A Collection of Texts in Duga

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)

Ti stuu bo na tu bo ki zba zii soo ga bii gi hekito bii. Bigeetii stuu dee bo ja zbi ste, gi skii stuu dee wañe gaawanii hee zbi soo, gibu saalimaa stuu dee mii. Muu stuu dee kaa suugeekame maa tee gi kaa suugeeka zoo gaa maa puhaa tee. Ti stuu dee suugeeka be waamaa, gi ti stuu dee tidini peduupa waamaa.

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

Naastaako zbee kaa bu tu. Ligiwu stuu gii gi suu dee tee bo ga. Waanibo stuu dee doojezi gi ju tee bo ñaa. Saa ñaawaaza stuu kaa tee bo ga baa bo duga zgiiño zadaa zbi soo. Bijale stuu dee ki gi dehomi jebaa ñebuda zbi soo. Ñiñaso stuu zbee kaa bo ga, seeñiini stuu dee.

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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