The Ilomi Language
Version 2
Last update: 2006-03-19
McGuffey Reader Translation
McGuffy Reader source exercises and initial translations provided by Gary Shannon.
Volume 1 Section 1
- I see a boy.
ami esi apepyu.
- ami = I; me
- esi = to see
- apepyu = boy, lad (lit. child-male)
- ape = child
- pyu = masculine suffix
- When a word ends in the same vowel that begins the next word, separate the two with a glottal stop.
- Normally words are not capitalized.
- Written punctuation is always optional but is used for its familiarity.
- I see a girl.
ami esi apekya.
- apekya = girl (lit. child-female)
- kya = feminine suffix
- I see a boy and a girl.
ami esi apepyu e apekya.
- The boy can see the girl.
apepyu epo esi apekya.
- epo = able (to ...)
- Modifies the verb that follows. "I can see ..." -> "ami epo esi..."
- I can see the girl and the boy.
ami epo esi apekya e apepyu.
- I can see the girl.
ami epo esi apekya.
- See the man!
o esi atapyu.
- o marks the imperative verb
- atakya = man (lit. person-male)
- See the boy and the man!
o esi apepyu e atapyu.
- The man has a hat.
atapyu emi alapu.
- emi = to possess or have (not necessarily to own)
- alapu = hat
- Has the boy a hat?
uwe apepyu emi alapu?
- uwe can begin a sentence which is a question that expects a yes or no answer.
- Other uses for uwe will be explored later.
- The boy can run.
apepyu epo elele.
- Can the man run?
uwe atapyu epo elele?
- The man can see the boy run.
atapyu epo esi a apepyu elele.
atapyu epo esi apepyu elele.
- Contrast with: apepyu elele a atapyu epo esi axa. (The man can see the running boy.)
- a = Clause division marker. Other uses of a will be explored later.
- axa = she/he
- "x" in Elomi is pronounced like the English "sh". axa is pronounced "asha".
- I have a hat.
ami emi alapu.
- I have a doll.
ami emi axukinyata.
- axuki = toy; plaything
- ata = person
- axukinyata = doll (lit. toy-person, or person-shaped toy)
- See my doll!
o esi axukinyata u ami.
- u = of, possesive, as belonging to (in this instance) Other uses of u will be explored later.
- Can the doll see?
uwe axukinyata epo esi?
- I can see my doll.
ami epo esi axukinyata u ami.
- Has the doll a hat?
uwe axukinyata emi alapu?
- My doll has a hat.
axukinyata u ami emi alapu.
- The girl has a doll and a hat.
apekya emi axukinyata e alapu.
- Can the boy play?
uwe apepyu epo exuka?
- exuka = to play with (As with a toy or game. Not applied to music or other performance arts.)
- When exuka takes an object it is the name of the game or toy.
- The boy can run and play.
apemu epo elele e exuka.
- The boy can play ball.
apemu epo exuka apalu. (... can play with the ball.)
- Can the man play ball?
uwe atapyu epo exuka apalu?
- The man may see the boy play.
atapyu esa esi apepyu exuka.
- u = before a verb indicates passive
- esa = to have permission to; to be permitted to
- May the man take the ball?
uwe atapyu esa eku apalu?
uwe atapyu eku onyesa apalu?
- enyeku = to give, to donate
- eku = to take; to receive
- eny prefix on a verb renders it causative.
- onyesa = permissably; allowably
- The boy may take the ball.
apepyu esa eku apalu.
apepyu eku onyesa apalu.
- Can the girl see the baby?
uwe apekya epo esi apetwi?
- apetwi = baby (lit. child-small)
- apetwitwi = infant (Redoubling twi suffix to indicate infant, or newborn baby.)
- Can the baby see the little girl?
uwe apetwi epo esi apekya oxumwa?
- oxu = big, large
- oxumwa = small, tiny (lit. opposite of big)
- The baby has a big doll.
apetwi emi axukinyata oxu.
- The little girl has a ball.
apekya oxumwa emi apalu.
- I can see the baby.
ami epo esi apetwi.
- Can the baby see my big hat?
uwe apetwi epo esi alapu oxu u ami?
