Next (Ilaini)

Vocabulary

a - sentence-type marker used for statements; see grammar notes
ana - "stop, cease"
ara - "but"
ari - "come"
ayoko - "call" (noun and verb)
e - sentence-type marker used for exclamations and incomplete sentences; see grammar notes
ekaiti - "time"
eki - 3SG rational pronoun
esa - "this"
ha - past tense marker
heko - "can, be able to"
i - sentence-type marker used for questions; see grammar notes
isatu - "happen"
ka - "not" negative marker precedes the element it negates (usually verb or modal)
kasi - "house"
kasio - "mother"
kata - "in"
kea - "one"
kesita - "thing" (abstract; not "object")
kie - "never"
kirato - "compete"
koku - "child"
kosama - "woman"
kotoma - "run away, flee"
ma - "to" (preposition; does not mark infinitives)
meuri - "weep, cry"
mitaki - "necessary"
moma - future tense marker
nari - "then"
noku - "many, much, very"
nome - "day"
oke - "against"
okosa - "angry"
ori - "good, well"
rako - "big"
rasio - "father"
ro - "of" (usually indicates possession)
roesi - "think, thought"
roha - 3rd person non-living pronoun
rokiya - "make, create, cause" [intentional obvious English semantics :)]
romasaine - "sing"
ruhaka - "spirit"
sa - "for [a duration]"
se - "that"(relative clause marker; introduces a relative clause; see grammar notes)
seru - "speak, say"
ta - "at [a point in time]"
takiku - "want"
tamoka - "believe"
tenasaine - "play a musical instrument"
ti - "and"
tu - "be"
uomo - "evil"
uti - 1st person pronoun (singular)
yimoku - "jealous"

Ikanirae Seru (*)

Estel Telcontar

Ring B

uti ka ha seru a: "esa ha isatu i" uti ha ka tamoka a
kata ekaiti se uti ha tu koku nari, uti ka ha tamoka kasio ro uti tu mitaki a ikosama ka heko roesi a
ta kea nome, rasio ro uti ha ari ma kata kasi ro uti ti eki ha takiku uti romasaine a eki ha tenasaine sa rako ekaiti ara uomo ruhaka ha ari ma ayoko a ruhaka ha rokiya rasio ro uti noku meuri a
kasio ro uti ha kirato oke ruhaka a
uti ha kotoma a uti ka ha heko rokiya ruhaka ana a uti ka ha heko ori roesi a uti ka ha tu okosa na roha ara uti ha tu yimoku a
kesita se roha ha isatu e uti moma kie seru roha a

I didn't say "Did this happen?" I did't believe.

In the time that I was a child, I didn't believe that my mother was necessary. Women can't think.

One day, my father came into my house and he wanted me to sing. He played an instrument for a long time, but an evil spirit came to the call. The spirit made my father weep a lot.
My mother competed against the spirit. I fled. I couldn't make the spirit stop. I couldn't think well. I wasn't angry about it, but I was jealous.

The thing that happened I will never say.

Interlinear

(Not sent to Irina)

uti ka ha   seru a:       "esa  ha   isatu  i"          
1SG not PAST say STATEMENT this PAST happen QUESTION 

uti ha   ka  tamoka  a
1SG PAST not believe STATEMENT

kata ekaiti se uti ha   tu koku  nari, 
in   time that 1SG PAST be child then

uti ka ha   tamoka  kasio  ro uti tu mitaki    a 
I  not PAST believe mother of me  be necessary STATEMENT

ikosama ka heko roesi a
women  not can  think STATEMENT

ta kea nome, rasio ro uti ha   ari  ma kata kasi ro uti 
at one day, father of 1SG PAST come to in  house of 1SG

ti  eki          ha takiku uti romasaine a 
and 3SG.RATIONAL PAST want 1SG sing STATEMENT

eki          ha   tenasaine            sa rako ekaiti  
3SG.RATIONAL PAST played-an-instrument for big  time

ara uomo ruhaka ha   ari  ma ayoko a 
but evil spirit PAST come to call STATEMENT

ruhaka ha rokiya rasio  ro uti noku meuri a
spirit PAST make father of 1SG much weep STATEMENT

kasio  ro uti ha kirato    oke     ruhaka a          
mother of 1SG PAST compete against spirit STATEMENT 

uti ha kotoma a
1SG PAST flee STATEMENT

uti ka  ha  heko rokiya ruhaka ana  a 
1sg not PAST can make   spirit stop STATEMENT

uti ka  ha   heko ori roesi a 
1SG not PAST can well think STATEMENT

uti ka  ha   tu okosa na    roha          
1SG not PAST be angry about 3SG.NONLIVING 

ara uti ha   tu yimoku  a
but 1SG PAST be jealous STATEMENT

kesita se     roha       ha   isatu  e        
thing that 3SG.NONLIVING PAST happen PARTICLE

uti moma   kie  seru roha          a
1SG FUTURE never say 3SG.NONLIVING STATEMENT

Grammar

Inflections

Ikanirae Seru has exactly one inflection: nouns and pronouns are pluralized by prefixing y- before a vowel and i- before a consonant. This is entirely regular.

Pronouns, articles

There are no articles.

Third person pronouns distinguish 4 genders or animacy classes, broadly characterized as "personal/rational" eki, "animate non-personal" aku, "living inanimate" sera and "non-living" roha. It’s actually messier than that, but the messiness doesn’t show up in this text. There are no masculine/feminine distinctions, and animacy classes are not distinguished in first and second person pronouns.

Syntax

Sentence-type markers

Every Ikanirae Seru sentence ends with a sentence-type marker, which takes the place of sentence-final punctuation. Three of these are used in this text: a marks statements, and corresponds roughly to periods, colons and semicolons in English punctuation; i marks questions, which are otherwise identical to statements in form; e is referred to as an exclamation marker, but it is used to mark both exclamations and incomplete sentences (sentences that do not contain both a subject and a verb). As an extension of the latter function, e can also mark a topicalized phrase, which is then referred to by a pronoun in the following "sentence". This text does not contain the imperative marker o or the formal statement marker u.

Word order

Word order is strictly SVO. Adjectives precede nouns. Adverbs and auxiliaries precede verbs. Prepositions, not postpositions are used.

Tense

Ikanirae Seru has three tenses, past, present and future. Past and future are indicated by particles preceding the verb. Present is unmarked.

Relative clauses

Relative clauses are introduced by se "that". Ikanirae Seru really doesn’t like leaving out subjects or objects, so the relativized element is represented by a pronoun in the relative clause. Here are a couple examples:

rao se   uti koimu eki
boy that I   see   him
"(the) boy that I see"

rao se   eki koimu uti
boy that he  see   me
"(the) boy that sees me"