Alemarese

General Information
Alemarese (natively Alemarrix /alemaˈʀiʃ/) is one of the most spoken languages of the alien Patronans (Patroneven, sg. Patroneva) on the planet Patrona (Patrona). It is the majority language in several nations, most notably Westos (Voèsos) and Alemar (Alemar), and taught as a lingua franca the world over.

Classification
Alemarese is an Edalith language (see Proto-Edalith), of the Northern Edalith branch (see Proto-Chevin) and a direct descendent of Old Chevin, also known as Proto-Alemar-Barejine, along with it sister language Barejine.

Alemarese has several dialects, including central chevin, eastern chevin, varrit, and westosese.

Consonants

 * /b/, /β/, /l/, /d/, /dʒ/, and /ʀ/ do not occur word-finally in most dialects.
 * The fortis consonants /tː/ and /θː/ are relatively rare, /θː/ moreso than /tː/, and do not occur word-initially.
 * The alveolar nasal /n/ and alveolar flap /r/ assimilate to the place of articulation of following coronal consonants.
 * The alveolar nasal /n/ is pronounced as a nasalized alveolar flap [ɾ̃] in non-stressed and non-word-initial locations.
 * The uvular stop /q/ is pronounced as a glottal stop [ʔ] in the coda.
 * The velar fricative is pronounced as a palatal [ç] after /i/ or /e/.
 * The labialized velar approximant /w/ has many origins and thus alternates with several other phonemes.

Vowels

 * The close vowels /i/ and /u/ lower in response to a following /ŋ/, /k/, /g/, /x/, and /q/.
 * The mid vowels /e/ and /o/ lower when followed by a coda consonant and raise before another vowel or word-finally.
 * Some dialects have contrasting close-mid and open-mid vowels in all positions.
 * The front open vowel /a/ raises to [æ] before alveolar consonants in some dialects and backs to [ɑ] when adjacent to a uvular stop [q].
 * Vowels gain a following semi-vocalic schwa before nasals in some dialects.
 * Any two adjacent vowels diphthongize, and the consonantal one may be raised in some dialects.

Stress
Stress is typically on the penultimate vowel, unless the word ends with a consonant other than  or ; however, stress is contrastive, and is thus marked in non-obvious locations by a grave accent. ex. derù "sun"

Intonation
Stress takes the form of a rising pitch usually, but is high level pitch on the stressed word of an interjection or vocative phrase. The last syllable of an utterance has a falling pitch. Intonation does not change in questions. ex. ginora "trickster" [ginǒ̞ɾâ]

Isochrony
Alemarese is mostly a stress-timed language, though it is more syllable-timed than English.

Sound Changes from True Chevin

 * 1) epenthesis
 * 2) an epenthetic unstressed /e/ appears between a consonant and a sonorant word finally
 * 3) an epenthetic unstressed /e/ appears before initial consonant clusters if the second consonant is an obstruent
 * 4) nasals acquire a following homorganic voiced stop before /r/
 * 5) palatalization
 * 6) [k, g] > [tʃ, dʒ] before front vowels
 * 7) [t, d]+F > [tʃ, dʒ] before front vowels
 * 8) /q/ > /tʃ/ before /i/
 * 9) [ks, psj, sj] > /ʃ/
 * 10) loss of /u/ as the first element of a diphthong
 * 11) split of /β/
 * 12) /β/ > /w/ before back vowels
 * 13) unstressed front vowels are lost following /β/ before back vowels
 * 14) unstressed back vowels are lost following /w/ before front vowels
 * 15) loss of /h/ after stressed vowels or consonants
 * 16) voicing changes
 * 17) intervocalic voicing of /p/ and /t/
 * 18) final devoicing of /b/, /d/, and /β/
 * 19) consonant cluster simplification
 * 20) /ns, ng/ > /z, ŋ/
 * 21) /tr/ > /rtʃ/ intervocalically before a front vowel
 * 22) /ts/ > /s/
 * 23) /tʃ/ > /ʃ/ after consonants
 * 24) /q/ > /k/ before /r/
 * 25) /xr, rr/ > /ʀ/
 * 26) degemination
 * 27) /pt/ & /kt/ > /tt/
 * 28) /pθ/ & /kθ/ > /θθ/
 * 29) /k/ disappears before nasals
 * 30) /p/ disappears before /m/ and word-initial /n/
 * 31) monophthongization
 * 32) /ow, ae, aw/ > /u, e, o/
 * 33) [j, w] are lost preceding the end of a word (except in monosyllables), /r/, or nasals
 * 34) consonant losses
 * 35) /h/ is lost
 * 36) loss of intervocalic /j/ between vowels of opposite backness
 * 37) other coda changes
 * 38) coda /l, q/ > [w, ʔ]
 * 39) /t/ & /p/ merge with /q/ before non-liquid consonants
 * 40) /x/ merges with /s/ before nasal consonants
 * 41) /x/ disappears before another consonant

