Audente

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Audente
Selôkon Audênti
selOkon audEnti
Pronunciation: /auˈdɛn.ti/
Spoken in: Audentior, Raynor Isles, Universalis, Hyperborea
Language extinction: Developed into the Audentic langauges by 1000 ASC
Region: Audentior
Total speakers: 30 million by 230 ASC
Langauge family:

Indo-Apollic
 Antyan
  South Antyan
   Audentic
    Audente

Offical status
Offical language in: Grace Kingdom, Audentior
Regulated by: TBA
Langauge codes
MIC 639-1: au
MIC 639-2: aud
MIC 639-3: aud
  Grammar
Determiners · Nouns · Pronouns
Adjectives · Prepositions · Adverbs
Verbs (conjugation · irregular verbs)


Audente (selôkon Audênti, pronounced [au'den'ti]), is an Indo-Apollic language that was spoken in the Grace Kingdom and the Audentior Independent Nation. It is the direct descendent of the Imperial Audente language, the language of the Audente Empire, having evolved from the local dialects in the Audentior province. It became the lingua franca of the Apollo Sector in the period before the collapse of the Second Audente Empire.

Contents

History

Audente is a member of the South Antyan branch of the Indo-Apollic languages, and as a result, is a descendant of the Imperial Audente language. It was the indigenous dialect of the Audentior province, and its standard was based on the Airosamente dialect. Essentially mutually intelligible with its parent language, it is a matter of historical accident that it became standardized. When the Audente Empire fell and split into the Grace Kingdom and the United Republic, the descendant dialects clamored for recognition, Audente was quickly adopted by the more conservative Grace Kingdom in order to appease the masses, desperate to get away from the ancient imperial regime. As it was a conservative dialect, standardizing the language proved to be particularly simple. One character was added to the Audente alphabet, ñ. Once the Grace Kingdom united with the United Republic, Audente quickly became the lingua franca of Apollonia, much like Imperial Audente beforehand. When the provinces finally splintered off, it remained in its prestige as a lingua franca, although it retained its status as official language only in its indigenous areas. Audente remained a lingua franca well after the collapse of the Second Audente Empire, being the offical language of the Apollo Confederacy and the Fifth Republic of Audentior, whose population consisted of mostly non-native speakers. Long after the language evolved into separate Audente language and other international langauges like Jasonian and Atteran were used, Audente remained the language of science and philosophy. While long dead, it remains today as a prestigious ancient tongue, much like Greek, Latin, or Sanskrit on the planet Earth.


Phonetic changes

Phonetic changes include:

  • ng, nk > ŋ (/ŋ/ was already an allophone of /n/ before velar plosives)
  • aː, eː > ɛ
  • > ɔ
  • w > β
  • Intervocalic ɸ and ɸ before r > β
  • Word final β > ɸ
  • The loss of distinctive vowel length
  • Assimilation of nasals to /l/ and /r/ (ml > ll, mr > rr, etc)

The loss of phonemic vowel length led to the loss of the use of the Imperial Audente letters â, î, and û. The characters ê and ô were kept for the still distinctive former long vowels. ( ɛ ɔ ) In addition, a new character ñ (Probably derived from the characters n + g) was constructed to represent the new phoneme ŋ.

Phonology

Consonants

Table of Audente consonants
Labial Dental Alveolar Post-
alveolar
Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n (ŋ)1
Stop p   b t̪   d̪ k   g
Affricate t͡s   d͡z
Fricative f   v θ s ʃ   ʒ x
Trill r
Approximant j
Lateral l
  1. [ŋ] is an allophone of /n/ before velars. In addition, velar-nasal consonant clusters neutralize to a geminated /ŋː/, phonemically /gn/.
  • The voiceless stops are never aspirated, unlike English.

Allophones

There are a couple of consonant phonemes that have allophones.

  • [ŋ] is an allophone of /n/ before velar consonants (/k/, /g/, /x/)
  • /θ/ and /x/ have voiced allophones intervocally. ([ð] and [ɣ]) The intervocal voiced allophone of /f/, [v], merged with /v/.
  • /x/ is [χ] in boundary with /r/.
  • /r/ has the following allophones in complementary distribution:
  1. [ʁ] after /x/,
  2. [ʀ] before /x/,
  3. [ɹ] after a consonant in a syllable onset,
  4. [r] elsewhere.

