Ring B: 18/22: merechi

Amanda Babcock Furrow

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merechi

tytéfia pàlavin të íllüvin na-lahilpàlap'të ésöp'si.

à téfian'c ëàmliön àn tylchànkep kèhlpdatëp'fö sètëpi:

vókep femàriavin yirí lalétëp'fa
alítakep, na-licàv'n nisèchë'c të týa'c, lalétëp'fa
nëfàmiankep lüpúhash, na-melisödàp'të fà'c kamíriakü, lalétëp'fa
pëàmyiskep ýliri, napré ésöp'n mól nà'c àccöp'fa, lalétëp'fa

fòlihart të tëtínart, na-fóamn'të hómkö yirí, anílëp'fa
alàltart, na-lidadàp'r tytavàfia'c làlnö fàhashdi, anílëp'fa
latèmart nëcói-kàshnö, na-tàvap'n kepfà nisdón, anílëp'fa
týrahart, na'c tàvap'të tylícia të nëfàm, anílëp'fa

ëàclë fàgë rèlet cilidàp'fa, hródi àn tylchànic,
na-kitàvap'të fàvin nipemipànic, tycilitép'fa

pëàmahart fàlëpi, týsi të àlacli, anílëp'fa

týsisöp'n, ke pàila sé ílpü'c sé fàlëp'r
týsisöp'n, ke ílpü sé pàila'c sé fàlëp'ë

à étialdi të sëlityàndi tómliön na-kicílvëp'të, yt'týhlraisöp'fö!

Smooth Translation

This is a liturgy for a woman and a man who are marrying.

Speak you these words to the spirits in concert:

- We thank you for all beauty
- We thank the year, which brings warmth and light
- We thank the strong ones on the plain, who protect us from war
- We thank the great mass of people, amidst whom is the grain that we gather

- We sing about the moon and stars, which shine through the whole night
- We sing about the wind, which pours the blessing of air onto us
- We sing about the tree of the heart-nut, which gives us shade
- We sing about the joy which health and strength bring

Now we raise our hands, for to honor the spirits, which will give us children

We sing about the loving person, good and young

It is good, that one wife loves one husband
It is good, that one husband loves one wife

O may you be happy today and in the other days which will come!

Interlinear

  tytéfia pàla -vin të íllü -vin na- lah- ilpàla -p -'të ésö -p -'si

  à téfia -n -'c ëàmliö -n àn tylch -àn -kep kèpdatë [hl] -p -'fö sètëpi

  vó -cë -kep femària -vin yirí lalétë -p -'fa

  alíta -kep na- licà -v -'n nisèchë -'c të týa -'c lalétë -p -'fa

  nëfàmia -n -kep lüpú -hash na- melisödà -p -'të fà -'c kamíria -kü
    lalétë -p -'fa

  pëàmyis -kep ýliri napré ésö -p -'n mól nà'c àccö -p -'fa lalétë -p -'fa

  fòli -hart të tëtí -n -art na- fóam -n -'të hóm -kö yirí anílë -p -'fa

  alàlt -art na- lida -dà -p -'r tytavàfia -'c làl -nö fà -hashdi anílë -p -'fa

  latèm -art nëcó -i kàsh -nö na- tàva -p -'n kep- fà nisdón anílë -p -'fa

  týra -hart na -'c tàva -p -'të tylícia të nëfàm anílë -p -'fa

  ëàclë fà -gë rèl -et cili -dà -p -'fa hródi àn tylch -àn -ic
    na- ki- tàva -p -'të fà -vin nipemip -àn -ic tycilité -p -'fa

  pëàma -hart fàlë -pi týsi të àlacli anílë -p -'fa

  týsi -sö -p -'n ke pàila sé ílpü -'c sé fàlë -p -'r

  týsi -sö -p -'n ke ílpü sé pàila -'c sé fàlë -p -'ë

  à étial -di të sëlitya -àn -di tómliö -n na- ki- cílvë -p -'të
    yt'- týraisö [hl] -p -'fö

Translation from Khangaþyagon

Benediction for a girl and a boy getting married

Speak you all thus together these words to the spirits:

- We thank you for all beauty
- We thank the year that brings light and warmth
- We thank the strength in the fields that guards us against war
- We thank the great mass around the grain that we gather

- We sing about the moon and stars which shine through the night
- We sing about the wind which pours air blessing on me
- We sing the heart-nut-tree which gives shade to us
- We sing about the joy that health and strength give

At this time we raise our hands to honour the spirits which will give children to us.

