An Introduction to

Delason

Nizar Habash, Ph.D.

DELTA EL DELASON

An Introduction to Delason

The Complete Guide to the Artificial Language

Second Edition

Nizar Habash, Ph.D.

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1990-2012 Nizar Habash. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, published, distributed, displayed, performed, copied or

transmitted in any form by any mechanical, photographic

or electronic process without written permission of

the author.

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For my siblings, Ahmad, the leader of the rebel movement to overthrow me,

Princess Nowar of Salamon, and Prince Kamal of Salamon.

Thank you for the wonderful memories

of our imaginary homeland.

te dako. tetone, na to oben.

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Introduction

It has been over 20 years since I first imagined Delason and 14 years since I wrote the first edition of this book documenting it. My love for languages has since led me to earn a doctorate in computational linguistics in 2003 from the University of Maryland College Park. I have been working as a researcher at Columbia University since then, specializing in machine translation and Arabic natural language processing. What started as a fun summer project over two decades ago evolved into a hobby that had a lasting effect on my life and career in interesting ways. Working on Delasons grammar, dictionary and fonts helped me develop skills and awareness of both linguistic and computational issues that are relevant to my research in computational linguistics. I am currently working on a new project creating a second constructed language called Semiti, an Arabic-Hebrew esperanto. Semiti is part of an imaginary Middle Eastern country called Palisra that is my answer to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

As far as Delason news since the first edition, I am quite proud to report that one of Delasons ideograms was added to the shield of the Honors College at my Alma Mater, Old Dominion University. Professor Lou Henry, who was Dean of the college, had found out about Delason and asked if I could create a Delason graduation diploma to give to my graduating class. I was so excited of course and even created a special symbol for the

concept of Knowledge: () to use in the certificate. The year after I left, Dean Henry added the symbol to the colleges shield and every student graduating since then have received a medal with the symbol inscribed on it. See the shield on the right.

On a more personal note, my sister, Nowar, first told me about the man she fell in love with and eventually married in an email in Delason. As a wedding gift, I created a Delasoni marriage certificate to honor the occasion. And after the Muslim cleric

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who married them left, we conducted a second ceremony in which Nowar and her husband Salah said their I dos in Delason. Since then, about a dozen people received Delasoni wedding certificates. All are still married, except for one couple who did not sign the certificate (tsk tsk tsk). I like to imagine that signing the Delasoni certificate has something to do (or it simply correlates) with successful marriages.

Finally, about two years ago, I opened a Zazzle online store to sell products with Delasoni symbols on them, among other artistic creations. Visit us at http://www.zazzle.com/nizware.

For this edition, I updated some of the grammar discussions and dictionary, and added a few texts including some new translated songs, the Delasoni wedding certificate and the Old Dominion University Honors College graduation diploma. I hope you enjoy the book and I thank you for your interest.

Nizar Habash, Ph.D.

nizar@nizarhabash.com

New York, New York

Summer 2012

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Introduction to the First Edition

In the summer of 1990, I realized that the artificial country I have been designing for two years lacked an essential element: its own language. The Mediterranean country was an island named Salamon after the Canaanite tribe that migrated to it. By that summer, I had created several maps of Salamon, had written an account of its history that was integrated in the history of the Middle East and the Mediterranean, and had even printed stamps and money notes. The official languages of the island nation were Arabic and English until I designed Salamonese, the ancestor of Delason.

Looking back at that summer, I am not surprised that I thought of constructing an artificial language. By that time, I had lived in or visited more than 12 countries in four continents and had studied, formally or informally, about five different languages and came in touch with several modern Arabic dialects (Palestinian, Egyptian, Tunisian). But creating my "own" language seemed like the most fascinating challenge I ever attempted. Seven years later, I was still working on it. The language has metamorphisized several times especially as I went to college and majored in linguistics. So as I learned more about human languages and realized how diverse they are, I modified my language.

During my college years, Delason lost its connections with its fictitious origins and became a linguistic "test-tube." I toyed with the possibility of combining dissimilar syntactic properties such as having both pre- and post-positions, or optional case markers that can increase the freedom of Delasons word order. Phonologically and morphologically, however, Delason remained quite simple since I was never interested in experimenting with these aspects of language. Delasons phonology is simply a regularized marriage of Spanish and Modern Hebrew. And all morphological derivations are done using prefixes and suffixes only.

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On the other hand, Delasoni vocabulary is quite remarkable in that its roots come from a set of about 20 languages with the main contributors being from the Indo-European and the Semitic families. Some of the roots are borrowed with no modifications such as telefon (Latin telephone) or on (Turkish ten). I created other roots by scrambling elements from different languages. For example, olan (hello / peace) is constructed from hola (Spanish hello) and ahlan (Arabic hello) with the semantic component peace from shalom (Hebrew hello / peace). In addition, I used names of famous real and fictitious characters associated with particular meanings, e.g., makbeta (guilt) from Macbeth and hickoka (fear), pronounced hish-ko-ka, from Hitchcock.

In addition to its syntax and vocabulary, Delason is special among other constructed languages in that it is one of the few with their own script. I designed it by integrating elements from different scripts, with the main contributors being Japanese Kana and Kanji. I have created several fonts for this script and have experimented with calligraphy.

The goal of this book is to document my work on Delason and share it with other conlangers (language constructors or as I prefer to call us linguartists - pronounced ling-gwar-tists). The book contains an introduction to the Delasoni writing system, a complete grammar reference, a phrase book, selected texts, and an English-Delason dictionary. I hope you enjoy this humble work of linguart and thank you very much for your interest.

Nizar Habash

Ramallah, Palestine

Summer 1997

Table of ContentsChapter One The Delasoni Writing System 1

1.1 DELASONI SCRIPTS 1 1.2 THE DELASONI ALPHABET 1 1.3 DELASONI PRONUNCIATION 3 1.4 DIGITS AND PUNCTUATION 5 1.5 DELASONI IDEOGRAMS 6

Chapter Two Essentials of Delasoni Grammar 10 2.1 NOUNS 10 2.2 VERBS 12 2.3 ADJECTIVES 14 2.4 ADVERBS 15 2.5 QUALIFIERS 16 2.6 PRONOUNS 20 2.7 NUMBERS 24 2.8 PREPOSITIONS 25 2.9 RELATIVE CLAUSES 27 2.10 QUESTIONS 29 2.11 CONJUNCTIONS 32 2.12 SENTENTIAL WORD ORDER 33

Chapter Three A Phrasebook of Delason 36 3.1 BASIC EXPRESSIONS 36 3.2 HELLO EVERYBODY! 37 3.3 ONE, TWO, THREE, GO! 39 3.4 WHAT DAY IS IT? 44 3.5 WHAT, WHO, WHERE? 48 3.6 THIS IS IT! 50 3.7 I AM LOST. CAN YOU HELP ME? 51

3.8 THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY 54 3.9 FOOD 57 3.10 BODY PARTS 60 3.11 CLOTHING 62 3.12 THE WEATHER 65 3.13 USEFUL WORDS 66 3.14 VERBS, VERBS, VERBS! 70

Chapter Four Selected Texts 74 4.1 THE OLD TESTAMENT: FIRST LIGHT 74 4.2 THE OLD TESTAMENT: THE TOWER OF BABEL 75 4.3 THE NEW TESTAMENT: JOHN 3:16 77 4.4 THE QURAN: ALFATIHA 78 4.5 TAO TEH CHING: BOOK 1 79 4.6 THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS 80 4.7 OMAR KHAYYAM: RUBAIYA 24 81 4.8 LE NOZZE DI FIGARO: NO. 11 CANZONE 82 4.9 A HUNDRED VERSES FROM OLD JAPAN: UKON 83 4.10 A FAIRUZ SONG: KIFAK INTA 84 4.11 A KATY PERRY SONG: FIREWORK 85 4.12 AN EMILY DICKINSON POEM: A WORD 86 4.13 DELASONI NURSERY RHYMES 87 4.14 DELASONI LOVE POEMS 88 4.15 FROM THE DELASONI EPIC OF KIRMIZ-KAZU 89 4.16 DELASONI WEDDING CERTIFICATE 91 4.18 DELASONI GRADUATION DIPLOMA 95 4.19 DELASONI GREETING CARD CAPTIONS 97

Chapter Five An English-Delason Dictionary 100 Chapter Six A Delason-English Dictionary 128

Chapter One

The Delasoni Writing System

1.1 Delasoni Scripts Delason is written using two scripts: the Delasoni alphabet and Delasoni ideograms. The former is a phonemic system in which a direct correspondence exists between writing and speech. The latter is a set of ideographic symbols that accessorize the written alphabet. In terms of their history, ideograms were the only form of Delasoni writing. The alphabetical letters were actually simplified ideogram forms that came to dominate the writing system over the millennia.

1.2 The Delasoni Alphabet

The Delasoni alphabet alefbeta delasoni alefbeta delasoni has 20 consonants and five vowels. There are two Delasoni styles of writing: the traditional engraved style

PONTA MARCINI ponta marcini and the modern style ponta navoni ponta navoni. The ponta marcini was used in ancient times as the only form of the alphabet. It is the link between the Delasoni ideograms and the cursive ponta navoni, which is currently the default Delasoni script style. The Delasoni alphabet does not have capital/small letter distinction. It is written from left to right.

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A. Consonants

Delason Transliteration Pronunciation

P p p pen B b b big T t t ten D d d door C c c show J j j measure F f f foot V v v very K k k kiss G g g gas S s s so Z z z zoo H h h hello X x x Scottish loch M m m more N n n no L l l low R r r root W w w will Y y y yes

The circle diacritic (cirita cirita) appears after some letters to indicate that the letter represents the voiced version of another

voiceless consonant letter, e.g., p-b p-b. In the case of w w and

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y y, the cirita marks them as the glide forms of the related vowels u u and i i, respectively.

