Veqi serebiat
Pasnintato, e vavenda uma qabi e Park, vaqaindi nuri esnulis nuyole vastoubovatta ye sendebbona. Uma bahuda e ni ayo vayole pusdisainun. Vabemieudiyo busai yenda:
«Dentu desus, sas. Nunien vayole serebiat. Avi saut vayole Javant. Nu vayole abui saut?»
«Jalan serebiatta. Avi saut vayole Abdullah. Ni bumouda buhai sendebbon e „Dalgarno“?»
«Hoje! Zaranda yole aisya vaqaindibu gan mepa aibandi aiban desqou dajuzono, cye rah gintanda. Nu selida?»
«Xayar, asban jalan.»
Abdullah vayole jitovun e Indonezia. Sirosya, vamoudicyanda oher vas boubdi naipauranatten oge mepalunato, busai vayer paurandi qaize e Indonezia. Vego uza vadas abrab oher garupanpadi avi aicyo qaize e Indonezia gasta ayo. Mehoje, cer rah yosyidi nun.
Veqomaqaizet
Translation
Last night, as I was walking up to Park Street, I saw a fellow whom I recognised from the boarding-house.
pasnintato, last night
e, as, when (= go)
venda, walk (on the pavement)
uma, toward[s]: uma -i, as far as, up [to]
qab, street: uma qabi, up the street (venda oma qabi, walk along the street)
qaindi, see sth
nuyole, whom
stoubovatti, recognise s.o.
I wondered if he was an Aborigine. I went up to him and said:
“Hello. How do you do? I’m Javant. What’s your name?”
pusdisainun, person native to the land: Aborigine
bemieudi, approach, go up to sth/s.o.
“How do you do? I’m Abdullah. Are you staying at Dalgarno Boarding-house?”
“Yes! I thought I’d seen you there having dinner in the dining-room, but I wasn’t sure. How are you?”
aisya, ever: aisya vaqaindibu, I have seen you
aiban desqou, dinner
dajuzon, dining-room: dajuzono, in the dining-room
“Well, thank you.”
Abdullah is an Indonesian. Strangely enough, I intend to go to university later this year and I want to learn Indonesian. Perhaps I’ll have the opportunity to practise my Indonesian on him. Of course, he doesn’t know that yet.
jitovun, citizen: jitovun e Indonezia, an Indonesian
sirosya, that which is strange: strangeness
moudicyanda oher, intend to [do sth]
vas boubdi, attend, go to sth (swh)
naipauranatten, university (institution): naipauranajon, university (set of buildings on a campus)
oge, later
mepalunato, this year
yer: want, desire (n): yer[da eher] paurandi, want to learn
qaize, language: qaize e Indonezia, Indonesian [language]
vego, perhaps, maybe
abrab, opportunity
garupanpadi, practise: garupanpadi nur gasta nuris, practise sth on s.o. [lit, with]
aicyo qaize, expression: avi aicyo qaize e Indonezia, my Indonesian (as opposed to another’s command of it)
mehoje, of course
syidi, know sth
Uzeut
Remarks
1. Aisya is an aspectual equivalent to the present perfect in English. It is used after certain introductory expressions: zaranda yole aisya [bes] vaqaindibu, I think (thought) I have seen you [before]; nunien vayole usya mara yole aisya yoqaindi Alpa, this is the first time that he has seen the Alps; Asenda oher Cyikaga ga aisya vaqaindi „Oprah”, It was in Chicago that I saw Oprah. Aspectuals should be used sparingly, for often adverbials of time (e.g., pasaiveto, yesterday) convey tense. There is no need to use aspectuals for an action or state considered to be true at all times (syouqa cahda, the earth is round); for an action or state occurring or existing at the moment of writing (ge bugadiocyada mepadesqesato! how pale you are this morning!); or for an action or state occurring or existing at regular intervals, begun in the past, continuing in the present, and presumably continuing in the future (rah vadas jebo aibanda go airecada, I’m not hungry when I’m tired).
2. Uza is an aspectual equivalent to the future tense (even when in English the present tense often suffices, although futurity is implied): eher cyaur, uza vaqabda iher Bali, I’m going on a holiday to Bali; syau rah uza valesegada, I’m not helping any more; u avi sedaub e go uza buresda, call me when you’re ready. It is permissible to drop aisya or uza if there is no danger of loss of sense.
3. Mepa plus a verb may correspond to the English gerund: vaqaindibu mepa aibandi nuri pula beden, I saw you eating an apple. (An alternative to this construction is to use the conjunction yole, that, after the intransitive: vaqainda yole [mepa] buaibandi nuri pula beden, lit., I saw that you were eating an apple. After verbs of perception or volition [ibisda, qainda, yorgada, yerda, etc.], the infinitive [simply the radical (levis) plus verb desinence] alone may be used: rah vayerda yole beiji uma pesqoudi hamoja, I don’t want the cat lying on the rug.) Mepa also used for the present participle in English: mepa virdi Godot, waiting for Godot; yogaruda mepa xarandi garugayaron, he took the train home. NB, this is just one way the English gerund is expressed in Taneraic.
4. Nuyole, whom (or, in vernacular English, who), that, which, may function as the direct object relative pronoun (or a subjective completion); rephrased, the transitive verb becomes “intransitive” with a direct object: gotou nuyole vaqainda, the woman [who(m)] I saw < vaqaindi gotou, I saw the woman; nu ga vas hamojat nuyole buresoda? where is the rug [that] you mentioned? < buresodi hamojat, you mentioned the rug; garugayaron nuyole vaxaranda, the train [which] I took < vaxarandi garugayaron, I took the train.
5. A) While there are no articles in Taneraic, the desinence –at may be added to radicals (not compounds) to give the sense of specificity; i.e., “in question” or “under discussion/consideration” (the a is dropped when a noun ends in a single vowel): hamoja, a rug, the rug[s] > hamojat, the rug[s] (in question); beiji, a cat, the cat[s] > beijit, the cat[s] (in question). If the noun is otherwise qualified (e.g., possessive or demonstrative adjectives), or the noun represents a primary relationship or an agent, –at is not used: *nuni beijit, *avi mat, *esnulisat. (This of course does not apply to words appended with –at for reasons other than the sense of specificity: nuni sarat, that coffee; vid. B)
B) A finished process or product is shown with –at: sara, coffee-shrub (Coffea arabica) > avi sarat, my coffee (avi sara, my coffee-shrub); aiban, food > aibanat, food[stuff].
C) Reference to activity or events over a period of time is shown with –at: aive, a day, the day[s] > ge aivet! what a day! desqesat, the (whole) morning, lunat, the (whole) year