drift (through) (these are actually unrelated words that are spelt identically)
• -ri - his/her/its
• tera - Earth, land
• homo - person, human
• sonyo - dream, fantasy
• thakyo - creation, action
• -ne - negation suffix
• motü - death
• amo - love, beloved, lover
• -do - two
• voro - wish/want, fly (these are actually unrelated words that are spelt identically)
• icho - blow, wound, injury, hurt
• mare - sea, ocean
• more - softness, weakness, pliability
• age - coldness
• gero - ice
• tepo - time
• Mino - Minos (Judge of the Dead)
• rokwe - speech
• save - knowledge
• rere - thing, matter
• obüsükuro - dark, hidden (a borrowed term, the only such example in this passage)

Notes

First of all - don't worry if it doesn't make much sense, because I found the torch I got to be pretty semantically confusing in the first place! You will have to read this article, especially for the semantic elision, which is important to understand (in short, the process whereby a previously used word may be invoked by just using its first syllable). What follows will assist in translation beyond what the article explains.

It is useful to note that the dative case (-cha) is usually used more like a possessive; otherwise the cases should be straightforward (every word is marked for case). There are no true verbs in Rigwayavo, so often the direct object (marked with -a) of a subject (marked with -ha) should be interpreted as a verb instead. In other places, the subject may be interpreted as the verb, generally when a possessive pronoun is attached to it (this would be the subject) or when such pronoun is implied. The word homo can be used as a placeholder word for a personal pronoun when it carries a possessive pronoun, e.g. "my person" is used where in English we would say "I" or "me". All numbers are monosyllabic suffixes and are glossed in the Dictionary section as they occur, but there is a notable suffix which is suffixed like a number, namely -o, which simply indicates that there is a number greater than one but not very big whose exact value is unimportant; it functions much like a plural. If a noun takes multiple adjectives, each must be suffixed separately, requiring a repetition of the first syllable of the antecedent noun but all meant to modify the first iteration.