Kihā́mmic

pá mamûnám ontā́ bán : non nobis solum : not for ourselves alone

General information
The Kihā́mmic language (Kihā́mmic Latin: Lố kihāmatī́zô tárak, pronounced [ˈlo kɪhɑːmaˈtiːzo ˈtaɾak]) is the main language spoken in Kihāmát. It is an inflected fusional nominative-accusative language, which has two numbers, three genders and nine cases. There are almost six million native speakers of Kihā́mmic at present; nearly three quarters of the country's population, the majority of the remaining quarter speak Kihā́mmic fluently as their second language. The language belongs to the isolated Panlaffic language family, which is indigenous to the eight islands that make up Kihāmát. There are six other extant Panlaffic languages.

Phonology and orthography
The Kihā́mmic language can be written in either the native Panlaffic script, in which all Panlaffic languages are traditionally written, or in the Standardised Romanised Panlaffic Alphabet used below. See here also.

Consonants
P p : [p] voiceless bilabial plosive

L l : [l] alveolar lateral approximant, [ɫ] velarised alveolar lateral approximant (before another consonant)

M m : [m] bilabial nasal, [ɱ] labiodental nasal (before f and v)

N n : [n] alveolar nasal, [ŋ] velar nasal (before g and k)

D d : [d] voiced alveolar plosive

H h : [h] voiceless glottal fricative, [ɦ] voiced glottal fricative (before y, after k and between two vowels)

K k : [k] voiceless velar plosive

R r : [ɹ] alveolar approximant (at the start of a word), [ɾ] alveolar tap

B b : [b] voiced bilabial plosive

Þ þ : [θ] voiceless dental non-sibilant fricative, [ð] voiced dental non-sibilant fricative

V v : [v] voiced labiodental fricative

Z z : [z] voiced alveolar fricative

Ž ž : [ʒ] voiced palato-alveolar fricative

F f : [f] voiceless labiodental fricative

G g : [ɡ] voiced velar plosive

S s : [s] voiceless alveolar sibilant

Š š : [ʃ] voiceless palato-alveolar fricative

Č č : [t͡ʃ] voiceless palato-alveolar affricate

T t : [t] voiceless alveolar plosive

Y y : [j] palatal approximant

Vowels
A a : [a] open front unrounded vowel

Ā ā : [ɑː] long open back unrounded vowel

E e : [ɛ] open-mid front unrounded vowel, [e] close-mid front unrounded vowel (at the end of a word, dialectical)

O o : [ɒ] open back rounded vowel

Ô ô : [o] close-mid back rounded vowel

Ō ō : [ɔː] long open-mid back rounded vowel, [ɔ] open-mid back rounded vowel

I i : [ɪ] near-close near-front unrounded vowel, [i] close front unrounded vowel

Ī ī : [iː] long close front unrounded vowel

Ə ǝ : [ə] mid-central vowel, [ɜ] open-mid central unrounded vowel

U u : [ʊ] near-close near-back vowel

Û û : [u] close back rounded vowel, [uː] long close back rounded vowel

Ū ū : [uː] long close back rounded vowel

Digraphs and trigraphs
Most of the consonant clusters and diphthongs are self-evident, however, the less obvious of these are shown below:

DZ dz : [d͡z] voiced alveolar affricate

DŽ dž : [d͡ʒ] voiced palato-alveolar affricate

DS ds : [d͡z] voiced alveolar affricate

KG kg : [kː] geminated voiceless velar plosive

KGH kgh : [ç] voiceless palatal fricative

GK gk : [gː] geminated voiced velar plosive

GKH gkh : [ç] voiceless palatal fricative

ÚI úi : [wi] voiced labio-velar approximant, close front unrounded vowel

TZ tz : [t͡s] voiceless alveolar affricate

TS ts : [t͡s] voiceless alveolar affricate

Alphabet
As previously mentioned, all of the Panlaffic languages have traditionally been written in the Panlaffic alphabet, the chief variant of which is the Kihā́mmic one. However, use of the Romanised alphabet is gaining use, mainly due to the Internet.

Panlaffic alphabet
The Panlaffic alphabet is a true alphabet. An example of its use is on the Coat of Arms of Kihāmát, as shown to the left. The word on the scroll spells "Kihāmát" in its native script.