The Alphabet
Alemarese is written in the Standard Chevin Alphabet (natively Txevì Keaja).

Writing Direction
The script is written left-to-right, the same primary direction as the Latin Alphabet used for English; However, the secondary direction (that is, what to do at the end of a line) is completely alien. At the end of a line, the text is continued at the left of the next line above the current line. So all text starts at the bottom of a page, including all titles!

Digraphs and trigraphs
B is any back vowel, F is any front vowel.
 * au /o/, ai /e/
 * kC /C/ word-initially (as long as the C isn't an approximant)
 * dx /dʒ/
 * jr /ʀ/ word-initially, jC /C/
 * ng /ŋ/, ngg /ŋg/, nk /ŋk/, nj /ŋx/
 * rr /ʀ/
 * tt /tː/, tx /tʃ/
 * þþ /θː/
 * veB /βB/, voF /wF/

Native Collation
k, a, j, d, g, u, q, p, b, o, h, v, e, s, z, t, l, f, i, y, ð, r, n, m, þ, x

Punctuation

 * ⟨.⟩ (⟨,⟩): abbreviations, lists, separation of clauses
 * ⟨:⟩ (⟨.⟩): begins paragraphs, ends sentences
 * ⟨...⟩ (⟨...⟩): intentional omission
 * ⟨ ⟩ (⟨...⟩): unfinished thought, pause in speech
 * ⟨~:⟩ (⟨...⟩): trailing into silence
 * ⟨~⟩ (⟨-⟩): ranges, introducing lists, introduces quotes
 * ⟨‹⟩ and ⟨›⟩: appositives, quotes
 * ⟨«⟩ and ⟨»⟩: parenthesis
 * upside-down rounded ⟨7⟩ & rounded ⟨7⟩ (⟨?⟩): encloses questions
 * upside-down ⟨†⟩ (⟨!⟩): ends positive emotion exclamations
 * ⟨‡⟩ (⟨!⟩): ends negative emotion exclamations

Transliteration

 *  is pronounced /w/ in the coda.
 *  is pronounced /w/ before back vowels.
 * , , and  are devoiced to /p/, /t/, and /ɸ/ word-finally.

Parts of Speech

 * Nouns: persons, places, objects, and ideas; ex. krenten "people"
 * Adjectives: descriptors of nouns; ex. nedui "big"
 * Pronouns: short stand-ins for nouns; ex. nave "we"
 * Determiners: articles, demonstratives, quantifiers, and distributives; ex. qede "this"
 * Verbs: actions; ex. aqala "it sings"
 * Prepositions: signals relationships between words; ex. edlu "under, after"
 * Particles: short words with miscellaneous functions; ex. ð "and" & là "just now"
 * Interjections: stand-alone words which express spontaneous feelings or reactions; ex. alò "wow"

Declension table

 * The O-class genitive plural suffix surfaces regularly as -yu after /l/ or /r/.

