Saso

General information
Saso is derived from an older language, Proto - Saso. Saso grew from the romantic and poetic ideals of its predecessor. An interesting note about the title, Saso refers to a specific type of poetry. However, Saso does not translate literally into English because it is very hard to describe the style of poetry in a few words.

Dipthongs and Digraphs
ãi /ai/

õi /ɔɪ/

eu /ʊəʳ/

aê /eəʳ/

ãe /ɪəʳ/

sh /sʰ/

fw /ʍ/

Phonotactics
(C/Dg)V/Dp(C)(V)

Syllables in Saso follow the pattern above. C is a consonant, Dg is a digraph, V is a vowel, and Dp is a Diphthong. If the syllable has a diphthong, the diphthong must be followed by a consonant. There may never be more than two consonants next to each other in a word. For a vowel to stand alone as a syllable, it must be e, ã, or o. A dipthong may stand alone only if it is ãi.

The letters j(/j/) or h(/h/) may never appear as the last letter of a word.

Stress
Stress is placed on the first short vowel of a word. If there is no short vowel, then it is placed on the first vowel of the word.

In Saso, stress is placed on a because it is the first short vowel.

In Sãso, stress is laced on ã because there are no short vowels, and it is the first vowel.

Parts of Speech
The part of speech a work occupies is determined through a prefix. The prefixes are listed below

Verbs
All verbs in Saso end in ãs. A verb in the infinitive is the only time a word will not have a prefix. The different verb endings have different verb conjugations. Verbs conjugate for person, number, tense, moood, and aspect. Below is the chart for verb conjugations for regular verbs. The infinitive is dropped when conjugating verbs. The suffix for every mood is the same. Saso uses suffixes to express tense, aspect, person, and number. Mood is expressed through a prefix. To indicate mood, verbs have a prefix attatached to them. A reflexive verb must also have a prefix An example of a fully conjugated verb is Ofãsis, IMP-build-2P-SNG.

Certain verbs are irregular in Saso. The most notable ones are nãgãs (to do), fazãs (to be), and powãs (to go). No verbs in Saso experience changes in affixes. Instead, they experience stem changes. While there are other irregular verbs in Saso, the ones below are the most common. Aneguuf - I used to do it. Remember, the first u is silent.

Nouns
Nouns in Saso decline for number and case. Nouns in Saso are marked with the prefix Î. For example, Îfãs means building. The declensions are listed below. Informal speech does not mark the Nominative case. However, formal Saso marks all cases. There are 2 different sets of declensions, one for nouns that end in a consonant, and one for nouns that end in vowels. The following table is for nouns that end in a vowel To indicate a plural noun in Saso, one simply adds s for nouns that end in a consonat, and ã for nouns that end in a vowel. The reflexive marking is only added to pronouns. The dative case is also used for comparisons. Proper nouns in Saso are required to be marked with case and nunber. The marking goes before the proper noun, but not attatched to it. If Jack is the subject of the sentence, speakers of Saso are required to say e Jack. A noun that does not fit nicely into one of the above cases declines for the dative case. Nouns in postpositional phrases decline for the dative cases as well.

Nouns that end in g experience a stem change in the nominative and accusative cases.

g --> gu

Nouns that end in z experience a stem change in the genitive, voactive, and locative cases.

z --> sz. (Ôfez --> Ôfeszãi). Note that the s and the z are in two separate syllables.

The following chart lists the pronouns. Pronouns decline for case by using the singlur side of the declension chart. Pronouns also require the ø prefix. While there are informal vs formal pronouns in Saso, verbs do not agree with formality. Saso is not pro-drop, pronouns are always required.

Demonstrative Pronouns are equivalent to this one, that one, these, or those. They decline like regular nouns, and take the ø prefix

A reflexive verb requires a reflexive pronoun. To make a pronouns reflexive, add an aê to the end. Øfosaê is a reflexive pronoun.

Direct object pronouns (pronouns in the accusative case) are placed before the conjugated verb. Indirect object pronouns (pronouns in the dative case) are placed after the conjugated verb. Direct object pronouns are attatched to the end of the infinitive verb. Indirect objects are attatched to the end of the infinitive verb, but placed after a direct object pronoun.

Adjectives and Adverbs
Adjectives and Adverbs agree in number with the nouns they modify. Adjectives and Adverbs also agree in formality if they are modifying are pronoun. Adjectives agree in case with the noun they are modifying. Adjectives take the ãi prefix Adverbs do not agree in case, only in number and person with the verb. Note how the declensions are the same as the declensions for the nominative case of adjective declensions. Due to the prefix system of Saso, suffixes are often times reused between different parts of speech. Adverbs take the u prefix. Adjectives are placed after the noun they modify. Adverbs are placed after the verb they modify.