Vowels

Monophthongs

Front Back
Close i u
Close-mid e o
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a

The monophthongs are identical to that of Vulgar Latin. /ɛ/ is like the e in bet and /ɔ/ is like the aw in law. There is no phonemic vowel length in Audente. There is no phonemic distinction between long and short vowels. However, vowels in stressed syllables are long. Orthographically, when transliterated in the Latin alphabet, /ɛ/ is spelled ê, and /ɔ/ is spelled ô.

Diphthongs

There are four diphthongs in Audente; all of them are falling diphthongs. There are also two former diphthongs, /ei/ and /ou/, which while are normally monophthongized to /e/ or /ɛ/ and /o/ or /ɔ/, act as diphthongs in some phonological processes, such as sandhi.

i u
a ai au
e eu
o oi

Orthography

Audente has its own alphabet, to be developed later. Audente can be transliterated into the Latin alphabet - it is done so mostly on a one-to-one phoneme-to-grapheme basis, with the exception of the vowels /ɛ/ and /ɔ/. There are no silent letters.

Phoneme Grapheme
(Audente)
Grapheme
(Latin)
Grapheme
(Alternate
Latin)
Consonants
/p/ p p p
/b/ b b b
/t/ t t t
/d/ d d d
/k/ k k k
/g/ g g g
/t͡s/ c c ts
/d͡z/ z z dz
/ɸ/ f f f
/β/ v v w
/θ/ T þ th
/s/ s s s
/ʃ/ S š sh
/ʒ/ Z ž zh
/x/ x x kh
/m/ m m m
/n/ n n n
/ŋ/ N ñ ng
/l/ l l l
/ɹ/ v r r
/j/ j j y
Vowels
/i/ i i i
/u/ u u u
/e/ e e e
/ɛ/ E ê ei
/ɔ/ O ô ou
/o/ o o o
/a/ a a a

Morphology

Audente is a highly inflective language, very much so like latin and greek. There is a fairly free word order, but the default word order is SOV. The order of words is head-first. There is a definite article, but no indefinite article. Questions are formed by creating a statement as usual and placing the particle "cin" (pronounced /t͡sin/) after the verb. The adposition order is time-manner-place. Negatives are done by placing the article "uk" before the verb. Auxilary verbs are placed after the verb.

Sandhi

Audente has sandhi at internal word boundaries for both consonants and vowels.

Vowel Sandhi

Vowel sandhi change to remove hiatuses within the word. This may be done by creating a diphthong (which may have monophthized since Imperial Audente) or adding an approximant ([i] or [v] depending on the vowel) What the mutated sound becomes depends on whether the sound is at the beginning of word, or in the middle or end. The general rule is that front vowels' add a [j], and back vowels (including [a]) add a [v].

Vowel Sandhi - Word Initial

-i -e -a -o -u
i- ji- je- ja- jo- ju-
e- e- e- eja- ejo- eu-
a- ai- ai- ê- au- au-
o- oi- oi- ova- ô- o-
u- vi- ve- va- vo- vu-

Vowel Sandhi - Word Medial

-i -e -a -o -u
i- -i- -ije- -ija- -ijo- -iju-
e- -eji- -e- -eja- -ejo- -eu-
a- -ai- -ave- -ê- -avo- -au-
o- -oi- -ove- -ova- -ô- -o-
u- -uvi- -uve- -uva- -uvo- -u-

Vowel Sandhi - Word Final

The only differences in the sandhi compared to the word medial sandhi, is that [o] + [u] become [ô], and [e] + [i] become [ê].

Diphthong Sandhi

Diphthongs (and former diphthongs from Imperial Audente) work slightly differently when it comes across internal morpheme boundries; the semivowel part of the diphthong becomes an approximant; essentially, [i] -> [j] and [u] -> [v].

