Buruya Nzaysa

Buruya Nzaysa [ˌbu.ɾu.ja ˈnzaj.sa]
Period	c. 200-400 YP
Spoken in	Buruya
Total speakers	c. 300,000
Writing system	adapted Ngauro script
Classification	Edastean  Eastern Edastean   Naidda    Buruya Nzaysa
Typology
Basic word order	(T)AuxSOV
Morphology	fusional
Alignment	NOM-ACC
Credits
Created by	idea: Dunomapuka, grammar: Cedh

Buruya Nzaysa is the language of Buruya, a trading town on the lower Eigə, during classical times. It is a direct descendant of Ndak Ta, belonging to the Edastean language family. Buruya Nzaysa is classified, by convention, as a divergent western dialect of Naidda, with which it forms a dialect continuum. However, the differences are substantial enough for many scholars to maintain the position that Buruya Nzaysa is in fact a separate language, intermediate between Naidda and Ndok Aisô.

In the 3rd and 4th centuries YP, Buruya Nzaysa came to be widely used as a trade language in much of the Eigə valley. When Buruya became part of Huyfárah in 351 YP, the language's position was challenged even among native speakers by the politically more relevant Fáralo language, but the decline of Huyfárah from the late 5th century onwards allowed Buruya to rekindle its own cultural heritage, and the language was thus able to gain renewed vitality.

Phonology

Sound changes from Ndak Ta

1. Word-Initial
unstressed vowels → Ø / #_NC
mb mbʷ nd ŋɡ → mv mv nz ŋɣ
nr → nz
ŋɣ → ɣ

2. Word-Medial
mb mbʷ nd ŋɡ → bb bbʷ dd ɲ
mp nt ŋk ŋkʷ → pp tt ɲ m
medial syllabic nasals vocalize to /ə/, except between two homoorganic plosives where they are deleted instead.
ts → s (before another consonant)
b bʷ d ɡ → Ø (before nasals)
b bʷ d ɡ → v ɣʷ ɾ ɣ (intervocalic and before liquids; coda ɣʷ ɾ merge with w r)
b bʷ d ɡ → p p t k (after /s/)
p t k kʷ → Ø (before nasals)
p t k kʷ → b d ɡ ɡʷ (intervocalic)
p t k kʷ → f s j w (in other medial clusters except after /s r l/; also, pt → ft and tr → ts in all positions)
lk rk lkʷ rkʷ → lj rj lk rk
ni ŋi → ɲ (before another vowel)
C → Ø / (before /j ɲ ŋ/)
db ɡb bd ɡd bɡ dɡ → bb bb dd dd ɡɡ ɡɡ

3. Word-Final
k ɡ → h
other obstruents → Ø
tn → t
pm tsn kŋ → ba tsa ɡa
bm dn ɡŋ → b d ɡ
nasals → Ø

4. Naidda Vowel Shift
i e a o u ai au → e ɛ a ɔ o i u (open non-nasalized in NT)
i e a o u ai au → ə ə a o u ɛ ɔ (closed or nasalized in NT)

The shift only affects original /ai au/, not any new /ai au/ created by preceding changes.

5. Further changes
V → Ø / #_sC (if C is an obstruent)
ɡ ɣ → h (word-finally)
ɡ ɣ → ɡ (after liquids)
ɡ ɣ → x (elsewhere)
b → w / V_V
pp tt → ps ts
ŋ → ɲ (except in initial clusters /ŋk ŋkʷ/)
ŋʷ → m
ɣʷ ɡʷ bʷ bbʷ → ɡ
any /w/ after consonants is deleted, but kʷ remains as is.
unstressed vowels are lost between a nasal and a single onset obstruent, except immediately after the main stress.
coda nasals assimilate in POA, except before /r l/.
f s → v z (after nasals)
coda /r/ is lost.
coda nasals are lost after stressed vowels; also generally nr ŋr nl ŋl ŋx → r r l l x, but mr ml remain.
geminate consonants are simplified
r → əɾ (after voiceless plosives and /s/)
ɾ → ʔ
As in Ndok Aisô, a glottal stop is inserted to break up any vowel hiatus.

Phoneme inventory

Consonants

	labial	dental	alveolar	palatal	velar	labiovelar	glottal
plain plosive	p	t	ts		k	kʷ	ʔ
prenasalized plosive	mp	nt	nts		ŋk	ŋkʷ
voiced plosive	b	d			ɡ
plain fricative	f		s		x		(h)
prenasalized fricative	mv		nz
voiced fricative	v
nasal	m		n	ɲ
approximant		l	r	j		w

• [x] and [h] are allophones of a single phoneme /x/. The pronunciation [x] is found especially in the onset of stressed syllables or before a consonant, and [h] between unstressed vowels or word-finally. However, these trends are far from universal, and so the two phones are best regarded as occurring in free variation. The orthographic tradition is to write h in word-final position, and x anywhere else.
• /kʷ ŋkʷ ʔ ɡ ɲ j/ are represented in the transcription by kw ŋkw ’ g ñ y.
• All other consonants are written as in the above table.
• /ʔ ɲ/ and all of the prenasalized phonemes do not occur in clusters.
• In monomorphemic words, the prenasalized phonemes occur mostly in word-initial position.
• Prenasalization is realized as a coda nasal at the end of a preceding open syllable.
• /p t ts k kʷ/ are lightly aspirated in the onset of stressed syllables, unless preceded by a consonant.
• The voicing distinction between /p t k/ and /b d ɡ/ tends to be lost in coda position.
• /f s x/ are pronounced as [v z ɣ] before /r l/ by some speakers.
• /l/ is velarized to [ɫ] in coda position or after /x/.
• /r/ is commonly realized as a tap [ɾ] intervocalically after a stressed vowel.
• Vowel-initial words are automatically preceded by a non-phonemic glottal stop unless preceded by a word ending in a consonant. However, unstressed function words often cliticize, in which case they are not separated from their host word by a glottal stop; instead, the vowel sequence may be contracted into a single syllable, usually forming a phonetic diphthong.

Vowels

	front	central	back
high	i		u
high-mid	e	ə	o
low-mid	ɛ		ɔ
low		a

• All vowels are transcribed as in the above table.
• /i e/ do not normally occur in closed syllables or before nasals.
• Vowels are often lengthened in stressed position, especially when followed by a consonant cluster or a voiced intervocalic consonant.
• Stressed /ɛ ɔ/ may be lowered to [æ ɒ].
• /e ə o/ merge into /ɛ ɛ ɔ/ before coda /j/.
• /ə/ is in free variation with [ɨ], especially in closed syllables.
• In unstressed medial or final syllables, many speakers interchange /e/ with any of /i ɛ ə/, and /o/ with either /u/ or /ɔ/. However, the exact mergers and their environments show a considerable amount of variation.
• Unstressed front vowels tend to drop out before intervocalic /j/, and unstressed back vowels tend to drop out before intervocalic /w/, especially in longer words.

Phonotactics

Buruya Nzaysa has a fairly simple (C)(C)V(C) syllable structure. Medial syllables are required to have an onset of exactly one consonant; both onsetless syllables and syllables with an onset cluster are only allowed word-initially.

Apart from the prenasalized phonemes, the only permitted complex onsets in native words are /sp st sk skʷ sm mr ml/. In loanwords, the clusters /pl kl bl gl/ are also seen.

Medial consonant clusters are also relatively rare, and rather restricted in shape. The most common cluster types are:

• Any voiceless plosive plus /s/ in either order.
• Any fricative or /m/ followed by /l/.
• /x v m/ followed by /r/.
• /l j w/ followed by any non-approximant consonant.
• A nasal followed by an obstruent; matching the prenasalized phonemes.

Final consonants are even rarer than medial clusters, and are restricted to /t k b d h l j w/, with word-final /k/ appearing only in loanwords. A final orthographic ‹n› sometimes occurs on the conjunction o "and", but this only happens when the conjunction is cliticized to the following morpheme, and the /n/ is thus not really word-final.

Prosody

Buruya Nzaysa is a mostly syllable-timed language with a dynamic stress accent, which is often accompanied by prosodic lengthening of the accented syllable, especially before consonant clusters or voiced intervocalic consonants.

The accent typically falls on the first syllable of a word. However, there are several prefixes which are always unstressed, and words of four or more syllables usually carry their accent on the penult or antepenult. Compounds tend to place their primary accent on the stressed syllable of the second component. Irregular accent patterns may also occur in loanwords or when the word in question derives etymologically from a multi-word phrase.

Irregularly stressed syllables are marked orthographically with an acute accent.

Morphophonology

Since Buruya Nzaysa does not have much inflectional morphology, morphophonological alternations mostly show up in derivation and compounding. There are three major alternations that need to be mentioned:

1. Vowel ablaut
   This alternation derives from a historical sound change that affected vowels in open syllables differently than vowels in closed syllables or nasalized environments. It is not fully productive anymore, but the accusative case of most determiners and pronouns is formed in this way, and a number of derivational morphemes also still trigger or exhibit ablaut. The observed correspondences are i e ɛ ɔ o u → ɛ ə ə o u ɔ and rarely ə → a; in some situations, the reverse of this may also occur.

2. Lenition
   This alternation affects stem-initial consonants which become intervocalic due to the addition of a vowel-final derivational prefix. (Note that some prefixes trigger eclipsis instead; see below.) The following consonant shifts take place under lenition:
   • p t k kw → w d x g
   • b d → v ’
   • mp nt nts → ps ts ts
   • ŋk ŋkw → ñ m
   • mv nz → b d
   • mv nz x → g r ñ (rare and non-productive)
3. Eclipsis
   This alternation is a variant of lenition that affects stem-initial consonants when a prefix is added which historically ended in a nasal consonant. The following alternations are observed:
   • p t → ps ts
   • x k kw → ñ ñ m

With both lenition and eclipsis, consonants other than those listed do not undergo any change.

Nominals

Nouns in Buruya Nzaysa do not inflect. However, all noun phrases are required to take determiners - an article or pronoun, a quantifier, or both. The general structure of this system is very similar to Delta Naidda (→ description), even in the way inflected prepositions can be used as pronouns (→ see here). The main differences are that Buruya Nzaysa determiners do not cliticize, and that they distinguish syntactic case (nominative vs. accusative).

Articles and demonstratives

nominative	accusative
lo	lu	definite ("the")
u	ɔ	indefinite ("a")
nzɔ	nzo	topical ("as for")
xə	xa	proximal ("this")
tse	tsə	distal ("that")
ewə	ewa	selective interrogative ("which one")
xɛwə	xɛwa	open interrogative ("what")

• All determiners can signify singulars or collective plurals when standing on their own. If a specific or distributive plural meaning is intended, a quantifier is used instead or in addition.
• The indefinite article does not co-occur with any quantifier. This is due to the fact that quantifiers themselves have an inherent indefinite meaning unless preceded by the definite article or by a demonstrative.
• The topical pronoun occurs mostly at the beginning of sentences, marking an item as discourse-referential. If the topicalized item is further described by more than one adjective, by a prepositional phrase, or by a relative clause, the pronoun is repeated after the auxiliary verb to specify its syntactic role.
• The selective interrogative pronoun corresponds to "which one", asking for an item or person to be named within a category that is known.
• The open interrogative pronoun, in contrast, is used for questions where the category of the thing asked for has not yet been mentioned. It mostly corresponds to English "what".
• The topical, proximal, distal, and open interrogative particles are pronouns which can serve as anaphoric reference to an item mentioned elsewhere, meaning that the item itself can be dropped from the respective noun phrase.
• Determiners are generally not used with names, except when the name is topicalized. This includes geographical names, in which a fairly generic head noun is often used as a kind of classifier instead of the regular determiners, e.g. ni la Kasaga "in [the] land Kasca" (instead of ?ni lu la Kasaga).

Quantifiers

The following non-numeral quantifiers can appear as NP determiners, or specify the number of a NP which is determined by one of the articles and deictics above.

wa	a few
namə	some
oba	many
isa	most
masa	least
me	no, none of
kɛ’u	one of*
ɔra	all, each

• The singulative quantifier kɛ’u has an inherently partitive meaning; it is used almost exclusively with nouns denoting groups. To specify a singular meaning for most non-group nouns, the numeral kɛ "one" is used instead.

Numbers

Cardinal numerals are placed in the same syntactical position as other quantifiers, but they cannot head a noun phrase and are thus always preceded by a determiner. Ordinal numerals behave like nouns syntactically.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
unit	kɛ	ñe	wo	bo	du	si	mɔ	sud	nəl	rɔ
x10	rɔ	ñerɔ	worɔ	borɔ	durɔ	tsərɔ	mɔrɔ	sorɔ	nərɔ	əbe
ordinal	exɛ	eñe	ewo	ebo	e’u	esi	emɔ	esud	enəl	erɔ

Numbers higher than ten are formed by compounding with rol-, the combining form of rɔ. The initial /w/ of wo changes into /v/ after this: 11 rolkɛ, 12 rolñe, 13 rolvo etc.

Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns in Buruya Nzaysa inflect for three cases (nominative, accusative, and possessive), and have an animacy distinction in the 3rd person (more or less along the line of human vs. non-human). Note that the paradigm of the possessive pronouns is defective, with a number distinction existing only in the first person.

Due to participant marking on auxiliary verbs, personal pronouns are not used very often, mostly serving for emphasis purposes.

	nominative	accusative	possessive
1sg	e	ə	axe
2sg	lɛñɔ	lɛño	adɔ
3sg anim.	loru	luru	ayru
3sg inan.	loyo	luño	ah
1pl	wi	wɛ	aymɛ
2pl	wɛñɔ	wɛño	adɔ
3pl anim.	wəru	waru	ayru
3pl inan.	wayo	waño	ah

Pronominal prepositions

Prepositions inflect for the person of their object (but not for number, with the notable exception of the possessive preposition). Because they can all be used on their own without an overt object, and because they can also function as noun phrase determiners, Buruya Nzaysa prepositions are actually akin to pronominals inflecting for case.

(The syntactical implications of this system have been described in detail for the closely related Delta dialect of Naidda - see here for more information.)

