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Site Sathir Translation Image If image fails to load, try this link. Language Sathir Year 2003 Translator David J. Peterson Introduction Sathir is my obligatory ergative language, though its infixing is probably more interesting. I created it in the shadow of such languages as Tagalog, Malagasy and Fijian (plus Ancient Greek). In the text below, I, for the most part, stick with X-SAMPA, save the following exceptions: /r/ = [4]; /Ch/ = [C_h] (aspirated); /Cj/ = [C_j] (palatalized); and /Cw/ = [C_w] (labialized). Double vowels are long. Verse 1 adun tampjora taza kwo thalaba phalas Na kuntwoone Suntora. Verse 2 khadanoze tho kustedem, khosteNa naduri honthu ma kiDwoone Suntinar, is ladigoTi thono. Verse 3 is thadaba emi aza nistasko hunto, "kapa! twana ostuPu is imjeZin hodonu edami." is pwadaja tostuPo pe izone, me pwadaja ridil pe phizorja. Verse 4 is thadaba, "twizu! exo opjo istami, me ube kwo tudexi hunto ma SidZaja, is inumuNa ami, res phaanumaS ani hen kustoma kuntwoone Suntora." Verse 5 is katwelu ootuNa mede adZoZa topjo kwo udube phostun adexo ten metiNa etemiS. Verse 6 is thadaba ootuNa, "joZa! kwoone aza kwo alampjora aza hizonu Sizora, is adZigexo phodora. izala asanola phunSor phostun ruma en hetonu. Verse 7 twizu! kaNwelu is anaNeli tampjora hunu, mede aNkapa'r hodonu hedonu. Verse 8 is padaS honu etootuNa hen kustoma kuntwoone Suntora, is adapexo opjo hedonu. Verse 9 tSis uduNa hono "pabel", ostapas thono adaNeli tampjora kuntwoone Suntora, me tho thuzono padaS honu hen kustoma kuntwoone Suntora etootuNa. Interlinear Translation 1 (be, 3rd, non-future) (definite-language) (def.-one) (with) (instrumental-word) (inst.-few) (on) (genitive-def.-land) (gen.-def.-all). Translation 2 (travel, 3rd, n.f.) (from) (mobile-def.-Qedem) (adverbial-def.-time) (find, 3rd., n.f.) (plain) (in) (static-def.-land) (gen.-def.-Shinar), (and consequently) (take up residence, 3rd., n.f.) (there). Translation 3 (and then) (say/tell, 3rd., n.f.) (person) (one=some) (dative-friend) (gen.-def.-3rd.sg.pron.), "(hear, imperative: "Listen up!")! (form, 3rd., future) (brick-plural) (and then) (bake, 3rd., fut.) (def.-3rd.plu.pron.) (ergative-1st.plu.pron.)." (consequently) (serve, 3rd., n.f.) (def.-brick) (as) (dat.-rock) (and also) (serve, 3rd., n.f.) (def.-clay) (as) (dat.-mortar). Translation 4 (and then) (say, 3rd, n.f.), "(stand, imperative: "Stand up! Come on!")! (build, 3rd, fut.) (city) (dat.-def.-1stplu=for ourselves), (and along with it) (tower) (with) (inst.-top) (gen.-def.-3rdsg.) (in) (stat.-def.-sky), (consequently) (gain a name, get famous, 1st, optative, fut.) (1st.plu.), (if) (scatter-plu., 1st, inchoative, dubitative, fut.) (1st.plu.) (across) (mobile-skin) (gen.-def.-land) (gen.-def.-all)." Translation 5 (and then) (descend, 3rd., n.f.) (name-Aninstrumental = "The Nameless One") (and-def.) (see, 3rd., n.f.) (def.-city) (with) (def.-inst.-tower) (def.-what-plu.) (build, 3rd., n.f.) (relative pronoun-plu.) (erg.-def.-child-plu.) (erg.-def.-human). Translation 6 (and then) (say, 3rd. n.f.) ("The Nameless One"), "(see, imperative)! (nation) (one) (with) (inst.-language) (one) (dat.-3rdplu.pron.) (dat.-all), (consequently) (begin to build, 3rd. n.f.) (def.-this). (and now) (to be able to accomplish, 3rd., fut.) (everything) (that) (plan, 3rd., fut.) (rel.) (erg.-they). Translation 7 (come on)! (descend, 1st. fut.) (and then) (confuse, 1st. fut.) (def.-language) (gen.-they), (so that) (comprehend, 3rd. fut. + neg.) (def.-they) (erg.-they). Translation 8 (and then) (scatter, 3rd. n.f.) (them) (erg.-def.-YHWH) (across) (mobile-skin) (gen.-def.-land) (gen.-def.-all), (consequently) (cease to build, 3rd. n.f.) (city) (erg.-they). Translation 9 (def.+and=therefore) (name, 3rd., n.f.), (because) (there) (confuse, 3rd. fut.) (def.-language) (gen.-def.-land) (gen.-def.-all), (and also) (from) (mob.-there) (scatter, 3rd. n.f.) (them) (across) (mobile-skin) (gen.-def.-land) (gen.-def.-all) (erg.-def.-YHWH). English Paraphrase 1 One language with few words was upon the whole land. Paraphrase 2 They were traveling from Qedem when they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and so they took up residence there. Paraphrase 3 And then some guy said to his friend, "Hey, listen, man, let's make bricks and then bake them." And so bricks served as rocks and clay served as mortar. Paraphrase 4 And then they said, "Come on! We'll build a city for ourselves, and a tower with its top in the sky, and that way we'll get famous, lest we be suddenly scattered across the skin of all the earth." Paraphrase 5 And then the Nameless One descended to see the city and the tower what the children of humanity had built. Paraphrase 6 And then the Nameless One said, "Would you look at that! One nation with one language for the lot of 'em, and now they've begun to build this! Now they'll be able to accomplish everything they