[created by Ran]
Proto-Isles is the hypothetical ancestor of the Isles language family. Starting from the 4th century, tribes speaking Proto-Isles poured out of the mainland to populate the islands of the West Seas. By the time civilization emerged on the islands in the 10th century, all of the people on these islands spoke members of the Isles language family.
The 19th century was the beginning of the first Golden Age of the West Seas civilization. During this time, five powerful kingdoms emerged in the Islands of the West Seas. These five kingdoms, each based on a different large island, competed constantly for control and hegemony. Important technological advances were made, and the first philosophers were emerging in the public forums of the five kingdoms.
(Note to daughter language people: you can name your people, kingdom, language, and island whatever you like. =])
14 consonants can appear in the initial position of syllables:
| Labial | Dental | Palatal | Velar | Pharyngeal | Glottal | |
| Stop | /p/ | /t d/ | /k g/ | /ʔ/ | ||
| Affricate | /ts dz/ | |||||
| Fricative | /s/ | /ħ/ | ||||
| Nasal | /m/ | /n/ | ||||
| Approximant | /w/ | /j/ |
The following transcriptions will be used:
Things to note:
3 monophthongs:
| /i/ | /u/ | |
| /a/ |
9 diphthongs:
| a- | i- | u- | |
| -j | /aj/ | /uj/ | |
| -w | /aw/ | /iw/ | |
| -m | /am/ | /im/ | |
| -n | /an/ | /in/ | /un/ |
This grammar will transcribe /aj/ and /uj/ as ay and uy, to maintain consistency with the consonants. All others are the same as IPA.
Things to note:
Only 3 consonants can appear in the final position of syllables:
| Dental | Pharyngeal | Glottal | |
| Stop | /ʔ/ | ||
| Fricative | /s/ | /ħ/ |
Transcriptions:
Things to note:
The following are permissible syllables:
No other syllable is allowed.
In medial position (i.e. between syllables), any final consonant can be followed by any initial consonant. However, one constraint exists:
Also remember that –y, -w, -m, and –n are not consonants, but parts of diphthongs. Hence, they will not undergo merger: qay + yas = qayyas; qan + nas = qannas.
As long as one remembers that no syllable begins with a vowel, it should not be hard to distinguish syllables.
For example, qamaq has to be qa-maq rather than qam-aq, as aq is not permissible.
On the other hand, qamqaq can only be qam-qaq, where am is a diphthong.
There’s a pitch-accent system in which all words fall into 2 patterns:
Even single syllable words can have patterns. In this case, HH is flat, and HL is falling.
Nouns inflect for number and case:
| Nominative | Instrumental | Accusative | Dative | Benefactive | |
| Singular | *-i / -yi | -ma | *-uys / -wuys | -nim | -dzaw |
| Plural | -tziwsi | -tziwsma | -tziwsuys | -tziwsnim | -tziwsdzaw |
The case endings attach regularly after the plural ending, which ends on a consonant. There is no noun form that uses the root on its own. (The possessive, however, is formed by changing the possessor noun into an adjective. This is done simply by using the root form of that noun.)
The plural is optional, and never used when the context is clear (e.g. with numerals).
Conjunctions must agree in case (but not number) with the nouns they connect. The case endings are the same. Adjectives never agree in number or case.
Full paradigms of three nouns (syllabification shown for clarity):
Consonant-ending: root is tá-dziq
| "boy" | Nominative | Instrumental | Accusative | Dative | Benefactive |
| Singular | tá-dzi-qi | tá-dziq-ma | tá-dzi-quys | tá-dziq-nim | tá-dziq-dzaw |
| Plural | tá-dziq-tziw-si | tá-dziq-tziws-ma | tá-dziq-tziw-suys | tá-dziq-tziws-nim | tá-dziq-tziws-dzaw |
Diphthong-ending: root is tiw-kam
| "girl" | Nominative | Instrumental | Accusative | Dative | Benefactive |
| Singular | tiw-ka-mi | tiw-kam-ma | tiw-ka-muys | tiw-kam-nim | tiw-kam-dzaw |
| Plural | tiw-kam-tziw-si | tiw-kam-tziws-ma | tiw-kam-tziw-suys | tiw-kam-tziws-nim | tiw-kam-tziws-dzaw |
Monophthong-ending: root is há-pa
| "sun" | Nominative | Instrumental | Accusative | Dative | Benefactive |
| Singular | há-pa-yi | há-pa-ma | há-pa-wuys | há-pa-nim | há-pa-dzaw |
| Plural | há-pa-tziw-si | há-pa-tziws-ma | há-pa-tziw-suys | há-pa-tziws-nim | há-pa-tziws-dzaw |
The nominative is used for the agent of transitive verbs and the experiencer of intransitive verbs:
Háyi tawsim.