1st person	2nd person	3p (default)	meaning	case
axe/aymɛ	adɔ	ah/ayru	possessive ("of, belonging to")	+nom
ome	obɔ	u	genitive/relational ("of, from, relating to")
ñe	ño’ɔ	ño	essive ("as, like")
kwɛne	kwədɔ	kwə	comitative ("with, having")
nte	ntɛ’ɔ	ntɛ	adverbial/instrumental ("with, like, by")
poxe	podɔ	puh	benefactive ("for")
ale	aldɔ	ala	disjunctive ("without, except for, unless")
mpawe	mpu’ɔ	mpu	causative/circumstantial ("because of, due to, in consideration of")
mvomawe	mvomu’ɔ	mvomu	consequential ("to the point of, resulting in, enough for, appropriate to)
mɛsawe	mɛsu’ɔ	mɛsu	adessive ("near, next to")
ɔvə	odo	o	locative ("at, on")	+acc
adɛ	ada’o	ada	allative ("to, towards")
nɛ	ni’o	ni	illative/inessive ("in, into")
owɛ	owa’o	owa	ablative/posterior ("from, after, since")
ñiredə	ñirədo	ñire	terminative/anterior ("as far as, until, before")
rabə	rabɛ’o	rabɛ	temporal ("at the time of, while, during")
mvəgə	mvəbo’o	mvəbo	interessive ("between, among, through")
saderə	sadedo	sade	transessive ("outside of, behind, beyond")
moldau	moldu’o	moldu	antessive ("in front of")
gɔlɛ	gɔldo	gɔla	subessive ("under, below")
gilau	gildo	gilu	superessive ("over, above, on top of")
ñugɛmə	ñugɛdo	ñugɛ	circumlative/descriptive ("around, about, concerning")
wɛ	wado	wa	contralative/antibenefactive ("against, to the detriment of")
ogau	ogu’o	ogu	purposive ("in order to, for the purpose of, in preparation of")
rapsənə	rapsədo	rapsə	alternative ("instead of, rather than")

• The possessive preposition is unusual in distinguishing the number of its object in the first person: axe is singular, and aymɛ is plural.
• In the 3rd person of the possessive preposition, ah is an all-purpose form which can be used for referents of any type, whereas ayru is available for optionally specifying an animate possessor. In the more formal registers of the language, ayru is sometimes used as a honorific 2nd person possessive as well, for instance when referring to diplomats, business partners, or deities.
• The first ten of the above prepositions (ah, u, ño, kwə, ntɛ, puh, ala, mpu, mvomu, mɛsu) govern the nominative case for their objects, while all other prepositions govern the accusative case.

Correlatives

	query	this	that	some	no	every
thing	xɛwa	xaxɛ	tsexɛ	nabɛ	maxɛ	ɛxɛ
person	yaru	xaru	tseru	naru	maru	ɛru
place	yalu	wilu	tselu	nalu	malu	ɛlu
time	sola	witsu	tsetsu	natsu	matsu	ɛtsu
way		xə’ə	tsə’ə
reason	nzowa		tsədo

• All interrogative pronouns inflect for case; they are given in the accusative here. The nominative forms are xɛwə, yəru, yəlu, solə, nzowə respectively.
• The manner pro-adverbs xə’ə and tsə’ə (borrowed from Delta Naidda gï’n/cï’n respectively) are only used to modify non-topical main clauses. In all other contexts, the adverbial preposition ntɛ followed by an ordinary demonstrative pronoun is preferred.

Verbs

All verbal inflection in Buruya Nzaysa is carried by auxiliaries, which express the syntactic roles of up to two core participants. Tense, aspect, and mood are expressed by selecting the auxiliary itself. Content verbs do not inflect, but they can serve as the basis for several types of deverbal derivation. Two of these deverbal forms, the verbal noun and the gerund, play a role in certain subclause constructions and are thus grammatically relevant.

Auxiliaries

The following table lists the auxiliary suffixes. These encode voice (intransitive, transitive, and reflexive), the person and number of the subject, and the person (but not number) of the direct object in the case of transitives.

subject	intransitive	1p object	2p object	3p object	reflexive
1sg	-e	-eyə	-e’o	-eya	-xenə
2sg	-’ɔ	-’ɔwə	-’ɔ’o	-’ɔwa	-xədo
3sg	-ə	-ɛ	-a’o	-a	-xena
1pl	-əh	-exə	-ədo	-exa	-xenə
2pl	-’oh	-’ɔxə	-’odo	-’ɔxa	-xədo
3pl	-ah	-axə	-ado	-axa	-xena

The most important auxiliaries are:

s-/so-	null ("do")
n-	perfective ("have done")
ste-	progressive ("be doing")
ɔdɔ-	resultative ("have become")
non-	intentional ("going to")
ta-	inceptive ("start")
əbɔ-	cessative; pausative ("stop; interrupt")
puysa-	resumptive ("continue")
wə-	futurative ("will")
ol-	obligative ("must")
ɛ’i-	optative ("want")
gas-/gaso-	permissive ("may")
es-/s-	emphatic potential ("can indeed")
tson-	generic ("be always")
ma-	negative ("don't")
pɔ-	conditional ("might, would")
rɔma-*	relative clause auxiliary (nonstandard, see here for details)

Some morphophonological variation occurs:

• Where two stem versions are listed, the first one applies for vowel-initial suffixes, and the second one for consonant-initial suffixes.
• First person suffixes override stem-final vowels. The resulting vowel changes from /e ə/ to /i ɛ/ if the stem normally ends in /a/.
• The 3sg intransitive suffix /ə/ becomes zero when following stem-final /a ə i/. ta- > 3sg.intr ta, wə- > 3sg.intr wə, ɛ’i- > 3sg.intr ɛ’i.
• Otherwise, third person suffixes override stem-final /a/, add /j/ after stem-final front vowels and /ə/, and add /w/ after stem-final rounded vowels. The progressive auxiliary ste- is frequently found with a glottal stop /ʔ/ intervening between the stem vowel and the 3rd person singular endings instead of the expected /j/; this innovation was probably introduced to disambiguate the homophonous 1sg>3 and 3sg>3 forms (*steya), and spread to other 3sg forms of the same aux by analogy.
• The suffix-initial consonants /ʔ x/ coalesce with stem-final consonants as follows:
  • With postvocalic /n/, they become /d ɲ/ respectively: non- > 2sg.intr nodɔ, 1.refl noñenə etc.
  • With the perfective auxiliary n-, the glottal stop is deleted in the second person singular non-reflexive forms. In the other relevant forms of this auxiliary suffix-initial /ʔ x/ change into /z k/. 2sg.intr nɔ, 2sg>1 nɔwə, 2pl>3 nzɔxa, 2.refl ŋkədo etc.
  • The emphatic potential auxiliary es- drops the initial vowel of its stem, and changes suffix-initial /ʔ x/ into /t k/: 2sg.intr stɔ, 1.refl skenə etc.
  • The futurative auxiliary wə- changes to wɛ- when a consonant-initial suffix is added: 2sg.intr wɛ’ɔ.
  • The stem-final /l/ of the necessitive auxiliary ol- merges with the /x/ of the reflexive suffixes into /j/, but remains in the second person suffixes before /d/: 2sg.intr oldɔ, 1.refl oyenə etc.
  • The optative auxiliary ɛ’i- coalesces with suffix-initial /ʔ/ into ɛyr-: 2sg.intr ɛyrɔ. (The same stem is also found in the irregular 1sg>2 form ɛyro.)

The meanings of several auxiliaries (usually two, but three or four is also attested) can be combined, usually by adding the 3sg.intr form of any remaining auxes right before the main verb of the sentence. (In polysyllabic auxiliaries whose stem ends in a vowel, the bare stem is used even if the 3sg.intr form would normally take a suffix. Partly because of this behavior, and partly in order to indicate their adverbial role, such additional auxes are glossed without participant reference.) As an alternative but rare strategy, most of the auxiliaries (excluding the last five items from the table above) can be compounded to each other. An example of this is the weakened obligative olnon- "should".

The negative auxiliary ma- always occupies the main aux slot when the whole statement is meant to be negated. When used in front of the main verb, this auxiliary negates the meaning of the verb, not the action described. Compare:

• miya ɔ mpɛsa olə noxa
  NEG.AUX-1SG>3 INDEF.ACC fish OBL.AUX trade
  I don't have to trade fish

but

• oleya ɔ mpɛsa ma noxa
  OBL.AUX-1SG>3 INDEF.ACC fish NEG.AUX trade
  I'm not allowed to trade fish

Passive voice

There are a few special auxiliaries that can be used to form a passive voice, i.e. sentences focused on the most patient- or experiencer-like argument. Some but not all of these have obvious counterparts among the active voice auxiliaries. Passive auxiliaries take a special set of transitive participant suffixes, the "object" part of which references the semantic agent. Note that case in overt noun phrases is still assigned based on the semantic role, i.e. the experiencer or patient is marked as accusative, and the agent or source is marked as nominative.

The following table lists the participant suffixes for passive auxiliaries. (They may also be used with active voice auxiliaries under special circumstances, see "Ergative verbs" below.) Intransitive suffixes are listed in brackets because they are identical to the active voice intransitive endings; note also that all transitive 1st and 3rd person passive suffixes delete any stem-final vowel on the auxiliary.

subject	intransitive	1p object	2p object	3p object	reflexive
1sg	(-e)	-əñə	-əño	-əña	--
2sg	(-’ɔ)	-’oñə	-’oño	-’oña	--
3sg	(-ə)	-añə	-año	-aña	--
1pl	(-əh)	-esə	-əsto	-esa	--
2pl	(-’oh)	-’ɔsə	-’osto	-’ɔsa	--
3pl	(-ah)	-asə	-asto	-asa	--

Here's a list of the available passive voice auxiliaries:

sp-/spɛ-	imperfective passive ("get done to oneself")
ɔdɔl-/ɔdol-	resultative/experiential passive ("have had done to oneself")
rol-/rul-	habitual passive ("regularly get done to oneself")
ml-/mal-	negative passive ("don't get done to oneself")
gal-	potential passive ("may get done to oneself")
pɔl-	conditional passive ("would get done to oneself")

• Where two stem versions are listed, the first one applies for vowel-initial suffixes, and the second one for consonant-initial suffixes.
• The suffix-initial /ʔ/ of the second person suffixes becomes d after stem-final /l/. rol- > 3sg.intr rolə, 2sg.intr ruldɔ etc.

All passive voice auxiliaries can only be used as the main auxiliary in a clause. There is no passive counterpart to the relative clause auxiliary; explicitly passivized relative clauses must thus use a completely different construction than non-passive relative clauses.

Ergative verbs

A small number of content verbs have the peculiar feature of relating primarily to their most experiencer-like argument even without passivization. This has three major consequences for auxiliaries used with these ergative verbs: Firstly, the subject marker in intransitive sentences refers to the experiencer or patient, not to the agent as with regular accusative verbs. Secondly, reflexive morphology is not available. Thirdly, transitive sentences require the use of passive voice suffixes. It should be noted that all determiners in overt argument noun phrases retain the case form expected from their semantic role, i.e. the subject of ergative verbs (experiencer/patient) is marked with the accusative, and the "ergative object" (agent/source) is marked with the nominative.

There are not many ergative verbs, but a few of them are fairly common, e.g. nada "feel (of emotions)", spɛ "experience (of physical sensations)", pɛmo "fear", or ena "see". Like these, the vast majority of ergative verbs are verbs of perception.

• Ɔde (ə) pɛmo.
  RES.AUX-1SG (1SG.ACC) fear
  I'm afraid. (lit. Me fears.)

• Ɔdəño (ə) lɛñɔ pɛmo.
  RES.AUX-1SG<2 (1SG.ACC) 2SG.NOM fear
  I'm afraid of you.

• Səña lo mɛya axe ena.
  NULL.AUX-1SG<3 DEF.NOM brother of.1 see
  I see my brother.

• Sañə lu mɛya axe ena.
  NULL.AUX-3SG<1 DEF.ACC brother of.1 see
  My brother sees me.

Reflexive verbs

Another special class are the reflexive verbs, which, unlike most other verbs, cannot be used intransitively. In order to use these verbs without an object, the auxiliary must take on reflexive morphology instead. Some of the verbs belonging into this category have inherent reflexive meaning; others create what might be described as "dynamic predicates", ascribing a change in quality or role to the subject of the clause.

• *Ste tsɛ.
  *PROG.AUX-1SG wash
  *I'm washing. (ungrammatical)

• Stexenə tsɛ.
  PROG.AUX-1.REFL wash
  I'm washing myself.

• Skədo wə oxola.
  EMPH.AUX-2.REFL FUT.AUX enter.priesthood
  You really should become a priest.

The verbal noun

The verbal noun (glossed as vn) is a nominalized form of the verb which denotes the action as an event or process. It is slowly falling out of use as a deverbal inflection, but some grammatical constructions still demand a verbal noun at least in prescriptive usage. A morphologically regularized variant of the verbal noun also remains alive as a productive derivational morpheme.

• Verbs ending in a consonant will usually form the verbal noun by suffixing -a, accompanied by lenition of the consonant, by a change of stem-final /l/ to /n/, and usually also by reverse ablaut of the vowel in the last syllable of the stem: /ɛ ɔ o u/ → /i u ɔ o/, and /ə/ → either /i/ or /e/.
• With a number of native verbs ending in vowels other than /i e/, a historically lost consonant will reappear in the verbal noun, again usually with reverse ablaut of the preceding vowel.
• Stem-final vowels in other native verbs will generally undergo ablaut: /i e ɛ ɔ o u/ → /ɛ ə ə o u ɔ/.
• All remaining native verbs (typically ending in one of the vowels /a ɛ ə ɔ/) and borrowed verbs ending in one of /a ə/ have a verbal noun that is identical to the citation form.
• Borrowed verbs ending in a vowel other than /a ə/ can either stay unchanged or undergo ablaut of the final vowel. There is lots of variation, usually conditioned by register: The more formal the speaker intends his utterance to be, the more likely he is to use vowel ablaut.
• Reflexive verbs form their verbal noun with the suffix -yə, which coalesces with stem-final obstruents into -ñə, deletes stem-final /l/, and surfaces in the alternate forms -xə or -skə after some vowel-final stems. If a reflexive verb already contains a derivational suffix of these shapes, the verbal noun will be formed by replacing the suffix with -ñə.

Verbal nouns whose formation involves a consonant change, or where final vowels other than /a ə/ unexpectedly do not undergo ablaut, will be indicated in the lexicon.

The gerund

The gerund (ger) is an adverbial form of the verb which is used to modify clauses, verbs, or other modifiers. It is also mostly derivational in character, but unlike other adverbs it can take all the arguments that the corresponding verb could take, and thus be used as the head of an adverbial subclause.

