Saturday, September 25, 2010

Estate records of Klé Rankj


The tablet which is engraved with information on the estate of an elderly gentleman, Klé Rankj. dated around 320 c.e.

A notable find was made earlier this week in the small town of Madan in Youndétr. A local farmer, S'ge Naranj, while clearing out some of the older flooring materials in the family house, discovered a very small, rather thin clay tablet. Curious as to what it was, he brought it to the local archaelogical team.

The team is bubbling over with excitement on account of this simple clay object.

"I've never seen the like," said team leader Joseph Asfeld when asked why this particular tablet is so valuable. "There are pictograms used multiple times on the tablet- something we've only ever found in artifacts from the Tribe of the East. This suggests a western origin for them." He went on to explain that the tablet itself is a personal record done for one Klé Rankj in about the year 320. It was probably buried when the house partially collapsed in the great earthquakes of 420, after the old man died.

Further clarification on the ramifications of the artifact came from Sasha Alexi, an expert in ancient Cat sign.

"You see, Cat sign in its written form is found all over the continent- but almost never combined with local writings, and never from this time period. As everyone knows, the Cat weren't exiled from Atipica until around 700 c.e. during the Great Drought. The fact that these markings are being used about 400 years before the Cat even existed is really compelling evidence that the writing must have first been developed in the west, and then spread eastward, where the Cat adopted it and began using it to write their language."


The pictograms which have everyone so excited are relatively simple little etchings, but their like has never been found in an area of First Tribe prominence.

The tablet, which is in remarkably good condition for something its age, even shows traces of a pressing cloth which was used to flatten it. The use of cloth in the formation of clay tablets is a characteristic of the work of early Yaundi scribes. Though a thorough search was conducted on the man's property, nothing further has - of yet- been found.

Friday, September 24, 2010

'Artifacts', or the joy of creating things out of clay.


Funerary artifacts from a number of tombs. Recovered from the middle of Youndétr, and dated between 20 b.c.e. and 130 c.e.

I'll admit it- I've always had a thing for clay. Ever since I was a kid, I've always had my hands in the earth- and so it comes perhaps as a natural step that I would combine two things which I love- sculpted artwork and created languages.

In the past half a week or so (That's three or four days), I've made about 20 items, all of varying sizes and complexity- and all representative of various stages of Yaundi culture.


A calendar, which lists the names of all 12 months- and prominently displays a stylized image of
Núkiam and Déviat. This image was popular in early times, and artifacts bearing it have been found all over Youndétr.


The result has been remarkably... agreeable, I think. While the first tablet I made (which bore a hymn to Déviat and baked into pieces) was less than successful, over the few days that I've been working on these things, I've decided that this is definitely something I plan to continue doing. There's just something about holding in your hands something made of stone which has your language written on it, which makes it all worthwhile.

Depending on how adventurous I feel in the future (and considering how I've already got wood drying for it, the possibility seems considerable), I may decide to create artifacts for Second Tribe, or even for the Cat.


Clay coins which are traditionally buried with the dead, for the purposes of bribing spirits into escorting them to the home of Déviat. Dated from 1 c.e. to 100 c.e.

I wish I had better skill at carving detail, or had access to actual clay (Everything pictured here has been made out of salt dough or a salt dough/sand mixture), but that is, is.

I've got some clay tools in the mail to me right now, so keep an eye out for new items added to this blog!


A tablet inscribed with the words 'skra ba auzoi'. They open a popular folk song which gives praise to the gods (And Núkiam in particular) for sustaining First Tribe in the harsh desert.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

The story about the farmer whose horse ran away

The challenge of the week Sep. 20 - 27 2010 is 'The story about the farmer whose horse ran away'. (Original, I think, can be found here.)

Sandic comes first, of course, with a translation out of that translation, into English. Because I'm such a perfectionist, I really doubt I'll be recording this for you anytime soon. I'm sorry. I just can't stand recording with errors in them. ;)

Srîtnia baxĵew feloka, frn kia baxjard ba klamek. Onjka ba feloka, kaxahl wîkiaci, mé kaxféd safpaian ba feloka ân mî jéd, a ba feloka nu kaxmî:
"Kia kasa frn kia baahl auzoi ú lenai?"
Auniai baxahl jéd ba mî.

Gre tré mohn baxféd eĵ ba klamek, mé kakféin biab oxahl soir mé tré klamekan neourecin, otiahb baxsu ba klamek ba feloka mer zialda ba.
Kaxféd eĵ safpaian ba feloka ba onjka, ân mî kian frn ta auzerin dan, a nu eĵ kaxmî ba feloka:
"Kia kasa frn kia baahl auzoi ú lenai?"
Eĵ ba mî bazahl auniai.

Gre tré mohn kaxpetre ân tag tré ta klamekan neourecin ba drialēzka ba feloka, a kaxyum dé tag, mé baxav saupéti ba loz ka.
Kaxféd eĵ safpaian ba feloka ba onjka, ân mî kian frn ba lenain dan, a nu kaxmî:
"Kia kasa frn kia baahl auzoi ú lenai?"
Eĵ kiab kaxmî ba feloka, baxahl auniai.

Skra eĵ gre tré mohn ba ere ba poc kaxmî ân ebatara dîĵc, mé kaxmî ân ta tavelan opasi iactav faé ba dîĵcar, a pa skra frn ba loz ba drialēzka baxahl saupéti, kaxneot ahl umapasi ân iactav.


Once there was a farmer whose horse had run away. The farmer's neighbor, who was sympathetic, went to him to talk of the bad things- but the farmer simply said
"Who knows what is good, and what is bad?"
And the farmer was right.

The next day, the horse returned- and with it came eleven wild horses which his horse had found on its travels.
And the neighbor came back to speak to the farmer of these good things, but the farmer simply said
"Who knows what is good, and what is bad?"
And again, the words of the farmer were true.

