I did most of the work on these languages in mid-late 1996; the last time I did anything on't was in early 1997, I think. I wasn't extremely knowledgable about linguistics when I started laying the groundwork for the Toaliralolo proto-language, from which I derived Thauliralau. Consequently, the old language is mostly just a set of root words, without a grammar as consistent as that of its child language. But I still think its most detailed descendant is interesting enough to do some work re-publishing it on the web.
I apologize for the rough formatting in spots; I took a word processing document (from an ancient pre-Web word processor, Framework II), exported it to a text file, and ran it through a C program to add HTML markup. I still haven't gotten around to fixing all the rough edges left by that imperfect conversion.
General contents:
This is the language spoken by the Thauliralau. The Thauliralau live in a world very different from our own, which my sister (Ynza Morgan Star) and I have been designing for some years. Eventually, when one or both of us has a personal Web page, you'll see a good deal more about this world and about its other inhabitants; but at present I have only space offered for the purpose of placing constructed languages on the Web. [Written late 1996]
The world consists of several habitable areas, long cut off from one another by Mists which have rendered most of the world uninhabitable by sentient life. The area where the Thau' who speak this language live is a hilly, forested country of subtropical climate, surrounded on three sides by the Mist, on the south by the sea. One can reach by sea travel several other inhabited land regions within this island in the Mists. Note that some of the place-names mentioned in the discussion of the language - Triyk, Akael, Ath'tom, for instance - are not part of the Thau' language (or any language, for that matter; they're meta-names coined by my sister and I to help us keep the places straight, long before we started developing the languages spoken in this world). The Pliv, Llegisia, Briacite, TTambroc, Slithu, Jhray, Blirthibo are other sentient races which live in this world - not the only other ones, but those with whom the Thau' have most to do. More about them when we get more Web space.
The Thauliralau are mammalian -- more or less, so far as we can apply earthly taxonomic terms to the life of an alien world. An adult Thau' has several body-segments, each with two legs, an ear-nose (through which they can both hear and breathe), a local brain, a heart, a lung, several waste-processing glands, a section of their digestive tract, and a reproductive system. The head segment is unique, with eyes, the primary ears, the mouth and vocal cords, the primary brain, heart, and lung, and the growth-regulating glands. Also part of the head is the memory-wire or mau. They use this to link with other Thau' and exchange memories. Babies are born with only the head segment, and grow their first hind segment after weaning. During the remainder of their lives, they grow new segments at steadily decreasing intervals.
The Thau' who speak the language here discussed live in a fairly low-tech society. They have no magical abilities, though some of their neighbors of other sentient species do.
That's all one strictly needs to know in order to understand the discussion of the language herein, but of course I want to put more up on the Web eventually.
This is not one of the more phonologically ambitious conlangs you'll find; my main interest is in semantics and grammar. The sounds of Thau' are pronounced (by me, not necessarily by the Thau' themselves; not sure about that yet) mainly as in English, except r, which is further to the front of the mouth.
Consonants:
Liquids: r, l
Stops: t, k, g
Fricatives: th, s, z
Nasals: m, n
Semivowels: y, w
P (rarely voiced) occurs only in foreign words and names.
The only consonant clusters which occur are glides (consonant-Y and consonant-W combinations). L-glides and R-glides occur only in medial position (e.g., melya (sides, aspects)).
Vowels: short:
e (tell) /E/
i (pin) /I/
uu (look) /U/
variable (long when stressed, short otherwise)
a (call) /a/
o (spoke) /o/
ou (tool) /u/
ii (see) /i/
long diphthongs:
au (plough) /aw/
ai (nail) /ei/
oi (boil) /oj/
Regular sound shifts from Old Toa': (not necessarily in chronological order)
th --> t (interdental fricative --> alveolar stop)
t --> th (interdental stop --> fricative)
k --> kw at beginning of words
k --> g elsewhere
s --> z except at beginning of words
glottal stop --> L between words
glottal stop dropped within words; one of the consecutive
vowels dropped, or diphthong formed.
Initial/medial |ai|: /aj/ --> /ej/
ai --> a at end of words
i --> ii at end of words
oi --> ou
ou --> o
o --> au
Unstressed vowels between consonant and y or w often drop out, as in miyetoi --> myetou.
Syllable shape is as in Old Toa', V or CV, or CSV, consonant- semivowel-vowel.
In the Akael dialect, |ty| is pronounced /tS/ (as ch in English), and |sy| and |zy| as /S/ and /Z/ respectively. Elsewhere they are pronounced as consonant + semivowel.
Liason and elision: If a word begins with a vowel similar to that with which the previous word ended, an /l/ is usually inserted between it and the previous word in pronunciation. It's not written except when formalized in compound words (e.g., ilithou-l-ethou or thara-l-ou). "Kuu outha" could be pronounced /kU.lu.Ta/. Or the first vowel may elide, in rapid speech or in poetry when necessary to fit the meter: "k'outha", /ku.Ta/. Elipsis is generally shown by an apostrophe in compound words, e.g.: suumiza'gau, to buy.
Stress and intonation: Stress is usually on the first long syllable of a word. Stress falls on the first vowel of variable length (making it long) if there are no diphthongs.
Writing.
The Thauliralau of Triyk use several writing systems. The oldest is an alphabetic system borrowed before the Sundering from the Pliv, and altered to fit the Toa' language. This script uses a several digraphs (e.g., the Pliv rune [s] is doubled to produce /z/) and diacriticals (to expand Old Pliv's three vowel marks to fit Thau's ten vowels and two semivowels). Another alphabetic system has been more recently borrowed from the Llegisia. The most widely used, however, is a syllabary (with diacritical marks to indicate w- and y-glides). Runes from the old Pliv script, especially [jh] and [p], are still used to write foreign proper names (e.g., Briacite: {p}+[e]+[rii]+[a]+[sii]+[ta]) In several cases, a syllable mark has a different pronunciation when it represents a monosyllabic word than when it represents part of a polysyllable, due to sound change from the older form of the language. The influence of Pliv runes is apparent in the design of the syllabary, especially for abstract monosyllables such as articles and adpositions; e.g., the Pliv rune for [g/k] was a square, and the syllable-marks for the definite articles are all permutations of a square. A few marks are pictograms for the things that the corresponding monosyllabic words stand for; e.g., "muu" (tunnel) is two parallel lines twisted in a sideways s-shape. If you use your imagination, you can see a similar fitness in the characters for "mou" (head) and "sa" (fur). (I'm not going to put the syllabary up on the Web page, partly because I don't have a scanner, partly because I'm not really finished with it, or satisfied with the parts I've finished.)
Kuu Ethou Kii Thauliralau wii (The Speech The Thauliralau of) is for the most part an isolating language. Nouns are not inflected for case, number or gender, nor verbs for tense or mood. Supplementary particles and word order express these instead. Word order is strictly SVO; adverbs always follow verbs. Adpositions are a mix of prepositive, postpositive, and parenthetical. Noun gender and number (as well as the fact that a given word is being used as a noun rather than a verb or adverb) is indicated by the preceding article.
Kuu Ethou wii Thau has a large number of articles which express the gender (common, masculine, feminine, or inanimate) and number of the following noun.
Definite Indefinite D(1) D(2) Singular: c. ke ye kete kote m. ka ya keta kota f. ko yo keto koto in. kuu yuu ketuu kotuu Plural: c. kii yii ketii kotii m. kau yau ketau kotau f. ko yo keto koto in. kou you ketou kotou
The articles D(1) and D(2) are demonstrative adjectives for the first and second person respectively. Ketuu imau, this ball, the ball near me; kotuu imau, that ball, the ball near you. The definite article also acts as a third-person demonstrative adjective (or, rather, the third person demonstrative adjectives of the old language have with sound change become homophones of the definite articles). The demonstrative articles can also serve as possessive pronouns.
The indefinite articles are an innovation since Old Toa'; the number-word "yuu" (one) came to be used more often, before nouns which did not need a definite article but which needed to be distinguished from the previous verb phrase (to mark clearly where the verb phrase left off and the object noun phrase began). Later, it was inflected for gender and number by analogy with "kuu".
Sound change effaced the difference between the singular masculine and plural feminine articles; by need to mark gender clearly, the feminine singular articles came to be used for plural as well.
Use masculine and feminine articles only for living creatures of unambiguous sex. Common articles are used for parts of the body (other than those unique to one sex), for persons when sex is unknown or unspecified, for groups of persons of both sexes, and for living things whose sex is unknown or ambiguous (e.g., plants). (For collective nouns such as "routyo," tribe, the singular common articles are used.) Inanimate articles are used for nonliving things, and for most intangibles.
All nouns, including proper names, must be preceded by an article of some sort.
Examples:
ye thaulou, a bard (of either sex)
ka thaulou, the (male) bard
ko thaulou, the (female) bard
Ko Merakwazo, Mrs./Ms. Merakwazo
Ya Miganailou, some fellow named Miganailou
The indefinite article's plural forms act as a partitive article for mass nouns.
Most modifiers act grammatically just like action-verbs, and follow the noun to which they apply with no predicative copula, except for numerals and indefinite quantifiers. These are inserted between the article and the noun:
kau kwiga thaulo: the three bards
kii thara reso: the all parents, all of the parents
Pronouns take the place of an article and a noun; in the second and third person they inflect for gender, number and definiteness. All modifiers, including numerals and other quantifiers, follow pronouns. Numerals or other quantifiers precede verb/adjectives, thus:
Ikii thara izauta.
They all laughed.
Ara thuu thara sonau.
We four all [have] arrived.
Uuyii na le aula we, izamo suu kuu Kapuula rau ethouka ketuu
loto.
