Classical Ĝate n Tim Ar
Áʕe ik mrúk té töhír ü ĝ gíüł it sah ki.
[áʕè ìk m̩ɹúk té tø̀híɹ ỳ ŋ̩‿ɣíỳɬ ìt sàh kì]
áʕe ki\ mrúk té töhír ü n gíüł it sah ki
COP hand.
PL final
ACT.
PTCP live
DEF GEN tree.sp.
RFLX.
PTCP open.hand 2
PL
'We are the final living leaves of the dying tree.'
Some notes:
-
Ki 'leaf' is the same word as
ki '2
SG'. (The plural,
ik 'leaves', is different though!) Also, there is a polysemy here—
ki also means 'hand'.
- The verb
sah 'to open the hand' is used euphemistically here; the idea of one's hand unclenching or relaxing at death is deeply rooted all the way back to Pre-Tim Ar-O culture. Used without a reflexive modifier, it retains its literal meaning. Only in its reflexive forms, as here with the reflexive participle
it, does it gain the connotation of 'to die'.
- In isolation, the word
gíüł is pronounced [xíỳɬ]. The prepending of the genitive marker
n (here assimilated to a velar nasal
ĝ) and the concomitant sandhi rules trigger the voicing of its initial when the genitive precedes.
Basque