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Cea

Level: Expansion
Topic: Poem about the end of winter


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Cea: A Elodao a Yamirli no Li

lunu yadetu i iloi a lusari
i om su i apasar 'anesar anelem
notor luval notam i yosari
su i garel a micea e varodu en lufu hem

nim i iloi e lunu yadetu, i siyal
i oi su i apasar 'anesar anelem
notam luval notor val i 'al
su noder micea en noi a lunhem


Tips

Oravia English
anelem remain, stay
apasar hang, suspend
garel rise, lift
iloi hope, await
lufu wind
lunhem summer
lunu winter
lusari sun
luval snow
micea rabbit, shy
noder still, yet
notam first
notor second
no like, similar to
oi joy
om sound
siyal find, notice
su and, with
val ice
varodu head
yadetu end, final
yosari yellow

Translation


Commentary

notam luval notor val i 'al

I gradually change the word to indicate that the ice is melting. luval (snow) becomes just the root val (ice), which then becomes al.

i apasar 'anesar anelem

to indicate a kind of settling in anticipation/suspension, I use the words three times inside the same marker (i = verb), which reads as something without pause, while they gradually shifting into one another.

su a micea i garel e varodu en lufu hem

su noder micea en noi a lunhem

In the last sentence of each stanza, I use the word "micea", but in two different meanings. The first one means literally a rabbit, while the second one means acting shy like a rabbit.

A Elodao a Yamirli no El

The alternative title means "A Promise as Old as Wonder", but notice that Elodao has El inside of it. This is because the word "elodao" belongs to the "wonder" cluster (words in Oravia belong to a cluster/classification, indicated by the first syllable). So it means something like the word "promise" returning to its own essence, "el".

lusari, yosari, hem, lunhem

here I use the same roots under different clusters. lusari being "(atmospheric) sun", yosari being "yellow (color sun)". hem being "heat", lunhem being "summer (season heat)". The roots stay the same but the words shift. This emphasizes the passage of time while things remain the same within change.

All together these linguistic devices indicate visually, phonetically and semantically the passage of time, a hanging anticipation, and change while staying the same. They also make the imagery more expressive and showcase some possibilities of the language. I hope you enjoy it!

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