A Sketch of Ukwe
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Updated 5 August 2006
Grammatical Note
The final root vowel of a word usually bears the principal stress. Thus, Ukwe is pronounced roughly "oo-KWEH."
Ukwe has a fairly simple word structure, with clause markers and subordinators suffixed to the main verb, and postpositions suffixed to nouns. There is no indefinite or definite article, and the verb does not change for person at all. However, the strict SOV sentence order, especially when subordinate clauses are present, is unlike English. For example, here is the second line of the Babel text, in English:
"As they journeyed from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there."
Here is the intermediate translation text I used, here employing English vocabulary, but rendered in rough Ukwe word order:
People-(subj. marker) east-from travel-during, they (subj. marker) Shinar-land-in plain-(dir. object marker) find-(past tense marker)-and, they-(subj. marker) there reside-(past tense)-and.
Finally, here is the text in Ukwe, in the English transcription:
Eputa kwahgwucon alungenapih, onteta Shinalalu edanki ihkinemu kuhkiwanben, onteta nicahki cepawanben.
The "Babel Text"/Babellu Oco
Kwupe azhiki ngekwe mohcata kweya. Eputa kwahgwucon alungenapih, onteta Shinalalu edanki ihkinemu kuhkiwanben, onteta nicahki cepawanben. Incahmu egazeben, ontemu kwupe sobihzeben cah, onteta ubanmu ngihtonwan. Onteta guhu incahmuben mowohu kigwohmuben conanwan. Kuteta pamehmuben onlu zonnonta huntumu ohkenso buncomuben ehmaze cah, onteta ngihtonwan. Kwupe azhiki kuteta gwucasogetin kewa, kutelu punmu gwilungeze cah. Ngolu epulu sagita ontemu sobihso pamehmuben buncomuben kwohkwi kewa tecuta oncogewan. Dehsope cah tecuta ngihtonwan. Eputa meh cusahta lewanben meh mohcamu conanwan. Onteta sumu shihpokwa ngolu zahmo onteta omu kwahshiso sahuhmu gwuluhgajedi cah. Ngolu kuteta oncogezeben ontelu mohcamu ukwahzeben, onteta ubanmu gwusanmiso ngolu kwe cah tecuta ngihtonwan. Ngolu tecuta ontemu nicahcon azhitonto mita casogewan ngolu onteta pamehmu ehmagenwan. Ngolu tecuta ontemu nicahcon azhitonto mita casogewansoha, olu punta Babela leya.
Genesis 11:1-9 (Revised Standard Version) -- 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.
Writing
Ukwe is most commonly written using a small brush (U. monpu) and a charcoal-based ink (kwon). A number of other unrelated writing systems have been devised and are in use, but the syllabic script (suwih) of the scribe Sozenkahbu is increasingly well known, the most widely used for religious and legal texts, and supported officially by the powerful Tahon clan, so that its future ascendancy seems likely.
The English transcription system used for this paper represents a compromise between a strict phonemic system and computer-friendly representation.
Culture
The Ukwe people number approximately 240,000 and live in kinship groups (unsah) of between 50 and 200 persons on the great central plains of Karendia. Their principal occupations are herding and hunting, though an embryonic cottage industry of weaving and leatherworking has begun, under the influence of tourist demand and the need for income to lobby for protection of their homeland from foreign development.
In spite of these influences, the Ukwe nonetheless persist as a people strongly oriented toward the past, maintaining a vast repertoire of lore and traditional stories (enkwih) in living memory and active performance. Although materially very poor by Western standards, they are wary of an excess of material goods, and openly scorn the typical American lifestyle bogged down, as they see it, with things that must be bought or financed, rented, transported, protected, repaired, replaced, insured, licensed, stored, etc. The Ukwe instead prize what is created -- and can be stored -- in the mind and heart. Their material culture, beyond subsistence-level clothing, shelter and tools, thus remains minimal. However, wandering storytellers and actor-mimes (pukinba) generally enjoy high status, and Ukwe drama is a lively and remarkably innovative art with cycles of seasonal plays, music and choral and solo recitation. Most performances occur monthly, around the full moon festivals that feature prominently in Ukwe religion (U. anko or kwohpoh).
Linguistic History
Ukwe is the best documented member of the Nahen family of languages which includes Iski (U. Ihki) spoken to the north, and Kwagau (U. Kwahgwu) in the southwest.
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