At last I have gotten the text for the Classic
written out. It is a (very succinct) description
of Talarian grammar; couched in the language of
music, but all the main stuff is there. At its
heart, however, is the index of letters,
syllables, glyphs and marks of the sages -
basically, it's a work designed to show and
define all the letters and symbols used in
Talarian writing. As some of you may recall,
Talarian uses several different alphabets,
syllabaries and glyphs signs as a matter of
course. This work is a native attempt to collate
them into a sensible framework. As a grammar
description, it lacks somewhat unless you're
already familliar with T. grammar and the odd
metaphores used to describe it. On the other
hand, you could do as the author suggests and
read Pacarunar's (unnamed) "Modulation of the
Talarian Speech". [Kudos to the first to name the
linguist P. is names for!]

Unfortunately, I don't have all the signs drawn
up or scanned in, so you can't see those yet. :(
Comments are welcome, as usual.

=====

The Classic of the Sixfold Path,
being a compilation of the letters, the
syllables,
the _maharash_ (144) of Parsan glyphs, and the
_marash_ marks of the sages.

=====

The Classic of the Sixfold Path:

Blessings on all your days! Look! - here you will
find wisdom, if wisdom you seek: wisdom of the
Sixfold Path, for lo! your ancestors came out of
the Sunset Mountains, from Parsam of ancient
legend, taking with them from that land
_maharash_ of symbols of their writing; and six
are the houses they inhabit, these Powers of
ancient lore: the House of the XA Powers; the
House of the
NIMTA Powers; the House of the LU Powers; the
House of the CAO Powers; the House of the KI
powers; the House of the WANACAS Powers; and with
each House is its own virtue and its own power.

Look! - The ancients wrote on stone and river
clay - if ye don't believe me, then travel
yourself into the Sunset Lands with the long
caravans to the great West and see with your own
two eyes as I
have done! - our ancestors wrote on wood and
leather. These marks were passed from scholar to
scholar, generation from generation: anyone
who seeks to attain wisdom learns the letters and
the syllables and the glyphs. Now, ye can read
these words I write: ye already know the letters
and the syllables. If ye don't know the glyphs,
read on, friend, and prosper in gaining such
wisdom! For lo! - The Teacher said: "The sage and
the scholar both gather their treasure where the
worm does not find it, where the moth does not
devour it and where the rust does not destroy
it." If your two eyes are sound, then read!

Look here! - Ye will find more wisdom if ye but
seek it! The sages of East and West paint their
own glyphs. I will show you a _maharash_ of
these glyphs here in this book; though ye can
find more elsewhere. If ye don't understand what
the thing is I name with its glyph, don't look in
this book, for the telling of such things is
long. In stead, open the ENCYCLOPEDICON of
Ippurios: read there the nature and tale of these
things for which I give but the name and glyph.

=====

The Houses and their Virtues.

BEHOLD! - Six are the Houses of the Powers, and
six are the Virtues of the Powers.

The first House is XA; its Powers sing of the
motive powers and attributes.
The second House is NIMTA; its Powers sing of the
resting powers and attributes.
The third House is LU; its Powers sing of the
motive beings.
The fourth House is CAO; its Powers sing of the
resting beings.
The fifth House is KI; its Powers sing of the
lore of Names.
The sixth House is WANCAS; its Authorities guide
and shape the song of the Powers, lead them in
the dance of speech.

First dance the Powers that sing of deeds and
thoughts; then the two beings that sing of bodies
and feelings. After each in turn dance like
dervishes, whirling round the Authorites; the
Authorities themselves move unhindered by the
dance, yet they drive its beat, direct its flow
and they instruct us in the right understanding
of the song and the dance of the Powers.

The XA Powers sing subtle songs: at times they
may strike up their tune for but a moment, then
pass away; other times they may sing long time.
They may declare their intentions plainly, they
may voice their uncertainty; they may couch their
insistences in cajole, or beg our attention or
speak of their deepest desires and at other times
their song is of the uttermost command
irresistible! The XA Powers move through the
world while looking through spectacles: at times
the glass is clear and they see clear; other
times the lens shapes their actions. At once, the
XA Powers act through force of habit, doing the
same
thing again and again; now it comes alive and
ceases not its labour; again it continues but may
rest; at last it may labour and rest in
turns. The XA Powers can tell of their beginning,
their need, their desire, their completion or
incompletion of their tasks.