B. Vowels

Delason Transliteration Pronunciation

A a a father

I i i feet

E e e fate

U u u root

O o o road

Sequences of two vowels are allowed in Delason: havua havua spirit. The second vowel forms a separate syllable, e.g., ha-vu-a, not ha-vua.

C. Alphabetical Order

The order used above to present the consonants and vowels is intended to highlight the similarity between different letters. The actual order of letters is as follows:

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p r s t u v w x y z

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p r s t u v w x y z

1.3 Delasoni Pronunciation 1. It is important to remember the following when using

transliteration as a guide for pronunciation:

a. The symbol c (for c) stands for the sound sh as in shop not s as in mercy or k as in cat.

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b. The symbol x (for x) stands for ch as in the Scottish pronunciation of loch not ch as in check or ks as in exercise.

2. Word stress in Delason falls on the last syllable of the word if

it ends with a consonant or with the vowels e e or o o. Otherwise, the stress falls on the next to last syllable. Hyphenated postpositions are optionally considered part of the word, which may lead to two possible valid stress pronunciations. Stress in Delason is not distinctive. As such, poetic license may violate the abovemenioned rules.

cta cta city only syllable

sotin sotin song last syllable

ceco ceco houses last syllable vowel o

latfe latfe beautifully last syllable vowel e

ceca ce ca house next to last syllable

latfi la tfi beautiful next to last syllable

havua havua spirit next to last syllable

cta-bi cta -bi in the city with postposition

sotin-bi sotin-bi in the song with postposition

ceco-bi ceco -bi in the houses with postposition

ceca-bi ce ca-bi ceca -bi In the house with postposition (two possibilities)

3. As for intonation, a falling pitch denotes the completeness of the thought being uttered. Wh-questions have a falling pitch, too. A rising pitch, on the other hand, denotes

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incompleteness. A rising pitch is also used with exclamations and yes/no questions.

aruma di te kuti en. aruma di te kuti en (falling, complete utterance). This is a good person.

ize boden, ta sa alen na-vi. ize ta boden (rising, incomplete), ta sa alen na-vi (falling, complete). If you want, you will go with me.

et ceca-si ta aven? et ceca-si ta aven (falling, wh-question)? Which house is yours?

hu miru en! hu miru en (rising, exclamation)! She is Miru!

es ta kucu en? es ta kucu en (rising, yes/no question)? Are you Kushu?

1.4 Digits and Punctuation Numbers in Delason are represented using a decimal digit system similar to Arabic numerals.

0 0 5 5 1 1 6 6 2 2 7 7 3 3 8 8 4 4 9 9

Examples:

365 365 98.7 98.7 40,000 40,000 1/2 = .5 1/2 = .5

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The following are some of the common punctuation marks used in Delason. They look similar to those used in English.

? Question mark ( ? ) . Period ( . )

! Exclamation mark ( ! ) - Hyphen ( - )

, Comma ( , ) () Parentheses ( )

1.5 Delasoni Ideograms Delasoni ideograms are a small set of symbols that are used in addition to the alphabet. These symbols are used mainly for ornamental purposes. For example, the symbol for knowledge is displayed at the top of diplomas, and the symbol for health is displayed on get-well cards. One practical usage of these symbols is to mark public facilities on maps. For example, the ideogram for money marks banks and that for knowledge marks schools. Chapter Four of this book includes several examples utilizing Delasoni ideograms.

Each ideogram is a unit that stands for a specific concept or object. Some ideograms are constructed from the combination of two or more ideograms. For example, the ideogram for Happiness and that for Body are combined to create the ideogram for Health.

+ = Happiness Body Health

The following is a list of some of the most common ideograms in Delason.

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Ideogram Meaning Symbol

Body, Physiology "Face and Arm"

Heart, Emotion "Big Heart"

Mind, Intellect "The Eye"

Soul, Spirituality, Light "Holy Fire"

Conscience "Eye to Eye"

Money, Possessions "Money Jar"

Beginning, Birth "One"

End, Death "Two"

Happiness, Satisfaction "Three Lucky Feathers" Universal Unity "Circle of Life"

Ambition "Fly High"

Stability, Peace "Tight Loop"

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Beauty, Elegance, Refinement "Bird of Paradise"

Positive Change, Success "Broken Loop"

Activity, Motion, Exercise, Sports "Body in Motion"

Physical Beauty + + Health, Happy Body + Love, Happy Heart + Prosperity, Happy Money Jar +

Wisdom, Happy Mind + Knowledge, Light of Mind + Peace of Mind, Good Conscience +

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Chapter Two

Essentials of Delasoni Grammar

This chapter presents essentials of Delasoni grammar. It discusses various aspects of the morphology and syntax of different parts-of-speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, qualifiers, pronouns, numbers, prepositions and conjunctions. Additional sections discuss sentential and phrasal word order including relative clauses and questions.

2.1 Nouns In Delason, nouns are the only part-of-speech without a unique marked ending. While verbs, adjectives and other parts-of-speech have specific endings, nouns can end with any vowel or consonant that is not reserved for other parts-of-speech. Most

Delasoni nouns end with the vowel -a -a such as ceca ceca house or ora ora happiness. Names of countries and individuals usually end with the vowel -u -u such as fransu fransu France or janu janu John. Other endings have some semantic significance. For example, the suffix

-on -on refers to the doer of an action as in soton soton singer from sota sota singing or fordon fordon driver from forda forda car. Another example, the suffix -in -in, refers to the object of an action as in sotin sotin song or

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fordin fordin vehicle from the same roots in the last example.

In addition to simple nouns, Delason has compound nouns that are created by hyphenating two or more words. At least one of these words must be a noun. Other words can be particles or adverbs. In some cases, nouns drop their final vowel or their last syllable.

For example,

ceca + manja cec-manja ceca + manja cec-manja house + meal restaurant

kora + ce + racca kor-ce-rac kora + ce + racca kor-ce-rac bow + of + rain rainbow

Plurals are formed by dropping any final vowels and adding the

suffix -o -o. If the noun ends with two vowels, only the second vowel is dropped.

For example,

cta cta city cto cto cities

fordon fordon driver fordono fordono drivers

havua havua spirit havuo havuo spirits

amerikia amerikia an American amerikio amerikio Americans

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Nouns ending with the vowel -a -a, have an alternate form that is equivalent in meaning but drops the vocalic ending. For

example, torita torita bird and torit torit have the same meaning.

2.2 Verbs There are three forms of verbs in Delason: indicative verbs, infinitive verbs, and imperative verbs. Indicative verbs end with

-en -en and by default refer to the present tense. The past tense is obtained using the tense particle ha ha which precedes the verb. Similarly, the future tense is obtained by using the tense

particle sa sa . Delasoni verbs do not change with number or person.

For example,

na et kocu telefonen. na et kocu telefonen. I call Koshu by phone (often, everyday, ...)

na et kocu ha telefonen. na et kocu ha telefonen. I called Koshu by phone.

na et kocu sa telefonen. na et kocu sa telefonen. I will call Koshu by phone.

The second Delasoni verb form is the infinitive form. It is similar to English infinitives and gerunds in that it refers to the action with no reference to time (past, present, or future). All infinitive

verbs end with -ir -ir.

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For example,

na oben cofir et kocu. na oben cofir et kocu. I like to see (seeing) Koshu.

cofir et kocu gien na ori. cofir et kocu gien na ori. Seeing Koshu makes me happy.

The last Delasoni verb form is the imperative form. Commands

are created by replacing the -en -en suffix with -ay -ay. For example,

darcay et nama taci! darcay et nama taci! Tell me your name!

asine, alay mine! asine, alay mine! First, go right!

To negate a verb, the negative qualifier le le is placed before that verb. Note that le le also precedes the tense particles sa sa and ha ha. For example,

na le sa alen ev ta. na le sa alen ev ta. I will not go with you.

le cpilay ev manjina taci! le cpilay ev manjina taci! Do not play with your food!

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Delasoni verbs do not have a passive voice inflection. However,

the derivational prefix bi bi evokes a passive or unaccusative reading of the base verb. Similarly, the derivational prefix gi gi evokes an accusative reading of the base verb.

For example,

Unaccusative Base Accusative

bicofen bicofen

appear, look

cofen cofen

see, look

gicofen gicofen

show, guide

bicimen bicimen smell

[intransitive]

cimen cimen smell

[transitive]

gicimen gicimen

make smell

bicomen bicomen

be heard

comen comen hear

gicomen gicomen listen

2.3 Adjectives

Delasoni adjectives end with the suffix -i -i. Adjectives follow the nouns they modify. They have one form only that does not change whether the nouns are plural or singular.

For example,

oma latfi oma latfi a handsome man

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ima intelgi ima intelgi an intelligent woman

fordo navoni fordo navoni new cars

Two commonly used Delasoni adjectives correspond to the English demonstrative articles this, these, that and those. The two

adjectives are di di this or these and zi zi that or those. These demonstrative adjectives immediately follow the nouns and precede other adjectives.

For example,

ceca di gdoli en. ceca di gdoli en. This house is big.

cecot zi cmoli en. ceco zi cmoli en. Those houses are small.

na boden ceca di gdoli. na boden ceca di gdoli. I want this big house.

2.4 Adverbs

Delasoni adverbs end with the suffix -e -e. They come after the verbs they modify. Note that not all Delasoni adverbs correspond to adverbs in English.

For example,

hu honen latfe. hu honen latfe. He writes beautifully.

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alay ope el itaha torini. alay ope el itaha torini. Go up to the third floor.

2.5 Qualifiers Qualifiers are words that precede nouns, adjectives, adverbs and verbs. Qualifiers can be grouped into four types based on their relative position to each other and to the word they modify. The following is a list of the qualifiers and their relative positions.

