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[mettenette]

Café vocabulary in Ba kom

Miya mal im wak so sit ta ka biw bun so sum biw bun wa sasa ba. “We spent some time sitting at the café drinking coffee and chatting.”

biw — [noun] beverage, drink

kay — [noun] food

un del … — [noun] one piece/slice of …

un kop … — [noun] one cup of …

biw til sat bun — [noun] coffee

biw bun — [noun] coffee (abbreviation)

biw til ip — [noun] tea

biw ip — [noun] tea (abbreviation)

ka biw bun — [noun] café

in han ka biw — [noun] barista

da — [stative verb] large

me — [stative verb] medium

nin — [stative verb] small

non buy kuy wi biw bun (dak fat) — [noun] latte

biw bun (dak fat) wi non buy kuy — [noun] cappuccino

biw bun non — [noun] café au lait

biw bun (dak fat) wi pun non — [noun] espresso macchiato

? — [noun] cappuccino

biw bun dak fat — [noun] espresso

biw ip bet — [noun] green tea

biw ip ro — [noun] black tea (literally “red tea”)

biw ip i tem mak — [noun] masala chai

biw ip sut — [noun] oolong tea (literally “black tea”)

biw ip fun — [noun] matcha (literally “powder tea”)

biw ip tom daw — [noun] tisane

ip biw — [noun] tea leaves

ip hu — [modifier] loose-leaf biw ip ip hu — [noun] loose-leaf tea

bek ip — [noun] tea bag

ni non — [stative verb] black (“without milk”)

i non — [stative verb] with milk

i jel — [stative verb] iced

aw fuy — [noun] fruit juice

fuy sun el — [noun] lemon

nat non — [noun] cream

sok — [noun] sugar

tang nin — [noun] cinnamon

peng nin — [noun] pastry

peng dul lan — [noun] cake

peng noap — [noun] cookie, biscuit (also cracker)

peng kop — [noun] muffin

kok peng — [noun] pie, tart

rol peng tang nin — [noun] cinnamon roll

tap peng — [noun] sandwich

kuk peng — [noun] croissant

tal — [noun] table

sit — [noun] seat, chair

kop — [noun] cup, glass (also bowl)

kop i mim — [noun] mug, cup with a handle

dep — [noun] plate

dep su — [noun] saucer

kas — [noun] spoon

fok — [noun] fork

sep — [noun] knife

jen niw — [stative verb] fresh

dul — [stative verb] sweet

nodul — [stative verb] bitter

mak sol — [stative verb] salty

col — [stative verb] hot

col nin — [stative verb] warm

nocol — [stative verb] cold

mak jam — [stative verb] tasty

da — [stative verb] strong (of taste) mak da — [stative verb] having a strong flavor

nin — [stative verb] weak, mild (of taste) mak nin — [stative verb] mild, having a weak flavor

go … sum biw bun — [intransitive verb] to go have a coffee; [transitive verb] to take someone for a coffee

sum — [transitive verb] to eat, to drink

mang — [transitive verb] to order; [noun] order may fa — [transitive verb] to buy; [noun] purchase

may gi — [transitive verb] to sell; [noun] sale

gi gel — [verb-object] to pay; [transitive verb] to pay for

sit — [intransitive verb] to sit, to sit down, to take a seat

mal mam — [transitive verb] to enjoy

mal wak — [transitive verb] to spend time

sasa ba — [verb-object] to chat, to talk idly

[mettenette]

Title Divinations, 15th century.

[mettenette]

Ba kom: Han mi so uy sem cin. han (intransitive verb) = work mi (pronoun) = I so = adverbial marker uy sem (noun/stative verb) = harmony, harmonious, in harmony with cin (noun) = truth

laboro in concordia cum veritate

I work in harmony with the truth

(23 Sep 2018)

