< Mirad Grammar
Determiners
- Determiners are words that specify or point out the context of nouns and other parts of speech. The English determiner this, for example, specifies a noun for its proximity to the current context.
Types of Determiners
- Determiners in Mirad fall into the following categories:
Types of Determiners TYPE ENGLISH EXAMPLES Quantitative more, less, very Numerical one, half, first Deictic the, this, some, every, which?, when Pronominal my, anybody's, one's own
- Furthermore, as for part of speech, determiners can be adjectives, pronouns, or adverbs. As adjectives, determiners can itemize or classify. As pronouns, they can refer to one or more persons (male or female) or things. As adverbs, they can specify time, place, degree, kind, age, frequency, and so forth.
Quantitative Determiners
- Quantitative determiners act in one of several ways, they:
- specify mass, uncountable, singular nouns for relative AMOUNT, eg. much happiness, less work
- specify countable nouns for relative NUMBER, eg. one apple, two birds, many places
- specify adverbs, adjectives, and verbs for relative DEGREE, eg. how poorly, very good, eat too much.
- From these, pronominalized quantitative determiners for PERSONS and THINGS can be derived.
- Inanimate singular pronouns are formed by adding s for AN AMOUNT OF A THING
- Inanimate plural pronouns are formed by adding si for A NUMBER OF THINGS
- Animate plural pronouns are formed by adding ti for A NUMBER OF PERSONS.
- The following table presents most of these word forms:
Quantitative Determiners ADVERB / ADJECTIVE SINGULAR INANIMATE PRONOUN PLURAL INANIMATE PRONOUN PLURAL ANIMATE PRONOUN DEGREE: How...(big / quickly)?
AMOUNT: How much...(money)?
NUMBER: How many...(books)?AMOUNT: How much...(+ STUFF)? NUMBER: How many...(+ THINGS)? NUMBER: How many...(+ PEOPLE)? ga....more gas....more (stuff) gasi....many (things) gati....many (people) ge....as, as much, as many ges....as much (stuff) gesi....as many (things) geti....as many people go....less, fewer gos....less (stuff) gosi....fewer (things) goti....fewer (people) gla....very, much, many
glay....so, so much, so manyglas....much (stuff)
glays....so much stuff)glasi....many (things)
glaysi....so many (things)glati....many (people)
glayti....so many (people)gle....rather, quite a lot, quite a few gles....quite a lot (of stuff) glesi....quite a lot (of things) qleti....quite a few (people) glo....slightly, a little, few glos....a little bit glosi....a few (things) gloti....few (people) gra....too, too much, too many gras....too much (stuff) grasi....too many (things) grati....too many (people) gre....enough gres....enough (stuff) gresi....enough (things) greti....enough (people) gro....insufficiently, too little, too few gros....too little grosi....too few groti....too few (people) gwa....most gwas....the most (stuff) gwasi....the most (things) gwati....most people gwe....just so (much/many) gwes....just so much gwesi....just so many gweti....just so many (people) gwo....least gwos....the least (stuff) gwosi....the least (number of) gwoti....the least number (of people) - Examples Using Quantitative Determiners
- Adverbs of degree modifying an adjective:
- At se gla iva.....I am very happy.
- Et sa gra uga.....You were too slow.
- Adverbs of Degree modifying another adverb:
- Twobi dale ge igay vyel toybi.....Men talk as fast as women.
- Yat yexe ga igay vyel yet.....We work faster (= more quickly) than you.
- Adjectives quantifying a singular mass noun:
- Ga nas efwo.....More money will be needed.
- Gra nas noxwa.....Too much money was spent.
- Adjectives quantifying a plural countable noun (= things or people):
- At ayse gro sari.....I've got too few tools.
- Gla tami osexwa.....Many houses were destroyed.
- Yat efe gla ga valdibuti.....We need many more policemen.
- Pronouns referring to a mass amount of something (= stuff):
- Gas ilokeye.....More (stuff) is leaking.
- Et dileye gras.....You are asking for too much (stuff).
- Yat kexo gwas.....We will seek as much (stuff) as possible.
- At iba gwes.....I received just the right amount.
- Pronouns referring to a countable number of things:
- Hisi se fia oy yat fe gasi.....These (items) are good but we want more (items).
- At teate drilari oy grosi.....I see pens, but too few.
- Pronouns referring to a countable number of people:
- Grati xaye vyosi be hia yexem.....Too many (people) have made mistakes at this work site.
- Glati dyunwe oy gloti kebiwe.....Many are called but few are chosen.
- Adverbs of degree modifying an adjective:
Numerical Determiners
- Numerical determiners are number words that modify nouns, such as one, fifty, a hundred. They are based on the cardinal numbers, which are explained here:
Cardinal Numerals
- The cardinal numerals are words used in counting. These words are based on the vowels of Mirad and are crucial to any hierarchical or scalar ordering of lexical concepts.
- The unit cardinal numbers are formed from the plain and pre-y-glided vowels:
Unit Cardinal Numbers 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 o a e i u yo ya ye yi yu zero one two three four five six seven eight nine
- The cardinal numerals 5-9 are pre-y-glided versions of the vowels that constitute 0-4.
Ordinal Vowels
- The cardinal numerals are used as ordinal vowels in word-building. An example is the the word mer (planet). Here, the cardinal numbers are added as a secondary ordinal vowel to the stem vowel to create the names of the planets in our solar system:
Planet names MONTH SECONDARY
ORDINAL
VOWELNUMERIC
VALUEmear....Mercury a 1 meer....Venus e 2 meir....Earth i 3 meur....Mars u 4 meyor....Jupiter yo 5 meyar....Saturn ya 6 meyer....Uranus ye 7 meyir....Pluto yi 8
- (See more on this in the section on Vocabulary Formation.
- The cardinal numerals are also used in counting, for example, at a sports countdown.
- The cardinal numerals are employed in reciting telephone numbers and addresses, for example:
- Ata yibdalar sag se 703-842-6190 (pronounced: ye-o-i-yi-u-e-ya-a-yu-o).....My telephone number is....
- At tambese 114 Maple Street. (pronouned: a-a-u Maple Street)
- They are further used in mathematical operations. For example:
- E gab e se u.....Two plus two is four.
Units
- To make the unit numerals more understandable in contexts such as counting, arithmetic, and telephone communications, the unit formant wa is added to them. The wa formant is added only when the unit numbers stand alone, not in conjunction with higher numerals, such as the teens, hundreds, etc. More importantly, the numbers 0-9, when used as adjectival numerical determiners modifying nouns, MUST take this wa formant (see the section below on Integral Numerical Determiners.
Unit Numerals with wa Formant 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 owa awa ewa iwa uwa yowa yawa yewa yiwa yuwa zero one two three four five six seven eight nine
Decades
- The decade formant l + o....zero is used to form the decades, seen below:
Decades with the -l- Formant 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 alo elo ilo ulo yolo yalo yelo yilo yulo ten twenty thirty forty fifty sixty seventy eighty ninety - By changing the o....zero in lo to other cardinal unit numerals, the numerals within decades can be generated as follows:
Decadal Counting alo elo ilo ulo yolo yalo yelo yilo yulo ala....11 ela....21 ila....31 ula....41 yola....51 yala....61 yela....71 yila....81 yula....91 ale....12 ele....22 ile....32 ule....42 yole....52 yale....62 yele....72 yile....82 yule....92 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... alyu....19 elyu....29 ilyu....39 ulyu....49 yolyu....59 yalyu....69 yelyu....79 yilyu....89 yulyu....99
Hundreds
- By adding the hundreds formant s, you get the hundreds:
Hundreds with the -s- Formant 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 aso eso iso uso yoso yaso yeso yiso yuso - All the numerals in-between the hundreds, can be generated by modifying the so ending, for example:
- asa....101
- asale....112
- usyulyu....199
Thousands
- The thousands are generated with the formant r:
- NOTE: The number categories starting with the thousands on up end in -o and are separated from the rest of a number by a space.
Thousands 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 aro ero iro uro yoro yaro yero yiro yuro
- aro....1,000
- aro a....1,001
- ero isi....2,300
- yoro yasula....5,641
Millions
- The millions are generated with the formant ml:
Millions with the -ml- Formant 1000,000 2000,000 3000,000 4000,000 5000,000 6000,000 7000,000 8000,000 9000,000 amlo emlo imlo umlo yomlo yamlo yemlo yimlo yumlo - emlo yala....2,000,051
- umlo esu....4,000,204
Billions
- The billions are generated with the formant mr;
Billions 1000,000,0000 2000,000,0000 3000,000,0000 4000,000,0000 5000,000,0000 6000,000,0000 7000,000,0000 8000,000,0000 9000,000,0000 amro emro imro umro yomro yamro yemro yimro yumro - imro emlo yoro asyula....three billion, two million, five thousand, one hundred fifty one
- iro asyulyo....3,195
- yamlo asyulyo....6,000,195
- alomro yelyomlo asyilyaro yusele....10,075,186,922
Trillions etc.
- The trillions are generated with the word garale, which means 10 to the positive power of 12 or 10+10.
- The trillionths are generated with the word gorale, which means 10 to the negative power of 12 or 10-10.
- iwa garale aoti....three trillion people
- uwa goraleni bi ha mor....three trillionths of the universe
- Even higher numbers are shown in the chart in the next section.