Pos. 1 Pos. 2 Pos. 3 Pos. 4 Word

te te all de de the Number mere mere more Nouns

me me most ke ke such Qualifiers lece lece less Adjectives

se se some ine ine any otre otre other Adverbs

pe pe few ixe ixe each Verbs

le le no

The first five qualifiers, te te, me me, se se, pe pe and le le, are degree qualifiers. The specific meaning of these qualifiers depends on the part-of-speech of the word they qualify:

(Degree) Nouns Adjectives & Adverbs

te te 100% all extremely

me me 75% most very

se se 50% some kind of

pe pe 25% few not very

le le 0% none not at all

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For example,

me ceca latfi en. me ceca latfi en. Most of the house is good.

se arumo le intelgi en. se arumo le intelgi en. Some people are not intelligent at all.

me ceco te latfi en. me ceco te latfi en. Most of the houses are extremely beautiful.

hu darken et fransi me kute. hu darcen et fransi me kute. He speaks French very well.

Verbs are qualified in terms of frequency or degree.

For example,

na te oben ta. na te oben ta. I love you so much.

hu se alen sinema-li. hu se alen sinema-li. They go to the movies from time to time.

no le boden alir. no le boden alir. We do not want to go.

The qualifier de de corresponds to the definite article the in English. It is not used with adverbs or verbs. There are no indefinite articles that correspond to the English a, an or some.

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For example,

na boden et ceca gdoli. na boden et ceca gdoli. I want a big house.

na boden et de ceca gdoli. na boden et de ceca gdoli. I want the big house.

na boden et de gdoli. na boden et de gdoli. I want the big one.

The qualifier ke ke corresponds to the English word such. It is used with nouns, adjectives and adverbs.

For example,

hu arumo ke latfi en. hu arumo ke latfi en. They are such good people.

The qualifiers ine ine and ixe ixe correspond to the English indefinite articles any and each or every respectively. They are only used with nouns.

For example,

ine forda doradori en. ine forda doradori en. Any car is O.K. (with me).

na ta ken ixe moma. na ta ken ixe moma. I think of you every day.

The comparative qualifiers lece lece and mere mere correspond to the English less and more, respectively. When used in

conjunction with these qualifiers, the particle ki ki refers to the

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English than. If the definite qualifier de de is used with lece lece or mere mere, they would correspond to the least and the most. For example,

na boden mere dinga. na boden mere dinga. I want more money.

kucu lece latfi ki miru en. kocu lece latfi ki miru en. Koshu is less beautiful than Miru.

ceca di de mere gdoli cta-bi en. ceca di de mere gdoli cta-bi en. This is the biggest house in the city.

The qualifier otre otre refers to the English other or another. For example,

lezen na otre forda. lezen na otre forda. I need another car.

Number qualifiers are explained in Section 2.7. The following are some examples where different qualifiers are used together:

For example,

pe de dadino en dayna. pe de dadino en dayna. Only few of the guests are here.

le pase telgito mteli en. le pase telgito mteli en. No two snowflakes are similar.

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2.6 Pronouns The following is a list of most of pronouns in Delason.

a. Personal Pronouns

na na I no no we ta ta you (singular) to to you (plural) hu hu he, she, it, they

b. Possessive Pronominal Adjectives

There are no possessive pronouns in Delason. However, there are possessive pronominal adjectives.

naci naci my

noci noci our

taci taci your (singular)

toci toci your (plural)

huci huci his, her, its, their

de naci de naci mine

de noci de noci ours

de taci de taci yours (singular)

de toci de toci yours (plural)

de huci de huci his, hers, its, theirs

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For example,

na oden ceca huci ve hu oben de naci. na oben ceca huci ve hu oben de naci. I like his house and he likes mine.

c. Impersonal Pronoun

o o impersonal it or unknown subject This pronoun can also be used to create a passive sentence when used as the subject.

For example,

o raccen. o raccen. Its raining.

o miru ha cofen. o miru ha cofen. Miru was seen [some subject saw Miru].

This last example can also be expressed using the bi bi prefix discussed above.

miru ha bicofen. miru ha bicofen. Miru was seen.

d. Relative Pronouns

o o redundant subject in relative clauses

eto eto redundant object in relative clauses For more information on relative pronouns usage, see Section 2.9.

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For example,

de aruma ki na eto ha cofen de aruma ki na eto ha cofen The man whom I saw [lit. the man who I him saw]

e. Reflexive Pronoun

so so myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself, ourselves, themselves, ones self

For example,

hu so tasten. hu so tasten. He hates himself.

f. Indefinite Pronouns

tu tu all (things or people), everything, everybody mu mu most (things or people) su su some (things or people) pu pu few (things or people) lu lu none (things or people), nothing, nobody inu inu anything, anybody ixu ixu each otru otru other (things or people) others

For example,

inu doradori en. inu doradori en. Anything is O.K.

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g. Temporal Pronouns

ton-di ton-di now

ton-zi ton-zi then (past or future)

For example,

ton-di, no pen alir. ton-di, no pen alir. Now we can go.

h. Spatial Pronouns

dayna dayna here

zayna zayna there

For example,

bakakay dayna! bakakay dayna! Stay here!

i. Demonstrative Pronouns

da da this (thing or person)

do do these (things or people)

za za that (thing or person)

zo zo those (things or people)

For example,

na oben za. na oben za. I like that.

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2.7 Numbers There are three types of numbers in Delason: counting numbers, cardinal numbers and ordinal numbers. Counting numbers are used for counting only (one, two, three ...). They have no vocalic endings and are the roots used to form the other two types of numbers.

For example,

as, pas, tor, alay! as, pas, tor, alay! one, two, three, GO!

Cardinal numbers are similar in meaning to counting numbers except that they are not used in counting. There are three forms of cardinal numbers all of which are constructed by adding some vocalic ending to the counting numbers. First, cardinal numbers

can be qualifiers (ending with -e -e) that come before the noun. Second, cardinal numbers can be adjectives (ending with -i -i) that come after the noun. With adjectives and qualifiers, the nouns agree with the number: they are plural except with number

one. Finally, cardinal numbers can be nouns (ending with -u -u).

For example,

one house ase ceca ase ceca

or ceca asi ceca asi

two houses pase ceco pase ceco

or ceco pasi ceco pasi

fourteen houses kat-v-one ceco kat-v-one ceco

or cecotkat-v-oni ceco kat-v-oni

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ta komse ceca aven? ta komse ceca aven? How many houses do you have?

na aven pasu. na aven pasu. I have two.

As for ordinal numbers (first, second, third ... ), they are formed

by adding the suffix -ini -ini to the counting number. They can only be used as adjectives.

For example,

first house ceca asini ceca asini

second house ceca pasini ceca pasini

fourteenth house ceca kat-v-onini ceca kat-v-onini For more information on numbers, see the list of counting numbers in Section 3.3.

2.8 Prepositions There are three types of prepositions in Delason: simple prepositions, postpositions, and compound prepositions. Preposition phrases can modify nouns or complement verbs just as in English. There are only five simple prepositions, which have pre-position and a post-position forms.

Preposition Postposition

em em -mi -mi from el el -li -li to eb eb -bi -bi in, at ev ev -vi -vi with ce ce -ci -ci of

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The following are examples of prepositions:

de ceco eb cta di latfi en. de ceco eb cta di latfi en. The houses in this city are beautiful.

na boden alir el cta ce nyuyork. na boden alir el cta ce nyuyork. I want to go to New York city.

Postpositions in Delason are hyphenated particles that follow their nominal objects. The hyphen is optional only if the postpositions are used with pronouns.

For example,

hu ceca-bi en. hu ceca-bi en. They are in the house.

de aruma kocu-vi zmelin naci en. de aruma kocu-vi zmelin naci en. The man with Koshu is my friend.

Compound prepositions are made of adverbs hyphenated with

the particle et et. All of these prepositions can also be used without the hyphenated particle.

ope-et ope-et over, up, on top of ote-et ote-et under sare-et sare-et to the left of mine-et mine-et to the right of adame-et adame-et in front of ware-et ware-et behind sake-et sake-et for evle-et evle-et without

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For example,

yen fruga ope-et de tabyula. yen fruga ope-et de tabyula. There is a frog on the table.

fruga ha gren ware de televiza. fruga ha gren ware de televiza. A frog ran behind the TV.

2.9 Relative Clauses Delason has one relative particle and several relative pronouns.

The Delasoni relative particle ki ki is used in combination with other prepositions and pronouns to give a specific meaning such as who, which, that, whom, when, where, etc.

If the noun modified by the relative clause is the subject of that

clause, ki ki is followed by the pronoun o o, which is used as the subject of the relative clause. This corresponds to the English relative pronouns who, which and that. It does not make any difference whether the subject is a person or a thing.

For example,

de ima ki o no iden te mnixi en. de ima ki o no iden te mnixi en. The woman who helped us is very kind.

If the noun modified by the relative clause is the object of that

clause, ki ki is followed by the pronoun eto eto, which is used as the object of the relative clause. This corresponds to the English relative pronouns whom, which and that.

For example,

de aruma ki eto miru oben de aruma ki eto miru oben The person whom Miru loves

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If the noun modified by the relative clause is the possessor of another noun in that clause, then the possessed noun is followed

by ce o ce o or oci oci. This corresponds to the English relative pronoun whose.

For example,

de aruma ki na forda oci oben de aruma ki na forda oci oben The person whose car I like

Similar to the last example where the noun modified by the relative clause is referred to in the clause as the object of the

preposition ce ce, other prepositions can be used in relative clause. This can correspond to where, when, with whom, from where, to where, etc.

For example

de ceca ki na eb o abiten gdoli en. de ceca ki na eb o abiten gdoli en. The house where I live is big.

Lit. the house which I in it live big is.

de va ki na em o aten latfi en. de va ki na em o aten latfi en. It is beautiful where I come from.

Lit. the place which I from it come beautiful is.

Relative pronouns in Delason provide an alternative to using the

relative particle ki ki. They are much closer in usage to their English counterparts. The following is a list of these pronouns:

ki ki who, which, that etki etki whom, which, that evki evki with whom elki elki to whom

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emki emki from whom vaki vaki where tonki tonki when

Note the similarity between the relative pronoun ki ki and the relative particle ki ki. The only difference is that the pronoun o o is not used with the relative pronoun ki ki since it is itself a pronoun.