[mettenette]

ban fup so ba kom (the skeleton in Ba kom)

literal translations: fup kep = head bone fup fon nek = collar bone (fon nek, "collar", is literally "base of the neck") fup tol = shoulder blade, literally “shoulder bone” fup kam = rib (literally "bend/curve bone") fup kam ni tok = floating rib (literally "rib without contact") fup wan = pelvis (literally "tub/pan/cauldron bone") fup dol men = carpus, "wrist bone(s)" (dol men, "wrist", is literally "hand joint") fup me men = metacarpus (literally "bones of the middle of the hand") fup dit = phalanges (literally "finger/toe bones") fup tel = coccyx (literally "tail bone") fup dol pi = tarsus, "ankle bone" (dol pi, "ankle", is literally "foot joint") fup me pi = metatarsus ("bones of the middle of the foot") dong mat = orbit (literally "eye hole") fup ga = jaw (literally "chewing bone") li fup yum nek = cervical vertebrae (literally "neck vertebrae"; li fup yum, "vertebra", is literally "back-bone link"; li = link, fup yum = backbone) fup sim pam = sternum, "chest bone" (sim pam, "chest", is literally "front center") fup nat ram men = humorus (literally "upper-arm bone"; nat = top/upper part; ram men "arm" is literally "hand limb") li fup yum me ban = thoracic vertebrae (literally "thorax vertebrae"; me ban "thorax" is literally "middle of the body") fup ray = radius (literally "ray bone") fup dol ram men = ulna (literally "elbow bone"; dol ram men, "elbow", is literally "arm joint") fup nat ram pi = femur (literally "thigh bone"; nat ram pi, "thigh", is literally "upper part of the leg"; ram pi "leg" is "foot limb") fup dol ram pi = kneecap (literally "knee bone") fup su ram pi nin = fibula (literally "small bone of the lower part of the leg") fup su ram pi da = tibia (literally "large bone of the lower part of the leg") ban fup = skeleton, "bone figure"

[mettenette]

花舞花落泪，花哭花瓣飞。 花开为谁谢，花谢为谁悲。 Flowers dance and shed tears, Flowers cry and their petals fly away. For whom do blossoming flowers wither? For whom do withered flowers grieve?

Li Qingzhao (李清照), Ruined Flower (残花). Song dynasty.

Li Qingzhao is widely known as one of the greatest female poets of Chinese literature, and is recognized for her lyric poetry of the ci (词) form that followed set rhythms and tempos. Born in 1084 in modern-day Shandong to a family of scholar-officials, Li was one of an exceedingly small percentage of women who received education in childhood. Her prolific literary career included seven volumes of essays and six volumes of poetry. However, beyond fragments of her poetry much of Li’s work has been lost. 

(via sinethetamagazine)

[mettenette]

Ba kom translation: The Blacksmith Slave

English:

Captive in the rainforests of the West, they brought you to Rome, slave, they gave you the blacksmith work and you make chains. 
The incandescent iron you take out of the oven can be adapted as you wish, you could make swords so your people could break the chains, but you, o slave, you make chains, more chains.

Ba kom:

Oya a fa si ta di bom cay aw wes a ben si la ciw rom, in hay pak, oya a gi han mel tem e si, si a yap il kip. Si a po gon wa jo mel tem ray lum, si wa tek min sanok fo, uy wel si, si a po gon wa sa sep e pop si wa po wa rom il kip, en, si, in hay pak, si a yap il kip, il kip saysay.

Back translation:

They catch you in western rainforest (and) bring you to Rome, slave, they give you blacksmithing, you make chain. You could fit the glowing iron that you take out of the oven to your will, you could make sword so your people can break chain, however, you, slave, you keep making chain, chain.

Oya a fa si ta di bom cay aw wes a ben si la ciw rom, in hay pak,

/ʔo̞ˈja ʔa fa si ta di bo̞m tʃaj ʔaw we̞s ʔa be̞n si la tʃiw ro̞m | ʔin haj pak/

oya – [pronoun] they

a – [particle] positive indicative

fa – [transitive verb] catch

si – [pronoun] you

ta – [stative verb] located in/at/on

di bom cay aw – [noun] rainforest di – [noun] land bom – [noun] tree cay – [noun] fall aw – [noun] water

wes – [noun] west

a – [particle] positive indicative

ben – [transitive verb] to bring

si – [pronoun] you

la – [stative verb] arriving at

ciw rom – [noun] Rome ciw – [noun] city rom – [noun] Roman

in hay pak – [noun] slave in – [noun] person hay – [noun] service pak – [noun] coercion, compulsion, forced

oya a gi han mel tem e si, si a yap il kip.

