Difference between revisions of "Stonebreaker Language/Grammar/Verbs"
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= Conditional Tenses = | = Conditional Tenses = | ||
These are used to express 'would', for | These are used to express 'would', for example, in the sentence, "If I had some money I would buy an axe". This translates as ''Ir Oonelõ triath, Asirõ Ekk''. Look at the word, ''Asirõ''. This is the present conditional tense, expressed in the first person singular. It is derived from the verb ''Asna'' (to buy), and means 'I would buy'. Conditionality is expressed with the insertion of the word ir (if) between the root of the verb and the standard endings. So: ''As + ir + õ'' = ''Asirõ'': I would buy. | ||
== Present Conditional tense == | == Present Conditional tense == |
Revision as of 14:16, 2 January 2007
Verbs
Verbs are fairly straightforward in Stonebreaker. The spoken language is generally confined to the present, past historic and simple future tense, also the conditional voice. These are constructed in a regular way and there are very few irregular verbs (notably Einna - to be and Oona - to have).
Infinitive
The infinitive of the verb is easily recognized in Stonebreaker as almost all end in –na.
Examples include:
Donna to give
Idna to go
Imna to want or need
And the irregular verbs:
Eina To be
Oona to have
There are 3 persons that exist in the singular and plural:
I, You (sing), he/she/it, We, You (pl), They
In regular verbs, these are expressed as follows:
Present Tense
Donõ: I give,
Donor: You (sing) give
Don: He/she/it gives
Donoth: We give
Donorth: You (pl) give
Donith: They give
The third case is formed by removing –na from the infinitive:
Im: he wants, from Imna to want
Id: he goes, from Idna to go
Pel: he speaks from Pelna to speak
The plural is formed by adding the generic –th to the singular. Note that in the first person the o is unstressed in the plural. So:
Imõ (I want) becomes Imoth (we want)
Idõ (I go) becomes Idoth (we go).
Present Continuous
There is only one present tense in Stonebreaker. Some langages (including English) have a present continuous tense: I am going, I am thinking, etc.
The difficulty with this construction is that it introduces an element of ambiguity into the language. Take the following:
I am going to hunt Tefusang.
This can mean
I am going (ie on my way ) to hunt Tefusang
I will hunt Tefusang at some point in the future
I intend to hunt Tefusang.
In Stonebreaker these would be expressed quite differently:
Idõ na Hassna Tefusangeth
Hassõ’n Tefusangeth
Tendõ Hassna Tefusangeth
Irregular verbs
Einna: to be
Yõ: I am
Ar: You (s) are
Ei: He/she/it is
Yoth: We are
Arth: You (pl) are
Eith: They are
Oona: to have
Õ: I have
Or: You (s) have
Oo: He/she/it has
Oth: We have
Orth: You (pl) have
Ooth: They have
Imperative
Singular: Dono’ Give (it)!
Õl Dono’! –Give it to me!
Plural Doneth Let’s give (it)
Doneth Ekk Harnquistol – Let’s give the axe to Harnquist
Irregular verbs
A’: (Be)
A’Ganta!: ‘be strong!’
Ath: (Let us be)
Ath Amnartth: ‘let’s be friends’
O’: (Have, have it)
O’Felim: ‘Have fun’
Oth: (let’s have, let’s have it)
Oth Repart: ‘Let’s have dinner
Simple Future tense
In Stonebreaker, the concept of future is expressed by the use of the word en (and). This can be seen in the words for Today (Dem) and Tomorrow (Demen – ‘Today…and…’)
The simple future is made by adding –en to the end of the present tense in each case, using apostrophes where necessary to avoid vowel clashes:
Dono’n: I shall give
Donoren: You (sing) will give
Donen: He/she/it will give
Donothen: We shall give
Donorthen: You (pl) will give
Donithen: They will give
Notice again the unstressed o in the 1st person singular: Dono’n
In some dialects the apostrophe is avoided by the addition of the letter ‘m’. So Verõ (I swear) can take the form Veromen (I will swear) in the future tense. (This construction is also used in expressing the Ablative case for plural nouns – more on this later). The name ‘Veromen’ means ‘one who will be faithful’ ie one who will swear allegiance. Both forms are acceptable, so Donomen and Dono’n both mean I shall give.