- The baby may have my ball.
apetwi esa emi apalu u ami.
- Take the ball, baby!
apetwi o eku apalu.
- The man has a little dog.
atapyu emi akansu oxumwa.
- The boy has a big dog.
apepyu emi akansu oxu.
- See the little dog run!
o esi a akansu oxumwa elele.
o esi akansu oxumwa elele.
- He has my ball.
axa emi apalu u ami.
- May the big dog have it?
uwe akansu oxu esa emi aso?
uwe akansu oxu emi onyesa aso?
- aso = it (an inanimate object)
- May he take it?
uwe axa esa eku aso?
- The little dog may have the ball.
akansu oxumwa emi onyesa apalu.
- He may run and play with it.
axa elele e exuka onyesa aso.
- Remember that ixuka is "play with" when it takes an object so no preposition is used.
- See the little bird!
o esi amalu oxumwa.
- amalu = bird (Specifically song bird, not usually applied to game birds, birds of prey, or domestic farm birds like chickens or turkeys.)
- May the baby have it?
uwe apetwi esa emi aso?
- May she take it?
uwe axa eku onyesa aso?
uwe axa esa eku aso?
- She can not take it.
axa esamwa eku aso.
- Contrast this with: axa eku onyesamwa aso. = She takes it without permission.
- esamwa = is not permitted to ("esa" + mwa")
- onyesamwa = forbiddenly; without permission ("ony" + "esa" + "mwa")
- The bird can fly.
amalu epo efole.
- The baby can not have the bird.
apetwi esamwa emi amalu.
- She can not fly.
axa epomwa efole.
- epomwa = cannot; is unable to ("epo" + "mwa")
- She may play with my doll.
axa esa exuka axukinyata u ami.
- She may have my big hat.
axa esa emi alapu oxu u ami.
- I see a man and a dog and a cow.
ami esi atapyu e akansu e amuka.
- amuka = cow
- amukapyu = bull
- The cow is with the man.
amuka eyo unpa atamu.
amuka unpa atamu.
- eyo = is (copula); often be omitted in simple statements.
- unpa = near; alongside; with; in the company of
- The dog has a big hat.
akansu emi alapu oxu.
- He is a good little dog.
axa eyo akansu oxumwa oke.
- He may take the hat to the man.
axa esa eloso alapu utu atapyu.
- eloso = carry; transport; take (but not take as in take away or accept)
- The man is good to the dog.
atapyu eyo oke uka akansu.
- oke = of good quality; good; correct
- uka = regarding; with respect to; in connection with
- The cow can run.
amuka epo elele.
- She can not play.
axa epomwa exuka.
- The baby can not have the bird.
apetwi esamwa emi amalu.
- She can not fly and catch it.
axa esamwa efole e elapela anma.
- elapela = to catch; to capture; to enslave; to domesticate
- anma = it (non-human animate)
- Can she catch the good little girl?
uwe axa epo exilo apekya oxumwa oke?
- exilo = to catch up with or overtake; to draw even with
- Come, baby, come!
apetwi o enyulu.
- enyulu = to come near; to approach
- ulu = near
- Come and catch me.
o enyula e exilo ami.
- Catch me and my big doll.
o exilo ami e axukinyata oxu u ami.
- Catch me, and you may have the doll.
iyu ate exilo ami eye ate esa emi axukinyata.
ate esa emi axukinyata iyu ate exilo ami.
- ate = you
- iyu = if ...
- eye = ... then (can be omitted if the "if" clause follows the "then" clause.)
- You may have it to play with. (... have it and play with it.)
ate esa emi aso e exuka aso.
Section 1 Review
- The boy has a big dog.
apepyu emi akansu oxu.
- You may see the dog play ball.
ate esa esi akansu exuka apalu.
- Can he catch it?
uwe axa epo elapela aso?
- May I run and take it?
uwe ami esa elele e eku aso?
- The man with the big hat has a cow.
atapyu unyemu alapu oxu emi amuka.
- The girl is good to the little baby.
apekya eyo oke uka apetwi onte.