First declension
The first declension houses the vast majority of animate nouns, all morphological diminutives, and all instruments. The animate nouns have a vocative case, in contrast with the inanimates. There's very little irregularity in the first declension. Noun endings -ea or -aya become -eye and -ae when the ending begins with e.

ex. otta "tongue, language, speech" Note that the plural nominative, allative, and vocative are the same, as are the plural genitive and singular vocative. So there are seven forms. Some declension I nouns have -es instead of -as in the singular nominative, allative, and instrumental, reducing the number of forms to four.

ex. xile "scratch, scrape"

Second declension
The second declension is almost entirely inanimate, save for some names and some dialects nominative singular forms of the diminutives of the core family such as bab and nun in place of the more typical baba and nunya. For declension II names, the vocative is the nominative form. Declension II nouns typically have seven forms. The nominative plural is always the same as the genitive singular.

ex. kur "flame, fire"

Second declension nouns typically end in a stressed syllable in the nominative singular. The addition of the endings bring about predictable alternations of certain final consonants. For a given word, there is a maximum of three stems. These alterations do not occur in loanwords. There are ten alternation classes:


 * 1) The first class are the regular nouns: loanwords and those ending in any consonant not mentioned in the other classes. ex. gix "trinket, keepsafe" (gixun, gixo)
 * 2) The next are those ending in, , or , which have three stems: a sg.nom stem (p/t/d), an u stem (f/þ/ð), and a obl stem (b/d/d). ex. haup "pole, staff" (haufun, haubo)
 * 3) Next are those ending in <ð>, which are the same as those in  except in the sg.nom. raið "anger" (raiðun, raido)
 * 4) Nouns in <þ> have two stems: a sg or u stem (þ) and an obl stem (d). ex. yeþ "leaf" (yeþun, yedo)
 * 5) Next are the vowel-final nouns. In the sg.nom they are accented, in the sg.all/sg.instr they are accented and receive a -n/me ending (instead of a -un/ume), the other endings are regular. ex. jaurà "hour" (jauràn, jaurao)
 * 6) Nouns ending in <ò> lack number distinctions in the nom, all, and instr cases. ex. veidò "minute" (veidòn, veidò)
 * 7) Nouns ending in  decline as nouns ending in <è> except in the sg.nom. petai "rain" (petèn, peteo)
 * 8) Next are nouns in  and , which replace the  with  before non-sg.nom endings. ex. qaleu "wave" (qalevun, qalevo)
 * 9) Next are nouns ending in a stop, followed by an unstressed . They always drop the unstressed  in the non-sg.nom forms. Some nouns in or then change the <d/b> to <t/p>. ex. hèder "house" (hetrun, hetro)
 * 10) Lastly are nouns which change pronunciation, but not spelling, of a final consonant in the sg.nom. <b> to /p/, <v> to /ɸ/, <nd> to /nt/, <l> to /w/, and <rr> to /ʀ/. ex. mind "month" (mindun, mindo)

Third declension
Third declension nouns are mostly inanimate, though there are a few groups of animates. They are the most regular declension. Nominative forms are used if a vocative is needed.

ex. duji "gold" Note that the nominative and genitive forms do not distinguish singular v. plural. There is a subset of declension III nouns which have an -e instead of -i in the nominative forms and don't distinguish singular vs plural ever.

ex. rame "rope, noodle, cord"

Irregular nouns
Few nouns are irregular, and if a noun is irregular, it is very predictable. An example of a truly irregular noun is oai "cloud".

Derivations
Many nouns, typically those representing an instance of a verb, simply use the same root as their verbal counterparts.


 * oda > odi "gift"
 * pleru > pler "cause"
 * kultya > kultya "fruit"
 * idrya > idrya "flower"

Collections are represented with -etta.


 * maya "know" > maetta "science, a body of knowledge"
 * idryetta "meadow"
 * blivoetta "set of siblings"
 * remurazetta "zoo"

The process of doing a verb and the quality of an adjective are both represented by -ize/uze.


 * blivoa > blivuze "brotherhood"
 * siri > sirize "shininess"
 * kauze > kozize "brightness, brilliance"
 * ipse > ipsize "comprehensiveness, oneness, universality"

The result or state of a verb is represented by -aje.


 * magreiva > magreivaje "failure"
 * fo > faje "result"
 * em > emaje "existence"
 * moiza > kmoizaje "knowledge, intelligence"

Agents and instruments are represented by the active present participle -er(a)/or(a).


 * furo > furora "lier"
 * tampoma > tampomera "drummer"
 * xaula > xauler "knife"

Patients are represented with the passive present participle -aug/eg/ug(a).


 * jrure "entertain" > jruregen "crowd"

People who live in a place are represented with -eva/even.


