A Collection of Texts in Otama

What follows is a collection of texts intended to illustrate the language in more natural and extended use than the glossed examples found in the grammar.

The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1–9)

Lake lame chomene kedetedechi hö’e hiwe shakeqe chi sho höwe hi wa hasetehe hi. Liqerese mẽ hise hire chi hu, wa léne mẽ ha’enene liwene hise hume sho, gebi löchehene mẽ pa. Léwe mẽ lö be’ehewekeqeködeqelee wa lö lödeqele be’ehewekange meki. Lake mẽ hödeqele hushe lenu, wa lake mẽ hiletepe hykele’e lenu.

And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.

A Creation Myth

Bechekysemene lö lame nganene. Lalete’e hybe wa hone belelöwe kedetedechi mẽ. Lu’edene mẽ heluge kedetedechi keliweqe’e wa kelime. To liwepeke hoteme chi, ké kéde lehöwe tedechi, hise hasheme nachene sho. Léchegege ly shakeqe wa desébeqe hise humeqeche kabene sho. Bechelashegebe lehöwe tedechi, lakelele ly.

We are not like other people. Their languages were shaped by struggle and time. They copied the sounds of beasts and birds, and they learned to speak like that. But our language arose in a different way. It was born whole and perfect in a single breath. Our language did not evolve; it was created.

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