AyBayConLang

CLASSIFICATION
AyBayConLang is an a priori language, which means that the complete vocabulary has been created entirely new, starting from zero. ABCL is a conlang containing partly the features of philosophical and logical languages. It is less agglutinative, but fairly inflective and derivative too.

ABCL is considered completely developed for Level 1 (for daily talk, about B2  level of CEFR) with basic nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions particals, prepositions and pronouns already. The lexicon with about 8000 vocabulary would be sufficient for a fair communication. Level 2 is thought for the full utilization of all aspects for higher purposes like printed papers and literature.

PHONOLOGY
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Consonants
! rowspan="9" style="width: 68px; " | ! colspan="2" | ! Labial/Bilabial ! Dental/ Alveolar ! Postalveolar ! Palatal ! Velar ! Glottal ! colspan="2" |Nasal ! rowspan="2" |Plosive/ Affricate ! voiceless ! voiced ! rowspan="2" |Fricative ! voiceless ! voiced ! colspan="2" |Approximant ! colspan="2" |Flap ! colspan="9" |IPA pronunciatios of the letters different from/or not existing in English are given in brackets. In ABCL the nuances in pronunciation is not important for correct understanding and differentiation of words.
 * m
 * n
 * p
 * t
 * ç (t͡ʃ)
 * k (c)
 * k (c)
 * b
 * d
 * c (d͡ʒ)
 * g (ɟ)
 * ɡ
 * f
 * s
 * ş (ʃ)
 * x
 * h
 * h
 * rowspan="2" | v
 * z
 * j (ʒ)
 * l (ɫ)
 * l
 * y (j)
 * ı (ɯ)
 * ğ (ɤ̞ɯ̞)
 * r (ɾ)
 * r (ɾ)
 * }

Vowels
ABCL has no defined allophony at all. The vocabulary is defined so that each word for itself is distinguishable and understandable without help of the allophony. A speaker may use it as he/she is used to it in the native language.

Phonotactics
The syllable structure is fixed for root words. For root nouns CVCCV; fo root verbs CVC; for root adjectives CV and VCV; for root adverbs VCV; for conjunctions and prepositions VC and for pronouns V and VCV. For derivation however they differ. There are no consonant clusters within a syllble, except one case of modular verbs. There are also no diphthongs except with the plural suffix "_i" at the end of the nouns.

Writing System
Writing system relays on Turkish ABC, where the letters are written same as in English, except Ç, Ğ, I, Ö, Ş and Ü. (Compared with English Q and W are dropped, X is added.)

Other letters with differing sound from English are shown in the second line of the table.

NOUNS
Nouns are separated as Basic/Root Nouns and Derived Nouns. “Basic/root nouns” consist principally of five letters (CVCCV). Derived nouns are derived from verbs, adjectives and other nouns having six-seven letters. They all end on a vowel same as the basic nouns. The root nouns are classified in 15 noun classes, each of them heading a special area of use, such as “body”, “human”, “animals”, plants, “mental”, psychology-spirit”, social”, “daily home”, “health”, “pastime”, ”nature and environment”, “science”, “construction-technic-transport”, “time” and “others”. Each of them has its own special initial consonant. Nouns are created by the use of an Excel matrix; an example for the main topic “BODY” is shown below.

With the matrix scheme it is possible using 20 initial consonants to create up to 512 000 nouns. We aim to utilize for the Level 1 about 5000 nouns only, The matrix scheme would also allow using of the computer programs for word creation and translation.

The matrix allows further sub-subheading such as from Body to “Head”, the first column (S-ENe) indicating sense organs like eye, nose, ear (denoted as Sene: primary) and further columns right of them, the subparts of first noun at the beginning (denoted as “seconders”). For example: eye (senge) (first column), then in the same row; eyelid (sengi), eyelash (sengo), iris (sengö). Being Excel table, the matrix allows right click explanation for each cell, where we can put the meaning of a word in any language.

Here are some guidelines for easy understanding of the following text: (where “C” indicates consonants and “V” vowels) The sign “*” attached to a “V”(V*) or “C”(C*) indicates that the vowels vary from “a” to “ü” and the consonants from “b” to “z” respectively. The sign “#” is a placeholder for a varying vowel or consonant. The point “.” between syllables of ABCL words is used to indicate an affix. It is just a demo to make the role of the suffixes clearer in this article. It will not be applied in normal usage of the language.

