The tower of babel
   
         
 

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The web site "babel text" collects languages. There you will find samples from many languages (natural or constructed). Each language presents itself by retelling the story of the tower of Babel. Lingua Franca Nova is also present there. The creators of LFN translated the babel story, so this is pure LFN.

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Genesis, chapter 11, 1-9: the tower of Babel

11:1 The entire earth had one language with uniform words.

11:2 When [the people] migrated from the east, they found a valley in the land of Shinar, and they settled there.

11:3 They said to one another, 'Come, let us mold bricks and fire them.' They then had bricks to use as stone, and asphalt for mortar.

11:4 They said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top shall reach the sky. Let us make ourselves a name, so that we will not be scattered all over the face of the earth.'

11:5 God descended to see the city and the tower that the sons of man had built.

11:6 God said, 'They are a single people, all having one language, and this is the first thing they do! Now nothing they plan to do will be unattainable for them!

11:7 Come, let us descend and confuse their speech, so that one person will not understand another's speech.'

11:8 From that place, God scattered them all over the face of the earth, and they stopped building the city.

11:9 He named it Babel, because this was the place where God confused the world's language. It was from there that God dispersed [humanity] over all the face of the earth.

   
     


In the text below, the use of comma's and points may seem strange. To seduce a text to speech program to speak correctly, you may need to give it extra information about pauses. So you may have to add nonstandard points, and comma's and parentheses. The result is something like the text below.

    
 

 

  


1

E la tota tera,
ia ave
un sola lingua,
e la mesma parolas.

2

E cuando la popla,
ia parti.
(a la este los,
ia trova un plano,
en la pais de Xinar).
e, vade abita, ala.

3

E los, ia dise a se.
"Veni!
Nos va fa brices.
e, va coce los, en la foco!"
Los ia usa,
brices per petra.
e, catran per semento.

4

E los, ia dise a se.
"Veni!
Nos va construi,
un site.
e, un tore. con se testa, en la sielo!
E, nos va fa, un nome grande per nos.
per ce nos, no va es,
dispersada tra la tota tera!"

5

E Iaue, ia desende.
per vide la site, e la tore.
ce la popla ia es construinte.

6

E Iaue, ia dise.
"Vide!
Los es un sola poplo.
e, los ave un sola lingua.
e, los ia pote fa esta!
Esta ora.
no cosa (ce los tenta fa). va es. impedida!

7

Veni!
Nos va desende.
e, nos va confusa se lingua.
per ce:
cada un (no va comprende) la otra un!"

8

E Iaue, ia dispersa los.
tra la tota tera.
e, los ia sesa (construi la site).

9

Per esta causa.
la loca, es clamada, Babel.
per ce,
Iaue, ia confusa la lingua.
de la tota tera.
e. da ala.
Iaue, ia disperse la popla.
tra la tota tera.

    
           
 
 
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