Verb Declension
Simple ("to __") form, a verb will end with ä.
Present tense: ä
Past tense: i
Future tense: ie+ie also means "of" or 's
If the verb is negative rather than positive, an additional k will be placed onto the end.
Some examples
"Mother likes purple."
"Mother does not like purple."
"Mother dislikes purple."
"Mother liked purple."
"Mother will like purple."
Basic Sentence Structure
Possessive:
The particle ä has no tense, but can be negative or positive. This must match the verb. It is essentially "is."
Final Sounds on Words
Different types of words end in different sounds.
Prepositions: end in m.
Plural: end in r.
Nouns: end in a, t or e depending on whether the word is feminine, neutral or masculine in origin. (You might think, "Oh God, no, gendered words" but it's not like Greek or anything. There's no declension or anything like that, and a noun's gender doesn't determine any of the words that accompany it. It just means you can immediately tell whether a word is feminine, neuter, or masculine.)
Adjectives: end in ki. Rarely confused for past tense verbs. Most verbs do not have a k as the penultimate letter, so it's not an issue.
Adjectives are defined as negative or positive by the ä or äk beforehand. An adjective describing a word in such a way as "a purple feather" would be phrased with the adjective preceding the noun, much like the English:
"The feather is purple" would be phrased in the same way as the English as well, with the option of adding the verb "To be (inanimate)" at the end.
Note that there are no articles. "A" or "the" is implied.
Note, also, that color words can be used in multiple ways:
Any adjective ending in -ki may be placed before the noun it modifies. A purple feather, for example, being "hädita rätsa."
In the case of "The feather is purple," if the adjective has a noun form, either can be used. For example: "Rätsa ä hädita (eyitä)" is just as correct as "Rätsa ä häditaki (eyitä)" though one uses the noun form and the other uses the adjective form. This would not work for words like "big," or "deep" of course. It works fine for color words, though.
The noun form, of course, cannot precede the object unless it gains the -ki suffix.
List of Prepositions
On a date: im
At a time: mim
On (an object): gim
To (a person): käm
Toward a place/Until a time: äm
From (a person/place): tam
From (a time/date): täm
At (a place): mdäm
Inside of something+includes buildings, if you definitely know the object is inside of the building: rim
By means of/in a certain way: em+follows the thing being done.
Simple ("to __") form, a verb will end with ä.
Present tense: ä
Past tense: i
Future tense: ie+ie also means "of" or 's
If the verb is negative rather than positive, an additional k will be placed onto the end.
Some examples
"Mother likes purple."
Kämta ä hädita mkbä.
"Mother does not like purple."
Kämta äk hädita mkbäk.
"Mother dislikes purple."
Kämta ä hädita neä.
"Mother liked purple."
Kämta ä hädita mkbi.
"Mother will like purple."
Kämta ä hädita mkbie.
Basic Sentence Structure
time (im) subj. (ä/äk) place prep. adj. direct object indirect object adv. verb
Possessive:
subject (ie) object
The particle ä has no tense, but can be negative or positive. This must match the verb. It is essentially "is."
Final Sounds on Words
Different types of words end in different sounds.
Prepositions: end in m.
Plural: end in r.
Nouns: end in a, t or e depending on whether the word is feminine, neutral or masculine in origin. (You might think, "Oh God, no, gendered words" but it's not like Greek or anything. There's no declension or anything like that, and a noun's gender doesn't determine any of the words that accompany it. It just means you can immediately tell whether a word is feminine, neuter, or masculine.)
Adjectives: end in ki. Rarely confused for past tense verbs. Most verbs do not have a k as the penultimate letter, so it's not an issue.
Adjectives are defined as negative or positive by the ä or äk beforehand. An adjective describing a word in such a way as "a purple feather" would be phrased with the adjective preceding the noun, much like the English:
hädita rätsa
"The feather is purple" would be phrased in the same way as the English as well, with the option of adding the verb "To be (inanimate)" at the end.
Rätsa ä hädita (eyitä).
Note that there are no articles. "A" or "the" is implied.
Note, also, that color words can be used in multiple ways:
Any adjective ending in -ki may be placed before the noun it modifies. A purple feather, for example, being "hädita rätsa."
In the case of "The feather is purple," if the adjective has a noun form, either can be used. For example: "Rätsa ä hädita (eyitä)" is just as correct as "Rätsa ä häditaki (eyitä)" though one uses the noun form and the other uses the adjective form. This would not work for words like "big," or "deep" of course. It works fine for color words, though.
The noun form, of course, cannot precede the object unless it gains the -ki suffix.
List of Prepositions
On a date: im
At a time: mim
On (an object): gim
To (a person): käm
Toward a place/Until a time: äm
From (a person/place): tam
From (a time/date): täm
At (a place): mdäm
Inside of something+includes buildings, if you definitely know the object is inside of the building: rim
By means of/in a certain way: em+follows the thing being done.