| Glossary/mini dictionary |
ad (prep) at (+obl)
ai (conj) or
ak (num) one
aku (adj) single, one only
alanti (prep) along (+gen)
alman (adj) free
ambat (v4) attack
an (prep) into (+obl)
ank (adj) necessary
anni (prep) in (+nom/acc)
arvat (v4) become
arzantu (v2) find
azl (adj) desirable
bal (adj) many
balf (adj) great
balkat (v4) turn, swivel
bar (prep) through (+gen)
bartu (v2) try, test, take a chance
bask (m) fish
bent (m) path
bi (prep) towards (+nom/acc)
blartu (v2) swim
bostat (v4) defeat, esp. in battle
bra (prep) for (+obl)
brezat (v3) pass, cross
bsakbent (m) fish path
ca (conj) and
cari (m, i-stem) power
caztu (v2) destroy
da (prep) towards, into (+nom/acc)
dalt (m) story
din (m) day
eari (adv) once, one day
est (m) wish
etat (vi) be
far (adj) careful
fargat (v4) make, create
fesne (f) spring (season)
fire (f) truth
firze (f) rose
fiskat (v4) poison
fislap (f) bubble of air
flozkas (adj) ambitious, artful, scheming
fogr (adj) powerful
for (m) water
fynian (m) aggressive enemy, attacker
fyr (m) man
gantu (v2) know, understand, have the ability to
garvat (v4) write
gizn (adj) strange, crooked, ugly
imvi (prep) about, around (+obl)
in (prep) in (+obl)
ivian (m) general
ja (adv) already, so, then
ka (interj) hey, come on
ka (pron) this
kan (prep) with (+obl)
keltavr (m) province, taxed land
kirkifet (m) circular manner
kokta (v2) help
komp (m) bend, curve
korm (m) hero, famous or infamous person, gossip object
kort (m) gate, door
kozat (v3) protect
kykat (v3) lend, render unto something or someone
lakt (prep) until (+nom/acc)
ma (adj) big
manti (m, i-stem) mind
manzane (f) experience
matcantu (v2) turn into
metit (m) idea
mon (adj) brave
mon (m) courage
nakat (v3) reach
nakt (adj) enough – also: more than enough
nert (adj) northerly
ni (adv) not
nontz (adj) brave
ofre (f) river
on (prep) against (+nom/acc)
ondat (v4) open
ragtu (v2) rule
rant (m) shore, beach
roskat (v4) fight, go to war
sactu (v2) say
san (prep) without (+obl)
sep (prep) over (+obl)
suz (adj) advisable, appropriate
tadtu (v2) beat, defeat
tai (adv) because
tam (pron) there
tana (adv) as, like, used in comparison
tand (adv) then, thereafter, afterwards
ten (m) thorn
teso (adv) once (upon a time)
toptu (v2) conquer, subdue, repress
vaftu (v2) live, dwell
vantat (v4) fight, struggle
vejons (m) opening towards light, escape route
venan (m) drug
vizr (adj) vital, absolutely necessary
vragtu (v2) break, ruin
yl (adj) other, another
|
| Grammar notes |
Urianian is an Indoeuropean language that forms its own family but is nearest to
Germanic. The standard Urianian that's used for writing today is a relatively
modern development, formed from the highland dialect spoken around the
university town Uria. Earlier, most literature was written in lowland Urianian,
but as Urianian died out in most of the lowlands during the 2nd millennium, the
focus of Urianian culture moved to the highlands. This torch is written in the
dialect of the biggest lowland town, Urduk, and it follows the pronunciation
used there rather than the traditional ortography apparent from place and
personal names.
Lowland and Highland Urianian are hardly mutually understandable because of some
sound changes that happened in the highlands and are functionally different
languages. Also, eastern and western Lowland Urianian are mutually
understandable with some difficulty Urduk belongs to the western branch.
The grammar of the various branches are similar. The main differences are that
Highland is more conservative, retaining more of the complexity of IE grammar,
and that the standard language abhors prepositions, while lowland Urianian is
fully prepositional.