 * Alemareven "Alemarese people"
 * Voesoseven "Westosese people"
 * Mandxingeven "Manjingan people"

A person that enjoys something is represented with -(e)nxelega.


 * remurazenxelega "animal-lover"
 * ðumunxelega "sleep-lover"
 * auremenxelega "amateur astronomer"
 * hetrenxelega "person obsessed with family drama"

A building where an action happens or an item is found, or the names of familial houses are represented with -èder.


 * ðumu > ðumèder "inn"
 * osimbrize > osimbrizèder "academy"
 * Ridorèder "House Kicker"

A common suffix for religions is -(n)eos.


 * Saqeleos "Easternism"
 * Dexaneos "Deshaiism"

Followers or devotees are represented with a suffixed -(e)ìtega.


 * Saqeleìtega
 * Dexaìtega

Sciences are represented with -(e/i/u)maet.


 * ottemaet "linguistics"
 * saigumaet "geology"

Scientists are represented with -(e/i/u)maera.


 * ottemaera "linguist"
 * saigumaera "geologist"

A common suffix for disorders or diseases is -arda.


 * ijmellarda "mania"

A common suffix for languages is -rrix.


 * Alemarrix "Alemarese"

The common diminutive is -itxe. Quite a few diminutives have become fixed in meaning.


 * xile > xilitxe "small scratch/scrape"
 * pelsa > pelsitxe "little kid"
 * Rajàn > Rajanitxe

There is also a nonproductive, personal diminutive formed by reduplicating the first syllable, dropping the rest, and sometimes by vowel raising.


 * Rajàn > Rara
 * Vilxe > Vivi

The augmentative is -omf(a). Again, a few augmentatives have become fixed in meaning.


 * pelsa > pelsomfa "big kid"
 * petai > peteomf "tropical storm"

Personal pronouns

 * 1) Pronouns are the only part of speech which have a separate accusative case. These are also used after prepositions were nouns would use the nominative.
 * 2) Possessive pronouns are determiners, and agree with following nouns in case, gender, and number.
 * 3) The 1s pronoun is written and pronounced as seo in Alemar proper and most of its recently freed colonies.

Correlatives

 * Alemarese has separate interrogative and relative pronouns.
 * Determiners and possessives agree in case, number, and gender with their referents.
 * Cells marked with a * are simply a combination of the left phrase plus the corresponding determiner. ex. visù qede "here"
 * Ipse "all" can be softened to ipsitxe "most".
 * Gai and pirel are both conjunctions meaning "because" or "for".

Articles
The articles describe the specificity and definiteness of their referent. The article go is the definite article. A null article is used for specific indefinite referents. And saude "any" is used for nonspecific indefinite referents. Specificity is basically the same thing as uniqueness, whereas definiteness means the referent is previously referred to or obvious from context or the frame of reference. So all definite referents are specific as well. The article go is irregular:

Declension table
The citation form is the inanimate nominative singular. There are three declension classes. Most adjectives decline just like nouns with the same endings, though the third class is unique. Adjectives can be used substantively. Adjectives undergo the same stem alternations as nouns with the same endings.

Examples
hobul 'old' (Joen mo krenten hobulen. 'They are very old people.')

kremi 'holy' (Koa dine ginora hosa en kremya! 'Even the trickster god is holy!')

kade 'new' (En el go alemaro ramisfundxam horme kade! 'It's from the new Alemarese Third Republic!')

Negation
Negation is expressed with the i- prefix (is- before l, n, m, h, or a vowel). A y or k after the prefix becomes x. This is considered an inflectional, rather than derivational, affix.


 * lott > islott "calm"
 * kremi > ixremi "unholy"

Derivations
Quite a few adjectives use the same root as a corresponding noun.


 * kauze "light" > kauze "bright"
 * ling "south" > "southern"
 * lott "panic" > "panicking"
 * txindi "color red" > "red"

Verbal participles also find use as adjectives.


 * jeme "join, connect, unite" > jemeþ "joint, connected, united"

That an action is able to be done on something is indicated with a suffixed -yùn.


 * foyùn "doable"
 * talentuyùn "countable"
 * ixileyùn "scratch-proof"

Demonyms and resemblances are formed with the suffix -ev.