/ʔo̞ˈja ʔa gi han me̞l te̞m ʔe̞ si | si ʔa jap ʔil kip/

oya – [pronoun] they

a – [particle] positive indicative

gi – [transitive verb] give

han mel tem – [noun] blacksmithing han – [noun] work mel tem – [noun] iron (“adding-metal”)

e – [stative verb] to/for/of

si – [pronoun] you

si – [pronoun] you

a – [particle] positive indicative

yap – [transitive verb] to create

il kip – [noun] chain il – cord, thread, rope, string kip – bond; link (of a chain)

Si a po gon wa jo mel tem ray lum, si wa tek min sanok fo, uy wel si,

/si ʔa po̞ go̞n wa dʒo̞ me̞l te̞m raj lum si wa te̞k min saˈno̞k fo̞ ʔuj we̞l si/

si – [pronoun] you

a – [particle] positive indicative

po – [stative verb] able (to), possible (to)

gon – [aspect marker] future/conditional

wa – [particle] positive subordinating

jo … uy – [transitive verb] to fit, to adapt, to adjust

mel tem – [noun] iron

ray lum – [noun] glowing, incandescence ray – [verb] to radiate lum – [noun] light

si – [pronoun] you

wa – [particle] positive subordinating

tek – [transitive verb] to take

min – [stative verb] out of

sanok fo – [noun] oven sanok – [noun] box, chest fo – [noun] fire

wel – [noun] will, want, desire

si – [pronoun] you

si a po gon wa yap sep e pop si wa po wa rom il kip,

/si ʔa po̞ go̞n wa jap se̞p ʔe̞ po̞p si wa po̞ wa ro̞m ʔil kip/

si – [pronoun] you

a – [particle] positive indicative

po – [stative verb] able (to), possible (to)

gon – [aspect marker] future/conditional

wa – [particle] positive subordinating

yap – [transitive verb] to create

sep – [noun] bladed instrument; sword, knife, etc.

e – [stative verb] to/for/of

pop – [noun] people

si – [pronoun] you

wa – [particle] positive subordinating

po – [stative verb] able (to), possible (to)

wa – [particle] positive subordinating

rom – [transitive verb] to break

il kip – [noun] chain

en, si, in hay pak, si a yap il kip, il kip saysay.

/ʔe̞n si | ʔin haj pak | si ʔa jap ʔil kip | ʔil kip sajˈsaj/

en – [stative verb] however

si – [pronoun] you

in hay pak – [noun] slave

si – [pronoun] you

a – [particle] positive indicative

yap – [transitive verb] to create

il kip – [noun] chain

saysay – [stative verb] again and again, more and more; to keep doing something

[mettenette]

Ba kom word: sin po

This word which I just coined, “sin po”, is inspired by the Chinese word 以為. It is a transitive verb which means “to be under the impression; has/had a belief which one may no longer hold by; to mistakenly believe.” This word is useful because Ba kom has no past tense, which in English is used to make the distinction of a past vs. present belief. It should be noted that this word can also be used in the context of the present or future, not just the past.

The word literally means “possibly believe”, from sin “believe” and po “possible”.

For example:

Mi a sin po ne bin wa ni malak.
 “I thought that building was abandoned.” (Literally: “I was, although no longer am, under the impression that that building was without ownership.”) 
An ni malak, a no en wan bon tomo in ta ne.
 “It’s not abandoned, it’s just that no one lives there.”

Oya a sin po oya wa jan mi, en, an jan mi cin. “They think they know me, but they don’t really know me.”

E wak wa ben simi la ben sem yak saw wi to te e de ben, inin a sin po si wa in cu hi mi. “When we show up to the dance party together tomorrow, people will think you’re my significant other.”

[mettenette]

one limitation of ba kom is there's a lot of information i can't find.

for instance, the word for "blackfoot people" is <pop pu sut>, literally "black foot people", which is a translation of blackfoot ᓱᖽᐧᖿ siksiká.

however the name for the cahuilla people is just a phonetic loan, <pop iwiyu> from the first part of Ivilyuat ʔivil̃uʔat "Ivilyuat language" and ʔivil̃uqaletem "cahuilla people". this is because i can't find a source on what ʔivil̃u- translates as, if anything.

maybe at some point i'll do a lot of digging to find experts or somehow get access to scholarly works on poorly documented languages like Ivilyuat to fix this problem.

[mettenette]

New Ba kom roots

So I've added three new word roots to Ba kom.

