iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

If you want to know more about Yémenu, check out my Tumblr! You can hear this text and read the translation, and read the first two of a (???)-part series on tone. www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/... www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/... www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

There will definitely be more! Quite possibly on Tuesday, September 29th at 4:30 PM EDT on the Let’s Have a Bouba youtube channel, in fact. Just a hunch, anyway.

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Here is the first text in my new #conlang Yémenu! It was revealed during a livestream on the LHAB channel today. You can go there (link below) to find out more details, but long story short: Ea-nāṣir-inspired yaoi. More on this text and language in the coming days! www.youtube.com/watch?v=iteU...

18 lines of text in an invented alphabet. It’s very curvy, with mostly narrow letters but the occasional big swoop above or below the rest.

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

oh right, bluesky exists Join me tomorrow on youtube at 1PM EDT for the latest youtube conlang relay reveal! 10 participants’ videos will be premiering one after another, each about our own leg of the relay. Or watch the videos later, but it’ll be more fun this way! www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

youtube.com

Script Ring | 2026 YouTube Conlang Relay - YouTube

This is the Script Ring of the YouTube Conlang Relay. Each of us will present our torch in an original writing system, which the next person must decipher be...

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

I made a new video! It’s a Valya version of one of Aesop’s fables, which was first suggested for conlang translations (to me, at least) by Keras Saryan over on the Let’s Have a Bouba discord. If you followed along with Valya Lexember, you may recognize some words! www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGX3...

youtube.com

Vabuba: The Two Frogs (Valya)

YouTube video by LevunaLangs

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

It’s #Lexember 31st! We made it! Today’s Valya word is *nyagnga*, meaning “boil.” That’s /ɲaɡŋa/, which may look difficult, but I almost went with *gngi* /gŋi/. *Nyagnga* is only used for boiling food in liquid. To talk about boiling the liquid itself, see here: www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

A graphic showing the word “nyagnga” in the Valya script, as well as the translation “to boil.”

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

The last Sdefa word for #Lexember this year is {B♭ A F C G}, meaning “cook.” If you listen to the Home Cooking podcast, it might sound familiar! Once again I am mad at Bluesky for not letting me post audio, but you can hear some music that uses this word here instead: www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

A graphic showing a Sdefa word in two different writing systems. Below that is music notation showing the notes B flat, A, F, C, G, and at the bottom is the English translation: “cook.”

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

Today’s #Lexember word is *hngimbzi,* meaning “to bake.” This word was brought to you by @dedalvs.bsky.social recently saying he DEFINITELY didn’t want to make a new word starting with /ŋ̊/ in his conlang. Well, I did! You can read about some related Valya words here: www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

A graphic showing the word “hngimbzi” in the Valya script, as well as the translation, “bake.”

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 28/12/2025

Today’s #Lexember word is in Sdefa again! I thought I didn’t have a word for “food,” and I didn’t exactly, but it was possible to make with a derivational prefix. But now I have a root as well! But they aren’t quite synonyms. You can read about the distinction here: www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

A graphic showing a Sdefa word in two different writing systems. Below that is music notation showing the notes D, A, C, B, and at the bottom is the English translation: “food.”

A graphic showing a Sdefa word in two different writing systems. Below that is music notation showing the notes D, F, G, G, C, B, C, and at the bottom is the English translation: “food, fuel (something consumed).”

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

I’m catching up on #Lexember again, so I have three terms related to snow in Valya! *Gamu-ftara* is “to shovel” (lit. “snow scoop”), “pwitri gamu” is “snow-white,” and “gamu kliku” is “to walk on snow”—literally, “snow-crush” or “snow-crunch.” You can find out more at www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

A graphic showing five Valya words and phrases. They are “gamu-ftara,” meaning “shovel” (as a verb); “gamu ksuftara,” meaning “shovel” as a noun; “pwitri gamu,” meaning “snow white”; “gamu kliku,” meaning “snow-crush” or “walk on snow”; and “kikliku gamu,” meaning “snow crunch,” the sound that snow makes underfoot.

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

My #Lexember words for the 22nd-24th are all plant names in Valya: *tyagwa*, chestnut; *gingga*, beech; and *lyürazi*, rhododendron. You can read more about each of them here: www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

A graphic showing three Valya words and phrases with transliterations and translations. They are “tyagwa,” meaning “chestnut” or “chestnut tree;” “gingga,” meaning “beech” or “beech tree;” and “lyürazi,” meaning “rhododendron.”