Overall Numbers Chart
- The following chart shows the entire Mirad number scheme:
RADICAL | CARDINAL ADJECTIVE | MULTIPLE PREFIX | ORDINAL ADJECTIVE | MULTIPLE ENTITY | MULTIPLE PERSON | MULTIPLE ADJECTIVE | MULTIPLE VERB | FRACTION NOUN | FRACTION PREFIX | FRACTION ADJECTIVE | FRACTION VERB |
o zero | owa zero | on- null-, non- | oa zeroth | oon nonentry | oot nonperson | onxer nullify | |||||
a one | awa one | an- uni-, mono- haplo-, singul- solo-, one- | aa first, primary | aon unit, monad | aot individual | aona unitary, haplo- | aonxer unify | ayn whole | ayn- holo- | ayna whole | aynxer integrate |
e two | ewa two | en- di-, du-,bi-, bin-, bis-, dupli-, diplo- dis- | ea second | eon pair, dyad, duplex | eot couple, duo, twin | eona double, two-fold, binary | eonxer double, duplicate | eyn half | eyn- semi-, demi-, half-. hemi- | eyna half | eynxer halve, cut in two |
i three | iwa three | in- tri-, triplo-, tris- | ia third, terciary | ion triple, triad | iot trio, threesome, triplet | iona triple, three-fold | ionxer triple, triplicate | iyn third | iyn- terci-, trient- ter-, tern- | iyna third | iynxer cut three way |
u four | uwa four | un- quadri-, tetra-, tetraplo- | ua fourth, quaternary | uon quartet, tetrad | uot quartet, foursome, quadruplet | uona four-fold, quadruple | uonxer quadruple | uyn quarter, fourth | uyn- quater-, quadrant- | uyna quarter | uynxer quarter, cut four ways |
yo five | yowa five | yoon- quinti- penta-, pentaplo- | yoa fifth | yoon quintet, pentad | yoot quintet fivesome, quintuplet | yoona five-fold, quintuple | yoonxer quintuple | yoyn fifth | yoyn- quinti- | yoyna fifth | yoynxer cut five ways |
ya six | yawa six | yaon- sexa- hexa- hexaplo- | yaa sixth | yaon sextet, hexad | yaot sextet, sextuple, sextuplet | yaona six-fold, sextant- | yaonxer sextuple | yayn sixth | yayn- sextant-, sext- | yayna sixth | yaynxer cut six ways |
ye seven | yewa seven | yeon- septa-, hepta- | yea seventh | yeon septet, hectad | yeot septet, septuple | yeona seven-fold septuple | yeonxer septuple | yeyn seventh | yeyn- septant- | yeyna seventh | yeynxer cut seven ways |
yi eight | yiwa eight | yion- octi-, octa-, octaplo- | yia eighth | yion octet, octad | yiot octet, octuplet, octuplet | yiona eight-fold, octuple | yionxer octuple | yiyn eighth | yiyn- octant- | yiyna eighth | yiynxer cut eight ways |
yu nine | yuva nine | yuon- novi- nona-, enneaplo- | yua ninth | yuon nonad | yuot nonet, nonuplet | yuona nine-fold | yuonxer nonuple | yuyn ninth | yuyn- nonant- novi- | yuyna ninth | yuynxer cut nine ways |
-l- tens | alo ten gara | alon- deci- deca- gara- | aloa tenth | alon decade | alot group of ten,decimvirate | alona ten-fold | alonxer multiply by ten | aloyn tenth | aloyn- deci- gora- | aloyna tenth | aloynxer decimate |
-s- hundreds | aso hundred gare | ason- hecto- gare- | asoa hundred | ason century, hundred-fold | asot hectad, group of a hundred | asona hundred-fold | asonxer multiply by a hundred | aoyn cent, percent hundredth | asoyn- centi- gore- | asoyna hundredth | asoynxer cut into hundredths |
-r- thousands | aro thousand gari | aron- kilo-, gari- | aroa thousandth | aron millennium, thousand-fold | arot group of a thousand | arona thousand-fold | aronxer multiply by a thousand | aroyn thousanth | aroyn- milli- gori- | aroyna thousanth | aroynxer cut into thousanths |
-ms- millions | amso million garya | amson- mega- garya- | amsoa millionth | amson million-fold, myriad | amsot myriad | amsona million-fold | amsonxer multiply by a million | amsoyn millionth | amsoyn- micro- gorya | amsoyna millionth | amsoynxer cut into millionths |
-mr- billions | amro billion garyu | amro- giga- garyu- | amroa billionth | amron billiion-fold | amrot group of a billion people | amrona billion-fold | amronxer multiply by a billion | amsoyn billionth | amroyn- peta- goryu | amroyna billionth | amroynxer cut into billionths |
garale trillion | garale- tera- | garalea trillionth | goralen a trillionth | gorale- pico- | |||||||
garalyo quadrillion | galalyo- peta | garalyoa quadrillionth | goralyon a quadrillionth | goralyo- femto- | |||||||
garalyi quintillion | garalyi- exa- | garalyia quintillionth | goralyin a quintillionth | goralyi- atto- | |||||||
garela sextillion | garela- zetta | garelaa sextillionth | gorelan a sextillionth | gorela- zepto- | |||||||
garelu septiliion | gaelu- yotta | garelua septillionth | gorelun a septillionth | gorelu- yocto- |
Integral Numerical Determiners
- Integral Numerical Determiners are adjectives based on whole numerals that modify a following noun.
- The unit integral numerals are combined with the formant wa to form the first ten numerical determiners that are used to quantify a noun. The noun following the numerical determiner is plural if the number is greater than one. The wa formant is used on unit numerals when they are stand-alone, not when they are part of a larger number. Unlike English, "zero" is followed by a singular noun.
Unit Integral Numerical Determiners owa tam awa tam ewa tami iwa tami uwa tami no/zero houses one house two houses three houses four houses yowa tami yawa tami yewa tami yiwa tami yuwa tami five houses six houses seven houses eight houses nine houses
- In a sequence of noun modifiers, the numerical determiner goes in the same place as in English, eg:
- Ata iwa gajaga twidi.......My three older brothers...
Numerical Determiners in Use Mirad English Wa Behavior Pluralization Behavior owa tam no houses, zero houses The numeral is a unit,
so wa is suffixed.The numeral is less than 2,
so the noun is singular.awa tam one house, a house " " ewa tami two houses " The numeral is greater than 2,
so the noun is plural.iwa tami three houses " " uwa tami four houses " " yowa tami five houses " " yawa tami six houses " " yewa tami seven houses " " yiwa tami eight houses " " yuwa tami nine houses " " alo tami ten houses The numeral is not a unit
so no wa is suffixed." ase tami a hundred two houses " " ero iwa tami two thousand three houses The numeral i is a unit,
so wa is suffixed." iro alo tami three thousand ten houses The numeral alo is not a unit,
so wa is not suffixed."
- Integral numerical determiners can be pronominalized as things and persons by suffixing s or t, respectively. These can, in turn, be pluralized by suffixing i. Furthermore, person pronouns can be feminized with a y before the t. The s suffix is short for sun....thing or suni....things. The t ending is short for aut....person or auti....persons. For example:
- Et ayse awa tam. At gey ayse awas (= awa sun).....You have one house. I have one too.
- At aysa alo dresari. Hij at ayse anay ewasi (= ewa suni).....I had ten pencils. Now I only have two.
- Esa asoti (= aso auti) yeb ha duzam.There were a hundred people in the concert hall.
- Yat yefe kebier eluyti (= elu auyti) bi huti.....We must choose twenty-four females from those people.
Ordinal Numerical Determiners
- Ordinal numerical determiners like first, second, etc. are formed from the cardinal numerals by adding the adjectival ending a to the cardinal numeral.
Ordinal Determiners Cardinal Numeral Ordinal Numerical Determiner o....zero oa....zeroth a....one aa....first e....two ea....second i....three ia....third alo....ten aloa....tenth asu....104 asua....104th garale....trillion garalea....trillionth
- The word nap....order can be inserted in these words to make them more comprehensible in speech:
- anapa....first, first in order, primary
- enapa....second, second in order, secondary
- inapa....third, third in order, tertiary
- alanapa....eleventh, eleventh in order
- There are other ordinal adjectives that are not based on numbers:
- ijna....initial, first, original
- ujna....last, final
- ajna....past, ex-, former, old
- ojna....future
- ejna....current, new, present
- jana....previous, last
- jona....next, following
- Ordinal numerical determiners and adjectives can be converted into adverbs by adding the suffix y to the adjectival counterparts:
Ordinal Adverbs Adjective Adverb aa....first aay....firstly anapa....first anapay....primarily ea....second eay....secondly ujna....last ujnay....finally
- Ordinal numerical determiners can be converted to animate pronouns (persons) with the suffix t and inanimate pronouns (things) with the suffix s. These, in turn, can be pluralized with the suffix i. The person pronouns can also be feminized.
- ha aas....the first thing
- ha aat....the first person
- ha aati....the first people
- hua aayt....that first female
- ha eas....the second thing
- eat....another / a second person
- ha ujnati so ha ijnati....the last shall be first
- Again, in the sequencing of stacked adjectival elements, the order is as in English, that is: <deictic or pronominal determiner> | <ordinal numerical determiner> | <cardinal numerical determiner> | <adjective>
- hua uwa aga tami....those four big houses
- ha aa alo oga tami....the first ten little houses
- ata anapa ewa oga toboti....my first two little children
Fractional Numerical Determiners
- Fractional numerical determiners like half and quarter are formed by adding -yn for those functioning as nouns, -yna for adjectives, -ynay for adverbs, or -yn for prefixes, to the respective cardinal number.
Fractional Numerical Determiners CARDINAL NUMERAL FRACTION AS NOUN AS ADJECTIVE AS ADVERB AS PREFIX AS VERB o....zero oyn....a void, vacuum oyna....non-existant -- oy(n)-....devoid of oynxer....annihilate a....one ayn....whole
ha ayn....the wholeayna....entire, whole aynay....entirely ay(n)-....holo-, whole-, all- aynxer....integrate e....two eyn....a half eyna....half eynay....halfway ey(n)-....half-, semi-, hemi-, demi- eynxer....halve i....three iyn....a third iyna....third iynay....by a third iy(n)-....terci- iynxer....cut in third u....four uyn....a quarter uyna....quarter uynay....quarterly uy(n)-....quadri- uynxer....quarter alo....ten aloyn....a tenth aloyna....tenth aloynay....by a tenth aloy(n)-....deci- aloynxer....decimate aso....hundred asoyn....hundredth, percent asoyna....hundredth asoynay....by a hundredth asoy(n)-....centi- asoynxer....cut by a hundred
- Here are some examples:
- His uxo ha oynxen bi yata mir.....This will cause the anihilation of our world.
- Ha ayna mir te ayv et.....The whole world knows about you.
- Has se gas ev ha ayn bi hasa goni.....It is more than the whole of its parts.
- Fransad se ayn-druna dalyen.....France is a holophrastic language.
- Et yafe bier eyn.....You can take half.
- Yat yefo eynxer eta yexnix.....We will have to halve your salary.
- Hus sa eyn-vyan.....That was a half-truth.
- Eso eyn-zyunida dropek.....There is going to be a hemispheric war.
- Duven his se eyn-utexea dopar?....Is this a semi-automatic weapon?
- Iynxu hua ableyavol.....Cut that pie in thirds.
- It yeyfe bixwer ay uynxwer.....He should be drawn and quartered.
- Hia nas se aloyn bi has yat aysa zojab.....This money is a tenth of what we had last year.
- Ha dep aloynxwu.....The army would be decimated.
- Ewa asoyni bi ha dityan baksa.....Two percent (=hundredths) of the citizenry got sick.