- onte = small [synonym for oxutwi]
- The baby may have my big doll.
apetwi esa emi axukinyata oxu u ami.
- She can not catch the bird.
axa epomwa elapela amalu.
- She may come with me and see the bird fly.
axa esa enyutu unpa ami e esi amalu efole.
Volume 1 Section 2
- Come with me, and see the boys.
enyutu unpa ami e esi apepyu.
- One little boy has a drum.
ay'mo apepyu onte emi atinpa.
- atinpa = drum (from "timpani")
- Two boys have big hats.
ay'tu apepyu emi alapu oxu.
- One boy has a ball.
ay'mo apepyu emu apalu.
- See the boys go!
o esi apepyu enyutu!
- See the boys go with the drum.
o esi apepyu enyutu unyemi atinpa.
o esi apepyu enyutu a, emi atinpa.
- One, two; one, two; drum, drum!
ay'mo ay'tu ay'mo ay'tu a, enyamiloti atinpa
- enyamiloti = to make music with; to play (an instrument)
- The girls have come to play with the baby.
apekya enyulu exuka apetwi.
- Two girls have little dolls.
ay'tu apekya emi axukinyata onte.
- One girl has a red dress.
ay'mo apekya emi atito omi.
- atito = dress (Italic ~ "vestito")
- The baby is glad to see the girls.
apetwi eyo ofi uka esi apekya.
- uka = to; toward; with respect to; regarding
- The girl with the red dress is May.
apekya unyemi atito omi eyo ime.
- May is glad to see the good baby.
ime eyo ofi uka esi apetwi oke.
- She will take the baby to see the bird.
axa eloso apetwi uso esi amalu.
- eloso = take; carry; transport
- Come with me, little May.
ime onte o enyutu unpa ami.
- We will go to the field.
amixa enyutu akanpa.
- amixa = we (they and I, not you)
- akanpa = field
- We will go and see the cows.
amixa enyutu esi amuka.
- The cows are in the field.
amuka eyo umi akanpa.
- My cow is red.
amuka u ami eyo omi.
- Two cows are not red.
ay'tu amuka eyomwa omi.
- One and two are three.
ay'me upu ay'tu enyoka ay'si.
- upu = plus
- enyoka = equals
- We have three cows.
amixa emi ay'si amuka.
- Three birds are in the tree.
ay'si amalu umi apoli.
- One is a pretty red bird.
ay'me eyo amalu ola e omi.
- You can not catch it.
ate epamwa elapela anma.
- anma = it (animate, non-humanoid)
- It is high in the tree.
anma onyutemwa umi apoli.
- The red bird can see the boys with the drum.
amalu omi epa esi apepyu unyemi atinpa.
amalu omi epa esi apepyu u unyemi atinpa.
- u preceding a preposition clarifies that it applies to the preceding noun. Usually can be omitted and left to context.
- It can see the little girl with the red dress.
anma epa esi apekya onte unyemi atito omi.
- It can see the good baby and the pretty doll.
anma epa esi apetwi oke e axukinyata ola.
- It can see the man in the field.
anma epa esi atapyu uta akanpa.
- Pretty birds, will you fly to me?
ame amalu ola o efole utu ami a oxe.
- The little boy has a red wagon.
apepyu onte emi akoxotwi omi.
- akoxotwi = wagon ("akoxo" + "twi" = lit. coach-small)
- Is it not a pretty one?
uwe aso eyomwa ola?
- The boy will let little May ride in it.
apepyu enyesa onsu ime onte u eloso aso.
- Come, May, come and see my wagon.
ime o enyulu a, o enyulu esi akoxotwi u ami.
- You may get in it, and have a ride.
ate u esa enyutunyumi aso e u eloso.
- enyutunyumi = enter ("enyutu" + "umi" = lit. go-in)
- I will take you with me to the fields.
ami eloso onsu ate unpa ami utu akanpa.
- You may have a good ride.
ate esa emi anyeloso oke.
- Is the drum in the wagon?
uwe atinpa umi akoxotwi?
- Let me get it. Now we will go.
o esa ami eku aso. iwi amite enyutu oto.
- See my pretty red apple!
o esi apomu ola e omi u ami!