For example,

de ima ki no iden me mnixi en. de ima ki no iden me mnixi en. The woman who helped us is very kind.

de asu etki na oben oben na. de asu etki na oben oben na. The one whom I love does not love me.

de ceca vaki na abiten gdoli en. de ceca vaki na abiten gdoli en. The house where I live is big.

2.10 Questions Most interrogative words in Delason are interrogative pronouns. However, there are one interrogative particle, one interrogative qualifier, one interrogative adjective, and one interrogative postposition. Interrogative pronouns are usually placed at the beginning of the sentence without changing its word order. For more information on word order see Section 2.12. The following is a list of Delasoni interrogative pronouns:

osi osi (subject) who, what etsi etsi (object) whom, what evsi evsi with whom elsi elsi to whom

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emsi emsi from whom komsi komsi how ersi ersi why vasi vasi where em vasi em vasi from where el vasi el vasi to where tonsi tonsi when el tonsi el tonsi until when em tonsi em tonsi since when

For example,

vasi kocu en? vasi kocu en? Where is Koshu?

tonsi ta sa raten? tonsi ta sa raten? When will you come back?

ersi ta ha alen? ersi ta ha alen? Why did you go?

komsi ta en? komsi ta en? How are you?

The only interrogative particle in Delason is es es which changes any sentence to a question when placed at the beginning or end

of that sentence. The type of question resulting from using es es is a yes/no question.

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For example,

es de forda di taci en? es de forda di taci en? Is this your car?

no sa alen moma di, es? no sa alen moma di, es? We are going today, arent we?

The interrogative qualifier komse komse corresponds with the English interrogative articles how many and how much. It precedes the noun it qualifies.

For example,

ta aven komse forda? ta aven komse forda? How many cars do you have?

The interrogative adjective cesi cesi whose follows the noun whose possessor is demanded.

For example,

ceca di cesi en? ceca di cesi en? Whose house is this?

The last interrogative word is the interrogative postposition -si -si, which corresponds to the English interrogative articles what or which. This postposition is hyphenated to the noun in question.

For example,

ta boden et forda-si? ta boden et forda-si? Which car do you want?

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2.11 Conjunctions Delasoni conjunctions are used to combine different phrases or clauses together. The following are some of these conjunctions:

ve ve and u u or pas pas but pas le pas le but not u . u u ... u either ... or le . le le ... le neither ... nor gamgam gamgam also, in addition olte olte although, despite

done done so as to, in order to, so that ere ere because dore erge therefore ize ize if dize dize then eltone eltone until emtone emtone since evtone evtone while, as long as ware ware before adame adame after, then

For example,

na ken. erge, na en. na ken. erge, na en. I think. Therefore, I am.

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na sa aten ere na boden na sa aten ere na boden cofir et ta. cofir et ta. I am coming because I want to see you.

ware na alen, na lezen ware na alen, na lezen ranvizitir et banka. ranvizitir et banka. Before I go, I have to stop by the bank.

mari, janu, ve kocu mari, janu, ve kocu sa aten moma di. sa aten moma di. Mary, John and Koshu are coming today.

2.12 Sentential Word Order The Delasoni sentence word order is quite free except for the following constraints. The word order in every phrase (noun phrase, verb phrase, etc.) is not free. For example, adjectives always follow nouns and qualifiers precede them. The rules for word order of nouns, adjectives, etc. are described above in their different sections. On the clause level, although the verb can occur anywhere, the subject must always precede the object. If the object is to precede the subject, it must be marked with the

accusative case marker et et. This marker is optional otherwise. For example, all of the following sentences have the same meaning: I love Koshu.

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na kocu oben. na kocu oben.

na oben kocu. na oben kocu.

oben na kocu. oben na kocu.

et kocu na oben. et kocu na oben.

et kocu oben na. et kocu oben na.

oben et kocu na. oben et kocu na.

Questions and declarative statements share the same word order.

This freedom in word order provides great flexibility for poem-writing. See Chapter 4 for some examples of poetic usage. However, the general tendencies for word order in Delason are as follows:

1. The basic word order is SVO (subject-verb-object) with the accusative case marker being optional. For example, na boden (et) forda di. na boden (et) forda di.

I want this car.

2. If the object is a pronoun, then the word order is SOV (subject-object-verb). For example,

na hu oben. na hu oben.

I love him.

3. If the verb is a linking verb such as the verb en en to be, then the word order is SCV (subject-complement-verb). For example,

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miru ori en. Miru ori en.

Miru is happy.

hu me intelgi en. hu me intelgi en.

She is very intelligent.

Chapter Three

A Phrasebook of Delason

3.1 Basic Expressions

Hello olan olan

Goodbye ev olan ev olan

Please ize oren ize oren

Thank you daka daka

Thanks a lot te dako te dako

Youre welcome ev ora ev ora

How are you? komsi ta en? komsi ta en?

Fine, thank you. kuti en, daka. kuti en, daka.

O.K. doradori doradori

Who are you? ta-si en? ta-si en?

I am Koshu. na kocu en. na kocu en.

What is your name? komsi ta binamen?

komsi ta binamen?

My name is Miru. miru binamen. miru binamen.

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Are you Koshu? es ta kocu en?

es ta kocu en?

Yes, I am. vi, en. vi, en.

Yes, I am Koshu. vi, kocu en. vi, kocu en.

No, I am not. le, le en. le, le en.

No, I am not Koshu. le, kocu le en.

le, kocu le en.

3.2 Hello Everybody! Good morning Good evening Good afternoon

moma latfi moma latfi

Good night cena latfi cena latfi

Hello olan olan

Hello everybody! olan el tu! olan el tu!

Congratulations te barko te barko Happy season (Christmas, Eid, Pesach)

ora ev olan ora ev olan

Happy birthday mom-nu ori mom-nu ori

Happy new year cebcona ori cebcona ori

Goodbye ev olan ev olan

See you later el cofir el cofir

This is Mr./Ms. ... da am ... en. da am ... en.

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How do you do? komsi ta en? komsi ta en?

Very well, thank you. and you?

me kuti, daka, ve ta?

me kuti, daka, ve ta?

Fine, thank you. kuti en, daka. kuti en, daka.

Excuse me ize oren ize oren

Sorry tsutsu tsutsu

No problem le tapca le tapca

I beg your pardon. pardonay na. pardonay na.

I would like you to meet Miru

na ta boden goblir et miru.

na ta boden goblir et miru.

Mr. / Ms. Gishani am gicani am gicani

my parents vavo naci vavo naci

my father/mother vavu naci vavu naci

brother/sister ahu ahu

son/daughter sunu sunu

aunt/uncle antu antu grandfather/grandmother saftu saftu

spouse pasan pasan brother-in-law/sister-in-law pasan-ahu pasan-ahu

son-in-law/daughter-in-law pasan-sunu pasan-sunu

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family msiva msiva

woman ima ima

feminine imi imi

man oma oma

masculine omi omi

This is my mother da vavu imi en,

da vavu imi en,

and that is my father ve za vavu omi en.

ve za vavu omi en.

3.3 One, Two, Three, GO!

number dzua, dzu

dzua,

dzu

numbers dzuo dzuo

0 0 fec fec

1 1 as as

2 2 pas pas

3 3 tor tor

4 4 kat kat

5 5 faf faf

6 6 ses ses

7 7 sat sat

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8 8 mon mon

9 9 nov nov

10 10 on on

11 11 as-v-on as-v-on

12 12 pas-v-on pas-v-on

13 13 tor-v-on tor-v-on

19 19 nov-v-on nov-v-on

20 20 pason pason

21 21 pason as pason as

22 22 pason pas pason pas

30 30 toron toron

31 31 toron as toron as

40 40 katon katon

50 50 fafon fafon

90 90 novon novon

100 100 om om

101 101 om as om as

200 200 pasom pasom

300 300 torom torom

1,000 1000 doza doza

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2,000 2000 pase doza pase doza

20,000 20000 pasone doza pasone doza

200,000 200000 pasome doza pasome doza

1 million 1000000 milyon milyon

2 million 2000000 pase milyon pase milyon

365 365 torom seson faf torom seson faf

3276 3276 tore doza pasom saton ses tore doza pasom saton ses

33,477,261 33477261

toron tore milyon katom saton sat pasom seson as toron tore milyon katom saton sat pasom seson as

one half 1/2 pasod pasod

one third 1/3 torod torod

one fourth 1/4 katod katod

.33 .33 pez toron tor pez toron tor

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.61 .61 pez seson as pez seson as

1% 1 % as emom as emom

5% 5 % faf emom faf emom

90% 90 % novon emom novon emom

99.99% 99.99 % novon nov pez novon nov emom novon nov pez novon nov emom

plus ve ve

minus vile vile

times tote tote

divided by pope pope

equal galen galen

20 + 4 = 24 pason ve kat pason kat galen. pason ve kat pason kat galen.

20 - 4 = 16 pason vile kat ses-v-on galen. pason vile-et kat ses-v-on galen.

first asini asini

second pasini pasini

third torini torini

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last pahini pahini

beginning asina asina

end paha paha

one house ase ceca ase ceca

one house ceca asi ceca asi

twelve houses as-v-one ceco as-v-one ceco

twelve houses ceco as-v-oni ceco as-v-oni

the first house de ceca asini de ceca asini

the tenth house de ceca onini de ceca onini

the last house de ceca pahini de ceca pahini

How much does this cost?

komse da koten? komse da koten?

It costs 35 dimas.

da toron fafe dima koten. da toron fafe dima koten.

72 dollars saton pase dolar saton pase dolar

She is number one.

hu dzu as en. hu dzu as en.

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He is number ten.

hu dzu on en. hu dzu on en.

I want number 65.

na boden dzu seson faf. na boden dzu seson faf.