-i -e -a -o -u
e- (ei) -eji- -eje- -eja- -ejo- -eju-
eu- -evi- -eve- -eva- -evo- -evu-
ai- -aji- -aje- -aja- -ajo- -aju-
au- -avi- -ave- -ava- -avo- -avu-
oi- -oji- -oje- -oja- -ojo- -oju-
o- (ou) -ovi- -ove- -ova- -ovo- -ovu-

Consonantal Sandhi

While there are other sandhi, there is one basic rule for consonant modification at morpheme boundries, for the plosives and most fricatives:

  • When a plosive ([p] [b] [t] [d] [k] [g]) or fricative ([f] [þ] [x]) appear next to each other, the first assimilates to the characteristic (voice, friciative/plosive) of the second.
    • This applies fully to two stops. Fricatives are more complex. This applies fully to [þ] and [x] in the initial position. A root with a hidden [f] (which may be [v] intervocally] applies normally like the other main fricatives.
    • This rule does not apply to resonants.


Consonant Sandhi

-p -t -k -b -d -g -f -x -m -n -l -r -s -j -v
p- -pp- -pt- -pk- -bb- -bd- -bg- -ff- -fþ- -fx- -pš- -bž- -pm- -pn- -pñ- -pl -pr -ps- -pj- -pv-
t- -tp- -tt- -tk- -db- -dd- -dg- -þf- -þþ- -þx- -š- -ž- -tm- -tn- -tñ- -tl- -tr -c- -c- -tv-
k- -kp- -kt- -kk- -gb- -gd- -gg- -xf- -xþ- -xx- -kš- -gž- -km- -kn- -kñ- -kl- -kr- -ks- -kj- -kv-
b- -pp- -pt- -pk- -bb- -bd- -bg- -ff- -fþ- -fx- -pš- -bž- -bm- -bn- -bñ- -pl -pr -ps- -bj- -bv-
d- -tp- -tt- -tk- -db- -dd- -dg- -þf- -þþ- -þx- -š- -ž- -dm- -dn- -dñ- -tl- -tr -z- -z- -dv-
g- -kp- -kt- -kk- -gb- -gd- -gg- -xf- -xþ- -xx- -kš- -gž- -gm- -gn- -gñ- -kl- -kr- -ks- -gj- -gv-
f- -pp- -pt- -pk- -bb- -bd- -bg- -ff- -fþ- -fx- -pš- -bž- -vm- -vn- -vñ- -fl -fr -ps- -vj- -v-
þ- -tp- -tt- -tk- -db- -dd- -dg- -þf- -þþ- -þx- -š- -ž- -þm- -þn- -þñ- -þl- -þr -c- -c- -þv-
x- -kp- -kt- -kk- -gb- -gd- -gg- -xf- -xþ- -xx- -kš- -gž- -xm- -xn- -xñ- -xl- -xr- -ks- -xj- -xv-
š- -šp- -št- -šk- -žb- -žd- -žg- -ff- -þþ- -xx- -š- -ž- -šm- -šn- -šñ- -ll- -rr- -ss- -š- -šv-
ž- -šp- -št- -šk- -žb- -žd- -žg- -ff- -þþ- -xx- -š- -ž- -žm- -žn- -žñ- -ll- -rr- -ss- -ž- -žv-
m- -mp- -nt- -ñ- -mp- -nt- -ñ- -mp- -nt- -ñ- -š- -ž- -mm- -mm- -mm- -ll- -mbr- -s- -mj- -mv-
n- -mp- -nt- -ñ- -mp- -nt- -ñ- -mp- -nt- -ñ- -š- -ž- -nn- -nn- -nn- -ll- -ndr- -s- -nj- -nv-
ñ- -mp- -nt- -ñ- -mp- -nt- -ñ- -mp- -nt- -ñ- -š- -ž- -ñ- -ñ- -ñ- -ll- -ñgr- -s- -ñj- -ñv-
l- -lp- -lt- -lk- -lb- -ld- -lg- -lf- -lþ- -lx- -ll- -ll- -ll- -ll- -ll- -ll- -ll -ls- -ll- -lv-
r- -rp- -rt- -rk- -rb- -rd- -rg- -rf- -rþ- -rx- -rr- -rr- -rr- -rr- -rr- -ll- -ll -rs- -rr- -rv-
s- -sp- -st- -sk- -sp- -z- -sk- -sp- -st- -sk- -ss- -ss- -:m- -:n- -:ñ- -skl- -str- -ss- -š- -sv-

Nominal Declension

Audente nouns inflect into:

  • one of six cases: nominative, accusative, instrumental, dative, genitive, and vocative.
  • one of two grammatical classes, as opposed to grammatical gender: animate and inanimate. Grammatical class can be easily determined by the nominative singular form of a noun; if it ends with -as, -on, -is, or e, the noun is animate; if the noun ends in -am, -on, -i or -u, the noun is inanimate.
  • one of three numbers: singular, dual, and plural.