- I have three good apples.
ami emi ay'si apomu oke.
- One is red, and two are yellow.
ay'me omi e ay'tu olo.
- I will give you the red one.
ami enyeku onsu ay'me omi.
- May I have a yellow one, too?
uwe ami esa emi ay'me olo oka.
- Yes. If you are a good girl.
awa iyu ate eyo apekya oke.
- I see a big red apple in the tree.
ami esi apomu oxu e omi u umi apoli.
- Will you let me get it?
uwe ate enyesa ami enyutu eku anma?
- Yes, you may if it is not too high.
awa ate esa iyu anma eyomwa onyutemwa oma.
- oma = too much; excessive
- Frank and little May are in the field with the wagon.
ifranko e ime onte eyo umi akanpa unpa akoxotwi.
- They have come to find flowers.
- May has a red flower.
- Frank has three yellow flowers.
- He will let May have them.
- She will take them to the wagon
- She is glad to get the pretty flowers.
- Come here, girls! I see a nest.
- Little birds are in it.
- One, two, three.
- The little birds can not fly.
- They are not pretty.
- They will get pretty by and by.
- The big bird is not here now.
- She is high in the apple tree.
- She will come to them by and by.
- She will come and feed them.
- The boys like to go to the woods.
- Here they are now.
- Here are the horse and the wagon.
- And here is the boy with the drum.
- They like to play in the woods.
- They like to find pretty flowers.
- If they find little birds in a nest, they will not take them.
- By and by they will go home.
- They will ride home in the wagon.
- Will you let me ride home with you, Frank?
- Yes, May, you may sit by me in the wagon if you like.
- Get in, and give me the whip.
- I will not whip the good horse.
- Now, here we go!
- Here is the apple tree, but we can not see the nest in it.
Section 2 Review
- Here are three boys and two girls by the big apple tree.
- One boy has a yellow drum and one has a whip.
- The boy in the red wagon is Frank.
- The girls are glad to see Frank.
- He will give them a ride.
- They like to go with him to the fields and the woods.
- May we ride with you, Frank?
- Yes, girls, get in! And you, too, boys!
- Sit by me and see the good horse go.
- Now we will go to the woods to find flowers and see the pretty birds.
- In one tree you can see a nest, but you can not see the little birds.
- You may see the big bird if she comes to feed the little ones.
- She has a pretty home high in the tree.
Volume 1 Section 3
- Do you see this? It is my kite.
- My father gave it to me.
- Is it not a pretty one?
- He gave me this drum, too.
- You may go with me and see me fly my kite.
- You may take the drum with you.
- Are you not glad my father gave it to me?
- Frank and John are in the field.
- They have come here to play.
- How high can you jump, Frank?
- Can you jump as high as this?
- I can not jump high, John, but I can jump far.
- See! I can jump as far as to the big apple tree.
- Now, John, let me see you jump.
- Here is May with her kitten.
- Her mother gave the kitten to her.
- She is kind to the pretty kitten.
- She likes to see it jump and play.
- See it run with May's ball!
- It does not run far with it.
- If May can get the ball she will not take it.
- She will give it to the kitten to play with.
- This is little Lucy.
- Her home is far away.
- She has come to see Frank and May.
- All the little girls love Lucy.
- They are kind and good to her, and she loves them.
- Frank will let her ride with him in the big wagon.
- He will give her the whip, and the horse will go fast.
- The horse will go fast and far, but he will not run away.
- Look, Frank! See my pretty flowers.
- Mother gave them to me.
- She gave them to me this morning.
- Do you not think they are pretty?
- How many flowers have I?
- Here are three my mother gave me.
- My father gave me two red ones.
- How many are three and two?
- I will keep the red flower.
- I will give all my yellow flowers to Lucy.
- She will like them.
- She will take them home with her.
- Good morning, little bird.
- Good morning, kind Lucy.
- How pretty your nest is, little bird!
- May I look at the little ones in it?
- Yes, you may look at them, but you must not take them away.
- How many birds have you?
- Let me see. One, two, three, four.
- I do not think they are pretty.
