• Calénnawn text for relay 12 (The first scheduleless relay)
• The text
• The text in native alphabet
• Interlinear
• Wordlist
• Abbreviations
• Interpunction
• Pronunciation of sounds occurring in proper names
• Introduction
• Grammar notes
• Smooth English translation

Calénnawn text for relay 12 (The first scheduleless relay)

The full details of the relay can be found at http://wiki.frath.net/Conlang_Relay_12.

The text

Text in Calénnawn-0.80.4.

The text in native alphabet

Interlinear

The original relay mail did not include an interlinear. Like Amanda before me, I simply offered Jonathan to send one if needed.

Wordlist

Abbreviations

The original relay mail did not include a list of abbreviations, as it did not include an interlinear.

Interpunction

Pronunciation of sounds occurring in proper names

The original relay mail reported |e| being pronounced /e/, which was a mistake.

Introduction

Calénnawn is a pro-drop language with SVO word order. Pronouns may be elided. Adjectives precede the nouns, but can also occur standalone (e.g. the big [one]). In compound words, the first part is the modifying part. Absence of an article in the nominative indicates indefiniteness. All prepositions govern the nominative. There is no copula "to be": the noun or adjective may be used as predicate directly.

Grammar notes

The dollar sign $ is an alternative spelling for s-caron š for non-UTF-8 environments. These represent the same letter (/S/).
Acute and grave accents denote primary and (in compounds) secondary stress, respectively. Unaccented vowels and their accented counterparts are not fundamentally different, since the stress can shift when words are combined into compound words.

The original relay mail only mentioned the accented and unaccented a, which could be interpreted as if this does not hold for the other vowels.

The imperative and subjunctive are both formed by suffixing the verb with -qoy. The imperative then requires the subject to be epistemic, the subjunctive requires a deontic subject:

Sónnti panaléya-qoy!1 See! Stu panaléya-qoy. May you see.

The vocative singular is formed by adding an -o suffix, replacing any final vowel:

Tawvágo!1     Midwife!

The expression "need to <verb>" is expressed by the suffix -benco on the verb and forces a deontic subject:

Stu bánxa-benco.     You need to speak.

-nur forms the gerund of a verb.

If the verb is transitive, the gerund can be followed by its direct object; however, the gerund is then considered a preposition, therefore its object takes the nominative.

If the gerund is used standalone, then it functions as an adverb.

Examples:

Sónnti din en. You have_a_beneficial_effect_on me. Sónnti bánxa dínnur e. You speak for(benefactive) me. Sónnti bánxa dínnur. You speak, having_a_benificial_effect.

The plural forms are formed by replacing the last vowel in a word with i:

lúda - lúdi     eye - eyes sten - stin     baby - babies

The prefix lo- is used to create verbs expressing arbitrary relations ("to have"). The formed verb is transitive, and its object can be used to specify who or what fulfills the indicated role.

Sónnti loóttu. You have_got_wine. Sónnti lorofíltu Úrða. I have_for_world Earth. (i.e. Earth is my world).

pélo is a conjunction that indicates that the object of the first sentence is identical to the subject of the second sentence.
Tense is indicated by the particles še (past), máfo (present), gla (future), or gre (immediate future), which are often used as an enclitic on the subject or on the particle or. They are never used on the verb.
be is a conjunction that indicates that the subject of the first sentence is identical to the subject of the second sentence. Sometimes this constitutes a fixed expression, e.g.:

X bánxa Y be qúmpatme Z     X says Z to Y

zóro is a conjunction that is always compounded with a preposition. It indicates that the prepositional object of the first sentence is identical to the fact described by the second sentence.
Numerals are placed after the noun they modify.
The perfective aspect suffix -vra is used as an infix if the verb ends in a consonant:

El or qovrad.     I have cut.

The conjunction fáygann is translated as follows:

X fáygann Y.     When X, Y.

The conjunction pey, in the meaning "and", follows the two noun phrases (postfix notation):

hn óttu h ttizáfe pey     wine and milk

-xo creates nouns which can function as object of the verb:

órmul - órmulxo     to narrate - a narration

zi indicates that the next prepositional phrase is not attached to the entire sentence, but to the previous noun phrase instead:

Éfesni fh bórmo zidrámor h baranúya. I eat fish with bread. Éfesni fh bórmo drámor Bóbo. I eat fish with Bobo.

tar indicates an amount/quantity. Its position may be "crossed over" with the article of the following noun phrase:

úrmed h tar ttizáfe     a cup of milk

As direct object, both noun phrases are put in the accusative.

Counting in Calénnawn is base-6.

xo el     twelve élxo     twenty

Smooth English translation

Author: René Uittenbogaard.

Conversion date: 2007-07-29

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