plan. Paraphrase 7 Come! I'll descend and confuse their language, so that they won't be able to comprehend themselves. Paraphrase 8 And then the Nameless One scattered them across the face of all the earth, and they stopped building the city. Paraphrase 9 Therefore, it was called "Babel", because there the language of all the earth was confused, and also from there they were scattered across the face of all the earth by the Nameless One. Notes 1 Sathir has a definiteness system that applies to just about all its forms. The definite morpheme, /-t-/, marks definiteness on nouns, much the way English does, but the same morpheme marks tense on the verb (the definite is the non-future tense, and the indefinite is the future tense), and performs a number of other functions. Also, the preposition /Na/ acts like the English verb "have" when its nominal object is in the genitive case. Additionally, all cases and tenses are infixing prefixes. When a word begins with a vowel, the infix is realized as a prefix; when a word begins with a consonant, it's realized as an infix. Finally (can I string more on?), if a noun is unmarked for case, it's in the default case, which is the absolutive case, as this is an ergative language. Notes 2 The difference between WH-words like "where?" and pronouns like "That's where I saw him" in Sathir is a difference of definiteness: WH-words are indefinite, and the others are definite. The word for "find" is the definite version of the word for "search for". The result is /nuturi/ [nuduri]. When you add the third person non-future tense to the verb, it becomes /natuturi/ [naduduri]. A sound change happened that simplified reduplicated sequences of consonants and vowels, so this simplifies to /naturi/ [naduri]. Notes 3 You know, I've always been at odds with how to translate this first sentence... It's clearly a method for expressing a reflexive, but really, did they all come up with the idea? So this time I went with the literal "and then one man said to his friend", 'cause, hey, he might have. Anyway, in the first sentence the number one, used in this context, means "some", as in, "Some kid just tore up all the verbal paradigms you've been working all year on for your new conlang". I'm using [P] to mean a voiceless bilabial fricative. I don't know who designed SAMPA, but really, [p\] for a voiceless bilabial fricative and [F] for a labio-dental nasal wer ridiculous choices. The v.b.f. should've been [P] or [F], and the l-d.n. should've been [m\]. I tell ya'... In the person's speech, /edami/, "we", is the subject of both "form" and "bake". Notes 4 First and second person pronouns are often put into the definite for emphasis when they appear as the direct or indirect object of a sentence. The optative is a kind of irrealis marker, marking a future event that the speaker hopes will come to pass. It's used often so as not to "jinx" the hopes of the speaker. Similarly, "if", combined with a verb in the dubitative, produces a result like "lest". It's something like, "If x happens, though I doubt it will". The plural of a verb can convey many things. In this case, it conveys violent, far-spread scattering. Notes 5 Rather than attempting to decipher the seemingly random string of letters YHWH, I've given a name to this meddler, and that name is "The Nameless One". This is an example of a case infix being used derivationally. The definite verison of "and" is a purposive conjunction. Relative pronouns are used in situ for the object of relativization. When a singular adjective is attributed to a plural noun, it's assumed that the group as a whole, on average, can be described by the adjective in question. Notes 6 Just like in verse 3, the ergative "they" is the subject of both "plan" and "accomplish". I changed the beautiful phrase "it will not be denied from them, all which they [will] plot to do" to something a bit more manageable in Sathir: "They will be able to accomplish everything they plan." Notes 7 I've left out the "there", as it's probably a redundancy. The negative marker is /ur/, and it directly follows the verb. It's contracted to /r/ when it follows a verb that ends in a vowel. In this case, putting the first "they" in the definite makes it a reflexive. Notes 8 "The Nameless One" has kind of become a name in this text, so that's why it can get a definite ergative tag in front of it. Notes 9 Names are supposed to be in the instrumental, but it's often left off, so as not to obscure the name. Also, YHWH is the one confusing and scattering (he's put at the end to emphasize this). Submitted By David J. Peterson Date Submitted Sunday, January 11, 2004 Updated By David J. Peterson Date Edited Tuesday, October 19, 2004 Description Of Update Changed the image link to reflect the recent orthographical change. Date To Headline Wednesday, October 20, 2004 < Sa-oh Ghikh  Sathir  Satritain >
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