- They may not be pretty now, but I love them, little girl.
- Frank has gone to the field with his kite.
- He likes to play with it.
- It is the kite his father gave him.
- He will run and the kite will fly.
- He can run very fast, and the kite can fly very high.
- John does not like to run with a kite.
- He likes to play on his drum.
- He will play on his drum, and Frank will run with his kite.
- Oh, mother, come here!
- See this pretty flower.
- I think it is a rose.
- Is it not a yellow rose?
- Yes, May. It is a yellow rose.
- If you will come with me, I will give you some red roses.
- May I have them to keep, mother?
- You may keep some of them, but you must give some to Lucy.
- Oh, yes! I will give her four red roses, and one yellow rose.
- I will give her some to take home to her mother, too.
- Do you like yellow roses, mother?
- Yes, May, I think they are very pretty.
- John was a good boy this morning.
- His mother gave him a pretty book.
- He was very glad.
- "Oh, mother," he said, "how kind you are to give me this book!
- "I think it is very pretty."
- "You must take good care of it," said his mother.
- "Yes, mother," said John, "and I will let Lucy and May look at it too.
- "They like to look at pretty books."
- "The girls will think you are a very kind little boy."
- "They will take good care of your book."
- All the boys and girls are going to school this morning.
- You can see them as they go.
- Little Lucy is not with them.
- She has gone to her home, far away.
- But I see May and some other girls.
- John has his new book.
- Some of the other boys have books, too.
- I do not see Frank, but I think he will come soon.
- Look at this picture.
- It is the picture of my pet kitten.
- Do you not think she is a pretty pet?
- One morning as I was going to school, I found this kitten.
- She was by a tree in the woods.
- After school I took her home.
- "Mother," I said, "see this pretty little kitten."
- "May I keep her as a pet?"
- Mother said, "You may keep her if you will take good care of her."
- I am kind to my kitten.
- I feed her and she loves me.
Section 3 Review
- My mother gave me a new book.
- I took it to school one morning, to let the girls see the pictures.
- Soon after this I found my pet kitten and took her home with me.
- I like to play with my pet kitten.
- I will do as mother says.
- I will take good care of the kitten.
- I love little Lucy.
- But now she has gone far away to her home.
- I like to see John run with his kite.
- He can run as fast as the other boys, but he can not jump far.
- He does not like to look at books and pictures, but he can play on a drum.
Volume 1 Section 4
- The name of this little girl is Rose.
- Do you think she looks like a rose?
- Do you think Rose is a pretty name?
- Rose goes to school.
- She can read and write.
- At home, she likes to read to her mother.
- She likes to look at the pictures, too.
- Tell me, Rose, how well you can read.
- Can you read well in your book?
- I think you can write very well.
- Can you write your name?
- Can you tell me the name of this pretty little bird?
- It is so little it can not fly very far.
- Some of the boys found it in the woods, as they were going to school one day.
- It was not in a nest.
- Frank said; "I will take the little bird home with me.
- It will be a good pet."
- So Frank took it as he said.
- He is kind to it and feeds it. but he will not keep it.
- Some day it can fly well.
- Then Frank will let it go.
- It will fly away with the other birds.
- Come, girls let us play with our dolls.
- We will play school.
- Our dolls will be the children.
- Our dolls are as good as some children are.
- They have their books, and I think, they will learn very fast.
- Soon we shall see how well they can read.
- This doll is not so good as the others.
- She does not like to go to school very well.
- She must sit by me and look at her book.
- As soon as she can read well, she may go home and play.
- She goes to school day after day, but she does not learn.
- She can not write at all.
- She can not tell her name.
- This is my little doll.
- Her name is Lucy.
- Do you thik she is pretty?
- "How tall you are, Henry!"
- "Yes, father, I shall soon be a man.
- I am as tall as the table, now."
- "What can you see on the table?"
- "I can see your big book, father."
- "What do you see by the book?"
- "Oh, I see some pictures.
- Two pictures are by the book, and two are not by the book."
- "How many are two and two, Henry?"
- "Two and two are four."
- "You do well. If you learn fast, you may soon go to school.
Volume 1 Section 4