There's cel / чел / چئل, which means "sky" or, figuratively, "weather". This is from words in Romance languages like Spanish cielo, French ciel, Italian cielo, and Portuguese céu. Before this, I was using haw nat / хав нат / هاۋ نات, literally "high air".

Then beng / бең / بئڠ, which means "bottle", "vase", or "pitcher", basically any kind of container for liquids which has a narrowed opening. It's from Chinese 瓶, pronounced ping in Mandarin, peng in Cantonese, byou in Japanese, bình in Vietnamese, and byeong in Korean.

And finally there's sanok / санок / سانؤک, which refers to any kind of cube-shaped container that may have a lid, like a box, case, trunk, chest, crate, coffer, or casket
. This is from Arabic صندوق ṣandūq, Persian صندوق sanduq, Urdu صندوق sandūq, Hindi सन्दूक़ sandūq, and Serbo-Croatian sanduk/сандук.

Before creating these words, the word kiten / китен / کىتئن "container" had covered all the uses of beng and sanok. Now there are four words for containers or vessels: bek / бек / بئک "bag/sack/pouch", can / чан / چان "cup/bowl", and the two new ones.

[mettenette]

eljésim translation

tenlen, malsoja, hata sénme ontaja maraloma sí, alora meji vanalap jaman mín

ten – [noun] person -lan/len – plural

malsoma – [transitive verb] to say -(j)a/(j)e – nonpast perfective ending

hatma – [stative verb] hard, difficult -(j)a/(j)e – nonpast ending

sénme – [intransitive verb] to be born -ma/me – infinitive ending

ontama – [stative verb] bad, evil, cruel -(j)a/(j)e – nonpast ending

maraloma – [intransitive verb] to die -ma/me – infinitive ending

sí – [defective verb] so, thus

aloma – [transitive verb] to get -r- – cohortative/imperative/jussive -(j)a/(j)e – nonpast perfective ending

me – [pronoun] you -(j)i – ergative case

vanal – [noun] between -(j)ap/(j)ep – locative case

jaman – [noun] love, loving -Ø – absolutive case

mínme – [stative verb] little, few -Ø – attributive ending

[mettenette]

eljésim translations

manotta kánin néji selin levelum. jajál, jeskele.

/ˈmɑnɔtːɑ kaːnɘn neːjɘ sɛlɘn ˈlɛʋɛlʊm | jɑˈjaːl | ˈjɛʃkɛlɛ/

“We each have to find our own inspiration. Sometimes it's not easy.”

manma – [transitive verb] to find -(j)ott/(j)utt – “need to, have to, must” -(j)a/(j)e – nonpast ending

kán – [pronoun] we (inclusive) -(j)in – genitive case

né – [pronoun] each, all, every -(j)i – ergative case

sel – [noun] self -(j)in – genitive case

levelum – [noun] invigoration, inspiration -Ø – absolutive case

jajál – [defective verb] sometimes

jeskeme – [stative verb] easy -la/le – negative nonpast ending

kenlutte saji jaja, ujulettelen san saji pa léjel.

/ˈkɛlːʊtːɛ ˈsɑjɘ ˈjɑja | ʊjʊˈlɛtːɛlɛn sɑn ˈsɑjɘ pɑ ˈleːjɛl/

“Once you’ve met someone, you never really forget them.”

kenlume – [transitive verb] to get to know, to meet, to make the acquaintance of -tta/tte – having done X, once X has happened

sa – [pronoun] indefinite pronoun -(j)i – ergative case

jaja – [pronoun] someone -Ø – absolutive case

ujuletteme – [transitive verb] to forget -lan/len – negative nonpast imperfective ending

sanma – [stative verb] true, real -Ø – attributive ending

sa – [pronoun] indefinite pronoun -(j)i – ergative case

pa – [pronoun] third-person singular pronoun -Ø – absolutive case

léjel – [defective verb] ever, at any time

sajarala mujén tarajol.

/ˈsɑjɑɾɑlɑ mʊˈjeːn ˈtɑɾɑjɔl/

“Don't expect perfection at first.”

sajama – [transitive verb] to think about; to expect -(i)r(a/e) – imperative-cohortative-propositive ending

mujén – [noun] perfection -Ø – absolutive case

tarama – [intransitive verb] to begin -(j)ol/(j)ul – adverbial, indicates the way something happens or the context in which something happens.

aja jaja kimlen nemlevime tújul vajal sa lulil jójil saji ne.