SEN: HEAD

ABCL uses five derivational suffixes for deverbal nouns, three suffixes for denominal nouns and one suffix for the nouns derived from adjectives.

VERBS
Verbs are separated also as Basic/Root Verbs and Derived Verbs. Root Verbs consist basically of three letters as CVC. They are also classified in schemes similar to the nouns. Fifteen “main headings” (with the first denoting letter of the group following) are “PHYSICAL ACTS -K##”, “AKTIVE ACTIONS –Y,  R and G##”, “PEOPLE – S and Ş##”, “SOCIAL RELATION –F and P##”, “MENTAL ACTIVITIES –B and M##”, “HOUSEHOLD, … DAILY LIFE -D##”, “PASTTIME, SPOR, HEALTH -T##”, “UTTARANCE, NONPERSON ACTS-Ç##”, “BUSINESS, PUBLIC -H##”, “TECHNIC / SCIENCE / NATURE-V##”.

In PHYSICAL ACTS (Motion),  “K##” is initial consonant for the heading, ## indicates varying 8 vowels (“a” to “ü”) in the second place and alternating 20 consonants in the third place. This way 4600 verbs can be created theoretically,  For the Level 1, ABCL has about one thousand five hundred of them, which seems to be adequate. The main heading could be subdivided in subheading such as KA# for a certain type of “physical acting” and KE# for another where appropriate (not in this example). As example, some verbs in the category “K-physical acting” are shown below: Verbs will be flexed for Level 1 beside tenses also for ergative, causative, imperative, passive, subjunctive and negative.

Verbs will be derived from nouns and adjectives by adding suffixes according to a fixed scheme. They will typically end also on a consonant as the root verbs. For the derivation of verbs from the nouns the suffixes “_k” (for transitive) and “_l” (for intransitive)  will be added (thus we will have a four and five (for negation with _x) letter verb.  For the adjectives also the suffix “_l” is chosen (these type of verbs are always intransitive). The number of letters may be increased up to seven letters.

Verb Transformation in ABCL
Many verbs in English are ambitransitive (transitive and intransitive, depending on the context) such as burn, sink, read, break etc. where the separation is provided either by their context (receiving an object) or by the special prepositions/particles. For the translation from English to ABCL, ABCL would need two different root verbs for each type of the meaning in order to overcome the ambiguity. Therefore,  ABCL tried to minimize and to simplify this duality. The verbs defined in lexicon are either inherently intransitive (appear, be, become, grow, ook, seem etc.) or inherently transitive, i.e. they take object. Equivalent of any ambitransitive English verb is defined in ABCL always intrinsically as transitive. Intransitive includes also reflexive and reciprocal.

Because there are too many ambitransitive verbs, which can be transformed by reflexion in to (semi-) intransitive verbs, ABCL introduced the reflexive suffix “_m” for this purpose. (Example: look at (vt) vs look nice (vi)- bey.# vs bey.#.m) With this approach the problem of the ambitransitive verbs would be overcome in ABCL. Other way around to make out of an intransitive verb a transitive one (ergative) ABCL defined the suffix “_t” and for the reciprocal the suffix “_k”.

ADJECTIVES
Basic adjectives consist of two/three letters as CV/x and VCV/x, yielding about 500, but doubling  by using of “x” at the ends giving an adverse meaning (antonym) such as “ebi” for beautiful and “ebix” for ugly. Adjectives have also been separated in classes. Two letter adjectives “CV*” with the titles: “interrogative, demonstrative, indefinite (quantifier), indefinite numerical, main colours, placing and possessive” where C indicates the group and “a” to “ü” varying vowels denoting the adjectives.

Three letters are separated into two main groups as “DESCRIPTIVE-QUALIFYING” and “DESCRIPTIVE–PEOPLE” (personality and behaviour mainly). Each of them has been subdivided internally according to the scheme V#V (eC*e; eC*i; … eC*ü for the first main group and aC*a; aC*e; aC*i; … aC*ü, eC*a  for the remaining). Each subtitle indicates a special type of the adjectives such as “aC*e-being”, “aC*i-behaviour” or “eC*ü-nature/science. Physical features, appearance, human attribute, opinion-view, etc., each consonant representing one heading with vowels varying.