The two fastest of you, run to Capul and say this message.
The order of the gender/number and person morphemes has reversed since the time of Old Toa' (which had, e.g., "kai i," the-MASC.SNG. [third-person particle], where the modern language uses "ika" (him)).
Pronouns:
| o | first-person immediate singular (I alone) |
| au | first person general singular (I and/or my memory-ancestors and memory-siblings) |
| Ara | first-person inclusive plural (the speaker, hearer, and
perhaps others)
|
| Ala | first-person exclusive plural (the speaker and others, contrasted to the hearer) |
In the Akael dialect, gendered forms of the first-person pronouns are sometimes used when the speaker's sex is especially relevant. "Auko" and "aukau" are reported used to emphasise the speaker's memory-ancestors of one sex (usually opposite the speaker's, as in "auko izyara yii sau yara" (I (my female memory-ancestors) have borne many babies).) "Au" + a singular article is sometimes used when speaking of something that has happened to only one of the speaker's memory-ancestors. Gendered forms of "o" are attested to only in intimate conversation between lovers and spouses. Gendered first-person plural pronouns are more generally used, to refer to the speaker and others of the same sex; this usage spread to Ath'tom after the TTambroc War, though the other gendered first-person pronouns did not, for one reason or another.
uu + definite article, second-person singular and plural
pronouns: uuka, you-singular-female, or uukii,
you-plural-common, etc.
uu + indefinite article, second person indefinite pronouns: uuye, uuyo, etc., one of y'all (unspecified); uuyii, uuyau, etc., some of y'all.
i + definite article, third-person specific pronouns. Iko, she/her; ikuu, it; ikii, they/them; etc.
i + indefinite article, third-person general pronouns;
similar to French "on," or "someone," "something," in
English.
iya, some man; iye, someone; iyii, people,
some people; iyuu, something, etc.
Reflexive pronouns are formed by taking the ordinary pronoun and prefixing suul- to them, thus:
suulo, to myself,
suulikii, to themselves, etc.
Reflexive subject-objects generally use definite pronouns, and reciprocal subject-objects use indefinite pronouns:
Ikii ethouka suu-l-ikii...
They said to themselves...
Iye ethouka suu-l-iye...
One said to another (They said
to one another)...
Verbs do not inflect for tense, mood or aspect. Present imperfect indicative is implied unless some other time, aspect or mood is shown with adverbs and/or auxiliary verbs. Auxiliary verbs include kyo (to start, begin), kwinuu (ought; advisory mood), lekyou (must; imperative mood), myalo (to be able to), and mauzilo (to have potential for).
Manner-adverbs generally precede time-adverbs, thus:
Ko thaulou izautha kweta, the bard laughed yesterday.
Ko thaulou izautha inauma, the bard might laugh.
Ko thaulou izautha inauma sa-kweta, the bard might laugh
tomorrow.
Once one verb is marked with a time-adverb, subsequent verbs in a narrative are assumed to be at the same time or a little later unless otherwise marked with new adverbs. Thau' literary style calls for beginning a story with either the names of the main characters, or the environmental conditions at the outset of the story, followed by a time-setting adverb. For instance, the creation story begins:
Kii Nayira Ralii myetou mera.
The Eleven Gods a long time ago.
Certain adpositions can form adverb-like phrases, e.g. ragau (during). A certain popular epic begins:
Kwero rau laimaniga kuu imeruu ragau.
Darked and stormed the night during.
(It was a dark and stormy night.)
"Adjectives" (really state-verbs) are a variety of intransitive verb; they follow the nouns they modify, with no predicative copula (i.e., "to be"), and are followed by any adverbs that may apply. Since state-verbs imply a habitual action, action-verbs conjoined to them by "rau" (and) tend to be understood as habitual, not necessarily as current, specific actions. State-verbs may be followed by action-verbs with no conjunction, in which case the state-verb is simply predicative or specifying and the action-verb has its ordinary sense.
Ka yozathe le.
The boy is fast.
Ka yozathe le rau izamo.
The boy is fast and runs. (habitually)
Ka yozathe le izamo.
The fast boy runs.
Reversing the order makes the state-verb an adverb modifying the action-verb, instead:
Ka yozathe izamo le.
The boy runs quickly.
For two state-verbs, use of a conjunction makes the two more equally predicative of the noun.
Ko yozathe le rau thizii.
The girl is fast and
strong.
Ko yozathe le thizii.
The fast girl is strong.
In the first example, the speaker gives two new items of information about the girl; in the second, the speaker tells us that the girl we already know to be fast is, additionally, strong.
There is no verb meaning "to exist." Simple assertions of existence take one of these forms:
Kuu miralauza.
The sun [is].
Ka Nosemau myetou.
The Nosemau awhile-ago.
(There was a man named Nosemau.)
Ne, kii Nayira.
Yes, the Eleven. [said in
contradiction of an atheist]
Weather-words (such as uulamou, which could be translated "it's raining" or "while it is raining" or "rain is falling") generally occur as verbs without a subject. They may be modified by adverbs, or have place-objects:
uumalou, It's raining (right now).
uumalou kweta, It rained yesterday.
uumalou noi Meratora, Rain falls on Meratora, It's raining at Meratora.
Or they may occur after other verbs as time-adverbs, thus,
Ko thaulo relo uumalou.
The bard sang while it was raining.
Time-of-day and time-of-year verbs act more or less the same way.
Ko thaulo relo imeruu.
The bard sings at night.
The objects of verbs follow any adverbs. Indirect objects are preceded or followed by adpositions (some of which are prepositive, others postpositive). The particular adposition wanted for indirect objects varies with the verb; most take "suu" (prepositive: to, toward) or "ro" (postpositive: at, in).
Indirect objects follow direct objects, except when the direct object is a phrase significantly longer than the indirect object (as is usually the case with "ethouka", to say). For instance,
Iko ethouka suu Nosemau wezo kou sima lamo naura, rau iko
remii myetou-no ikou.
She said to Nosemau that the sima were rotten, and she had
thrown them out a little while ago.
the direct object, the phrase beginning with "wezo" (that) is much longer than the indirect object after "suu" (the person to whom the information is given). But if the direct object phrase were shorter, it would precede the indirect even with "ethouka":
Iko ethouka you kwinuu suu Nosemau.
She said some advice to Nosemau.
The length-rule applies with all verbs, though it is most often needed with "ethouka." A more complex direct object follows a less complex indirect object.
Ko neruuza tenwuu noi yii kalironii kii yozathe ikii-lii
ethouka you metha omau.
The magician changed into galvorn the children who asked too
many questions.
There are several sentence types.
Sentence ::= FullS | Existence | Identity | TenseSet
A sentence can be a normal verb-containing sentence, an assertion of something's existence, a statement of two things' identity, or an adverbial phrase which sets the default tense for subsequent sentences.
Existence ::= ("ne") NP (AP)
Asserts that the referent of the noun phrase (NP) exists. "Ne" means "yes," and may optionally be used to make the assertion more emphatic. An adverbial phrase (usually a time-adverb (e.g., "myetou" awhile ago)) may qualify the assertion, make it other than present tense, etc.
Identity ::= NP (AP) NP
Asserts that the first NP is the same as, or a subset of, the second NP. An AP may change the tense, mood, or whatever of the assertion.
TenseSet ::= AP
Not just any adverbial phrase; usually a time-adverb of some kind, or an adpositional phrase where the noun is an event and/or the adposition is temporal.
FullS ::= (NP) VP (NP) ((preposition) NP (postposition)) ...
A verb phrase is obligatory; by itself, it may be a subjectless verb such as "uumalou" (it's raining), a command (second-person subject implied), or what would be called an expletive or interjection in a European language. The first noun phrase would be the subject, the second a direct object, the third (preceded or followed by an adposition, but usually not both) an indirect object or oblique argument.
That accounts for sentence types, except for those containing relative or subordinate clauses; I'm not yet sure how to describe them, nor have I really formalized the rules for using them.
The phrase types are:
NP ::= Pronoun | Article (Quantifier ...) Noun |
Relative_pronoun Verb (NP)
The obligatory article specifies definiteness, gender and number of the noun (the noun doesn't inflect). Quantifiers are the only type of adjective that occurs between the article and noun; others occur as verbs, with no copula. If more than one quantifier appears, they must not, of course, be contradictory; usually there are no more than two, an indefinite quantifier followed by an exact number (e.g., "thara kwiga," all three; "yuu yuu," one one (only one); "me wo," more than five).
VP ::= ([StateVerb (AP)] ...) [(AuxVerb) Verb] (AP)
There may be one or several verbs. Auxiliary verbs precede the verbs they modify, and state verbs generally precede action verbs. Conjunctions between verbs are optional; "rau" (and) is implicit, and usually omitted, between state verbs, but is usually made explicit between action verbs.
AP ::= Adverb ... | (preposition) NP (postposition)
The Conjunction rule:
X ::= X conjunction X
where X is any type of phrase or word except an article or adposition.
Summary of symbols: ::= is equivalent to | or () optional ... previous unit may be repeated several times [] groups together the items that | or ... applies to
Many words can act as adjective-verbs, nouns, or adverbs, depending on context:
Ka thaulou kwazo.
The bard [is] wise.
Iko yizouta kwazo.
She plans wisely.
Ka thaulou kwazo yizouta.
The wise bard plans. (or, The bard
[is] wise [and] plans.)
Ka kwazo ethouka.
The wise man speaks.
Thawilau kuu kwazo.
(one) desires wisdom, wisdom is desired.
