K!ek Tbi K!oo (PV)
Anthologica Universe Atlas / Universes / The Allosphere / Vengic / Proto-Vengic / K!ek Tbi K!oo (PV)

So! Here is the K!ek Tbi K!oo text in Proto-Vengic. This is slightly anachronistic, but so is translating the Shquqou text into Kannow.

(ñ = *N, which was probably a retroflex nasal but which is preserved as such only in Qoa, the obscure and divergent cant of various bands of Katnahl pirates; it becomes /ɖ/ in V'eng (but /mj/ before /u/, presumably via mɳ > mɻ), /ɲ/ or /m/ in What (merging with *v, most *s, and word-initial *h), and /r/ in Bor Hlu)

Qocomati umara e Bidaadaa su ho atatumñu
qo-comati umara e bidaadaa su ho ata-tumñu
1-raise.FUT glory E Bdáát_G|ʰaa POSS COLL father-son
Glory to the family of the Emperor Bdáát G|ʰaa

This shows both Proto-Vengic strategies for possession: X e Y and Y su X. I gloss these as E and POSS respectively. The future in Proto-Vengic has the semantic function of a hortative or obligative, but in the few languages that preserve it, it serves as a future tense. Note also that egophoricity hasn't developed yet.

Bdáát G|ʰaa is borrowed here as Bidaadaa; Proto-Vengic has strict CV syllable structure, although V is permitted in word-initial position. (Vm marks nasalization.) However, it also has strong stress accent, so the vast majority of its descendants have more permissive syllable structure; the ones that don't, like Zzyxwqnp, generally developed large consonant clusters (the earliest written ancestor of pre-Zzyxwqnp allowed up to CCCVC) and then simplified them again.

Doo xode kusacubu e doogham e bikaa
doo xoda-e kusat-yubu e doogham e bikaa
year step-E two-ten E reign E glorious
In the twelfth year of his glorious reign

Xoda 'step (on a ladder)' + e is used to form ordinals; this is almost always contracted to xode. E is also used between nouns and adjectives; in some Vengic languages, it becomes possible to separate a noun from its adjective with e + pronoun, and this develops into an agreement system. (e.g. to front 'glorious', a e bikaa ... doogham)

The suppressed final consonant in kusaa "two" is realized in kusacubu < kusat-yubu "twelve". Lengthening of the vowel preceding a suppressed final is not entirely regular, and is probably a remnant of a pre-Proto-Vengic stress system; of course, given that length attracted stress in most branches of Vengic, there may be nothing pre- about it.

Qoxuña karuu ghetama-hamicii e yeqi
qo-xuña karuu ghetama_hamicii e yeqi
1-begin investigate.AUG ocean_NMLZ-fall E world
I begin my investigation of the world and its parts

"The whole and its parts" (of the world) is idiomatically expressed as "the ocean and the raindrops"; this is often contracted to ghetaamcii, which gives V'eng thangci -> Zzyxwqnp tqntchy "thoroughly", and has an exact cognate in What tînhs "health", and a near-cognate in tymñymas "total".

The augmentative stem of the verb is used for periphrastic forms, but a regular nominalization would also be accepted: qoxuña aqo su θokaru... Note that su is used for personal productions.

*θ is a very marginal part of the reconstructed Proto-Vengic inventory; it's reconstructed for a handful of grammatical particles where Vengic shows *h and all other branches show *t.

Qaa! Ñewo xuñaxuña miruya za ghetama
qaa | ñewo xuña~xuña miruya za ghetama
lo | sky pick_up-MAJ fishing_net for sea
Lo! The sky wooed the sea

Xuña "pick up" has been adapted as an auxiliary meaning "begin", a common change in the region, and one shared with most of Hathic. (Development of the minor into an auxiliary is absent from Whatic - cf. What xhui "gather berries, scavenge" - but Whatic does show this development for the major form, which in What is, somewhat irregularly, ñuanh. This may just reflect early loss of the minor form in Whatic, however, followed by reborrowing as specialized vocabulary; the major form of xhui is uxhui, which, if we assume assimilation from an earlier form *uihuüi [cf. dialectal uifui], could be regularly derived from Proto-Whatic *fwooyfwooy.)

The Proto-Vengic tribes being coastal, fishing prowess was attractive.

A na kuma nikuto e zumanaa
a na kuma nikuto e zumanaa
3 SEQ bear five E brother
And she bore five brothers

Nikuto means both "five" and "hand"; since it's sort of a noun, it takes ezafe. The third-person pronoun is just a; this is both unusually short and subject to confusion with reflexes of aqo, the first-person pronoun, so it's often replaced. Hlu, for example, has gendered animate pronouns yoeqnga "he" and yehmahl "she". It has also replaced the first-person pronoun with gwiq.

Zumanaa kam tuungo zura na xuña ngulenga
zumanaa kam tuungo zura na xuña ngulenga
brother into pass man SEQ pick_up be_yellow.AUG
The brothers grew to men and began to feel jealous

"Yellow" for "jealous" is a common semantic equation in the languages of the area, shared also with Tsi and most of Hathic.

Na dughu ii xoma qoghamto ataama lum
na dughu ii xoma qo-ghamto ataama lum
SEQ ask give.AUG right ADJ-head and parents from
And asked of their father and mother their birthright

Adjectives with qo- don't take e.

