Orthography
|
‘
|
/ʔ/
|
Ł ł
|
/ɬ/
|
|
A a
|
/a/
|
M m
|
/m/
|
|
B b
|
/b/
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N n
|
/n/
|
|
D d
|
/d/
|
O o
|
/o/
|
|
E e
|
/ɛ/
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P p
|
/p/
|
|
G g
|
/g/
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R r
|
/r/
|
|
H h
|
/x/
|
S s
|
/s/
|
|
I i
|
/i/
|
Ş ş
|
/ʃ/
|
|
J j
|
/ʒ/
|
T t
|
/t/
|
|
K k
|
/k/
|
U u
|
/u/
|
|
L l
|
/l/
|
Z z
|
/z/
|
V v = /b͡β/
Verbs &
sentence structure
Sentences are generally organised Verb-Subject-Object,
although other structures, as long as the subject always comes before the
object, are permitted for certain structures.
Verbs are inflected for three tenses and for plurality of
its subjects and objects. The tenses are:
-
Standard – used for conventional descriptions of
events, generally those the speaker feels “attached” too
-
Aorist – used for impersonal descriptions of
events, in an unspecified time
-
Subjunctive – used for expressions with “that”,
e.g. “I know that you work at a
factory”), or in some cases with “who”, “what” or “which”
The infinitive, which also forms the general noun form of
each verb, almost always ends in “-oi”, for example “dikoi” – “to carry”:
|
|
Stn
|
Aor
|
Sub
|
|
Subj sing, obj sing
|
Diko
|
Diko’i
|
Dikoş
|
|
Subj plu, obj sing
|
Diku
|
Diku’i
|
Dikuş
|
|
Subj sing, obj plu
|
Dikau
|
Dika’u
|
Dikaş
|
|
Subj plu, obj plu
|
Dikai
|
Dika’i
|
Dikiş
|
The imperative form for the second-person is “dikom”, and
the first-person imperative is “dikot”. To show the expression “in order to”,
the form taken is “dikol”.
Past, future and conditional tenses are shown as adverbs,
coming before the noun – for example, “sa’” for the past tense, and “ni” for
the future.
Interrogative
sentences and articles
Unlike English, sentence order is not changed to show an
action being questioned – rather, the suffix “-ni” is added to the subject noun
in the sentence. For example:
-
Ubo volis – ready.stn.sing-plu ship = The ship
is ready
-
Ubo volisni – ready.stn.sing-plu ship.int = Is
the ship ready?
For the interrogative article “what”, the article “nei” is
used, and “jenei” for “who” – other interrogatives, such as “nela” (“why”), are
treated as adverbs.
Nouns
Nouns are generally indeclinable (with only a few exceptions
discussed below), but do each possess a “negative form”, ending in “-k” or
“-ik”, which applies to the object of a negative verb.
Simple adjectives
and adverbs
Adverbs always precede the verb in question.
Adjectives nearly all end in “-ş” or “-d”, and take “-şk” or
“-dik” with negative nouns. Adjectives of location, including prepositions,
come before the noun, but adjectives showing property or descriptions follow
the noun. Unlike nouns, adjectives can often take prepositional endings – for
example, “on behalf of …” = “-al”, “in the area of …” = “-ap”.
Possessive
adjectives and genitive nouns
Adjectives denoting possession derived from nouns are
generally formed by adding the article “sti” to the start of the possessed
noun.
Pronouns
-
I – Na
-
You (informal) – Kai
-
It (lowest form) – Uş
-
He/she (standard form) – Je
-
Highest form – Jos
-
We – Ta
-
You (formal) - Me
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