Speaker-NOM go-TEL-SENS.
"I arrive."
Háyi pumuyuys múhtzi.
Speaker-NOM fish-ACC find-ATEL-SENS.
"I can’t find the fish."
The instrumental is used for the means or instrument of a given action. It can also be used to emphasis that a subject undergoes an action involuntarily:
Pumuyma háyi tzáwnamuys dádatih.
Fish-INS speaker-NOM tree-ACC hit-IMPF-SENS.
"The fish, I’m using it to hit the tree."
Háyma tátatawsim.
Speaker-INS go-DELIM-SENS.
"I was compelled to wander around aimlessly."
The accusative is used for the patient of an action:
Tiwkamuys tádziqi gídzan.
Girl-ACC boy-NOM love-ATEL-PAST.
"The girl was loved by the boy, but she didn’t love him back."
Mimkiquys yims.
Water-ACC drink-TEL-PRES.
"Someone will drink the water."
The dative is used with verbs such as "to give", "to say", "to show" etc. to mark the intended recipient of an action.
Háynim yáwyawuys niwtiq.
Speaker-DAT dog-ACC give-SENS.
"Someone gave me a dog."
The benefactive is used to indicate a beneficiary of the action.
Túqdzaw háyi huysim.
Listener-BEN speaker-NOM come-SENS.
"I’ve come for your benefit."
Verbs in inflect for tense, aspect, and epistemic mood. There are three moods: sensory, non-sensory, and subjunctive. Only the non-sensory mood makes a further distinction between the present and past tenses; the other two moods do not distinguish tense.
The moods/tenses are formed thus:
| Non-sensory Present | Sensory Mood | |
| -a, -i, -u | -ams, -ims, -uns | -i |
| -ay, -uy | -ams, -uns | -i |
| -aw, -iw | -ams, -ims | -iw |
| -am, -im | -ams, -ims | -im |
| -an, -in, -un | -ams, -ims, -uns | -in |
The final -s in the non-sensory present kills any final consonant that may already be there. The sensory mood, however, leaves the final consonant intact.
For example:
| Non-sensory past | Subjunctive | Non-sensory present | Sensory |
| gidzan "loved" | gidzanpawh | gidzams | gidzin |
| simtiq "saw" | simtiqpawh | simtims | simtiq |
| datuh "hit" | datuhpawh | datuns | datih |
| tawsam "journeyed" | tawsampawh | tawsams | tawsim |
Aspect is formed through pitch changes and reduplication:
| Telic | Atelic | Imperfective | Delimitative |
| gidzan "to love and be loved" | gídzan "to love but not be loved" | gígidzan "to date" | gígigidzan "to flirt" |
| simtiq "to see" | símtiq "to look but not see" | sísimtiq "to be looking" | sísisimtiq "to look around, glance" |
| datuh "to hit" | dátuh "to hit, and miss" | dádatuh "to be hitting" | dádadatuh "to hit haphazardly" |
| tawsam "to go and arrive elsewhere" | táwsam "to go but not arrive" | tátawsam "to be on the way" | tátatawsam "to wander out" |
In reality, only the initial consonant and the monophthong OR first half of the diphthong is reduplicated. So we say "tátawsam", not "táwtawsam" or even "táwstawsam" (despite the fact that it’s phonologically possible, since –s is a possible final consonant).
Each verb has 16 forms in total.
The sensory mood is used to describe something the speaker is sure about from personal experience or observation. There is no tense distinction:
Háyi tawsim.