- Hia tom se anay asoynge aga vyel hua tom.....This building is only a hundredth as big as that building.
- The fractional adverbs can be used as in these examples:
- Et so aynay dudyefa av eta axi.....You will be wholly accountable for your actions.
- Iyt eynay tikabeloka.....She almost (=halfway) threw up.
- Words like half of it, a third of them:
- Eynas sa fia.....Half of it was good.
- Eynasi sa fua.....Half of them (things) were bad.
- Esa uwa tobi se hua fukyes. Eynati toja.....There were four people in that accident. Half (of them) died.
- Iynati bi yet se vyasa.....A third of you are right.
- Uynati bi yat yantexe.....A quarter of us agree.
- Alo asoynasi bi hia dyesi fyunxwa.....Ten percent of these books were ruined.
Multiplicative Numerical Determiners
- Multiplicative numerical determiners like double, triple can be formed by adding -on to the respective cardinal numeral if the numeral is monosyllabic, otherwise just -n. These noun forms can be adjectivized with the suffix -a. They can also serve as prefixes on animate nouns, inanimate nouns, and prefixes, as the following chart shows. The prefix ending, -n is often dropped.
Multiplicative Numerical Determiners CARDINAL NUMERAL MULTIPLE AS NOUN ...AS ADJECTIVE ...AS ADVERB ...AS PREFIX ...AS VERB-MAKER o....zero oon....null oona....nil on-....zero- onxer....cancel, zero out a....one aon....single aona....single aonay....singly an-....uni-/mono- anxer....unify e....two eon....twosome, double eona....double eonay....doubly en-....di-/bi- enxer....double i....three ion....threesome, triplet iona....triple ionay....triply in-....tri-- inxer....triple u....four uon....quartet uona....quadruple uonay....quadruply un-....quadri-/tetra- unxer....quadruple yo....five yoon....quintet yoona....quintuple yoonay....quintuply yoon-*....quinti-/penta- yoonxer*....quintuple ya....six yaon....sextet yaona....sextuple yaonay....sextuply yaon-*....sexi-/hexa- yaonxer*....sextuple alo....ten alon....decade alona....decadic alonay....by a multiple of ten alon-....deca- alonxer....multiply by ten aso....hundred ason....hundredfold asona....hundredfold asonay....by a hundredfold ason-....hecato- asonxer....multiply by a hundred
- * An extra o is added to these prefixes to avoid ambiguity with yan meaning together and yon meaning apart.
- The multiplicative noun dozen is expressed by aleon.
- Aleoni bi pati yizpapa.....Dozens of birds flew by.
- By adding the suffix -at to the noun multiple, we get groupings of people:
- aonat....solo, single
- aonatser....become single
- aonawat....singleton
- eonat....duo, pair, twosome, couple
- eonatser....couple up, copulate
- eonawat....twin
- ionat....trio, threesome, trinity
- Ionatin....Trinitarianism
- ionawati....triplets
- uonat....quartet, foursome
- uonawat....quadruplet
- yoonat....quintet, group of five people
- yoonawati....quintuplets
- yoonati....quintets
- By adding the suffix -un instead of -on, we get the following:
- aun....unit
- auna....unitary, individual
- aunser....unite
- aunyan....series
- aunyana....serial
- eun....pair
- euna....even, paired, binary
- oleuna....odd, non-binary, uneven, unpaired
- oleunat....odd man out
- eunxer....even out
- Some examples where the above multiple determiners and derivatives are used:
- Yat naptyoyapa be eonati yez ha mep.....We marched in twos (= pairs) down the street.
- Asonati upo bay yat bu is ovdal.....Hundreds (of people) will come with us to this protest.
- Hia ivxel xwe enyabay.....This celebration happens biennially.
- Iyt se untubokat.....She is a quadriplegic. (Lit: x 4+limb+loss+person)
- Diwe sagu ha auni.....Please count the units.
- Yet gafisa aronay!....You all have improved a thousandfold!
- Tob se entyoyaba sat.....Man is a bipedal creature.
- Note: Sometimes the multiple prefix ending in -on in the numbers below ten is shortened to -n in common words:
- anzyus....monocycle
- enzyus....bicycle
- ingun....triangle
- ungun....quadrangle
- Note: The prefixes for penta-/quinti- and hexa-/sext- must keep the -on so as to distinguish them from the prefixes yon....apart and yan....together.
- yoongona....quintipartite BUT: yonper....separate, go apart
- yaongun....hexagon BUT: yanuper....meet, come together
Metric Units
- Mirad uses the International System of Units|International System of Units (SI) for rendering measurement units. These symbols are pronounced as if you were spelling each letter out (see Mirad Grammar/Phonology and Orthography#Alphabet|the alphabet. Bear in mind that majuscules (uppercase letters are prefaced with the word ag- (big). Similarly, Greek letters are preceded by the word hel-.
SI base units ENGLISH
UNIT
NAMESYMBOLIC
ABBREVIATIONQUANTITY
UNITMIRAD
PRONUNCIATIONsecond s time so meter m length mi kilogram kg mass ki-ge ampere A electric current ag-a kelvin K thermodynamic temperature ag-ki Mole mol amount of substance mi-o-li candela cd luminous intensity ca-da
- The hyphen in the above "spelled out" words ensure that each syllable gets even stress.
- Here are SI derived units with special names and symbols:
SI derived units with special names and symbols ENGLISH
NAMESYMBOLIC
WRITTEN
ABBREVIATIONQUANTITY
UNITMIRAD
PRONUNCIATIONradian rad plane angle ro-a-da steradian sr solid angle so-ro hertz Hz frequency ag-he-zu newton N force, weight ag-ni pascal Pa pressure, stress ag-po-a joule J energy ag-ji watt W power ag-wu coulomb C electric charge ag-ca volt V electrical potential difference ag-vu farad F capacitance ag-fe ohm Ω electrical resistance ag-yo Siemens S electrical conductance ag-so Weber Wb magnetic flux ag-wu-ba tesla T magnetic flux density ag-to henry H inductance ag-he degree Celsius °C temperature nog-ag-ca lumen lm luminous flux li-mi lux lx illuminance li-xu becquerel Bq radioactivity aga-ba-ko gray Gy absorbed dose (of ionizing radiation) aga-ge-yu sievert Sv equivalent dose (of ionizing radiation) aga-so-vu katal kat catalytic activity ki-a-to byte b 8 bits of information ba
- Also, here are some non-SI units that are very convenient and acceptable:
Convenient non-SI units ENGLISH
NAMESYMBOLIC
WRITTEN
ABBREVIATIONQUANTITY
UNITMIRAD
PRONUNCIATIONlitre L volume ag-lo or litr(i) hectare ha area he-a or hektar(i) ton t area to or ton(i) decibel dB loudness da-ba or decibel(i)
- The following chart shows how in Mirad to pronounce coherent derived unit formulae in terms of base units. Note that the backslash means per or divided by and is pronounced gol. The symbol x means times and is pronounced gal. The superscript number is a power and is pronounced gar plus the number (with -wa, if a unit number). The negative superscript number is pronounced gor plus the number (again, with -wa if a unit number). See Arithmetical Expressions for further information on these terms.
Examples of coherent derived units in terms of base units NAME SYMBOLIC
FORMULADERIVED
QUANTITYTYPICAL
SYMBOLMIRAD
PRONUNCIATIONsquare meter m2 area A mi-gar-ewa cubic meter m3 volume V mi-gar-iwa meter per second m/s speed, velocity v mi-gol-so meter per second squared m/s2 acceleration a m-gol-so-gar-ewa reciprocal meter m−1 wavenumber σ, ṽ mi-gor-awa vergence (optics) V, 1/f kilogram per cubic meter kg/m3 density ρ ki-ge-gol-mi-gar-iwa kilogram per square meter kg/m2 surface density ρA ki-ge-gol-mi-gar-ewa cubic meter per kilogram m3/kg specific volume v mi-gar-iwa-gol-ki-ge ampere per square meter A/m2 current density j ag-a-gol-mi-gar-ewa ampere per meter A/m magnetic field strength H ag-a-gol-mi mole per cubic meter mol/m3 concentration c mi-o-li-gol-mi-gar-iwa kilogram per cubic meter kg/m3 mass concentration ρ, γ ki-ge-gol-mi-gar-iwa candela per square meter cd/m2 luminance Lv ca-da-gol-mi-gar-ewa
- The SI has a whole list of prefixes that act as multipliers (macro) or dividers (micro) of the above and other measurement units. For example, a kilometer is a meter times a 1,000 (macro unit), whereas a millimeter is a meter divided by a 1,000 (micro unit). Sagon means byte, so garale-sagon is terabyte. This breaks down to 1012 bytes. Here is a table showing the Mirad macro and micro prefixes:
Scalar Metrics MACRO MICRO BASE
10US/UK NAME MIRAD PREFIX....SI PREFIX SI SYMBOL BASE
10(US/UK NAME) MIRAD PREFIX....SI PREFIX SI SYMBOL 1 one an- *... mono-, uni- 1/1 whole ayn-....holo-, uni- 2 two en-....bi- 1/2 half eyn-....demi-, di- 3 three in-....tri- 1/3 third iyn-....terci- 4 four un-....tetra- 1/4 fourth uyn-....quadri- 5 five yoon- *....penta- 1/5 fifth yoyn....quinti- 6 six yaon-....hexa- 1/6 sixth yayn....sexti- 7 seven yeon-....hepta- 1/7 seventh yeyn....septi- 8 eight yion....octo- 1/8 eighth yiyn....octi- 9 nine yuon....nona- 1/9 ninth yuyn....novi- 10 ten alo-....deca- da 1/10 tenth aloy-....deci- d 102 hundred aso-....hecto- ** h 10-2 hundredth asoy-....centi- c 103 thousand amso-....kilo- k 10-3 thousandth) amsoy-....milli- m 106 million amlo-....mega- M 10-6 millionth amloy-....micro- r 109 billion /milliard amro-....giga- G 10-9 billionth/ milliardth amroy-....nano- n 1012 trillion /billion garale-....tera- T 10-12 trillionth / billionth) gorale-....pico- p 1015 quadrillion)/ billiard garalyo-....peta- P 10-15 quadrillionth) / billiardth goralyo-....femto- f 1018 quintillion / trillion garalyu-....exa- E 10-18 quintillionth)/ trillionth goralyu....atto- a 1021 sextillion)/ trilliard garela-....zetta- Z 10-21 sextillionth / trilliardth gorela....zepto- z 1024 septillion)/ quadrillion garelu-....yotta- Y 10-27 septillionth / quadrillionth gorelu....yocto- y
- *Note: The -n or -on can sometimes be omitted in macro-prefixation, especially where there is no ambiguity. The -n (but NOT the -yn') in the micro prefixes can also sometimes be omitted.