Although the Panlaffic script in the past had two cases, a majuscule and a minuscule, only the majuscule is now generally used and the minuscule is never used in any official context.

Romanised alphabet
N.B.:
 * Acute accents over vowels indicate primary stress.
 * A and ā are always stressed if it the last letter of a word.
 * Ə is never stressed unless it is the only vowel in the word.
 * Pluralisation moves the stress to the infix, -am-, unless this violates the above stress rules.

Overview
The table above gives a basic idea of the structure of Kihā́mmic grammar.

Cases
The Kihā́mmic language has nine cases:
 * 1) Nominative
 * 2) Accusative
 * 3) Genitive
 * 4) Ablative
 * 5) Allative (or dative-allative)
 * 6) Instrumental
 * 7) Prepositional
 * 8) Terminative
 * 9) Comparative (or equative)

Nouns
Nouns have three genders: masculine, feminine and neuter; two numbers: singular and plural; they are also declined according to case.

Diminutives and augmentatives
Diminutives add -ûn(á/û) unless the word ends in a vowel, in which case add -kûn(á/û).

Augmentatives add -at(á/û) but add -mat(á/û) when the word ends in a vowel.

Adjectives do not change according to diminutives or augmentatives.

Articles
Articles appear as both definite (i.e. "the") and indefinite (i.e. "a", "an" or "some") and are declined as nouns.

Definite
The definite articles correspond to the English "the" and the French "le", "la", "l'" or "les".

Indefinite
The indefinite articles correspond to the English "a", "an" or "some" and the Portuguese "um", uma", "uns" or "umas".

Adjectives
In Kihā́mmic, an adjectives agrees with the noun it qualifies in gender, number and case.

Type I
Type I adjectives have the standard singular masculine ending -nômô.

Type II
Type II adjectives have the standard singular masculine ending -ôvan.

Type III
Type III adjectives have the standard singular masculine ending -amô or -ômô (but not -nômô).

Type IV
Type IV adjectives have the standard singular masculine ending -atī́zô.

Type V
Type V adjectives have the standard singular masculine ending -ónsô.

More
To say phrases involving comparisons such as "The dog is bigger than the cat", the word "rū́namô" [more] precedes the adjective and the adjective is followed by "kā́" [than]. So the example sentence translates as:

"Lố gốt sói rū́namô ránômô kā́ lá kará"

N.B.: rū́namô declines appropriately as a type III adjective.

Less
To say phrases such as "The cat is smaller than the dog", the word "kónsô" [less] precedes the adjective which is also followed by "kā́". So the example given translates as:

"Lá kará séi kónse ránama kā́ lố gốt"

N.B.: kónsô declines as a type V adjective.

As... as
To say phrases such as "You are as short as me", the word "kán" [also] precedes the adjective which is also followed by "kā́". So the example given translates as:

"Dán sói kán dénômô kā́ ékô"

Most
To use superlatives, for example, "This dog is the biggest, the word "ródamô" [most] is placed before the adjective. Thus the sentence above translates as:

"Lố gốt sói lố ródamô ránômô"

N.B.: ródamô also declines as a type III adjective.

Least
To say superlative phrases such as "The cat is the smallest, the word "katrónsô" [least] is placed before the appropriate adjective. So the sentence above translates as:

"Lá kará séi lá katrónse ranômá"

N.B.: katrónsô declines as a type V adjective.

Personal pronouns
Personal pronouns are declined just as noun, except for the fact that plural personal pronouns do not exactly resemble the pluralised version of the corresponding singular personal pronouns. The plural forms of the second and third person personal pronouns can be used as polite personal pronouns as well, just as in French "vous" can be the plural or polite form of "you" and as "Вы" can also do the same in Russian.

Plural
The neuter second person singular is used in cases where either gender may apply and plural neuter pronouns are also used for mixed gender groups.

Reflexive
To form reflexive pronouns (i.e. myself/ourselves et cetera) the suffix -ná is added to singular pronouns and -nám added to plural pronouns. For example myself, masculine accusative, in Kihā́mmic is ekôná and ourselves, neuter instrumental, is mamûnám.

Possessive adjectives
Possessive adjectives are words such as the French "mon", "ton" or "son", they behave exactly as normal type I adjectives. They agree in case, number and gender with the noun.