3.4 What Day is it?

day moma moma

night cena cena

today moma di moma di

yesterday mama ali moma ali

tomorrow moma ati moma ati

tonight cena di cena di

last night cena ali cena ali

tomorrow night cena ati cena ati

every day te momo te momo

all day te moma te moma

every night te ceno te ceno

week satun satun

What day is it? moma-si en? moma-si en?

It is Sunday. mom-asin en. mom-asin en.

Monday mom-pasin mom-pasin

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Tuesday mom-torin mom-torin

Wednesday mom-katin mom-katin

Thursday mom-fafin mom-fafin

Friday mom-sesin mom-sesin

Saturday mom-satin mom-satin

Moon lela lela

Sun cebca cebca

month lelon lelon

every month te lelono te lelono

this month lelon di lelon di

last month lelon ali lelon ali

next month lelon ati lelon ati

January lelon-asin lelon-asin

February lelon-pasin lelon-pasin

March lelon-torin lelon-torin

April lelon-katin lelon-katin

May lelon-fafin lelon-fafin

June lelon-sesin lelon-sesin

July lelon-satin lelon-satin

August lelon-monin lelon-monin

September lelon-novin lelon-novin

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October lelon-onin lelon-onin

November lelon-as-v-onin lelon-as-v-onin

December lelon-pas-v-onin lelon-pas-v-onin

year cebcona cebcona

What year is it? cebcona-si en? cebcona-si en?

It is 2004. pase doza kat en. pase doza kat en.

season ton-cebon ton-cebcon

Summer ton-heron ton-herron

Winter ton-beron ton-berron

Spring ton-icbon ton-icbon

Autumn ton-ladon ton-ladon

How old are you? oga-si ta aven? oga-si ta aven?

I am 18 years old. na aven kat-v-one cebcono. na aven kat-v-one cebcono.

time ton ton

this time ton di ton di

next time ton ati ton ati

last time ton ali ton ali

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never letone, leton letone, leton

rarely petone, peton petone, peton

sometimes setone, seton setone, seton

often metone, meton metone, meton

always tetone, teton tetone, teton

What time is it? tonsi ton di en? tonsi ton di en?

hour saya saya

minute mima mima

seconds kika kika

watch sayona sayona

It is one oclock. ase asya en. ase saya en.

two oclock pase saya pase saya

half past three tore saya ve pasod tore saya ve pasod

quarter past four. kate saya ve katod kate saya ve katod

twenty to five. fafe saya vile-et torod fafe saya vile-et torod

10:45 on katon faf on katon faf

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3.5 What, who, where?

Where? vasi? vasi?

When? tonsi? tonsi?

Who / what? osi? osi?

Whom / what? etsi? etsi?

How? komsi? komsi?

Why? ersi? ersi? How much /How many? komse? komse?

Where am I? vasi na en? vasi na en?

Where is/are ...? vasi ... en? vasi ... en?

Are you from here? es ta em dayna? es ta em dayna?

Yes, I am. vi, en. vi, en.

No, I am a foreigner. le, na oslanti en. le, na oslanti en.

Where are you from? em vasi ta aten? em vasi ta aten?

I am from ... na em ... en. na em ... en.

The United States of America

dolo asuni ameriku-ci dolo asuni ameriku-ci

France fransu fransu

England inglu inglu

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Japan niponu niponu

Germany doytclant doytclant

China cinu cinu

Russia rucu rucu

Palestine falestinu falestinu

Where are you going? el vasi ta alen? el vasi ta alen?

Where can I find ...? vasi na pen fontir et ... ? vasi na pen fontir et ... ?

When can I see you? tonsi na pen cofir et ta? tonsi na pen cofir et ta?

Where is the meeting? vasi de gobla en? vasi de gobla en?

When is the meeting? tonsi de gobla en? tonsi de gobla en?

How much does this cost?

komse da koten? komse da koten?

Can you speak Delason?

es ta pen darcir et delason? es ta pen darcir et delason?

What is this called in Delason?

osi da binamen eb delason? osi da binamen eb delason?

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How do you say ... in Delason?

komsi ... bidarcen eb delason? komsi ... bidarcen eb delason?

What does this mean? etsi da vodiren? etsi da vodiren?

What do you mean? etsi ta vodiren? etsi ta vodiren?

Who am I??? na-si en??? na-si en???

3.6 This is it!

What is this? da-si en? da-si en?

This is ... da ... en. da ... en.

This is a car. da forda en. da forda en.

This is a house. da ceca en. da ceca en.

This is a bird. da torita en. da torita en.

Is it ... ? es hu ... en? es hu ... en?

Yes, it is. vi, hu en. vi, hu en.

No, it isnt. le, hu le en. le, hu le en.

So, what is it? dize, osi en? dize, osi en?

Its a bird. Its a plane. No, its Superman.

hu torita en. hu plena en. le, hu superman en. hu torita en. hu plena en. le, hu superman en.

Where is/are ...? vasi ... en? vasi ... en?

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Where is it? vasi hu en? vasi hu en?

Where are they? vasi hu en? vasi hu en?

Here it is. hu dayna en. hu dayna en.

There they are. hu zayna en. hu zayna en.

Where are the Pyramids?

vasi de mazigo en? vasi de mazigo en?

Are they in Egypt? es hu igeptu-bi en? es hu igeptu-bi en?

Yes, they are in Egypt.

vi, hu igeptu-bi en. vi, hu igeptu-bi en.

What does he/she do? osi hu fen? osi hu fen?

He/She is a doctor. hu doktor en. hu doktor en.

professor profesor profesor

politician politikon politikon

musician muzikon muzikon

painter banton banton

engineer jenyon jenyon

3.7 I am lost. Can you help me?

Hello. Can you help me?

olan. es ta pen na idir? olan. es ta pen na idir?

I think I am lost? na ken et ki na lecti en. na ken et ki na lecti en.

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I am looking for ... na cercen et ... na cercen et ...

Where can I find ... ? vasi na pen fontir ... ? vasi na pen fontir ... ?

Where can I find a good hotel?

vasi na pen fontir otel kuti? vasi na pen fontir otel kuti?

Where can I rent a car?

vasi na pen gerdir forda? vasi na pen gerdir forda?

Where is the restroom (men)?

vasi cecita omo-ci en? vasi cecita omo-ci en?

Note: restrooms for men are marked with O

Where is the restroom (women)?

vasi cecita imo-ci en? vasi cecita imo-ci en?

Note: restrooms for women are marked with I

Where can I find a good restaurant?

vasi na pen fontir cec-manja kuti? vasi na pen fontir cec-manja kuti?

How can I get to ... ? komsi na pen veslir el ... ? komsi na pen veslir el ... ?

How can I get to the Mariott hotel?

komsi na pen veslir el otel maryot? komsi na pen veslir el otel maryot?

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How can I get to New York city?

komsi na pen veslir el cta nyuyork? komsi na pen veslir el cta nyuyork?

How can I get there?

komsi na pen veslir zayna? komsi na pen veslir zayna?

How can I get there quickly?

komsi na pen veslir vite zayna? komsi na pen veslir vite zayna?

Where is ...? vasi ... en? vasi ... en?

It is right here. dayna en. dayna en.

It is over there. zayna en. zayna en.

It is far from here. hu badi en. hu badi en.

Go to the left. alay sare. alay sare.

Go to the right. alay mine. alay mine.

Go up to ... alay ope el ... alay ope el ... Go down to ... alay ote el ... alay ote el ...

Go forward to ... alay adame el ... alay adame el ...

Go backward to ... alay ware el ... alay ware el ...

Go in the same direction.

alay eb otte derison. alay eb otte derison.

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You need to go in a different direction.

ta lezen alir eb otre derison. ta lezen alir eb otre derison.

First, go forward until you get to the traffic lights.

asine, alay adame eltone ta veslen et dwo ce trafika. asine, alay adame eltone ta veslen et dwo ce trafika.

Then, turn to the right.

adame, alay mine. adame, alay mine.

Then, turn to the left. adame, alay sare. adame, alay sare.

The Mariott Hotel will be to your left.

de otel mariot eb sara taci sa en. de otel maryot eb sara taci sa en.

Hopefully, you will get there.

ize ir, ta sa veslen. ize ir, ta sa veslen.

3.8 The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

I am strong. na xaski en. na xaski en.

I was weak. na viki ha en. na viki ha en.

I will be stronger. na mere xazki sa en. na mere xazki sa en.

You (sing.) are intelligent. ta intelgi en. ta intelgi en.

He/She is stupid. hu tefci en. hu tefci en.

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This is good. da kuti en. da kuti en.

This is not good. da kuti le en. da kuti le en.

da le kuti en. da le kuti en.

These are not big, do le gdoli en. do le gdoli en.

This man was young. oma di yani ha en. oma di yani ha en.

This beautiful house is not big enough.

ceca di latfi le kife gdoli en. ceca di latfi le kife gdoli en.

He is happy. hu ori en. hu ori en.

He feels happy. hu ori pilen. hu ori pilen.

He seems happy. hu ori zimen. hu ori zimen.