Adjectives will be derived by adding suffixes to the verbs and nouns. As the root adjectives, also derived ones end with a vowel, typical for adjectives. Thus they will have six to eight letters. Deverbal adjectives will be derived by the suffixes “_ado/_adox” (in place of the English suffixes "_ful, _less, _ant/-ent, _ive, _ile, _ic, _ate, _y/ly,_ic, _ous, etc.), "_ako" (for capability "_able/_ible"), “_amo” (for past participle _ed) and “_ana” (for present participle _ing). Denominal Adjectives adjectives will be derived by the suffixes “_do/_dox” (in place of the English affixes "_ful, _less, _ive, _ulent, _ile, _holic, _ic, _ate, _y/ly,_ic, _ous, un_, im_,  etc.) and "_ko" (for capability "_able/_ible")   With these 8 suffixes (ado, adox, ako, amo, ano, do, dox, ko) it is possible to get unnumbered new adjectives from verbs and nouns additionally to 520 root adjectives.

Numbers
Also for the numbers, the suffix “_x” meaning zero, a differing system has been created. 1 to 10: bi, çi, fi, ki, li, ni, pi, si, yi, bix

ADVERBS
Basic adverbs consist of three letters in scheme of V*-ç/- ş/-l/-n/-y-V*, covering mostly used adverbs in many languages. As in English, in many other languages also adverbs have often the same spelling with the adjectives and conjunctives. For the sake of ambiguity they also will have separate three letters wordings in ABCL, if used as adverb. Also here there are separate headings for subdivision, indicated by choose of the vowels, for example first two letters “oçV*, öçV*, uçV*, üçV*, oşV*, öşV*, uşV*, üşV*” for adverbs indicate “time” and “quantity” where the third vowel varies from “a” to “ü” (* means always “varying letters” in this article). This way 56 words can be created if needed (without the use of the vowel “ı”). The middle consonant “y” denotes the “adverbs of manner” which are subdivided into four such as direction (oyV*), descriptive (öyV*) etc.

Derived Adverbs: Also here there are deviations in the number of basic letters while deriving adverbs from verbs, nouns and adjectives with the help of three suffixes.

CONJUNCTIVES-PREPOSITIONS
Conjunctives-prepositions consist of two letters like some adjective groups but as VC. About one hundred words have been defined under this scheme in the lexicon. Logical groupings have been built systematically, such as conjunction particles (and, or, then, so… ), particles for subordinate clauses (so that, even if, unless etc.) and prepositions. For example, the end consonant “s” points out to the locational prepositions, like in, at, on, out, under, above, behind etc. with the vowel varying from “a” to “ü”.

PRONOUNS
Pronouns consist of one and three letters (V, VCV). The personal pronouns are “a, o, u, e, ö, ü”. All other pronouns have VCV where first vowel is always “i” with which they would be recognizable and differ from adjectives and adverbs. Reciprocal Pronouns (Level 2) ezik; ozi.k; üzi.k (we each other; you ...; they ...) are denoted by the reciprocal suffix "_k"

Possesive Demonstrative Pronouns will be denoted with the genetive/possesive suffix "_z" such as "ipa.z, ipü.z".

ABCL doesn't have marked objective cases, thus it has no objective pronouns too.

PLURAL, NEGATION AND QUESTIONS
Plural will be indicated by the suffix “_i”. To create a fluid link from the preceding end vowel of the noun in the suffix-vowel “i” a very small /y/ can be added in-between without stopping the airflow between words.

Negation of the act is done by adding suffix “x” at the end of the conjugated verb. With “_x” as suffix, ABCL construct also antonym for adjectives, adverbs and conjunctives/prepositions where appropriate. “X” is also used for the number “zero”. If the suffix “_x” follows a consonant a “short-soundless “ı” (like “ion-loud” in “station”) or the preceding vowel will be repeated shortly before “x” for vowel harmony.

Questions will be indicated by the letter “J”, in case of the pronouns as prefix and in case of the nouns as partical before subject noun, spoken with. As for “x” it may be uttered by “ı-sound” above but also built vocal harmony with the first syllables of the following noun which will be however omitted in writing.

Example: Ja yüsa? (Shall I swim?), J (Jɯ or Je) şenbe byüse? (Can fish swim?)

Tenses and Aspects
Verbs are conjugated for five tempus “future, simple present, present continuous, simple past (past 1) and imperfect/durational past/history” (past 2), with the corresponding vocals “a, e, i, o/ö, u/ü” placed after verbs as suffix. (u/ü and o/ö can be interchanged for the vocal harmony) If a verb phrase has more than four letters, it will end up on a consonant, not vowel in order to prevent a mix up with root nouns.

