The Kazujisha Textbook

Lesson 3: Past tense – impersonal constructions – imperatives

nepamádurgas – kora-isegazylramáda – mitteremáda; pdf

$19 The past tense is not marked on the verb as in English (walk-ed). Instead, the noun nepa 'past' is used. The past tense is formed as va(ks)/da(ks) + nepa 'past' + verb:

	Mijala vaks nepa esin.		I ate.
	Zhijala daks nepa nãei se.	She saw it.

$20 The past tense of the copula is da(ks) + nepa + da (va) (never daks):

	Mijala vaks nepa va katsume.	I was green.
	Da nepa da tjalme.		It was gentle.

$21 The past tense is used for both the English past tense (walked) and present perfect (an action that has been completed with respect to the present – have walked):

	Ba da nepa nãei zhitada.	He saw the girl.
					He has seen the girl.

$22 Impersonal constructions such as "it is you" conjugate the copula according to the pronoun referred: as such, the construction "it is I" uses vaks:

	(Sejala) vaks mijala.		It is I.
	Sejala vaks.

$23 Impersonal verbs are verbs that do not require a subject – good examples are weather related ones such as rain, snow. In English, such verbs use the dummy subject it. In Kazujisha, such usage is incorrect. It is important to learn the difference between pronoun omission as in "(it) sees" and the impersonal ("rains").

	Monoshikaushe.			It rains.
	Keimla.				It snows.

$24 When telling someone to do something, imperative verb forms are used – in English, this is the same as the present tense: Go! Walk! Hunt!. An imperative in Kazujisha also uses the plain present tense. It is important to intonate an imperative sentence correctly, with a slightly rising intonation during the entire sentence. Otherwise, it might be interpreted as a normal statement with the pronoun dropped.

	Lãe vorja zhi!			Go to her!
	Jusupa jutalfei!		Read the book!

$25 Temporal adverbs are usually placed sentence-initially or sentence-finally.

	Va nepa lãe vorja shan erajaju ni.	I walked to my friend yesterday.

$26 The word or has two main counterparts in Kazujisha: vôtsin and vôe. The former is used with two alternatives, and the second is used for higher numbers of alternatives.

Text

Korano daks nepa nãei mijala ni rafei. Va nepa va ise-enna ni rafei erajaju ni. Rafei daks sôbrikimma, me tenjust. Me shi rafei. Ari, Ialgitya shan ne shi rafei. Ba da nepa rãe, "ni rafei, jo darena skah irgete sluviere". Su! Rãe – teh su shi vôtsin ne shi rafei?

Sehkajaju ni, monoshikaushe ni rafei. Mijala vaks ise-enna ao araminsha. Nãei! Lanje agenvaka tahtm! Ga lanat daks kaua. Teh su shi agenvaka vôtsin ne shi? Jei lanat sluviere, ari jo darena ano agenvaka. Naete nãei? Kita. Me kashi ten lãe. Imetan, pikei sluviere. Ae!

Daks má, Ialgitya shan! Me va kegete. Ba lãe vorja me ja mej rãe.
– Ira, Ialgitya! me rãe.
– Ira-ira, Arukaslan! ba menako.
– Kaeterãe, itta su te ni rafei? me soma.
– Me te lãe. Ja su?
– Ja ka. Teh da nepa nãei agenvaka gu lanat ni rahkete?
– Ne nãei. Kudamejii nãeiva.
Mej lãe vorja rahkete ao agenvaka ja jei lanat.

– Nãei! Rah agenvaka! me rãe.
– Skah! Sãebitsuke rah! Ne shi!

Mej kashi ten te lãe ni rafei.

Wordlist

ae!			interjection of surprise
agenvaka		spider
ao araminsha		as usual
erajaju ni		yesterday
imetan			suddenly
ise-enna		alone
irgete			insect
ja ka			also
jo darena		only
kashi ten		to continue
kaua			beautiful
kegete			relieved
korano			no one
kudamejii		please
lanat			net
menako			to answer
monoshikaushe		to rain
nãeiva			show
pikei			sound
rafei			forest
rah			big
rahkete			tree
sãebitsuke		so [adjective] (sãebitsuke kaua, rah…)
sehkajaju ni		today
shi			to like
skah			bad
sluviere		to exist
soma			to ask
sôbrikimma		calming, relaxing
tenjust			to have an opinion
vôtsin			or

Exercise

1. Translate the following into English.

Shan da nepa esin ja me va nepa nãei. Rãe! Nãeiva! Teh su nãei? Se va mijala. Teh zhi turera ao araminsha Kudamejii menako. Menako! Me va nepa nãei lanje agenvaka tahtm sehkajaju ni. Korano nãei. Meiri da kaugi ja tahagi. Rahkete sluviere ni rah ja sãebitsuke kaua rafei ga. Soma! Naete kashi ten Monoshikaushe tahtm? Jo darena zhijalaja nãei. Menako vorja Arukaslan!

Exercise answers

1. The friend ate and I saw. Speak! Show! Do you see? It is I. Is she coming as usual? Please answer. Answer! I saw a black spider here today. No one sees. The flag is red and orange. Trees exist in the big and so beautiful forest. Ask! Does the rain continue to fall here? Only they (female) see. Answer Arukaslan!