He became happy. hu ori ha vonen. hu ori ha vonen.

wide aridi aridi

narrow dakki dakki

quick viti viti

slow clobi clobi

bright cebci cebci

dark leli leli

big gdoli gdoli

small cmoli cmoli

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beautiful latfi latfi

ugly galfi galfi

new navoni navoni

young yani yani

old olti olti

strong xazki xazki

weak viki viki

tall toli toli

short kasi kasi

happy ori ori

sad zoli zoli

intelligent intelgi intelgi

stupid tefci tefci

heavy / fat vesxi vesxi

light / thin xissi xissi

easy isi isi

hard sobi sobi

complete kompi kompi

incomplete nakci nakci

good kuti kuti

bad rayi rayi

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expensive ceri ceri

cheap bomrci bomarci

clean nakvi nakvi

dirty mezi mezi

3.9 Food

bread zobxa zobxa

meat bacra bacra

water yam yam

fish daga daga

cheese gota gota

cake gata gata

eggs lego lego

oil wil wil

food manjina manjina

drinks catino catino

wine van van

tea tay tay

coffee kafa kafa

milk lixta lixta

sugar sokar sokar

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salt clet clet

pepper pret pret

vegetables icbo icbo

fruit otricbo otricbo

plate pla pla

spoon yarita yarita

fork towita towita

knife danita danita

cup / glass susa susa

table tabyula tabyula

table cloth kercifa tabyula-ci kercifa tabyula-ci

napkin kercifa kercifa

restaurant cec-manja cec-manja

apple tapwa tapwa

lemon limon limon

banana banana banana

orange orenca orenca

potato potata potata

tomato tomata tomata

carrots karota karota

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orange juice catina orenca-ci catina orenca-ci

tomato juice catina tomata-ci catina tomata-ci

a cup of tea susa ce tay susa ce tay

a glass of wine susa ce van susa ce van

a piece of cake pya ce gata pya ce gata

meal manja manja

breakfast arca arca

lunch logma logma

dinner mila mila

Can we see the menu?

es no pen cofir et manyu? es no pen cofir et manyu?

I like to drink wine. na oben catir van. na oben catir van.

I like to eat carrots. na oben manjir karoto. na oben manjir karoto.

I want some wine. na boden se van. na boden se van.

I want a carrot. na boden ase karota. na boden ase karota.

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I would like some more tea.

na boden mere tay. na boden mere tay.

I am hungry. na gohi en. na gohi en.

I am full. na fuli en. na fuli en.

Have you had breakfast?

es ta ha manjen arca? es ta ha manjen arca?

Would you like to have dinner with me?

etsi ta ken regade manjir mila ev na? etsi ta ken rigade manjir mila ev na?

3.10 Body Parts

head bricta bricta

hair cro cro

eye cofa cofa

ear coma coma

nose cima cima

mouth motta motta

lip bla bla

moustache cra-motta cra-motta

tongue lason lason

tooth dan dan

face fissa fissa

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beard cra-fissa cra-fissa

back dara dara

chest sboba sboba

hand yara yara

finger towa towa

foot jyara jyara

toe towa towa

belly billa billa

behind anusa anusa

knee nila nila

blood ada ada

voice soat sota

smell cmila cmila

body zika zika

heart gora gora

mind kala kala

soul hava hava

What happened? osi vehen? osi vehen?

I hurt my self while running.

na bixatsen evtone grir. na bixatsen evtone grir.

while walking evtone mcir evtone mcir

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while playing evtone cpilir evtone cpilir

playing tennis tenisir tenisir

playing football fotbolir fotbolir

injury xatsa xatsa

I hurt my foot. jyara bixatsen. jyara bixatsen.

My eyes hurt. cofo bixatsen. cofo bixatsen.

I hurt all over. te zika bixatsen. te zika bixatsen.

He has such beautiful eyes!

hu aven ke cofo latfi! hu aven ke cofo latfi!

She has such an ugly nose!

hu aven ke cima galfi! hu aven ke cima galfi!

This smells good. da kuti bicimen. da kuti bicimen.

This looks beautiful. da latfi bicofen. da latfi bicofen.

This tastes delicious. da lezzi biguten. da lezzi biguten.

3.11 Clothing

clothing klota klota

suit rsima rsima

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jacket jaketa jaketa

pants pantalona pantalona

hat kopa kopa

shirt kamisata kamisata

tie karavatta karavatta

handkerchief kercifa kercifa

dress druga druga

shoes bato bato

socks klot-jyaro klot-jyaro

pocket cec-yara cec-yara

glasses cofita cofita

buttons zaro zaro

underwear ote-klota ote-klota

How can I help you? komsi na pen ta idir? komsi na pen ta idir?

I would like to buy a pair of pants.

na boden cirir pantalona. na boden cirir pantalona.

Do you sell wedding dresses?

es silen drugo pasodo-ci? es silen drugo pasodo-ci?

What size? psa-si? psa-si?

Which color do you like?

ta oben sba-si? ta oben sba-si?

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I like the color white. na oben et lavon. na oben et lavon.

I want the black suit. na boden de rsima cadoni. na boden de rsima cadoni.

Can I try the red one. es na pen trir de adoni. es na pen trir de adoni.

red adoni adoni

blue yamoni yamoni

yellow limoni limoni

orange orenconi orenconi

green icboni icboni

black cadoni cadoni

white lavoni lavoni

gray ladoni ladoni

brown arboni arboni

purple idoni idoni

pink rosoni rosoni

dark red adon leli adoni leli

light blue yamon cebci yamoni cebci

transparent havoni havoni

multicolored kor-ce-raconi kor-ce-raconi

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3.12 The Weather

weather vetra vetra

sun cebca cebca

rain racca racca

clouds inno inno

sky ola ola

wind havo havo

snow cna cna

rainbow kor-ce-rac kor-ce-rac

air hava hava

soil erta erta

water yam yam

fire cuca cuca

Planet Earth kokav ert kokav ert

How is the weather? komsi vetra en? komsi vetra en?

It is good. kuti en. kuti en.

It is ... ... en. ... en.

sunny cebci cebci

rainy racci racci

cloudy inni inni

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snowy cni cni

windy havoi havoi

hot herri herri

cold berri berri

warm verri verri

dry havani havani

humid yamani yamani

The rain is falling. de racca flegen. de racca flegen.

I feel cold. na berri pilen. na berri pilen.

I feel hot. na herri pilen. na herri pilen.

I hate the wind. na tasten et havo. na tasten et havo.

I like warm weather. na oben vetra verri. na oben vetra verri.

3.13 Useful Words

here dayna dayna

there zayna zayna

now ton-di ton-di

then ton-zi ton-zi

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also gamgam gamgam

may be pen ir pen ir

certainly ev serta ev serta

good kuti kuti

very good me kuti me kuti

excellent te kuti te kuti

bad rayi rayi

very bad me rayi me rayi

terrible te rayi te rayi

It is necessary that ... lezen et ki ... lezen et ki ...

It is important that ... heten et ki ... heten et ki ...

It is necessary that you stay.

o lezen et ki ta bakaken. lezen et ki ta bakaken.

too gamgam gamgam

except ... pasle ... pasle ...

including ... game ... game ...

regarding ... rigade ... rigade ...

In order to ... done ... done ...

In addition gamgam gamgam

In addition to ... gamgame ... gamgame...

a lot memu memu

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a little pepu pepu

enough kefe kefe

more mere mere

less lece lece

I am inside. na eb gowa en. na eb gowa en.

outside eb barra eb barra

on top eb opa eb opa

down under eb ota eb ota

to the left eb sara eb sara

to the right eb mina eb mina

in front eb adama eb adama

behind eb wara eb wara

around eb cira eb cira

I am inside the house na gowe de ceca en. na gowe de ceca en.

outside ... bare ... bare ...

on top of ... ope ... ope ...

under ... ote ... ote ...

to the left of ... sare ... sare ...

to the right of ... mine ... mine ...

in front of ... adame ... adame ...

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behind ... ware ... ware ...

around ... cirri ... cirri ...

quickly vite vite

slowly clobe clobe

passionately ev oba ev oba

hopefully ize ir ize ir

Be careful! siama! simay!

I have ... na aven ... na aven ...

I need ... na lezen ... na lezen ...

I want ... na boden ... na boden ...

I would like ... na oben ... na oben ...

Here I am! yen na! yen na!

Here you are! yen ta! yen ta!

Show me! gicofay na! gicofay na!

Give me! donay na! donay na!

Take this! latcay da! latcay da!

Listen! gicomay! gicomay!

Silence! zgita! zgita!

Attention! gicomay! gicomay!

first asine asine

then adame adame

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before ware ware

after adame adame

while evtone evtone

If ize ize

then dize dize

therefore erge erge

even ivne ivne

even if ivnize ivnize

although olte olte

in order to done done

O.K. doradori doradori

3.14 Verbs, Verbs, Verbs!

I speak Delason. na darcen delason. na darcen delason.

I spoke Delason. na ha darcen delason. na ha darcen delason.

I will speak Delason.

na sa darcen delason. na sa darcen delason.

I can speak Delason.

na pen darcir delason. na pen darcir delason.

I like to speak Delason.

na oben darcir delason. na oben darcir delason.

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I want to speak Delason.

na boden darcir delason. na boden darcir delason.

I dont want to speak English.

na le boden darcir inglia. na le boden darcir inglia.

I used to speak Delason.

na oden darcir delason. na oden darcir delason.

Speak Delason! darcay delason! darcay delason!

I tried to speak French.

na ha tren darcir fransia. na ha tren darcir fransia.

Do you speak Arabic?

es ta darcen arabia? es ta darcen arabia?

I decided to speak Delason.

na ha decen darcir delason. na ha decen darcir delason.

I see. na cofen. na cofen.

to see / seeing cofir cofir

See! cofay! cofay

drink caten caten

hear comen comen

listen gicomen gicomen

eat manjen manjen

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try tren tren

come aten aten

become enaten enaten

go alen alen

show gicofen gicofen

say kolen kolen

tell gikolen gikolen

smell cmilen cmilen

give donen donen

want boden boden

be en en

be used to oden oden

shut up zgiten zgiten

sing soten soten

jump noten noten

walk mcen mcen

run gren gren

dance desen desen

help iden iden

invite daden daden

love/like oben oben

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hate tasten tasten

start asinen asinen

end pahen pahen

repeat reren reren

do fen fen

respect reten reten

play cpilen cpilen

be happy oren oren

beautify latfen latfen

Chapter Four

Selected Texts

4.1 The Old Testament: First Light1 In the begining God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning - the first day. (The Holy Bible, Genesis 1:1 - 1:5)

asina-bi, elua ha baren et olo ve et ert. ert tohivohi ha en ve lelina ope wamaka ha en. ve havua elua-ci ope yamo ha yatoren. adame elua ha kolen "dua yay!" ve dua ha yen. elua ha cofen et ki dua kuti ha en. hu ha fsilen et dua lelina-mi. elua ha namen et dua "moma" ve et lelina "cena". ha yen ton-lela, ve ha yen ton-cebca - mom asini. (biblu gadsi - asina 1.1 - 1.5) asina-bi, elua ha baren et olo ve et ert. ert tohivohi ha en ve lelina ope wamaka ha en. ve havua elua-ci ope yamo ha yatoren. adame elua ha kolen "dua yay!" ve dua ha yen. elua ha cofen et ki dua kuti ha en. hu ha fsilen et dua lelina-mi. elua ha namen et dua "moma" ve et lelina "cena". ha yen ton-lela, ve ha yen ton-cebca - mom asini. (biblu gadsi - asina 1.1 - 1.5)

1 Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.

