jonafras.conlang.org

terang- (intransitive verb), imperfective terangav: to jump, spring.

yatíndut terang marcevevisut
rabbit.DEF jump.PERF roof.SUBL.DEF
“the rabbit jumped onto the roof”

rás (noun): brown; brown-eyed, dark-eyed; pessimist.

ca mbertacam púsa-rás-al
I own.IMPERF.1.TRANS horse-brown-ACC
“I own a brown horse”

rás most generally means brown in color, but metonymically it can also mean ‘brown-eyed’ or ‘dark-eyed’. By extension, it has come to mean ‘pessimist’ – in referring to someone who only sees darkness in life, due to the unfortunate fact of their eye color, which is not considered especially beautiful or aesthetically pleasing by Eolians (as opposed to having blue eyes).

cál (noun): blue-eyed, light-eyed. Also occurs as a personal name, Cálut.

ringi-cál-a ngúya lengarnes
woman-blue.eyed-INDEF are.IMPERF beautiful.ESS
“blue-eyed women are [very] beautiful”

Among the mostly fair-haired and blue-eyed Eolians, people who have blue eyes – as opposed to green, or especially brown – are considered to be beautiful. These beliefs often verge on racism, as they are often used by writers to disparage neighboring peoples (such as Trurians, Vitrians, and sometimes Trevecians), among whom a larger proportion of the population is dark-eyed. The standard of respect for blue-eyed beauty is so strong that no ode to an Eolic king would dare deny him the cál epithet – even if the king’s eyes are, in fact, of a different color.

lunga- (monotransitive verb), imperfective lungaram: to drink (something).

ta már lunga-ram rassúndal
NEG he/she drink-ITER.TRANS spirit/alcohol-ACC
“he/she doesn’t drink alcohol”

evál (noun): cloud. Occurs as the main element in Eválun (Eoleon) and Evála (Eolla).

ca ngúrnavam evál-á cránartemec
I see.IMPERF cloud.ACC-PL sky.INESS
“I see clouds in the sky”

The symbolism of clouds is very important in Eolic culture: after all, Eoleon itself means “Land of the Cloud”, and Eolla (the capital of Eoleon), in its High Eolic form Evála, means “City of the Cloud”. Clouds are associated with beauty, but also with high places, the sky, and heavens. The implication is that the kingdom of Eoleon, nestled high in the mountains – literally, among the clouds – towers over those of the lesser peoples surrounding it, and elevates the moral, spiritual, and martial worth of Eoleon’s inhabitants over that of all other places.

sarengá- (intransitive verb), imperfective sarengác: to be in pain, to feel pain.

ca sarengác míremec
I feel.pain.IMPERF.1 stomach.INESS
“my stomach hurts”

sarengác is a typical intransitive verb in that it does not take the transitive marker -am. Although a (non-obligatory) noun in the inessive can still be added to specify where the pain is being felt, note that this is not considered to be a direct argument of the verb.

lám (noun): pious, devoted. Also occurs as a personal name, Lámbut.

arcá ta lámb-a tarívisam párnisang
indeed NEG pious-INDEF feel hardship.ELL
“indeed, the pious do not suffer hardship” (TarÅ¡emâ, Kâlakåš 15:6)

lám is chiefly used to refer to men and women who appear to express an above-average devotion to the ideals of Olerism. These include performing the prescribed rituals such as prayers and fasting and regularly participating in readings of the TarÅ¡emâ (Olerism’s sacred book) in one’s local Round Temple. They might also refer to other religious activities such as proselytizing or copying manuscripts of the TarÅ¡emâ (although this has become less of an issue with the recent arrival of the printing press in Eoleon’s “present”, in the locally reckoned 1490s). This concept of piety has only gained prominence since the adoption of Olerism by the Eolians – it does not occur in the preceding polytheist religion, which was much more directly instrumentalist. The world is concomitantly of relatively recent origin, and may have been even coined by Callútut (1091-1135), the first translator of the entirety of the TarÅ¡emâ into High Eolic.

arcat or arcá (particle): indeed, really, trully. Can also be used to express contrast with a following clause, roughly like “while” or “on the one hand”.

arcá már ngúya yassendes
indeed he/she be.IMPERF stupid.ESS
“he/she is really stupid”

arcat is a very useful particle/adverb. It’s basically an intensifier, with the meaning “really” or “indeed” – very much like inna in Arabic. It should be used whenever you wish to convey the sense of standing strongly behind your statement.

There’s also a different way in which arcat can be used, but this is only relevant when it appears in clause combinations (that is, when there is another clause attached to the one with arcat). In this context,the statement in the clause with arcat is implied to contrast with the one in the following clause. To imply an especially strong contrast, the particle sen – a different intensifying/emphatic particle – can be used in the second clause. Sometimes, the use of arcat and/or sen can be translated as “while” or “on the one hand”, as in the following example:

arcá Marcut ngúya társes – mbet ngúya sen purándes
indeed Marcut be.IMPERF rich.ESS – and be.IMPERF really unrefined.ESS
“While Marcut is rich, he’s quite unrefined.”

mben (noun): iron. Can be used to refer to the ore, the metal, or objects made from iron.

ma-ndarenda-mben-assut cuttús
his-sword-iron-ATTR.DEF exists
“he has an iron sword”

Iron is a very important metal in Eoleon – given that iron ore, along with gold (hám) and silver (távas) is one of the three crucial ores keeping the Eolian economy afloat through imports. Iron smelting and the forging of iron tools and weapons are both highly respected crafts. Ornamented iron swords are considered works of art and prized personal possessions, and the most skillful blacksmiths can gain widespread fame.

ngúrn- (monotransitive verb), imperfective ngúrnavam: to see, notice, look at.

ta ‘ca ngúrn-am mál
not I see.PERF-TRANS he/she.ACC
“I didn’t see him/her”

ngúrnavam is a typical monotransitive verb in that it can only take one object, which is always in the accusative. You should note that it occurs very often in its so-called middle form, without the transitive suffix -am. When used in this way, its meaning is a bit different, and very difficult to translate directly – but probably closest to “it looks like” or “it appears (to be the case) that”. In the following examples, note that, when the middle voice is used, the normal word order is inverted, and the verb must come at the beginning of the sentence (rather than following the subject):

ngúrnav Andárut
see.IMPERF.MID Andárut
“[that] looks like Andárut”

ngúrnav mangávem
see.IMPERF.MID ill-DEF
“[he] appears to be ill/looks ill”