The NIMTA Powers sing subtle songs: they sing of
what is and what has come to be. They are at rest
and their song is peacefull. They neither
dash about nor concern themselves with time.

The LU Powers are those beings imbued with a
godly spirit. They think and act with their own
will. The _qalawwar_ (animated beings) move
through the world shaping it and their destiny
according to their own will.

The CAO Powers are those beings imbued with a
sedentary spirit. They neither think nor act;
they are ever at rest. The _halwwar_ (inanimated
spirits) move not nor ever seek change.

The KI Powers sing of the deeds of mighty lands
and rivers; of cities and empires; of Man and
Daine kind alike. They hold and recite the
Names of beings that have the power of calling
into being a name.

The WANACAS are the Authorities: they sing not
nor do they dance as do the Powers, yet their
virtue is mighty in the dance of speech. For they
hold firm the Powers in their places and direct
the song of the Powers and shift the flow of the
dance of speech. Their virtue is in
establishing and securing the right understanding
of the speech between speaker and hearer.

Now, Pacarunar teaches the modulation of the
Powers and the Authorities and if ye would learn
the subtle craft, seek out his works. For, I
have no room in this book to relate the subtlties
of manipulating the Powers.

O my children! - hearken well to this Classic of
the Sixfold Path and prosper! For long have the
scholars studied the Path that wends from
Parsan of the Great West and mighty Oriata and
wise Shana. All the mighty and auspicious wisdom
of the sages living and long dead are painted
with these signs. If ye would learn their wisdom,
ye must first learn mine!

Fare well seekers of wisdom! Keep this book and
open it up when ye forget a glyph. If ye find
more, paint them in here. Look! - Ye will die in
a few years, for did not The Teacher say: "Open
up, innkeep! For thou knows how little time we
have to tarry here!" Therefore, paint in here
what ye learn and mayhap another scholar shall
profit from your diligence, as I profited from my
masters' study and they from their masters.

Blessings on all your days! And blessings on the
scholars who keep, transmit and perfect this
Classic of the Sixfold Path!

=====

The six houses are the native understanding of
the parts of speech. XA are the active verbs,
NIMTA the stative verbs, LU the animate nouns,
CAO the inanimate nouns, KI are names and WANCAS,
the "Authorities" are all the grammatical words -
particles, pronouns, adverbs, etc.

The author describes typical word order next:
VSpOp; where verbs are the powers that "sing of
deeds and thoughts"; the subjects and objects are
the "beings that sing of bodies and feelings".
Note that he makes no distinction between nom/acc
or subject/object of a verb, nor does he
distinguish direct and infirect object. I think
the notions of animacy/inanimacy and agency may
well be lurking somewhere in there, giving the
author reason to not make the distinction. I'll
have to think about that one. The Authorities he
considers to be outside the dance, as it were.
They are the choreographers who "instruct" us in
what to make of all the nouns and verbs.

The next sections describe these powers (POS) in
a little more detail. The most detailed are the
active verbs. He has shown their forms: durative
v. punctual; all the moods and aspects. Stative
verbs he correctly asserts have no tense (but he
neglects the issues of contrasting tense and
aspect in the actives: the Duratives have past
and present tense while the Punctuals have aorist
and habitual aspect.

Nouns (beings) either have a godly or a sedentary
spirit. Basically, this comes down to an animate
and inanimate distinction. The reality is that a
lot of "people" and "animal" nouns are in fact
inanimate; and likewise a lot of plain things are
animate nouns.

Someday, we'll have a serious translation game
when the Talarian text itself is prepared! ;)

Padraic.


=====
beuyont alch geont la ciay la cina
mangeiont alch geont y faues la lima;
     pe' ne m' molestyont
     que faciont
doazque y facyont in rima.

.