4.3  The Babel text (Genesis 11:1-9)

1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.
Káhat-ninóttor at póblese astán-mo tálmit-ja agói-nójo.
world=ext.loc-top  one  speech-and  common.state=gen  word=gpl-extr=nom.stat  existence<pst>=stat

• káhat ’earth, inhabited world’ (not káhail, which would include the sky which is not human habitation)
• ninótto – extended locative ’everywhere in’
• at ’one’
• póble ’speech’
• astán ’common possession’
• tálmit ’all the words, language’ (coll. pl.)
• agó ’existence’

2 As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
Amméda-war paruϕjómne-nógma ganénze, Sχínar-nótto hammebjó-nu hloϕrénze smultwínen-zdróχsuin.
pl-human-nom.act  east-all  go-iccl,  Shinar-loc  plain-acc  find-iccl  stop-cmpd-vr.st-living-vr<pst>

• méda ’human being’, pl. amméda
• paruϕjómne ’east’ < parú ’up’, ϕjómne ’flow of light’
• nógma – allative postpos. ’towards, to’
• gánun ’to go, walk’
• hammebjó ’valley’ < hámme ’flat state’ (< han ’degree of flatness’), bjo ’area’
• hlóϕrun ’to find’
• smultwínen-zdróχsun ’to settle down’ < smultwínun ’to stop’, zdróχsun ’change into a state of living’ (dróχos ’life, living’ – as in ’having food, shelter and be fed’ as opposed to ’not being dead’)

3 They said to each other, ”Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.”
Al ganίire, kjubetámi-nu saragonénze apéa-méza papsίire-la juttápluin.
quot  go-coh,  brick-gpl=acc  caus-existence-iccl  good.state=mut  bake=coh=quot  irecp-say<pst>

They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.
Kjubetámi-zor dáχχa-nu pinimpái-mésse, kax-azór pelθármi-nu pinimpái-méza dwógruin.
brick-gpl=inst-top  stone-substance-acc  use-neg-state<pst>=mut-and,  tar=inst-top  building.grain-gpl=acc  use-neg-state<pst>=mut  work<pst>

• al …la – frames a direct quote
• kjúbeta ’brick’
• saragónun ’make, create’ < agó ’existence’
• apéa ’good, proper state’
• pápsun ’to bake’
• juttáplun ’say to each other’
• dáχχa ’stone as a material’
• pínun ’to use’, dáχχa-nu pinimpái-méza ’not using stone (past)’
• pelθármi ’mortar’ < pel- ’part of a building’, θármi ’powder’
• kax ’tar’
• dwógrun ’to work’

4 Then they said, ”Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
Θerpámon, al ganίire, ézra-ma tal-nu saragonénze, káhat-mo péχu-ninótto zdrosulimpá-mélze
then  quot  go-coh,  we=dat  name=acc  caus-existence-iccl,  earth=gen  horizontal.surface-ext.loc  vr.st-coherence-neg-state=dst-and

• θerpámon ’then, afterwards’
• ézra ’we’
• tal ’label, name, word’
• péχu ’horizontal surface’
• zdróssulun ’to become scattered’ < drus ’degree of coherence’

bámne-ninógma parúzba-ja agó-nóimo pelestámi-nu sarpelίire-la tápluin.
sky=ext.all  tower=nom.stat  existence-stat-gen  roof-gpl=acc  caus-building-coh=quot  say<pst>

• bámne ’sky’
• ninógma – extended allative postpos. ’occupying the area until’
• parúzba ’tower’
• agó ’existence’
• pelestámi ’town’, parúzba-ja agó-nójo pelestámi ’a town with/having a tower’
• sarpéllun ’to build’ < pel- ’house, building’
• táplun ’to say’

5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.
Ána Pruχsemendá-ewar sarpelussendίi-nójo pelestámise parúzba-nu ginendéo-mére spirússuin.
but  lord-nom.act-top  caus-building-pass-cmpd-state<pst>  roof-gpl-and tower-acc  see-cmpd-state<fut>=dst  vr.st-position.below-vr<pst>

• Pruχse-m-en-dá ’Lord’, from prúχse-m-un ’to lead, command’ < √prukhs
• sarpelússun – passive ’to be build’
• gínun ’to see’, ginendéo-mére ’in order to see’
• spirússun ’to descend’

6 The Lord said, ”If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.
Al eϕémis-mo tálmit-mo agmédamai-nójo sιdéremuin angá, térmo amméda-mo degúsmit-nímo multá-ja idéχse-nιun ilgá.
quot  rlsc-similarity-eqt  word-gpl-extr=gen  one-human-coll=stat  vr.st-beginning-int-vr<pst>  if,  that-gen  pl-human=gen  action-shape-gpl-extr=prtt  nothing-nom.stat  impossible.state=potential.stat  then

• eϕémis ’same relative state’
• tálmit ’all the words, language’, eϕémis-mo tálmit ’the same language’
• at ’1’
• médamai ’people’, agmédamai ’one people’
• sιdéremun ’to begin’ < idérne ’position near beginning (on a line)’
• …angá, …ilgá ’if …, so …’
• térmo andá ’they, those people over there’
• degús ’plan (of action), intention’
• multá ’nothing, no thing’
• idéχse ’impossible, undoable state’ (√dekhs), idéχse-nιun ’potentially impossible’

7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
Ganίire, spirusénze térmo tálmit-nu togimpá-mére sarϕeolίire-la Pruχsemendá-ewár tápluin.
go-coh,  vr.st-down-iccl  that-gen  word-gpl-extr=acc  understand-neg-state=dst  caus-similarity-mol-coh=quot  lord=nom.act-top say<pst>

• tógun ’to understand’, togimpá ’state of not understanding’
• sarϕéolun ’to make dissimilar’ < ϕe ’degree of similarity’

8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.
Θerpézan, Pruχsemendá-ewár θérmo amméda-nu káhat-ninótto saldrússuluin assé, pelestámi-nu sarpéllen-smuldίirun.
thereby,  lord=nom.act-top  that-gen  pl-human=acc  world-ext-loc  caus-coherence-mol-vr<pst>  cjprt,  roof-gpl=acc  caus-building-cmpd-stop<pst>

• θerpézan ’thereby, so’
• θérmo amméda ’they, those people previously mentioned’
• saldrússulun ’to scatter so./sth.’
• assé – joins two sentences
• smuldérun ’stop doing’, sarpéllen-smuldérun ’stop building’

9 That is why it was called Babel – because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world.
Pruχsemendá-ewár káhat-ninótto-mo tálmit-nu sarϕéoluin kimmeká, θertá ané Bábel-lámo ta.
lord=nom.act-top  world-ext-loc=gen  word-gpl-extr=acc  caus-similarity--mol-vr<pst>  because,  that  cop  Babel=thm-gen  count.noun

From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
Θérmo amméda-nur Pruχsemendá-wa θérχwe-nógno káhat-ninótto dirógnet-mére saldrússuluin.
That-gen  pl-human-acc  lord=nom.act  that-place=abl  world-ext-loc  irreversibility-int-extr=dst  caus-coherence-mol-vr<pst>

• …kimmeká ’because …’
• θertá ’that thing previously mentioned’
• Bábel-lámo ta ’a thing called Babel’
• θérχwe ’there, that place previously mentioned’
• dirógnet ’completely irreversible state’ < √droq, usage similar to Jap. shimau [not in the original, but would be good Talmit in the context]