- **Note: The gar (to a plus power) and gor (to a minus power) forms are alternatives for the numeric prefixes beyond 100. For example, billion (109) could be expressed as garyu-(ten) to the 9th power, while billionth could be expressed by goryu ((ten) to the minus 9th power). The prefix garya- is composed of the positive exponential operator gar (to the power of), followed by the number 6. The prefix gorale- is composed of the negative exponential operator gor (to the root of), followed by the number 12.
The macro and micro values can also be represented with abbreviated symbols, which can be pronounced in Mirad as spelled out alphabetics. Greek letter equivalents in Mirad are preceded by hel-. Upper case equivalents are preceded with ag-. Here is a table showing grams:
Kg Metrics With Abbreviated Symbols MACRO MICRO SYMBOL (EXPANSION) MIRAD PRONUNCIATION SYMBOL (EXPANSION) MIRAD PRONUNCIATION dag (decagram) da-a-ge (decigram) da-ge hg (hectogram) he-ge cg (centigram) ca-ge kg (kilogram) ko-ge mg (milligram mi-ge Mg (macrpgram) ag-mi-ge μg (microgram) hel-mi-ge Gg (gigagram) ag-ge-ge ng (nanogram) ni-ge Tg (teragram) ag-to-ge pg (picagram) po-ge Pg ( petagram) ag-po-ge fg (femtogram) fe-ge Eg (exagram) ag-e-ge ag (attogram) a-ge Zg (zettagram) ag-ze-ge zg (zeptogram) ze-ge Yg (yottagram) ag-yu-ge yg (yoctogram) yu-ge - The squared and cubed representations of the above are followed by gar ewa (squared) and gar iwa (cubed), respectively:
- 10 kg2....(pronounced as:) alo ko-ge gar ewa
- 12 mm3'....(pronounced as:) ale mi-mi gar iwa
Adverbial Determiners of Frequency
- There are two ways to form determiners of frequency:
- Using jod(i) meaning occasion(s), instance(s), time(s), or
- Using xag meaning frequency
- Here is a chart showing the most common frequency determiners:
Frequentative Determiners "JOD" METHOD "XAG" METHOD MEANING hogla jodi? hoxag? how often?, how many times? hagla jodi haxag as many times, as often hegla jodi hexag sometimes, on some occasions higla jodi hixag this often, this many times hugla jodi huxag that often, that many times, so many times huugla jodi huuxag so often, so many times hyogla jodi hyoxag never, on no occasion hyagla jodi hyaxag always, at all times hyegla jodi hyexag any number of times, however often hyigla jodi hyixag as often, the same number of times hyugla jodi hyuxag not as often, some other number of times ga jodi gaxag (vyel) more often (than) ge jodi gexag (vyel) as many times (as), as often (as) go jodi goxag (vyel) less often (than) gla jodi glaxag many times, often gle jodi glexag quite a few times, quite often glo jodi gloxag not so many times, seldom gra jodi graxag too often gre jodi grexag often enough gro jodi groxag too seldom gwa jodi gwaxag as often as possible, most often, most times gwe jodi gwexag an average number of times gwo jodi gwoxag least often, as seldom as possible owa jod -- never, at no time, zero times awa jod -- once, one time ewa jodi -- twice, two times iwa jodi -- thrice, three times alo jodi -- ten times - Examples:
- Hoxag et pe ha tayegoblut?....How often do you go to the barber?
- Hogla jodi et akaye hia ekun?....How many times have you won this game?
- At teataye hua dyezun iwa ey uwa jodi.....I have seen that film three or four times.
- At teataye has huugla jodi (or: huuxag) van at bokxeye.....I have seen it so many times that I am getting sick.
- Hus xwaye gaxag vyel et te.....That has happened more often than you know.
Arithmetical Expressions
- The following chart shows verbs from which are formed derivative words relating to mathematical operations:
Arthmetic Expressions VERB OPERATION PATIENT SUBJECT OPERATOR SIGN RESULT gaber....add gab....addition gabwas....addend gabeas....adder gab....plus, + gabsiyn....plus sign gabix....sum galer....multiply gal....multiplication galwas....multiplicand galeas....multiplier gal....times, x galsiyn....times sign galix....product garer....exponentiate, raise gar....power garwas....number being raised gareas....exponent gar....raised to the power of garsiyn....exponent garix....root gober....subtract gob....subtraction gobwas....subtrahend gobeas....subtractor gob....minus, - gobsiyn....minus sign gobix....difference goler....divide gol....division, fraction golwas....dividend goleas....divisor gol....divided by, ÷ golsiyn....division sign golix....quotient gorer....cut, uproot gor....cut, root gorwas....radicand goreas....radical gor....lowered to the power of, √ gorsiyn....radical sign gorix....root geler....equal gel....equation gelwas....thing being equated geleas....equator gel....equal to, as, like gelsiyn....equal sign gelix....equation results
- Examples of mathematical expressions:
- E gab e gele u.....Two plus two equals four.
- E gal i gele ya.....Two times three equals six.
- I gar e gele yu.....Three to the second power equals nine.
- E gob e gele o.....Two minus two equals zero.
- Yu gol i gele i.....Nine divided by three equals three.
- Yu gor i gele i.....Nine cubed equals three.
- Aso gor e gele alo.....One hundred squared equals ten.
Decimal Expressions
- Decimal expressions like 2.5 use the word nod....point as in English.
- Hia bavol kyinse ga vyel 10.8 (alo nod yiwa) ki-ge.....This tomato weighs more than 10.8 (ten point eight) kilograms.
Calendar Expressions
- The word for calendar is judar. The sections below explain how calendar expressions are formed and used:
Basic Calendar Units
- Time is divided using the following basic terms:
Calendar Units MIRAD ENGLISH job time jab year jeb season jib month jub day jwob hour jwab minute jweb second
- Other calendar units are formed through the agglutination of numerical stubs to some of the time units above:
Other Calendar Units MIRAD ENGLISH NUMERICAL FORMULA rojab millenium year x 1,000 sojab century year x 100 lojab decade year x 10 eynjab half year year x 1/2 uynjab quarter year x 1/4 yajib semester month x 6 yejub week day x 7 yejubuj weekend day x 7 end eynjwob half hour hour x 1/2
- This, next, last, etc. are expressed as follows:
Day Pointers MIRAD ENGLISH hijub
hia yejub
hijabtoday
this week
this yearzojub
ha jana yejub
zajabyesterday
last week
last yearzajub
ha jona yejub
zajabtomorrow
next week
next yearhujub
hua yejub
hujabthat day
that week
that yearjazojub
ja ewa yejubi
jazojabthe day before yesterday
two weeks ago
the year before lastjozajub
jo ewa yejubi
jozajabthe day after tomorrow
two weeks from now
the year after next
Seasons of the Year
- Seasons of the year are expressed by internally scalarizing the word for season jeb:
Seasons of the Year MIRAD ENGLISH jeab spring jeeb summer jeib autumn, Fall jeub winter
- Examples of usage:
- be jeab....in spring
- ja jeeb....before summer
- ju jeib....until autumn
- ji jeub....since winter
- je ha jeb....during the season
- ub ha uj bi jeeb....toward the end of summer
- eb jeab ay jeeb....between spring and summer
- jeeba gemoj....vernal equinox
- jeiba fayebi....autumn leaves
- jeba til....seasonal drink
- jeubyena jebmalyen....wintry climate
- jeabyena malyen....spring-like weather
- jeuben....hibernation
Months of the Year
- Months of the year are expressed by internally scalarizing the word for month jib:
Months of the Year MIRAD ENGLISH jiab January jieb February jiib March jiub April jiyob May jiyab June jiyeb July jiyib August jiyub September jilob October jilab November jileb December
- Some expressions using the months:
- be jilob....in October
- ja jiyab....before June
- ja zajiyeb....by next July
- hijib....this month
- zojib....last month
- zajib....next month
- bi-jib-bu-jiba jobnis....month-to-month rent
- jibay....monthly
- jibi joy....months later
- jiba sindryen....monthly magazine
- hujiba jobnis....that month's rent
- hya ionjib....every trimester
- jiber....menstruate
Days of the Week
- Days of the week are expressed by internally scalarizing the word for day jub:
Days of the Week MIRAD ENGLISH juab Monday jueb Tuesday juib Wednesday juub Thursday juyob Friday juyab Saturday juyeb Sunday
- Here are some common terms relating to days of the week:
Day Expressions MIRAD ENGLISH hojub? which day hajub hu... the day that... hejub someday hijub today hujub that day hyijub (on) the same day hyajub every day hyejub any day zajub yesterday zojub tomorrow ha jajub
be ha jana jubthe day before, (on) the previous day ha jojub
be ha jona jubthe day before, (on) the previous day jazojub the day before yesterday jozajub the day after tomorrow hya ea jub every other/second day hyajub boy juyeb every day except Sunday
- Examples of Usage:
- be juyob....on Friday
- ju juib....until Wednesday
- ji zojub....since yesterday
- lojo jubuj....by [Lit: not after] day's end
- jo zajub....after tomorrow
- je ha jub....during the day
- bi juab bu juub....from Monday to Friday
Parts of the Day
- Here are the principal parts of a day:
DAYTIME | NIGHTTIME |
---|---|
maj....daytime, day | moj....nighttime, night |
bi maj....A.M. | bi moj....P.M. |
jamajij....pre-dawn | jamojij....pre-dusk |
majij....daybreak, dawn | mojij....dusk |
amaryap....sunrise, sunup | amaryop....sunset, sundown |
jwamaj....morning zajwamaj....tomorrow morning hijwamaj....this morning zojwamaj....yesterday morning hujwamaj....that morning hyajwamaj....every morning | jwamoj....evening zajwamoj....tomorrow evening hijwamoj....this evening zojwamoj....yesterday evening hujwamoj....that evening hyajwamoj....every evening |
zemaj....noon | zemoj....midnight |
jozemaj....afternoon | jozemoj....after midnight |
majuj....day's end | jwomoj....late night |
- Examples of Usage:
- At tijpa ja majij.....I woke up before dawn.
- At iyfe tuyjer be ha jwoa joeymaj.....I like to nap in the late afternoon.
- It yexe bi amaryap bu amaryop.....He works from sunup to sundown.
- Be gwa jwamoji, at teaxe sinibar.....Most evenings, I watch television.