Possessive pronouns
Possessive pronouns are words such as the English "mine", "yours" or "ours", they behave just as normal nouns would. They also agree in number and gender with the noun to which they refer (by adding "á" for feminine and "û" for neuter).

"Who"
The interrogative pronoun "kémû" [who] declines as below:

"What"
The interrogative pronoun "kómû" [what] declines as below:

"Which kind"
The interrogative pronoun "tómû" [which kind] declines as below:

"Which"
The interrogative pronoun "kétômô" [which] declines as a normal type III adjective.

"Whose"
The interrogative pronoun "kénôm" [whose] declines just as a normal noun and agrees in number and gender with the object to which it refers (by adding "á" for feminine and "û" for neuter).

"How many"
The interrogative pronoun "fáztamô" [how many] also declines as a normal type III adjective.

"This", "these"
The demonstrative pronoun "étômô" [this] declines as usual type III adjective. Étômô agrees in number, gender and case with the noun to which it refers.

"That", "those"
The demonstrative pronoun "étôvan" [this] declines as a type II adjective. Étôvan also agrees in number, gender and case with the noun to which it refers.

"Such"
The demonstrative pronoun "étnômô" [such, suchlike, such as] declines as a normal type I adjective. Étnômô agrees in number, gender and case with the noun to which it refers.

Verbs
Verbs are conjugated according to tense, number, gender and mood. There are three moods; indicative, conditional and imperative, unlike English or French there is no subjunctive mood.

First conjugation
First conjugation verbs have the ending -áþ in the infinitive. For example garanáþ [to play] is conjugated as follows:

Singular
Indicative mood

Present:

Past:

Future:

Conditional mood

Imperative mood

Plural
Indicative mood

Present:

Past:

Future:

Conditional mood

Imperative mood

Participles
Participles are adjectives and decline as such, they are always type III adjectives.

Second conjugation
Second conjugation verbs have the ending -ū́t in the infinitive. For example kasū́t [to drink] is conjugated as follows:

Singular
Indicative mood

Present:

Past:

Future:

Conditional mood

Imperative mood

Plural
Indicative mood

Present:

Past:

Future:

Conditional mood

Imperative mood

Third conjugation
Third conjugation verbs have the ending -óš in the infinitive. For example fûrnóš [to stand (up)] is conjugated as follows:

Singular
Indicative mood

Present:

Past:

Future:

Conditional mood

Imperative mood

Plural
Indicative mood

Present:

Past:

Future:

Conditional mood

Imperative mood

Voices
There are three voices in Kihā́mmic, the active, the dynamic passive and the static passive.

Active voice
The active voice is unmarked in Kihā́mmic.

Dynamic passive voice
Kihā́mmic has two passive voices, the first of which is the dynamic passive. It is formed by placing the particle pṓl before the appropriate verb. For example:

"I burn": Ékô rātố

"I am burnt": Ékô pṓl rātố

"I have burnt": Ékô arātáž

"I have been burnt": Ékô pṓl arātáž

"I will burn": Ékô fûrnót

"I will be burnt": Ékô pṓl fûrnót

The dynamic passive is used in phrases such as "I am burnt every time I go in the sun", more commonly expressed in modern English as "I get burnt every time I go in the sun".

Static passive voice
The second passive is the static passive. It is constructed just as the passive voice in English and French – by using the appropriate tense of "to be" followed by the past participle of the verb that is to be in the passive. E.g.:

"I am burnt": Ékô sói rātážamô

"I have been burnt": Ékô atáz rātážamô

"I will be burnt": Ékô tróp rātážamô

Continuous
Although Kihā́mmic has no aspects per se, there is a continuous particle that indicates that the verb has a continuous "aspect". The particle "aklá" is placed before the verb, for example:

"I play": Ékô garanói

"I am playing": Ékô aklá garanói

"I have played": Ékô agaranáz

"I have been playing": Ékô aklá agaranáz

"I will play": Ékô garantóp

"I will be playing": Ékô aklá garantóp

Reflexives
Reflexive verbs are produced the same way as in English. That is, the appropriate verb is followed by the reflexive counter-part of the verb's subject in the accusative case.

Negatives
Verbs are made negative by bā́n [not] accompanying the verb, normally proceeding it.