Speaker-NOM go-TEL-SENS.
"I arrive(d)."
Speakers also like to use the sensory mood to emphasize that they're really very sure about something, even if they haven't seen it themselves.
The non-sensory mood is used to describe something the speaker is sure about, though not from personal experience or observation.
There is a present/past distinction. The past tense, which uses the bare root, describes something that has already happened:
Túqi tawsam.
Speaker-NOM go-TEL-PAST.
"You arrived."
The present tense describes something that has not yet happened, or is generally true:
Túqi tawsams.
Speaker-NOM go-TEL-PRES.
"You arrive [usually]. / You arrive now. / You will arrive."
The subjunctive mood is used to describe something that is mere hypothesis, or simply false. There is no tense distinction:
Háyi tawsampawh.
Speaker-NOM go-TEL-SUBJ.
"I would have arrived."
The telic and atelic aspects are both used to emphasize that an action is complete. The former indicates that the action is successful, while the latter indicates that it is a failure.
Túqi tawsam.
Speaker-NOM go-TEL-PAST.
"You arrived."
Túqi táwsam.
Speaker-NOM go-ATEL-PAST.
"You failed to arrive."
The imperfective aspect indicates that the action is underway but not complete:
Túqi tátawsam.
Speaker-NOM go-IMPF-PAST.
"You were on your way."
The delimitative aspect indicates that the action is underway, and is not aimed towards any form of "completion":
Túqi tátatawsam.
Speaker-NOM go-DELIM-PAST.
"You were wandering around."
There is no separate class of pronouns. There are nine nouns that function as pronouns. They take regular case and plural endings:
| "I" | háy |
| "you" | túq |
| "this one" | sí |
| "that one" | sá |
| "who / which" | súy |
| "all" | sásawwawq |
| "many" | pawmunq |
| "some" | gimsuh |
| "few" | pímuq |
Adjectives and adverbs are the same class of words. Adjectives do not agree with the nouns they describe. However, adjectives can be reduplicated, to indicate greater intensity.
Like verbs, adjectives only reduplicate the initial consonant + the monophthong OR the first half of the diphthong. The pitch is always reset to high-high when reduplication takes place:
| ta "big" | táta "very big" | tátata "very, very big" |
| nimtaq "full" | nínimtaq "very full" | níninimtaq "very, very full" |
| hákapaq "warm" | háhakapaq "very warm" | háhahakapaq "very, very warm" |
Numerals are nouns, and are given in base-4. Proto-Isles can handle up to 4 places (i.e. up to 255).
The numerals 1, 2, 3:
| Standalone form | In combination | |||
| one | sí | "this one" | same | |
| two | sí huy sá | "this one and that one" | sá | "that one" |
| three | tayq | "three" | same | |
The numerals 4, 8, 12 (10, 20, and 30 in base-4):
| Standalone form | In combination | |||
| four | katah | "hand" | same | ` |
| eight | sí katah huy sá katah | "this hand and that hand" | sá katah | "that hand" |
| twelve | tayq katah | "three hands" | same | |
The numerals 16, 32, 48 (100, 200, and 300 in base-4):
| Standalone form | In combination | |||
| sixteen | kákatah | "hand-hand" | same | |
| thirty-two | sí kákatah huy sá kákatah | "this hand-hand and that hand-hand" | sá kákatah | "that hand-hand" |
| fourty-eight | tayq kákatah | "three hand-hand" | same | |
The numerals 64, 128, 192 (1000, 2000, and 3000 in base-4):
| Standalone form | In combination | |||
| sixty-four | kákakatah | "hand-hand-hand" | same | |
| one hundred twenty-eight | sí kákakatah huy sá kákakatah | "this hand-hand-hand and that hand-hand-hand" | sá kákakatah | "that hand-hand-hand" |
| one hundred ninety-two | tayq kákakatah | "three hand-hand-hand" | same | |
To combine numbers together, use the conjunction huy. For example, "230" ("3212" in base-4):
| 3000 | 200 | 10 | 2 |
| tayq kákakatah | sá kákatah | katah | sá |
| "three hand-hand-hand" | "that hand-hand" | "hand" | "that one" |
| tayq kákakatah huy sá kákatah huy katah huy sá | |||
When used alone as a noun, all the components need to take the correct case ending. Conjunctions also agree with the nouns they connect (but adjectives don't need to agree):
tayq kákakatahi huyi sá kákatahi huyi katahi huyi sáyi
When used as an adjective to describe another noun, the noun must be inserted after the first component (e.g. 230 men):
| 3000 | men | 200 | 10 | 2 |
| tayq kákakatah | nam | sá kákatah | katah | sá |
| "three hand-hand-hand" | "man" | "that hand-hand" | "hand" | "that one" |
| tayq kákakatah nam huy sá kákatah huy katah huy sá | ||||
The first component is now considered an adjective, and so it doesn't take case endings, but the remaining components still do:
tayq kákakatah nami
huyi sá kákatahi
huyi katahi
huyi sáyi (Nominative)
tayq kákakatah namma
huyma sá kákatahma
huyma katahma
huyma sáma
(Instrumental)
etc.