 * babora > baborev "motherly, nurturing"
 * Voesosev "Westosese"

The nominal diminutive and augmentative suffixes can be applied to adjectives as well.


 * raiðomf "very angry"
 * kaditxe "newish"

Nominative
The nominative case is the dictionary form of a noun. It is primarily used for the subject and primary object of a sentence (for nouns). As a secundative language, Alemarese treats the indirect object of a ditransitive verb and the direct object of a transitive verb the same. This is called the primary object.

The nominative is also used for the objects of several prepositions: benefactives, locatives, temporals, hus "as", and id "about".

Accusative
A separate accusative case is only found on personal pronouns. These are used for the primary object of a sentence. They are optionally used as the complement of the copula.


 * Seu emi seu and Seu emi ze are both acceptable for "I am me".

Genitive
The genitive case has a few uses. It primarily signifies possession (go kurù freziv "the flames' heat") and composition (lotto emaje "a state of panic") when placed before a noun.

It is also used in a partitive sense, appearing on nouns before numbers. ex. krente jied "64 people"

The genitive additionally shows the origin of something and, in the same capacity, to make basic demonyms.


 * ex. Seu mi alemaro. "I'm Alemarese."

It's also used to show groups to which one is a member.


 * ex. hetro ridore "of House Kicker"

And to make matronymics.


 * ex. rajàn rajàno "John, child of John"

When used with locative prepositions, it gives them an 'away from' component.


 * ex. ij "in" > "out of", ro "on" > "off of", vend "at" > "from"

Allative
The Allative case has two uses. The first is to signify movement towards. When used with locative prepositions, it gives them a 'towards' component.


 * ex. ij "in" > "into", ro "on" > "onto", vend "at" > "to"

The second usage is as the object of a nominalized sentence.


 * joe karer gon ledxifun "his holding (of) the flag"

Instrumental
The instrumental case has three uses. It is used to signify an instrument that is used to complete an action, to govern a few prepositions, and as the secondary object of a sentence. The secondary object corresponds to the direct object of a ditransitive verb.


 * Seu odasi toe game kùltyame. "I gave you the fruit."

Vocative
The vocative is used for direct address. Only animate nouns have a vocative. The singular vocative is the same as the plural genitive and the plural vocative is the same as the plural nominative.


 * ex. Aði krenten! 'Hello people!'
 * ex. Undxi vilxà. 'Bye, Vilshe.'

Verbs
There are four conjugation classes based on four thematic vowels: a, e, u, and o.

Present tense
The present tense is used for ongoing current events and states. ex. seu odi "I give"

Recent tense
The recent tense is formed with the present tense + sentence final particle là.

The recent tense is used for events which happened typically within the past ten minutes.

ex. seu odi là "I just gave"

Direct tense
The remote tense is used for past events which the speaker personally experienced.

It is formed like this: stem + theme vowel + s + E endings.

ex. seu odasi "I know I gave"

Indirect tense
The indirect tense is used for past events which the speaker didn't personally experience.

The indirect tense is indicated with the infix -iz- (-ez- after an a, or occasionally au or o) + the present endings. Stress is placed on the infix in the 2p and 3p, and before the infix otherwise. -a verbs endings change to -e verb endings after -iz-.

ex. seu òdizi "I suppose/hear I gave"

Future tense
The future tense is used for actions and states that have not happened yet. This tense has a unique set of endings related to the verb en "be". ex. seu odemi "I will give"

A prospective tense can be formed with the future tense + sentence final particle là. The prospective tense is used for events which will happen typically within ten minutes.

ex. seu odemi là "I just gave"

Hypothetical tense
The hypothetical tense is used for events considered likely and/or dependent on some condition.

It is formed like this: stem + theme vowel + j + A endings (except for U verbs which get E endings). Stress is placed on the syllable before the theme vowel except in the 2p and 3p.

A past hypothetical can be formed with the hypothetical of fo "does" + a past participle.

ex. seu foji odas "I could've given"

Participles

 * U-conjugation passive participles use the second form after /l/, /r/, and /ʀ/.

