Rooaa haro aine assoa ago eince
*******************************

Haro aine assoa ago eince mo mopoa troihhe pat craua hau cele 
hau sono.
Haro aine assoa ago eince mo iaho savaua tteo noa tonca neusia 
uane.
Haro aine assoa ago eince tiap uonno voe teme, oua pposo hau 
ntarre ot euas.

Mpreu, neco peie, neu sono hoale.
Om hem neusia ntuepa assoa uanai haro aine lese.
Tuer te, neusia vate, mehem polo ppou seeva cala neusia.

Savau tteo saime, reo ouhat neusia.


Grammar
*******

Here are a few quick and dirty rules of Oro Mpaa grammar, but
it's strongly recommended to check out the website, especially
the grammar section:

   www.cinga.ch/langmaking/orompaa.html

- Noun phrases are parsed from left to right, i.e. the first
  noun is the phrase head, and all immediately following nouns
  modify it.  This is also used for genitive constructions:
  |ama sia| {mother I} "my mother".

- Basic syntax is SVO.  

- Every verb has exactly two forms: a finite ("strong") one
  and a non-finite ("weak") one.  The former is usually 
  translated as a finite verb, while the latter ends up as a
  participle, infinitive or relative sentence: |ttou mpa| "the
  man talks" (finite); |ttou mpaa| "the talking man, the man who 
  talks".

- One distinguishes action verbs (v.a.) and state verbs (v.s.).
  The former are usually translated with a verb in English, the
  latter with "be" + adjective.  There is no separate word class
  for adjectives in Oro Mpaa, they all come bundled in state 
  verbs.  Since the non-finite form of action verbs is usually
  derived from the finite form, their forms are given as 
  strong / weak in the dictionary, while state verbs are given 
  as weak \ strong:  

  |mpa/mpaa| "talk" -> |ttou mpa| "the man talks" (finite),
       |ttou mpaa| "the talking man, the man who talks"
  |lote\loteh| "wet" -> |iaho loteh| "the rock is wet" (finite),
       |iaho lote| "the rock being wet == the wet rock"

- A verb can never have more than two arguments in Oro Mpaa (a
  subject before and an object after it), so more complex events
  must make use of serial verb constructions.  A verb always
  takes the noun phrase preceding it as a subject, even if it is
  the object of the previous verb: |Ttou tovea mbao iop.|  {man 
  kick dog run}  "The man kicks the dog, who in turn runs."

- The duty of prepositions is fulfilled by special idiomatic
  serial verb constructions: |Ttou ppou tacce ee mbao.|  {man 
  give bone go_to dog}  "The man gives a bone to the dog.", 
  |Tamen len rooa olo.|  {guy sing discuss love}  "The guy sings
  about love."

- Complex verb actions are often described with several simple
  verbs: |Ttou ppac uel penia.|  {man hit fish die} "The man
  beats the fish dead.", |Sono toc crau.| {child eat be_ill}
  "The child overeats, the child eats so much that it ends up 
  ill."

- Oro Mpaa verbs don't mind having no subject.  It's an easy way
  to make passive or impersonal sentences: |Sel.| {rain} "It
  rains.", |Asso ttou.| {witness man} "There is a man.", |Toc
  uel.| {eat fish} "Fish is eaten."

- The prefix |me(m)-| makes a verb switch from SVO to OVS.  |Uel 
  metoc.| {fish SWAP:eat} "(Somebody) eats fish == fish is eaten",
  |Metoc ttou.| {SWAP:eat man} "Man eats (something) == something
  is eaten by the man".  It is not the same thing as a passive 
  mood, since it also works on intransitive and impersonal verbs: 
  |Ttou memasso.| {man SWAP:witness} "There is a man."  Better 
  consult the website about his topic if it gives you a headache.


Idioms
******

weather-age == season (of the year)
lower the whip == have mercy
unpack witnessing == remember


Vocabulary
**********

|ago| n. "leaf"
|aine| n. "sky; weather"
|assoa| v.a. "witness, see happening; SWAP: there be, happen"
|cala / calaa| v.a. "serve, benefit, do a favor / for, for the 
     benefit of", can act like a dative or benefactive preposition
|cele \ celema| v.s. "old, aged"
|crau \ craua| v.s. "sick, ill, diseased \ be sick, suffer from a 
     disease"
|eig / eince| v.a. "fall; topple, trip; SWAP: fell, drop, take down"
|euas| n. "hawk, eagle"
|haro| n. "period of time, age, season"
|hau| conj. "and"
|hem / hema| v.a. "cause, make (... do ...); create; father"
|hoale / hoalea| v.a. "play, have fun, be careless"
|iaho| n. "rock"
|lese \ lesea| v.s. "cold, cool"
|me(m)-| pref. inverts the verb's parsing order from SVO to OVS, 
     pseudo-passive
|mo / oua| v.a. "be, be a ... / being, as a ..." (attributive "be")
|mopua| n. "bear (the animal)"
|mpreu| conj. "but, however"
|neco| n. "whole, entirety"
|neu| n. 3rd person categorical "they all, the ...s in general"
|neusia| pron. 1st person categorical, "we all"
|noa \ noag| v.s. "identical, same \ be the ..., be identical with"
     (identitive "be")
|ntarre| n. "paw, talon, clawed extremity; barbed weapon"
|ntuepa / ntuepaa| v.a. "dig up, tap (resources), unpack, bring to
     light"
|om| pron. 3rd person plural
|ot \ oteh| v.s. "of, pertaining to \ belong to, be associated with"
|ouhat| n. "grave, tomb, monument"
|pat| n. "animal, creature"
|peie| n. "world, universe"
|polo| n. "sun"
|pposo| n. "tooth; beak"
|ppou / ppoua| v.a. "give, hand over; relinquish"
|reo / reua| v.a. "hide, keep secret; obscure, cover; SWAP: be 
     hidden, invisible
|saime| n. "flower, bloom"
|savau / savaua| v.a. "grow, raise, cultivate; SWAP: grow (on ..., 
     in ...'s field)"
|seeva| n. "life"
|sono| n. "child, juvenile"
|te| pron. "this, this here"
|teme \ temea| v.s. "up high, on the top \ be above, be over..."
|tiap / tiappa| v.a. "hunt, prey upon"
|tonca| n. "food, nutrition, livelihood"
|troih / troihhe| v.a. "catch, seize, capture, claim"
|tteo| n. "plant, esp. low ones, undergrowth as opposed to trees"
|tuer| n. "time, point in time; time at which..., when"
|uane \ uaneh| v.s. "downstream; upcoming, future"
|uanai| n. "rivermouth, end, completion, goal, destination"
|uon / uonno| v.a. "put, place"
|vate / vatea| v.a. "dance"
|voe| n. "whip, scourge; judicial power"