Expressing Dates
- The following is a how a date (jud) is normally expressed:
- be juab, 11 jieb 2018 joK.....on Monday, February 11th, 1918 A.D.
- A date like 2018 can be expressed as twenty eighteen (elo alyi) or two thousand eighteen (ero alyi).
- The day in the above expression is pronounced ali.
- The year is pronounced elo alyi (like English twenty eighteen).
- The acronym for B.C. is jaK, short for ja Krist (before Christ).
- The acronym for A.D. is joK, short for jo Krist (after Christ).
- Other date expressions follow:
- be ha 1800 jabi (alyi aso jabi)....In the 1800's (eighteen hundreds)
- ja ha 20a (eloa) asojab....before the 20th (twentieth) century
- eb 1920 (yulo elo) ay 2001 (elo awa)....between 1920 (nineteen twenty) and (two thousand one)
- hyaje hua alojab....throughout that decade
- At yexa hum je gla jabi.....I worked there for [Lit: during] many years.
- Ujbu his lojo jiyab.....Finish this by [Lit: not after] May.
- Iyt so him ub ha uj bi 2 (ewa) jiab.....She will be here toward the end of January 2nd.
Telling Time
- Clock time expressions use mostly the word jwob (hour) or jwobi (hours).
- The usual time-of-day question is Se hojwob?....What time is it? [Lit: is what-hour?]
- The typical answer is in the format Se aa/ea....jwob gab/gob alo/ali....bi maj/moj. (Lit: (It) is (the) first/second....hour plus/minus ten/eleven...of day/night.
- Here are some typical answers:
- Se aa jwob.....It is one o'clock. [Lit: It is (the) first hour.] [NOTE: The article "the" is left unexpressed.]
- Se ea jwob.....It is two o'clock. [Lit: It is (the) second hour.]
- Se alea jwob.....It is twelve o'clock. [Lit: It is (the) twelfth hour.]
- Se ia jwob bi maj*.....It is three o'clock A.M. [Lit: It is third hour of daytime.]
- Se aloa jwob bi moj**.....It is ten o'clock P.M. [Lit: It is tenth hour of nighttime.]
- * bi maj (a.m.) can be abbreviated as bma
- ** bi moj (p.m.) can be abbreviated as bmo
- Se ua jwob (gab) alo.....It is four ten..... [Lit: It is fourth hour (plus) ten.]
- Se iloa jwob gob ali.....It is thirteen minutes til three. [Lit: It is thirteenth hour minus thirteen.]
- Se yoa jwobi gab uyn.....It is quarter after five. [Lit: It is fifth hour plus a quarter.]
- Se yoa jwobi gob uyn.....It is quarter past five. [Lit: It is fifth hour minus a quarter.]
- Se yaa jwobi gab eyn.....It is six thirty. [Lit: It is sixth hour plus a half.]
- Se yaa jwobi gab ilo.....It is six thirty. [Lit: It is sixth hour plus thirty.]
- Se yaa jwobi gob eyn.....It is thirty minutes til six. [Lit: It is sixth hour minus thirty.]
- Se yaa jwobi gob ilo.....It is thirty minutes til six. [Lit: It is sixth hour minus a half.]
- Se vyavay yea jwob gab alo bi moj.....It is exactly 7:10 P.M.. [Lit: It is exactly seventh hour plus ten of nighttime.]
- Et sa alo jwoa bey alo jwabi.....You were late by 10 minutes. [Lit: You were late by ten minutes.]
- Has ijo jub 5:30 (= yaa jwob gab ilo) bmo (= bi moj).....It will begin around 5:30 (= five thirty [Lit: five hours plus thirty]) p.m.
- Puu him loga jwoa ev 3 (= ia) j. (= jwob)....Get here no later than 3 (= three) o'clock.
- Ha yautpar puo hum yeb 10 jwabi.....The bus will arrive there within 10 minutes.
- Ha jwobar izeade 2:30 (= ea jwob gab ilo).....The clock says [Lit: indicates] 2:30.
- Yit pua be 3a j. be ha nod.....They arrived at 3 on the dot.
- Mirad normally uses a 24-hour clock system.
- Yanpu at be iloa jwob gab alyo.....Meet me at 13:15. (= 1:15 p.m.)
- The word jwob (hour, o'clock) can be abbreviated as j., as in the following:
- Yanpu at be 13a j.....Meet me at 13:00 (hours) [Lit: at (the) 13th h.]
- The word gab (plus) can be omitted, as in:
- At teato et be yoa j. alyo.....I'll see you at five fifteen (~ quarter) past five.
- Note the following clock time idioms:
Clock Idioms MIRAD ENGLISH jwa early jwe on time jwo late Se vyavay eloa jwob. It is exactly two o'clock. yub bi zemaj around noon ub zemoj toward midnight yeb be jwebi within seconds alo jwabi ja hij ten minutes ago (= before now) lojo 3a j. no later than / by 3 o'clock. jwobay hourly / by the hour / on the hour Hia pop efxe 2 1/2 (= ewa gab eyn) jwobi. This trip takes (Lit: necessitates) 2 1/2 hours. ju awa jwob bi hij until one hour from now ji zojub be 10a j. since yesterday at 10 o'clock. je ha jana 12 jwabi for the last 12 minutes ja / lojo 10a j. before / by 10 o'clock (= the tenth hour) lojo 10 jwobi. by / in / within 10 hours. jo 10a j. after 10 o'clock. jo 10 jwobi. after 10 hours / 10 hours later
Expressing Age
- Many expressions relating to age are built on the Mirad word for age: jag.
- The typical question is:
- Et se hojaga?....How old are you? (Lit. what-aged)
- A typical answer is:
- At se eli jaga.....I am twenty-three years old.
- The word jaga can be left understood:
- At se ilo.....I am thirty.
- The following chart shows other age expressions, many of which are agglutinations of the deictic prefixes beginning with h:
Age Expressions AGE hojaga?....how old? hajaga....of the age hejaga....of some age hijaga....this old hujaga....that old huujaga....so old jaga....old
jayga....oldishjoga....young
joyga....youngishgle jaga....rather old, oldish gla jaga....very old gra jaga....too old, super-aged gro jaga....under-aged, minor ge jaga....as old, of the same age awa jab jaga....one year old
awa jaga
awa jabewa jabi jaga....two years old
ewa jaga
ewa jabialo jabi jaga....ten years old
alo jaga
alo jabiga jaga vyel et....older than you ga joga vyel at....younger than me ge joga vyel iyt....as young as her ha gwa jagat bi ata tedetyan....the youngest of my siblings grojagat....a minor alojagat....a ten-year-old aloyjagat....a teenager jogat....a boy, a youth
joygat....a girlgrejat....an adult, someone of age
jagseat....an adolescent
jagsat....grownupyiloyjagat....an octogenarian asoyjagat....a centenarian
- Some other examples of usage:
- Et jagseye fi.....You are aging well.
- At voy jogseye hyegla.....I am not getting any younger.
- His se taam av ha jagati.....This is a home for the ederly.
- Egaku eta jogan!....Regain your youth!
- At se ga jaga vyel ha meybi.....I am as old as the hills.
- Teaxu ata gwa joga tobot.....Look at my youngest child.
- Yat ife yata awajagat.....We love our one-year-old.
- Jagseatan se yika joob bi tej.....Adolescence is a difficult period of life.
Money Expressions
- This section is currency-dependent and remains under construction.
Deictic Determiners
- Deictic determiners are words which point out or specify other words as to their context, including what grammarians often call demonstratives.
- Categories of adjectival, pronominal, and adverbial deictic determiners:
- Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns like this, that, those, that one
- The definite article the(which is really a kind of demonstrative, like those above.)
- Indefinite adjectives and pronouns like any, some, all, something, such, etc.
- Adverbs of time like when, now, ever
- Adverbs of place like there, here, somewhere
- Adverbs of manner like how, thus, somehow
- Adverbs of kind like so, age this year old
- Adverbs of direction like that way, any which way
- Adverbs of reason why?, for that reason, for no reason
- Adverbs of degree this (well), so (good), how (bad)
- Adverbs of frequency like how often, so often, never
- Adverbs of age like this old, how old?, of any age
Deictic Prefixes
- There is a whole set of deictic prefixes, which are joined to category stubs to derive adjectival, pronominal, and adverbial determiners.
Deictic Prefixes CATEGORY DEICTIC PREFIX INTERROGATIVE ho-...?....what? EXCLAMATORY hoo-...!....what a...! DEFINITE ha-....the INDEFINITE he-....some, a certain PROXIMAL hi-....this, these IMMEDIATE hii-....the following DISTAL hu-....that, those INTENSIVE huu-....such, so NEGATIVE hyo-....no, not any DISTRIBUTIVE hya-....every, all, each INDETERMINATE hye-....any, whatever IDENTICAL hyi-....the same, the very (Or: ge-) NON-IDENTICAL hyu-....the other, another, else (Or: oge-)
Category Stubs
- The table below shows word stubs that indicate the category of deictic expressions. They are called stubs, because they are part of a longer word that has been reduced. The combination of deictic prefixes and category stubs produce a matrix of deictic correlatives, seen later in this chapter. Use of the stub instead of the long form is a matter of optional economy. A few categories do not have stubs.
Category Stubs CATEGORY STUB
LONG FORMQUESTION WORD EXAMPLE PERSON -t
tob (person)hot?....who? THING -s
sun (thing)hos?....what? PLACE -m
nem (place)hom?....where? TIME -j
job (time)hoj?....when? MANNER -yen
byen (manner)hoyen?....how? KIND -yena
syena (of kind)hoyena?....what kind of? DEGREE -gla
nog (degree)hogla fi?....how well? COUNTABLE QUANTITY -gla
sag (number)hogla pati?....how many birds? MASS QUANTITY -gla
glan (amount)hogla mil?....how much water? FREQUENCY xag (frequency)
sag jodi (number of times)hoxag?....how often?
hogla jodi?....how many times?REASON -v
sav (reason)hov?....why? AGE jaga (of age) hojaga?....how old?
