First Linguifex Relay/Cwengâr
Here follows the Cwengâr 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.
Ashâff nGec'hŷr
Negw lho shŷc'hâmonaff nâr,
Cwec'hŷrh lho hatâr c'hec'hŷraff,
Cwec'hŷrh lho c'harhôn sogwôran,
Tepâle rynŷnaff ffa hashâff
Cwemar tegw nug'hôn
Cwemacwen c'han.
Negw fôffan
Tepâle rynŷnaff ffa hashâff
Temerhôlh C'hetŷl
Cwâm lho henâm hâtaff.
Dictionary
Negw: to drift [particularly on water], to be propelled gently, to come or go without effort or resistance.
Lho: 3rd Person Singular; He or Him.
tŷc'hâmon: a dreamer [masc].
âr: land, realm.
Cwec'hŷrh: to sing, to recite.
Târ: To Act, To Do, To Move.
Cwec'hŷr: a song, a tune, a chant.
C'harhôn: Death.
Togwôran: An Oak, A Cane.
Ffâle: To Fly.
Rynŷn: Usually used in plural form to signify young lovers or young couples in general, may also be used in singular form for a love struck young girl [the male form would be Rynàn which could be translated colloquially as "Romeo"].
Ffa: With, Alongside [fem].
Ashâ: A bird.
Cwemar: Cold
Tegw: Soft, Gentle, Cute.
Ug'hôn : A cut, a mark, a wound.
Cwemacwen: Frozen, Icy.
Cwen: Water, Sea, Ocean.
Fôffan: Time.
Temerhôlh: Silent, Quiet
Cwetŷl: The God of the Winter amongst other things, Judge of Mortals, the moon is said to be his lost eye.
Cwâm: To See, To Know.
enâm: hidden
âta: Relative Determiner, most literally it comes out as "those" but can also be used generally to imply "those things", "those places" or any number of things. This might give an idea
Notes
Mutation is critical; A soft mutation [towards fricative] will occur when a word is a subject rather than an object, A hard [towards nasal] will occur when a word is a possessed object. The genitive and possession is marked in the possessed object with a hard mutation or the addition of an "n". A "h" can be added to the beginning of a word beginning with a vowel to mark it as a subject, though this will occur in when the word before ends with a vowel regardless. This Summarizes possible forms and meaning nicely.
Word order is VSO with modifiers coming before the head. No exceptions.
Conjugation is fairly simple, the only case of it in this is "Te-" [past]
Some handy derivational morphemes
- -on and "-yn": turns a verb into a noun that carries out the verb action, e.g. tŷc'hâmon ('dreamer').
- a- : creates a negative version of the verb, e.g. atâr ('to idle/to not act') from a + târ