Author Archives: jonafras

yanár (noun): weak, frail, weakling. ma-mbatá-yanár-assut sáta lepangam lambúcalut his-offspring-weak-ATTR.DEF FUT destroy.PERF.TRANS family.ACC.DEF “his weakling sons will destroy the family”

mucún (noun): purple, purple-colored; purple dye; Aurelian. ta ca langundaram mucúnd-al NEG I wear.IMPERF.TRANS purple-ACC “I [will] not wear purple” The word mucún originally meant ‘Aurelian’ (the Proto-Eolic root likely had the meaning ‘black-haired’ or ‘dark-haired’), and only came to … Continue reading →

yahan- (intransitive verb), imperfective yahanat: to laugh. varándut múca issá len yahan-at father.DEF fall.PERF so.that we laugh-IMPERF.1 “[our] father fell [down], so we laughed”

lambúc (noun): family, lineage. lambúca-Vándangá nilissásam ndácasa-tutúl lecá capáyisam racátal family-Vánda.EL.PL send.IMPERF.NON1.TRANS young-many.ACC so.that fight.IMPERF.NON1.TRANS enemy.ACC “the families of the Vánda [province] have sent many young [people] to fight the barbarians” Listen to the example sentence here: W_HE_118_lambuuc_example

vac (noun): coin (especially silver); unit of currency. arcá minaram vac-ur-tuleval cá-púsamacúmbangut indeed give.PERF.1.TRANS coin-GEN-ten.ACC this-horse.lame “[I] paid ten silver coins for this lame horse!” vac is most often used either explicitly for coins made of silver, or with the … Continue reading →

úcan (noun): meadow, pasture. larend-ecámúyel nartáyis úcand-evis flower-white.colored.ATTR.PL grow.IMPERF.NON1 meadow-SUBL “there are white flowers [all] around the meadows”

hendassár- (intransitive verb), imperfective hendassác: to be ashamed (of). len hendassá-ndá varándettárut essát ndácasemecut we be.ashamed-COMPL father.ILL.DEF later young.INESS.DEF “we have become ashamed of [our] father since [our] youth” The verb hendassác is morphologically speaking intransitive, but it can take … Continue reading →

tandíc (noun): salt, salty. sayándut ngúya sen cere-tandíc-es ca-mittámber soup.DEF COP.IMPERF EMPH very-salt-ESS my-tongue.SOC “[this] soup is too salty for me” (lit. ‘very salty with my tongue’)

lavar- (transitive verb), imperfective lavaratam: to feed, graze (esp. of animals); to pick (e.g. flowers, fruit, etc.) mbuttácur-partu lavar-ettám lárcúninut sheep.GEN-six graze-IMPERF.NON1.TRANS slope.SUPERESS.DEF “six sheep are grazing [up] on the slope” Apart from locational obliques, the verb lavaratam often takes … Continue reading →

cin (noun): proud, lofty, exalted. send tambáremam sen cind-al you listen.ITER.TRANS EMPH proud-ACC “you [should always] listen [carefully] to the proud”