Adjectival Deictic Determiners
- Here is a table showing the deictic determiner prefixes attached to elements ending in -a to form various adjectival deictic determiners:
Adjectival Determiners ADJECTIVE
OF SELECTIONADJECTIVE
OF KINDADJECTIVE
OF POSSESSIONINTERROGATIVE hoa...?....which...? hoyena...?....what kind of...? hota?....whose? EXLAMATORY hooa...!....what a....! DEFINITE ha1....the hayena....the kind of hata....the one's INDEFINITE hea....some, a certain heyena....some kind of, a certain kind of heta....someone's PROXIMAL hia....this, these hiyena....this kind of, such (a), like this, like these hita....this one's IMMEDIATE hiia....the following hiiyena....the following kind of hiita....the following person's DISTAL hua....that, those huyena....that kind of, like that, like those, such huta....that one's INTENSIVE huua....such a, such huuyena....such a kind of huuta....such a person's NEGATIVE hyoa....not, not a, not any hyoyena....no kind of, no such hyota....nobody's DISTRIBUTIVE hya2....every, all, each hyayena....every kind of, all kinds of hyata....everybody's INDETERMINATE hyea....any, whatever hyeyena....any kind of, whatever kind of hyeta....anybody's IDENTICAL hyia....the same
ha gea....the samehyiyena....the same kind of
ha geyena....the same kind ofhyita....the same one's
ha geta....the same one'sNON-IDENTICAL hyua....another
ogea....another
ha ogea....the otherhyuyena....some other kind of
ogeyena....another kind of
ha ogeyena....the other kind ofhyuta....someone else's
ogeta....someone else's
ha ogeta....the other person's
- Note 1: The definite adjectival deictic determiner ha (actually, short for haa) is used as what is more commonly referred to as the definite article....the.
- Note 2: The determiner hya is a reduced form of hyaa.
- The pronominal deictic determiners can also incorporate gender in such a way that they refer to female or male persons specifically. This done by inserting the letter w before the characteristic vowel for males and the letter y after the characteristic vowel for females. Incorporating gender this way is relatively rare and only used in cases with the distinction is relative to the context:
- Hwita tam se ga aga.....This guy's house is bigger.
- At voy ayse huytia dyuni.....I don't have those women's names.
- Usage examples of deictic determiner adjectives derived from:
- Hoa tam se etas?....Which house is yours?
- Hoa tej et ayse!....What a life you have!
- Hoyena dyezuni ifxe et?....What kind of movies do you like?
- Hota tef okwa?....Whose hat was lost?
- Ha tob ta yata dyuni.....The man knew our names.
- Hayena dini at ife, et ufe.....The kind of stories I love, you hate.
- Hea mepi egdyunxwo.....Certain streets will be renamed.
- Heyena fukyes uxaye purnyan.....Some kind of accident has caused a traffic jam.
- Heta abtaf akwa be ha zatem......Someone's coat was found in the foyer.
- Hia dyes se ata gafias.....This book is my favorite.
- Hiia duni se yofwa.....The following words are prohibited.
- Hiiyena xeyen voy afwu.....The following sort of behavior would not be allowed.
- Hiyena xeyen voy vayafwo.....This type of behavior will not be tolerated.
- Hita tim so yovoza.....This person's room will be blue.
- Hua mas efwe egvozilbwer.....That wall needs to be repainted.
- Huua dini yufxe toboti.....Such stories scare children.
- Huyena duni yeyfwe yixwer za at.....Such words should not be used in front of me.
- Hwuta tam magseye.....That guy's house is on fire.
- Hyoa din se ga tesika.....No story is more important.
- Hyoyena tes tesiyafwe.....No such meaning can be inferred.
- Hyota jatexdras sa ga fia.....Nobody's plan is better.
- Hya mepi izpe Roma.....All roads lead to Rome.
- Hya tob yefe xer ita gon.....Every man must do his part.
- Hyayena telami ese be hia mep.....All manner of restaurants exist on this street.
- Hyata tej se uka bi yaobi.....Everyone's life is full of ups and downs.
- Hyaewa domi agsaye.....Both cities have grown.
- Hyea voz so fia.....Any color will be fine.
- Hyeyena til se aysyafwa.....Any kind of drink is available.
- Hyeta ved se ge ifa vyel atas.....Anyone's guess is as good as mine.
- Hyea tim et fe et yafe ayser.....Whatever room you want, you can have.
- Hyia/(Ha gea) fukyesi kyese glaxag.....The same accidents occur frequently.
- Hyiyena/(Ha geyena) dyezuni teaxuwa zajub.....The same kind of films were shown yesterday.
- Hyita/(Ha geta) dyun yixwa gajod.....The same person's name was used again.
- Hyua dyezun sa ifuyea.....The other movie was more entertaining.
- Hyuyena/(Ogeyena) som teasu ga fia.....Another kind of furniture would look better.
- Hyuta/(ogeta) texyen se ge fyia.....Someone else's opinion is equally valid.
- Hiytia dyuni voy dodraye.....These women's names have not be make public.
- Hwiitia dyuni voy dodrowe.....The following males' names will not be publicized.
- If the definite article or any other deictic determiner is omitted before a noun, then it has the effect of the English indefinite article a / an with a singular noun or some with a plural noun. For example:
- Yat tilia ha tilyeb bi vafil.....We drank the glass of wine., vs.
- Yat tilia tilyeb bi vafil.....We drank a glass of wine.
- Yat tilia ha tilyeb bi vafil.....We drank the glass of wine., vs.
- Yat tilia ha tilyebi bi vafil.....We drank the glasses of wine., vs.
- Yat tilia tilyebi bi vafil.....We drank (some) glasses of wine.
- Yat tilia ha tilyebi bi vafil.....We drank the glasses of wine., vs.
- Yat tilia awa tilyeb bi vafil.....We drank one glass of wine., vs.
- Yat tilia ha awa tilyeb bi vafil.....We drank the one glass of wine.
- Yat tilia awa tilyeb bi vafil.....We drank one glass of wine., vs.
- Yat tilia ewa tilyebi bi vafil.....We drank two glasses of wine., vs.
- Yat tilia ha ewa tilyebi bi vafil.....We drank the two glasses of wine., vs.
- Yat tilia hya ewa tilyebi bi vafil.....We drank both glasses of wine.
- Yat tilia ewa tilyebi bi vafil.....We drank two glasses of wine., vs.
- Yat tilia owa tilyeb bi vafil.....We drank no/zero glasses (=not a single glass) of wine.
- Yat tilia ea tilyeb bi vafil.....We drank another/a second glass of wine., vs.
- Yat tilia ha ea tilyeb bi vafil.....We drank the second glass of wine., vs.
- Yat tilia ea tilyebi bi vafil.....We drank second glasses of wine., vs.
- Yat tilia ha ea tilyebi bi vafil.....We drank the second glasses of wine.
- Yat tilia ea tilyeb bi vafil.....We drank another/a second glass of wine., vs.
- If an indefinite article sense is needed for clarity, the words awa (one) or hea (some, a certain) can be used, eg.:
- At igtease awa tob yiztyoyaber.....I glimpsed a man walk by.
- Hwit zoyupo hea juab.....He will come back on a / a certain / some Monday.
Pronominal Deictic Determiners
- The following chart shows deictic determiners used as pronouns. Note that the suffix -s (short for sun) is used pronouns referring to things, while -t (short for tob) is used for those referring to persons. The suffix -i pluralized either of these. The distinction between a form like what? and a selective form like which? is made by using the full adjectival form (with -a-) in the selective forms. So, for example, hot? is who?, but hoat? is which one? (referring to a person). The determiners referring to persons can optionally be made specifically male with the insertion of the letter w before the stem vowel or specifically female with the insertion of the letter y before the stem-ending t:
Pronominal Deictic Determiners PRONOUNS THING
THINGSSELECTIVE THING
SELECTIVE THINGSSELECTIVE PERSON
SELECTIVE PERSONSPERSON
PERSONSPERSON'S THING
PERSON'S THINGSINTERROGATIVE hos?....what (thing)?
hosi?....what (things)?hoas?....which one?
hoasi?....which ones?hoat?....which person??
hwoat?....which man?
hoayt?....which woman?
hoati?....which people?
hwoati?....which men?
hoayti?....which women?hot?....who?, whom?
hwot?....who?, whom?
hoyt....who?
hoti?....who?, whom?
hwoti?....who?, whom?
hoyti?....who?, whom?hotas?....whose (thing)?
hwotas?....whose
hoytas?....whose?
hotasi?....whose (things)?
hwotasi?....whose?
hoytasi?....whose?DEFINITE has....it, the thing
hasi....they, them, the thingshaas....the one
haasi....the oneshaat....the one
hwaat....the male one
haayt....the female one
haasi....the ones
hwaasi....the male ones
haaysi....the female oneshat....the person, he, him
hwat....he, him
hayt....she, her
hati....the persons, they, them
hwati....the males, they, them
hayti....the females, they, themhatas....whose? (thing)
hwatas....whose
haytas....whose
hatasi....whose )things)
hwatasi....whose
haytasi....whoseINDEFINITE hes....something
hesi....some (things)heas....a certain one
heasi....certain onesheat....a certain one
hweat....a certain male
heayt....a certain female
heati....certain ones
hweati....some males
heayti....some femaleshet....someone
hwet....some male
heyt....some female
heti....some (people)
hweti....some males
heyti....some femaleshetas....someone's
hwetas....some male's
heytas....some female's
hetasi....some people's
hwetasi....some males'
heytasi....some females'PROXIMAL his....this
hisi....thesehias....this one
-
hiasi....thesehiat....this one
hwiat....this one
hiayt....this one
hiati....these ones
hwiati....these of the males
hiayti....these of the femaleshit....this person
hwit....he, him
hiyt....she, her
hiti....these people, they, them
hwiti....these males
hiyti....these femaleshitas....this person's, his
hwitas....this male's
hiytas....this female's
hitasi....this person's (things), theirs
hwitasi....this man's
hiytasi....this woman'IMMEDIATE hiis....the following
hiisi....the following (things)hiias....the following one
hiiasi....the following oneshiiat....the following person
hwiiat....the following male
hiiayt....the following female
hiiati....the following ones
hwiiati....the following males
hiiayti....the following femaleshiit....the following person
hwiit....the following male
hiiyt....the following female
hiiti....the following (people)
hwiiti....the following males
hiiyti....the following femaleshiitas....the following person's (thing)
hwiitas....the following male's
hiiytas....the following female's
hiitasi....the following person's (things)
hwiitasi....the following male's
hiiytasi....the following female'sDISTAL hus....that
husi....thosehuas....that one
huasi....thosehuat....that one
hwuat....that one of the males
huayt....that one of the females
huati....those people, they
hwuati....those males
huayti....those femaleshut....that person, he, him
hwut....that guy, he, him
huyt....that female, she, her
huti....those people, they, them
hwuti....those males
huyti....those femaleshutas....that person's, his
hwutas....his
huytas....hers
hutasi....that person's (things), his
hwutasi....his
huytasi....hersINTENSIVE huus....such, such a thing
huusi....such thingshuuas....such a one
huuasi....such oneshuuat....such a person
(rare)
(rare)
huuati....such people
(rare)
(rare)huut....such a person
hwuut....such a male
huuyt....such a female
huuti....such people
hwuuti....such males
huuyti....such femaleshuutas....such a person's
(rare)
(rare)
huutasi....such people's (things)
(rare>
(rare)NEGATIVE hyos....nothing
hyosi....nonehyoas....not a one
hyoasi....nonehyoat....not a one
hyoati....nonehyot....nobody
hywot....no male
hyoyt....no female
hyoti....no people
hywoti....no males
hyoyti....no femaleshyotas....nobody's
hyotasi....nobody's (things)DISTRIBUTIVE hyas....everything, all
hyasi....all thingshyaas....each one
hyaasi....all of themhyaat....each one
hyaati....all of themhyat....everyone
hywat....every male
hyayt....every female
hyati....all (people)
hywati....all males
hyayti....all femaleshyatas....everyone's
hyatasi....everyone's (things)INDETERMINATE hyes....anything, whatever
hyesi....anyhyeas....whatever one
hyeasi....any of themhyeat....whichever one
hyeati....whichever oneshyet....anyone
hywet....any male
hyeyt....any female
hyeti....whoever
hyweti....whichever males
hyeyti....whichever femaleshyetas....whoever's
hyetasi....anybody's (things)IDENTICAL hyis....the same thing
hyisi....the same thingshyis....the same one
hyiasi....the same oneshyiat....the same one
hyiati....the same onehyit....the same person
hywit....the same guy
hyiyt....the same woman
hyiti....the same people
hywiti....the same men
hyiyti....the same womenhyitas....the same person's
hyitasi....the same person's (things)NON-IDENTICAL hyus....something else
hyusi....other thingshyuas....the other one
hyuasi....the other oneshyuat....the other one
hyuati....the othershyut....someone else
hywut....the other guy
hyuyt....the other woman
hyuti....others
hywuti....the other guys
hyuyti....the other womenhyutas....someone else's
hyutasi....someone else's (things)
- Here is a chart of pronominal deictic determiners of kind formed from the corresponding adjectival determiners of kind (eg. hoyena?....what kind of...?):
Pronominal Deictic Determiners of Kind KIND OF THING
KIND OF THINGSKIND OF PERSON
KIND OF PEOPLEINTERROGATIVE hoyenas?....what kind of thing?