ABCL has none of the complicated aspects requiring the usage of auxiliaries, root modification of the verbs and suffixes such as in Germanic languages (progressive, perfect, past perfect, progressive perfect, past perfect progressive, future perfect progressive, conditional perfect progressive) nor in other languages (habitual, recent/far past, simultaneous, gnomic/generic etc.) All those aspects such as the frequency of occurrence and timely relation (recently, long time ago) will be expressed by the temporal adverbs and numbers where and if required.

Future progressive, perfect and perfect progressive aspects could not easily be replaced by auxiliaries also. Therefore I introduced for these cases as modal the verb “to be” which is named “bab” in ABCL. Its future tense “bab.a” serves for future followed by the aspect which is indicating the presence or past of the conjugated main event.

Below, the examples for the cases explained above for the tenses and aspects used in English and their equivalent in ABCL:

Aspects of the English present tense and their counterpart in ABCL:

Present simple                                                "I eat"                                                A dek.e

Present progressive                                       "I am eating"                                     A dek.i

Present perfect                                               "I have eaten"                                  A dek.ö

Present perfect progressive                       "I have been eating"                       A dek.ü

I have been eating last year often outside. (This year I eat at home)           A dek.ü mü camba öşa oye

Subjunctives of future (wih suffix "ç"):

For future, would and should are used to combine future or hypothetical-counterfactual reference with aspectual meaning:

Simple conditional:                                          "I would eat"                                   A dek.a.ç

Future conditional progressive:                 "I would be eating"                        A bab.a dek.i.ç

Future conditional perfect:                           "I would have eaten"                    A bab.a dek.ö.ç

Future conditional perfect progressive: "I would have been eating"          A bab.a dek.ü.ç (üçe…)

Irrealis in ABCL
ABCL considers two main irrealis :

1.        Event is hypothetical, but possible, expressing: dependency, emotion, hopes, expectation, wish, desire, possibility, probability, likelihood, uncertainty, doubt, dubiousness, judgment, opinion, obligation, inferential (hearsay), not confirmed, necessity, imploring, asking, guessing, requiring, encouraging or action that has not yet occurred (present subjunctive)

2.        Event (counterfactual) cannot occur anymore because the prior dependency, necessity [ab2] and condition set in the past, had not been fulfilled. Also an event cannot be realized in future[ab3]  because the required condition for its realization could not be met.

Irrealis are expressed in various world languages by modal verbs in past tense (as would, should, might), by modification of verb stem, by adjectives, by conjunctives (if, that), by suitable verbs in subordinate clauses, by special particles and by suffixes to the verbs or by combinations of that.

Item 1 events will be expressed in real tenses of ABCL without the usage of any suffix, subjunctive modal and modification of the verb stem but with suitable adverbs, conjunction (mainly “am”=”that”in English), verbs in subordinate clauses and special particles. Irrealis/subjunctivity will be ensured by the suitable choice of these words.

Item 2 clauses are all irreal subjunctive events mostly with conditional (if-clauses) and other dependent sub clauses. There are also irrealis clauses with “hidden/not outspoken” dependencies. This item includes further unreal desires and wishes (I wish/ if only) and necessity/must cases (should) as well. Item 2 events in ABCL will have “the contrafactual suffix –ç” added to the conjugated verb, indicating that all clauses with this verb suffix are irrealis past subconjuntive. Example:

If I had been hungry, I would have eaten                                      if a dak.o (bab.o zex) a dek.e.ç

MODAL VERBS, INFLEXIONS and MODUS in ABCL
There are no gender, number and casus declination/flexion at all. Where necessary, gender may be identified by a corresponding noun/adjective. The casus will not be needed, also no locative prepositions since the unambiguous verb itself normally implies the cases and the object is defined clearly by its position in the sentence. Only in case of complexity the preposition may be needed.

Modal Verbs
ABCL has five modals:

Example: A c.koy.e.k az hanka: I shall get my house painted.

They are placed as prefix to the verbs. Because this way a cluster emerges, in speaking only the first vowel of the verb repeats as gap filling and vowel harmony in between or soundless “ı” as convenient. If necessary, modus can be expressed using particles and prepositions. For the first level we abandoned most of them, leaving a few where we think it easy to learn and nice to have them for good expression.

Possession, which “must be” is formed by suffix “_z” and placed after nouns and pronouns. Plural “_s” is used as suffix also after nouns.