"Kwazo" following a noun (ka thaulou) is a state verb, "to be wise." Following a verb (yizouta), it is an adverb, "wisely." The two noun-senses of "kwazo" are distinguished by the articles applying; a gendered article indicates a wise person, the inanimate article "kuu" indicates the idea of wisdom. Many words follow the same pattern. With action-verbs, however, the inanimate article marks an instance of the action denoted by the verb, or a thing to which the action of the verb has been done (e.g., "kuu niga" a broken thing). The gendered articles may refer to persons who do the action of the verb, or, more rarely, persons to whom it has been done; this must be memorized for each verb.
Thau' grammarians distinguish all-purpose substantitives (which can stand in any of the three main positions of a sentence) from 'defectives', which normally only appear in one or two, and whose use in other positions is rare and stylistically marked. Examples include "omazou" (river), a defective noun, "niga" (break) a defective noun-verb; "nii" (other), a defective adverb. (There are no defectives which occur only as verbs; any word that can be used as a verb, can be used as a noun also by applying an article.)
The other parts of speech are pronouns, articles, quantifiers (including numerals), adpositions (including 'defective' prepositions and postpositions, besides the 'normal' (though actually fewer) dual-purpose adpositions), conjunctions, and interrogatives. What we would call interjections and expletives are mostly classed as verbs; their stand-alone use is compared to the similar usage of weather and time-of-day words. A few such are considered adverbs (recall that adverbs can also occur as stand-alone sentences, setting the tense (or, in these cases, the mood :) of following sentences).
This lexicon lists Thauliralau words and idioms with English translations, sorted not alphabetically but by topic. Articles are sometimes prefixed to words to show the varying noun senses of a word. Abbreviations used include:
n. noun pl. plural c. common gender in. inanimate gender m. masculine f. feminine v. verb v.i. intransitive verb v.t. transitive verb aux. auxiliary verb w.r.t. with respect to stat. state verb a. adverb lit. literally pre. preposition post. postposition
The topics under which the words are sorted are:
People, family relations, etc.
Sensory, social and mental life
Physical action
Body parts & biological verbs
Artifacts
Natural features
Geography
Weather
Time
Auxiliary verbs
Stative verbs ("adjectives")
Adverbs
Numerals, numbers and quantifiers
Adpositions
Conjunctions & comparative particles
Interrogatives
people, family relations, etc.
* Terms for people:
Kii Thauliralau - Us, ala. Often abbreviated Thau or Thauli.
(Confusion with "thau," memory, prevented by articles used
(gendered or inanimate).)
ye thauliralau - a person of either sex, or an androgyne.
yo thauliralau - a woman.
ya thauliralau - a man.
alii - n., people, sentients (including Thauliralau). Ara. a.,
apparently in the manner of a sentient being; as though
thoughtfully.
thelwau - kind, species, sort
yara - baby, newborn; one with only a head-segment
wothethouka - a small child not talking coherently yet.
yozathe - one of immature judgment (includes but not limited to
wothethouka).
ilithou - friend
ilithou-kiyo - lover
ilithou-l-ethou - conversation-friend
* Family relations:
thela - ancestor; most commonly, grandparent.
ramii - a member of one's household.
uurimau - spouse; business-partner
yo reso - mother; adoptive mother, wet-nurse.
ya reso - adoptive father.
yo izyara - mother; biological mother.
kyo - m. father, f. mother, c. parent (biological).
sezau - marriage (generally marriage of adults)
sezau'gela - cocoon-marriage, first marriage of children
yizoula suu sezau'gela - betrothal plans
thwii - home-sibling; one raised by same parents at the same time
thwii yisuu - elder home-sibling; one raised by same parents earlier
than oneself
thwii yitha - younger home-sibling; one raised by same parents later
tuumou - son or daughter (biological)
tora-tuumou - home-son or home-daughter; one you have raised
ema - Cousin via adoptive relations: home-child of a home-sibling of
one's adoptive parents
imaura - One too nearly related to oneself to marry, incl. biological
siblings, first, second and third (biological) cousins.
Indirect relations: uncle/aunt, biological cousins of specific
remoteness, etc. Most of these would be denoted by phrases,
e.g.:
tuumou thela wii, uncle or aunt (biological)
thwii ka reso wii, uncle or aunt (home-sibling of one's adoptive
father)
* Aliens:
alii mela - people other than Thauliralau (neutral-to-favorable
connotation); "strange people"
alii mega - people other than Thauliralau (insulting or contemptuous);
"forgetful people"
alii zyemo - tall (or vertical) people; those who walk (or stand)
upright (aliens other than Blirthibo).
Kii Mauzouzya or Periisaita - Briacite. ((those who) worship trees)
Kii Tenwuu or Pelirethiipo - Blirthibo (the changers)
Kii Relina or Ikii-lii relina ragau yuu launuu or Tamiparaka -
TTambroc (the attackers; those who attack on sight (called
so because of their long war with the Thau' of the northern
islands))
Kii Zyalethou or Zarai - Jhray (trees (which) talk)
Silithou - Slithu
Yegiizya - Llegesia
yii ralii - gods
kii Ralii or kii Nayira - the Eleven
mauzou - to worship, give honor to; (arch.) to serve, obey
lamagii - spirits (other than Thau-ghosts, for which see next section)
sensory, social and mental life
* Actions: sensory and mental life
muuzau - to rule
launuu - to see
wa launuu - to look for (wa: see under auxiliary verbs)
launuu suu - to look at, examine
launuu meza - to glimpse, see briefly or incompletely
kwinuu wa launuu! - Behold! Look!
nya - to hear
wa nya - to listen for
nya suu - to listen to, to attend, pay attention
nya the - to refuse (a proposal or offer) lit., hear not.
* Action: social
ethou - n., speech, speaking, language
ethouka - v. to speak, say; to talk w. integrated sound and gestures
ethoukalo - v., to talk with sound only
ethoukala - v., to talk with gestures only
ethouka wezo kwinuu or ethouka you kwinuu - to warn that one ought
to... (verb object); to give (unspecified) advice
omau - v., to ask, inquire (open inquiry); n., question
omau wii - v., to ask about (specific, directed inquiry)
thezalii - v., to demand, request, beg (interested inquiry, or asking
for something material); n., petition, demand.
thezalii suu - to ask that, to ask for.
Ikii thezalii ika suu wauthe, they asked him not to do it (or to
do nothing).
auguu - v., to test, demonstrate, prove, show
auguu wezo - to prove that ...
auguu wii - to explain about ...
kworau - v. pretend, feign; n., pretense; adv., falsely, in appearance
only
kwima - v. to match, fit, suit; n., the right thing for the purpose at
hand
salau - n., recovery from sickness; mercy. v., to forgive, have mercy
lo - n., song, story, sound-word
la - n., dance, story, gesture-word
lau - n., story told with both song and dance
mwuula - n. whistling, humming; v., to whistle-laugh, applaud
loto - poem, song, proverb: something one remembers as a sequence of
exact words; any written record
loutha - story, myth, history: something one remembers as a sequence
of events or ideas; a paraphrase or misremembering of a loto
relo - to sing
rela - to dance
relau - to sing-dance
thaulo - a bard
thaula - a dancer-storyteller
suumiza - to trade, do businesss
suumiza ... ro - to traffick in ...
suumiza suu - to sell
suumiza'gau - to buy
nore - to lend
kwezima - to borrow; to adopt (a child)
kwomyara - to give a child (in adoption)
thazuu - to join
re - to make, produce, emit, secrete
la - to allow, let
la ... swo - to ignore (to let (event/time) pass).
la you tii swo - to wait (indefinite).
la you imeruu swo - to wait several nights
la kou kwiga selaswo swo - to wait three days
kwoma - to exchange gifts
kwoma suu - to give a gift
kwoma'gau - to receive a gift
to - word, name; syllable-mark
tomo - to name, to put a name to, to call. O tomo suulo Migalainou, I
call myself Migalainou.
* Terms for memory, knowledge, emotion, &c:
you or kou thau - memory in general. "Kou thau mera, kuu outha
laikou." (Memory is long, life is short.)
kuu thau - the memory of a specific event
ralautha - to refresh one's memory, to recite
kwomathou suu - to give memories
kwoma'gau thou - to receive memories
thelathau - a memory-ancestor; one from whom you have memories
indirectly
ramithau - a memory-sibling; one with whom you have exchanged memories
matauko - to remember, to have experience of
emauriko - to know thoroughly; to know how (to do something)
ralau - to keep, preserve, guard; to protect
mega - forgetful (derogatory)
emega - to forget, lose, misplace (derogatory)
matauko the meza - to not remember momentarily (polite substitute for
"mega" and "emega")
othau - in., personal memories, as opposed to acquired ones; c., first
part of the soul; the sort of Thau' ghost which appears at a
funeral fire; any alien ghost
raimau - f. womb; c. imagination, creativity; second part of soul;
another sort of ghost; a Muse.
tho - thought, idea, mental image; judgment, prejudice, belief
nya kou tho - to understand, comprehend (to hear the ideas (as opposed
to just the sounds)). Variant form: launuu kou tho.
retho - to think, to make thoughts; to be sentient; to be conscious,
awake; to be thoughtful, prudent, cautious.
thomana - system of thought, theory; train of thought, chain of
reasoning
mekou - to believe, to believe that, to be sure of
kaumoutha - to think about, to ponder
teraisau - to reason about, analyze, criticise; judgment, reason
raimaulo - to imagine, invent, create, compose
yizoula - to plan, prepare, think ahead
kwoumii - to make up one's mind; to decide that, to decide to (with or
without object).
O kwoumii, I have decided. (w.r.t. some decision previously
mentioned in the conversation).