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

I once again forgot to share a #Lexember word—and then missed two days in a row! So this is the word from the 21st, in Sdefa: {D E D C B} is “ball” or “sphere. 5-note words in Sdefa sometimes have two written variants! You can see the other version here: www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

A graphic showing a Sdefa word in two different writing systems. Below that is music notation showing the notes E, D, E, C, B, and at the bottom is the English translation: “ball” or “sphere.”

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

Today’s #Lexember word is *nguza*, meaning “climb” in Valya. The word *ksunguza* is derived from it, meaning “stairs” or “ladder.” There are various ways of distinguishing those if you need them! www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

A graphic showing the word “nguza” in the Valya script, as well as the translation “climb.”

A graphic showing four Valya words and phrases with transliterations and translations. They are “ksunguza,” meaning “ladder” or “stairs;” “ksunguza tarku,” meaning “stairs;” “ksunguza klafiri” and “ksunguza ksütüsu,” both meaning “ladder.”

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

Today’s #Lexember word is back to Sdefa: {F G C F} means “find” or “realize,” depending on context. You can hear an example sentence here, in the form of a short piano piece: www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/... It translates to “When I was walking in the woods, I found a beautiful, dark blue pond.”

A graphic showing a Sdefa word in two different writing systems. Below that is music notation showing the notes F, G, C, G and at the bottom is the English translation: “find.”

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

I forgot to share yesterday’s #Lexember word! *Tarku* is the Valya word for “sure,” “steady,” “durable,” “sturdy,” ... a whole lot of meanings, basically. A common expression uses it to mean both “certain” and “stable,” equivalent to “Look before you leap.” www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

A graphic showing the word “tarku” in the Valya script, as well as the translation “sure,” “steady.”

A sentence in the Valya script, followed by a transliteration and translation.

The transliteration reads, “Hlu tarku pa zu sühwi tu dzu tarku.”

The translation reads, “Be certain that you walk on stable ground,” or “Look before you leap.”

Below that is another Valya sentence, transliterated as “Hlu tarku da dzu tarku.”

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

Today’s #Lexember word is in my musical #conlang Sdefa again! This one means “visit,” and the short example sentence is a true story from yesterday: “I visited my friend, and we had fun!” You can hear it here, because Bluesky doesn’t let me attach audio files: www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

A graphic showing a Sdefa word in two different writing systems. Below that is music notation showing the notes D, C, G, D, C, and at the bottom is the English translation: “visit.”

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

Today’s #Lexember word in my musical #conlang Sdefa is {A♭ B♭ A♭ F G}, meaning “fry.” I almost accidentally made it a homophone of “egg!” You can find out more and hear a short (16-second!) piece of music with both words in it here: www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

A graphic showing a Sdefa word in two different writing systems. Below that is music notation showing the notes A flat, B flat, A flat, F, G, and at the bottom is the English translation: “fry.”

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

Today’s Valya word for #Lexember is *ndligi*, meaning “harvest,” “pick/pluck,” or “choose.” A derived expression is *Müshasi ndligi (pa)*, “The cards decided (that),” meaning something (usually something good) happened by chance! www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

A graphic showing the word “ndligi” in the Valya script, as well as the translation “harvest,” “choose.”

Two sentences in the Valya script, each followed by a transliteration and translation.

The first transliteration reads, “Müshasi ndligi pa ra fsi mumumwu ri tu danu kitni!”

The first translation reads, “I happened to find these cherries on the table today!”

The second transliteration reads, “Müshasi? Ra ndligi mu ba ra küldi mu tu danu!”

The second translation reads, “You happened to? I picked them and put them there!”

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

I’ve got two #Lexember words today, since I missed yesterday! The Sdefa word {A B D B} means “animal,” which is a reference to a Simon and Garfunkel song! *Gwunda* in Valya means “watch (out).” Historically, it was “watch,” but is now more commonly “be careful.” www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

A graphic showing a Sdefa word in two different writing systems. Below that is music notation showing the notes A B D B, followed by the English translation “animal.”

Below that is the word “gwunda” in the Valya script, with the translation “watch,” “be careful.”

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

Today’s #Lexember word in my #conlang Valya is *sfuru*, meaning both “deep” and “old.” You can read more about how it came to have both of those meanings here: www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

A graphic showing the word “sfuru” in the Valya script, as well as the translation “deep,” “old.”

A sentence in the Valya script, followed by a transliteration and translation.