Irregular verbs
There are only eleven irregular verbs in Kihā́mmic, they are:
 * 1) sád : to be
 * 2) ímat: to have
 * 3) venád: to go
 * 4) libád: to like
 * 5) hotád: to want
 * 6) mégač: to be able
 * 7) snarát: to know [savoir]
 * 8) námač: to have to (moral obligation)
 * 9) koslát: to need (urgent need)
 * 10) akáfad: to kill
 * 11) šônát: to run

Adverbs
Adverbs are formed by replacing the adjective in question's ending with a corresponding adverbial ending.


 * Type I adjectives have the standard singular masculine ending -nômô. This ending is replaced by the adverbial ending –nō.
 * Type II adjectives have the standard singular masculine ending -ôvan. This is replaced by -ôvā.
 * Type III adjectives have the standard singular masculine ending -amô or -ômô (but not -nômô). These are replaced by -ā and -ō.
 * Type IV adjectives have the standard singular masculine ending -atī́zô, which is replaced by –átzō.
 * Type V adjectives have the standard singular masculine ending -ónsô, which is replaced by –ónō.

Genitive case

 * bá (+gen.) = no
 * "There is no water"
 * rānā́ (+gen.) = instead of
 * "Instead of sweets, eat fruit"
 * káz (+gen.) = without
 * "We can't go without him"
 * mī́ (+gen.) = except
 * "Everyone is here except her"
 * zûtā́ (+gen.) = because of
 * "The school had to close because of the snow"
 * sûčā́ (+gen.) = thanks to
 * "Thanks to the rain, the field was flooded"
 * gṓ (+gen.) = amongst
 * "Amongst the contestants was last year's winner"
 * pá (+gen.) = for the sake of
 * "For the sake of the plants, it must rain"
 * magrā́ (+gen.) = despite, in spite of
 * "Despite the snow the school was open"
 * rā́ kā́ (+gen.) = more than
 * "That's been there for more than a week!"

Ablative case

 * ayán (+abl.) = away from
 * "They moved away from the city centre a while ago"
 * ayû́n (+abl.) = out of
 * "He got out of the car"
 * ayón (+abl.) = off
 * "Get off the roof!"
 * nán (+abl.) = from
 * "He is from England"
 * "Pick a number from one to ten"
 * nánt (+abl.) = from under
 * "Get out from under the table!"
 * nábōn (+abl.) = out from behind
 * "They got out from behind the sofa"
 * kašā́ (+abl.) = according to
 * "According to the papers that restaurant is fantastic"

Allative case

 * ôyán (+all.) = to
 * "I came to this city last year"
 * ôyû́n (+all.) = into
 * "They moved into their new house last week"
 * ốnunt (+all.) = under
 * "The cat ran under the table"
 * ôbṓn (+all.) = behind
 * "They went and hid behind the sofa"
 * ôgnā́ (+all.) = past
 * "Go along the river and past the hotel"
 * ôkīnā́ (+all.) = beyond
 * "Can we try and walk beyond those hills?"
 * ônā́ (+all.) = over
 * "Jump over the fence!"

Instrumental case

 * sū́ (+inst.) = with
 * "He writes with his best pen"
 * sūá (+inst.) = with [animate]
 * "I went to the cinema with my family"
 * ká (+inst.) = by
 * "The museum was opened by the mayor"
 * "The house is surrounded by the police"
 * ûká (+inst.) = via
 * "You can get to the school quicker via that shortcut"
 * ûčā́ (+inst.) = along
 * "Go along the river then past the hotel"
 * ûkrā́ (+inst.) = across
 * "They went across the bridge"
 * ûyû́n (+inst.) = through
 * "We need to go through the tunnel"
 * pá (+inst.) = for
 * "I'm going to the shops for some milk"
 * "I'm just going to pay for these"
 * "These are for adults, not children!"
 * ûsū́ (+inst.) = around
 * "He ran around the track several times"
 * krā́g (+inst.) = about
 * "We're talking about the match"
 * ûpróv (+inst.) = for, in favour of
 * "He's arguing for speed cameras"

