Translation

Not far from Armadale, there was a boarding-house called Dalgarno.

rah hederá, no distance [lit. not of the distance]

sendebbon, boarding-house

vas, there is/are

resó e, called, named [lit. with the name of]

Outside, there was a small sign: "Vacancy". This was good news because I have been looking for somewhere to stay for a long time.

ama, outside

sabri, big, large: assabri, small, little

desdiya aicyo, sign [lit. sign-board]

bub, vacancy: bubda, be vacant, be empty

nun, that, those: nunien, this, these (demonstrative pron.)

seli, news (nu selida? comes from this word)

muqastandi, look for sth/s.o.

nuri peila, somewhere [lit. some place]: peilaqa, place

eher, for, to

mouda, stay

I went in and saw the manager in the kitchen. She said that there were two rooms currently vacant.

aibebdi, meet, encounter, see sth/s.o.

darraugan sendeb, manager [lit., accommodation manager]

syirounzon, kitchen: syirounzono, in the kitchen

yole, that (conjunction)

zon, room, house: yabnu zona, two rooms; zonat mara, the first room

gonien, now, currently

The first room was cold and dark; the second room was bright: there were two big windows. But there were also two beds:

dibi, hot: mandibi, cold

jebiocyi, dark, gloomy

desgeji, bright, light: mandesgeji, dark

angas, window: yabnu angasa sabri, two big windows

cye, but -- also dus (cye often begins a sentence as an expletive; dus indicates the contrary is true)

sedeu, bed: yabnu sedeva, two beds

"Oh, the other boarder is a nice, quiet fellow. For sure, you'll be friends in no time. He looks your age. How old are you?"

he, oh

poutatis, boarder

tolisyi, kind, nice

tesovi, quiet

esnula, friend: esnulis, fellow, guy (m. or f.)

ibesya, in no time [lit., rapidity]: ibesyi, fast; quick[ly]

gintan, certainty: eher gintan, for sure

bayada e, appear, look [like], seem [about]

jabe, age: budas jabedi nu remi? how old are you?

"Me?" I asked. "I'm eighteen," I answered. "When can I move in?" I asked.

bahuda, ask (a question): stabahutta, ask (again)

das gonien jabedi poujaunnut, be eighteen [years of age]

nu go, when?

annai, may, can

sejirda oher mouda ganien, lit., begin to stay here

"What's the date today?"

"It's the twenty-seventh."

auva jabe, date: andas nu auva jabe? What is the date?

das, have: andas e, it is [lit., one has as]

yabbou auana, twenty-seventh

"Good! You can move in tomorrow. Tomorrow is Monday."

uzaiveti, tomorrow: uzaivetta, be [on] tomorrow

maraive, Monday

Uzeut

Remarks

1. Days of the week: maraive, Monday, yabaive, Tuesday, canaive, Wednesday, melaive, Thursday, suaive, Friday, yanaive, Saturday, auanaive, Sunday.

2. Ordinals: mara (1st), yaba (2nd), cana (3rd), mela (4th), suya (5th), yana (6th), auana (7th), jauna (8th), sauta (9th), pova (10th). Ordinals are formed by dropping the -nu desinence of numbers 1–9, and adding the genitive -a to the last element: yabbou mara, twenty-first; supou suya, fifty-fifth

3. The particle e:

A) "and" between nouns or adjectives in a list (tolisyi e tesovi, nice and quiet);

B) "like" or "as" after certain verbs (bayada e, look like);

C) "of" when acting as a ligative between classifiers and proper nouns (resó e Dalgarno, lit., with the name of Dalgarno); or

D) may be an untranslated ligative (andas e 27a, it's the 27th -- lit., [one has as] 27th).

4. Demonstratives:

A) Adjectives: nuni, that, those; nunieni, this, these; and nuri, any, some. They precede any other adjective (nuni celini hamoja).

B) Pronouns: nun, that/those [one(s)]; nunien, this/these [one(s); and nur, any, some: vavacandi nun, I own that one. If the noun has already been mentioned, nun translates "one": zonat yaba vayole sabri nun, the second room is a large one (an alternative to zonat yaba sabrada, the second room is large).

5. Adverbs of time may appear uninflected at the beginning of the sentence, marked off with a comma; elsewhere, they are marked with the -i or -o desinence, and appear before transitive and intransitive verbs (they may not appear directly after intransitive verbs): ibesya, in no time. Piyoi as an adjective means long (either of time or space); as an adverb, it is translated "for a long time".

6. Three ways to express "be": vas (existential), vayole (copula) and sediada e (quasi-transitive). Vayole links the subject and predicate in equational sentences. Often, they can be reversed without any loss of meaning (avi saut vayole javant / javant vayole avi saut); however, equational sentences dealing with classification cannot be reversed (*pula vayole beden, *a fruit is an apple). Sediada e, become, is often used with affiliations.

7. Predicated adjectives drop their -i desinence and add -da to their restored stem: celini, beautiful > celinda, be beautiful. While the distinction between nouns and adjectives disappears in English in the predicative position (that person is beautiful; that person is Nicole), the distinction is maintained in Taneraic: predicated adjectives take on the function of stative verbs (nuni tou celinda), and predicated nouns are linked by a copula (nuni tou vayole Nicole).