Inflexed Verb Features
ABCL has in Level 1 nine verb features  indicated by particle markers and suffixes:
 * 1) …vowel for tense

GREETING and WISHES
Infinitive/imperative form of the verbs "sen” (to be well) and "sin” (to see/meet again) have been defined as “short” greeting nouns, "sen" meaning "hallo" (“full” “sen.eş”: I wish you be well) to be used when people meet/phone and "sin" meaning "good by” (“full” “sin.eş”: I wish to see you again-to keep in touch) when separate. No further greeting and courtesy words are defined. User can himself introduce such words as “good day, good luck” if he wishes by directly translating them from English or their native languages. The addressing forms such as “mr., mrs., sir, madam, etc.” have no place in ABCL.

For Level 2 however, further phrases are defined as follows:

SYNTAX
Syntax has a defined, fixed order (SVO) as below:

(question: “J” as prefix or particle or interrogative words)-subject noun/preposition-(modal).verb.tempus affix (_x)-adverb-adjective-direct object noun/pronoun-(preposition)-(adjective, if any)- second (indirect) object noun. Adjective phrases will be placed also before the noun they modify. In case of many object nouns, they keep the sequence accusative, ablative, dative and locative. If it becomes too long or ambiguously, it would be advisable to use prepositions. Noun-, adjective-, relative- and adverbial clauses will be placed after the verb/noun/adjective/adverb they modify. Relative clauses follow the noun or noun phrase that they modify. The clauses can be formed by the interrogative words as relative/adjective clauses or as noun clauses as in English or simply by two (“am” and “um” in ABCL) conjunctive particles.

ABCL does not use English “it” as complimentary subject as “it snows” and “it is important”. We say “venre ven.e = snow falls” and “ebo = important (dropping “it is”)”. For the latter case we need for future (it will) and past (it was) however the verb (to be) “bab” as modal i.e. “bab.a” and “bab.o”.

LEXICON
ABCL lexicon has been set up as Excel matrixes separated for nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctives-prepositions and pronouns for ABCL-English. Easiest way is to use the search function of the Excel table in both direction. The matrixes could be also used to include a third language (e.g. native language) by the right-click "explanation button". The access to the Table is possible through the URL page of Aybay for the interested conlangers.

SAMPLE TEXT
Here is a paragraph from “The Old Man and the Sea” translated in ABCL. (The partical in parenthesis indicates that it can be omitted for the first level. As seen, in English almost 60 percent more letters are required for the same expression. The point “.” between syllables of ABCL words is used here only to indicate an affix) “I can remember you throwing me into the bow where the wet coiled lines were [A b.maz.e (am) o kap.u a ay çikşi ot epi.x kıp.amo tümle.i] and feeling the whole boat shiver and the noise of you clubbing him [an (am) a bat.aka ma hunmi şay.o an vanzı (öş) o pıl.aka u] like chopping a tree down and the sweet blood smell all over me.” [aç dov.aka şirye oyö an ebe sanna böz.aya şü iy a.] The ABCL text now put to gather:

A b.maz.e (am) o kap.u a ay çikşi ot epi.x kıp.amo tümle.i bab.o es a bat.o am ma hunmi şay.o es vanzı (ov) o pıl.aka u eç dov.aka şirye oyö es ebe sanna böz.aya şü iy a.   (109 letters only, where the English text utilized 162 letters for the same.)

Below is the a large text translation from: paragraph by paragraph)

The Old Man and the Sea

Solba (enax solmo) es Vinpe

He was an old man who fished alone           in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish. In the first forty days a boy had been with him.

U bab.o solba           em top.u şenbe ayü.çe   (in) hunpi in  G-S                  es       u        yal.u six ki camsa   uço            içx          kan.aka  şenbe. İn  mi  kix camsa     solso bab.u  iç   u.

But after forty days without a fish the boy’s parents had told him that the old man was now definitely and finally salao, which is the worst form of unlucky,                                                                  and the boy had gone at their orders in another boat which caught three good fish the first week.

As      üş   kix camsa     iç.x şenbe,     solko.z salba        çey.ö        u      am      solba     bab.o   uço    etu.çi  es    ünu   “salao”,  em (benne.dox.ka.z[ab1] ), (benne.l.x.ı.z) (edi.x benne.z) bennü.z  şe edi.x vusbo,  es   solso yal.o          aş üz pac.aya (in)   şü    hunpi,    em    kan.o       fi      edi   şenbe     bi.ği campa.

It made the boy sad to see the old man come in each day with his skiff empty and he always went down to help him carry either the coiled lines or the gaff and harpoon and the sail that was furled around the mast.