There are eight declensions; four for animate nouns, and four for inanimate nouns.

Animate Noun Declension

suvas, -as
water an.
atos, -os
sun an.
sevis, -is
blood an.
vipose, -e
eye an.
Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
Nominative suvas –as suvaus –aus suvai –ai atos –os atôs –ôs atoi –oi sevis –is seviju –iju sevê –ê vipose –e viposeus –eus viposê –ê
Vocative suve –e ato –o sevi –i viposê –ê
Accusative suvam –am suvis –is atôn –ôn atus –us sevi –i sevijes –ijes viposem –em viposis –is
Genitive suvar –ar suvais –ais suvalis –alis ator –or atois –ois atulis –ulis sevir –ir sevis –is sevelis –elis viposer –er viposês –ês viposelis –elis
Dative suvau –au suvavas –avas suvavan –avan atô –ô atovas –ovas atovan –ovan seviju –eju sevivas –ivas sevivam –ivam viposeu –eu viposevas –evas viposevan –evan
Instrumental suval –al atol –ol sevil –il viposel –el

Inanimate Noun Declension

kuþam, -am
axe in.
plêvon, -on
feather in.
koli, -i
farm in.
lamu, -u
land in.
Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
Nominative kuþam –am kuþalon –alon kuþa –a plêvon –on plêvolon –olon plêvôs –ôs koli –i kolilon –ilon kolija –ija lamu –u lamulon –ulon lamus –us
Vocative
Accusative
Genitive kuþar –ar kuþais –ais kuþalis –alis plêvor –or plêvois –ois plêvulis –ulis kolir –ir kolis –is kolelis –elis lamur –ur lamês –ês lamulis –ulis
Dative kuþau –au kuþavas –avas kuþavan –avan plêvô –ô plêvovas –ovas plêvovan –ovan koleju –eju kolivas –ivas kolivam –ivam lamevu –evu lamuvas –uvas lamuvan –uvan
Instrumental kuþal –al plêvol –ol kolil –il lamul –ul

Note that for inanimate nouns, the accusative and vocative are identical to the nominative.

Case Usage

Nominative

The nominative is used for the subject of a sentence, and also for predicate nominals.

Ê varnis mejanê mepal kêtof.
The boy loves to eat apples.

Accusative

The accusative case is used for the direct object.

Ê varnis mejanê mepal kêtof.
The boy loves to eat apples.

In addition, the instrumental case serves as an allative case (motion to) when used with prepositions.

Dative

The dative case is used for the indirect object.

Ê kašas an coxôn eus rakeuxô nezal.
The King gave the cup to the stranger.

In addition, the dative case serves as a locative case (spatial approximation) when used with prepositions.

Genitive

The genitive expresses possession: Ê sorile em kašar "the king's wife"

Instrumental

The instrumental expresses what an action is performed with.

Bêkrakas zeganon eus eto þrindô trigol razal.
Bêkrakas wrote a letter on the paper with ink.

In addition, the instrumental case serves as an ablative case (motion from) when used with prepositions.

The instrumental is also used to create adverbs.

Vocative

The vocative expresses the person (animal, object, etc.) being addressed. The vocative is identical to the nominative for inanimate nouns.

"Bêkrake, nagu nar!"
"Bêkrakas, come here!"

Adjectives and Adverbs

The Article

Audente only has a definite article; there is no indefinite article. The article has an irregular declenation, and must agree with the case, number, and animacy of the noun. The article always precedes its noun; e.g. Ê frengas (the man) The article is the prototypical demonstrative, and many of the demonstratives (as well as the personal pronouns) are derived from it.

Animate Inanimate
Sing. Dual Plur. Sing. Dual Plur.
Nominative ê aus ên oi us oin
Accusative an aus ena on us oina
Genitive em êm im ô umo omi
Dative eus eun enis ona ôs onus
Instrumental as eun enis osi ôs onus
Vocative el êli ak ul uli uk

Pronouns and Demonstratives

Personal Pronouns

First Person Second Person Third Person
Animate Inanimate
Sing. Dual Plur. Sing. Dual Plur. Sing. Dual Plur. Sing. Dual Plur.
Nominative taus noi kaus doi paus zên poi pus zoin
Accusative tan taus nus kan kaus dus pan paus zena pon pus zoina
Genitive tem têm nulos kem kêm dulos pem pêm zim pumo zomi
Dative teus teun novan keus keun dovan peus peun zenis pona pôs zonus
Instrumental tas teun novan kas keun dovan pas peun zenis posi pôs zonus

Demonstratives

There are two demonstratives, proximal (this) and distal (that).