Articles
Nouns do not decline for definiteness; articles do instead. Articles take the adjective prefix of ãi. Articles are different from all other adjectives in that they do not decline for case. They do not agree with the noun in case. Articles are placed before the nouns the describe

Demonstratives
Demonstrative adjectives are this, that, these, and those. Notice how the roots are the exact same as the demonstrative pronouns. Demonstrative adjectives agree in number and case with the nouns they describe. Ço and çoq decline using the singular formal adjective declensions; zo and zoq decline using the plural adjective declensions. Demonstratives are placed after the noun they describe

Comparisons
To use an adjective in a comparative, the following declensions are used. While case is not explicitly marked, adjectives in comparisons agree with the dative case. The following lists the endings added on to adjectives. Comparisons in Saso are formed very different than from English. The structure of a comparison is VSOA, where A is the adjective that is being used in the comparison.

In English we say This house is prettier than that house. In Saso we say Is this house that house prettier than.

Gerund
Forming gerunds is quite simple in Saso. Simply leave the verb in the inifinitve, add on the prefix for a noun, and decline it like a noun.

sasãs is to write poetry. To make this into a gerund, One simply adds Î to the verb, making it Îsasãs. This can then be declined.

Postpositions
Saso has 3 main postpositions. These postpostion serve different puproses. Roughly speaking, one indicates purpose, one indicates cause, and one is used for the other contexts. A more in depth chart outlining the functions of the postpositions are listed below. While the ones listed above are the main ones, there are more postpositions. The table below lists other commonly encountered postpositions. Postpositional decline based on the number and case of the noun in the postpositional phrase. To agree with a plural noun, add ãi to the end of the declension. Postpositions also take the õ prefix. To form a postpositional phrase, the object of the phrase is placed first, followed by any adjectives, and finally the postposition. If in English, we say from the red house, in Saso it becomes the house red from. The object of the postpositional phrase should be declined for the dative case.

Supine
The supine shows the purpose of an action. In the sentence, I shovelled to clear the snow, to clear reprsenets the supine. The infinitive form a verb represents the supine, and is placed after the conjugated verb.

I went to build the building --> Apojuw fãsãs øfos ãk ôfãsvã.

Particple
The particple is the adjective form of a verb.In the sentence, The building is closed, closed is the particple. While there are many different types of participles in Saso, they are formed the same way. Add the adjective prefix onto the infinitive form of the verb. The infinitve ending is dropped. A suffix is then added to represent the type of desired participle. The suffixes for the most common types of participles found in Saso are listed below. Participles decline like adjectives do. Add the adjective declension after the declension of the participle.

The three different participles have different uses in Saso. The past participle is used to describe the previous states of objects. The office was closed, closed is the past participle. The present participle is used to describe  objects in the present tense, as well as the states of objects in the perfect aspects in all tenses. The office is closed, closed is the present participle. The office would have been closed, closed is also the present participle. The future pariticple is used to describe the state of objects in the future. The office will be closed, closed is the future participle. The future participle is used in the subjunctive mood. I wish the office would be closed, closed is the future participle

Past Participle example

The office was closed --> Aneguãw ãk ôflãis ãisersêsa.

Present Participle example

The office is closed --> Anãjos ãk ôflãis ãisersêsa.

The office would have been closed --> Aneguãr ãk ôflãis ãiserãva

Future Particple example

The office will be closed --> Anãguóm ãk ôflãis ãiserela.

I hope the office is closed --> Enãjos ãk ôflãis ãiserela.

Numbers
Numbers in Saso are very simple, are stated the same as in English. Numbers do not require a prefix To expres numbers in powers of ten, use the following chart. Note that Saso uses a. for a comma, and a, for a decimal point. To write a number in Saso, expand the number, then write out the parts. 450 --> four hundreds five tens --> fwê jãi ja je.

19 --> je wõi (ten nine)

34.000 --> keu je fwê ru (three ten four thousand)

2.234.341 --> flãi qe flãi jãi keu je fwê ru keu jãi fwê je fãi (two millions, two hundreds three tens four thousands, three hundreds four tens one.)

Syntax
Different types of sentences may be marked using particles. The unmarked sentence is a performing action, i.e. He is running. Informal Saso also does not mark a command, though formal Saso does. Several of the most common particles are listed below. Particles are marked with the ó prefix. They do not decline. Saso is a (P)VS(O) language. The particle, if needed, is placed first, follwed by the verb, then the subject. After the subject, any other phrases are added to the sentence.

Basic Sentence
The most basic sentence in Saso is a VS sentence. In English one might say I build. In Saso, one would say Afãses øfos, literally build I.

More Complex Sentences.
A more complex sentence has 1 or more object in it. If English, one might say I build the building, somone in Saso would say Afãses øfos ãk ôfãsvã. In a sentnece that has both a direct and indirect object, the indirect object is always placed after the direct object.

I want to build the building for Suzy --> Efãses øfos ãk ôfãsvã u Suzy.

Interrogative Sentences
The interrogative sentence, or question, always starts with the fõ particle. Words such as, What, who, where, and why, come before the verb. These words take the adjective prefix of ãi. An interrogative sentece is fored the same way as a normal sentence, the only difference is the addition of a particle at the fron of the sentence.

Why did you build the building? --> Fõ ça afãsis ãk ôfãsvã?