İt made boy unhappy.ly     that (he) saw (ki) that) old man  come back each day with his empty skiff and he always  went  down for                helping him      carrying   either  coil.ed   lines      or gaff   and harpoon and sail  that(ki o)  was furled   around mast

Bay.şe solba um   yam.o  şö  camsa iç uz ezu.x hunpi,  mel.o solko ava.x                                                       es       u       oçi   yal.o      oyö  (aş)   fag.şe(aka?) u  kün.aka  üs      kıp.amo  tümle    or  tümpe es  tümre   es      hunti um             köc.ö.n           (ük) hunşi.

The sail was patched with flour sacks  and furled,      it looked like the flag permanent defeat of.

Hunti  düz.ö.n               iç   denki dünlü.i  es   kac.amo, u boy.o    eş     egü   mönpü.z çanla.

The old man was   thin and gaunt with deep wrinkles in the back  of his neck.

Solba bab.o              eke.x   es   eke.x  iç   egi     çud.şe.i    in     uz sinbe.z vunyü.

The brown blotches of the benevolent skin cancer  (which) the sun brings from its reflection on the tropic see           were on his cheeks.

Avo sanpa tenkö.z hu yüb.şe                                                am vesne kin.e   aç     uz vap.aya (on) vinmö.do vinpe bab.o (on) uz senzü.s.

The blotches ran  well down the sides of his face and his hands  had the deep-creased scars from handling heavy fish on the cords.

Yüb.şe.s         yin.o abu oyö uz sense.z vunze          es uz sinte        man.o       egi-çüd.amo tünye aç sop.aka   eşe şenbe on tümye.

But none of these scars were fresh. They were as old as(kadar) erosions in a fishless desert.

As se tünye.s.z işüx      bab.o  efi. Ü bab.o  ay.ema.x(al ema.x al)  vanço in şenbe.dox vinşi.

Everything about him was  old except his eyes and they were the same colour as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated.

İşü                iş       u bab.o  enax  eç    uz senge.i  es     ü bab.o      şi     binye         eş     vinpe  es   bab.o mas.ado  es      pik.amo.x.

“Santiago,” the boy said to him as they climbed the bank from where the skiff was hauled up.

“Santiago,” solso    çay.o     u      al   ü         yüş.o      çanma      otiç         hunpi     kec.o   oku.

“I could go with you   again. We’ve made some money.”

“A byal.u     iç        o        öye. E        bay.o     mö  pisye”

The old man had taught the boy    to fish         and  the boy loved him.

Solba                dap.ü          solso      kon.şe  şenbe es        solso bas.o  u.

“No,” the old man said. “You’re with  a lucky    boat. Stay with them.”

“Ax,”  solba        çay.o. “O  bab.o  iç  benne.do şenbe. Yüm.eş   iç     ü”

“But remember how you went eighty-seven days without fish and then we caught big ones every day for three weeks.”“

As    daz.eş        üt    o    yal.o       six pi       camsa   içx   şenbe  es   ona   e  kon.o   eme işu.i     şu camsa    ıl     fi   campa.”

“I remember,” the old man said. “I know you did not leave me because you doubted.”

“ A     daz.e”,         solba   çay.o.   “A mad.o  o        yag.o.x       a         oy       o     bep.ö.”

“It    was     papa   made me leave. I am a boy and I must obey him.”

“U bab.o salna em yag.o.p   a.  A   solso    es  a   çfom.e  u.”

“I know,” the old man said. “It is quite normal.”

“A mad.o”    solba çay.o“      U  öşö   ema (benpü.do)”

“He hasn’t much faith.”

“U   man.e.x mi  bansu.”

“No,” the old man said. “But we have. Haven’t we?”

“Ax,”  solba çay.o. “Ey    e  man.e. J.e  man.e.x?

‘Yes,” the boy said. “Can I offer    you a beer on the Terrace and then we’ll take the stuff home.”

“Ay”,    solso çay.o.  “J.a b.huh.e  o    denku      (on)   hande     es   ona    e  kan.a     çancı hanya.”

“Why not?” the old man said. “Between fishermen.”

“Tu.x?”           Solba çay.o.       “  Ak şenbe.na.i”

They sat on the Terrace and           many of the fishermen                                made     fun                       of the old man and he was not angry.

