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Glossary

Noun Roots

-āln- cheer, happiness
-ānn- beginning, start
-cīw- baby, infant, child
-īs- child
-jīln- meal, food
-jēr- game, play
-kēñ- question
-kerōñ- viewing, sight
-kethāw- part(s) that was/were once whole
-kēwīk- labor, work, effort
-lāc- girl, daughter
-lāmen- secret
-nārm- body
-nārpiññ- tragedy, misfortunate event
-pēntan- home, compound, house
-sēñ- danger, dangerous event
-sāl- song
-sīþþapie- someone or something characterized by too much energy or zeal
-taxēt- blow, strike, hit, attack
-tēsp- someone or something that is left over from something else
-þāw- piece, part
-wetēŋŋ- uncontrolled event, unexpected event
-xiēn- something understood, known, or expected; understanding, knowledge
-xōλ- someone or something pretty
-xōsanen- member of the Guild of Seekers (*)
(*) Seekers are sort of a cross between researchers and detectives.
-xūrūran- window, wall-opening

Relationals

ñalna NI + 1st person exclusive paucal agent
ñamma NI + 3rd person singular agent
ñi ... rā NI + "to" vector, "go": NI [noun] RA = "[noun] goes"
pa PA
rehema SE + future + 3rd person singular
   recipient/beneficiary/experiencer
sele SE + present + 1st person singular
   recipient/beneficiary/experiencer
sema SE + present + 3rd person singular
   recipient/beneficiary/experiencer
telne SE + past + 1st person exclusive paucal
   recipient/beneficiary/experiencer

Misc.

ā case: denotes an animate, voluntary agent of NI
alxien aspect: marks unexpectedness
ē ... ī coordinating conjunction: "and" ... "and also"
ē ... aþ coordinating conjunction: "and" ... "and then"
ēma locative modifier: "out", "outside"
hēja aspect: marks future and "should" or "ought"
jē denotes an involuntary recipient/beneficiary/experiencer
jakēñ "what" (question marker)
kēñ generic question marker
luhañen aspect: marks a continuing state
mo case: denotes a recipient, beneficiary, and/or experiencer
nīkamma "together with" + 3rd person object
-(n)le 1st person associative suffix
rēha aspect: marks future with connotations of expectedness
riēn pronoun: 2nd person singular
þō pronoun: "this", "here"
tielen aspect: denotes past action over a period of time
to case: denotes an inanimate agent, an involuntary animate agent, an abstract agent, a source, an instrument
tō ... tō tūaþ coordinating conjunction: ("because:") [reason/state] ... ("in order to:") [result]
tō tūaþ conjunction: "in order to"
wā aspect: marks negation
xien jē conjunction: "concerning"

Kēlen (*)

Sylvia Sotomayor

Ring A

xien jē macīwa masēña

pa riēn anxiēna telne janārpiññe kēñ; ñi malāca maxōλa rā mapēntanle tō tūaþ rehema ankerōña to macīwa; tielen ñamma ankēwīke tō tūaþ sema anālne mo mīsa; tielen ñamma ē jajēri nīkamma ī jasāli; alxien ñamma ē jattaxētien ā macīwa jē malāca aþ jakkeþāwien jē janārme aþ jajjīlnien jē jaþāwi aþ antēspi rā jaxūrūran ēma; hēja ñalna jakēñ; wā sele anxiēna; tō ñalna jalāmen to þō jawetēŋŋe luhañen tō tūaþ rēha ñamma jānne pa ankēñi ā maxōsanen masīþþapie wā;

Concerning a dangerous baby.

Do you know the tragedy that we experienced? A pretty girl came to our house to view the baby. She was making an effort to cheer the child. She was playing games with him and singing songs. Suddenly & unexpectedly, he hit her (many times) and then made parts of her body, and then ate the parts, and then threw the left-overs out the window. What shall we do? I don't know. We are continuing to make this unexpected event a secret so that a zealous Seeker will not begin to ask (a set of) questions.

Note: The Kēleñi don't have "police" or even "babysitters" (or baby-guarders). Also, I decided that "Concerning a dangerous baby" was a better fit than: hēja pa manahan ankewāla to macīwa masēña cī; ("Anyone ought to have care/worry for a dangerous baby.") if only because cī is so hard to explain.

Grammar

Nouns

Nouns are inflected with the following combinations of prefixes & suffixes:

j(a)- ... -a/-e/-(null) generic/singular inanimate noun
m(a)- ... -a/-e/-(null) singular animate noun
an- ... -a/-e/-(null) abstract noun
j(a)- ... -i generic plural inanimate noun
jaC- ... -ien distributive (series) inanimate noun {C stands for a duplicated consonant}
an- ... -i collective (set) inanimate noun

Nouns in apposition: two (or more) nouns of the same inflection next to each other refer to the same entity; serial nouns of differing inflection generally consist of [whole] [part] or [general instance] [specific instance].

Relationals

Basic Syntax:	[required] (optional)

NI (do/make)	NI+(agent) [result/affected object] (agent) 
PA (have)		PA [whole] [part] (part); [whole] pa [part] 
SE		SE+(src/goal) [object] (source/agent) (goal/beneficiary)

Neither NI nor PA inflect for tense/aspect, but SE does. Also, NI is assumed to refer to something completed/past unless otherwise marked. PA and SE are assumed to refer to an existing state of affairs.

Subclauses can come anywhere and are treated syntactically as a whole noun.