The gerund is formed with a prefix ntɛ-/ntə- (always unstressed), which reduces to nt- before vowels, and interacts with stem-initial consonants in the following manner:

• Before initial nasals and sC clusters, the prefix is always ntə-.
• Before initial liquids, approximants, /ts/, /s/ and /ɡ/, the prefix is always ntɛ-.
• Stem-initial /p t k kʷ/ prefix ntɛ-, and lenite to /w d x ɡ/.
• Stem-initial /b d/ prefix ntɛ-, and lenite to /v ʔ/.
• Stem-initial /mp nt nts ŋk ŋkʷ nz/ prefix ntə-, and change into /ps ts ts ɲ m d/.
• /mv/ prefixes ntə-, but may change into either /b/ or /ɡ/. Derived verbs with the causative prefix mvo(m)- have gerunds in ntubo(m)-.
• /x/ can either go unchanged while prefixing ntɛ-, or mutate into /ɲ/ while prefixing ntə-.

For verbs beginning with one of /mv x/, the gerund will be given in the lexicon because it is not predictable from the citation form of the verb.

Syntax

Noun phrase syntax

Noun phrases in Buruya Nzaysa are formed according to the following structure:

Determiner - (Quantifier) - Noun - (Modifiers) - (Prepositional phrases) - (Relative clauses)

Simple noun phrases

Every NP is required to have at least one determiner. Non-numeral quantifiers can function as such when used as the sole pre-nominal element in a NP, but they may also be preceded by a true determiner. Along with the fact that numerals may not serve as determiners, this behaviour justifies positing two syntactical slots before the noun. Since nouns do not inflect for number, a quantifier must be used in order to specify plurals (although bare nouns may also have - collective - plural meaning).

• lo mpɛsa
  DEF fish
  the fish

• (xə) oba mpɛsa
  (this) many fish
  (these) many fish

• u ñe mpɛsa
  INDEF two fish
  two fish

Quantifiers are normally ambiguous between absolute, partitive or distributive quantification. In order to specify a non-absolute meaning, the quantifier can be used as the head of the NP, preceded by a separate determiner and followed by the (non-determined!) semantic noun as the object of a preposition (genitive u for partitive quantities, and benefactive puh for distributive quantities).

• tse namə u mpɛsa
  that some GEN.3 fish
  some of those fish

• u du puh mpɛsa
  INDEF five for.3 fish
  five fish each

Grouped noun phrases

Several nouns together can be used within the same NP provided they share the same determiner. The participants of such grouped noun phrases are conjoined by the conjunction o "and", and the end of the listing is marked by a stranded comitative preposition kwə "with". However, this construction is not possible if the determiner used is an interrogative pronoun.

• oba nalo o bɔ o xɛvra kwə
  many horse and ox and sheep with.3
  many horses and oxen and sheep

Similar constructions are also possible with other conjunctions. Non-exclusive options can be listed with the conjunction ga "or" and the preposition mɛsu "near, next to"; mutually exclusive alternatives can be listed with the conjunction bɔ’a "xor" and the preposition rapsə "instead of"; and a list of negated options can be formed with the conjunction ləh "nor" and the preposition ala "without".

• Steyah ntidə u ɔ tola ga sɔmɛ mɛsu kənu.
  PROG.AUX-3PL apparently of.3 INDEF.ACC meal or water near.3 ask
  They're probably asking for food or drink (or maybe for both of these).

• Esə u dəpse ɔ sivo bɔ’a da’ɔ rapsə.
  EMPH.COP-3SG INDEF.NOM child INDEF.ACC female xor male instead.3
  A child can be either male or female (but not both).

• Miya lu lɛtsi ləh silvo ala barɛda.
  NEG.AUX-1SG>3 DEF.ACC sword nor dagger without.3 acquire
  I bought neither the sword nor the dagger.

Modifiers

Buruya Nzaysa does not have a true class of adjectives; instead, nouns may be modified by other nominal elements. Some of these are comparable in meaning to the adjectives of other languages and rarely appear on their own, but they can nevertheless be used in a nominal sense.

• lo sasama ɔtso
  DEF lord rich
  the wealthy noble

• lo ɔtso
  DEF rich
  the wealthy one

Agentive and patientive nouns which are derived from verbs are fairly common as modifiers; they characterize the head noun as the corresponding (momentary or habitual) participant of the action described by the verb.

• lo dəpse otɛvo
  DEF child run-AGT
  the running child

• lo xu’ɛ ubarɛla
  DEF book lack-PAT
  the missing book

Several modifiers referring to the same noun can be connected with the conjunction o "and":

• lo ɔgi sɛpsɔ o əlmɔ o ñurɔ
  DEF sculpture unique and beautiful and ancient
  the unique and beautiful old sculpture

Prepositional phrases

The most distinctive feature of prepositions in Buruya Nzaysa is that, like those of other Naidda dialects, they inflect for the person of their object, which may in turn be dropped if the referent is clear from context.

The most important prepositions and their inflection are given above.

Prepositional phrases modifying nouns are placed after all one-word modifiers but before any relative clauses. Prepositional phrases which modify verbs usually occur immediately after the inflected auxiliary, or else as a locative/temporal topic at the very start of the sentence.

• adɛ
  to.1
  to me or to us

• adɛ ə
  to.1 1SG.ACC
  to me

• adɛ wɛ
  to.1 1PL.ACC
  to us

• kwədɔ
  with.2
  with you

• o lu mɛsɛlu
  at.3 DEF.ACC tavern
  at the tavern

• ntɛ u nalo
  by.3 INDEF.NOM horse
  by horse

First and second person prepositions with a full NP as their object put this NP in apposition to their referent:

• poxe lo de’áxa
  for.1 DEF king
  for me, the king

All inflected prepositions can also be used as determiners. For details see here.

Prepositional phrases may also function as full nominals if they are themselves preceded by a determiner. This construction is very common for forming abstract temporal nouns, which may in turn be made the object of a preposition:

• rabɛ lu ñire lu mvə aymɛ
  during DEF.ACC before DEF.ACC speak.VN POSS.1PL
  before we talked (lit. during the before of our talking)

Relative clauses

Relative clauses - that is, subclauses relating to a nominal head - are always placed last in their matrix noun phrases. They are formed with an introductory relativizer rɔma, which replaces the relativized noun. Any inflected auxiliaries are dropped from the subclause (if their meaning is crucial, they may be reintroduced in impersonal form right before the content verb), and the content verb is nominalized as a verbal noun. If the relativized noun is not the subject of the subclause, its role will often be indicated by an anaphoric demonstrative pronoun.

• lo yɔsa rɔma ə tsena
  DEF lady REL 1SG.ACC love.VN
  the lady that loves me

• lo yɔsa rɔma e (xa) tsena
  DEF lady REL 1SG.NOM (this.ACC) love.VN
  the lady that I love

Among the lower classes, it has become increasingly common in the first and second century YP to reanalyse the relative pronoun as the 3sg>3 form of a subordinating auxiliary rɔma-, which inflects for all non-3sg participants of the relativized clause like an ordinary aux. This development is parallel to the standard behaviour of relative clauses in Delta Naidda; however, in the city of Buruya itself, treating rɔma as an auxiliary tends to be frowned upon by the merchant elite.

It is also common in colloquial speech to use a regular verb in relative clauses instead of a verbal noun; note that these forms are identical for a significant number of verbs anyway.

• lo yɔsa rɔmeya tsena
  DEF lady REL-1SG>3 love
  the lady that I love

There is no way to simply passivize a relative clause because the relativizer rɔma can only be used in active sentences. Passive relative clauses are not needed very often anyway, but there is a semantically equivalent construction that uses a derivational patientive nominalizer to express the verb, and prepositional phrases to express the verb's other arguments.

• lo yɔsa tsenala ome
  DEF lady love-PAT from.1
  the lady loved by me

Full sentences

Basic clause syntax

Like Naidda, Buruya Nzaysa has a basic word order of (T)-Aux-S-O-V. The inflected auxiliary verb usually comes first, followed by the participants of the action - with agents normally preceding patients -, and the non-finite semantic verb closes the sentence.

• Na lo mlaña ɔ lɛwitsɛ mpaskale.
  PFV.AUX-3SG>3 DEF.NOM stranger INDEF.ACC ballad declare
  The stranger recited an epic poem.

Because both subject and object are marked on the auxiliary, the inflected aux forms a full clause on its own. All other sentence elements, including the core participants themselves, may therefore be omitted. Of course, such a clause does not have much meaning by itself without a content verb, so sentences consisting only of an auxiliary are found mainly when answering a question.

• Neya.
  PFV.AUX-1SG>3
  I did it.

• Miya.
  NEG.AUX-1SG>3
  I did not do it.

• Wəya mve.
  FUT.AUX-3SG>3 say
  He/she will say it.

Without a semantic verb to refer to (which may, as the above examples show, be the verb of the preceding clause), the auxiliaries can only take intransitive morphology. If such a sentence does contain an accusative argument, the auxiliary becomes a copula:

• So’ɔ lu de’áxa.
  NULL.COP-2SG DEF.ACC king
  You are the king.

• Ɛ’e ɔ ɔtso.
  OPT.COP-1SG INDEF.ACC rich
  I want to be rich.

Oblique arguments (i.e. prepositional phrases as arguments of a verb) may in principle be placed anywhere in a clause. However, locative obliques are usually placed after the patient, while dative/benefactive obliques almost always come immediately after the agent, and adverbial obliques are often placed right after the auxiliary.

• Steya ɔ nalo ni lu xɔpsah u Ŋkɛla’ad noxa.
  PROG.AUX-1SG>3 INDEF.ACC horse in.3 DEF.ACC trade.route of.3 Ngahêxôldod trade
  I'm selling horses via the trade route to Ngahêxôldod.

• Nɛ Obáse puh lu to ah lo de’áxa Tsənaxa ɔ katsu tsapse.
  PFV.AUX-3SG>3 Obáse for.3 DEF.ACC hand POSS.3 DEF.NOM king Tsənaxa INDEF.ACC strength give.
  Obáse gave strength to the hand of King Tsinakan.

• Nɛ ntɛ u lɛtsi lo baxa lu tagɔvo mvomə́ño.
  PFV.AUX-3SG>3 by.3 INDEF.NOM sword DEF.NOM captain DEF.ACC traitor CAUS-kill.
  The captain had the mutineer executed with a sword.

Topicalization

All sentence elements can be topicalized by being moved in front of the auxiliary. The most common uses of topicalization are (1) introducing new protagonists, items, or locations into a conversation; (2) highlighting the place, time, or manner of the action; or (3) relating the action itself to something else.

Nominal topics are usually marked with the topical determiner nzɔ, although proper names and vocative arguments do so only on rare occasions (names generally do not take any determiner when not topicalized). The demonstratives xə "this" and tse "that" are also seen. If a complex sentence contains several third person participants switching syntactic roles from main clause to subclause, one of them is often referred to with the topic marker throughout the sentence to resolve the ambiguity caused by such role-switching. (For an example of this, see the first sentence of the Six geese text.)

• Nzo mlusɔmɛ, seya e (tsə) mvunɛ.
  TOP.ACC houseboat, NULL.AUX-1SG>3 1SG.NOM (that.ACC) hold
  As for that houseboat, it's mine.

If the fronted element is the object of a preposition, the preposition itself remains in place as a stranded anaphor. In case this causes the role of the sentence topic to be ambiguous, a copy of the preposition may be included in the topic phrase.

• Nzo mɛsɛlu, none ada lolmu.
  TOP.ACC tavern, INT.AUX-1SG to.3 attend
  As for the tavern, I intend to go there.

Adverbial topics, i.e. adverbs or prepositional phrases pertaining to the sentence as a whole, do not undergo any specific changes apart from being fronted. Verbal topics undergo nominalization to a verbal noun, with the subject being optionally specified by possessive pronouns.

Conjunctions

Coordinate clauses can be formed with a number of conjunctions, which describe the relationship between the clauses:

o	and
dal	but
ga	or
bɔ’a	either/or
ləh	neither/nor
ni	if/then (requires the conditional auxiliary pɔ- in the "then" clause)
xutsɔ	so, therefore
mpu	because

• The first five of the above conjunctions can also be used to connect noun phrases or modifiers.
• Clauses may also be coordinated without a conjunction; in that case, the linked clauses are usually assumed to refer to a chronological sequence of events.
• The conjunction o "and" tends to cliticize to whatever word comes next. If the following word is an indefinite article (u or ɔ), a first person singular pronoun (e or ə), a possessive pronoun (ah, axe, adɔ, ayru, or aymɛ), or one of the quantifiers oba "many", isa "most", or ɔra "all, each, every", a connective consonant /n/ appears between them: u gəru on u tara "a son and a daughter". Some speakers extend this liaison to all vowel-initial words.

Complement clauses

Complement clauses, that is, clauses used as an argument of the verb, are formed exactly like ordinary sentences, save that they are introduced with the subordinating conjunction ri (nominative) or rɛ (accusative). Complement clauses are generally dislocated from the core clause - either by being fronted to topic position, or by being moved to after the content verb (the latter is possible only with object complements).

• Na mve rɛ sɛ ə tsena.
  PFV.AUX-3SG>3 say SUB.ACC NULL.AUX-3SG>1 1SG.ACC love
  He said that he loves me.

• Ri seya ɔ ɛflɛ noxa, ɔdɔwɛ ɔ ɔtso.
  SUB.NOM NULL.AUX-1SG>3 INDEF.ACC necklace trade, RES.AUX-3SG>1 INDEF.ACC rich
  Jewelry trade made me rich.

Adverbial elements

Buruya Nzaysa has three different types of adverbial elements: true lexical adverbs (e.g. ntsa "very"), derived adverbs and gerunds (e.g. nzəwoga "safely" from nzəwo "safety, shelter"; ntidə "apparently, seemingly" from idə "to be perceived as"), and adverbial prepositional phrases (e.g. ntɛ u nalo "by horse"). More complex adverbial elements can be created by using longer NPs (including nominalized verbs along with their arguments) with the preposition ntɛ, or by using a gerund as the head of a full adverbial subclause.

When used within noun phrases, adverbials are interpreted as modifying the word immediately to their left, which in turn is interpreted as an adjectivial modifier unless it is the head noun of the respective NP (in that case, the adverbial material refers to the clause as a whole).

• u vi təña ntsa
  INDEF star light very
  a very bright star

Lexical adverbs relating to the clausal level are usually placed at the very end of the clause, after the main verb. However, this position is not available to gerunds and other derived adverbs, whose unmarked position is right after the auxiliary. Adverbial prepositional phrases are also normally found after the aux, but may appear clause-finally as well. Other arrangements are possible; by far the most common is topic fronting, used for emphasis or for stylistic purposes such as bridging.

• Ste’ɔwə sɛga bu!
  PROG.AUX-2SG>1 lie again!
  You are lying to me again!

