Ziotaki
by Amelia Champion
Aikedekaunirapa Eigo
A tilochiyano, uma'i maku higa'aikedekaunira gengucha. Tira o lo aikedekaua
o gei lisecha shihiema songyata liniacha iyu o tozuya des@ lo nas@ asu uja
liningiase. Umaku o zazama shapiocha. A ka pina ngamoy@no tira o lo na'a'aikedekaunira
kinatisaiama aikedekau takiacha. Tiraa o jo "Yo yana o kang@pa eigo galisamihiachana.
Yana o aikedekaunira, lo zazau ka tozuya kekukexu kizuai shiheta tu, pialikueliachase."
yabiucha. Aikedekau o jo "Yana o eigo yaliningia." yabiucha. Uma'i zazama
sh@xacha, yau aikedekau o aikedekaunira ka eiga lezitanaki gaicha.
English version
(All the English verbs are in the past tense because in Ziotaki, stories are always told in the present tense.)
Many years ago, an evil man lived near a monastery. He held the false belief
that the monks had hidden a big treasure and wanted to have that thing at
any price (lit. any price being paid). The evil man became a policeman.
One day, he stopped a monk after he had returned to the monastery. He (the
evil man) said, "Please give me your key. I want to look all around the
monastery because criminals can easily hide themselves in that place." The
monk said, "I do not have a key." The evil policeman became angry, but the
monk entered the monastery through an open door.
Grammar
The word order is almost always SOV, and modifiers precede modified words.
No distinction is made between adjectives and adverbs. Modifiers do not
agree with what they modify.
Nouns have no gender, two cases (nominative and possessive), and two
numbers (singular and plural). The ending –pa marks possessive and –a
marks plural.
Verbs have two voices, four tenses and many moods. The ending –cha marks
present tense, -ma marks past tense, and no marker is used for general
tense. –se marks desiderative mood, –na marks imperative mood, and –ta
marks potential mood. The infix –i- is used to mark active voice; no
inflection marks passive/reflexive voice. Irregular verbs are noted in
the glossary.
Glossary
a (part) Fronts an adverb
aikedekau (n) monk
aikedekaunira (n) monastery
asu (n) price
chi- (pref) very many
des@ (n) thing (physical)
eiga (mod) open
eigo (n) key
gali (v) give
gei (mod) big
gengu (v) dwell (deponent)
gi (v) enter (active gai)
hig (prep) near
iyu (conj) and
ka (part) marks prepositional phrase
kang@ (pron) you (sing.)
kek (prep) at, on
kexu (n) place
kin (prep) after
kizuai (mod) easy
lez (prep) through
lina (v) have (non-physical)
lininga (v) have (physical)
lisecha (n) treasure
lo (part) marks subordinate clause
maku (n; mod) man; black
na (prep) to
nas@ (mod) any
ngam (prep) during
o (part) marks direct object
pialikuela (v) look around
pina (num) one
samiha (v) comply with social obligations
sh@xa (v) anger
shapo (v) become
shihe (v) hide
songyata (n) false belief
taka (v) stop
tanaki (n) door, gate
til (prep) before
tira (pron) he/she/it
tiraa (pron) he/she/it (the first-mentioned)
tisei (v) return (active tisaia)
tozuya (pron) that
tu (part) because
uja (v) pay
uma'i (mod) evil
umaku (n) evil person
y@no (n) day
yabu (v) say, speak
yana (pron) I
yau (conj) but
yo (part) marks indirect object
zazama (n) police officer
zazau (n) criminal