Irregular verbs
Einna: to be
Yon: I shall be
Ar'n: You (s) will be
Ei'n: He/she/it will be
Yothen: We shall be
Arthen: You (pl) will be
Eithen: They will be
Oona: to have
On: I shall have
Or'n: You (s) will have
Oo'n: He/she/it will have
Othen: We shall have
Orthen: You (pl) will have
Oothen: They will have
Past Tenses
Past Historic
This is the tense used most in narrative and reported speech. Its construction is slightly more complex than the future. First, take the 3rd person singular (the root of the verb): Don. Now add –el to create the past participle: Donel (‘given’). Note that this is not the same as the adjective Dona – ‘given’ as in Don’ekk – a gift-axe. To conjugate add the present tense of the verb Oona – to give:
Donelõ: I gave
Donelor: You (sing) gave)
Doneloo: he/she/it gave
Doneloth: We gave
Donelorth: You (pl) gave
Donelooth: They gave
‘Oo’ is pronounced as a short ‘oo’ as in the English ‘Shoot’
Irregular verbs
Einna: to be
Elõ: I was
Elor: You (s) were
Eloo: He/she/it was
Eloth: We were
Elorth: You (pl) were
Elooth: They were
Oona: to have
Oonelõ: I had
Oonelor: You (s) had
Ooneloo: He/she/it had
Ooneloth: We had
Oonelorth: You (pl) had
Oonelooth: They had
Past continuous
This is used to express something that was done over a period of time, for example:
I stayed in Akkaio for a few days
or
While I was hunting I met Lordbug.
Both of these constructions use the past continuous.
Stedinelõ Akkaiom tevertom demeth.
Als hassinelõ, voyelõ Lordbug.
The contruction is Root + in + present tense of oona (to have).
e.g. Pelna: to speak
Pelinelõ: I was speaking
Pelinelor: You were speaking
Pelineloo: He/She was speaking
Pelineloth: We were speaking
Pelinelorth: You were speaking
Pelinelooth: They were speaking
Past pluperfect
This is used to express something that happened even further back in time than the reported action. In English this is expressed with the past tens of the verb to have:
I had finished my lunch when the door opened.
In Stonebreaker this is also expressed with the past tense of oona with the past participle.
Elõ lukel Alimert or’t, kan Portert h'oveloo.
Elõ pelel: I had spoken
Elor pelel: You had spoken
Eloo pelel: He/She had spoken
Eloth pelel: We had spoken
Elorth pelel: You had spoken
Elooth pelel: They had spoken
Conditional Tenses
These are used to express 'would', for example, in the sentence, "If I had some money I would buy an axe". This translates as Ir Oonelõ triath, Asirõ Ekk. Look at the word, Asirõ. This is the present conditional tense, expressed in the first person singular. It is derived from the verb Asna (to buy), and means 'I would buy'. Conditionality is expressed with the insertion of the word ir (if) between the root of the verb and the standard endings. So: As + ir + õ = Asirõ: I would buy.
Present Conditional tense
Donirõ: I would give
Doniror: You (s) would give
Donir: He/she/it would give
Doniroth: We would give
Donirorth: You (pl) would give
Donirith: They would give
Irregular verbs
Einna: to be
Eirõ: I would be
Eiror: You (s) would be
Eir: He/she/it would be
Eiroth: We would be
Eirorth: You (pl) would be
Eirith: They would be
Oona: to have
Ooirõ: I would have
Ooiror: You (s) would have
Ooir: He/she/it would have
Ooiroth: We would have
Ooirorth: You (pl) would have
Ooirith: They would have
Past Conditional tense
Donelirõ: I would have given
Doneliror: You (s) would have given
Donelir: He/she/it would have given
Doneliroth: We would have given
Donelirorth: You (pl) would have given
Donelirith: They would have given
Irregular verbs
Einna: to be
Elirõ: I would have been
Eliror: You (s) would have been
Elir: He/she/it would have been
Eliroth: We would have been
Elirorth: You (pl) would have been
Elirith: They would have been
Oona: to have
Oonelirõ: I would have had
Ooneliror: You (s) would have had
Oonelir: He/she/it would have had
Ooneliroth: We would have had
Oonelirorth: You (pl) would have had
Oonelirith: They would have had