In order to count more efficiently, speakers generally devise simpler methods of counting. For example, this method uses only the last component of each number (in base-4):
| 1, 2, 3, 4 | sí, sá, tayq, katah |
| 5, 6, 7, 8 | sí, sá, tayq, sá katah |
| 9, 10, 11, 12 | sí, sá, tayq, tayq katah |
| 13, 14, 15, 16 | sí, sá, tayq, kákatah |
Any verb, in any aspect (but not any mood or tense), can be used as a noun, simply by adding noun case endings (e.g. –(y)i, the nominative):
| Telic | Atelic | Imperfective | Delimitative |
| simtiqi "sight" | símtiqi "blindness" | sísimtiqi "looking" | sísisimtiqi "glance" |
The same is true for adjectives / adverbs:
tayi "bigness"
But this cannot be done with prepositions, conjunctions, or discourse particles.
Any noun or verb can be changed into an adjective by simply removing its case endings. For the noun, this is mostly used for the possessive:
Tádziq pumuyi
Boy fish-NOM
"The boy’s fish"
For the verb, it is best to think of it as the verb changing into a noun, then into an possessive:
Simtiq pumuyi
Sight [see-TEL]
fish-NOM
"The fish of sight"
Sentences come in the order of "topic-comment". The topic must always be a noun. The comment can contain zero, one or more nouns, following by one verb at the end. Word order is freed up by the case endings, so that any noun in the sentence can be the topic, and all remaining nouns can be arranged in any order. For example:
Háyi Mamqisuys gígidzin.
Speaker-NOM Mamqis-ACC love-IMP-SENS.
"I love Mamqis." Or "I’m dating Mamqis."
Mamqisuys háyi gígidzin.
Mamqis-ACC speaker-NOM love-IMP-SENS.
"Mamqis, I love him/her." Or "Mamqis, I’m dating him/her."
Adjectives are piled before the noun they describe; adverbs, before the verb they describe.
Ta pumuyma háyi mi tzáwnamuys dádatih.
Big fish-INS speaker-NOM small tree-ACC hit-IMP-SENS.
"The big fish, I was using it to hit the small tree."
Háyi háhaku tawsin.
Speaker-NOM happy-very go-TEL-SENS.
"I arrive very happily."
The copula that connects noun and adjective, or noun and noun, is ni (to do). The nouns being equated are put into the nominative.
Háyi háhaku níni.
Speaker-NOM happy-very do-IMPF-SENS.
"I’m very happy."
Háyi pumuyi níni.
Speaker-NOM fish-NOM do-IMPF-SENS.
"I’m a fish."
Possession is indicated by stripping the possessor of case endings and then using it as an adjective:
Tádziq pumuyma háyi tzáwnamuys dádatih.
Boy fish-INS speaker-NOM tree-ACC hit-IMP-SENS.
"The boy’s fish, I was using it to hit the tree."
Questions are formed simply by raising the tone of voice near the end. This is indicated with a question mark:
Háyi Mamqisuys gígidzin?
Speaker-NOM Mamqis-ACC love-IMP-SENS?