Uuko kwoumii liiwau? What do you decide to do?
myo - to choose (noun object)
yeletha - to resolve to (takes verb object)
rii-yeletha - motive, reason for action or decision; excuse
suuga - to decide against (verb object)
thila - to be cheerful; cheer (does not take an object)
kouto - joy, to be joyful about (object)
yimuula - delight, to delight in (object)
kwaizuume - to be content; to be quietly happy; to be happy because,
about (optional object)
kwaulitimo - to be melancholy
muugitha - to be sad, sorry; to grieve; sadly, sorrowfully
saraga - to lament, be distressed about (object)
thou - love (even more general than in English; suffixes, adverbs, and
prepositions make it more specific)
thoura - the love of the Eleven for mortals
thoumyo - deliberate or chosen love
thouwa - attempted love
thouso - love between a mother and her children
thoukiyo - sexual love
thoure - loyalty, fealty
thouna - silent love; shy, undeclared love.
sougau - fear
neruuza - magic, to practise magic (of aliens); n., a magician, mage,
sorceror.
te - to cause, to make, to render
* Physical action
relina - to fight, to attack. (In pre-War usage, "uuke ke relina" was
often used as an insult; it is less often used thus after the
War, but "relina" is still used expletively.)
wa ralau ke mou suuli'wii - to struggle, to defend oneself (try to
preserve [one's] head)
etha - to cut, bite through
niga - to break; a broken thing; a wounded person
toumii - to make, put together, build
Kuu Thamera - The Sundering. (the deep cutting.)
na - silence, stillness; quietly; to be quiet
mo - a place, spot, location; to place, to put, to set up
thatharamo - v.i. to scatter (go-all-place)
nwotharamo - v.t. to scatter (throw-all-place)
izamaga - to hold, carry, tote about on one's person
iwa - to need
wasa - necessary
tha - to go, travel, move
tha the - to remain, stay
magamo - to stay, remain; to be stubborn; to live (at a place)
sonau - to come, to return; to appear, become apparent
thego - to search for; to track, hunt (game animals); a hunter; (pl.c.
often used to mean team, band, party, etc.)
lineza - to catch, capture, snare; a trap; a trapper
eguumii - to kill (game-animals)
nwo - to throw
izamo - to roll-run; current, immediate, contemporary.
izakau - to shuffle, walk (forward or backward)
izautha - to laugh-somersault
maga - to coil (of Toa, Yith, snakes); to coil around (direct object);
to embrace, grasp wholeheartedly; to have, own, possess, hold
(used only with movable property)
lamo - to contain, hold; to include. to have, possess (mental
attributes, body parts, etc.)
suuwau - to rise up, bestir oneself ("toward action")
aouu - to yell, cry out
body parts & biological verbs
* body parts
lezo - c. the body; in. corpse
mou - head-segment, head; first, most important, most prominent
nuu - a hind-segment; back, rear; of lesser importance.
nuu twe - rearmost hind segment
no - mouth; a door or entrance (to a tunnel, cave, house, etc.)
limauza - tongue
ilyuula - throat
mau - memory-wire
sa - fur
wiruu - bottom, ventral side, belly; floor
melya - sides, flanks (of body); aspects, appearances
noi - top, dorsal side; ceiling, roof
ta - leg, foot-hand
sorii - teat
ouna- ear-nose
auza - eye
luura - main heart (in head segment)
luurainau - local heart (in a hind segment)
nelau - male; penis
nwelau - cavity in which penis is stored when not in use
nominou - vagina
uuthega - strong-durable; bones
nime - skin, hide; surface, outside
* Aliens:
mounii - head
nonii - mouth
ounanii - nostril
etc.
syou - bone; shell, exoskeleton
* biological verbs, &c
wuulau - to eat or drink leisurely (pejorative)
luu - to eat or drink
noro - to swallow; to hide, conceal, cover up
malogau - sleep, to sleep
malogau-mera - cocooning, to cocoon
kii nita nwa malogau-mera wii - the cocooning-nursery helpers
igela - emergence from cocooning
izouna - to breathe (< ouna, ear-nose)
Used often in "kii thara izouna," all those who breathe.
uumizau - to wash, bathe; to be surrounded
nwuu - to grow; to become
tenwuu - to transform, change, convert (takes indirect object via
"noi":)
Ikii tenwuu kii yizoula noi kii thiga uuthegathe rau thiziithe.
They changed the conspirators into [lit. onto] fragile, feeble
mist-beings.
Also refers to the Blirthibo:
Kii Tenwuu magamo kuu sou mera ro, rau tenwuu suulikii rau
aliinii.
The Changers live in the deep water, and transform themselves and
others.
kiyo - to copulate; to beget, to conceive
minou - female
reyara - to carry children, to be pregnant
izyara - to give birth
ke nita izyara - midwife
kyo outha - to be born (to start living)
so - milk
reso - to give suck, to nurse; by extension, to take care of children.
migotha - animals (except sessile ones)
ma - meat, flesh, muscle; corporeal
luuma - to eat meat; a carnivore or omnivore
luumathe - to be herbivorous; a herbivore
izagauthiguuzii - To fly; a flying creature
igauzou - to swim; an aquatic creature
outha - life (events, not a state of being); to live (to experience
life)
wa outha - to be awake, to be active.
yomara - life (state of being), living; to be alive
yomaraga - a living creature
ra - death; to die
thailoutha - (cut life) to kill; murder; pejorative
rera - (produce death) to kill; general, non-perjorative; includes
"eguumii", to kill animals for food, as well as "thailoutha" and
miscellaneous concepts such as manslaughter; the subject of
"rera" is often impersonal (e.g., an earthquake or electrical
storm), while the subject of "thailoutha" is usually sentient,
always an agent.
artifacts
* Made artifacts, furniture, toys, &c
tora - home, living-place
muuga - A book, record, archive
imau - a stuffed cloth ball
mana - net, web; complex of tunnels
tatha - drum, array of drums
salautha - sign-post
mimira - brick
rola - to stick, glue, attach; any sticky attaching substance
zyarola - sap
miirola - mortar
natural features
* Misc. natural features
sou - water
mii - soft earth, clay; "stuff", matter, material in general
simiga - sandy soil
wo - topsoil, humus
tau - stone, metal (substance)
nyou - stone (item, not substance), rock
soutau - ice
kwalo - silver; money
thalo - gold; rare, costly
rii - spring, well; source, origin.
mira - a fire; to burn (be on fire)
temira - to burn (cause to catch fire (by applying an existing flame
to something flammable)
remira - to start a flame (from friction, concentration of solar rays,
pyrokinesis, etc.)
kwimo - hill
muu - tunnel
remuu - to dig, tunnel, excavate, burrow
muutau - a tunnel through rock
muumii - a tunnel or burrow through earth
nou - a cavern or underground room.
nwa - a public cavern
sima - a species of spicy tuber, cultivated for food
tiza - edible fruit and vegetables, including berries and tubers, but
exclusive of leaves and stems.
zyatiza - fruit of trees.
mitiza - tubers, ground-fruits, etc.
retiza - (of plants) to bear fruit, to be fruitful; (of people) to
have more than a few children
zya - c., tree; in., wood, lumber; pl., forest ( < siyai)
thazya - stump of a tree
syaitau - stalagmite; petrified tree; column (of building)
omazou - river, broad stream
suumitha - grass, moss; fungus
* Geography.
luuza - in the direction of (post.)
miraluuza - east
soumeraluuza - south
* Cosmology.
tyou - world, universe
miralauza - the sun; to shine, be sunny
elau - the moon; the moon is up
noro miralauza ro - total solar eclipse (a swallowing of the sun)
elau maga - doughnut moon (coiling moon), central lunar eclipse
so - sky (daytime)
sogero - sky (nighttime)
Place-names, & historical event-names, peculiar to Triyk
- Akael, Ath'tom, Apeth, Beramou, Antaar.
- Capul
Meratora - Tunnels in Ath'tom.
Lamakiita - Caverns in Akael, sacred to the followers of
Plistrolamakiita.
- War with the TTambroc. Massacres of Thau' by TTambroc. Truces and
treaties between wars.
weather
* Weather:
uumalou - rain; It's raining, rain falls, while it rains
uugizou - a downpour, torrential rain
yarala - hurricane
laimaniga - an electrical storm
thirola - coolly breezy
kwalouma - sweltering hot
sothigou - cloudy sky, cloudy, overcast
thiguuzii - partly cloudy, a cloud
thigaila - fog, foggy
thiga - mist, steam, fog
uumigaza - sleet or hail
* Time:
kweta - yesterday
sa-kweta - tomorrow
nayira kweta - eleven days ago
thauza - today; nowadays
wuumoya - last year
sa-wuumoya - next year
kwiga sa-wuumoya - three years hence
wuu - a year
wuumera - eleven years (a deep year)
wuura - thirty-three days (the cycle of fires; a divine year)
myetou - awhile ago (indefinite); to open stories, "Once upon a
time..."
sa-myetou - in a while, eventually
myetou-mera - a very long time ago; before the Sundering; the previous
world
swo - to pass, occur, happen. You wuu swo, some years passed.
miruu - prematurely, too soon
meza - briefly
seluu - suddenly; rashly, incautiously
ailuu - again, another time
tii - moment, instant; time, occasion; pl., Time; adv., a moment ago
sa-tii - adv., a moment hence
kuu tii ta - the moment before, just before
* time-of-day:
selaswo - daytime, bright hours
imeruu - night
auxiliary verbs
wau - n. action; v. to do anything; v.aux. to do (verb object).
wauthe - inaction; to do nothing; to not do... (verb object)
wa - v., to try, attempt, make an effort. n., effort, exertion.
kyo - v.aux., to start, begin, initiate; especially something to be
finished by others. "Ke thaulo mou kyo kuu lo," the first bard
starts the song.
kwinuu - v.aux., one probably ought to, it would be a good idea to.
n. pl., advice, warnings.
lekyou - v.aux., one must; imperative marker. Stat., necessary,
inevitable. adv., unavoidably.
myalo - v.aux., to be able to, to be competent at
mauzilou - v.aux. to be able to learn how, to have potential for;
(stat.) possible, able to be done; (adv.) possibly, potentially.
mauzilouthe, to have no potential for; impossible; impossibly
Uuka mauzilou rela. You can (potentially) dance.