Prepositional case

 * yû́n (+prep.) = in
 * "Moscow is in Russia"
 * yán (+prep.) = at
 * "I'm still at Michael's [house]"
 * "I can't talk at the moment, I'm at work"
 * yón (+prep.) = on
 * "The lamp is on the desk"
 * yén (+prep.) = off
 * "The cat is off the chair"
 * únt (+prep.) = under
 * "Our dog is under the table"
 * ətā́ (+prep.) = between
 * "Keep this between us"
 * "Pick a number between one and ten"
 * tā́ (+prep.) = before
 * "I must get home before my delivery"
 * yûtā́ (+prep.) = in front of, before
 * "I'm in front of your house"
 * grū́ (+prep.) = near
 * "I stood near the bus stop"
 * čā́ (+prep.) = by
 * "We'll wait by the bridge"
 * nā́ (+prep.) = over
 * "The plane is now over Milan"
 * bṓn (+prep.) = behind
 * "What's behind that door?"
 * kīnā́ (+prep.) = beyond
 * "The house is beyond those hills"
 * akrā́ (+prep.) = across
 * "There is a bridge across the river."
 * péəd (+prep.) = outside
 * "We're waiting outside your house"
 * ūnā́ (+prep.) = out of
 * "We're out of the office"
 * ízgrā (+prep.) = around
 * "There is a fence around the park"
 * kót (+prep.) = against
 * "The ladder is leant against the wall"
 * sádan (+prep.) = opposite
 * "There is a café opposite my house"
 * û́čnā (+prep.) = next to
 * "Next to the pub is a bank"
 * prôvā́ (+prep.) = against, opposed to
 * "I'm against smoking in public"

Terminative case

 * yû́nə (+term.) = until, as far as
 * "I'm working until the weekend"
 * "Go as far as the café"
 * "Pick a number from one to ten"
 * ə́tə (+term.) = during, in
 * "During the lesson they took notes"
 * "Can I stay for another hour? "
 * kī́nə (+term.) = after
 * "After the match they went home"
 * "We'll be home in five minutes"
 * yánə (+term.) = by
 * "By four o'clock you have to have left"
 * û́š kā́ (+term.) = less than
 * "I've been here for less than two years"

Comparative case

 * nṓd (+comp.) = like
 * "He swims like a fish"
 * ízgrāk (+comp.) = approximately, about
 * "I have approximately £1000 in the bank"

Word order
Kihā́mmic, like all Panlaffic languages, has the basic word order subject-verb-object in transitive clauses, but has a free word order in intransitive clauses. However, due to the case system, word order can be rather varied even occasionally in transitive clauses. For example, the intransitive phrase "ékô džố ôyû́n lố ránômô hótô" ("I went into the big building") can be arranged in twelve different ways, whilst still remaining grammatically correct:


 * 1) Ékô džố ôyû́n lố ránômô hótô.
 * 2) Ékô džố ôyû́n lố hótô ránômô.
 * 3) Ékô ôyû́n lố ránômô hótô džố.
 * 4) Ékô ôyû́n lố hótô ránômô džố.
 * 5) Džố ékô ôyû́n lố ránômô hótô.
 * 6) Džố ékô ôyû́n lố hótô ránômô.
 * 7) Džố ôyû́n lố ránômô hótô ékô.
 * 8) Džố ôyû́n lố hótô ránômô ékô.
 * 9) Ôyû́n lố ránômô hótô ékô džố.
 * 10) Ôyû́n lố hótô ránômô ékô džố.
 * 11) Ôyû́n lố ránômô hótô džố ékô.
 * 12) Ôyû́n lố hótô ránômô džố ékô.

Though word order is variable prepositions are tied to the compliment as adjectives are tied to theirs, however adjectives may be placed before or after the corresponding nouns. Articles are also somewhat restricted; they must always precede the corresponding noun in the phrase, but, depending on the order of other words applying to the noun, may not be directly next to it. The word order varies the emphasis of the sentence, the primary emphasis being initial and secondary emphasis being final.

An example of the standard order of a transitive sentence is shown below:

"JosephNOM gave Mary’sGEN bookACC, which he’d read about half of at schoolPREP from MondayABL to ThursdayTERM, to StephenALL across the tableINST, which was a brownish colourCOMP."

"YôfánNOM stagáz Mā́rīGEN azpīáACC, kétômī šốn aiyahazbáz ízgrāk gû́l yán əkghálePREP nán zûkláABL yû́nə kû́rklə TERM, ôyán ĪzvánôALL ûkrā́ əbrákûINST, kétômô táz ának dorák kófnômakCOMP."