/ˈɑjɑ ˈjɑjɑ ˈkɘmlɛn ˈnɛmlɛʋɘmɛ ˈtuːjʊl ˈʋɑjɑl sɑ ˈlʊlɘl jɔːjɘl ˈsɑjɘ nɛ/

“There are some things that you just can’t share without ending up liking each other.”

ama – [intransitive verb] to exist; there is, there are -(j)a/(j)e – nonpast ending

jaja – [determiner] some

kim – [noun] thing -lan/len – plural

nem’me – [intransitive verb] to pass through; to experience -lev(i) – negative possibility -ma/me – infinitive ending

túme – [stative verb] together -(j)ol/(j)ul – adverbial ending

vajal – [defective verb] just

sa – [pronoun] indefinite pronoun -Ø – absolutive case

lume – [intransitive verb] to become; to end up -lil – negative connective ending

jóma – [stative verb] to be good, to like -(j)il – positive connective ending

sa – [pronoun] indefinite pronoun -(j)i – ergative case

ne – [pronoun] reciprocal pronoun; each other, one another -Ø – absolutive case

[mettenette]

eljésim phonology

Consonants

Eljésim consonants are /m/, /n/, /p/, /t/, /k/, /s/, /h/, /l/, /j/, /ʋ/, /ɾ/.

All consonants except for /h/, /j/, and /ʋ/ may be geminated. Geminate /ɾ/ is a trill /rː/.

/n/ is [ŋ] before /k/ and /ɲ/ before /j/, including across word boundaries in connected speech. The sequence /nl/ is realized as /lː/ within a word. When /n/ is word-final and the following word begins with /l/, it can become uvular /ɴ/.

Stops are geminated when in clusters with a liquid consonant. Thus, /lp/ /lt/ /lk/ /mp/ /nt/ /nk/ are realized as /lpː/ /ltː/ /lkː/ /mpː/ /ntː/ /ŋkː/.

Stops are weakened before an unstressed vowel. /p/ and /t/ are voiced to /b/ and /d/, while /k/ becomes a glottal stop /ʔ/. In addition, /h/ becomes /ɦ/.

Stops assimilate in manner of articulation with a following nasal. /p/ becomes /m/, /t/ becomes /n/, /k/ becomes /ŋ/.

/k/ is realized as /ʔ̚/ at the end of a word.

/s/ is realized as [ʃ] or [ʂ] when no vowel follows, e.g. at the end of a word or before a consonant.

/h/ is /ç/ before /iː/ and /ʍ/ before /ʊ/ or /uː/. [ɦ] stays constant in pronunciation. /h/ can only appear before a vowel.

/j/ is /ɰʲ/ after /l/ and /ɕ/ after /t/.

/ʋ/ is /w/ between two bright vowels (/ɑ/, /ɔ/, /aː/, /ɔː/). When between vowels, if the preceding vowel is /ʊ/, /uː/, /ɔ/, or /ɔː/ and the following vowel is /ɛ/, /eː/, /ɑ/, or /aː/, it is a lightly articulated /w/ or elided completely. (This is written as a superscript /ʷ/.)

/ɾ/ can only appear between vowels.

There are no word-initial or word-final consonant clusters. Clusters most commonly consist of /l/ with another consonant, or a nasal followed by a homorganic stop, or /s/ followed by a stop. However, any two consonants can appear together in a cluster as long as this does not violate other phonological constraints; namely, /ɾ/ cannot appear in a consonant cluster, and /h/ can only appear as the second element. No three-consonant clusters are possible.

Vowels

There are ten vowels, five short and five long: /ɑ/, /ɛ/, /ɔ/, /ʊ/, /ɘ/, /aː/, /e̞ː/ (normally transcribed as /eː/), /ɔː/, /uː/, /iː/. In the system of vowel harmony, /ɑ/ /ɔ/ /aː/ /ɔː/ are “bright”, /ɛ/ /ʊ/ /eː/ /uː/ are “dark”, and /ɘ/ /iː/ are “neutral”.

The long vowels are about 175% the length of the short vowels.

Short /ɔ/ and /ʊ/ cannot appear in a word-final unstressed syllable. Instead, they are lengthened to long /ɔː/ and /uː/ while remaining unstressed.