We sing about a good young lover

That one wife loves one husband is good.
Than one husband loves one wife is good.

Be joyful this day and all other days to come!

Grammar

The grammar defaults to English-like unless otherwise specified (especially tricky bits like conjunctions and the relations between clauses). The major differences are that mërèchi features postpositional phrases (just like prepositional only backwards), and that adjectives (and all other modifiers except the article) follow the noun. Adjectives do not agree in case, number or postpositions with the noun. Word order is SOV in declarative sentences, VSO in conditional sentences and subordinate clauses.

While mërèchi has a definite article, à, plural àn, it is used less frequently than in English. Its use is primarily to add especial emphasis to the definiteness, even definitiveness, of the noun.

The true case suffixes are the accusative (-c or -ic) and the possessive (-gë), of which -c and -gë are traditionally written preceded by an apostrophe. The possessive usually attaches only to pronouns, names and nouns denoting persons; otherwise the genitive postposition -nö will be used. There is one preposition, kep-, which denotes "to" in the dative sense (i.e. as in "say to" or "give to" rather than "go to"), but it serves as a postposition as well.

There are two plural forms in mërèchi: the normal plural and the collective plural. The ordinary plural is -t or -et; the collective plural, denoting all X or a complete set of X, is -n or àn.

One way of forming relative clauses is the relative pronoun "na". If it is the subject of the subclause, it becomes a prefix to the verb; otherwise it stands alone and can take case suffixes and postpositions.

Examples:

na-cílvëp'da	you who come
nàgë	whose
nà'c	whom
kepnà	to whom
nàhart	concerning which

Subordinate clauses are headed by "ke": "I know that you understand" would be "tèrenp'a, ke símöp'da".

Verbs take an optional negative prefix, an optional tense or mood prefix, optional derivational prefixes and suffixes (such as the causative, passive, inceptive, abilitative, and equative), a mandatory aspect suffix, and a mandatory pronoun/agreement suffix. The tense prefix and pronoun/ agreement suffix are traditionally offset from the verb proper by an apostrophe, as is the negative prefix when it appears. If no tense or mood prefix appears, the verb is in present tense.

Example:

ka'ki'tínidëp'a
ka- ki- tínidë   -p  -a
NEG FT  remember IMP 1P.SG
"I will not remember"

Perfective aspect is used for simple past actions; imperfective is used in the past tense to show that someone habitually used to do something, or was doing it for some time; the present tense usually uses the imperfective.

The optative mood, in addition to an optional prefix "yt'-", is marked with the infix "-hl-", which follows the stressed vowel.

Pronouns can appear as verb suffixes, in which case they agree with or are the subject of the verb, or they can appear elsewhere as independent words with a case or postpositional suffix. If the sentence appears to have no subject, the subject is the pronoun on the verb. Otherwise, the subject will be the noun without a case suffix or postposition, and will agree with the pronoun on the verb.

