Monday, December 31, 2012

31 Days of Lexember

Well, we have reached the end of Lexember and the end of 2012. I actually completed this month long challenge, albeit with some early and some belated entries. These were not the only words created in December. The total number of entries in the Revised Revised Lexicon grew to 655.
  1. Urad Hristi, Christmas
  2. nashín, meal
  3. gitcea, noon. git, middle, center.
  4. tath, root. pwentath, ginger
  5. cevek, deer
  6. umo, bear (the animal)
  7. bron, to be tired (with ca); to be bored (with sa
  8. sashín, candy
  9. hula, circle
  10. ka'encel, depressed. ka'encelva, depression.
  11. nanal, to study, in the sense of learning something academic, what you do to prepare for an exam.
  12. suthol, to study something to learn about it, research, "do a science"
  13. gwisa, ice. gwisha, frost
  14. vegaviozh, truck
  15. kis, to be named. kisa, name.
  16. yun, to be brave (with ma), to explore (with ka)
  17. col, milk
  18. lemyan, river
  19. drus, meat, flesh, muscle. siru, organ, organ meat. sirurí, guts, internal organs (collectively)
  20. hin, cloud
  21. badh, cow
  22. zopa, sheep
  23. zhwes, goat
  24. peya, chicken.
  25. thes, to dance (with ka)
  26. grayu, raven. gawa, crow
  27. hom (with sa), to think. homa, thought or idea. homsiru, brain.
  28. hlet, to lead (with fa), to persuade (with ca).In the "in charge" sense.
  29. byu, after (in a sequence of physical objects), following (adj)
  30. joa, to save or rescue (with sa). joava, rescue or salvation
  31. pie, to jump (with ka). ropie, to leap up (ka), to pounce upon (ta)

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Nevashi In Use

A little story I wrote in Teliya Nevashi:

Eci dev ecu ecufios in Grayu wa Gawa, gyet oesi mur ala ti dhil keshas ged. Fish mise zo inim osal i Gawa im uje ofu fi ec im iane, ofu vici nan. Ci talala wa ki roho’a pa ya lemyan i Grayu.

Raven and Crow sit on a rooftop, debating about which one is more clever. Crow fills a jar using stones in order to raise the water, in order to drink. Raven laughs and flies to the river.

While I am posting that, I might as well post this translation of Psalm 146: 3-4:

(ESV: Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.)

Seya imoroishi inim hletif, im jenve seke kwe seya vesi joa inim denet lia. Gyet ci gorem, lumi an ash rakesh; gyet dha ceba kova, ci gorem tash rohoma voi .

And translated back:
Do not trust leaders (captains), nothing more than a human that cannot rescue you. When he dies, he becomes earth (dirt) again; on that same day, his plan also dies.

I don't have a word for "princes" yet, but "leaders" or "captains" is more culturally appropriate. I do have the words for "when his breath (or spirit) departs," but I decided to go with the blunter, more direct approach.

The new grammar is getting test driven and tweaked as I go lately. I should break it down for you, but it is after midnight and I should have been in bed hours ago. Maybe soon. No promises.


Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Big Ol' Name Post

My fifteenth word for Lexember was kis, to be named. I thought I would take a moment here to explain how  kis works in practice.

Ma kis im Mia. 
1st/non-past/be be-named DO-singular Mia.
I am named Mia. My name is Mia.

Mish kis il ambai cei im Sherry it lash.
3rd/singular*/be/causative be-named Subj-dual parent my DO-singular Sherry IO-singular me(dat.)**
My parents named me Sherry.

The name is the direct object. The subject of kis is the person who is named, or the person doing the naming when the causative is used. In the event that you are using the causative, talking about someone naming someone or something else, the recipient of the name is the indirect object.

Two grammar points here:
* Although it is mentioned in the grammar, it's worth noting here that the dual counts as singular for the purpose of conjugating verbs. I very nearly made a little error there myself, so I decided to mention it, even though it is unlikely anyone else will be writing any sentences in Nevashi.  And if someone did, what are the chances that it would have a dual subject?

** I don't think that it has been previously mentioned anywhere, but it has become an established practice with me that pronouns still carry the case markings from the old grammar even when used with the indirect object marker. I can't say why. It just is.

So, how do you ask someone what their name is? I have a couple of ways to ask:

Kisa dei, mi an eyos? (lit., "Your name, it is what?")
Me kis eyos? (lit., "You are named what?")

The former would probably be the more usual way of doing it. The second, I am not so sure about. I think maybe it should be "Me kis im eyos?" -- that is, making "what" (eyos) the direct object of kis-- but that's not the way it used to be done, and I am not 100% sure I will make that change, no matter how logical it is.

For about 15 seconds, I considered a "How are you named?" option, but that wouldn't really make much sense, since the thing you are looking for is a "what"-- the thing that would be the object of the verb.

And that brings us to the current list of personal names in Nevashi. The list is short so far.

Feminine Names
  • Taji, Tajisha - Marigold
  • Delya - Victory
  • Sema - Beautiful
  • Omanet - Sailor
  • Yuna - Brave
  • Umosha - Bear

Masculine Names
  • Delyafan, Delyafano - Victor
  • Edhél - Strong
  • Oman - Sailor
  • Yun - Brave
  • Semu - Beautiful
  • Umo, Umowe - Bear

Unisex Names

  • Imevi - Hopeful
  • Imevazha - Worthy of Being Wished For
  • Edhélva - Strength
  • Shaoshan - Owl
  • Kyun - Explorer (from ki yun, "he/she explores", possibly under the influence of kyu-, "away/down")
  • Cevek - Deer


Yeah, a lot of those feminine names end in an unstressed a. I know, I know. Sue me. So do some of the unisex names... so there! Actually, this is just general usage; sex-and-gender isn't really such a big deal on Nevash. The only definitely masculine or feminine names up there are the ones that end in -sha (f) or -we (m), which are sex-specific diminutives. Go ahead, name your son Tajiwe. Nobody will laugh. I promise.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

The First 9 Days of Lexember.

It is 9 days into Lexember. Here's a list of the new words so far: 


  • Urad Hristi, Christmas
  • nashín, meal
  • gitcea, noon. Also, git, middle, center.
  • tath, root. Also, pwentath, ginger
  • cevek, deer
  • umo, bear (the animal)
  • bron, to be tired (with ca); to be bored (with sa)
  • sashín, candy
  • hula, circle