Ü    yaş.o  (on)    hande    es     şenbe.na.i.z   şi.kaka (şi.kaka ov şenbe.na.i)  mel.o  tom.aya (tomya)    ov  solba          es    u bab.o.x  mönu.to (asö.x).

Others of the older fishermen,   looked at him and were  sad.

İpu.i        ov  şa ena.x şenbe.i       bey.o         u    es   bab.o  ava.x.

But they did not show it and they spoke politely about the current and the depths they had drifted their lines at and the steady good weather and of what they had seen.

As   ü       kuy.o.x       u     es        ü     çan.o  abi.çi         iş        honke       es      ehi.ka.i  (ot)  ü       kög.ö üz    tümte      es           egü           edi      vendi   es        ov at     ü bay.o.

The successful fishermen of that day were already in and had butchered their marlin out and carried them      laid                full length               across two planks, with two men staggering at the end of each plank, to the fish house where they waited for the ice truck  to carry  them to the market in Havana.

So  camsa.z für.ado şenbe.na.i             bab.o       öço   in    es       dıl.o                   üz şenfi             es  kün.o    ü       küz.ö.n  ezu vusgu(ehe.ka)   iv    çi hönfi,         iç     çi solmo gok.aka    un     çonpu ov şö hönfi,          an    şenbe salsa                   ot         ü rep.ö    aş    vönmi hunfe im kün.şe  ü      (an)                 hinsi          in Havanna.

Those who had caught sharks had taken them to the shark factory on the other side of the cove where they were hoisted on a block and tackle, their livers removed, their fins cut off and their hides skinned out and their flesh   cut        into   strips for salting.

İsö      iti(em) kon.o      şenhi,     kan.o       ü      (an)     şenhi hinbö  (on)        şü vunze  ov          vinle ot            ü       koc.o.n       on           koc.ana,           üz sunra yöv.ö.n,    üz süntü kas.o.n       es  üz sanpu dav.o.n            es   üz sanşa   kas.o.n (in)(an) çanlo.i   aş  dengo.k.aka.

When the wind was in the east a smell   came   across the harbour from the shark factory; but today there was only the faint edge of the odour because the wind had backed into the north and then dropped off and it was pleasant and sunny on the Terrace.

Öt         venbe    bab.o in vunse    böz.aya  yam.o    iv          hünme       aç        şenhi hinbö;      as üça        bab.o          üyi         eşo  vuskü uv   böz.aya     oy          venbe        sub.o         in an vunne     es    ona şag.o                es  u bab.o    ama       es     vesne.lo(do) (on)  hande.

“Santiago,” the boy said.

“Santiago,”    solso çay.o.

“Yes,” the old man said. He was holding his glass and thinking of many years ago.

“Ay”  solba  çay.o. U  küv.ö        uz  dentü    es mid.ö    (ov)    mi camba  öçi.

“Can I go out           to get  sardines for you for tomorrow?”

Ja    byal.a oke    im raf.şe sense.i    aş   u      aş camçe?

“No. Go and play baseball. I can still row and Rogelio will throw the net.”

“Ya. Yal.eş es  gül.eş tamsu. A b.töp.e oçe es          Rogelio kap.o      tümte.”

“I would like to go. If I cannot fish with you, I would like to serve in some way.”

A   g.yal.o. İf a b.tüm.a.x      iç    o,    a    g.füg.e                  in mö hünbe.

“You bought me a beer,” the old man said. “You  are  already a man.”

“O    hay.o   a   denku”,   solba  çay.o.            “O bab.e      öçi   solmo.”

“How old was I         when you first took me in a boat?”

“Tı cambo  a bab.o      öt     o   oçı   kan.o   a  in  hunmi?”

“Five and you nearly were killed when I brought the fish in to green and he nearly tore the  boat to pieces. Can you remember?”

“Li    es         o   oda       pay.o.n.ç    öt     a  kin.o         şenbe  in an hö         es    u    oda    doç.o     hunmi an vusva.i. j.o b.maz.e?

“I can remember the tail  slapping  and   banging  and the thwart breaking and the noise of the clubbing.

“A      b.maz.i       sünve      şer.aka     es      gik.aka        es       rim.şe kir.aka,           es           vanzı    ov pıl.aka.

I can remember you throwing       me into the bow where the wet coiled lines were and feeling the whole boat shiver and the noise of you clubbing him like chopping a tree down and the sweet             blood smell      all over me.”