Ghetama qa ñewo ghero zii doogham e goom
ghetama qa ñewo ghero zii doogham e goom
sea and sky DISTR give.MAJ rule E land
The sea and the sky gave to each a property

Ghambe ghamtotumñu daaqo a su goom
ghambe ghamto-tumñu daaqo a su goom
Gąą_Dbé eldest_son be_in 3 POSS land
The eldest, Gąą Dbé, in his property

A na avaava goom e bazaa za pelagi
a na ava~ava goom e bazaa za pelagi
3 SEQ make~MAJ land E hot for self
Made himself a hot land

Yaqamu e a su θofonga e ñamkaa e yeenga
yaqamu e a su θo-fonga e ñamkaa e yeenga
reason E 3 POSS NMLZ-love E light E sun
For he loved the sunshine

A na ava xajii xode kee kapoo a gaahu lolanga
a na ava xajii xoda-e kee kapoo a gaahu lolanga
3 SEQ make dog ORD E one CAUS 3 become friend
And he made from dust the first dog to be his companion

Qaa! Sitaka tumñu xode kusaa
qaa sitaka tumñu xoda-e kusaa
lo Sri_Takʰ son ORD E two
Lo! Sri Takʰ, the second

A fonga maasemra, a na boqa a su goom
a fonga maa-semra, a na boqa goom
3 love NMLZ-dark, 3 SEQ be_upon 3 POSS land
Loved the darkness, and upon his land

Avaava mumgha e yimñara viixu
ava~ava mumgha e yimñara viixu
make~MAJ forest E be_with.AUG shadow
Made himself a shady jungle

A na juunga goma e θaava gheñovu xode kee kapoo a gahuu lolanga
a na juunga goma e θo-ava gheñovu xoda-e kee kapoo a gahuu lolanga
3 SEQ make_use mud E NMLZ-make leopard ORD E one CAUS 3 become friend
And he made from mud the first leopard to be his companion

Zelu xode kalaa vaqa ghamto e tamase
zelu xoda-e kalaa(t) vaqa ghamto e tamase
De_Lu ORD-E three have head E quick
De Lu, the third, was clever

E θofonga vampu e goom e semra qa e bazaa
e θo-fonga vampu e goom e semra qa e bazaa
E NMLZ-love fruit E land E dark and E hot
Loving the fruits of both

A xuñaxuña a su xoma, a na ava kapoo a gheefa goom qokuma qa e lamlam
a xuña~xuña a su xoma, a na ava kapoo a gheefa goom qo-kuma qa e lam~lam
3 pick_up.MAJ 3 POSS right, 3 SEQ make CAUS 3 become land ADJ-bear and E pleasant_temperature
And he took his inheritance and made from it a land, fertile and temperate

ava kapoo a gheefa = a collocation meaning "make into"

A na avaava zure Ci xode kee kapoo a gahuu lolanga
a na ava~ava zura-e Ci xoda-e kee kapoo a gahuu lolanga
3 SEQ make~MAJ man E Tsi ORD E one CAUS 3 become friend
And he made the first Tsi to be his companion

Taampo xode bacam fonga xiisa qa fuya
taampo xoda-e bacam fonga xiisa qa fuya
T|ąą_Pho ORD E four love wind and cold
T|ąą Pho, the fourth, loved the wind and the cold

A na kapoo a su goom kam ñeeja maadogo e zuula
a na kapoo a su goom kam ñeeja maa-dogo e zuula
3 SEQ CAUS 3 POSS land into rise NMLZ-above E great
And he made his land to rise into a great height

Sitaka qa Ghambe faa na xuña ngulenga
sitaka qa ghambe faa na xuña ngulenga
Sri_Takh and Gąą_Dbe UNEXP SEQ pick_up yellow.AUG
But Sri Takh and Gąą Dbe began to feel jealous

A na gamdaaqo ngafe qakange Taampo su hoya
a na gam-daaqo ngafe qakange taampo su hoya
3 SEQ AUG-be_in night go_to T|ąą_Pho POSS side
So they came up to him in the night

A na juunga hanaa zeree kapoo a vicamyo Taampo su ghamto su paloo
a na juunga hanaa zere-e kapoo a vi-camyo taampo su ghamto su paloo
3 SEQ use rock strike-AUG CAUS 3 DETR-break T|ąą_Pho POSS head POSS bone
And crushed T|ąą Pʰo’s skull with a stone

A na camyo Taampo su goom a gheefa kiko e voranga
a na camyo taampo su goom a gheefa kiko e voranga
3 SEQ break T|ąą_Pho POSS land 3 become piece E many
And they split his land into many pieces

Sitaka gamdaaqo ngulabu ñeme vaatu a su leya
sitaka gam-daaqo ngulabu ñeme vaatu a su leya
Sri_Takh AUG-be_in end eat be_ferocious 3 POSS body
And Sri Takh devoured his corpse

Raamyopo acitumñu piki lum tazutazu θomiqe e a su zumanaa
raamyopo aci-tumñu piki lum tazu~tazu θo-miqe e a su zumanaa
Rąą_Yop little-son big from be_sad~MAJ NMLZ-fight E 3 POSS brother
Rąą Yop, the youngest, felt a great sadness at his brothers' quarreling

A na ghekañi bafoo maamri, a na kalangi ghetama
a na ghek-añi bafo-o maamri, a na kalangi ghetama
3 SEQ go_away-AUG go_far-AUG flee, 3 SEQ cross sea
And he fled far away beyond the sea

A na daaqo a su goom avaa yega ñi
a na daaqo a su goom ava-a yega ñi
3 SEQ be_in 3 POSS land make-AUG no thing
And he made nothing in his land

A faa na vecuuga θongatazu e lani
a faa na vecuuga θo-ngatazu e lani
3 UNEXP SEQ invite NAg-mourn E all
But embraced all the mourners

A hoyii a su maatazu ii pelagi
a hoy-ii a su maa-tazu ii pelagi
3 share-AUG 3 POSS NMLZ-sad give.AUG self
To share their sadness with him

(in progress)