"Do I love Mamqis?"
There are two equivalents of wh- words: súy (noun) and sípiq (adjective). Remember that nouns can be used as possessives, and adjectives as adverbs:
Mamqisuys súyi gígidzin?
Mamqis-ACC who-NOM love-IMP-SENS?
"Who loves Mamqis?"
Mamqisuys súy táyi gígidzin?
Mamqis-ACC who son-NOM love-IMP-SENS?
"Whose son loves Mamqis?"
Mamqisuys sípiq tádziqi gígidzin?
Mamqis-ACC how boy-NOM love-IMP-SENS?
"What kind of boy loves Mamqis?"
Tádziqi Mamqisuys sípiq gídzin?
Boy-NOM Mamqis-ACC how love-ATEL-SENS?
"How does the boy fail to get Mamqis to love him back?"
Negatives are formed by adding the adverb qúquq right before the verb.
Háyi Mamqisuys qúquq gígidzin.
Speaker-NOM Mamqis-ACC not love-IMP-SENS.
"I don’t love Mamqis."
Remember that adverbs are also adjectives, so qúquq can be used as an adjective:
Háyi qúquq pumuyi níni.
Speaker-NOM not fish-NOM do-IMPF-SENS.
"I’m no fish!"
Locative phrases, indicating location in space and time, are formed by adding postpositions after nouns. Postpositions can be added to the instrumental, accusative, or the dative cases. The first signifies action from a location; the second, action at a location; the third, action to a location.
Káydiqtziwsma qas háyi tawsim.
Hill-PLUR-INS at speaker-NOM go-TEL-SENS.
"I completed a journey from the hills."
Káydiqtziwsuys qas háyi tawsim.
Hill-PLUR-ACC at speaker-NOM go-TEL-SENS.
"I completed a journey in the hills."
Káydiqtziwsnim qas háyi tawsim.
Hill-PLUR-DAT at speaker-NOM go-TEL-SENS.
"I completed a journey to the hills."
Tádziqtziwsi nawpayma quy
tzátzawkims.
Boy-PLUR-NOM summer-INS
in hunt-IMPF-PRES.
"The boys hunt from summer into fall."
Tádziqtziwsi nawpayuys quy
tzátzawkims.
Boy-PLUR-NOM summer-ACC
in hunt-IMPF-PRES.
"The boys hunt in the summer."
Tádziqtziwsi nawpaynim quy
tzátzawkims.
Boy-PLUR-NOM summer-DAT
in hunt-IMPF-PRES.
"The boys hunt from spring into summer."
Equative phrases, equating one noun with another, are formed putting the two nouns into the same case, and then inserting the case ending as a high-high conjunction between the two:
Tádziqdzaw dzáw túqdzaw háyi huysim.
Boy-BEN BÉN listener-BEN speaker-NOM come-SENS.
"I’ve come for your benefit, boy."
Túqdzaw tádziqi yí háyi huysim.
Listener-BEN boy-NOM NÓM speaker-NOM come-SENS.
"I, a boy, have come for your benefit."
Tiwkamuys wúys háyuys tádziqi gídzin.
Girl-ACC ÁCC speaker-ACC boy-NOM love-ATEL-SENS.
"I, the girl, was loved by the boy, but I didn’t love him back."
One topic can take multiple comments.
Háyi káydiqtziwsnim qas tawsim,
tzáwkiw, sáma qas tawsim.
Speaker-NOM hill-PLUR-DAT at go-TEL-SENS,
hunt-ATEL-SENS, there-INS at go-TEL-SENS.
"I arrived at the hills, hunted without catching anything, and left there."
Mimkiquys tzuysima quy tumims,
pasaynim quy sawpuns, yims.
Water-ACC well-INS in take-TEL-PRES,
house-DAT in carry-TEL-PRES,
drink-TEL-PRES.
"Someone will draw the water from the well, carry it into the house, and drink
it."
In the above examples, the topic fulfilled the same case for each comment. If the topic needs to be in a different case, then the following particles, formed from reduplicated case endings, are used to change the case of the topic for each comment:
| Nominative | Instrumental | Accusative | Dative | Benefactive |
| yíyi | máma | wúwuys | nínim | dzádzaw |
Háyma káydiqtziwsnim qas tawsim,
yíyi tzáwkiw.