Kuu eguumii yii tyekamazo mauzilou.
= The killing (of) some jekmaz (is) impossible.
Stative verbs ("adjectives")
* Misc. stative verbs
ra - divine
ranau - good (of mortals)
rathe - v.stat., unholy, deeply wicked
naura - n., sickness; rot; evil, wickedness. v.stat., unscrupulous,
wicked ( > god's name Wainorameka: tries to forget evil)
Iko lamo yuu naura. She is sick. (she contains a sickness)
Ka yara lamo you naura. The baby is sick. (the baby contains
several sicknesses; is ill in several ways or with several
diseases)
Ika naura. He is unscrupulous. (less severely pejorative than
"rathe;" applies to petty criminals &c)
Kou sima lamo yuu naura. The sima are rotten (contain a
rottenness).
kwonou - v. dangerous; n., danger, dangerous things
kwonouthe - v. safe; n. security, safety, harmless things
lina - n. pain, trouble, injury; v.stat., to be hurt
thizii - strong-active
uuthega - strong-durable; n.pl. bones
uuthegathe - fragile
le - fast, quick, quickly; n. speed, pl. fast things
semau - long, lengthy (of Toa, snakes, rivers, &c; not of duration of
time, for which see "mera")
suu semau - far, far off, distant
zyemo - tall (of upright alii, trees, mountains, etc.)
suu zyemo - high up (of clouds, flying animals, etc.)
yisuu - old; experienced (of most sentients, & animals)
wisuu - old, long-standing (of trees, incl. Jhray, natural features,
durable achitecture, &c)
eziga - former, previous, ex-; no more, discontinued; v., to stop
doing
yitha - young (of animals & sentients)
witha - new, recent (of trees, natural features, etc)
sya - ripe, mature, full-grown (< yosai)
syathe - young, unripe, unfinished (of plants, fruits, projects)
yozathe - immature (of children)
kwazo - to be wise; n. wisdom, a wise person (less connotation of
seriousness & gravity than the English "wise")
mera - Deep, extensive; long (time, not distance)
laikou - Shallow; short (time, not distance)
yela - loud
sela - bright, glowing, lighted
kwero - dark
tyomii - dissimilar, unlike, different from (object)
mizau - similar to, like; to resemble (ant. tyomii); same; adv.,
likewise
ilaithou - to be together, near one another, in agreement
ilaithouthe - alone; adv., separately
thawilau - v.stat., to be desired, hoped for; n. desire, hope, will,
inclination; third part of soul; one of the kinds of ghost.
miga - hidden, unknown.
yozaimuu - surprising, startling
launuu yuu yozaimuu - to be surprised, startled (to see a surprising
thing)
no - small, little; diminutive suffix
twe - final, ending
thyuu - open, uncovered, naked
mela - strange, odd, bizarre
yila - full, replete (of inanimate containers)
lamo yila - to contain fully, to be full (of people and animals;
opposite of hungry).
lonau - n. circle; v.stat., round, circular
mizau lonau - beautiful, symmetrical (lit. like (a) circle)
adverbs
* Adverbs:
ne - affirmative or emphatic particle; yes (in reply to question)
the - no, not
tha - very, extremely. n., excess, extravagance.
nethe - almost, not quite
inauma - maybe, might
nii - other, otherwise.
aliinii - n.pl. other people.
numerals, numbers and quantifiers
* Numbers:
Numbers in Thauliralau have a nature intermediate between articles and
stative verbs. As modifier of subject or object, they're inserted
between the article and the noun:
o nwo kuu kwiga imau, I throw the three balls.
As main verb, placed after subject:
ketuu sima kwiga, Here are three sima.
The ordinal particle "ou" (usually with L-liason) marks ordinal
numbers, thus:
kuu kwiga-l-ou nuu, the third segment
ketuu salautha thara-l-ou kuu muu wii, This is the last sign-post
of the tunnel.
For "first," the ordinal number is "mou" (head-segment). "Twe"
(final) is used of events; "thara-l-ou," "last," refers to the last
item in a physical procession or arrangement. The other vague
quantifiers can also become ordinal, though they are used so less
often:
kotuu rii-yeletha metha-l-ou, this is your umpteenth excuse.
O ethouka sautha-l-ou you kwinuu, I speak enough-th some advice,
I have given (you) enough advice.
yuu (or ya, yo, ye) - one. (Redouble for "only one, a single one.")
na - two.
kwiga - three
thuu - four
wo - five
ma - six
ruu - seven
rou - eight
yii - nine. (yira in compounds, thus:)
yuuyira - ten.
nayira - eleven (2 + 9); the Eleven Gods; an eleven-day week.
kwigayira - twelve.
...
kwiganayira - twenty-one (3 + 18, three and two nines)
nakwigayira - twenty-nine (2 + 27, two and three nines)
makwigayira - thirty-three (days in a month)
powers of nine:
uutha - eighty-one
otha - seven hundred twenty-nine
thuumayirai rau wo-l-uutha - 463 (days in the year)
thara - (pl. subj.:) all, every, each, any; (sg. subj.:) entire, whole
Kii thara Thauliralau, all of the Thauliralau
Kuu thara tyou, the entire world
yuu, you thara - any (some of the all)
Ye thara Thau [...unfinished example...]
thara-l-ou - last, final (of a physical procession or arrangement;
"twe" is used of events or times)
sau - many, several
thye - none, not any
sauthame - too much
sautha - enough
sauthatou - not enough
me - more, greater; to increase
tou - fewer, less; to decrease
Difference of "me, tou" and "aula me, aula tou": The former occur in
quantifier position, the latter in adverbial position; either may
occur in verbal position. The first two form implicit comparisons to
something mentioned earlier; the others are part of explicit,
self-contained comparative sentences. Compare:
Yii me thaulo sonau. Some more bards arrived.
Yii thaulo me. There are more bards (than at the
time previously spoken of).
Yii thaulo aula me yii thaula.
There are more bards (here) than dancers.
When "me" or "tou" is combined with a number in quantifier position,
it means "more (or fewer) than N"; but when this combination occurs in
verb position, it usually means "to increase (or decrease) by N" --
e.g.:
Yii tou thuu yozathe na. Fewer than four children are being
quiet.
Yii yozathe me thuu. (There are now) four more children.
wezo me - in addition, as well, also
adpositions
* Prepositions & postpositions:
With few exceptions, directional particles are prepositive, and
locational particles are postpositive. Those which take two objects
generally occur between them (as conjunctions). Some compounds are
parenthetical.
suu - to, towards, into; for, on behalf of (pre.).
suu wezo - therefore, thus, QED.
suumou - forward (pre.), in front of (post.)
suunuu - back, backward (pre.), behind (post.)
ro - at, in (post.).
Ketuu/kuu tii ro - at this/that moment, just now/then.
kuu sa-tii ro - then (subsequently, consequently, immediately after
previously mentioned events)
rela - with, by means of, using (pre.).
suu rela - in order to, so that, so as to; in return for (pre.)
rela ... ro - because of
soro - above, over (post.)
wiruu ro - under, below, beneath (post).
noi - onto (if pre.) or on (post.) Used with precipitation-verbs,
e.g., uumigaza noi Lamakiita, sleet is falling on Lamakiita.
Also used with "tenwuu," to transform:
suu ke melya nii, ke melya nii ro - across (at/to the other side of)
kii thara melya ro - around, encircling, surrounding
suu monii - beyond, farther than, exceeding
saro - outside of, exterior to ("at fur") (post.)
aula mou - primarily; only, solely, exclusively (as first)
nizau - through, in and out (pre. or post.)
igautho - according to, by the authority of, by (authorship) (post.)
yimou - on level with, at same altitude or depth as (post.)
yimou tii - when, at same moment as (post.)
ragau - when, at the time of, while, during (post.); in the event
that, in case (pre.)
ta - until, up to the time of (pre.); before the time of (post.)
igau - from, away from, out of (pre.)
wii - 1. part of, belonging to, associated with (post.); used for
posessive constructions, e.g.: kuu muuga ko thaula wii, the
dancer's book.
2. Of, about, on the topic of (pre.): kuu loto wii ko thaula, the
book about the dancer.
itau - of, out of, among (post.): e.g., Taramakato is the eldest of
the gods. Ka Taramakato aula yisuu kii ralii itau.
thii - between, among (conj. or post.).
ke zya thii kuu kwimo, between the tree and the hill.
yii zya thii, among some trees.
tiga - with, together (post.)
thigaithe - without (post.)
conjunctions, comparative particles
* Conjunctions
rau - and, however, yet, even so
rau kii aliinii mizau - etc., and so forth (of people)
rau kou nii mizau - etc., and so forth (of things)
rau the - but, except, with the exception of
tema - yet, even now, still
se - exclusive or
ze - inclusive or
sii - rather than
tero - neither...nor: Kii ralii tero kii alii, neither gods nor
mortals.
inau - if, whether
inaula - as if, as though
aula - comparative particle: as, than, as much, so much
aula me - more
aula tou - less
Ika izamo aula me ikakau, He runs more [often] than he walks.