A     b.maz.e (am) o (kap.u)kap.aka  a  in an  hundi      ot   epi.x kıp.amo tümle.i (bab.o)  es      bat.aka ma   hunmi şay.o    es      vanzı   (ov) o  pıl.aka       u    eş    dov.aka     şirye    oku    es      ebe sanna böz.şe     mo   ek    a.

“Can you really remember that or did I just tell       it to you?”

“Jo        bmaz.e  uyo            isu    or  ja   üyı   çey.o  u  (an) o?”

“I remember everything from when       we first went   together.”

“A    maz.e          işü           aç        öt           e    yal.o  oçı uyu.”

The old man looked at him with his sun-burned, confident loving     eyes.

Solba           bey.o            u    iç     uz       kaş.amo,       akö,   bas.ano  senge.i

“If you were     my boy              I’d take  you out         and  gamble,” he said. “But you are    your father’s and your mother’s and you are in    a lucky boat.”

“İf  o  bab.o.ç az  solso(salsa)   a  kan.e    o  oke   es     tüh.e”    u  çay.o. “As   o   (bab.e) oz  salsa.z   es      oz    salna.z       es       o          in   benne.do hunmi.”

“May I get the sardines? I know      where I can get   four baits too.”

“Ja        d.raf.e   şense.i?  A  mad.e  ot       a  b.raf.e   ki    tümde üyo”

“I have mine left from today. I    put    them in salt      in the box.”

“A     yag.o  iza   aç  camça. A   kaz.o   ü     in  dengo  in  döngö.”

“Let me get four fresh ones.”

Eh a raf.e        ki    efi      işu.

“One,” the old man said. His hope               and  his confidence had never gone. But now they were freshening as when the breeze rises.

“Bi”,         solba çay.o. Uz  minbe(min.şe)   es    uz   menme       yal.o oçü.x. As  uço       ü        egi.l.o              ef            venge rik.e.

“Two,” the boy said.

“Çi”,    solso   çay.o.

“Two,” the old man agreed. “You didn’t steal them?”

“Çi”,         solba            siy.o. “O    hal.ox        ü?

“I would,” the boy said. “But I bought these.”

“A  bab.o.ç”  solso  çay.o. As  a  hay.o  isü”

“Thank you,” the old man said. He was   too  simple to wonder when   he   had attained humility.

“Dip o” ,  solba çay.o.                 U  bab.o mı  egö    im   böf.şe       öt       u      yik.ö   mam.ado

But he  knew             he had attained it and he knew           it  was not disgraceful and it carried   no loss of    true pride.

As    u   mad.o  (am)  u       yik.o          u   es     u  mad.o (am)  u  bab.o.x    pösçi.do.x  es  am u   kün.o.x  ya pisgü ov enu mendö.

“Tomorrow is going to be a good day with this current,”                he said.

“Camçe               bab.a        edi camsa   iç     sa    honke(vad.aya)” u  çay.o.

“Where are you going?” the boy asked.

“Ton            o    yal.i? solso   çat.o.

“Far    out      to come      in   when the wind    shifts. I want       to        be   out  before  it is light.”

“Edu  oke  im  yam.şe  in      öt       venbe      kov.e. A  men.e  im   bab.şe  oke  el      u vüsbe.”

“I’ll try     to get      him to work      far out,” the boy said. “Then if you  hook   something truly        big       we can come to your aid.”

“A  yaç.a  im raf.şe  u  im han.şe   edu  oke”, solso çay.o. “Ona   if  o   tümse.ka enu.çi  eme şo.bangı ,   e b.yam.e       an oz  pösnü ”

“He does not like to work too far out.”

“U          g.han.e.x               mı edu  oke ”

“No,” the boy said. “But I will see something that he cannot see such as a bird working and get him  to come    out     after dolphin.”

“Ya”,  solso çay.o.  “As  a    bay.a   mö bangı     am  u     b.bay.e.x       eş     şönbe  han.aka  es   raf.o  u       yam.şe    oke   üş    şengi”

“Are his eyes that bad?”

“J   uz  senge.i  so edi.x?

“He is almost blind.”

“U    oda       ası”

“It is strange,” the old man said. “He never went      turtle-ing. That is     what kills the eyes.”

“Ema.x”,     solba çay.o. “U   yal.o.x  oşu.x  şinrö.k.aka. İsu bab.e at  pay.e  senge.i”

“But you went   turtle-ing   for years                       off the Mosquito Coast and your eyes are good

“As     o  yam.o  şinrö.k.aka  camba.çü  ın  Mosquito Coast   es   oz  senge.i  edi.