There are no vowel hiatuses.

Stress

Stress falls on the first syllable of a word if all syllables are light, or on the last heavy syllable. A heavy syllable is defined as one containing a long vowel or preceding a consonant cluster or geminate consonant. Grammatical suffixes do not affect stress, but derivational suffixes do.

[mettenette]

eljésim sentence

jóla paji tun jójol tuni pa.

/ˈjɔːlɑ ˈpɑjɘ tʊn ˈjɔːjɔl ˈtʊnɘ pɑ/

“He/she (person 1) doesn’t like him/her (person 2) as much as he/she (person 2) likes him/her (person 1).”

jóma – [stative verb] to be good; (with ergative case) to like -la/le – negative nonpast ending

pa – [pronoun] third person singular/ third person salient singular -(j)i – ergative case

tun – [pronoun] fourth person/ third person obviate -Ø – absolutive case

jóma – [stative verb] to be good; (with ergative case) to like -(j)ol/(j)ul – adverbial ending; when used with a verb that can be described by decrees of comparison, “as much as”.

tun – [pronoun] fourth person/ third person obviate -(j)i – ergative case

pa – [pronoun] third person singular/ third person salient singular -Ø – absolutive case

[mettenette]

eljésim sentences

soksa enetil paji láran huje kejulvettulu.

/ˈsɔksɑ ˈɛnɛdɘl ˈpɑjɘ ˈlaːɾɑn ˈhʊjɛ kɛjʊlˈʋɛtːʊluː/

“He/she moved a stray hair out of his/her face.”

sokma – [transitive verb] to move -sa/se – past perfective ending

enetme – [transitive verb] to cause to go away or out (enme “come/go away/out + -(j)at/(j)et, translocative movement) -(j)il – connective ending

pa – [pronoun] he/she -(j)i – ergative case

lá – [noun] face -tan/ten/ran/ren/nan/nen – ablative case

huje – [noun] hair -Ø – absolutive case

kejulvettulume – [stative verb] stray, strayed (keme “to come/go” + -(j)olva/(j)ulve, aimless or imprecise action + -ttol/ttul, harmful or accidental action + -(j)o/(j)u, stative verb) -Ø – attributive ending

pájan mával meji hínekki ava taronap.

/ˈpaːjɑn ˈmaːwɑl ˈmɛjɘ çiːˈnɛkːɘ ɑwɑ ˈtɑɾɔnɑp/

“Why do you wear a whistle around your neck?”

páma – [transitive verb] to wear -(j)an/(j)en – nonpast imperfective ending

má – [pronoun] what -pal/pel/val/vell/mal/mel – causative case

me – [pronoun] you -(j)i – ergative cae

hínekki – [noun] whistle (hínme “to whistle” + -(a/e)kki, tool or device) -Ø – absolutive case

avama – [stative verb] surrounding, around -Ø – attributive ending

taron – [noun] neck -(j)ap/(j)ep – locative case

jújemlevivenerene kujirumne tara penlen.

/ˈjuːjɛmlɛʋɘʋɛnɛɾɛnɛ ˈkʊjɘɾʊmnɛ ˈtɑɾɑ pɛlːɛn/

“It looks like it will not be possible for the birds to come back to this place in the spring.”

jújem’me – [intransitive verb] to come back (júme “to return” + -(j)am/(j)em, cislocative movement) -lav/lev – negative possibility -pana/pene/vana/vene/mana/mene – future indicative -tan/ten/ran/ren/nan/nen – inference based on present information -(j)a/(j)e – nonpast

kujirum – [noun] spring -ta/te/ra/re/na/ne – dative case

ta – [pronoun] this place -ta/te/ra/re/na/ne – dative case

pen – [noun] bird -lan/len – plural -Ø – absolutive case

penlure aral meji nanka, jenkulverele vajal lavin’na.