• Sə təñaga lo tol əftah.
  NULL.AUX-3SG bright-ADV DEF.NOM sun shine.
  The sun shines brightly.

• Ne ntəmə́le ta ñada.
  PFV.AUX-1SG GER-read INCH.AUX sleep.
  I fell asleep while reading.

• Ntɛ u desu, tsonexa ayru xabe ma əmɔh.
  by.3 INDEF.NOM normal, HAB.AUX-1PL>3 of.3.ANIM law NEG.AUX accept.
  Normally, we do not respect their laws.

Questions

Yes-no questions in Buruya Nzaysa are usually formed with tag words. The most common tags are lotsɛ, "correct" (more formal), and tsa, "yes" (casual), both of which seek confirmation that a sentence is true.

• Nə no, tsa?
  PFV.AUX-3SG die, yes?
  He died, right?

For negative tag questions, two different strategies are available: Firstly, adding the negative auxiliary ma- as the main aux of the sentence, or secondly, using a negative tag in order to seek confirmation that the affirmative version of the sentence is not true.

• Ma nə no, tsa?
  NEG.AUX-3SG PFV.AUX die, yes?
  He didn't die, right?

• Nə no, sumɔ?
  PFV.AUX-3SG die, wrong?
  He didn't die, did he?

Neutral questions which do not suggest their own answer can be formed by adding both a positive and a negative tag, just like in Delta Naidda.

By 200 YP, a new construction using an inflected intransitive auxiliary as a neutral question tag started to gain ground, replacing the traditional confirmation-seeking approach as the standard method of forming questions in upper-class speech. This construction most typically uses the dummy verb s-/so-, but aspectual auxes from the main clause will usually be repeated, and all other auxiliaries may optionally be chosen for emphasis.

• Nodɔwa lu xu’ɛ məle, so’ɔ?
  INT.AUX-2SG>3 DEF.ACC book read, NULL.AUX-2SG?
  Do you intend to read the book?

Disjunctive questions, which request the listener to choose between several offered options, are formed similarly to yes-no questions with two tags: All options are listed at the end of the sentence, just as tags would be. The question as a whole may optionally be preceded by an interrogative pronoun to clarify what is being asked for.

• (Sola) wɛ’ɔ mura, witsu, tsetsu?
  (when) FUT.AUX-2SG decide, now, then?
  Will you decide now or later?

Open-ended questions are formed by placing an interrogative word at the beginning of otherwise normal clauses. Note that interrogatives inflect for case according to the syntactic role of their referent. When asking for participants in an oblique role, the accusative case is used as a default, unless an accompanying preposition governs the nominative.

• Xɛwa nzɔxa tul?
  what.ACC PFV.AUX-2PL>3 eat?
  What did you.pl eat?

• Nzowa oyenə oxola?
  why.ACC OBL.AUX-1.REFL enter.priesthood?
  Why must I become a priest?

• Yaru steyaxa uyayso?
  who.ACC PROG.AUX-3PL>3 invite?
  Whom are they inviting?

• Puh yəru nɔwa lu tola solvo?
  for.3 who.NOM PFV.AUX-2SG>3 DEF.ACC meal bring?
  For whom did you bring the food?

Derivation

Compounding

Some of the most common compounding patterns found in Buruya Nzaysa are given in the table below. Nominal compounds are almost exclusively head-initial; for compounds resulting in a verb, both head-initial and head-final constituent order are attested.

Note that example words whose source components are written in italics rather than bold are older formations, dating to at least a few centuries before the stage of Buruya Nzaysa as described in this grammar, and the source words (given in their Ndak Ta form) may not be in use any longer. However, the patterns exemplified by these compounds are for the most part still productive synchronically.

noun + noun → noun	genitive relation	ñunɛ "middle" + mo "town" → ñunɛmo "city center" xol "foot" + nalo "horse" → xolnálo "hoof"
	locative relation	mlu "home" + sɔmɛ "water" → mlusɔmɛ "houseboat"
	essive-compositive relation	ñanɛ "link, connection" + sɔmɛ "water" → ñanzɔmɛ "canal, waterway"
	attributive relation	mlu "home" + ñunɛ "middle" → mluñunɛ "inn, hostel" ame "fly" + dalsu "honey" → amedalsu "bee" ntse "blood" + imbi "moon" → ntsəbe "menstruation"
	descriptive relation	mabm "mouth" + elge "clean" → maməlgɛ "honest, straightforward" robm "feather" + oldau "eye" → romoldu "peacock" (i.e. one who has eye-feathers)
noun + -o-/-n- + noun → noun	coordinate relation	mɛwɛ "father" + omɔ "mother" → mɛwɛnomɔ "parents"
noun + -(a)y- + noun → noun	genitive relation	kak "border" + wimès "neighbor" → kaywemə "fence, boundary" pap "shield" + mos "city" → pawaymó "city walls"
verb + noun → noun	instance of event	pawu "to name, to declare" + daba "clean" → paudába "amnesty, pardon"
	place of event	mɛsɛ "to meet" + ɔtsə "river" → mɛsɔtsə "confluence"
	resulting instance of patient/theme	mpi "to cry" + sɔmɛ "water" → mpɛsɔmɛ "teardrop"
noun + verb → noun	instrument	buli "soil" + nanɔ "to cut" → bulnanɔ "plough" to "hand" + tsɛ "to wash" → totsɛ "washbowl" rɔnzo "sound" + mve "to speak" → rɔnzobe "voice"
	object associated with action	bâpu "root" + mpaim "to cry" → bapsɛ "onion"
noun + verb → verb	locative relation	sɔmɛ "water" + mpɛ "to sit" → sɔmpɛ "to float"
	result relation	itso "contract" + kwɛ’a "to prepare" → itsokwɛ’a "to negotiate"
	patient relation	xat "wood" + nanɔ "to cut" → xananɔ "to carve" oldau "eye" + wapa "to hit" → olduwa "to hit the target"
verb + verb → verb	sequential relation	tsɔve "to watch" + ruyɔ "to invent" → tsɔvruyɔ "to improve, to optimize" səma "to wait" + kəye "to challenge" → səŋkəye "to counter-attack"
	adverbial relation	lail "to flow" + nde "to touch" → lɛldɛ "to caress" (i.e. to touch flowingly)
verb + -o-/-n- + verb → verb	sequential relation	nta "to stop" + ande "to stand" → ntɔnadɛ "to have a closer look at"
preposition + verb → verb	directional relation	ntats "around" + kota "to cover" → ntaskɔda "to wrap"

Derivational morphology

suffixes
-vo¹	any part of speech → noun	associated person or instrument, "active participle"	lire "young" → lirevo "teenager" we’ɔ "to expect" → we’ɔvo "optimist"
-la	verb → noun	patient of verb, "passive participle"	noxa "to trade" → noxala "goods" məle "to read" → məlela "text"
-(n)a	verb → noun	instance of action, event, process	ogab "to suffer" → ogava "misery" kasəl "to examine" → kasəna "check, inspection"
-lu	any part of speech → noun	location	bawo "anchor" → baulu "harbour" mɛsɛ "to meet" → mɛsɛlu "tavern"
-ɔra²	noun or verb → noun	associated thing	uma "to play" → umɔra "toy" pɛnə "to bite" → pɛnɔra "jaw, chin"
-tsu	quantifier → adverb	temporal	ñe "two" → ñetsu "twice" oba "many" → obatsu "often"
-ga	any part of speech → adverb	adverbial	kɛfol "unhappy" → kɛfolga "sadly" rabɛ "during" → rabəga "at the same time" pɛpɔy "to dance" → pɛpɔyga "lively"
-lɛ	any part of speech → no change	diminutive, attenuative	mevuna "task" → mevunlɛ "favour" mlu "home" → mlulɛ "one's own room" əvre "to destroy" → əvrelɛ "to spoil"
-(’)u	noun → noun	attenuative (rare)	nɛsɔ "sick" → nɛsɔ’u "not feeling well"
-(’)ə	noun → noun	intensive (rare)	nzesu "different" → nzesu’ə "incompatible"
-ña	any part of speech → no change	intensive	kepə "herb" → kepəña "spicy food" ñova "to plan" → ñovaña "to be pedantic"
-wi³	noun → noun	augmentative	arawa "dinner" → arawi "banquet" sexad "storm" → sexaspi "hurricane"
-ya	noun or verb → noun	honorific	sɛpsɔ "unique" → sɛpsɔya "significant other" dume "to display" → Dumeya "annual trade fair"
-si	verb or noun → noun	female	ɔyal "to sell" → ɔyalsi "marketwoman" sasama "lord" → sasanzi "baroness"
-ru	noun → noun	male (rare)	lire "young" → liru "young man"
-da⁴	any part of speech → any PoS; usually noun → verb	dynamic, inchoative, causative	desu "normal" → desuda "to standardize" ñe "two" → ñeda "to share" gəño "to praise" → gəñota "heroic deed"
-so	noun → verb	associated action	tsi "seed" → tsiso "to sow" ilu "flower" → iluso "to bloom" dəñe "finger" → dənzo "to grasp, to handle, to ply"
-xə⁵	verb → verb	reflexive, durative, atelic	nanɔ "to cut" → nanɔxə "to hurt oneself" nzolab "to arrange" → nzolayə "to be busy"
circumfixes
(k-) -sa	noun → noun	collective	əsu "date" → kəsusa "calendar" ntɔh "forest" → Ntɔysa "Forest Miw"
ni- -yə⁶	noun → verb	directional	vi "star" → nivíyə "to be ambitious" nolɔ "road" → ninólɔyə "to emigrate"
prefixes
ntɛ-	verb → adverb	adverbial, "gerund"	bɔve "to fail" → ntɛvɔ́ve "in vain" idə "to be perceived as" → ntidə "apparently, seemingly" nanɔ "to cut" → ntənánɔ "violently"
mvo(m)-⁷	verb or noun → verb	causative, factitive	əño "to kill" → mvomə́ño "to have so. executed" ntuya "fake" → mvotsúya "to copy"
ro-	verb → verb or noun	habitual, iterative	mve "to speak" → rube "to keep on talking" bani "to pray" → rovani "devout, faithful"
uy-⁸	verb → verb or noun	incompletive	tsapse "to give" → uysapse "to owe" tutsi "to commit suicide" → uysutsi "to be depressed"
ga-	verb → noun	prospective nominalizer	xɛtu "to retire" → gaxɛtu "veteran" olna’a "to find" → gɔlna’a "one who is searching"
ay-⁹	noun → noun	partitive, member of a group	sɔmɛ "water" → aysɔ́mɛ "a drink" Nzok "Ndok" → Aydók "a person of Ndok ethnicity"
ña-	any part of speech → noun	abstraction, quality	mura "to decide" → ñamúra "decision" kɛmɛ "to study" → ñaxɛ́mɛ "research; education; knowledge" ədu "ocean" → ñɛdu "infinity"
ma-	any part of speech → no change	opposite, antonym	kwɛsta "noise" → magɛsta "silence" ɛdə "to have; to run a business" → mɛdə "to be poor"

Many derivational affixes have one or more irregular allomorphs in older formations, typically originating in the simplification of historical consonant clusters. The examples column gives a few examples; some of the more common and at least partly productive behaviors are also listed below.

• Consonants in brackets appear only when not adjacent to another consonant.
• Suffix-initial s combines with a preceding unstressed syllable of the shape NV into -nz-.
• Suffix-initial v combines with preceding unstressed syllables of the shapes mV vV into -mv- -v-.
• When a suffix is added to a word with three or more syllables which is accented on the antepenultimate syllable, the vowel in one of the two unstressed post-tonic syllables in the stem will usually be syncopated. It is generally preferred to syncopate stem-final vowels rather than stem-medial ones, but the exact behavior depends on the phonotactics of the specific combination of stem and suffix.
• All vowel-final prefixes lose their final vowel before vowel-initial stems. In older formations, the quality of the resulting vowel is often altered; the latter does not occur in productive usage.

Affix-specific behaviors:

¹) Common non-productive allomorphs: -bo, -do, -ño, -spo.

²) The preceding vowel is deleted.

³) Common non-productive allomorphs: -pi, -spi.

⁴) Common non-productive allomorphs: -ta, -sta, -tsa, -sa.

⁵) Common non-productive allomorphs: -yə, -ñə, -skə.

⁶) The prefix component ni- is contracted to ñ- before vowels.

⁷) -ubo(m)- when preceded by another prefix.

⁸) ox- before vowels; u- before nasals and voiced plosives; stem-initial p t ts k kw become f s s Ø w; stem-initial prenasalized obstruents undergo lenition.

⁹) ax- before vowels; a- before nasals and voiced plosives; stem-initial p t ts k kw become f s s Ø w; stem-initial prenasalized obstruents undergo lenition.

Sample texts

The legend of Emperor Tsinakan

Main article: Tsinakan text

Nzɔ de’áxa Tsənaxa, ño lo sɛtsa’ɔk, ño lo de’áxa u Kasaga, ño lo mɛya ayru Tol o Əbe kwə, sa nzɔ xa mpaskale:

Steyə rabɛ lu ñire lu mvunə poxe o lu pɛlɔ ah lo mɛwɛ axe, maxə ɔra latsi əbɔwə səyo. Naxa lo latsi wemə xa mve: "Nzɔ mɛwɛ ah, ɔdɔwə ɔ de’áxa katsu. Na oba latsi səyodo esə sopsə. Dal tsetsu nə no. O xə loru rɔma lu pɛlɔ ah lo mɛwɛ ah puh mvunə witsu, ɔdɔwə ɔ dəpse."

Rabɛ lu mvunə poxe o lu pɛlɔ ah lo mɛwɛ axe, e, ñe lo mɛya ayru Tol o Əbe kwə, ñire wɛtuldɔ lu botsu axe ada lu latsi rɔma ə səyona, ne e ada lu gɛyse ayru Obáse lolmu. Neya waño gəño, o ne bani, o neya puh Omɔ́yxɔy lu to axe dalmə. Neya mve: "Lɛñɔ Omɔ́yxɔy yɔsa, ño’ɔ lo təña ah lo vi, oldɔ buna: Steyaxə tse latsi ə tsuto ntɛ lo pawɔ ome ño u dəpse. Tsetsu taxa lu la ayru botso. Ma xə esə! Oldɔwa lu mpunə əño!"

Ɔdɔwa Obáse ɔra lɛwi axe buna. Nɛ ə suña, o nɛ puh lo to axe ɔ katsu tsapse. Rabɛ nzo rɔ lɛ, neya ɔra latsi rɔma ə səyona esə sopsə. Neya esə əvre. Neya oba ñaysə o bɔ o xɛvra kwə kə’ɛ́ta, o neya tsə ada la Kasaga pili.