Speaker-INS hill-PLUR-DAT at go-TEL-SENS,
NOM hunt-ATEL-SENS.
"I was compelled to arrive at the hills, and then I hunted without catching
anything."
Tádziq pumuyma háyi tzáwnamuys dádatih,
wúwuys tádziqnim niwtiq.
Boy fish-INS speaker-NOM tree-ACC hit-IMP-SENS,
ACC boy-DAT give-TEL-SENS.
"The boy’s fish, I was using it to hit the tree, then I gave it to the boy."
To make a comparison, use "compare" (taysaq) as one of the verbs in a comment series. The adjective / adverb does not have to change in form, and the noun being compared with is put into the dative.
Háyi túnim taysiq, háku tawsim.
Speaker-NOM
listener-DAT compare-TEL-SENS, happy go-TEL-SENS.
"Compared to you, I arrive [more] happily."
Conjunctions used to join nouns together must agree in case with the nouns:
Háynim yáwyawuys huyuys mímawuys niwtiq.
Speaker-DAT dog-ACC and-ACC sheep-ACC give-SENS.
"Someone gave me a dog and a sheep."
Conjunctions are also used to connect sentences together logically. For example:
Nawpayi tátawsamya, tíq háyi tzátzawkiw.
Summer-NOM arrive-SENS, so speaker-NOM hunt-IMPF-SENS.
"Summer is here, so I hunt."
Síyi simtims, tzay dawdzams.
This-NOM see-PRES, then know-PRES.
"This one sees, then he knows." (or) "Whoever sees will understand."
There are several discourse particles, put at the end of sentences to help with the flow of conversation:
| Particle | Meaning |
| káws | solidarity |
| kíw | assertion |
| súyq | contradiction |
| qih | resignation |
| miwh | softening |
| tiws | asking for support |
| niwuh | asking for sympathy |
| túsaq | asking for confirmation |
| kúq | skepticism |
The first seven are never used with questions; the last two are always used with questions.
The difference between tiws and túsaq is that the former asks the listener to support the speaker in his speech (e.g. by saying "yes"), while the latter is simply asking for confirmation of a fact.
For example:
Káydiqtziwsma qas síyi tawsam.
Hill-PLUR-INS at this one-NOM go-TEL-PAST.
"He completed a journey from the hills."
With particles added:
Káydiqtziwsma qas síyi tawsam káws.
"Aye mate, it’s true, he came from the hills."
Káydiqtziwsma qas síyi tawsam kíw.
"Of course he came from the hills."
Káydiqtziwsma qas síyi tawsam súyq.
"How could you think he didn’t come from the hills?"
Káydiqtziwsma qas síyi tawsam qih.
"Oh well, I guess he really did come from the hills."
Káydiqtziwsma qas síyi tawsam miwh.
"I think maybe he came from the hills, eh."
Káydiqtziwsma qas síyi tawsam tiws.
"He came from the hills, yes?"
Káydiqtziwsma qas síyi tawsam niwuh.
"He came from the hills? Aw…"
Káydiqtziwsma qas síyi tawsam túsaq?
"He came from the hills, didn’t he?"
Káydiqtziwsma qas síyi tawsam kúq?
"Are you sure he came from the hills?"
As can be seen, this passage is given in the sensory mood, even though the storyteller could not possibly have experienced the story. This is to give the story a sense of vividness. To imitate this style, the translation is given in the English present tense.
Note the last sentence:
Síkim húyi huyi hápayi múmuytiq,
North wind-NOM and-NOM sun-NOM dispute-IMPF-SENS
"The North Wind and the Sun are disputing,"
sáyi sáynim tátaysiq, sawnunh níni?
which-NOM which-DAT compare-IMPF-SENS, strong do-IMPF-SENS?
"which one is stronger than which?"
Tzay, namdzaw muypama yáyawtziq,
Then, person-BEN robe-INS wrap-IMPF-SENS,
"When a traveler, wrapped in a cloak,"
yíyi sítziwsnim qas títiwsin.