Proximal Demonstrative

Animate Inanimate
Sing. Dual Plur. Sing. Dual Plur.
Nominative šê šaus šên šoi šus šoin
Accusative šan šaus šena šon šus šoina
Genitive šem šêm šim šô šumo šomi
Dative šeus šeun šenis šona šôs šonus
Instrumental šas šeun šenis šosi šôs šonus

Distal Demonstrative

Animate Inanimate
Sing. Dual Plur. Sing. Dual Plur.
Nominative žê žaus žên žoi žus žoin
Accusative žan žaus žena žon žus žoina
Genitive žem žêm žim žô žumo žomi
Dative žeus žeun ženis žona žôs žonus
Instrumental žas žeun ženis žosi žôs žonus

Interrogative/RelativeIndefinite Pronoun

These pronouns are related. The indefinite pronoun (someone, anyone) is derived from the relative pronoun (who?, what?) by the addition of a clitic, -te, and the interrogative pronoun (who? what?) uses the clitic -ci.

Relative Pronoun (who, what)

Animate Inanimate
Sing. Dual Plur. Sing. Dual Plur.
Nominative xaus xên xoi xus xoin
Accusative xan xaus xena xon xus xoina
Genitive xem xêm xim xumo xomi
Dative xeus xeun xenis xona xôs xonus
Instrumental xas xeun xenis xosi xôs xonus

Interrogative Pronoun (who?, what?)

Animate Inanimate
Sing. Dual Plur. Sing. Dual Plur.
Nominative xêci xaussi xêneci xoici xussi xoissi
Accusative xassi xaussi xenaci xossi xussi xoinaci
Genitive xessi xêssi xissi xôci xumoci xomici
Dative xeussi xeuneci xenissi xonaci xôssi xonussi
Instrumental xassi xeuneci xenissi xosici xôssi xonussi

Indefinite Pronoun (someone, anyone)

Animate Inanimate
Sing. Dual Plur. Sing. Dual Plur.
Nominative xête xauste xênte xoite xuste xointe
Accusative xante xauste xenate xonte xuste xoinate
Genitive xente xênte xinte xôte xumote xomite
Dative xeuste xeunte xeniste xonate xôste xonuste
Instrumental xaste xeunte xeniste xosite xôste xonuste

??? Pronoun

The demonstrative is used for something but I don't know what.

Animate Inanimate
Sing. Dual Plur. Sing. Dual Plur.
Nominative þê þaus þên þoi þus þoin
Accusative þan þaus þena þon þus þoina
Genitive þem þêm þim þô þumo þomi
Dative þeus þeun þenis þona þôs þonus
Instrumental þas þeun þenis þosi þôs þonus

Other pronouns and determiners

Prepositions

Audente has quite a few prepositions; however, a good many of them have multiple meanings. Prepositions govern the accusative, dative, and instrumental cases of the noun of the prepositional phrase. Some prepositions govern only a single case, but others govern can govern two or three; the preposition has different meanings depending on the case. The dative case signifies spacial approximation, the instrumental case signifies movement from or the marking the source, and the accusative case signifies movement to or marking the goal. There are some redundancies in the prepositions.

Audente Prepositions
Dative Only Prepositions
es at (same location as, temporal)
salu outside of, exterior to
Instrumental Only
ani instead of, rather than
aši from, out of, away from
cun with (accompanied by)
diþa during
maf within
mera across
nes before, in front of, ahead of (spatially)
teli because of, due to
piso behind, in back of, to the rear of
þu before, prior to, earlier than
zema without, lacking
Accusative Only
al to
ben for, in favor of, how long
nan towards, at (moving toward)
sen after (later than; in the future of)
teþa like, similar to
Instrumental-Accusative
Preposition Instrumental Accusative
pano over, above beyond, farther than, exceeding
daki under (locative), against under (motion toward)
dama through (spacial/means) through (owing to cause/person)
All Three Cases
Preposition Dative Instrumental Accusative
dan near, in addition to in the name of, from toward, looking to, purpose
er in (located inside of) in from into
eto on, upon (general relations) off, pertaining to onto, over
xara around (locative) about, concerning around (motion, actions)

