Sturnan

by Christopher Wright

The Text

A hifras ko sok ko hilkes a thimaneg

Fe asag hifras eti meisken ak sakor. Len aleiru ko dun nafar, analge meisken sol suon kardalge duom koem a thimaneg. Bansalge iru ihadh steias hep a pemanna thimanegel. Len las ahukwe, analge sakor len bavei dhegos, ak seon sekalge "Suon ven bansalge fe" dain nai analge ed pir gera nelen. Suon disothalge, "Nai, im bansei sok ko hilkes." A sakor emalge pertin ri suon. Suon kersalge ak kaloksalge vineg seon.

English version

The story of the sign word of the monastery

This is a story about a thief and a priestess. In a time long ago, there was a thief that had a house near a monastery. He wanted some valuable things from the guardian of the monastery. In a certain day, there was a priestess standing outside, and she said, "Perhaps he wants this" because there was none at any other place. He said, "No, I would like a sign word." The priestess became angry toward him. He ran and hid far from her.

Vocabulary

a  the
ahukwe  day
ak  and
aleiru  time (specific)
anlei  there to be (like Sp. haber)
bansei  to want
dain  because
dhegos  outside
disothei  to reply
dun  far, distant
doum    home, house
ed  at
emei  to dole out, distribute
esei  to be
eti  about
fe  this
gera  place
hep  from
hifras  story
hilkes  sign
ihod  thing (pl. ihadh)
iru  some
kaloksei  to hide
kersei  to run
ko  of
las  a certain
len  in
meisken  thief
nafar  the past
nai  no, not
nelen  else
pemanna  protector, guardian
pertin  anger
pir  any
ri  to, towards
sakor  priest, priestess
sekei  to say
seon  she
sok  word
sol  that
steias  rich, valuable
suon  he
thimaneg  monastery
ven  perhaps, possibly
vineg  far from

Grammar

Noun plurals: -i for consonant or "a" endings; else -dh.
Genetive: -el (plural -il[e])

Verb conjugation:
Infinitive: -ei
1s present: -em
3s past: -alge (anlei -> analge)
Polite to use the infinitive.

SVO word order. Nouns usually precede their adjectives. Grasai (other
modifiers) wherever the speaker pleases. Actually, that last is totally incorrect, but it's a simple lie when you don't have to speak the language.