/ˈpɛlːʊɾɛ ˈɑɾɑl ˈmɛjɘ ˈnɑŋkɑ | jɛŋˈkːʊlʋɛɾɛlɛ ˈʋɑjɑl ˈlɑwɘnːɑ/

“Hang your clothes up properly, don’t just throw them onto the floor.”

penlume – [transitive verb] to hang up, to hang (penme “to be hanging”, stative verb + -lo/lu, indicates a change in state, active verb) -(i)r(a/e)- – imperative/jussive/cohortative -(j)a/(j)e – nonpast perfective

aralma – [stative verb] right, proper, correct -Ø – attributive/adverbial ending

me – [pronoun] you -(j)i – ergative cae

nanka – [noun] clothing -Ø – absolutive case

jenkulveme – [transitive verb] to throw carelessly, to strew, to scatter (jenkime “to throw” + -(j)olva/(j)ulve, aimless or imprecise action) -(i)r(a/e)- – imperative/jussive/cohortative -(j)a/(j)e – negative nonpast perfective

vajal – [defective verb] just, only

lavin – [noun] floor -ta/te/ra/re/na/ne – dative case

[mettenette]

Navajo influence in Ba kom

A lot of Ba kom words have ended up being total or partial calques of Navajo terms, because a lot of Navajo words are transparent and easily calqued phrases where other languages have a single word of obscure etymology.

Anyways, here’s some examples of Ba kom words calqued from Navajo:

kus gamal nek biliw – cassowary Literally “blue necked ostrich”, from Navajo tsídiitsoh bikʼos dootłʼizhí.

pet sil – glass Literally “star stone”, from Navajo tsésǫʼ.

pet fo – charcoal; carbon Literally “fire stone”, from Navajo tsékǫ’.

gok pun rang – Guinea fowl Literally “spotted chicken”, from Navajo naaʼahóóhaiłkizhígíí.

bal mus ran aw – mink, marten Literally “shore weasel”, from Navajo tábąąh dlǫ́’ii.

satan pi su aw – shrimp, prawn Literally “water floor crustacean”, from Navajo táłtłʼááh chʼosh daadánígíí “bottom of the water worm meal”.

fuy daw – pepper (fruit of the capsicum plant) Literally “medicine fruit”, from Navajo azeedíchʼííʼ “spicy medicine”.

fuy mamun – coconut Literally “monkey/ape fruit”, from Navajo mágí bichʼiyąʼ “monkey food”.

mamun mat da – tarsier Literally “big eyed monkey”, from Navajo mágí binááʼtsohígíí.

mamun nak da – babboon Literally “big nosed monkey”, from Navajo mágí bíchį́į́htsohígíí.

mamun nak biliw – mandrill Literally “blue nosed monkey”, from Navajo mágí bíchį́į́h dootłʼizhígíí.

mel biliw – zinc Literally “blue metal”, from Navajo béésh dootłʼizh.

mel ni bim – titanium Literally “metal without rust”, from Navajo béésh doo ńdiniichxíihii “metal that doesn’t rust”.

mel ro – copper Literally “red metal”, from Navajo béésh łichíiʼii.

lep da – “jackrabbit” Literally “big rabbit”, from Navajo gahtsoh.

[mettenette]

New Ba kom root

sun / сун / سون

Noun: 1. health, fitness 2. soundness, wellbeing 3. physical condition

Compounds:

sun ke teng – mental health

sun ban – physical health

e sun bo – healthy, wholesome, conducive to good health and wellbeing

e sun nobo – unhealthy, unwholesome, conducive to poor health and wellbeing

i sun bo – healthy, fit, sound, in good health

i sun nobo – unhealthy, unfit, out of shape, in poor health

kasun – hospital

kasun bis – veterinary, animal hospital

Etymology:

German gesund, Gesundheit, Dutch gezond, gezondheid, Danish sund, sundhed, Swedish sund, sundhet, Norwegian sunn, sunnhet.

This word used to be a compound haw bi, literally “air of life”, but I decided to create a separate root for the concept. Incidentally, haw bi now means “nitrogen”.

[mettenette]

A useful Ba kom phrase

Mi a pe wa dil kak si.

Ми а пе ва дил как си.

مى ا پئ ۋا دىل کاک سى

| mi | a             | pe         | wa           | dil           | kak       | si    | | I    | ᴘᴀʀᴛɪᴄʟᴇ | through | ᴘᴀʀᴛɪᴄʟᴇ | deal with | rubbish | you |

“I’m done dealing with your bullshit.”

The stative verb pe “through” can be used in combination with a subordinate clause with the particle wa/wan to indicate an action that has been performed to its conclusion, like English “done with -ing” or “through -ing”.