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4.2 The Old Testament: The Tower of Babel Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, Come, lets make bricks and bake them thoroughly. They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth. But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The Lord said, If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other. So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth. (The Holy Bible, Genesis 11:1 - 11:9, The Tower of Babel)

ton-di, te arumo ce erta ha aven et lason asi ve darca asi. tonki hu alen uda-li, fonten hu de blad ki binamen cinar, ve hu bakaken zayna-bi. ve hu darcen otru ev otru, atay no baten batin-vi cucin. hu usen batin cucin eb va ce saxor, ve marbora sake-et lazun. ve hu kolen, atay no baten, sake-et no, cta ev tur toli ki veslen olo-li done baren no nama no-li ve le bimetnacren ope erta. pas, elua folen olo-mi done cofir et cta ve et tur etki arumo baten. elua kolen, ize mtile arumo asi ki darcen lason asi, hu asinen fir da, done yen lu ki hu boden fir ki gamgame en le posibili ev hu. atay

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na folen olo-mi ve babelen lason hu-ci done le fehmen otru ev otru. done, elua metnacren et hu zayna-mi ope te erta, ve hu sizen batir et cta. da en erki de cta binamen babelu, ere elua babelen de lason ce te arumo erta-ci. ve zayna-mi, elua metnacren et hu ope te erta. (biblu gadsi, asina, 11.1-11.9, tur babelu-ci) ton-di, te arumo ce erta ha aven et lason asi ve darca asi. tonki hu alen uda-li, fonten hu de blad ki binamen cinar, ve hu bakaken zayna-bi. ve hu darcen otru ev otru, atay no baten batin-vi cucin. hu usen batin cucin eb va ce saxor, ve marbora sake-et lazun. ve hu kolen, atay no baten, sake-et no, cta ev tur toli ki veslen olo-li done baren no nama no-li ve le bimetnacren ope erta. pas, elua folen olo-mi done cofir et cta ve et tur etki arumo baten. elua kolen, ize mtile arumo asi ki darcen lason asi, hu asinen fir da, done yen lu ki hu boden fir ki gamgame en le posibili ev hu. atay na folen olo-mi ve babelen lason hu-ci done le fehmen otru ev otru. done, elua metnacren et hu zayna-mi ope te erta, ve hu sizen batir et cta. da en erki de cta binamen babelu, ere elua babelen de lason ce te arumo erta-ci. ve zayna-mi, elua metnacren et hu ope te erta. (biblu gadsi, asina, 11.1-11.9, tur babelu-ci)

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4.3 The New Testament: John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (NIV John 3:16)

ere elua te oben et olanta, hu ha donen et sonu huci asi, done oki yamnen et hu le sa saciken, eppase, hu sa aven et abita atuli. (bibla gadsi - janu 3.16) ere elua te oben et olanta, hu ha donen et sonu huci asi, done oki yamnen et hu le sa saciken, eppase, hu sa aven et abita atuli. (bibla gadsi - janu 3.16)

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4.4 The Quran: Alfatiha2 In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Ever Merciful.

All types of perfect praise belong to Allah alone, the Lord of all the worlds * Most Gracious, Ever Merciful * Master of the Day of Judgement * Thee alone do we worship and thee alone do we implore for help * Guide us along the straight path * The path of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy favors, those who have not incurred Thy displeasure, and those who have not gone astray. (Holy Quran, Alfatiha)

nama-bi elua-ci te meryami te atufi.

te pru kamli en elua-li, amu olanto-ci te meryami te atufi ovon ce moma dinya-ci et ta no aboden ve et ta no soliden donay etno et via komini via ce ki ta eto ha blisen, ki le maxini, ve le daloni en. (koranu gadsi, de fatiha)

nama-bi elua-ci te meryami te atufi.

te pru kamli en elua-li, amu olanto-ci * te meryami te atufi * ovon ce moma dinya-ci * et ta no aboden ve et ta no soliden * donay etno et via komini * via ce ki ta eto ha blisen, ki le maxini, ve le daloni en. (koranu gadsi, de fatiha)

2 The Quran. Trans. Muhammad Zafrulla Khan. Curzon Press: Sussex, 1981.

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4.5 Tao Teh Ching: Book 13 Tao can be talked about, but not the Eternal Tao. Names can be named, but not the Eternal Name. As the origin of heaven-and-earth, it is nameless: As "the Mother" of all things, it is nameable. So, as ever hidden, we should look at its inner essence. As always manifest, we should look at its outer aspects. These two flow from the same source, though differently named; And both are called mysteries. The mystery of mysteries is the Door of all essence.

kolir ce taw pen, pas le ce taw atuli namir et namo pen, pas le de nama atuli mtile orga ce olo ve erto, hu le binamen. mtile "vavu" tu-ci, namir et hu pen. erge, mtile te edi, no lezen so gicofir kohola huci gowi. mtile te cofini, no lezen so gicofir kullo huci bari. pase do orga-mi mteli aten, olte hu otri binamen ve do pasi bazlo en. bazla bazlo-ci delta ce te kohola en. kolir ce taw pen, pas le ce taw atuli namir et namo pen, pas le de nama atuli mtile orga ce olo ve erto, hu le binamen. mtile "vavu" tu-ci, namir et hu pen erge, mtile te edi, no lezen so gicofir kohola huci gowi. mtile te cofini, no lezen so gicofir kullo huci barri. pase do orga-mi mteli aten, olte hu otri binamen ve do pasi bazlo en. bazla bazlo-ci delta ce te kohola en.

3 Tzu, Lao. Tao Teh Ching. Trans. John C.H. Wu. Shambhala: Boston, 1990.

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4.6 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. (Article 1)

te arumo nuen grati ve gali eb karama ve krato. hu en blisini ev use-kala ve latfe-kala, ve hu lezen so-li fenfir ev havua ahuha-ci. (yahona 1) te arumo nuen grati ve gali eb karama ve krato. hu en blisini ev use-kala ve latfe-kala, ve hu lezen so-li fenfir ev havua ahuha-ci. (yahona 1)

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4.7 Omar Khayyam: Rubaiya 24 Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend, Before we too into the Dust descend; Dust into Dust, and under Dust, to lie, Sans Wine, sans Song, sans Singer, and - sans End!

Omar Khayyam, Rubaiya 24 Translation by Edward Fitzgerald4

fay et tu ki no pen juir ware no gamgam erta-li alen erta-mi erta-li ve ote erta modir evle van, evle sotin, evle soton, evle pahir.

omaru xayamu, rubaiya 24

fay et tu ki no pen juir ware no gamgam erta-li alen erta-mi erta-li ve ote erta modir evle van, evle sotin, evle soton, evle pahir.

omaru xayamu, rubaiya 24

4 Khayyam, Omar. The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Trans. Edward Fitzgerald. The Peter Pauper Press: Mount Vernon, 1940.

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4.8 Le Nozze di Figaro: No. 11 Canzone5 CHERUBINO Sento un affetto Pien di desir Chora diletto, Chora martir. Gelo, e poi sento Lalma avvampar, E in un momento Torno a gelar. Lorenzo da Ponte

CHERUBINO I feel a longing I cant explain. Sometimes a pleasure, Sometimes a pain. One moment frozen, Then all aflame, Then sudden shivering All through my frame. Translation by Edward Dent

cerubino cerubino

na pilen et pila na pilen et pila fuli yaleza-vi fuli yaleza-vi seton et na yoren seton et na yoren seton hu en pyani. seton hu en pyani.

bicnen ve ware bicnen ve ware hava naci cucen hava naci cucen ve eb kika ati ve eb kika ati et cna na enaten. et cna na enaten

5 Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus. The Marriage of Figaro: Le Nozze di Figaro. John Nicholas, ed. Riverrun Press: New York, 1983.

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4.9 A Hundred Verses From Old Japan: UKON My broken heart I dont lament, To destiny I bow; But thou hast broken solemn oaths, I pray the Gods may now Absolve thee from thy vow.

(Translation by William Porter)6 et gora naci bixatsi na le mernen kadera-li na ha boven pas, et vedo taci, ta le giyen elo-li na salen, ve eto solen, ki hu ta veda-mi taci gigraten. et gora naci bixatsi na le mernen kadera-li na ha boven pas, et vedo taci, ta le giyen elo-li na salen, ve eto solen, ki hu ta veda-mi taci gigraten.