Negative
Negation in statements and questions is expressed primarily by the i- prefix (is- before l, n, m, h, or a vowel). A y or k after the prefix becomes x. See below for more on negation.


 * fo "do" > ifo "not do"
 * serre "hunt" > iserre "not hunt"
 * legu "say" > islegu "not say"
 * oda "give" > isoda "not give"
 * talentu "count" > italentu "not count"

Regular verbs
moiza "to know" (Moizi toe! "I know you!") serre "to hunt" (Serrer enxele ze. "I like to hunt.") ginu "to trick, fool" (Alò, ginusek ze. "Wow, you really fooled me.") furo "to lie" (Furosek ip ze gai betxìn? "Why did you lie to me?")

Irregular verbs
en, mor, mos, mug, muþ "be" er, rer, reþ "must, have to" (Iseren ge fo qede. "We don't have to do this." vs. Eren ifo ge qede "We mustn't do this.") fo, fer, fos, faug, fauþ "do"

Predictably irregular verbs
Some other seeming irregularities are actually regular patterns:


 * Verbs with a stem ending in k or ty sometimes change to end in tx before front vowels, except for A verb's active present participles, 1p present, and 3p present. ex. biku "it's dancing" > bitxi "I'm dancing"
 * Verbs with a stem ending in g or dy sometimes change to end in dx in the same conditions as the previous verbs. ex. menga "it's turning" > mendxi "I'm turning"
 * Verbs with a stem ending in a vowel followed by tr change to end in rx in the same conditions as the previous verbs.
 * Verbs with a stem ending in q change to end in tx in the 1s present and in the indirect tense if the indirect infix is -iz-.
 * U verbs and some O verbs with a stem ending in f, þ, or ð change the to end in p, t, or d, respectively, before any non- vowel except in the 1s. ex. pilðu "it's firing (a shot)" > pildon "we're firing (a shot)"

Derivations
Verbs are commonly zero-derived from nouns with the meaning "to use _" or "to engage in or produce _".


 * aqala "song" < aqala "sing"
 * oþànker "nose" > oþankro "smell, sniff"

The prefix vel- indicates repetition.


 * velfo "redo"
 * velfrezivo "reheat"
 * veltalentu "recount"

The prefix dro- indicates an undoing.


 * droite "unpause, resume"

The suffix -elja makes captative verbs.


 * idrya > idryelja "pick flowers"
 * tareba > tarebelja "catch/hunt birds"

There is a causative suffix -ele, but it is nonproductive and only appears on native adjectives. It surfaces as -ere after an /l/.


 * kremi "holy" > kremele "sanctify, bless"
 * ritx "dark" > ritxele "darken"
 * kael "soft" > kaelere "soften"

Sentences
Subject phrase-Verb phrase

Noun phrases
Article/Possessive/Genitive-Noun-Adjectives-Other Determiners-Relative clause

Only one determiner or genitive can occur in a noun phrase.

Comparison
A comparative phrase is formed by the following formula: Adjective rolu Noun-gen.


 * Joa mose kibe rolu goe krente tlime. "He was happier than the other man."

The comparison class can be left out in informal speech.


 * Joa mose kibe rolu. "He was happier."

A negative comparative "less than" phrase is formed with edlu in place of rolu.

An equative "as _ as" is formed with hus instead of rolu.


 * Joa en jem hus joa mose. "He is as short as he ever was."

Superlatives are formed with a following rolu ipse (lit. "over all"), or any comparison class qualified with ipse.


 * go aurem moizaug hobul rolu ipse "the oldest known star"
 * kibe rolu ga krentà ipsà "happiest of the people"

Inverse superlatives are formed with a following edlu ipse (lit. "under all").


 * go kòsembe hobul edlu ipse "the least old cousin"

Quantities of items can also be compared in a similar way.


 * luen rolu krentà "more flies than people"

Verb phrases
Verb-Particle-Primary Object-Secondary Object-Prepositional Phrases

Pronoun dropping
Subject pronouns are very commonly dropped if the verb ending or context makes the subject unambiguous. In the 3rd person, the absence of a pronoun is the equivalent of an inanimate pronoun, so other 3rd person pronouns are not dropped.