The syntax is rather free, but the most unmarked is SOV. Since there is no
nominative/accusative distinction in the lowland dialect, SO order has to be
strict. There is also no indefinite/definite distinction, so when you translate
into your language, you must remember to make the appropriate distinctions if
your language has them. There is no verb meaning 'have'. Instead, possession is
denoted by 'be' + the possessor in the genitive. Urianian, both lowland and
standard, has modal compounds consiting of an adjective, the verb be, and a
personal pronoun in the oblique case. For example: necessary + is + for you =
you must.
Nouns are inflected for number: singular and plural, and case:
nominative/accusative, genitive, and oblique, which is an amalgation of the
former dative, locative, ablative and instrumental cases. In addition, a
vocative suffix is used when addressing someone, but this case has no other
role. Accusative and nominative are distinguised only in personal pronouns,
though the nominative forms are seldom used. Elsewhere, subjects and direct
objects have the same forms. The noun class system is down to two classes,
masculine and feminine, with a few nouns displaying irregularities inherited
from former classes. The inflection is as follows:
Masculine o-stems:
nom/acc: - (sg) / -a (pl)
gen: -e / -an
obl: -i / -ai
i-stems:
nom/acc: -i / -id
gen: -id / -in
obl: -i / -in
Feminine:
nom/acc: -e / -a
gen: -es / -an
obl: -e / -em
Personal pronouns are inflected as follows:
Singular:
nom: me (1sg) / to (2sg) / is (3sg masc) / u (3sg fem)
acc: mi / ti / in / jon
gen: my / ty / ai / ai
obl: mo / te / am / am
Plural:
nom: nim (1pl) / em (2pl) / u (3pl masc) / je (3pl fem)
acc: na / fa / es / jes
gen: nam / fam / jam / jam
obl: ni / ym / is / is
Adjectives have some agreement with their heads in number, gender and case, and
their inflection is similar to the nouns in singular but simplified in plural:
Masculine:
nom/acc: - (sg) / -a (pl)
gen: -e / -a
obl: -i / -a
Feminine:
nom/acc/gen: -e / -a
obl: -i / -a
They have comparison, too, but as there are no compared forms here, I will not
trouble you further with them.
Verbs are inflected for tense, voice, mood and aspect, and are also equipped
with clitic subject pronouns. Just as in standard Urianian there are 4 main
conjugations. The 1st and 2nd conjugations have infinitives in -tu, the others
have infinitives in -at. The infinitives are given in the vocabulary below. Here
are some paradigms that are relevant for this torch:
Present indicative, 2nd conjugation:
-am (1sg) / -ad (2sg) / - (3sg) / -ant (1pl) / -ta (2pl) / -an (3pl)
3rd and 4th conjugations are equal, except that 2pl has -at.
Past indicative, 2nd conjugation:
-jam / -jet / -i / -jant / -jed / -jan
Present optative, 2nd conjugation:
-yam / -yad / -y / -yant / -yta / -yan
Present subjunctive, 2nd conjugation:
-fam / -fad / -u / -fant / -fat / -fan
Future, 2nd conjugation:
-sam / -sad / -s / -sant / -sta / -san
4th conjugation:
-iam / -iad / -is / -iant / -ita / -ian
Imperative, 2nd cojugation:
NA / -zi / -t / -tad / -ti /-anu
4th conjugation:
NA / -az / -at / -atad / -ati / -anu
Irregular verb: etat - to be
Present indicative:
em / ed / e / sant / sat / san
Past indicative:
am / ad / a / set / sad / sa
imperative:
NA / vei / veita / vejant / veit / vejan
Participles aren't used as much in place of subordinate clauses as in standard
Urianian, but they do occur. Their meanings must be interpreted along with their
associated prepositions. Example: with + genitive pronoun + participle = while
doing the verb.
Active participle, 2nd conjugation:
-an (sg, nom/acc) / -ne (sg, gen) / -ni (sg, obl) / -na (pl, nom/acc) / -nan
(pl, gen) / -nai (pl, obl)
Stative participle, 2nd conjugation:
-fas / -es / -ei / -fa / -en / -ei
|