Interlinear gloss

Nzɔ

TOP.NOM

de’áxa

king

Tsənaxa,

Tsənaxa

ño

as.3

lo

DEF.NOM

sɛtsa’ɔk,

emperor

ño

as.3

lo

DEF.NOM

de’áxa

king

u

of.3

Kasaga,

Kasaga

ño

as.3

lo

DEF.NOM

mɛya

brother

ayru

of.3.ANIM

Tol

Sun

o

and

Əbe

Moon

kwə,

with.3

sa

NULL.AUX-3SG>3

nzɔ

TOP.NOM

xa

this.ACC

mpaskale:

announce

The king Tsənaxa, as the emperor, as the king of Kasaga, as the brother of Sun and Moon, announces this:

Steyə

PROG.AUX-3

rabɛ

during.3

lu

DEF.ACC

ñire

until.3

lu

DEF.ACC

mvunə

hold.VN

poxe

for.1

o

at.3

lu

DEF.ACC

pɛlɔ

chair

ah

of.3

lo

DEF.NOM

mɛwɛ

father

axe,

of.1

maxə

NEG.AUX-3PL>1

ɔra

all

latsi

foreign_land

əbɔwə

CESS.AUX

səyo.

be_hostile

During the before of my holding the throne of my father, all the foreign countries did not stop being hostile to me.

Naxa

PFV.AUX-3PL>3

lo

DEF.NOM

latsi

foreign_land

wemə

neighbour

xa

this.ACC

mve:

say

The neighbouring foreign countries said this:

"Nzɔ

TOP.NOM

mɛwɛ

father

ah,

of.3

ɔdɔwə

RES.COP-3SG

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

de’áxa

king

katsu."

powerful

"As for his father, he certainly was a powerful king."

"Na

PFV.AUX-3SG>3

oba

many

latsi

foreign_land

səyodo

be_hostile-AGT

esə

EMPH.AUX

sopsə."

conquer

"He did conquer many hostile foreign countries."

"Dal

but

tsetsu

then

nə

PFV.AUX-3SG

no."

die.

"But then he died."

"O

and

xə

this.NOM

loru

3SG.ANIM.NOM

rɔma

REL

lu

DEF.ACC

pɛlɔ

chair

ah

of.3

lo

DEF.NOM

mɛwɛ

father

ah

of.3

puh

for.3

mvunə

hold.VN

witsu,

now

ɔdɔwə

RES.COP-3SG

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

dəpse."

child

"And this one who holds the chair of his father now, he is a child."

Rabɛ

during.3

lu

DEF.ACC

mvunə

hold.VN

poxe

for.1

o

at.3

lu

DEF.ACC

pɛlɔ

chair

ah

of.3

lo

DEF.NOM

mɛwɛ

father

axe,

of.1

e,

1SG.NOM

ñe

as.1

lo

DEF.NOM

mɛya

brother

ayru

of.3.ANIM

Tol

Sun

o

and

Əbe

Moon

kwə,

with.3

ñire

until.3

wɛtuldɔ

even

lu

DEF.ACC

botsu

attack.VN

axe

of.1

ada

to.3

lu

DEF.ACC

latsi

foreign_land

rɔma

REL

ə

1SG.ACC

səyona,

be_hostile.VN

ne

PFV.AUX-1SG

e

1SG.NOM

ada

to.3

lu

DEF.ACC

gɛyse

feast

ayru

of.3.ANIM

Obáse

Obáse

lolmu.

attend

When I held the throne of my father, I, as the brother of Sun and Moon, even before my attack on the foreign countries that were hostile to me, I attended the feasts of Obáse.

Neya

PFV.AUX-1SG>3

waño

3PL.ACC

gəño,

celebrate

o

and

ne

PFV.AUX-1SG

bani,

pray

o

and

neya

PFV.AUX-1SG>3

puh

for.3

Omɔ́yxɔy

Divine_Mother

lu

DEF.ACC

to

hand

axe

of.1

dalmə.

present

I celebrated them, and I prayed, and I raised my hand towards the Divine Mother.

Neya

PFV.AUX-1SG>3

mve:

say

I said:

"Lɛñɔ

"2SG.NOM

Omɔ́yxɔy

Divine_Mother

yɔsa,

lady

ño’ɔ

as.2

lo

DEF.NOM

təña

light

ah

of.3

lo

DEF.NOM

vi,

star

oldɔ

OBL.AUX-2SG

buna:"

listen:

"Divine Lady, light of the stars, listen to me:"

"Steyaxə

PROG.AUX-3PL>1

tse

that.NOM

latsi

foreign_land

ə

1SG.ACC

tsuto

insult

ntɛ

by.3

lo

DEF.NOM

pawɔ

name.VN

ome

of.1

ño

as.3

u

INDEF.NOM

dəpse."

child

"Those foreign countries are insulting me by calling me a child."

"Tsetsu

then

taxa

INCH.AUX-3PL>3

lu

DEF.ACC

la

land

ayru

of.2.HON

botso."

attack

"What is more, they are beginning to attack your land."

"Ma

NEG.AUX-3SG

xə

this.NOM

esə!"

EMPH.AUX

"This cannot be!"

"Oldɔwa

OBL.AUX-2SG>3

lu

DEF.ACC

mpunə

heathen

əño!"

kill

"Kill the heathen!"

Ɔdɔwa

RES.AUX-3SG>3

Obáse

Obáse

ɔra

all

lɛwi

word

axe

of.1

buna.

listen

Obáse listened to all my words.

Nɛ

PFV.AUX-3SG>1

ə

1SG.ACC

suña,

support

o

and

nɛ

PFV.AUX-3SG>1

puh

for.3

lo

DEF.NOM

to

hand

axe

of.1

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

katsu

strength

tsapse.

give

She supported me, and she gave strength to my hand.

Rabɛ

during.3

nzo

TOP.ACC

rɔ

ten

lɛ,

year

neya

PFV.AUX-1SG>3

ɔra

all

latsi

foreign_land

rɔma

REL

ə

1SG.ACC

səyona

be_hostile.VN

esə

EMPH.AUX

sopsə.

conquer

Within ten years, I conquered all the foreign countries that were hostile to me.

Neya

PFV.AUX-1SG>3

esə

EMPH.AUX

əvre.

destroy

I destroyed them.

Neya

PFV.AUX-1SG>3

oba

many

ñaysə

slave

o

and

bɔ

ox

o

and

xɛvra

sheep

kwə

with.3

kə’ɛ́ta,

capture

o

and

neya

PFV.AUX-1SG>3

tsə

that.ACC

ada

to.3

la

land

Kasaga

Kasaga

pili.

send

I captured many slaves and oxen and sheep, and I sent those to the land Kasaga.

The North Wind and the Sun

Nzɔ Alsɔ’ə́vle o Tol kwə, naxa natsu ntsətə rɛ esə yəru katsu nɛwɛ, xaru, tseru. Tsetsu, nə ada wilu u məvo rɔma ɔ kɛlbo xɛvrine wədəna oskə. Nah mura rɛ ɔdɔwə xaru katsu nɛwɛ, rɔma esə mvosu rɛ wəya lo ru lu kɛlbo ah salaspo.

Ta Alsɔ’ə́vle ntɛ ɔra katsu ah utse. Dal ɔdɔwə lo ru lesəgɔ, o sa lu kɛlbo ah ñire bədu ntaskɔda. Pɛga, əbɔwə Alsɔ’ə́vle utse. Na ada Tol mve: "Witsu, oldɔ losə." Ta Tol ntɛ ɔra bogə ah əftah. O ntɛ nzɔ, ɔdɔwa lo ru lu kɛlbo ah salaspo, o taxena ni lu ɔtse əbu.

Na Alsɔ’ə́vle ada Tol mve: "Nte’a, stɔwə ah katsu sopsə." Na Tol xa loya: "Ntenamɛ ah katsu, esa u mova nzawe o tsɛñɛru lu isa demit solvo."

Interlinear gloss

Nzɔ

TOP.NOM

Alsɔ’ə́vle

Wind-North

o

and

Tol

Sun

kwə,

with

naxa

PFV.AUX-3PL>3

natsu

someday

ntsətə

discuss

rɛ

SUB.ACC

esə

EMPH.COP-3SG

yəru

which_person.NOM

katsu

strong

nɛwɛ,

more

xaru,

this_person

tseru.

that_person

The North Wind and the Sun, they once discussed which of them was stronger, the one or the other.

Tsetsu,

then

nə

PFV.AUX-3SG

ada

to.3

wilu

this_place

u

INDEF.NOM

məvo

traveller

rɔma

REL

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

kɛlbo

cloak

xɛvrine

wool

wədəna

wear.VN

oskə.

come

Then a traveller, who wore a woolen cloak, came along.

Nah

PFV.AUX-3PL

mura

decide

rɛ

SUB.ACC

ɔdɔwə

RES.COP-3SG

xaru

this_person

katsu

strong

nɛwɛ,

more

rɔma

REL

esə

EMPH.AUX

mvosu

cause.VN

rɛ

SUB.ACC

wəya

FUT.AUX-3SG>3

lo

DEF.NOM

ru

man

lu

DEF.ACC

kɛlbo

cloak

ah

of.3

salaspo.

put_away

They decided that this one was stronger who caused the man to put away his cloak.

Ta

INCH.AUX-3SG

Alsɔ’ə́vle

Wind-North

ntɛ

with.3

ɔra

all

katsu

strength

ah

of.3

utse.

blow

The North Wind began to blow as strong as he could.

Dal

but

ɔdɔwə

RES.AUX-3SG

lo

DEF.NOM

ru

man

lesəgɔ,

shiver

o

and

sa

NULL.AUX-3SG>3

lu

DEF.ACC

kɛlbo

cloak

ah

of.3

ñire

until.3

bədu

tight

ntaskɔda.

wrap_around

But the man shivered, and he pulled his cloak tighter.

Pɛga,

finally

əbɔwə

CESS.AUX-3SG

Alsɔ’ə́vle

Wind-North

utse.

blow

In the end, the North Wind stopped blowing.

Na

PFV.AUX-3SG>3

ada

to.3

Tol

Sun

mve:

say

He said to the Sun:

"Witsu,

now

oldɔ

OBL.AUX-2SG

losə."

try

"Now you must try."

Ta

INCH.AUX-3SG

Tol

Sun

ntɛ

with.3

ɔra

all

bogə

warmth

ah

of.3

əftah.

shine

The Sun began to shine as warm as he could.

O

and

ntɛ

with.3

nzɔ,

TOP.NOM

ɔdɔwa

RES.AUX-3SG>3

lo

DEF.NOM

ru

man

lu

DEF.ACC

kɛlbo

cloak

ah

of.3

salaspo,

put_away

o

and

taxena

INCH.AUX-3.REFL

ni

in.3

lu

DEF.ACC

ɔtse

river

əbu.

swim

And with this, the man put away his cloak, and he began to swim in the river.

Na

PFV.AUX-3SG>3

Alsɔ’ə́vle

Wind-North

ada

to.3

Tol

Sun

mve:

say

The North Wind said to the Sun:

"Nte’a,

truly

stɔwə

EMPH.AUX-2SG>1

ah

of.3

katsu

strength

sopsə."

defeat

"Indeed, you defeat me with regard to strength."

Na

PFV.AUX-3SG>3

Tol

Sun

xa

this.ACC

loya:

answer

The Sun replied:

"Ntenamɛ

GER-compare

ah

of.3

katsu,

strength

esa

EMPH.AUX-3SG>3

u

INDEF.NOM

mova

exchange

nzawe

smart

o

and

tsɛñɛru

agreed

lu

DEF.ACC

isa

most

demit

profit

solvo."

bring

"Compared to force, a smart win-win deal brings more profit."

Six geese

Nzɔ noxaspo Tsɔmɔla, rɔma nzo u wa məmova iyɔ ño mlaña nonə lolmɔ, ɔdɔwə ada lu ñuylu kə, mpu nona ɔ sudusa nowɛ puh lo arawa barɛda. O lu ɔyalu ah u ɛbo kwə u kolduma laste, rɔma ntɛ u rɔnzobe kwɛsta puh lo rolñe lɛñanɛ tətsɔ ah nzəxrɛda, nə nzɔ tselu ntɔnadɛ.

"Lɛñɔ yɔsa, dəña’o pɔ’ɔwa lu si lɔyse olto nɛwɛ adɔ mɔra," na Tsɔmɔla ntɛ u ləmu mve. "Puh nzɔ mlaña navɔ rɔma e nzo olə bɔra, esah puh rəga."

Ntuysɔlɛ, nə lo ɔyalsi xañɔ mpu ta tsə mevuna ruyfɔ kwɛ’a, o rabɛ xa, steyah oba ɔrɛvo ntɛ əbətsa tsɔve. Dal tsetsu na lo asa puh loru lu lɔyse bɛgɔ mɔrala dalmə, o ɔdɔwa Tsɔmɔla xa ɛru, o na mve: "Ole’o məgi ntsa. Dal witsu, dəña’o pɔ’ɔwa poxe lu si sədə tsapse."

Interlinear gloss

Nzɔ

TOP.NOM

noxaspo

merchant

Tsɔmɔla,

Tsɔmɔla

rɔma

REL

nzo

TOP.ACC

u

INDEF.NOM

wa

few

məmova

business_partner

iyɔ

important

ño

as.3

mlaña

guest

nonə

INT.AUX

lolmɔ,

visit.VN

ɔdɔwə

RES.AUX-3SG

ada

to.3

lu

DEF.ACC

ñuylu

marketplace

kə,

walk

mpu

because

nona

INT.AUX-3SG>3

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

sudusa

meat

nowɛ

perfect

puh

for.3

lo

DEF.NOM

arawa

dinner

barɛda.

acquire

The merchant Tsɔmɔla, who was expecting a visit from a group of important business guests, went to the marketplace in order to get some good meat for dinner.

O

at.3

lu

DEF.ACC

ɔyalu

market_stand

ah

of.3

u

INDEF.NOM

ɛbo

peasant

kwə

with

u

INDEF.NOM

kolduma

face

laste,

healthy

rɔma

REL

ntɛ

by.3

u

INDEF.NOM

rɔnzobe

voice

kwɛsta

loud

puh

for.3

lo

DEF.NOM

rolñe

twelve

lɛñanɛ

goose

tətsɔ

fat

ah

of.3

nzəxrɛda,

call.VN

nə

PFV.AUX-3SG

nzɔ

TOP.NOM

tselu

there

ntɔnadɛ.

stop_for

He stopped at the stall of a ruddy-cheeked peasant, who was advertising twelve well-fattened geese in a loud voice.