The transliteration reads, “Fli lu ndu ba sfuru tlupura.”

The translation reads, “The ocean is large and very deep,” or “The ocean is large and very old.”

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

Today’s #Lexember word is {F G E D}, meaning “kind.” You can read more here: www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/... Keep an eye out for another post with an example sentence for this word—all but one of my Sdefa words so far this Lexember have been made specifically for this upcoming translation!

A graphic showing a Sdefa word in two different writing systems. Below that is music notation showing the notes F G E D, and at the bottom is the English translation: “kind.”

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

Today’s #Lexember word in my musical #conlang Sdefa is {A G A E D}, meaning “entangle.” Unlike most Sdefa words, it’s not a reference to a piece of music with a related meaning. Instead, it’s just a pun: those are the first five notes of Ravel’s string quartet! www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

A graphic showing a Sdefa word in two different writing systems. Below that is music notation showing the notes A G A E D, and at the bottom is the English translation: “entangle.”

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

Today’s Valya word for #Lexember is *ksüvani*, meaning “well” or “spring.” It’s shortened from the phrase *duhra ksüvani,” literally “water-giver.” There are a few other terms for well in Valya, which you can read about here: www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

A graphic showing the word “ksüvani” in the Valya script, as well as the translation “well.”

A sentence in the Valya script, followed by a transliteration and translation.

The transliteration reads, “Zu sühwi tanu gvu duhra za ksüvani.”

The translation reads, “Go get some water at the well.” (Literally, “Go lift some water from the well.”)

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

Today’s #Lexember word in my #conlang Valya is hirinyu, meaning “warmth” or “heat.” The actual new thing for today is the nominalizing prefix hiri-, which is only used for adjectives (as opposed to ki-, which nominalizes verbs and occasionally adjectives). www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

A graphic showing the word hirinyu in the Valya script, as well as the translation “heat, warmth.”

A sentence in the Valya script, followed by a transliteration and translation.

The transliteration reads, “Kihirinyu dyihlira ra. Mükrimwa kurta lu dru sabghu nguva mupya dru sabghu, nkivgani dru sabghu, ba gamu!”

The translation reads, “I don’t like the heat. The colder seasons are better, because they have better food, better clothing, and the snow!”

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

Today’s Sdefa word for #Lexember is {E A F♯ A}, meaning “beautiful.” Check out the post to hear a short musical piece that uses it! www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

A graphic showing a Sdefa word in two different writing systems. Below that is music notation showing the notes E A F♯ A, and at the bottom is the English translation: “beautiful.”

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

Today’s Valya word for #Lexember is *dishu*, meaning “dry” or “dried.” When used as a noun by itself, it often refers to dried fruits. It’s also used to mean “thirsty,” though there are a few other ways to say that as well. You can find out about those other ways here: www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

The word “dishu,” meaning “dry” or “dried,” in the Valya script.

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

Today’s Sdefa word for #Lexember is C B C D C, meaning “lack” in a fundamental, permanent, or intrinsic way, not just missing something temporarily. You can read more about the story behind this word here: www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

A graphic showing a Sdefa word in two different writing systems. Below that is music notation showing the notes C, B, C, D, C, and at the bottom is the English translation: “lack.”

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Back to Valya for #Lexember 3rd! I had to make a new dissimilation rule for this word, because I could *not* deal with saying [ra.ra.ru]. So instead *radaru* means “pond,” diminutive of *radu* “lake,” itself originally the diminutive of “sky,” because reflections. www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

The word “radaru,” meaning “pond” or “pool” in the Valya script.

A sentence in the Valya script, followed by a transliteration and a translation: The children enjoy swimming and playing in the pond.

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

I almost forgot to post today’s #Lexember word, which is a great sign this early in the month. This time it’s in my musical #conlang Sdefa: this word means “count” or “measure.” Sdefa has two orthographies, so you get both of those in addition to the music notation! www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

A graphic showing a Sdefa word in two different writing systems. Below that is music notation showing the notes G, A flat, B flat, A flat, G, and at the bottom is the English translation: “measure, count.”

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

It’s #Lexember again! Just like last year, I’ll be posting new words in my #conlang Valya, with more detailed posts on Tumblr. Day one is *buba*, meaning “frog”! That is of course a very subtle reference to my friends at @letshaveabouba.bsky.social! www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

A graphic showing a word in the Valya script, followed by the transliteration “buba” and the English translation, “frog.”

A sentence in the Valya script, which is very curly and loopy, followed by a transliteration and translation.

