Zìsìt Amip Lefpom, ma eylan! Happy New Year, friends!

Started by Toliman, January 02, 2018, 04:00:32 PM

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Toliman

Zìsìt Amip Lefpom, ma eylan! Happy New Year, friends!

Hum zìsìt alal, pähem pum amip. Yo'kofya atì'iluke. (See below.) Let's hope 2018 proves to be a healthy, happy, and fulfilling year for all of us.

To start things off, a few new vocabulary items:

yo'kofya (n., YO'.ko.fya) 'cycle'

From yo'ko 'circle' + fya'o 'path, way.'

tì'iluke (adj., tì.I.lu.ke) 'endless, never-ending'

This word is derived from tì'i'a 'ending, conclusion' and luke 'without.' The original word *tì'i'aluke contracted to tì'iluke over time. As you know, we already have a word meaning endless or boundless, txewluke. Although tì'iluke and txewluke overlap to a certain extent, tì'iluke usually has more of a temporal sense, describing something that goes on and on continually without end. A long, boring speech that seems endless, for example, would be described as tì'iluke.

txanso'hayu (n., txan.SO'.ha.yu) 'fan, enthusiast'

The derivation is straightforward: txan 'much' + so'ha 'be enthusiastic about' + -yu 'agentive suffix.' A shorter, more colloquial form of the word is simply so'yu.

   Lu pxaya txanso'hayu tsarelä arusikx alu Uniltìrantokx kifkeyka nìwotx.
   'There are many fans of Avatar all over the world.'

'oktrr (n., 'OK.trr) 'day of commemoration'

We already have the familiar, general word ftxozä meaning 'celebration,' which can be used in a wide variety of situations. But there are also words for more specific kinds of celebrations. 'Oktrr, literally 'remembrance day,' is used for any kind of commemorative anniversary, not necessarily a yearly one. To specifically refer to a yearly anniversary, we have:

zìsìtsaltrr (n., zì.sìt.SAL.trr) '(yearly) anniversary'

The derivation is zìsìt + sal(ew) + trr, i.e., 'year-pass day.' Colloquially, this becomes:

zìtsaltrr (n., zìt.SAL.trr or zì.TSAL.trr) '(yearly) anniversary'

(Note: I've hedged on the syllabification here, since I think it's likely that the original t+s combination, in consecutive syllables, would coalesce into the ts phoneme. In actual speech, I doubt the two possibilities could be distinguished.)

   Zìtsaltrrìri tìmuntxayä aylrrtok!
   'Happy anniversary (of your marriage)!'

The following new words and examples are based on some excellent suggestions from the LEP. Irayo nìfrakrr, ma smuk!

tsukx (vtr.) 'stab'

The LEP members explained: "This word [is] used much the same way as it is in English. Literal usage would be reserved for knives/spears/etc. but poetic/figurative usage is allowable ('Her words stabbed my heart like a knife)."

   Neytiril nantangit tsolukx fte peyä tìsrawti 'eykivi'a.
   'Neytiri stabbed the viperwolf to end its pain.'

ripx (vtr.) 'pierce'

   Lu Neytiriru 'awa mikyun arawnipx nì'aw.
   Neytiri has only one pierced ear.

sävll (n., sä.VLL) 'sign, indication, signal'

This of course is derived from the verb vll 'indicate, point at.' As the LEP members pointed out, the difference between sävll and aungia is that the latter word, meaning 'sign, omen' and which we're familiar with from the movie, has more of a mystical or spiritual sense to it, as in aungia a ta Eywa. Sävll, on the other hand, simply says that A indicates B:

   Kxener lu sävll txepä.
   Smoke is a sign/an indication that there is fire.

   Mì sangek a sävllit ngolop eykyul tarponguä.
   The sign on the tree trunk was made by the leader of the hunting party.

I have quite a few more excellent suggestions from the LEP. These will be coming in future posts.

Hayalovay!

Plumps

Don't forget

     tstxolì'ukìngvi (n., tstxo.LÌ.'u.kìng.vi) 'noun phrase'

from the comment section.