Ika thizii aula tou iko, He is less strong than she.
Ko thaulo kwazo aula ka thwii. The bard is as wise as her
brother.
aula we - most
aula tou we - least
Iko thizii aula we. = Iko thizii aula me yii thara. She is
strongest (of anyone).
Ika semau aula tou we. = Ika semau aula tou yii thara. He is
shortest (of anyone).
wezo - that; introduces subordinate clauses, thus:
Iko ethouka suu o wezo uuka tha sa-kweta, She said to me that you
were coming tomorrow.
Also introduces direct quotation:
Iko ethouka wezo, "uumalou noi Meratora." She said "it's raining
at Meratora."
"wezo" may also be used along with a postposition to clarify what is
its object; wezo-postposition phrases may be nested, thus:
Ikii tha suu semau, wezo Ka Taramakato tha wezo ikii-lii yizoula
rathe thii ragau.
They went far-off, [begin-while] Taramakato went [begin-among]
those who plan wickedly [end-among] [end-while].
interrogatives
* Interrogative pronouns and adverbs:
These occur in questions in the same place as the article, noun,
quantifier, verb or adverb would in the corresponding declarative
sentences.
kilou - (replaces article) what gender?
Kilou thau sonau? What is the sex of that person who is coming?
lii - (replaces noun phrase or pronoun) what, who? lii ethouka?, who
speaks? uuka ethouka suu lii?, to whom are you speaking?
lou - where, when? Uumalou lou, where is it raining/when did it rain?
tuuzau - (replaces quantifier) how much, how many?
Uuka maga yuu tuuzau sima? How many sima do you have?
Yuu sima tuuzau? How many sima are there?
liiwau - (replaces verb) to do what?
Iko liiwau ika? What did she do to him?
tuu - (replaces adverb) how? why? in what manner, by what means,
for what reason? uuka --- thuu, how did you ---?
Join third-person definite pronouns with the the interrogative
pronouns to form relative pronouns:
iko-lii relo she who sings
ikuu-lii myetou that which was
ikuu-lou uumalou where/when it is raining
ikii-tuu ethouka how/why to speak; the art of rhetoric.
new words
----- imported from Old Toa', to be put in places: ----
- to wear? < isamaka
thozii - land, territorymanatoramera - deep tunnel-web of homes; city
wilii - building, house; an above-ground structure with a roof
nita - to help, aid, give succor
au - to use, employ
routyo - tribe
routyothozii - nation (people + their territory)
routyomo - community; the people of a place
Texts
Babel Text (W)
0Th Thauliralau translation by Jim Henry (jim.henry@silver.com) :Th The Thauliralau are actually the people who speak the language; the proper name of the language is Kuu ethou kii Thauliralau wii (the language the Thauliralau of). The Thau' are not humanoid, and they live in a world rather different from ours, so I've taken a few liberties in the translation. Their language is isolating, with SVO order, and a mix of prepositional and postpositional particles.
1Th. Myetou. Kuu thara tyou lamo kuu yuu ethou rau kou tou to.
1Th! Awhile-ago. The-SNG. entire world held (contained) the-SNG. one language and the-PL. few words. ["Myetou" serves to set the tense for the entire passage.]
2Th. Ikii norothe wezo ikii tha kuu miraluuza igau ragau yuu mo you kwimou thigaithe kuu Syinara ro, rau ikii kyo magamo ketuu mo ro.
2Th! They found [begin-clause] they travelled the sun-direction from while a place some hills without the Shinar in, and they began-to live that place in. ["sun-direction": east. "a place some hills without": a plain.]
3Th. Rau iye ethouka suu-l-iye wezo, "Suuwau! Ara kwinuu toumii you memira, rau temira ikou suu sya." You memira suu ikii you tau, rau you mii suu ikii you rola."
3Th! And one said to-one that, "To-action! We ought-to make some bricks, and burn them to ripe." Some bricks to them some stone, and some clay to them some sticky-stuff.
4Th. Rau ikii ethouka wezo, "Suuwau! Ara toumii suu ara yuu sautoramo rau yuu niwii-zyemo, rau kuu noi kuu niwii-zyemo wii kuu so ro, suu rela miga the rau thatharamo the.
4Th! And they said that, "To-action! We build to us a many-home-place and a building-tall, and the dorsal-side the building-tall of the sky within, so-as-to be-unknown not and scatter not. [Note: noi, dorsal-side, is used rather than mou, head; the Thau' word for "head" would imply "front", since their bodies are horizontal, like that of a centipede. The word translated "scatter" here breaks down as go-all- place; this is different from the word used later on, which means throw- all-place and is used transitively.]
5Th. Rau Ka Yawa sonau igau kou zyemo suu rela launuu kuu sautoramo rau kuu niwii-zyemo wezo kii alii toumii.
5Th! And the YHWH came from the high-[places] so-as-to see the many-home-place and the building-tall that the people built. [No aspiration (h) in Thau', so YHWH is transliterated "Yawa". I'm using the masculine singular article "ka" with the name of God.]
6Th. Rau Ka Yawa ethouka wezo, "Kwinuu wa launuu! Ye ye routyo lamo yuu yuu ethou kyo wau ikuu. Rau you thye wau wezo ikii yizoula wau ro mauzilothe sa-myetou-no.
6Th! And the YHWH said that, "[advisory] [active] see! One one tribe having one one language begins to-do this. And some no act that they plan to-do [end-that] be-impossible in-a-little-while. ["One one" is an idiom for "only one," "a single one." "ro" just closes the clause beginning with "wezo", doesn't mean "in" here. sa-myetou-no makes the clause future tense.]
7Th. "Suuwau! Au kwinuu tha igau kou zyemo rau nwotharamo kou to ikii wii, suu rela ikii nwa the kou tho suu-l-ikii wii.
7Th! "To-action! We ought-to go from the heights and scatter the words them of, so-that they hear not the ideas one-another of. [Hear the ideas = understand. nwotharamo = throw-all-place.]
8Th. Rau Ka Yawa nwotharamo ikii nizau kuu thara tyou, rau ikii eziga toumii kuu sautoramo.
8Th! And the YHWH scattered them through the entire world, and they stopped building the many-home-place.
9Th. Suu wezo kuu sautoramo tomo suu-l-ikuu Kuu Papelo, rela ikuu-lou Ka Yawa nwotharamo kou to kuu tyou wii, rau nwotharamo kii alii nizau kuu thara tyou ro.
9Th! Therefore the many-home-place called itself the Babel, [begin-because] the-place-where the YHWH scattered the words the world of, and scattered the people through the entire world [end-because]. [P represents any bilabial other than /m/ in foreign loanwords. Suu wezo (to that) = therefore. rela ... ro is a parenthetical expression meaning "because"; it encloses the reason-clause.]
Kuu loto ra wii kii Nayira
Kuu Tyou Eziga
(The Old (former) World)
Kii Nayira Ralii myetou mera. Ikii raimaulo yuu tyou rela mii sela.
(Lit.: The Eleven Gods awhile-ago deep. They imagined/made a world using material (lit. clay) bright.)
Kuu tyou tyomii tha ketuu tyou ara wii. Tyomii tuu? Iyii mauzilou the raimaulo, kuu tyou.
(That world differed much [from] this world us-INCL. of. Different how? One learn-how cannot to-imagine [it], that world.)
Ikii raimaulo, kuu tyou ro, yii alii sela, tyomii tha ara kuu thauza wii.
(They made, that world within, some people bright, differing much [from] us-INCL. the nowadays of.)
Ara tomo ikii Kii Maragau. Ikii tomo suulikii lii?
(We-INCL. call/name them the Maragau. They called themselves what? [i.e., Who knows what they called themselves?])
Ikii magamo kuu tyou ro rau mauzou Kii Nayira you wuumera ragau.
(They lived that world within and worshipped/obeyed The Eleven some centuries [year-deep] during.)
Yii Maragau launuu suu Kii Nayira, rau ethouka suulikii, "Kii Nayira muuzau tuu ala? Ala mauzou tuu ikii? Ala thailoutha ikii, rau muuzau kuu tyou suu ala."
Some Maragau looked at/to the Eleven, and said to-one-another, "The Eleven rule why us-EXCL.? We-EXCL. worship/obey why them? [Let] us kill them, and rule the world to/for ourselves.")
Ikii ethouka suu kii aliinii rau yii aliinii nya suu ikii.
(They spoke to the others and some-of-the others listened to them.)
You wuumera swo. Yii me Maragau ilaithou kuu yizoula, wezo Kii Nayira nya muugitha suu kuu yizoula rathe ragau.
(Some centuries passed. Some more Maragau joined/agreed-with the plan, that/while [wezo: parenthetical particle for postpositions; here, begin-while] the Eleven listened sadly to the plan wicked while [ragau: while (postposition)].)
Ikii la you wuu swo, suu rela lonuu ikii-lii suuga kuu yizoula. Lii thoure?
(They let some years pass, so as [suu rela: to the purpose of, for] to-see who [would] decide-against the plan. Who [was] loyal?)
Yii Maragau nya the kuu yizoula rela kuu sougau ro, rii kuu thoure.
(Some Maragau heard not the plan because the fear of [rela...ro is a parenthetical adposition, "because of"], rather-than the loyalty.)
Kuu tii ro, Ka Taramakato ethouka suu kii raliinii wii yuu yizoula witha, wezo kwazo rau kwozou. Kii raliinii thezalii ika suu wauthe.
(That moment at, the-[m.] Taramakato ["grasps all memory"] spoke to the other-gods of a plan new, which [was] wise and/but dangerous. The others begged him to not-act.)