Verbal Morphology

Audente Verbs inflect into:

  • one of four moods: indicative, imperative, subjunctive, and optative.
  • one of three voices: active, middle, and passive.
  • one of three persons: first, singular, and third.
  • one of two numbers: singular and plural.
  • one of three aspects: perfect, perfective, and imperfective.
  • one of seven tenses: present, perfect, aorist, imperfect, pluperfect, future, and future perfect.
  • There are also two non-finite forms: infinitive and participle, in present, perfect, aorist, and future forms.


Basics of Conjugation and Sandhi

The verb is, for the most part, very regular, with one genuine conjugation. The general pattern of the Audente verb is as follows:

  • augment + stem + affix + suffix

The augment primarily functions as a voice modifier, modifying the verb to either the middle voice or passive voice. The suffix of the verb is specific to the person, number, and mood of the verb. The affix, usually a single consonant but sometimes more, is specific to the tense and aspect of the verb.

The irregularity of the verb primarily is in the coda of the stem, and depends on the coda of the stem and the first letter of the affix used. The consonant clusters formed from the stem final and affix initial can change through sandhi, the results of which are shown in the following table.

Affix Initial
Stem Final - s- r- n-
-p -p(p)-1 -ps- -pr- -pn-
-t -t(t)-1 -c- -tr- -tn-
-k -k(k)-1 -ks- -kr- -kn-
-b -b- -ps- -pr- -bn-
-d -d- -z- -tr- -dn-
-g -g- -ks- -kr- -gn-
-f2 -v- -ps- -vr- -vn-
-þ- -c- -þr- -þn-
-x -x- -ks- -xr- -xn-
-l -l- -ls- -lr- -ll-
-r -r- -rs- -rr- -rn-
-s -r-, -s-3 -ss- -str- -sn-
-j -j- -(i)s-4 -(i)r-4 -(i)n-4
-v5 -j- -(u)s-6 -(u)r-6 -(u)n-6
-m -m- -ːs-6 -mbr- -mm-
-n -n- -ːs-6 -ndr- -nn-
  1. Consonant is geminated if previous vowel is historically short. (i.e. /a/, /e/, /o/, and sometimes /i/ or /u/) This can be shown in the present infinitive form of the verb.
  2. Historical *-f. this final stem consonant is never the value of /ɸ/ due to sound changes. It is put here only to differentiate it from *-v, the sandhi of which is different.
  3. stem becomes -r- when it is between two vowels.
  4. An i is added to create a diphthong with the preceding vowel if it is possible in these sandhi. That is, a + j = ai, o + j = oi, ô + j = ôi. Also, e + j = ê. Else, the coda is lost.
  5. Historical *-v, which was /w/ in Imperial Audente. Differs from historical /ɸ/ in the sandhi.
  6. An u is added to create a diphthong with the preceding vowel if it is possible in these sandhi. That is, a + v = au, e + v = eu, ê + v = êu. Also, o + v = ô. Else, the coda is lost.
  7. If there is a preceding vowel, it is historically lengthened. In Audente, this means that a or e is changed to ê, and o is changed to ô. Else, there is no change.

Conjugation tables

Copula

Derivational Morphology

Compound Words

Compound words are, for the most part left-branching. That is, the modifier comes before the head. The stem of the modifier is used as the affix to the compound word, while the suffix of the nominal In noun-noun and verb-noun compounds, the suffix of the created noun is that of its nominal head. For example, capon (bow) + vakos (person) = capvakos (archer, bowman).

Compounds, on the other hand, are right-branching, with the modifier coming after the nominal head: For example, vuvaros sôberos (northern wind), mejanis renêdi (red apple)

Nominalizers

Adjectivizers

Verbalizers

Syntax

Word order

Case usage

Noun phrases

Numbers

Comparative expressions

Prepositions

Tense usage

Infinitive

Tenses

Present Tense

The present tense can be used to express an action at the present, a state of being, or a habitual action at the present. It has an imperfective aspect.

