Nesheti

by Tony Hogard

Text

Raktas uwemitus

1. Anizu, antuza huwapa huzibur apa uwemituk.
2. Arayarge, ge irkal tesharis hapakak mekif, is gesil perya waparak.
3. Antuza huwapa lismekut waripkus.
4. Anda vewak an da-yahat uwemituk.
5. An memisit irkan "Peskeke amun raktasak.  Yam wekli zanipan uwemituk va wipel, ge papraf maginuzi sefteman lavis anturi."
6. Irka memisit "Zif daskisi uves raktasak."
7. Waripku huwapa idalut kunuk, bir irka pri-yahat uves kiruwalik uwemitus.

English version


1. Once upon a time, a wicked man lived near a monastery.
2. He believed that the monks had a large treasure hidden away
there, and he would pay any price for it.  [*]
3. The wicked man disguised himself as an official.
4. One day he went up to the monastery.
5. He said to a monk, "Give me the key.  Because a criminal could
easily hide there, I want to search the monastery."
6. The monk replied, "You have the key."
7. The wicked official got angry, but the monk had already passed
through the monastery gate.

[*] I realize now, as I'm typing out the smooth English, that I  misunderstood (at least) this line when I was translating.  I erred, but I think the sense of my text stayed in the ballpark, anyway. Such is the game!

Vocab

anda - (prep) in , within, during
anizu - (adv) one time, once
anturi - (adv) inside
antuza - (n) person, man
apa - (prep) near
arayan - (v) to believe
bir - (conj) but, however
daskin - (v) to have, possess
esan - (v) to be
ge - relative particle
gesil - (adj) valuable
hapak - (n) treasure
huwapa - (adj) wicked, evil
huzibun - (v) to live, reside
idalun - (v) to become angry at
irka - (n) monk, servant
is - (conj) and
kiruwa - (n) gate, large doorway
lavis - (adv) easily
lismekun - (v) to put on a beard, to disguise oneself
maginun - (v) to be able to
mekif - (adj) large
memisin - (v) to say
papraf - (n) (violent) criminal
perya - (prep) beyond
peskin - (v) to give
raktas - (n) key
sefteman - (v) to hide (oneself)
teshan - (v) to hide something away, to stash
uves - (adv) already, in the past
va wipel - for the reason, because
vewa - (n) day
wapar - (n) price
waripku - (n) guard, policeman
weklin - (v) to want
uwemit - (n) monastery
yahan - (v) to go; da- to go up to; pri- to go through
zanipan - (v) to search, to examine

Gender


Active nouns include people, animals, fire, moving water, and astronomical and meteorological phenomena.
Other nouns are neuter.

A passive statement will take a 3rd person neuter conjugation with no subject.

Noun endings


nominative  --
accusative  -k
dative  -n
genitive  -s
plural  -l

Pronouns

nom, acc, dat, gen

1s: yam, amuk, amun, amus
1p: lame, lamek, lamen, lames
2s: zif, tuk, twen, tus
2p: zil, dezek, dezen, dezes
3s (active): an, adek, aten, ates
3s (neuter): han, hamak, haman, hamas
3p: hala, halak, halan, halas

Verb endings

(1s, 1p, 2s, 2p, 3s, 3p)

past (continual, habitual, existential):

-r, -ris, -r, -ris, -r (neut. -ri), -ris (neut. -rge)

present:

-i, -im or -am, -si, -ni, -zi, -nzi

preterite (completed action):

-ve, -nda, -f, -nti, -t, -ne

future:

-u or -yu, -m or -im, -gu, -ngu, -tu, -ntu

imperative:

singular -ke, plural -nke