Auxiliary verbs
Auxiliary verbs occur before the main verb and take all markings, with the main verb appearing in the 3s form. The auxiliary and main verbs can be negated separately.


 * ? "hope/want to"
 * moiza "know how to"
 * er "must/have to/need to"
 * lupeju "begin to/start to"
 * àlusu "finish/stop/cease"
 * ite "pause/interrupt"
 * droite "unpause/resume"
 * ? "remain/keep/still"
 * ? "tend to"
 * ? "accidentally"
 * ? "attempt/try"
 * ? "retry"
 * ? "pretend to/fake"
 * magreiva "fail to"
 * ? "successfully"
 * ? "help to/assist with"
 * zave "should"
 * oreme "ask/beg/plead/request"
 * pleru "cause/make"
 * taho "force"
 * yunu "can/be able"

Causation
The causative construction is highly productive. Causer pleru Verb Subject (Object-instr)


 * Ze pels paibe kultya là. "My child ate fruit." > Seu pleri paibe ze pels (kùltyame) là. "I fed my child (fruit)."

Pleru can be replaced with taho to imply the action was forced against the subject's will.


 * > Seu tahi paibe ze pels là. "I force-fed my child."

Nominalizing Sentences
S V O > S-gen V-part O-all


 * Joa kara go ledxif. "He is holding the flag." > Joe karer gon ledxifun faurxèlize tia. "His holding the flag frightened them."

Subordination
Clauses can be subordinated with an initial particle þe.

Quotations
Quotations are rather simple in Alemarese. The exact words of the person being quoted are surrounded by the Chevi quotation marks ‹ and ›, with either a preceding or following conjugated legu "say" and þe. For example,


 * Joa legu là þe ‹ seu i fera zimai sole ›. or ‹ Seu i fera zimai sole › joa legu là þe. "He said he didn't do that."

Relative clauses
Simple relative clauses where the referent is the subject of the relativized verb can appear as participles, the same as a nominalized sentence as described above. Otherwise the verb will be fully conjugated with a relative pronoun.

Dislocation
Complex subjects can be backed to the end of a sentence if a pronoun is left in their place.


 * Goa remuraza txindya neduya raiðe idxese nof. > Joa idxese nof goa remuraza txindya neduya raiðe. "The angry large red animal approached us."

Passivization
S V O > O fo V-pass.part (ij S-gen)


 * Ze pels paibe kultya là. "My child ate fruit." > Kultya fose paibeþ (ij ze pelso) là. "Fruit was eaten (by my child)."

Reciprocals
Reciprocals can be made by using the preposition ga followed by a plural accusative pronoun. This can even be used after another preposition, though without proper case marking. This is considered substandard in some areas.


 * Altosen ga nof. "We noticed each other."

Negation
Negation is normally expressed with a prefix, but that's not all for verbs. The prefixed verb is usually paired with one of a handful of post-verbal particles.


 * ge: unmarked; ex. Ifudxi ge sole. "I don't do that."
 * plo: emphatic, used mostly with commands; ex. Ifok plo sole! "Don't do that!"
 * zimai: never; ex. Seu ifera zimai sole. "I haven't ever done that."

These particles are placed directly after the main verb, be it auxiliary or not, and nothing can go between them and the verb. ex. Idxuhèremi zimai ze ip txuò! "I will never surrender to you!"

If an argument is negated, the postverbal particle will be absent, but the main verb will remain negated.

Questions
In order to form a yes/no-question, the particle enþe is added to the beginning of the sentence, without any change in word order or intonation.


 * Moizi toe. "I know you." vs Enþe moizi toe? "Do I know you?"

A particular noun can be questioned by bringing it before the question particle and leaving a pronoun in its place.


 * Goa kumeryora enþe joa ìdxize ij qedax? "Is it the president that came today?"

Questions without yes-no answers appear as regular statements with the appropriate interrogative pronoun where the answer to the question would be in the statement.


 * Qede en betxine? "Who is this?" vs. Qede en goa kumeryora. "This is the president."

Commands
Commands use the present forms of verbs and typically drop the subject. If the subject is maintained, it must be a vocative. Commands can be softened by using the hypothetical, or by turning them into questions. Commands can be strengthened by using the future.