Ko Merakwazo ethouka wezo, "Wasathe.
(The-[f.] Merakwazo ["deep wisdom"] said that, "[It's] unnecessary.)
"Iye nya kou tho yela ikii wii, igau yuu tyou rau tyou, yii tho sougau, yii nii tho thou."
("One hears the thoughts loud them of, from [pl.-common] world and world, some thoughts fearful, some other thoughts loving.")
Ka Taramakato ethouka wezo, "Kuu wau, rau kuu tho the, auguu mou ke thawilau."
(The Taramakato said that, "The action, and the thought not, tests/proves firstly/most-effectively the character/soul.")
Ka Yelazagau ethouka wezo, "Wasathe.
(The-[m.] Yelazagau ["walks boldly"] said that, "[It's] unnecessary.")
"Ikii nya the kuu yizoula, rela iyou rii-yeletha tuu ro. Thailoutha ikii the, suu wezo."
("They hear not the plan, from [rela...ro] whatever motives why in. Kill them not, therefore ["to which"].")
Ka Taramakato ethouka wezo, "Ikii-lii rathe rau sougau ketuu tii ro, rathe rau yela inauma sa-wuumoya."
(The Taramakato said that, "Those-who [are] wicked and fearful this time at, [will be] wicked and bold perhaps next year.")
Ka Wainoramega ethouka wezo, "Wasathe.
(The-[m.] Wainoramega said that, "[It's] unnecessary.")
Ikii yii thara alii mizau. Thailoutha ikii thara; ikii-lii mauzou Ara ketuu tii ro, inauma nya the mauzou sa-wuumoya."
("They some all people [are] similar. Kill them all; those-who worship us-INCL. this time at, might hear not [id., refuse] to-obey next year.")
Ka Taramakato ethouka wezo, "Thailoutha the ikii-lii wau rathe the, tiga kii rathe."
(The Taramakato said that, "Kill not those-who act wrongly not, along-with the wicked.")
Twe, ikii ethouka wezo kuu yizoula ika wii kwazo.
(Finally, they said that the plan him of [was] wise.)
Ikii tha suu semau, wezo Ka Taramakato tha wezo ikii-lii yizoula rathe thii ragau.
(They went to far-away, that/while the Taramakato went that/among those-who planned wickedly among while.)
Ika kworau wezo ika matauko the kuu yizoula ikii wii.
(He pretended that he knew not the plans them of.)
Ikii omau wezo, "Kii nii yeyira lou? Ala thawilau mauzou me ikii."
(They asked about, "The other ten where?" We-EXCL. desire to-worship also them.")
Ka Taramakato ethouka wezo, "Ikii tha suu semau, suu rela wa raimaulo kou yuuyira tyou witha. O magamo launuu suu uukii, rau ralau uukii."
(The Taramakato said that, "They [have] gone to far-off, so as to [suu rela] make the ten worlds new. I stay to-watch-over to you, and protect you.")
Yimou tii ikii nya kuu ethou, ikii suuwau suu rela thailoutha ika.
(When [yimou tii: on-the-level-of moment] they heard this speech, they rose-up so as to [suu rela] kill him.
Ka Taramakato aouu yela, inaula ika launuu yuu yozaimuu, wezo wa ralau ke mou suuli'wii ragau.
(The Taramakato cried-out loudly, as-though he saw the surprising-thing [idiom, to be surprised], that/while trying to keep the head-segment himself-of [trying to keep one's head-segment: idiom, to defend oneself] while.)
Kii thara alii kuu tyou ro nya kuu aouu ika wii. Ika ra twe, wezo thailoutha rela kii alii ikii-lii ika raimaulo thizii aula nethe ika.
(The all people the world within heard the cry him of. He died finally, that killed by the creatures which he [had] made strong as almost himself.)
Ka Taramakato ke mou, suu wezo, kii Ralii Ra wezo ara mauzou ikii-lii.
(The Taramakato [is] the first/greatest, thus, the Gods Dead that we-INCL. worship those-who [are dead].)
Kii yizoula rathe thila wezo ikii launuu ka Ralii ra ragau. Kii thara Maragau, rau the kii nakwigayirai thoure, thila ikii tiga.
(The planners wicked rejoiced that/when they saw the god dead when The all Maragau, except for [rau the: "and not"] the twenty-nine loyal-ones, rejoiced them with.)
Ikii yizoula suu rela thego kii Yuuyira, rau kii nakwigayirai thoure yizoula suu rela ethouka wii kuu kwonou ikii.
(They planned so as to [suu rela] go-in-search-of the Ten, and the twenty-nine loyal-ones planned to tell about the danger them.)
Kuu tii ro, kii Yuuyira sonau, ra, thizii, kwozou.
(That moment at, the Ten came, holy, strong, dangerous.)
Ikii tenwuu kii yizoula noi yii thiga uuthegathe rau thiziithe.
(They changed the conspirators into [lit. "onto"] some mist- creatures, fragile and feeble.)
Ikii izamaga kuu sa-tii ro kii nakwigayirai thoure suu kuu tyou witha wezo ikii raimaulo kuu tii ta.
(They carried-with-them the next-moment at the twenty-nine loyal- ones to the world new that they [had] made the while before.)
Kii nakwigayirai, ikii-lii saraga kii tii ta kuu ra Ka Taramakato wii, yimuula yela ketuu tyou witha.
(The twenty-nine, who [had] lamented, the moment before, the death the Taramakato of, delighted-in loudly this world new.)
"Ketuu tyou mizau lonau, sela, mela, tyomii tha kuu eziga. Rau kii lezo ala wii kwima the ikuu..."
("This world [is] like [a] circle (idiom, "symmetrical" or "beautiful"), bright, strange, different-from very the old. And/but the bodies us-EXCL. of fit not it...")
Ko Merakwazo ethouka wezo, "Lekyou nya o."
(The Merakwazo said that, "[imperative] hear me."
"Uukii nwuu sa-tii tyomii, rau uukii kwima ketuu tyou."
("You become next-moment different, and you [will] fit this world.")
"Uukii mizau the suuluukii; uukii nwuu kii thelwau tyomii."
("You [will] resemble not one-another; you [will] become the kinds/species different.")
Kuu sa-tii ro, kii Yuuyira ethouka, rau tenwuu kii nakwigayirai noi kii Thauliralau minou rau nelau, kii Tamaparaka minou rau nelau, kii Mauzouzya minou rau nelau, kii Silithou minou rau nelau, rau kii aliinii mizau. Ke thara-l-ou nwuu ye Zyalethou.
(The next-moment at, the Ten spoke, and transformed the twenty-nine onto the Thauliralau female and male, the Tamaparaka [TTambroc] female and male, the Mauzouzya [Briacite] female and male, the Silithou female and male, and and the others likewise. The last-one became a Zyalethou [Jhray].)
Ikii thara outha kou sau wuumera ragau suulikii-tiga, rau relina the.
(They all lived the many centuries during one-another-with, and fought not.)
the Sundering
(This was going to be my next translation in Thau', but I got busy with school & later with other conlangs. Maybe someday...)
The Sundering
The evil ones who had plotted against the Eleven had been confined in a small island of mist for many generations. All of those who had been Marako were now dead, except for the eldest Yith, who required days now for a thought. A small tribe of Toa' lived eleven days' journey from the mist.
There had been many months of dry weather, and food became scarce. One day, a hunter several days out from the village chanced upon a galvorn and pursued it. All day and all night he followed, till near dawn he closed upon it. They were then drawing near the mist, and a mist-being leapt out and devoured the soul (tawilo) of the galvorn. The body of the galvorn, deprived of sense, ran on a bit further and faltered at last inside the mist.
The hunter, tired and sleepy, cried out in anger, for he was deprived of the food that he had counted upon. He was very near the mist, which he had before seen only from a distance, and he tried to think of a way to get the meat of the galvorn. The mist-beings heard him thinking, and said: "If you will take several of the stones from the wall around the mist, you can come in safely and get the meat unharmed by the mist." So the hunter picked up several of the stones which ringed the mists, put them in his pouches, and walked in to where the galvorn lay. True enough, neither the mist nor the mist-beings harmed him. But when he had butchered the galvorn and loaded up much of the meat, he looked back and tried to return. Though he had only been two body-lengths from the outside edge, he could no longer see it. He continued on, and, after a long walk, he finally got to the edge. He saw that he was on the far side of the village, what should have been twelve or thirteen days away. Behind him were mists as far to east and west as he could see, and, as he watched, they advanced further and covered over the place where he stood. Again they did not harm him, but he hurried on out of them again, and kept running.
It seemed to him that the mists had escaped their bounds and flooded the valley, including his village. He looked back and saw the mists creeping forward, covering up all of the land he knew; then he ran on into places unfamiliar to him.
He cried out to the Eleven, asking them to forgive him for releasing the mists and to make them stop flooding out. Then Merakasou appeared to him, and she said:
"Child, you have done very ill to listen to those wicked mysts. Many people have died, and many more will die before we can trap the Mists again, for we have not recovered our full strength after making this world and trapping the Mists. We must also try to rescue the souls (tawilo) that the mysts have eaten, and it will take long to heal them. Take the stones which you took from the island's wall from your pockets, and walk parallel to the advancing wall of Mist, laying them upon the ground at a body-length's interval."
He did so, and the Mists advanced no further along the region that he blocked; but they spilled around this wall on either side, and trapped him. So he took up the stones and ran on, till he was out of the mysts again.
Then Merakasou instructed him what sort of stone to look for, and all the gods appeared to various mortals in all the world telling them to collect these stones and make walls around their habitations. The gods themselves stood in front of the walls of Mist, holding them back by main strenth. Merakasou herself strode into the Mists and rescued many souls from the mysts, but was at last defeated and killed by the sudden concerted efforts of all the mysts.