hoyenasi?....what kind of things?hoyenat?....what kind of person?
hoyenati?....what kind of people?DEFINITE hayenas....the kind of thing
hayenasi....the kind of thingshayenat....the kind of person
hayenati....the kind of peopleINDEFINITE heyenas....some kind of thing
heyenasi....some kind of thingsheyenat....some kind of person
heyenati ....some kind of peoplePROXIMAL hiyenas....this kind of thing, such a thing
hiyenasi....these kinds of things, such thingshiyenat....this kind of person, such a person
hiyenati....these kinds of people, such peopleIMMEDIATE hiiyenas....the following kind of thing
hiiyenasi....the following kinds of thingshiiyenat....the following kind of person
hiiyenati....the following kinds of peopleDISTAL huyenas....that kind of thing, such a thing
huyenasi....such things, such thingshuyenat....that kind of person, such a person
huyenati....those kind of people, such peopleINTENSIVE huuyenas....such a thing
huuyenasi....such kinds of thingshuuyenat....such a person
huuyenati....such kinds of peopleNEGATIVE hyoyenas....no such thing
hyoyenasi....no such thingshyoyenat....no such person
hyoyenati....no such peopleDISTRIBUTIVE hyayenas....every kind of thing
hyayenasi....all kinds of thingshyayenat....every kind of person
hyayenati....all kinds of peopleINDETERMINATE hyeyenas....any kind of thing
hyeyenasi....any kinds of thingshyeyenat....any kind of person
hyeyenati....any kinds of peopleIDENTICAL hyiyenas....the same kind of thing
hyiyenasi....the same kinds of thingshyiyenat....the same kind of person
hyiyenati....the same kinds of peopleNON-IDENTICAL hyuyenas....some other kind of thing
hyuyenasi....other kinds of thingshyuyenat....some other kind of person
hyuyenati....other kinds of people
- Any of the above animate deictic determiners can (though rarely) be made to refer specifically to males or females with the ending -wat or -wati for males and -ayt or -ayti for females. For example: any kind of males would be translated with hyeyenwati.....Every kind of female would be translated with hyayenayt.
Selective vs. Non-Selective Forms
- The pronominal deictic interrogative determiner hot? means who and contrasts with its selective counterpart hoat?, which means which one?. All the selective determiners refer to one or more things or persons from a selectable pool of things or persons.
- The following sentences illustrate the use of the above pronominal determiners:
- Hot aka zajuba ek?....Who won yesterday's game?
- Hoat bi ha akuti sa ha gwa fiat?....Which one of the winners was the best?
- Hota tam se hus?....Whose house is that?
- Hotas se hus?....Whose is that?
- Hotia deuzi et gaife?....Whose songs do you prefer?
- Hotias et gaife?....Whose do you prefer?
- Hos se eta dyun?....What is your name?
- Hosi se eta gaifuni?....What are your preferences?
- Hoa deuzi se eta gwafiasi?....Which songs are your best?
- Hoasi se eta gwafiasi?....Which ones are your best?
- Bi hia deuzuti, hoat et gafie?....Of these vocalists, which one do you prefer?
- Hiiti yaneko hijub.....The following people will compete today.
- Hoati se gwa fia?'....Which ones are best?
- Hoti et teexe gwa jodi?....Who (all) do you listen to the most often?
- Huat hu at teexe gwaxag draye ejna deuz.....The one I listen to the most has written a new song.
- Ejna deuz? At voy teste haas hu et tede.....New song? I don't understand which one you mean.
- Hias.....This one.
- Vo. Huasi se ga fia.....No. Those are better.
- His se jub av ivxelen.....This is a day for celebration.
- Va. Hia jub. At tese hijub.....Yes. This day. I mean To-day.
- Husi sa ha jubi, ata dat!....Those were the days, my friend!
- Hos se eta dyun?....What is your name?
- Hot aka ha igpek?....Who won the race?
- Hyas uja fi.....Everything ended well.
- Hyasi uje.....All things come to an end.
- Hyayenasi vey kyesu.....All sorts of things might happen.
- Hyos yoka at.....Nothing surprised me.
- Hyot ta adut hu ako.....Nobody knew who would win.
- Huaytihu fu pier yefe.....Those females who would like to leave may.
- Hyet yefe eker hia ifek.....Anyone can play this game.
- Huyenasi voy afwo.....Such things will not be permitted.
- Hua twob voy taxe hia toyb.....That man does not remember this woman.
- Huti yanyexe fi.....Those guys work well together.
- Huuyti hyaj yubixe tezex.....Such females always attract attention.
- At jay teataye hiyenasi.....I've seen such things before.
- Huyenwat voy vabiwu.....A man like that would not be accepted.
- Hoyenasi weti iyfe xer je ha maj.....What kinds of things do you guys like to do during the day?
Placement of Interrogative Deictic Determiners
- In a sequence of adjectives before a noun, deictic determiners go first, eg.:
- Hoa ewa oga nyefi bewe et?....Which two small bags belong to you?
- In interrogative sentences, the interrogative deictic determiner (question word) often starts out the sentence, as in English.
- Hos se eta dyun?....What is your name?
- Hot et teata aay hijub?....Who(m) did you see first today?
- Interrogative deictic determiners can also go at the end of sentence:
- Eta dyun se hos?....What is your name? Lit. Your name is what?
Number-incorporating Deictic Determiners
- Sometimes, a deictic determiner specifies numerical information. This chart shows those forms:
Number-incorporating Deictic Determiners ADJECTIVE INANIMATE PRONOUN ANIMATE PRONOUN PRONOMINAL DETERMINER POSSESSIVE PRONOUN hawa* the only hawas....the only thing
hawasi....the only thingshawat....the only one (person)
hawati....the only oneshawata....the only person's hawatas....the only one's
hawatasi....the only one's (things)hyawa* each hyawas....each one hyawat....each person hyawata....each person's hyawatas....each one's
hyawatasi....each one's (things)hyaewa....both hyaewasi....both (things) hyaewati....both (people) bi hyaewati....both person's has bi hyaewati....both person's
hasi bi hyaewati....both persone's (things)hyaiwa....all three hyaiwasi....all three (things) hyaiwati....all three (people) hyaiwata....all three person's has bi hyaiwati....all three person's
hasi bi hyaiwati....all three person's (things)ohyawa....not every ohyawas....not everything ohyawat....not everyone ohyawata....not every person's ohyawatas....not everyone's
ohyawatasi....not everyone's (things)hyoawa....not a single hyoawas....not a single thing hyoawat....not a single person hyowata....not a single person's hyowatas....not a single person's
hyowatasi....not a single person's (things)hyeawa....either hyeawas....either one hyeawat....either one (person) hyeawata....either one's hyeawatas....either one's
hyeawatasi....either one's (things)hyeewa....any two hyeewasi....any two things hyeewati....any two people bi hyeewati....any two person's has bi hyeewati....any two persons'
hasi bi hyeewati....any two persons' (things)hyeowa....neither hyeowas....neither one hyeowat....neither person hyeawata....neither person's hyeowatas....neither one's
hyeowatasi....neither one's (things)hyuawa....another hyuawas....another one hyuawat....another hyuawata....another's hyuawatas....another's
hyuawatasi....another's (things)hyuowa....no other hyuowas....nothing else hyuowat....nobody else hyuowata....no other's hyuowatas....no other's
hyuowatasi....no other's (things)
- *Hawa and hyawa are short for haawa and hyaawa, respectively.
- Examples using the above number-incorporating deictic determiners:
- Ohyawat se iva bay eta vaod.....Not everyone is happy with your decision.
- Hyaewasi yafwe uxer yata efi.....Both (things) can serve our needs.
- Hyeawa tim ivlaxo at.....Either room will satisfy me.
- Hyeowas oivlaxo at.....Neither one will dissatisfy me.
- Note: Hyua means the other, while hyuawa means another, eg.:
- At fu hyua til.....I would like the other drink., vs.
- At fu hyuawa til.....I would like another drink.
- Similarly, hya means every, all, while hyawa means each, eg.:
- Hya dom ayse tebixea suni teaxer.....Every city has interesting things to see.
