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Demuan

Fabian De-l'-isle

ja qumbu tel odelailai binde suodeyam
bi lok le tel jejelailai bender esper
il verv ler sonog
bi odewu tel muelailai
alala lama baa ler zososu snaal
bi suodeyam perninelailai bama wakda

The large bird shall sing his song
That river bird shall ruffle his feathers in the mist
That songbird shall speak of the magnificent stars of the night
That song shall be heard by every king

ja  qumbu tel  odelailai binde  suodeyam
the large bird sing      self's song

bi   lok   le tel  jejelailai bender    esper
said river 's bird dance      self's(p) feather

   il      xe   verv   ler   sonog
   between some ground 's(p) cloud

bi   odewu   tel  muelailai
said singing bird speaks

   alala lama       baa   ler   zososu  snaal
   about concept-of night 's(p) awesome star

bi   suodeyam perninelailai bama  wakda
said song     be-heard-by   every monarch

Verbs have been glossed using English infinitives, although a strict translation of -lailai is "x shall happen sometime after we cease to exist". The gloss is pretty much word for word when the hyphens are counted. (p) marks a plural owned object.

I feel uncomfortable with this piece, as in context it could either be considered a piece of ancient history, or a prophecy. Demuan doesn't have a time-neutral tense. I used the prophetic tense, thus implying that the events have not happened yet, but they shall happen.

This may look like miltonian blank verse, but that's the way Demuans like their poetry. The indented lines above are extensions of the same grammatical sentence, and as such, do not receive a new line.

Pronunciation (rough guide)

Vowels are on the Spanish model. x is [S]. q is [tS]. j is [dZ]. Closing stops on syllables tend to be pronounced as their fricative counterparts.

Glossary

Abbreviations

adj - adjective
fix - prefix or suffix
id - identifier
n - noun
prep - preposition
v - verb

Indented items in this word list are inflected forms of verbs or fixes of some kind.

alala [prep] about; concerning
baa [n] night
bama [id] every; all; both
bender [id] self's [p]
bi [id] aforementioned; said
binde [id] self's [s]
esper [n] feather; hair
il [prep] amongst; between
ja [id] the [s]
jeje [v] dance; shake; move about in one place
   lailai [fix] prophetic tense verb suffix
lama [id] the concept of; the general group of
le 's [s]
ler 's [p]
ler [pron] those
lok [n] river
mue [v] say; speak; tell
nine [v] hear; listen to
ode [v] sing; recite
   odewu [adj] singing
   per [fix] passive verb prefix
qumbu [adj] large; heavy; big
snaal [n] star
sonog [n] cloud
   suodeyam [n] song
tel [n] bird; avian
verv [n] earth; ground
wakda [n] monarch; king; queen
zososu [adj] mighty; majestic; awesome; glorious

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