TOPICNOM this-PLUR-DAT at come-IMPF-SENS.
"comes [lit. comes at them]."
Sítziwsi patiq,
This-PLUR-NOM say-TEL-SENS,
"They say,"
síyi ni táq nami muypawuys kaypins,
this-NOM do-SENS so-that man-NOM robe-ACC remove-SENS,
"that the one who makes the man take off the robe,"
tzay síyi sawnunh níni kíw.
then this-NOM strong do-IMPF-SENS assertion-particle.
"then of course it’s this one that’s stronger."
Tzay síkim húyi yáyayamu húni,
Then north wind hard-very-very blow-ATEL-SENS,
"Then the north wind blows as hard as he could, [but in vain]"
Nami muypawuys yáyayamu yáyawtziq niwuh.
Person-NOM robe-ACC hard-very-very wrap-IMPF-SENS sympathy-particle.
"As the poor sod wraps himself up in the robe just as hard."
Táq síkim húyi tuygim niwuh,
So north wind-NOM stop-TEL-SENS sympathy-particle,
"So the unfortunate North Wind has to stop,"
huy hápanim piwtiq, táq hápa niwuys sísimtiq.
And sun-DAT call-TEL-SENS, so-that sun do-NOUN-ACC see-IMPF-SENS.
"and called upon the sun to see what he would do."
Tzay, hápayi tiwsim tzay sawnunh háhapi.
Then sun-NOM come-TEL-SENS then strong shine-IMPF-SENS.
"Then the sun comes up and shines strongly,"
Nami muypawuys tiwmaq kaypins,
Person-NOM robe-ACC quick remove-TEL-SENS,
"And the man takes his cloak off ,"
Mi dúykuqnim quy tawsim, sísiqsim káws!
Small river-DAT in go-TEL-SENS, wash-IMPF-SENS solidarity-particle.
"And look, goes into a stream and bathes [himself]!!"
Tíq síkim húyi patiq,
So north wind-NOM say-TEL-SENS,
"So North Wind says,"
Hápayi sawnunh níni qih.
Sun-NOM strong do-IMPF-SENS resignation-particle.
"That, oh well, the sun really is the stronger."
Qíqi pápatama dádatuhnim tátaysams, sawnunh nínims.
Good-very say-IMPF-NOUN-INS hit-IMPF-NOUN-DAT compare-IMPF-PRES, strong do-IMPF-PRES.
"Gentle persuasion is stronger than force."
Sányamhi miminamuys tzítzin hámnaquys qun sísiq,
Goat-NOM grass-ACC sharp-very cliff-ACC on eat-IMPF-SENS,
"A goat is grazing upon a steep cliff,"
wúwuys wunhwunhi simtiq, tzáwkiwpawh.
TOPIC-ACC wolf-NOM see-TEL-SENS, hunt-ATEL-SUBJ.
"when he is seen by a wolf, who would not be able to reach him."
Táq wunhwunhi sínim pípiwtiq,
So-that Wolf-NOM this-ACC call-IMPF-SENS,
"So the wolf begins to call to him,"
"Túqi háynim quy tiwsunpawh táq qúquq kahaytimpawh,"
You-DAT I-ACC at come-TEL-SUBJ so-that not fall-TEL-SUBJ,
"'You should come [to me] so that you would not fall,'"
"huy háyuys quy hahsanhi níni tiws,"
And I-ACC at meadow-NOM do-IMPF-SENS support-particle,
"'also, there are meadows where I am,'"
"síwuys quy miminami háhahawwaq níni káws."
This-ACC at grass-NOM soft-very-very do-IMPF-SENS solidarity-particle.
"'here the grass is most tender.'"
Sányamhi piwtiq, "Túqi qúquq háydzaw pípiwtiq,"
Goat-NOM call-TEL-SENS, you-NOM not me-BEN call-IMPF-SENS,
"The goat calls, 'You are calling not for my benefit,'"
"sísiqdzaw píwtiq súyq!"
Eat-IMPF-NOUN-BEN call-ATEL-SENS contradiction-particle.
"'you're calling so that you can eat!'"