- Hya domi ayse tebixuni.....All cities have things of interest.
- Hyawa dom ayse tebixun.....Each city has something of interest.
- Also, ha means the, while hawa means the only, eg.:
- Hawa twob nazea ata tezex se et.....The only man worth my attention is you.
- Ha twob hu at gwa ife se et.....The man I most love is you.
- By appending y to hawa, we get the adverb haway....only, solely, eg;
- Haway et nize ata tezex.....Only you deserve my attention..
- The singular person pronouns in the above chart can be converted into pronominal determiners by adding the adjective suffix a, eg.:
- Hyawata tej se ge glatesa vyel hyutas.....Each one's life is as important as another's.
- Hyeowata dyun se vyama.....Neither person's name is real.
- However, the plural person pronouns in the above chart use the preposition bi (of) to form possessives, eg.:
- Ha teji bi hyaiwati se kyebukuwa.....The lives of all three are in danger.
- The above singular pronominal determiners can, in turn, be converted into inanimate pronouns with the suffix -s.
- Hyawatas se glatesa.....Each one's is important.
- Hyeowatas se vyama.....Neither's is real.
- The plural pronominal determiners can be nominalized with the use of bi, eg:
- Hyaiwasi bi huti se kyebukuwa.....All three of theirs' are in danger.
- Correlative Number-incorporating Deictic Determiners are handled as follows:
- Hyeawa A ey B....either A or B
- Hyeowa A oy B....neither A nor B
- Hyaewa A ay B....both A and B
- Hawa A, voy B....only A, not B
Adverbial Deictic Determiners
- This tables shows a correlated set of pro-adverbs built through the agglutination of deictic prefixes and catetory stubs. This is not all-inclusive, because their are other similary-constructed pro-verbs relating to other categories.
Adverbial Deictic Determiners PRO-ADVERBS MANNER
(b)yenPLACE
(ne)mTIME
j(ob)DEGREE
nog ~ gla1REASON
savFREQUENCY
xagINTERROGATIVE hoyen?
how?, in what way?hom?
where?hoj?
when?honog? ~ hogla?
how?, to what degree?hosav?
why?hoxag?2
how often?DEFINITE hayen
the way, howham
the place, wherehaj
the time, whenhanog ~ hagla
as, to the degreehasav (hu)
for the reason (that), becausehaxag
as often (...as)INDEFINITE heyen
somehow, in some wayhem
somewherehej
sometimehenog ~ hegla
somewhathesav
for some reasonhexag
with some frequencyPROXIMAL hiyen
this way, sohim
herehij
nowhinog ~ higla
so, this, to this extenthisav
for this reason, hencehixag
this oftenIMMEDIATE hiiyen
in the following wayhiim
herebyhiij
here nowhiinog ~ hiigla
to the following extenthiisav
for the following reasonhiixag
as often as followsDISTAL huyen
that way, thushum
therehuj
thenhunog ~ hugla
so, that, to that extenthusav
for that reason, therefore, sohuxag
that oftenINTENSIVE huuyen
in such a way, so, thushuum
at such a placehuuj
at such a timehuunog ~ huugla
so, to such an extendhuusav
for such a reasonhuuxag
so oftenNEGATIVE hyoyen
in nowisehyom
nowherehyoj
neverhyonog ~ hyogla
not at allhyosav
for no reasonhyoxag
neverDISTRIBUTIVE hyayen
totally, in every wayhyam
everywherehyaj
alwayshyanog ~ hyagla
totallyhyasav
for every reasonhyaxag
alwaysINDETERMINATE hyeyen
anywayhyem
anywhere, whereverhyej
wheneverhyenog ~ hyegla
however, to any degreehyesav
for whatever reasonhyexag
with whatever frequencyIDENTICAL hyiyen3 (hu)
likewise, as, in the same way (that)hyim
at the same placehyij
at the same timehyinog ~ hyigla;
as, to the same extenthyisav
for the same reasonhyixag
as oftenNON-IDENTICAL hyuyen4
otherwisehyum
elsewherehyuj
some other timehyunog ~ hyugla
not ashyusav
for some other reasonhyuxag
not as often
- Note 1: -nog and -gla forms are synonymous, insofar as expressions of degree are concerned.
- Note 2 hoxag? and other frequency forms can be also expressed as hogla jodi?....how many times.
- Note 3 hyi- can be substituted by ge-.
- Note 4 hyu- can be substituted by oge-.
- The longer, expanded forms of pro-adverbs can be used at any time. For example:
- At egteato et hejob.....I will see you again sometime.
- Hosun se eta dyun?....What is your name?
- Et yeyfe axer hubyen.....You shouldn't act that way.
- It should be noted that all of these pro-adverb determiners, unless used as nouns, such as in the sentence Iyt iyfe him.....She likes this place (or) She likes it here., are really abbreviations of longer expressions with mostly the preposition be....at. For example, At tambeseya hum., meaning I used to live there. is ignoring the preposition be from the longer, more explicit version At tambeseya be hum., lit. I used to live at that-place. The proper preposition must be explicitly present if something other than be....at is meant. For example, from where? is expressed as bi hom? Similarly, up until then would be expressed as byu huj.
- Here are some examples of how adverbial determiners are used:
- Hom et tambese?....Where do you live? < Et tambese be HOa neM?....You live at what place.)
- At tame hum.....I live there.
- Et tame hum hu ha mep uje.....You live where the road ends.
- Hom weti peye?....Where are you guys going?
- Et yafe per hyem hu et fu.....You can go anywhere.
- Bi hom et se?....Where are you from?
- Hoj et taja?....When were you born?
- At voy tajaya huj.....I had not been born then.
- Et yeyfe duder hiiyen.....You should respond in the following way.
- Ot voy yefe daler huuyen.....One must not talk in such a manner.
- Et pia hesav.....He left for some reason.
- Hoyen et iyfe hia vafil?....How do like this wine?
- Voy se fia axer hiyen.....It is not good to act this way.
- Hosav et tadsa huunog jwa?....Why did you marry so late?
- Ha tob pia hyosav.....The man left for no reason.
- Hwat pia hasav hu it efa per hyum.....The guy left because( ~ [for] the reason that) he needed to go elsewhere.
- The different, somewhat confusing, meanings of how are illustrated here:
- Hoyen it xa hus?....How did he do that?.... (Equivalent to Be hoa byen...?....In what way...?) (ADVERB OF MANNER)
- Hoyen et xeye?....How are you doing?.... (This is the normal way of saying How are you? or How do you do? (ADVERB OF MANNER)
- Hoyena sa ha dyezun?.... How was the film?.... (How here is an ADJECTIVE OF KIND, and thus ends in -a.)
- Honog (= Hogla) aga it se?....How big is he?.... (ADVERB OF DEGREE)
- Huunog (= Huugla) iyfla et se!....How nice you are!.... (ADVERB OF EMPHATIC DEGREE)
- The conjunction as is expressed most often using pro-adverbs of manner:
- Xu hayen hu at de.....Do as I say. = (in) the way that...
- Xu hyiyen hu (or geyen hu) at xe.....Do as I do. = (in) the same way that...
- Xu hiiyen:....Do as follows: = (in) this hereby manner...
- However, the particle gel (like, as) can be substituted:
- Xu gel at de.....Do as I say.
- Many of the pro-adverb determiners in the above chart can be relativized by adding the relative marker hu after the base form, eg:
- At teaso et haj hu et puo him.....I will see you when you get here.
- It xa has hasav hu tosa yefa.....He did it because (for the reason that) he felt compelled.
- Hyem hu et po, et so ga iva.....Wherever you go, you'll be happier.
- See more about this in the section on relative clauses under Verbs.
Quantitative Deictic Determiners
- The deictic prefixes can be combined with gla to form quantitative expressions acting as adverbial or adjectival determiners, and substantives (pronouns referring to things or people):
Quantitative Deictic Determiners ADVERBIAL / ADJECTIVAL
DETERMINERINANIMATE SINGULAR
PRONOUNINANIMATE PLURAL
PRONOUNANIMATE PLURAL
PRONOUNINTERROGATIVE hogla?....how?/how much?/how many? hoglas?....how much? hoglasi?....how many hoglati?....how many (people)? DEFINITE hagla....how/as much/as many haglas....as much haglasi....as many haglati....as many (people) INDEFINITE hegla....somewhat/some/some heglas....some heglasi....some heglati....some (people) PROXIMAL higla....this/this much/this many higlas....this much higlasi....this many higlati....this many (people) DISTAL hugla....that/that much/that many huglas....that much huglasi....that many
huyglasi....so manyhuglati....that many (people) EMPHATIC huugla....so very, so much, so many huuglas....so much huuglasi....so many huuglati....so many (people) NEGATIVE hyogla....not at all/no/no hyoglas....none of it hyoglasi....none of them hyoglati....none DISTRIBUTIVE hyagla....totally/all/all hyaglas....all of it hyaglasi....all of them hyaglati....all INDETERMINATE hyegla....however/any/any hyeglas....any of it hyeglasi....any of them hyeglati....any number of them IDENTICAL hyigla....as/as much/as many, equally hyiglas....the same amount hyiglasi....the same number hyiglati....as many (people) NON-IDENTICAL hyugla....not as much/not as much/not as many hyuglas....a different amount hyuglasi....a different number of things hyuglati....a different number of people
- Here are some examples showing how these quantitative determiners are used:
- Et deuze huugla fi.....You sing so well.
- At se hegla booka.....I am somewhat tired.
- Hogla pati et teata hijub?....How many birds did you see today?
- At teata vyavay hugla tami.....I saw exactly that many houses.
- Iyt fe hyiglas vyel et.....She wants the same amount as you.
- Hoglati yantexe yet?....How many (people) agree with you?
- Hyoglati yantexe.....None agree.
- Yit fu heglasi.....They would like some (of them).
- Et yafe bier hyeglasi et fe.....You can take however many you want.
- At se huugla booka.....I am so tired.
- NOTE: The following determiners are synonymous and interchangeable:
- hegla = gle = henog (somewhat, to some degree)
- hyigla = ge = hyinog (as, equally, to the same degree)
- The determiners hogla and huugla can be used as exclamatory adverbs, eg.:
- Hogla et agsaye!....How you have grown!
- Hua twob jagsaye huugla!....That man has aged so much!
- Hia jotul se huugla fiteluza!....This dessert is sooo delicioius!
- Pronominal Determiners
- For a discussion of pronominal determiners (or possessive adjectives) like my, mine, yours, our own, etc., see Pronominal Determiners under Pronouns.
This article is issued from Wikibooks. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.