The transliteration reads: Tüküra küra mbuba samünwintsa nggvala kimblu?

The translation reads: How do frogs jump and jump and not get tired?

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Today’s Valya word is hnuhnulu, meaning “bat!” www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/... Lba kibgha fu sika hnuhnulu nwi, ba tu kngiva tni mu nitya zaku. Hundreds of bats live under that bridge, and they fly out at sunset.

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Valya!? Again!!?? Yes, I am returning to working on a *spoken* conlang! Imagine that. I’m easing back into daily-ish Valya posts with a quick translation, which you can read more about at www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

Voting in the Cursed #Conlang Circus has begun! You can vote here: www.nguh.org/ccc/vote and find out more about the voting process here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmGa...

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

Guess what! It’s a new conlang! www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkKF... This is Amnenas, my new musical #conlang — and a submission for the Cursed Conlang Circus! I had a lot of fun with this video but it was also very confusing and (given the deadline) pretty stressful. I just made it in time! #CCC4

youtube.com

Amnenas: A Cursed Musical Conlang

YouTube video by LevunaLangs

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

After no conlang posts in over a month (!) here’s a new post for a new language! It’s a “cursed” musical conlang, involving harmonies strange enough that they’re basically unplayable on any instrument. As far as I know, anyway. www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

I’m taking a break from the word of the day posts for a bit! They will be back sometime soon, but in the meantime I’ve got some other conlang stuff to work on.

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

Today’s Valya word is pyapra, meaning ‘party’ or ‘festival.’ It comes from pya, ‘meal,’ plus the (brand new) augmentative suffix -pra. Because the augmentative conveys significance more than literal size, it’s occasionally combined with the diminutive! Read more here: www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

Today’s Valya word is dghalwu, ‘oak.’ Since gvu is both ‘leaf’ and ‘piece,’ gvu dghalwu is ambiguous. Prepositions might clear it up (da is ‘of’ and hru is ‘made of,’ more or less) but it could still be unclear. I’m sure there’s a way to disambiguate that the Valya speakers haven’t taught me yet.

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

Today’s Valya word is ‘nuna,’ meaning ‘circle’ or ‘loop.’ ‘Nunarwa,’ lit. ‘loop-make,’ is ‘repeat’ or ‘return.’ ‘Tnuna,’ from ‘the loop,’ is ‘year,’ so ‘the year’ is ‘kitnuna,’ etymologically ‘the the year.’ A more poetic way to say ‘year’ is ‘kihngüli krimwa,’ ‘the wheel of seasons.’

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

Yesterday’s word (oops!) was ‘hngüli’ /ŋ̊y.li/, meaning ‘wheel.’ It’s related to ‘hngu’ ‘turn’ (intrans.), ‘hündi’ ‘turn’ (trans.), and ‘hunggla’ ‘spin.’ You can find out just how those words are all related here: www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

Today’s Valya word is ‘hlabu,’ meaning ‘gay’ or ‘nonbinary.’ You can read more here: www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/... Today’s word is in honor of International Non-Binary People’s Day!

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 13/07/2025

Today’s Valya word is ‘krimwa,’ meaning ‘time’ or ‘season.’ ‘Time’ in this case is (generally) a longer period, as opposed to ‘sivi,’ a moment. The seasons’ names (or at least one set of them) are ‘krimwa’ with various colors: green for spring/summer, red/orange/brown for fall, and white for winter.

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

Two Valya words today, since I missed yesterday: ‘ngaba,’ ‘light,’ and ‘gvihwa,’ ‘fire.’ The latter is the nominalization of ‘bihwa,’ ‘to burn.’ You can read more here: www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

Today’s Valya word is ‘tüsu,’ ‘to stand.’ To make ‘stand up,’ the inchoative suffix -ntsa is used. www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

For context on that example sentence, see the full post here: www.tumblr.com/levunalangs/...

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

Today’s Valya word is ‘basha,’ meaning ‘right.’ When used as an adverb (to the right, turning right, turning clockwise, etc.) you add the preposition ‘di,’ ‘with,’ even though ‘basha’ isn’t a noun. This is due to analogy with ‘di lwika’ from yesterday, as well as the cardinal directions!

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Jonathan @levunalangs.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

Today’s Valya word is ‘lwika,‘ ‘heart.‘ From it are derived ‘di lwika,‘ ‘left‘ (lit. ‘with the heart‘) and ‘mpi lwika,‘ ‘left side.‘

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