Farsal.
It rains. / It is raining.

Perfect Tense

The perfect tense is a present tense with a perfect aspect. It is used to express action that has been completed with respect to the present.

Ê frengas an kašam malral.
The man has seen the king.

Aorist Tense

In the indicative mood, the aorist tense refers to a past action, in a general way or as a completed event, like the preterite in English. It may also be used to express a general statement in the present. In other moods - the subjunctive, optative, and imperative, the infinitive, and largely the participle, the aorist is purely aspectual. In these forms, it has no temporal meaning, and acts purely as an alternative to the other aspects; its aspect is perfective.

Ê varnis an jet xesau strôlsal.
The boy walked on the floor.

Imperfect Tense

Pluperfect Tense

Future Tense

Future Perfect Tense

Moods

Indicative

The indicative mood is the most common mood. It is used for factual statements and positive beliefs.

General truths of the word, such as philosophical truths, are expressed in a "gnomic tense" in the aorist indicative: Suvas zelli seral. "Water is wet."

Imperative

The imperative mood is used to express direct commands or requests. It is also used to express a prohibition, permission or any other kind of exhortation.


Subjunctive

The subjunctive mood is used to express certain counterfactual statements. It can only be expressed in the present, perfect, and aorist tense; these tenses lack a time component. Among the subjunctive's uses are exhortations, commands, expressions of purpose, and conditions.

The three most common independent uses of the subjunctive are:

  • Hortatory: The first person (usually plural) of the subjunctive is used in exhortations.

"Let us see!"
"Let us not do those things!"

  • Prohibitive: A negative command is expressed in the aorist subjunctive with ku:

"Do not do that!"

  • 'Deliberative: The first person of the subjunctive is used in questions in which a person asks himself what he is to do. The negative is ku.

The subjunctive is also used heavily in conditions and relative conditions, shown later on.

Future Vivid: When a hypothetical future case is stated distinctly and vividly (that is, as likely to occur) the subjunctive is used with ἐάν (also spelled ἄν or ἤν) in the protasis, the conditional (or if) clause, and the future indicative (or its equivalent) is used in the apodosis, the conclusion (or then) clause. The negative in the protasis is μή, in the apodosis, οὐ.

Present General: This type refers to a customary or repeated action or to a general truth. The time is indefinite.

Optative

The Optative mood is used to express wishes or hopes, and is closely related to the subjunctive mood. It is found in the present, future, future perfect, aorist, and perfect tenses.

Uses of the optative in independent clauses include:

  • Potential: Expresses a future possibility. This use corresponds to the English potential forms using auxilaries such as may, can, 'might, could, would.

Nagôi sas. "He may/might/could/wight come."

  • Wish: Or just the "Optative optative". A future wish is expressed by the optative; þira, if only, would that may be used with this construction. The negative is, as usual, ku.

Nagôi. / Þira nagôi. "May he come!" Ku nagôi. / Þira ku nagôi. "May he not come!"

The optative is also used in conditions:

  • Past General: For a customary or repeated action, or for a general truth in past time, use the optative in the protasis and (usually) the imperfect indicative in the apodosis.

Þi nagôi duxa, šês vredejalla. If (ever) anyone came, we (always) did/used to do/would do these things.

  • Future Less Vivid Conditions: When the future condition is stated less distinctly (that is, as less likely to occur) the optative is used in both clauses. Compare this with the English should-would condition: If I should go (or if I went, were to go), I would do these things.

Protatis: þi + Optative

Apodisis: Optative + sas

Þi naksôi, šês sas vrezôi. "If I should come, I would do these things."

Voices

Audente, unlike English, has three voices; the Active, Middle, and Passive. Voices are morphological, not synthetic.

Middle Voice

The middle voice is a voice in which the subject has characteristics of both the agent and the patient. It can be used reflexively, denoting that the subject acts on or for itself. To form the middle voice, add the augment zo- to the front of the verb.

Ê varnis zokêzal.
The boy washed himself.

Passive Voice

To form the passive voice, add the augment a- to the front of the verb. If the verb stem begins with a vowel, the augment modifies the vowel to ê if the stem vowel is a or e, or transformed into a diphthong ai- or au if the stem vowel is i-, o-', or u., respectively.

Passive voice construction, focusing on the object varn- (boy) as opposed to the subject duš- (shower):

Ê varnis as dušel akêzal.
The boy was washed by the shower.