"Lɛñɔ

2SG.NOM

yɔsa,

lady

dəña’o

please

pɔ’ɔwa

COND.AUX-2SG>3

lu

DEF.ACC

si

six

lɔyse

poultry

olto

thin

nɛwɛ

most

adɔ

of.2

mɔra,"

select

"Dear lady, please select the six thinnest of your birds,"

na

PFV.AUX-3SG>3

Tsɔmɔla

Tsɔmɔla

ntɛ

by.3

u

INDEF.NOM

ləmu

smile.VN

mve.

say

Tsɔmɔla said with a smile.

"Puh

for.3

nzɔ

TOP.NOM

mlaña

guest

navɔ

boring

rɔma

REL

e

1SG.NOM

nzo

TOP.ACC

olə

OBL.AUX

bɔra,

feed

esah

EMPH.AUX-3PL

puh

for.3

rəga."

suffice

"They will be good enough for those boring guests I have to feed."

Ntuysɔlɛ,

GER-wonder

nə

PFV.AUX-3SG

lo

DEF.NOM

ɔyalsi

market_woman

xañɔ

move

mpu

because

ta

INCH.AUX-3SG>3

tsə

that.ACC

mevuna

task

ruyfɔ

weird

kwɛ’a,

prepare

o

and

rabɛ

during.3

xa,

this.ACC,

steyah

PROG.AUX-3SG

oba

many

ɔrɛvo

stand-AGT

ntɛ

by.3

əbətsa

amusement

tsɔve.

watch

The marketwoman turned to comply with that peculiar request, wondering about it while the people standing by watched with amusement.

Dal

but

tsetsu

then

na

PFV.AUX-3SG>3

lo

DEF.NOM

asa

woman

puh

for.3

loru

3SG.ANIM.NOM

lu

DEF.ACC

lɔyse

poultry

bɛgɔ

puny

mɔrala

select-PAT

dalmə,

present

o

and

ɔdɔwa

RES.AUX-3SG>3

Tsɔmɔla

Tsɔmɔla

xa

this.ACC

ɛru,

prevent

o

and

na

PFV.AUX-3SG>3

mve:

say

But when she presented Tsɔmɔla with the pathetic poultry she had selected, he interrupted her and said:

"Ole’o

OBL.AUX-1SG>2

məgi

thank

ntsa."

very

"Thank you very much."

"Dal

but

witsu,

now

dəña’o

please

pɔ’ɔwa

COND.AUX-2SG>3

poxe

for.1

lu

DEF.ACC

si

six

sədə

other

tsapse."

give

"And now, please give me the six other ones."

---

Tsɔmɔla "the Cunning One" < tso- (hyperprobabilitive) + molan "awake, alert"

Instructions for a marriage ceremony

I.

Witsu ta lo runah lu ɛflɛ kiya rɔma loru xa ɔdɔwə mvəma ada lu isavru tsapse. O sa nzɔ isavru xa puh lo mvintu ah lo uyse’abo ntaskɔda, o sa nzɔ xa mpaskale:

"Nzɔ e, [əmi ah isavru], mah noñenə kəvi podɔ, [əmi ah nɛtsi], ñe u əbətsa ga u kɛfol, ñe u laste ga u balbo, ñe u ɔtso ga u mɛvə, ni ɔ tol ga ɔ mpəlɔ. O eseya podɔ osu rɛ we’o ntɛ lo ɔra mɔtsa o ŋkwayfo axe ñedɛlu o suña. Nte’a, mvəbo lu witsu o ɛtsu kwə, tsone’o lɛño tsena, o tsoneya podɔ ɔ begu tsapse."

O tsetsu skɛga, sa nzɔ uyse’abo xa mpaskale:

"Nzɔ e, [əmi ah nɛtsi], mah noñenə kəvi podɔ, [əmi ah isavru], ñe u əbətsa ga u kɛfol, ñe u laste ga u balbo, ñe u ɔtso ga u mɛvə, ni ɔ tol ga ɔ mpəlɔ. O eseya podɔ osu rɛ we’o ntɛ lo ɔra mɔtsa o ŋkwayfo axe ñedɛlu o suña. Nte’a, mvəbo lu witsu o ɛtsu kwə, tsone’o lɛño tsena, o tsoneya podɔ ɔ begu tsapse."

II.

Tsetsu sa lo runah mve: "Gaso’o bani." O ntɛ xə tah lo ñe tsadavo fiya bani ga mvəgɛ:

"Lɛñɔ Toya, pɔ’ɔ poxe ləmo rabɛ lu ɛte."
"Lɛñɔ Əbeya, pɔ’ɔ poxe xɔmátsi rabɛ lu mɔromə."

"Lɛñɔ Buliya, pɔ’ɔwa poxe suña rɛ gasañə oba afe mvotsi."
"Lɛñɔ Iwaya, pɔ’ɔwa poxe ɛtsu lu mlusɔmɛ aymɛ nzəwoga la’e."

"Lɛñɔ Alsɔya, pɔ’ɔwa ɔ axa nzɔnə solvo, o stɔwə puh lo kolduma aymɛ ɔ nzaləd tsapse."
"Lɛñɔ Nolɔya, pɔ’ɔwa ɔ kwela mvoyɔ́skovo solvo, o stɔwə puh lo mɔtsa aymɛ ɔ sɛtsasa tsapse."

"Lɛñɔ Obáse yɔsa, ño’ɔ lo təña ah lo vi, pɔ’ɔwa lu tsena aymɛ ñedɛlu."
"Lɛñɔ Tsənaxa de’áxa, ño’ɔ lo sasama ah lo ŋkana, pɔ’ɔwə iyɔda, ntɛ u katsu o uvɔ kwə."

"Esə xə, mvəbo lu witsu o ɛtsu kwə."

Interlinear gloss

PART ONE

Witsu

now

ta

INCH.AUX-3SG>3

lo

DEF.NOM

runah

priest

lu

DEF.ACC

ɛflɛ

necklace

kiya

gold

rɔma

REL

loru

3SG.NOM

xa

this.ACC

ɔdɔwə

RES.AUX

mvəma

bless-VN

ada

to.3

lu

DEF.ACC

isavru

bridegroom

tsapse.

give

Now the priest gives the golden necklace, which he has blessed, to the bridegroom.

O

and

sa

NULL.AUX-3SG>3

nzɔ

TOP.NOM

isavru

bridegroom

xa

this.ACC

puh

for.3

lo

DEF.NOM

mvintu

shoulder

ah

of.3

lo

DEF.NOM

uyse’abo

bride

ntaskɔda,

wrap_around

o

and

sa

NULL.AUX-3SG>3

nzɔ

TOP.NOM

xa

this.ACC

mpaskale:

declare

And the bridegroom puts it around the bride's shoulders, and speaks thus:

"Nzɔ

TOP.NOM

e,

1SG.NOM

[əmi

[name

ah

of.3

isavru],

husband]

mah

today

noñenə

INT.AUX-1.REFL

kəvi

bind

podɔ,

for.2

[əmi

[name

ah

of.3

nɛtsi],

wife]

ñe

as.1

u

INDEF.NOM

əbətsa

happy

ga

or

u

INDEF.NOM

kɛfol,

sad

ñe

as.1

u

INDEF.NOM

laste

healthy

ga

or

u

INDEF.NOM

balbo,

sick

ñe

as.1

u

INDEF.NOM

ɔtso

rich

ga

or

u

INDEF.NOM

mɛvə,

poor

ni

in.3

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

tol

sun

ga

or

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

mpəlɔ."

rain

"Today I, [name of bridegroom], bind with you, [name of bride], in happiness and sadness, in health and illness, in wealth and poverty, in sunshine and rain."

"O

and

eseya

EMPH.AUX-1SG>3

podɔ

for.2

osu

promise

rɛ

SUB.ACC

we’o

FUT.AUX-1SG>2

ntɛ

by.3

lo

DEF.NOM

ɔra

all

mɔtsa

soul

o

and

ŋkwayfo

body

axe

of.1

ñedɛlu

accompany

o

and

suña."

support

"And I promise that I will live by your side and support you with all my soul and all my body."

"Nte’a,

truly

mvəbo

between.3

lu

DEF.ACC

witsu

now

o

and

ɛtsu

always

kwə,

with.3

tsone’o

HAB.AUX-1SG>2

lɛño

2SG.ACC

tsena,

love

o

and

tsoneya

HAB.AUX-1SG>3

podɔ

for.2

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

begu

honor

tsapse."

give

"Truly, now and forever I will love you and give you honor."

O

and

tsetsu

then

skɛga,

likewise

sa

NULL.AUX-3SG>3

nzɔ

TOP.NOM

uyse’abo

bride

xa

this.ACC

mpaskale:

declare

And in the same way, the bride speaks thus:

(Apart from the names, the bride's vow is identical to the bridegroom's vow, and will not be glossed again here.)

PART TWO

Tsetsu

then

sa

NULL.AUX-3SG>3

lo

DEF.NOM

runah

priest

mve:

say

Then the priest says:

"Gaso’o

PERM.AUX-2PL

bani."

pray

"You may pray."

O

and

ntɛ

like.3

xə

this.NOM

tah

INCH.AUX-3PL

lo

DEF.NOM

ñe

two

tsadavo

engaged-AGT

fiya

together

bani

pray

ga

or

mvəgɛ:

sing

And thus pray or sing both of them together:

"Lɛñɔ

2SG.NOM

Toya,

sun-HON

pɔ’ɔ

COND.AUX-2SG

poxe

for.1

ləmo

smile

rabɛ

during.3

lu

DEF.ACC

ɛte."

day

"Sun, may you smile upon us in the daytime!"

"Lɛñɔ

2SG.NOM

Əbeya,

moon-HON

pɔ’ɔ

COND.AUX-2SG

poxe

for.1

xɔmátsi

guide

rabɛ

during.3

lu

DEF.ACC

mɔromə.

night

"Moon, may you guide us in the night!"

"Lɛñɔ

2SG.NOM

Buliya,

earth-HON

pɔ’ɔwa

COND.AUX-2SG>3

poxe

for.1

suña

support

rɛ

SUB.ACC

gasañə

PERM.AUX-3SG<1

oba

many

afe

fruit

mvotsi.

grow

"Earth, may you help us to grow many fruits!"

"Lɛñɔ

2SG.NOM

Iwaya,

Iwa_river-HON,

pɔ’ɔwa

COND.AUX-2SG>3

poxe

for.1

ɛtsu

always

lu

DEF.ACC

mlusɔmɛ

houseboat

aymɛ

of.1PL

nzəwoga

safely

la’e."

carry

"River Iwa, may you always safely carry our houseboat!"

"Lɛñɔ

2SG.NOM

Alsɔya,

wind-HON,

pɔ’ɔwa

COND.AUX-2SG>3

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

axa

air

nzɔnə

good

solvo,

bring

o

and

stɔwə

NULL.AUX-2SG>1

puh

for.3

lo

DEF.NOM

kolduma

face

aymɛ

of.1PL

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

nzaləd

freshness

tsapse."

give

"Wind, may you bring good air and refresh our faces!"

"Lɛñɔ

2SG.NOM

Nolɔya,

road-HON,

pɔ’ɔwa

COND.AUX-2SG>3

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

kwela

message

mvoyɔ́skovo

make_glad-AGT

solvo,

bring

o

and

stɔwə

NULL.AUX-2SG>1

puh

for.3

lo

DEF.NOM

mɔtsa

soul

aymɛ

of.1PL

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

sɛtsasa

good_luck

tsapse."

give

"Road, may you bring good news and give us good luck!"

"Lɛñɔ

2SG.NOM

Obáse

Obáse

yɔsa,

lady

ño’ɔ

as.2

lo

DEF.NOM

təña

light

ah

of.3

lo

DEF.NOM

vi,

star

pɔ’ɔwa

COND.AUX-2SG>3

lu

DEF.ACC

tsena

love.VN

aymɛ

of.1PL

ñedɛlu."

accompany

"Mother Obáse, light of the stars, may you accompany our love!"

"Lɛñɔ

2SG.NOM

Tsənaxa

Tsənaxa

de’áxa,

king

ño’ɔ

as.2

lo

DEF.NOM

sasama

lord

ah

of.3

lo

DEF.NOM

ŋkana,

world

pɔ’ɔwə

COND.AUX-2SG>1

iyɔda,

lead

ntɛ

by.3

u

INDEF.NOM

katsu

strength

o

and

uvɔ

confidence

kwə."

with.3

"Lord Tsənaxa, ruler of the world, may you lead us with strength and confidence!"

"Esə

EMPH.AUX-3SG

xə,

this.NOM,

mvəbo

between.3

lu

DEF.ACC

witsu

now

o

and

ɛtsu

always

kwə."

with.3

"So be it, now and forever!"

---

This description of a marriage ceremony in Buruya is taken from a handbook for priests of the traditional Ndak faith; the manuscript dates to c. 210 YP. (Based on the text of Conlang Relay 14.)

A recipe from Buruya

Ogu rɛ stɔwa ɔ tola salɔvo u rima mɛsi kwɛ’a, nodɔwa xa nzɛ:

So’ɔwa nzo namə sanzáta ɔdɛ, so’ɔwa ño lo oba xagala mvɔ nanɔ, o so’ɔwa ni ɔ rimavo rɛlga kwə dəbu kusə’a uflava ñire rɛ ta nzɔ ɔ mvosta ñesova nzɛwə. Ɔdɔ’ɔwa owa lu rimavo sañawe o mvonóra. Puysa’ɔwa ntɛga wa dəbu tɛfta o so’ɔwa skɛga ɔ wɛna aldo uflava: ɔ bapsɛ o saxə o sɔntu o yastɛ o ñitsɔrə kwe. Pɔ’ɔwa mɔra, ni oma gastɔwa ɔ xɛrɔ pewada. So’ɔwa ɛxɛ ntɛ u ɔ’i o xalu o wəsku o xiso kwə mvɔwa mvosalɔ. Oldɔwa mɔla rɛ puysa’ɔwa lu tola ntɛ u bagɛbo xat leda nəlga. Rabɛ rɛ ɔdɔwah lo wɛna ɔ nzɔnə, so’ɔwa bu lu sudusa ni lu rimavo ñawe, so’ɔwa bu nəlga, o so’ɔwa ɔ tulsu on ɔ kwe nabaña u bɔsalɔ tɛfta. Stɔwa nzo kepəña kwə u sɔda ga nigiwo mɛsu tul.

