Meeting Sayla
Takkar :
Pshh pshh, pash. Tigri!
Lo, lo, look! Tiger!
Hey hey, look! Tiger!
(Pash is a reduced form of pacha 'see', and psh is an even more truncated version of it.)
Sayla :
Apa!
Back!
Back!
Takkar :
U dram!
IMPERATIVE run!
Run!
(Recall the u is the basic way to make a command in Wenja. You don't always hear it.)
....
Sayla :
U sakwa. Haym.
IMPERATIVE follow. This-to
Follow. This way.
(Haym is literally "to this (way)", consisting of the word hay 'this' plus the postposition -m 'towards, during', etc.)
Takkar :
Urus.
Oros
Oros.
(In Wenja, there is no vowel "o", which is why the Wenja say "Urus")
Sayla :
Ta Winja... na Urusbi.
You Wenja... not Oros-from
You're Wenja...not from Oros.
(Sayla, on the other hand, is SUPER old school. She channels an earlier stage of the language, where there was once an "o" vowel. This is by design.)
Takkar :
Palhu sashwalim shalam. Takkar hasam.
Many suns-for travel-I. Takkar be-I.
I have traveled many suns. I am Takkar.
(Takkar is being extremely formal here with the verb "hasa". Normally speakers would say "Mu Takkar" or sim. Note, too, the use of -m after sashwal "sun" to indicate "during, for, over" [accusative of time])
Sayla :
Sayla.
Takkar :
Tigri chawhasu tiyi baya martis.
Tiger cave-in you-for danger death-of
You risk death in tiger cave.
(tiyi baya martis = literally, to you [there was] danger of death).
Sayla :
Tigri Udam daf. Udam shaws dawsam.
Tiger Udam take. Udam ears need-I
The tiger took the Udam. I need Udam ears.
(Recall that there is no explicit way to mark plurals on nouns, so shaws can mean "ear" or "ears")
(U Takkar Ullim wana...)
IMPERATIVE Takkar Ull-for hunt...
Not translated : May Takkar hunt down Ull...
Takkar :
Ku hayka gwashta?
QUESTION alone walk-you?
Do you walk alone?
(The sentence starter "ku" marks a question.)
Sayla :
Miyi kawha. Hatra. Gwama. U gwama!
Me-for shelter. Food. Come. IMPERATIVE come!
I have shelter. Food. Come. Come!
(To say 'have', you say 'there is to me'. So miyi kawha is literally "To me shelter.")
Deep Wounds
Sayla :
U ... hada.
IMPERATIVE... eat.
Eat.
Kwar alya Winja?
Where other Wenja?
Where (are the) other Wenja?
Sayla :
Ull, Udam shajan. Winja damsha hu-gwijara.
Ull, Udam leader. Wenja home COMPLETIVE-destroy
Ull. Udam leader. He destroyed Wenja home.
(In addition to pronouncing words in an archaic fashion, Sayla consistently uses the "long form" of words, which most Wenja find pretentious. In fact, Sayla only uses short forms when angry -- we'll get to that next time)
Udam palhu Winja hu-gwana.
Udam many Wenja COMPLETIVE-kill
The Udam killed many Wenja.
(note the singular verb indicates "all Udam" [vs. a select group])
Nu Winja haywa gwasha. San damsha Urusu.
Now Wenja alone walk. Without home Oros-in
Now (all) Wenja walk alone. Without a home in Oros.
(We get the sense of "all" Wenja from the use of a singular verb. Also, the normal postposition -su is reduced to -u after the word Urus -- you can't have two ss [what's called a geminate] in Wenja)
Tigri dancha dubu.
Tiger bite deep
Tiger bite (is) deep.
(No verb 'to be' in Wenja.)
Takkar :
Sakwim.
Help-I
I help.
Sayla :
Walta lawba akista. U miyi bar.
Willow bark outisde. IMPERATIVE me-for bring
Green leaves outside. Bring to me.
(Walta lawba actually means "willow bark". Supposedly it has medicinal properties)
(U walta lawba wayda. Ha tigri walna yaka.)
(IMPERATIVE willow bark find. In.order.to tiger wound heal
Find the green leaves. To heal the tiger wound.
On your return:
Takkar :
Sayla. Ti-walnayi.
Sayla. Your-wound-for
Sayla. For your wound.
Sayla :
Shaja tanhi chlawta. Ku chlawata?
Today screams loud. QUESTION hear-you?
Today the screams are loud. Do you hear?
(For normal speakers "loud" and "you hear" would sound the same : chlawta. But since Sayla is fancy, she says chlawata, the long form.)
Takkar :
Tanhi?
Screams?
Screams?
(Note you don't *always* have to use ku to make a question.)
Sayla :
Deep... wound-into push. Thank-you.
Push deep into the wound. Thank you.
(dubu is first to emphasize deep)
Takkar :
Nu hayam Urus-kwa pacham.
Now go-I Oros-and see-I
Now I go and see Oros.
(The basic way to say "and" is with a postposed -kwa. So: shazda baka-kwa "Twig and berries")
Sayla :
Many dangers there: wolves... bears... Udam
Many dangers there. Wolves... bears... Udam.
(Pronouncing wal as wull is another archaic pronunciation of Sayla's.)
Salwa tiyi cha. U alya Winja wayda, nu hay padas shwada
Safe you-for here. IMPERATIVE other Wenja find, and this place-of tell
It is safe for you in this cave. Find other Wenja, tell them of this place.
(First sentence is literally "[It is] safe for you here." If you're wondering why it's padas "place-of" instead of the basic word pada "place", -s means both "of" and "about", just as we see in the English translation.)
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