Dundulanyä phrasebook

On this page you can hover over dotted contentLike this one! to see the literal translations of the set phrases. [2] stands for any second person pronoun.

Basic phrases

• fä — yes, true
  • fäfä — sure, for sure
• bon — no, false
  • bobon — absolutely not, not at all
• gigertsagi vaI don't want you to be disturbed — Please (to a single person)
  • gigertsakṣa va (to two people); gigertsaggho va (to more than two people).
• girtāpi prābahI'm displeased that you're disturbed [by me] — Excuse me.
  • girtābḍa prābah (to two people); girtāppho prābah (to more than two people).
  • girtāpi prābah, śultārma beyo? — Excuse me, where's the toilet?
• tabdṛhagbu maiṣahBe kind to my mistake. — I ask for your forgiveness (to a single person)
  • tabdṛhagbu maiṣṛsa (to two people); tabdṛhagbu maiṣraḫo (to more than two people).
• ugurcamI have been bad. — I'm sorry (the most common apology overall)
• gurciṣyamI will be bad. — I'm sorry (in advance)
• imiṣrīmuYou've been kind to me — Thank you!
  • imiṣrarimu (to two people); imiṣriśamu (to more than two people).
  • Change the final -mu with -min (dual) or -fa plural if the subject is dual or plural — i.e. imiṣrīmin "[We two] thank you!", imiṣrīfa "[We] thank you!"
  • Can be emphasized with words such as taili imiṣrīmuYou've been really kind to me, didya imiṣrīmuYou've been more [than] kind to me, taili taili imiṣrīmu, didya didya imiṣrīmu, and similar ones.
• hulīce lom̃b̃ahI like [to do] so. — You're welcome.
• lilefinaiYou can stay calm. — It's all right.
  • lilefināsa (to two people); lilefināḫo (to more than two people).
• miṣṛdi saluṅgi!May you come [here] kindly! — Welcome!
  • miṣṛdi saluṅkṣa! (to two people); miṣṛdi saluṅgho! (to more than two people).
  • While etymologically the phrase refers to coming by walking, it is used in all instances nevertheless.
• hildanūya chläh!I'm happy to get to know you! — Nice to meet you!
  • hildanūsin chläh! (to two people); hildanūyo chläh! (to more than two people).
• nenūya chläh!I'm happy for your voice! — Nice to hear from you!
  • nenūsin chläh! (to two people); nenūyo chläh! (to more than two people).
• tiyo — hi!, hello!
  • tī — hey! (very informal). The above tiyo is likely a combination of two onomatopoeia, tī and the more vocative o, regionally used mostly in Śubhāla, southern Nāfo, central and southern Lusaṃrīte and southwestern Jūhma as tī is in most of the Dundulanyä-speaking world.
• raṇivu umūm — good morning!
  • In the Dundulanyä divisions of the day, a greeting used in both the raṇivu and, often, mīmṛdauna gūsai.
• laire umūm — good day!
  • Sporadically used during the raṇivu gūsa for people one's not going to see until the evening, otherwise mostly said during mīmṛdauna.
• saṃlallai umūm — good afternoon!
• anuśamvīrä umūm — good late afternoon! (fourth gūsa in Dundulanyä time reckoning).
• śusva umūm — good evening!
• lalēni umūm — good night!
  • Chiefly a greeting used in both the okṣṇīrä and lalēni gūsai, rather than wishing to sleep well. It can be used with the "sleep well" meaning but no earlier than the conclusion of tiḫa.
• umūm khāṅgi! — (may you) sleep well!
• prāśā miśiṣyikūra! — see you later
  • On the telephone: prāśā nīṣyikūraWe [two] will talk later.
  • With a dual or plural "you": prāśā miśiṣyikūvima/nīṣyikūvima.
• prāśā!Later! — see ya!
• tasundi miśiṣyikūra! — see you soon
  • On the telephone: tasundi nīṣyikūraWe [two] will talk soon.
  • With a dual or plural "you": tasundi miśiṣyikūvima/nīṣyikūvima.
• tasundi!Soon! — see ya!
• umūm taluṅgi!May you walk away well! — goodbye.
• [2] ba belīce? — how are you?
• umūm umūm, imiṣrīmu; itta īśa [2]? — very well, thank you. And you?
• maibu umūm.Well enough. — fine!
  • Generally pronounced as if it were written *maibūmūm, with sandhi instead of a glottal stop.
• bena droṭa?What is flowing? — what's going on?
  • bendroṭa? — what's up? (colloquial shortening)
• mämännayūh!I congratulate! — well done, congratulations!
  • Dual agent: mämännayūba; plural agent: mämännayūvevu.