About Writing by Samuel R. Delany

Author:Samuel R. Delany
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wesleyan University Press

PLATE 1

PLATE 2

(4) The final sentence reads literally: That not is what I meant. The root ir means, for one thing, being in a state or condition as contrasted with menid, being in a place. The verb irid, to be, as is often the case with this verb in other languages, is slightly regular, but ir also means “god” or “wrong” (for reasons best known to the Prashadsim); sha ira would mean “that is wrong” or “that is god.” This also illustrates that any root word can be made into a verb. Sha irtumia means “that is difficult,” or literally “that difficults.” The pronoun a, meaning “I,” is never separated from the verb, thus ablijhamum means “I meant,” Al or “me” is used where there is no verb to support the a.

The normal conjugation of a verb in the present tense goes as follows:

akhebilo — I give

dai khebili — you give

si, se, su khebila — he, she, it gives

ami khebilon — we give

dai’l khebilin — you give (plural)

sei khebilan — they give

This pattern of o, i, a, on, in, an endings carries through all but the imperative and the past tenses, thus: akhebilvo, I am giving; akhebilo’, I will give; akhebilo’n, I would give; akhebilido, I may, might give; but khebilami, let us give. Akhebilum is “I gave” and the um ending is the same for all persons. The same applies for akhebilu’m, I was giving, used to give; akhebilum’, I will have given; akhebilu’n, I would have given; akhebilum’n, I had given; akhebilidum, I may, might have given.

The root word (drukhpadi), as distinguished from the auxiliary or helping word (kthirpadi), has a very versatile character. By itself it is always a noun or word idea; goimi sight, scene; goimidam is the noun gerund, seeing; goim’l, sights, scenes; goimid, to see (the root serves as the stem for all verb endings); semgoimid, to be seen; goimin, a person who sees; goimida, a place where one sees; goimsim, an extrinsic quality, seen; goimsum, an intrinsic quality, “the seeing eye”; goimibi, a capability or potential quality visible; the adverbs goimsimi and goimsumi have no exact equivalents in English, but goimbai means “visibly”; goimo, more seeing (mo is the comparative ending); goimul, most seeing (mul is the superlative ending).

In writing the Prashadsim alphabet (see plates 1 and 3), the vowels are placed between the consonants close to their tops and linked with them where possible or, in printed form, above and separate from the consonants.

The short poem that ends our introduction to the language is typical of the somewhat ironic little messages the people of Prashad write each other:

Esram, Young man,

tam so tali so tudam do you choose

dai telpilshami? art or life or both?

Atelpilshamo dil, I choose you,

diliam. little Mister.

—James Keilty

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.