The equative suffix -sö creates a verb meaning "to be X", where X is the root to which it is affixed and is either a noun or adjective:

èchi	hot
èchisö	to be hot

Vocabulary

à:	interj.	O
àccö:	v.	to gather
àlacli:	adj.	young
alàlt:	n.	wind
alíta:	n.	year
àn:	art.	the (plur.)
anílë:	v.	to sing
art:	adp.	suff. about, concerning; after consonants
c:	part.	suff. accusative (after vowels)
cë:	adp.	suff. to (dative); postpositional version of kep
cili:	v.	to rise
cílvë:	v.	to come
dà:	deriv.	suff. makes verb causative
di:	adp.	suff. at, to (locative)
ë:	pron.	suff. 3p. s. m. (he)
ë:	part.	suff. perfective aspect (after consonants)
ëàclë:	adv.	now
ëàmliö:	adj.	this
ésö:	v.	to be (trans.)
et:	part.	suff. plural (distributive)
étial:	adv.	today
fa:	pron.	suff. 1p. p. (we)
fà:	pron.	1p. p. (we)
fàlë:	v.	to love
femària:	n.	beauty
fö:	pron.	suff. 2p. p. (you)
fóam:	v.	to shine
fòli:	n.	moon
gë:	part.	suff. possessive
hart:	adp.	suff. about, concerning; after vowels
hash:	adp.	suff. on; after vowels
hashdi:	adp.	suff. onto; after vowels
hl:	adp.	inf. optative mood
hóm:	n.	night
i:	part.	suff. -y, -ish, -like
ic:	part.	suff. accusative (after consonants)
íllü:	n.	man, boy
ilpàla:	v.	to be married
ílpü:	n.	husband
kamíria:	n.	war
kàsh:	n.	nut
ke:	adv.	"that" (head of sub. clause)
kep:	adp.	pref./suff. to (dative)
kèpdatë:	v.	to tell (someone)
ki:	part.	pref. future tense (before consonants)
kö:	adp.	suff. through
kü:	adp.	suff. against
lah:	part.	pref. inceptive (before vowels)
làl:	n.	air
lalétë:	v.	to give thanks
latèm:	n.	tree
licà:	v.	to bring
lida:	v.	to pour (intrans.)
lüpú:	n.	a plain
melisödà:	v.	to make safe, to protect
mól:	n.	grain
n:	part.	suff. plural
n:	pron.	suff. 3p. s. (it)
n:	part.	suff. imperfective aspect (after liquids)
na:	pron.	pref. relative pronoun "he who, that which"
nà'c:	pron.	whom
napré:	pron.	amidst which
nëcó:	n.	heart
nëfàm:	n.	(physical) strength
nëfàmia:	n.	strong one
nipemip:	n.	child
nisdón:	n.	shade, shadow
nisèchë:	n.	warmth
nö:	adp.	suff. of
p:	part.	suff. imperfective aspect (after vowels)
pàila:	n.	wife
pàla:	n.	woman, girl
pëàma:	n.	person
pëàmyis:	n.	mass of people
pi:	part.	suff. active participle
r:	pron.	suff. 3p. s. f. (she)
rèl:	n.	hand
sé:	num.	one
sëlitya:	n.	day
sètëpi:	adv.	in concert, speaking together
si:	pron.	suff. this
sö:	deriv.	suff. to be X
tàva:	v.	to give
të:	pron.	suff. 3p. p. (they)
të: conj.	and
téfia:	n.	word, saying, speech, promise
tëtí:	n.	star
tómliö:	adj.	other, different
týa:	n.	light
tycilité:	v.	to honor
tylch:	n.	spirit
tylícia:	n.	health
týra:	n.	joy, happiness
týraisö:	v.	to be happy
týsi:	adj.	good
tytavàfia:	n.	a blessing
tytéfia:	n.	sacred text
v:	part.	suff. perfective aspect (after vowels)
vó:	pron.	2p. p. (you)
yt:	adv.	pref. may (optative mood)
yirí:	adj.	all
ýliri:	adj.	great

Abbreviations

1p.	1st person
2p.	2nd person
3p.	3rd person
adj.	adjective
adp.	adposition
adv.	adverb
art.	article
deriv.	derivational particle
f.	female
inf.	infix
interj.	interjection
m.	male
n.	noun
num.	number
p.	plural
part.	particle
pref.	prefix
pron.	pronoun
s.	singular
suff.	suffix
v.	verb