The day after that, the farmer's son was trying to ride one of the wild horses- but he fell from his riding, and his arm was broken.
And again the neighbor came, to talk of these bad things- and again the farmer only said:
"Who knows what is good, and what is bad?"
And again what the farmer said was true.

The day after that, the king of the land declared there was to be a war, and he decreed that all youths must join the army. But because the arm of the farmer's son was broken, he did not have to enlist.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Kamai jaeactab

Kamai jaeactab
Listen to it

Jémohn ber taznidan me,
yma jaeactab.
yholdc biab o ufe me,
mé yska pa biab ĵewab.

Yxsin, kauraugi biab, ân yahlco whé jwr-
kiab ywîc faé ba jaeact, etbatara.
a wî baahlra yahlco whé erinké faé gezo;
biab ypasi masaf, biab ypasi malēim, biab ypasi ora damab.

mé natul ysa:
skra me baĵew - a skra ba,
yĵew.


---

Making a language

Today, with my friends,
I am making a language.
I hold it in my hands,
and breathe life into it.

I think, as I look at it, that I'm like a god-
What I want of this language, will be.
But I'm also like a parent to a child-
I must protect it, I must take of it, I must feed it.

And suddenly I know:
It lives because of me, but I live
because of it.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Original Poems and the Starlings' Song

Over the past few days, working on my conlang has meant that it's been constantly on my mind. I've been a creative state because of this, and out of the day-to-day nonsense of my life have sprung several little poems.
While I would like to share them with you in both transscribed and native-script versions, I am unfortunately unable to do so due to my computer being... dead. Thus, I guess we'll have to make due with only the transcriptions. I apologize, but do try to enjoy them anyway!

Disclaimer: These are all free-form and rather awful, because I'm not a poetic sort of person. They were, though, fun to write. I don't recall ever using the language this way before- with the exception of a few journal entries which I made over long periods of time.

You'll notice 'god' appears in most of these. I'm not spastically religious (and in fact don't associate myself with any mainstream organized religion at all), and figured I'd nip suspicions of that in the bud. Thus, read 'god' as God, not related to any religion in particular, but as Dryghtyn, perhaps- or The One.

Every poem here is 'new' and 'fresh', written by me- with the exceptions of 'kant ta starlen', which is of course from the first translation relay.


Gréfeluc
5i mohn ba silēetiw 2010

Kéamjén oav pîrin,
frn jéb emac.
Skra kia ba oka ta lucan?

wenai, ba wîc jwr.

Ba liape
8i mohn ba silēetiw 2010

Jémohn
pal ba kémaréj,
yxĵémz dé kaevo liapeab.
Rekami kaahl.
Rekamei, wî améi.

Erini srît, kaxbamo ò plat
kaxneot zeb.

A unî, natul, kaxrep ân enha.

Ykaja, lēé jwr.

Pa kémaréj
9i mohn ba silēetiw 2010

Exjeta pa kémaréj
ivin ta lenadabin me
otiahb exsore

Exjeta pa kémaréj
baxav hui mekâ me
y kaja lēé jwr

kajetai
pa kémaréj


Aŵbamo
10i mohn ba silēetiw 2010

Kîb ykoe,
falkai.
Ywîc ân katé,
pa safpa saafi,

Felē wî kolé me,
aŵbamo.

Kant ta starlen
13i mohn ba silēetiw 2010

Kant ta starlen baahl nuv apeactin man,
Pa kîmî frn helav, bamalēim jédathî kelobin ba
mer nocr lark banúk kimlabin ba
kia kasa ba raactab ta thîan?


Translations:


Gréfeluc (Autumn)
Fifth day of September 2010

The leaves are turning red,
And I am joyful because of this.
What reason is there for the happening of seasons?

beautiful, what god wants.

Ba liape (The dragonfly)
Eighth day of September 2010

Today,
at the pool,
I saved a dragonfly from the water.
He is blue.
Blue and green.

For a long time, he lay on the table
and did not move.

But then, suddenly, he began to breathe.

I thank you, God.

Pa kémaréj (In the pool)
Ninth day of September 2010

I was swimming in the pool
All of my problems
I forgot them

I was swimming in the pool
My mind became peaceful
thank you, god

swimming
in the pool

Aŵbamo (we lie down)
Tenth day of September 2010

I'm drinking tea,
it's peppermint.
I'm sleepy,
in this safe house.

My dog and I,
We lie down.

Kant ta starlen (The starlings' song)
Thirteenth day of September 2010

The starlings' song is about heroic deeds,
In the morning rains the heron cleans its clothes
In the nighttime the lark worships its stars
Who knows the true nature of birds?

Friday, September 10, 2010

Yara anù. - I'm sorry.

Due to technical difficulties (the laptop that I was using to regularly access the web going kablooey), I'm not going to be able, probably, to update this blog every day. I will do my best to keep up with it, but as this might well involve a trip to the library or tech center for each post, please understand if on a given day I don't post a something new.
As soon as my computer situation becomes more stable again, the posts will, of course, go back to normal.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Swadesh list and word generators

SO, for the longest time now, I've been meaning to translate the words in the Swadesh list into Sandic. The list itself has many useful words, and as it's my intention to have Sandic be wholly usable for any situation (even if only by myself), it's the perfect challenge.

..Well, that and the Conlang Test Sentences.

Today, I got to work on the Swadesh list, and as a result I now have 20-odd new words. I'm only about a third of the way through now, too!

A sampling of the new words, about which I am understandably very much excited:
- tooth
- tongue
- lie (ripozi)
- vomit
- spit
- rope
- tie
- sew
- shoot

I'm looking forward to finishing the list, and then working the test sentences. Wish me luck!