6 Porter, N. William. A Hundred Verses from Old Japan. Charles E. Tuttle Company: Vermont, 1984.

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4.10 A Fairuz Song: Kifak Inta

Do you remember the last time I saw you? Do you remember the last thing you said? I havent seen you since. And now here you are. How are you? You Do you remember the last time you visited with us? Do you remember a women who bothred you? That was my mother. She worried about me because of you. You

Kifak Inta (Excerpt), Fairuz, Kifak Inta, 1991.

es kala-cofen ta es kala-cofen ta de ton pahini na ha cofen ta?

de ton pahini na ha cofen ta?

es kala-cofen ta es kala-cofen ta etki na-li ha kolen ta? etki na-li ha kolen ta? em ton-zi, na le ha cofen ta.

em ton-zi, na le ha cofen ta.

ev ton-di, na cofen ta. ev ton-di, na cofen ta. komsi ta en? ta komsi ta en? ta... es kala-cofen ta es kala-cofen ta vetona pahini no-vi ha en ta

vetona pahini no-vi ha en ta

ha yen zayna ima ha yen zayna ima etki le oben ta etki le oben ta hu, vavu naci, hu, vavu naci, ha hickoken na-li ha hickoken na-li em ta. ta em ta. ta

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4.11 A Katy Perry Song: Firework You dont have to feel like a waste of space Youre original, cannot be replaced If you only knew what the future holds After a hurricane comes a rainbow Baby, youre a firework Come on, let your colors burst Make em go "Oh, Oh, Oh" Youre gonna leave em all in awe, awe, awe

Firework (Excerpt) Katy Perry, Teenage Dream, 2010. mtile lu lu lu, le lezay pilir! ta orgi en , le pir gegrayir. ize ta kalen etki yatona aven, adame katrina, kor-ce-rac aten. bubulu, cpil-cuca ta en. atay ta! sbo ta-ci yacucen! giay et hu kolir ah, ah, ah! ta sa yalen et tu eb wala, -la la. mtile lu lu lu, le lezay pilir! ta orgi en , le pir gegrayir. ize ta kalen etki yatona aven, adame katrina, kor-ce-rac aten. bubulu, cpil-cuca ta en. atay ta! sbo ta-ci yacucen! giay et hu kolir ah, ah, ah! ta sa yalen et tu eb wala, -la -la.

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4.12 An Emily Dickinson Poem: A Word A word is dead When it is said, Some say.

I say it just Begins to live That day.

Emily Dickinson

darcita mafti en darcita mafti en tonki eto kolen tonki eto kolen su fen kolir. su fen kolir. ken na ki ken na ki eb moma zi eb moma zi

hu asinen abitir. hu asinen abitir.

imili dikinsonu imili dikinsonu

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4.13 Delasoni Nursery Rhymes

A. fruga kocu f ruga kocu Koshu the Frog ha yen tonki ha yen de fruga te kurusi ki kocu binamen. te moma hu cpilen em ponda di el ponda zi te moma hu naten.

ha yen tonki ha yen

de fruga te kurusi

ki kucu binamen.

te moma hu cpilen

em ponda di el ponda zi

te moma hu naten.

Once upon a time, There was a curious frog Whose name was Koshu. All day he played From one pond to another All day he jumped around. B. as, pas, tor, kat! as , pas , to r , kat !

One, two, three, four! as pas tor kat latcen kocu et de cpat faf ses sat mon eto vonen eb ballon!

as pas tor kat

latcen kocu et de cpat

faf ses sat mon

eto vonen eb ballon!

One, two, three, four, Koshu caught a lizard. Five, six, seven, eight, He put it in a balloon.

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4.14 Delasoni Love Poems

A. aruma ki aruma ki The One I Love aruma ki gora naci hu ha latcen, kala-li naci gamgam hu mtele fen. hu-li abita naci ev oba na donen. na hu donen otre abita ize na pen. aruma ki gora naci hu ha latcen, kala-li naci gamgam hu mtele fen. hu-li abita naci ev oba na donen. na hu donen otre abita ize na pen. The one who stole my heart, Took over my mind too. I gave him my life lovingly. And if I could, I would do it again. B. torit oba-ci to r i t oba- c i Love Bird torit oba-ci atay da-li. ta ceca aven eb gora di. atay, bakakay, adame alay, basay et hu oba naci. torit oba-ci atay da-li. ta ceca aven eb gora di. atay, bakakay, adame alay, basay et hu oba naci. Love bird come here to me. In my heart, you have a home. Come, stay, and then go, Deliver my kisses to my love.

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4.15 From the Delasoni Epic of Kirmiz-Kazu The epic of Kirmiz-Kazu tells the story of prince Kirmiz-Amu (Lord Kirmiz), who falls in love with his mothers slave, Kazu. When the Queen finds out, she decides to put an end to the scandalous affair. She orders Kazu to be murdered. When Kirmiz discovers what his mother has done, not believing that it happened, he decides to abandon his future kingdom in search of his love or whatever remains of her. He drops the royal affix in his name and calls himself Kirmiz-Kazu (Kazus Kirmiz). And he starts his unending journey looking for his loves ghost. The following are three pieces from the libretto of this epic. A. Kazu Describing Kirmiz cra-cofo huci veba treda-ci ki et na latcen. hu-mi na gien cofin-nemso oba-ci ki na herri fen eb lelona berri ria-ci

cra-cofo huci veba treda-ci ki et na latcen. hu-mi na gien cofin-nemso oba-ci ki herri fen eb lelona berri ria-ci

His eyelashes Are a web of threads That captures me. From them I make Dreams of love That keeps me warm In the cold darkness of reality.

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B. Kirmiz Waiting for Kazu (not knowing that she is dead) lela ev na, no asi sohi, eb lelona di. ase lela et merno naci pen comir. pas adame, lela enaten bori. ve na asi sohi fen bakakir. lela ev na, no asi sohi, eb lelona di. ase lela et merno naci pen comir. pas adame, lela enaten bori. ve na asi sohi fen bakakir. Only the moon and I are up this late. Only the moon can hear my crying as I wait. Soon, the moon will be bored and leaves. And I, alone, will stay. C. Kirmiz Searching for Kazu kazu, vasi ta en? kirmiz, oba taci cercen. na lelono le sa namsen, eltone na ta fonten. kazu, vasi ta en? kirmiz, oba taci cercen. na lelono le sa namsen, eltone na ta fonten. Kazu, where are you? Its Kirmiz, your love, looking for you. Nights I will never sleep, Until I find you.

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4.16 Delasoni Wedding Certificate

PASODA GADSI CE

VE ve

moma di ce ce

1 blisen et elua ev te pru ki baren et tu em lu ki baren et tu ke otri amu olanta-ci

2 cebca ve lela moma ve cena yam ve cuca ixe aruma

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oba gien et tu asa kife tu ha en ware bara

3 no doradoren so pasir done ir msiva asi el abita ce oba, zmeloda ve diama.

4 no veden bakakir msiva asi eb sua ve eb le sua, eb mitaktika ve eb murmura, eb kuta ve eb raya.

5 na veden, ev oba no abiten. na ta gien azira naci ve na gien cec-azira taci.

Signature Signature

6 elua et hu proten elua sizen et raya gowi elua sizen et raya barri havua elua-ci ope hu yatoren elua blisen et te momo huci elua bodir, ize ir.

aziron nizar xabac Signature

hona di doradorin lui protini ce pasoda en.

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[Health] [Love] [Prosperity] [Wisdom]

[Eternity]

PASODA GADSI CE

Holy Union of

VE ve

and

moma di ce ce

this day of of

1 blisen et elua ev te pru Praised is God with all praise ki baren et tu em lu Who created all from none ki baren et tu ke otri Who created all so different amu olanta-ci Lord of the world

2 cebca ve lela Sun and moon moma ve cena Day and night yam ve cuca Water and fire ixe aruma Each human being oba gien et tu asa Love makes all one kife tu ha en ware bara As all was before creation

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3 no doradoren so pasir done We agree to join in marriage ir msiva asi el abita ce oba, to become one family for a life zmeloda ve diama. of love, friendship and trust.

4 no veden bakakir msiva asi We vow to remain one family eb sua ve eb le sua, eb mitaktika in health and in illness, in ve eb murmura, eb kuta ve eb raya. sweetness and in bitterness, in good and in bad.

5 na veden, ev oba no abiten. I promise, in love we live. na ta gien azira naci I make you my king/queen ve na gien cec-azira taci. and I become your kingdom.

Signature Signature

6 elua et hu proten May God protect them elua sizen et raya gowi May God stop all inside evil elua sizen et raya barri May God stop all outside evil havua elua-ci ope hu yatoren May Gods spirit hover over them elua blisen et te momo huci May God bless all their days elua bodir, ize ir. If God wishes it, so it will be.

aziron nizar xabac Judge Nizar Habash

Signature hona di doradorin lui protini ce pasoda en.

This is a legal protected contract of marriage.

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4.18 Delasoni Graduation Diploma The following is the text used in the Delasoni graduation deploma that was given to the full graduating class of the Honors College at Old Dominion University in April 1997.

DE KULYA CURA-CI

CE UNIVERSITA AZIRA OLTI

gicuren et

ere hu ha kompen karnega-vi et lezo bakalor-ci ce kulya ve universita,

ve et hu donen et dola ce

aruma grate lehini

EB MOMA DI 27 CE LELON-KATIN CE 1997

S i g n a t u r e ________________________________

aziron ce kulya cura-ci

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[Knoweledge]

DE KULYA CURA-CI

THE HONORS COLLEGE

CE UNIVERSITA AZIRA OLTI OF OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY

gicuren et praises

ere hu ha kompen karnega-vi et lezo bakalor-ci ce kulya ve universita,

ve et hu donen et dola ce for having completed with excellence the requirements of the

bachelor degree of the college and the university, and awards him/her the title of

aruma grate lehini

liberally educated person

EB MOMA DI 27 CE LELON-KATIN CE 1997 IN THIS DAY 27 OF APRIL 1997

S i g n a t u r e

________________________________ aziron ce kulya cura-ci

Dean of the Honors College

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4.19 Delasoni Greeting Card Captions A. Happy Birthday

(Happiness) mom-nu ori!

Happy Birthday! B. Happy New Year

(Point One) ora ev olan cebcona ori!

Happiness and Peace

mom-nu ori!

ora ev olan cebcona ori!

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Happy New Year! C. I Love You!

(Love) (Love) (Love) oben ta, oben ta, oben ta!

I love you, I love you, I love you! D. Congratulations!

(Success) te barko!

Congratulations!

oben ta, oben ta, oben ta!

te b