Text
fĭm-cô-van. mwĭl-van heŋ; ħum-van heŋ.
brĭ hǒl i mwĭl-van. vĭj lǒ i mwĭl-van, Ќ oj ruŋ-ť-zô.
ť ʝâr-i źy ĥy-i trâ-zô sru.
hyw-van źǒ ĥy-kě’ĝu ʝâr-i, gâ lǒ tu-i ť im fâ-ŋĭw ĥy-i žâw-ga-fwa-zô.
źy i ĥy-rĭm mĭ-i hyw-Ќ-van.
pě’hĭ fu-fja pǒ i šî’fy-ħa-šy kâ-i rĭm-Ł-van de. ƥ kâ-i rĭm-Ќ-van heŋ še.
Ќ ĥy-i ĝum-zô bĭw. že ryň-o râ-fwa-zô še Ќ ŝu-i ħum, hǒŋ šî’fy-ħa ĥy-i źum-Ќ-zô.
English Translation
I’m sick. I don’t sleep; I’m not afraid.
All through the daytime I sleep. While I sleep, you approach me.
Desire guides your dreams.
The hidden things which make your soul feel things must not know.
I know the things seen in [my] dreams.
People have been seeing a former demon on the dimly-lit road.
Maybe I didn’t see it.
Sorrow rules me. My fear may cause me to touch the demon.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION of the Mar01 text:
I am sick. I am awake, and lacking fear. You quickly approach while I sleep all day. Wishes guide your dreaming. The hidden things that move you must not know; I knew all the things seen in my dreams. A former demon was seen on those dark roads; I might not have seen it. Sadness controls me. The fear inside me might make me touch the demon.
Grammar and Vocabulary
gjâ-zym-byn (gzb) is an agglutinative language, fairly minimalist lexically, which leads to some long and sometimes not perfectly perspicuous compounds. In the glossary I’ve listed mostly only the root words, particles and suffixes, but also listed a few compounds used in the text where their meaning seemed hard to figure out from the component morphemes. Feel free to email asking for help, or look at the online lexicon for more information.
Root words are nominal, and are turned into verbs, modifiers, postpositions and conjunctions with appropriate suffixes. Compound postpositions, used to mark case roles, are formed using one of the core spacetime postpositions {i, o, ř} as a suffix on a root word for the appropriate abstract concept.
The main verb suffixes are {-zô} and {-van}. {-zô} marks an active (and agentive) verb. {-van} marks a stative (but not necessarily non-agentive) verb. Subject pronouns can be incorporated into the verb.
Typical word order is OVS, but varies since subjects and objects are marked fairly explicitly for theta roles with postpositions. Postpositional phrases almost always precede what they modify. If the postpositional phrases convey enough information by themselves, there may not be any verb. Within a noun phrase, the head noun comes first, followed by its modifiers if any. Morpheme order in compounds is generally head-modifier. Most place, time, etc. complements tend to precede the direct object and verb. If the subject is at the end of a clause or sentence, the subject postposition can be omitted. gjâ-zym-byn allows for omitting the subject when it is the same as in the previous clause, or (at the beginning of a text or an utterance) if it is first person.
=== Lexicon ===
In suffix definitions, the “~” refers to the referent of the stem the suffix is applied to.
bĭw n. sorrow, grief, regret
brĭ n. daytime
cô suff. opposite, reverse, contradictory quality
de mod. nowadays, in those days
fâ n. love, friendliness, affection
fâ-ŋĭw n. soul, mind (in its emotional aspect)
fĭm n. health
fja suff. having a minimal nonzero degree or amount of ~
fu n. light; shining
fwa suff. causative suffix: inducing a state of ~, causing to be ~, to
do or experience ~
ga suff. metaphorical extension of root’s meaning
gâ n. thing, item, entity
ĝum n. power, control, domination, strong influence
heŋ mod. negative, not; no (response)
hǒl mod. whole, entire, total; wholly, entirely, fully, completely, totally
hǒŋ conj. that (introduces subordinate clauses)
ħa suff. disapproval, dislike, contempt attitudinal suffix
ħum n. fear, being afraid
ĥy n. patient, thing acted on, thing affected by an action/process
ĥy-i postp. patient case marker
hyw n. direct knowledge; memory, experience
i postp. at, with, in, near
im postp. in (part of); of, belonging to (body parts)
ʝâr n. experiencer
ʝâr-i postp. experiential case marker
kâ n. noticing, paying attention to something, focusing one’s
attention upon something
kâ-i postp. object-of-attention case marker
kě’ĝu n. hiding, privacy, secrecy
Ќ pron. I, me
lǒ mod. which (relativizer)
Ł pron. one (third-person generic pronoun)
mĭ n. topic, subject, theme
mĭ-i postp. about; topic case marker; topic or focus adjunct for
thinking/saying and experiential verbs
mwĭl n. sleep
ŋĭw n. faculty, body part (functional)
o postp. to, towards
oj postp. coming near but not reaching
pě’hĭ n. road, way, path
pǒ mod. that yonder (distant from speaker and listener; third person
demonstrative)
ƥ pron. he, she, they (spirits, people, animals already mentioned)
râ n. occurrence, happening, event, process
râ-fwa-zô v. to cause to happen
rĭm n. seeing, having within view, vision
ruŋ n. going, coming, moving
ryň n. act, action, deed, doing
ryň-o postp. doing; performative case
še mod. maybe, possibly
šî’fy n. spirit; angel, fairy, demigod, daemon, kami, genius loci
šy n. old, former, previous; retired, emeritus; ancien
sru n. wishing, wanting, desiring
ŝu n. possess, have (quality, part, faculty)
ŝu-i postp. of, belonging to (qualities, attributes)
ť pron. you, y’all
trâ n. guiding, leading, ushering, herding
tu n. deliberate actor, agent, doer; base of active participles
tu-i postp. agent case marker
van suff. stative verb suffix
vĭj n. time, duration, while, period; compounded into verbs to mark
durative aspect
zô suff. active verb suffix
žâw n. feeling, sensation, perception
že pron. this, that (event or situation about to be described)
źǒ mod. negative imperative/hortative adverb
źum n. touching, feeling; contact
źy n. dreaming (unreal experiences during REM sleep)