Interlinear gloss

• Blogpost with annotations

Ogu

so_as_to.3

rɛ

SUB.ACC

stɔwa

EMPH.AUX-2SG>3

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

tola

meal

salɔvo

delicious

u

of.3

rima

Rima

mɛsi

Meshi

kwɛ’a,

prepare

nodɔwa

INT.AUX-2SG>3

xa

this.ACC

nzɛ:

do

In order to make a delicious meal of Meshi-style Rima, you need to do this:

So’ɔwa

NULL.AUX-2SG>3

nzo

TOP.ACC

namə

some

sanzáta

pork_meat

ɔdɛ,

take

You take some pork meat,

so’ɔwa

NULL.AUX-2SG>3

ño

as.3

lo

INDEF.NOM

oba

many

xagala

portion

mvɔ

small

nanɔ,

cut

you cut it into small pieces,

o

and

so’ɔwa

NULL.AUX-2SG>3

ni

in.3

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

rimavo

pan

rɛlga

hot

kwə

with.3

dəbu

oil

kusə’a

olive

uflava

fry

ñire

until.3

rɛ

SUB.ACC

ta

INC.AUX-3SG>3

nzɔ

TOP.NOM

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

mvosta

color

ñesova

amber

nzɛwə.

receive

and you fry it in a hot pan with olive oil until it starts to take on an amber-like color.

Ɔdɔ’ɔwa

RES.AUX-2SG>3

owa

from.3

lu

DEF.ACC

rimavo

pan

sañawe

retrieve

o

and

mvonóra.

CAUS-leave_temporarily

Then you remove it from the pan and put it aside.

Puysa’ɔwa

CONT.AUX-2SG>3

ntɛga

then

wa

few

dəbu

oil

tɛfta

join

o

and

so’ɔwa

NULL.AUX-2SG>3

skɛga

likewise

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

wɛna

vegetable

aldo

slice

uflava:

fry

Next, you add a little more oil and fry some sliced vegetables:

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

bapsɛ

onion

o

and

saxə

garlic

o

and

sɔntu

carrot

o

and

yastɛ

gourd

o

and

ñitsɔrə

sweet_potato

kwe.

with.3

onions, garlic, carrots, gourd, and sweet potato.

Pɔ’ɔwa

COND.AUX-2SG>3

mɔra,

select

ni

if/then

oma

also

gastɔwa

PERM.AUX-2SG>3

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

xɛrɔ

Xɛrɔ

pewada.

use

If you like, you can also use some Xɛrɔ mushrooms.

So’ɔwa

NULL.AUX-2SG>3

ɛxɛ

everything

ntɛ

by.3

u

INDEF.NOM

ɔ’i

salt

o

and

xalu

pepper

o

and

wəsku

turmeric

o

and

xiso

coriander

kwə

with.3

mvɔwa

sufficiently

mvosalɔ.

CAUS-be_delicious

You season everything nicely with salt, pepper, turmeric and coriander.

Oldɔwa

OBL.AUX-2SG>3

mɔla

take_care

rɛ

SUB.ACC

puysa’ɔwa

CONT.AUX-2SG>3

lu

DEF.ACC

tola

food

ntɛ

by.3

u

INDEF.NOM

bagɛbo

spoon

xat

wood

leda

completely

nəlga.

turn.

Take care to keep stirring the food with a wooden spoon.

Rabɛ

during.3

rɛ

SUB.ACC

ɔdɔwah

RES.COP-3PL

lo

DEF.NOM

wɛna

vegetable

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

nzɔnə,

good

When the vegetables are ready,

so’ɔwa

NULL.AUX-2SG>3

bu

again

lu

DEF.ACC

sudusa

meat

ni

in.3

lu

DEF.ACC

rimavo

pan

ñawe,

put

you put the meat back into the pan,

so’ɔwa

NULL.AUX-2SG>3

bu

again

nəlga,

turn

you stir again,

o

and

so’ɔwa

NULL.AUX-2SG>3

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

tulsu

cinnamon

on

and

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

kwe

piece

nabaña

tiny

u

of.3

bɔsalɔ

ginger

tɛfta.

join

and you add some cinnamon and a little bit of ginger.

Stɔwa

EMPH.AUX-2SG>3

nzo

TOP.ACC

kepəña

spicy_food

kwə

with.3

u

INDEF.NOM

sɔda

flatbread

ga

or

nigiwo

rice

mɛsu

near.3

tul.

eat

You can eat this spicy meal with flatbread or rice.

---

This is a recipe found in one of the oldest known cookbooks of Akana, dating to the early 5th century YP. (Written on December 17-19, 2014. A few days later I actually tried out this conworld recipe, and let me tell you: it's delicious!)

The maiden on the meadow

Sə atsa o lu mɛslu u kara puysa mpɛ, dal taxena mɔysa tu’o. Steyə o tselu nzɔ yɔsa əlmɔ kwɛno. Na ɔ ɔgi xat ño u reyo meko xananɔ, rɔma o lu tere ah lu mɛslu mvoñu. Esə xə ño u katsu ntsa muda! Esə xə ño u nuve ntsa muda! Ntenamɛ, pɔwə lo yɔsa ño u ɛtsɛ o gasu idə. Dal nte’a, ɔdexa owa ɔ ivrɛ rumɛ rɛ sa nzɔ ŋkə ɔ mɔtsa mañi mvunɛ, rɛ esa ñalta ah katsu o nuve ɔ reyo ñolu.

Steyə rabɛ lu kwɛnona ah nzɔ yɔsa o lu mɛslu, nə u ru lire o lu tere məlu. Ɔdɔwə nzɔ əbɔwə kwɛno; steyə rapsə puh lo mlaña nzɛda witsu. Ñalta, na lu ɛne ah tsɔmva, o ta nzɔ ləmo.

Interlinear gloss

Sə

NULL.AUX-3SG

atsa

still

o

at.3

lu

DEF.ACC

mɛslu

meadow

u

INDEF.NOM

kara

mist

puysa

CONT.AUX

mpɛ,

sit

dal

but

taxena

INCH.AUX-3.REFL

mɔysa

recede

tu’o.

somewhat

Mist is still lingering on the meadow, but it is starting to recede somewhat.

Steyə

PROG.AUX-3SG

o

at.3

tselu

that_place

nzɔ

TOP.NOM

yɔsa

maiden

əlmɔ

beautiful

kwɛno.

walk_around

A beautiful maiden is walking around there.

Na

PFV.AUX-3SG>3

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

ɔgi

sculpture

xat

wood

ño

as.3

u

INDEF.NOM

reyo

fox

meko

lookalike

xananɔ,

carve

rɔma

REL.AUX-3SG>3

o

at.3

lu

DEF.ACC

tere

gate

ah

of.3

lu

DEF.NOM

mɛslu

meadow

mvoñu.

set_up

She has carved a wooden statue of a fox, which she has placed at the gate of the meadow.

Esə

EMPH.AUX-3SG

xə

this.NOM

ño

as.3

u

INDEF.NOM

katsu

strong

ntsa

very

muda!

look

This one looks very strong!

Esə

EMPH.AUX-3SG

xə

this.NOM

ño

as.3

u

INDEF.NOM

nuve

proud

ntsa

very

muda!

look

This one looks very proud!

Ntenamɛ,

GER-compare

pɔwə

COND.AUX-3SG

lo

DEF.NOM

yɔsa

maiden

ño

as.3

u

INDEF.NOM

ɛtsɛ

weak

o

and

gasu

timid

idə.

seem

In comparison, the maiden might seem weak and timid.

Dal

but

nte’a,

truly

ɔdexa

RES.AUX-1PL>3

owa

from.3

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

ivrɛ

narration

rumɛ

know

rɛ

that.ACC

sa

NULL.AUX-3SG>3

nzɔ

TOP.NOM

ŋkə

same

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

mɔtsa

soul

mañi

remarkable

mvunɛ,

hold

But in fact we know from word of mouth that the same maiden has a remarkable soul,

rɛ

that.ACC

esa

EMPH.AUX-3SG>3

ñalta

indeed

ah

of.3

katsu

strength

o

and

nuve

pride

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

reyo

fox

ñolu.

match

that she indeed matches a fox in strength and confidence.

Steyə

PROG.AUX-3SG

rabɛ

during.3

lu

DEF.ACC

kwɛnona

walk_around.VN

ah

of.3

nzɔ

TOP.NOM

yɔsa

maiden

o

at.3

lu

DEF.ACC

mɛslu,

meadow

nə

PFV.AUX-3SG

u

INDEF.NOM

ru

man

lire

young

o

at.3

lu

DEF.ACC

tere

gate

məlu.

arrive

While the maiden was walking around on the meadow, a young man has arrived at the gate.

Ɔdɔwə

RES.AUX-3SG

nzɔ

TOP.NOM

əbɔwə

CESS.AUX

kwɛno;

walk_around

steyə

PROG.AUX-3SG

rapsə

instead

puh

for.3

lo

DEF.NOM

mlaña

visitor

nzɛda

flirt

witsu.

now

She has stopped walking; she is now flirting with him instead.

Ñalta,

indeed

na

PFV.AUX-3SG>3

lu

DEF.ACC

ɛne

hair

ah

of.3

tsɔmva,

let_loose

o

and

ta

INCH.AUX-3SG

nzɔ

TOP.NOM

ləmo.

smile

Actually, she has untied her hair, and she begins to smile.

---

(This text was written on Jan 22, 2011 as part of Conlang Relay 18. Translated from David Edwards' Feayran {broken link → partial backup}.)

A traveller's report

Nzɔ ɛma bura.

Sah ni tsə tavlɛ nzɔ ɛma bura roni, ño u rudi mvomu ri ta’oh rabɛ lu mɛsə ada pɛmo, o ño u rifə mvomu ri wɛ’oh owa lu ivrɛ ome ñugɛ oltəña. Tiya podɔ ovla rɛ sah emodo ño u lamu o mɛgɔ kwə ntsa muda.

Ɛyrɔxa rumɛ rɛ saxa ɔ rɔ kəlu ah lamu modo, o rɛ saxa ɔ raxolbo yɛni ah asi ñolu. Saxa mɛsu lo əmo ɔ ñe bitsi mvɔ mvunɛ, dal saxa ño lo xol ayru tsɛga ɔ munanɔ ño u tali. Sə lo əmo ayru ɔ tətsɔ ntsa, o saxa lo soldu ɔ suni ah ulpi sopsə. Sə lo mab ɔ ñavra mvomu ri esa ñalta leda ɔ ru sewe inzɔ, o sa ɔ tselɔ ño u silvo olda. Nte’a, esah nzɔ mvɔwa ño u kili o rifə kwə muda xutsɔ olah ɔra maldɔ o əña kwə u nzɔ payu o lesəgɔ.

Tsonah rabɛ lu ɛte gɔla lu ɛnalu əno mpu lo rəlse, dal tah rabɛ lu tolbɔ ada lu sade oskə ogu rɛ saxa ɔ tola dəsmoh, o saxa ɔra əña rɔmaxa mɛsɛ alme nzugi. O pɔwah nzɔ ɛma ɔ ani ntsa, ni wəyaxa wɛtuldɔ lu nzəwo ayru u tilɛ ga u əña sədə kunə o kili nimə́luyə o wəyaxa lu əñali ayru nzugi. ntɛ ri maxa lo mɛwɛnomɔ xa esə ɛru. Pɔwaxa ñalta lu ñavo ŋkə same rapsə, ni wəyaxa nzɔ waru skɛga əño o tul; o mah tsa ntɛvɔ́ve esə rɛvle.

Sah nzɔ ɛma ɔ marob mvomu ri rabɛ lu amɔ’a ayru ogu rɛ saxa ɔ sudusa ga sɔmɛ mɛsu dəsmoh, rɔmaxa desuga rabɛ lu mɔromə nzɛ, tsonaxa lo ntəwa ayru ɔ tewalu ñavra ni lu buli tsugə, ño ri pexa ɔ raxolbo yɛni tətsɔ mvəbo tselu ɔdɛ.

Ɛyrɔxa rumɛ rɛ rolah ewitsa nzo ɛma xo’a. Pɔwaxa lo maldɔ ɔ tewalu ŋkə olna’a, ni wəyaxa o tselu ɔ esevo mvoñu ogu rɛ esaxa lu ɛma same mpu wə mvəbo xa nolɔ ŋkə nzɔ oskə bu. Saxa lo xo’avo ɔ ɛde ɔpsoga ni lu buli ñawe, on o lu əmo ah tsa ɔ ñəbo nanɔvo tsiba, o saxa ntɛga ɛxɛ ntɛ u pɛlbɛ ntaskɔda xutsɔ ɔdɔwə lo ɛma rugɛ o maña tsa ena. Rabɛ rɛ sə ada tselu oskə bu wə wa lu ñəbo otɛ ntɛ u ñalɔ́nzi mvomu ri ɔdɔwa tsa leda lu mvusmo ayru nanɔ, owa lu mɔdɛ ada lu ntəwa ayru, o ri ɔdɔwə ntise nzɔ ɛma no. O ntɛga, ta lo adavo nzəxrə, o wəyaxa lo xo’avo rumɛ rɛ ɔdɔwə lo ɛma ɔ omva, o wəya ada tsa oskə o lɛysa.

Puysaxa ntɛga rɛ saxa lu smɛnɔ owa lu ni ah lo ɛma sañawe, mpu esə xə ɔ orono rafa ntsa. Dənɛrɛ pɔlə ɔ ru u ɔ tsə ñalvo pɛnə, o pɔwa kɛ’u xagala mvɔ tsɛga u xə orono savla ni ɔdɔwə ntise ɔ laste. Ntɛxavu, pɔwə ɔ asa ntɛ u ñu’o steyə mvotsɛsə, o pɔwa skɛga kɛ’u xagala savla, ni ɔdɔwə uvo lo dəpse nzəwoga məlu. Saxa oma lu sudusa ah nzɔ ɛma puh lo tola ayru pewada, mpu esə xə salɔ, o saxa lo maldɔ xa dəñɛ ntsa.

Interlinear gloss

• Blogpost with annotations: Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3 • Part 4

Nzɔ

TOP.NOM

ɛma

serpent

bura.

notable

About the great serpents.