Versus its active voice construction, focusing on the subject:

Ê duše an varni kêzal.
The shower washed the boy.

Subordinate clauses

Clitics

Negatives

The normal way to form the negative is to use the particle ku before the verb, or before the element particularly to be negated.

Ê alêxas an vanôn ku sol. The horse is not in the lake.

Questions

To form a yes-no question, use the particle cin after the verb, or to the element to be questioned:

Ê kašas an soranam reuþol cin? Does the King love the woman?

Ê kašas an soranam cin reuþol? Is it the woman the King loves?

Ê kašas cin an soranam reuþol? Is it the King who loves the woman?


There are also interrogative pronouns, used in a similar fashion to yes/no particle:

Ma an rada edemol vôrdel šam?
How was he able to read the books?

(???) The reflexive pronouns are placed at the end of a clause when used interrogatively:

Barekis tan mallageril kune?
Who has seen my brother?

Translations

The North Wind and the Sun

Ê Vuvaras sôberos vi Ê Atos

Ê Vuvaras sôberos vi ê Atos vikarejalla xis musit seral, eskros samasiveu tileksal xô panovori taru nakral.
Nis sêdolsalla še ê xas xis lapos zakalsal xô visaxôs em samasiver on panovori asuksaduval, nis ronatnal musik.
Þran ê Vuvaras sôberos vuksal raditit jezal, sel ê mažavi pês vuksal, tadap an samasivem peñ panovori pucal sañ bê;
vi telikol ê Vuvaras sôberos on dumalon saržêsal. Þran ê Atos divacal šê taril, vi an samasivem peñ panovori suksazal žattil.
Ner ê Vuvaras sôberos arikinsal pratiþ še ê Atos seral musik.


Word-by-word translation

Ê Vuvaras sôberos vi ê Atos vikarejalla xis musit seral, eskros samasiveu tileksal panovori taru nakral.
the.3S.nom wind.nom north.nom.a and the.3S.nom sun.nom dispute.3P.ipr which.nom strong.cmp be.cmp , when traveler.dat wrap.aor in cloak.acc warm.acc.i come.per .
The North Wind and the Sun were disputing which was the stronger, when a traveler came along wrapped in a warm cloak.
Nis sêdolsalla še ê xas xis lapos zakalsal visaxôs em samasiver on panovori asuksaduval, nis ronatnal musik.
pronoun.3P.nom.a agree.aor that.con the.1S.nom one.1S.nom who.adj.nom first.nom succeed.3S.aor in make.pp the.3S.gen traveler.gen the.3S.acc cloak.acc remove.3S.plu.pas , pronoun.3P.a consider.3S.fut strong.sup.
They agreed that the one who first succeeded in making the traveler take his cloak off should be considered stronger than the other.


Þran ê Vuvaras sôberos vuksal raditit jezal, sel ê mažavi pês vuksal, tadap an samasivem peñ panovori pucal sañ bê;
then the.nom wind.nom north.nom.a blow.3S.aor hard.comp can.3S.aor, but the.3S.nom more.nom pronoun.3S.nom.a blow.3S.aor , close.pos the.3S.acc traveler.acc pronounn.3P.gen.a cloak.acc fold.3S.aor around pronoun.3P.acc.a ;
Then the North Wind blew as hard as he could, but the more he blew the more closely did the traveler fold his cloak around him;


vi telikol ê Vuvaras sôberos on dumalon saržêsal. Þran ê Atos divacal šê taril, vi an samasivem peñ panovori suksazal žattil.
and finally the.nom wind.nom north.nom.a the.acc attempt.acc surrender.3S.aor . then the.nom sun.nom shine.aor out warmly, and the.3S.acc traveler.acc pronoun.3P.gen.a cloak.acc remove.3S.aor immediately .
and at last the North Wind gave up the attempt. Then the Sun shined out warmly, and immediately the traveler took off his cloak.
Ner ê Vuvaras sôberos arikinsal pratiþ še ê Atos seral musik.
thus the.nom wind.nom north.nom.a oblige.3S.aor.pas confess.inf.aor that.con the.3S.nom sun.nom the.3S.nom be.3S.aor strong.sup .
And so the North Wind was obliged to confess that the Sun was the stronger of the two.


Source