Names
In Kihā́mmic and Panlaffic culture people's names are constructed quite differently from most other forms of naming. There are four parts to a name: two personal names and a "family" name made up of a patronymic and a matronymic.

Personal names conform to normal case requirements. Since patronymics and matronymics are all ready in the genitive case so a hyphen is added then the appropriate case ending is added. The patronymic and matronymic are joined together with a hyphen. Today there is a mixture of names that come from Old Kihā́mmic and as well as adapted newer names from Europe. When foreign names are used in Kihā́mmic the names are either translated if there is an equivalent in Kihā́mmic or simply transliterated. An example name is that of Kihāmát's current Premier:

Īzván Rátkan Yôfánī-Mā́rī

[iːzˈvan ˈɹatkan joˈfaniː mˈɑːɾiː]

This name translates as:

Īzván Rátkan, son of Yôfán, son of Mā́re

For an example of an older pre-European names such as that of the former royal families, who also had a surname, which was the name of the royal house to which they belonged. For example the last King of Kihāmát was named:

Yégan Gázāron Úktef Pátûnī-Kélþī Lanəkámī

[ˈjegan ˈgazɑːɾɒn ˈʊktɛf ˈpatuniː ˈkɛɫðiː lanəˈkamiː]

King Gázāron Úktef, son of Pátûn, son of Kelþá, House of Lánəkû

Ages
Ages are expressed by putting the appropriate pronoun in the allative case and following this by the number of years (as well as "û́tû" [year] declined according to the appropriate case and number), which itself is preceded by "sád" [to be] conjugated according to tense and number. For example:

"I am 18 years old.": "Ékô súim 18 ûtámī."

"She was 22 years old.": "Gā́nô tazū́m 22 ûtámī."

Other vocabulary
Other list of vocabulary can be found below:


 * Basic phrases
 * Colours
 * Conjunctions
 * Countries
 * Family
 * Idioms
 * Months and days
 * Months of the year
 * Days of the week
 * Numbers
 * Cardinal
 * Ordinal
 * Prepositions
 * Seasons and weather
 * Time

Kihā́mmic
Lá Bábilī dāré

1 É lố Gántrô bóntôvan táz zúnī tárakī, zúnī trákyī.

2 É ītī́ tazū́, ətanā́ ītám aklá privṓzûm ayán lá rūþaná, zémû ītámī hakdazū́m anaá gādamataá yû́n lé Šínī báûe é ītámī privežazū́m omná.

4 É ītámī zakrazū́m ôyán ītamônám "Alfūtnû́ ītamīá venád hotū́t pá mamûnám aná getaná é anaá dāreá, [whose] kzá [may (conditional present of mégač)] kāláþ yû́nə Yégkhānə, Alfūtnû́ ītamīá kratáþ pá mamûnám anaá tīdaá, náskā mamû sád špənázamô akrā́ lé Gántrī bóntôvanī krā́ne."

5 É Dā́ž okranáž bedóš lôá getaná é laá dāreá, kétômamû lámû ehalámī zūzámû hotû́sn.

6 É Dā́ž zakráz: "Kabedošmû́! Lû́ hávanû súi nādázamû, ītī́ súi nādázamû sū́ zúnû tárakû." É lû́ hávanû ayanazū́ veráþ étômû. Tapyā́ ûzá priktrotā́ ayán ītamá, zémû ītámī dumstazū́m veráþ.

7 Alfūtnû́ ītamīá venád okranóš é omná kratīzaráþ žônômôá tárak zéitā zémû ītámī [may (conditional present of mégač)] bán bonzráþ trakyameá katrámī.

8 Étrā Dā́ž špənáz ītamīá nanomná akrā́ lé Gántrī bóntôvanī krā́ne é ītámī kavṓzûm hotū́t lôá getaná.

9 Etúi šônamá tīdá séi Bábil paškomá omná Dā́ž kratīzaráz lôá taraká Gántrī tôvánī é nanomná Dā́ž špənáz ītamīá akrā́ lé Gántrī tôvánī krā́ne.

King James Version (1611)
The Tower of Babel

1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.

3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.

4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto Heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

6 And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.

8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

New International Version (1973)
The Tower of Babel

1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.

2 As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

3 They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.

4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.

6 The Lord said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.

7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."

8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.

9 That is why it was called Babel – because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.