So at last the advance of the mists were stopped, in all the regions where the rock which could keep them away was abundant; but most of the world was covered by mists, and the safe havens were cut off from one another. To keep the walls from being disturbed again, Wainorameka made them invisible.
Kuu Thamera (E)
Origin: FOLDER__ - 0024 - Thauliralau
From: JIM HENRY PRIVATE
To: CONLANG ML
Date: 08/01/96 at 20:28
Re: CONLANG: So what are
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To: conlang@diku.dk
Robert Neaves wrote:
HM> >We should come up with some sort of interesting conlang game or
HM> >neatest-lang-of-the-month or something, anything.
Herman Miller replied:
HM> That might be interesting. Say, a translation of Jabberwocky into various HM> conlangs?
Agh! That *would* be interesting. You would have to demonstate how you come up with portmanteau neologisms in your conlang, and form words for "brilig," "slithy," and so forth out of similar roots in your conlang as English "broiling" and "dinner", "lithe" and "slithy." Or, if not with those concepts in particular, you would have to work a liberal helping of portmanteaus into the translation, in order to convey the flavor of "Jabberwocky" to speakers of your conlang. Should we require that the translations scan and rhyme? Here's a rendering in ethouka Thauliralau that rhymes and uses Carrollesque portmanteaus, though it doesn't scan particularly well.
Ke tii iye soumiratiza ragau.
The time one broils-things-for-dinner when.
'Twas brillig, and
Kii toza* masouga izalonau rau
The toves* curling-wet moved-circularly and
The slithy [lithe and slimy] toves/Did gyre [go round like a
gyroscope] and gimble [make holes like a gimlet]
Remuu kuu sethamau ro. Kii porogozou** muuthegithe
dug holes the go-far within. The borogoves** [were] flimsy-sad
In the wabe [way-beyond and way-behind the sundial].
All mimsy [flimsy and miserable] were the borogoves,
tha, rau kii rathou amwuuluu le.
very, and the raths bellow-whistled fast.
and the mome raths outgrabe ["between bellowing and whistling,
with a kind of sneeze in the middle"].
* - There's no v in Thauliralau; z is the closes fricative.
** - Carroll gives no etymology for "borogove" or "rath".
How's that for forty minutes' work?
Ke tii iye soumiratiza ragau.
Kii toza* masouga izalonau rau
Remuu kuu sethamau ro. Kii porogozou** muuthegithe
tha, rau kii rathou amwuuluu le.
syllables: 11,11,16,9. Needs more work.
Origin: FOLDER__ - 0024 - Thauliralau
From: JIM HENRY PRIVATE
To: DAVID BELL
Date: 08/17/96 at 14:47
Re: CONLANG: re: formal
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David Bell wrote:
DB> > From: Richard K Harrison
DB> > Well, Jeffrey, let's begin the discussion. Hopefully others who have
DB> I'm game. I'll try to work out some BNF for Amman-Iar. Haven't done this
DB> kind of thing since a Grad School course in Formal Languages. In order t
DB> make our communications intelligible, however, we might want to stick to
DB> the prescribed BNF metalinguistics symbols. If memory serves:
This is probably the part of linguistics that I understand least,
but I'm game to try describing Thau' grammar in this format. It
might help clarify my own ideas.
Sentence ::= VerbS | Existence | Identity | TenseSet
A sentence can be a normal verb-containing sentence, an assertion
of something's existence, a statement of two things' identity, or
an adverbial phrase which sets the default tense for subsequent
sentences.
Existence ::= {"ne"} [NP] {AP}
Asserts that the referent of the noun phrase (NP) exists.
"Ne" means "yes," and may optionally be used to make the
assertion more emphatic. An adverbial phrase (usually a
time-adverb (e.g., "myetou" awhile ago)) may qualify the
assertion, make it other than present tense, etc.
Identity ::= [NP] {AP} [NP]
Asserts that the first NP is the same as, or a subset of, the
second NP. An AP may change tense, etc.
TenseSet ::= AP
VerbS ::= {NP} [VP] {NP} {{preposition} NP {postposition}}
A verb phrase is obligatory; by itself, it may be a subjectless
verb such as "uumalou" (it's raining), a command (second-person
subject implied), or what would be called an expletive or
interjection in a European language. The first noun phrase would
be the subject, the second a direct object, the third (preceded
or followed by an adposition) an indirect object.
That accounts for sentence types, except for those containing
relative or subordinate clauses; I'm not yet sure how to describe
them, nor have I really formalized the rules for using them.
The phrase types are:
NP ::= Pronoun | [Article] {Quantifier} [Noun] |
Relative-pronoun phrase | Adpositional phrase
The obligatory article specifies definiteness, gender and number
of the noun (the noun doesn't inflect). Numerals and quantifiers
are the only type of adjective that occurs between the article
and noun; others occur as verbs, with no copula.
VP ::= [Verb] {{conj.} {Verb2} ...} {AP}
There may be one or several verbs. Auxiliary verbs precede
others, and state verbs generally precede action verbs.
Conjunctions between verbs are optional; "rau" (and) is usually
omitted between verbs, but occurs if an AP appears after one verb
and one or more other verbs follow the AP.
AP ::= Adverb | {preposition} [NP] {postposition}
(How does one specify that one of several non-contiguous elements
is mandatory? item1 | item2 | ... works okay for contiguous
elements, but not for those separated by other elements. Anyway,
you have to have a preposition or a postposition, but there are
only a few parenthetical combinations that are allowed.
-- jim.henry@silver.com
"Apologies if I am repeating obvious conclusions. My only
gateway onto the Net is very expensive, and I miss many important
postings." - Twirlip of the Mists, in _A Fire Upon the Deep_ by
Vernor Vinge.
---
RM 1.31 3176 Kou thau mera, kuu outha laikou.
<*>
Origin: FOLDER__ - 0024 - Thauliralau
From: JIM HENRY PRIVATE
To: CONLANG ML
Date: 05/29/96 at 12:38
Re: CONLANG: Thau' verbs
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To: conlang@diku.dk
JG> TEXT "For verbs, the basic form indicates present, timeless, or
JG> habitual action. Time or mood other than present indicatives are
JG> marked with adverbs."
JG> COMMENT: The concept is sound, but the description seems faulty.
JG> Morphologically speaking, the use of an adverb is not a verb
JG> inflection. It would be more accurate to say that Thau' verbs are
JG> not marked for tense or aspect, but are interpreted as present tense
OK. That's probably a more linguistically sound description,
though I don't think it would change much in practice.
JG> TEXT: "Adjectives are not distinguished from verbs; they follow
JG> the nouns that they modify, and are followed by adverbs."
JG> COMMENT: If adjectives modify nouns, and verbs don't, then
JG> Thau'syntax does distinguish adjectives from verbs regardless of
JG> whether either of these word classes take inflections. What would
JG> it mean for a verb to modify a noun in the same way that an
Perhaps the examples in the second part of the sketch which I posted
on 5/29 will make this clearer. Here are some other examples:
Keta ilithou yozathe.
1st-person masculine demonstrative + friend + to-be-young,immature
My friend is young.
Keta ilithou yizoula.
1st-person masculine demonstrative + friend + to-plan, to make plans
My friend plans ahead.
There is no grammatical difference between verbs that would be
translated by "to be " in English, and verbs that
would be translated by a simple intranstive verb. Both take
time-adverbs in the same way:
Keta ilithou yozathe wuumoya.
My friend was young last year (but is now considered to have
grown up or come of age).
Keta ilithou yizoula wuumoya.
My friend made plans last year.
Some stative verbs in Thau' can take manner-adverbs that their
counterparts would not take in English, though:
Keta ilithou thila kwazo.
My friend is cheerful wisely
(i.e., to-be-cheerful here is regarded as an action, not just a state).
Does that make it clearer? In other words, in Thau' the
distinction between transitive verbs and intransitive verbs is
more fundamental than a distinction between state-intransitives
and action-intransitives. The transitive/intransitive
distinction is not as fundamental as in other languages, either:
some stative verbs can take an object via preposition, indicating
that one is in such a state for such-and-such purpose or by
such-and-such means:
Keta ilithou thila rela kuu lo.
My friend is cheerful by means of the song.
I.e., he cheers himself up by listening to or singing a song.
If one wished to emphasize the song affecting him, it might be:
Kuu lo re yuu thila suu keta ilithou.
the song produces some cheerfulness to my friend
The song cheers my friend up.
---
RM 1.31 3176 "Mundus Vult Decipi"
<*>
As I think I mentioned before, my sister and I started working on this world long before we did any significant work on its languages. In some cases I've been able to sucessfully reverse-engineer the meanings of names, as with several of the pantheon below.
Ralamoto (a bard's name)
Meratora tunnels in Triyk
Plistrolamakiita (the first part sounds as though it could be derived from Old Pliv! - pblifv + szdra? Yes, a borrowing from Old Pliv by way of the runic writing in those caves. The Pliv words don't fit Thau' phonology, but the Thau' make a valiant attempt at pronouncing it anyway, it being obviously sacred to the Pliv ghosts.)
Fires: Lloramal, Mirarotho, Mirathanek
Marako (the old race before division into various sentient types)
Gods:
Taramakato (Coils around all memory) - (eldest, now dead)
Merakasou (Deep wisdom)
Yelasako (Walks boldly (or loudly))
Wainorameka (Tries to forget evil)
Yoimaralai (living dance)
Soisota (Laughing water)
...five more.
Last updated (formatting fixes, no substantive change) August 2011