Sah

NULL.AUX-3PL

ni

in.3

tsə

that.ACC

tavlɛ

far_away_region

nzɔ

TOP.NOM

ɛma

serpent

bura

notable

roni,

dwell,

In that region dwell great serpents,

ño

as.3

u

INDEF.NOM

rudi

giant

mvomu

enough_for.3

ri

SUB.NOM

ta’oh

INCH.AUX-2PL

rabɛ

during.3

lu

DEF.ACC

mɛsə

meet.VN

ada

to.3

pɛmo,

fear,

so much like giants that you begin to be afraid when you encounter them,

o

and

ño

as.3

u

INDEF.NOM

rifə

scary

mvomu

enough_for.3

ri

SUB.NOM

wɛ’oh

FUT.AUX-2PL

owa

after.3

lu

DEF.ACC

ivrɛ

story

ome

from.1

ñugɛ

about.3

oltəña.

be_fascinated.

and so scary that you will be fascinated after my story about them.

Tiya

INT.AUX-1SG>3

podɔ

for.2

ovla

describe

rɛ

SUB.ACC

sah

NULL.COP-3PL

emodo

how_much

ño

as.3

u

INDEF.NOM

lamu

long

o

and

mɛgɔ

mighty

kwə

with.3

ntsa

very

muda.

look.

I'm going to describe to you how much they look very long and powerful.

Ɛyrɔxa

OPT.AUX-2PL>3

rumɛ

know

rɛ

SUB.ACC

saxa

NULL.AUX-3PL>3

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

rɔ

ten

kəlu

step

ah

of.3

lamu

long

modo,

count,

You will want to know that they measure ten paces in length,

o

and

rɛ

SUB.ACC

saxa

NULL.AUX-3PL>3

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

raxolbo

cask

yɛni

wine

ah

of.3

asi

thickness

ñolu.

match.

and that they match a barrel of wine in thickness.

Saxa

NULL.AUX-3PL>3

mɛsu

near.3

lo

DEF.NOM

əmo

head

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

ñe

two

bitsi

leg

mvɔ

short

mvunɛ,

hold,

Near the head they have two short legs,

dal

but

saxa

NULL.AUX-3PL>3

ño

as.3

lo

DEF.NOM

xol

foot

ayru

of.3.ANIM

tsɛga

only

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

munanɔ

claw

ño

as.3

u

INDEF.NOM

tali.

hawk.

but as their feet only claws like a hawk.

Sə

NULL.COP-3SG

lo

DEF.NOM

əmo

head

ayru

of.3.ANIM

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

tətsɔ

big

ntsa,

very,

Their head is very big,

o

and

saxa

NULL.AUX-3PL>3

lo

DEF.NOM

soldu

eyes

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

suni

apple

ah

of.3

ulpi

size

sopsə.

defeat.

and the eyes surpass apples in size.

Sə

NULL.COP-3SG

lo

DEF.NOM

mab

mouth

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

ñavra

large

mvomu

enough_for.3

ri

SUB.NOM

esa

EMPH.AUX-3SG>3

ñalta

indeed

leda

completely

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

ru

man

sewe

tall

inzɔ,

swallow,

The mouth is so large that it can actually swallow a tall man whole,

o

and

sa

NULL.AUX-3SG>3

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

tselɔ

tooth

ño

as.3

u

INDEF.NOM

silvo

dagger

olda.

be_armed_with.

and it is armed with teeth like daggers.

Nte’a,

truly,

esah

EMPH.AUX-3PL

nzɔ

TOP.NOM

mvɔwa

so_much

ño

as.3

u

INDEF.NOM

kili

dangerous

o

and

rifə

ugly

kwə

with.3

muda

look

They are truly so fierce-looking and ugly

xutsɔ

therefore

olah

OBL.AUX-3PL

ɔra

all

maldɔ

person

o

and

əña

animal

kwə

with.3

u

from.3

nzɔ

TOP.NOM

payu

worry

o

and

lesəgɔ.

tremble.

that all people and animals must be worried and trembling because of them.

Tsonah

HAB.AUX-3PL

rabɛ

during.3

lu

DEF.ACC

ɛte

day

gɔla

under.3

lu

DEF.ACC

ɛnalu

ground

əno

stay

mpu

due_to.3

lo

DEF.NOM

rəlse,

hot_weather,

During the day they stay under the ground because of the heat,

dal

but

tah

INCH.AUX-3PL

rabɛ

during.3

lu

DEF.ACC

tolbɔ

evening

ada

to.3

lu

DEF.ACC

sade

outside.3

oskə

come

ogu

so_as_to.3

rɛ

SUB.ACC

saxa

NULL.AUX-3PL>3

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

tola

meal

dəsmoh,

search_for,

but in the evening they start to come out in order to search for food,

o

and

saxa

NULL.AUX-3PL>3

ɔra

all

əña

animal

rɔmaxa

REL.AUX-3PL>3

mɛsɛ

meet

alme

without_exception

nzugi.

devour.

and they devour every animal that they come across, without exception.

O

and

pɔwah

COND.COP-3PL

nzɔ

TOP.NOM

ɛma

serpent

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

ani

hungry

ntsa,

very,

And if these serpents are very hungry,

ni

if/then

wəyaxa

FUT.AUX-3PL>3

wɛtuldɔ

even

lu

DEF.ACC

nzəwo

shelter

ayru

of.3.ANIM

u

INDEF.NOM

tilɛ

tiger

ga

or

u

INDEF.NOM

əña

animal

sədə

other

kunə

tough

o

and

kili

wild

nimə́luyə

approach

they will even approach the shelter of a tiger or another strong and wild animal

o

and

wəyaxa

FUT.AUX-3PL>3

lu

DEF.ACC

əñali

cub

ayru

of.3.ANIM

nzugi.

devour,

and they will devour their cubs,

ntɛ

with.3

ri

SUB.NOM

maxa

NEG.AUX-3PL>3

lo

DEF.NOM

mɛwɛnomɔ

parent

xa

this.ACC

esə

EMPH.AUX

ɛru.

prevent.

with the parents not being able to prevent it.

Pɔwaxa

COND.AUX-3PL>3

ñalta

indeed

lu

DEF.ACC

ñavo

adult

ŋkə

same

same

bring_down

rapsə,

instead.3,

Actually, if they catch the adults instead,

ni

if/then

wəyaxa

FUT.AUX-3PL>3

nzɔ

TOP.NOM

waru

3PL.ANIM.ACC

skɛga

likewise

əño

kill

o

and

tul;

eat;

they will kill and eat them just the same;

o

and

mah

NEG.AUX-3PL

tsa

that.NOM

ntɛvɔ́ve

in_vain

esə

EMPH.AUX

rɛvle.

resist.

and they can't resist at all.

Sah

NULL.COP-3PL

nzɔ

TOP.NOM

ɛma

serpent

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

marob

heavy

mvomu

enough_for.3

ri

SUB.NOM

rabɛ

during.3

lu

DEF.ACC

amɔ’a

travel.VN

ayru

of.3.ANIM

ogu

so_as_to.3

rɛ

SUB.ACC

saxa

NULL.AUX-3PL>3

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

sudusa

meat

ga

or

sɔmɛ

water

mɛsu

near.3

dəsmoh,

search_for,

These serpents are so heavy that when they are traveling in order to search for meat or water,

rɔmaxa

REL.AUX-3PL>3

desuga

usually

rabɛ

during.3

lu

DEF.ACC

mɔromə

night

nzɛ,

do,

which they usually do at night,

tsonaxa

HAB.AUX-3SG>3

lo

DEF.NOM

ntəwa

tail

ayru

of.3.ANIM

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

tewalu

furrow

ñavra

wide

ni

into.3

lu

DEF.ACC

buli

soil

tsugə,

press,

their tail leaves a wide furrow in the soil,

ño

as.3

ri

SUB.NOM

pexa

COND.AUX-1PL>3

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

raxolbo

cask

yɛni

wine

tətsɔ

big

mvəbo

through.3

tselu

that_place

ɔdɛ.

pull.

as if we had pulled a large barrel of wine along that way.

Ɛyrɔxa

OPT.AUX-2PL>3

rumɛ

know

rɛ

SUB.ACC

rolah

HAB.PASS.AUX-3PL

ewitsa

how

nzo

TOP.ACC

ɛma

serpent

xo’a.

hunt.

You will want to know how these serpents are hunted.

Pɔwaxa

COND.AUX-3PL>3

lo

DEF.NOM

maldɔ

person

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

tewalu

furrow

ŋkə

same

olna’a,

find,

If the people find such a furrow,

ni

if/then

wəyaxa

FUT.AUX-3PL>3

o

at.3

tselu

that_place

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

esevo

trap

mvoñu

establish

ogu

so_as_to

rɛ

SUB.ACC

esaxa

EMPH.AUX-3PL>3

lu

DEF.ACC

ɛma

serpent

same

bring_down

they will set up a trap at that place in order to bring down the serpent

mpu

because

wə

FUT.AUX-3SG

mvəbo

through.3

xa

this.ACC

nolɔ

path

ŋkə

same

nzɔ

TOP.NOM

oskə

come

bu.

again.

because it will come back along the same path.

Saxa

NULL.AUX-3PL>3

lo

DEF.NOM

xo’avo

hunter

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

ɛde

pole

ɔpsoga

deep-ADV

ni

in.3

lu

DEF.ACC

buli

soil

ñawe,

put,

The hunters place a pole deep in the ground,

on

and

o

at.3

lu

DEF.ACC

əmo

head

ah

of.3

tsa

that.NOM

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

ñəbo

blade

nanɔvo

sharp

tsiba,

attach,

and to the head of that they attach a sharp blade,

o

and

saxa

NULL.AUX-3PL>3

ntɛga

then

ɛxɛ

everything

ntɛ

with.3

u

INDEF.NOM

pɛlbɛ

sand

ntaskɔda

cover

and then they cover everything with sand

xutsɔ

therefore

ɔdɔwə

RES.AUX-3SG

lo

DEF.NOM

ɛma

serpent

rugɛ

be_misguided

o

and

maña

NEG.AUX-3SG<3

tsa

that.NOM

ena.

see.

so that the serpent will be tricked and cannot see it.

Rabɛ

during.3

rɛ

SUB.ACC

sə

NULL.AUX-3SG

ada

to.3

tselu

that_place

oskə

come

bu

again,

When it comes back to that place,

wə

FUT.AUX-3SG

wa

against.3

lu

DEF.ACC

ñəbo

blade

otɛ

run

ntɛ

with.3

u

INDEF.NOM

ñalɔ́nzi

speed

it will run against the blade with speed

mvomu

enough_for.3

ri

SUB.NOM

ɔdɔwa

RES.AUX-3SG>3

tsa

that.NOM

leda

completely

lu

DEF.ACC

mvusmo

belly

ayru

of.3.ANIM

nanɔ,

cut,

such that it will cut open its belly completely,

owa

from.3

lu

DEF.ACC

mɔdɛ

heart

ada

to.3

lu

DEF.ACC

ntəwa

tail

ayru,

of.3.ANIM,

from the heart to the tail,

o

and

ri

SUB.NOM

ɔdɔwə

RES.AUX-3SG

ntise

immediately

nzɔ

TOP.NOM

ɛma

serpent

no.

die.

and the serpent will die immediately.

O

and

ntɛga,

then,

ta

INCH.AUX-3PL

lo

DEF.NOM

adavo

crow

nzəxrə,

shout,

And then the crows will start to shout,

o

and

wəyaxa

FUT.AUX-3PL>3

lo

DEF.NOM

xo’avo

hunter

rumɛ

know

rɛ

SUB.ACC

ɔdɔwə

RES.COP-3SG

lo

DEF.NOM

ɛma

serpent

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

omva,

dead_body,

and the hunters will know that the serpent is dead

o

and

wəya

FUT.AUX-3PL

ada

to.3

tsa

that.NOM

oskə

come

o

and

lɛysa.

collect.

and they will come back to collect its body.

Puysaxa

CONT.AUX-3PL>3

ntɛga

then

rɛ

SUB.ACC

saxa

NULL.AUX-3PL>3

lu

DEF.ACC

smɛnɔ

gall

owa

from.3

lu

DEF.ACC

ni

in.3

ah

of.3

lo

DEF.NOM

ɛma

serpent

sañawe,

extract,

Next, they proceed to extract the gall from the inside of the serpent,

mpu

because

esə

EMPH.COP-3SG

xə

this.NOM

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

orono

medicine

rafa

valuable

ntsa.

very.

because it is a very precious medicine.

Dənɛrɛ

namely

pɔlə

COND.PASS.AUX-3SG

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

ru

man

u

from.3

ɔ

INDEF.NOM

tsə

dog

ñalvo

berserk

pɛnə,

bite,

For if a man is bitten by a rabid dog,

o

and

pɔwa

COND.AUX-3SG>3

kɛ’u

one_of

xagala

portion

mvɔ

small

tsɛga

only

u

from.3

xə

this.NOM

orono

medicine

savla

drink,

and if he drinks only a small portion of this medicine,

ni

if/then

ɔdɔwə

RES.COP-3SG

ntise

immediately

ɔ

INDEF.ACC

laste.

healthy.

he will be cured immediately.

Ntɛxavu,

furthermore,

pɔwə

COND.AUX-3SG

ɔ

INDEF.NOM

asa

woman

ntɛ

with.3

u

INDEF.NOM

ñu’o

pain

steyə

PROG.AUX

mvotsɛsə,

give_birth,

Also, if a woman is hard in labour,

o

and

pɔwa

COND.AUX-3SG>3

skɛga

likewise

kɛ’u

one_of

xagala

portion

savla,

drink,

and if she likewise drinks a portion,

ni

if/then

ɔdɔwə

RES.AUX-3SG

uvo

soon

lo

DEF.NOM

dəpse

child

nzəwoga

safely

məlu.

arrive.

the child will soon arrive safely.

Saxa

NULL.AUX-3PL>3

oma

additionally

lu

DEF.ACC

sudusa

meat

ah

of.3

nzɔ

TOP.NOM

ɛma

serpent

puh

for.3

lo

DEF.NOM

tola

meal

ayru

of.3.ANIM

pewada,

use,

They also use the flesh of the serpent for their meals,

mpu

because

esə

EMPH.AUX-3SG

xə

this.NOM

salɔ,

be_delicious,

o

and

saxa

NULL.AUX-3PL>3

lo

DEF.NOM

maldɔ

person

xa

this.ACC

dəñɛ

enjoy

ntsa.

very.

because it is delicious in taste, and the people are very fond of it.

---

Based on Marco Polo's account of alligators in the Chinese province of Yunnan (~1298), in The Travels of Marco Polo, Book 2, Chapter 49. Translated into Buruya Nzaysa on July 17-25, 2013.

• more texts...

Lexicon

• Buruya Nzaysa/Lexicon
• Buruya Nzaysa/Thematic dictionary

See also

• Ndak Ta
• Delta Naidda
• Edastean languages
• Buruya