Consequences
Consequences for real events are formed with the construction: Consequence gai/pirel Event. Gai and pirel are essentially identical in meaning.

Conditions
Conditional statements are formed with the construction: Consequence uve Condition, where both parts are in the hypothetical.


 * Moizaji uve ifojak ge idxes vend gò biko. "I would know if you didn't go to the dance."

Prepositions
All true indivisible prepositions are as follows:

Conjunctions
ð (and), iy...iy... (either or), tai...tai... (and/or), no (but/yet), gai/pirel (because/for), uve (if)

Numbers
Though Patronans have ten fingers in total, the most common base for numerals (talento) is 8 (octal) which was spread by Alemarese and Barejine-speakers across most of Patrona. Typically, finger-counting starts with the thumbs out, the first finger being the index, etc.

Numbers are nouns declined according to form. The item they tell the quantity of is rendered in the genitive before them. ex. krente dxen "nine people"


 * Ordinals are formed with <-me>. First and second are formed suppletively (veit and drezip). They are adjectives.
 * Fractions are formed with <-aj>. Half is suppletive and quarter is irregular (foli and mirej). They are nouns.
 * In both ordinals and fractions, only the end of the number receives the ending.
 * Nouns specified for number are not usually marked grammatically for number. An explicit plural marking can imply a spread-out plural. ex. krentà eqen "ten people from all over"
 * Higher numbers are single words and in the opposite order of English. An interfixed -uð- can be used to separate a single digit from larger numbers for disambiguation. ex. jentezikied 21008 vs jenuðtezikied 20018

Colors
Patronans can't see blue, so they have no need of words to distinguish it, greatly shrinking their color (fulko) vocabulary.


 * txindi: red
 * txindi ritx: dark red, purple
 * god: light red, pink, orange
 * god ritx: brown
 * plauve: white, yellow
 * xab: light green, yellow-green
 * xab ritx: dark yellow-green
 * varze: green, cyan
 * varze ritx: dark green, teal
 * eriti: black, blue
 * hoitxi: gray, dark yellow

Family

 * hèder: house/clan
 * hetro pripea: patriarch/matriarch of the house/clan
 * paloval: family
 * babora/baba: mother
 * nunora/nuna: father
 * iserren: parents
 * blivoa: sibling
 * jiþue: spouse
 * jiþue ____: ____-in-law
 * pels: son/daughter (don't confuse w/ pelza "child, young person")
 * meðvoa: nibling/niece/nephew
 * birre: mother's sibling's spouse
 * hube: mother's sibling
 * ernya: father's sibling
 * nekra: father's sibling's spouse
 * kòsembe: house relative, maternal cousin
 * ernye pels: paternal cousin
 * babiserren/pripeyen: maternal grandparents
 * pripea: maternal grandmother
 * pripè: maternal grandfather
 * nuniserren: paternal grandparents
 * nunbabora/nunbaba: paternal grandmother
 * nunnunora/nunnuna: paternal grandfather

Body parts

 * Body: jekryuje
 * Skin: kale
 * Hair: drasne
 * Head: viryune
 * Face: meusume
 * Mouth: polðue
 * Lips: fuxen
 * Tongue: otta
 * Tooth plates: isi
 * Head ridges: qeo
 * Nose: oþànker
 * Outer ears: txerren
 * Inner ears: yeixeren
 * Eyes: riðuri
 * Neck: qamosi
 * Shoulders: delgeþ
 * Lower back: qoisli
 * Tail: sunti
 * Chest: mana
 * Belly: hadla
 * Arms: ulzen
 * Elbows: ulzà jemedo
 * Hands: faðren
 * Hands' backs: seido (sg. seiþ)
 * Digits: eþazen
 * Nails: lifo
 * Legs: zaken
 * Knees: zakà jemedo
 * Feet: jamben
 * Toes: jambà eþazen

Basic temporal vocabulary
Instead of saying an event to place "at" some time, Alemarese speakers use the preposition ij "in".


 * Time: dxà
 * Day: ax
 * Sunrise: tembre àlus (lit. "night's end")
 * Daytime: þeudxì
 * Sunset: þeudxio àlus (lit. "daytime's end")
 * Nighttime: tembra
 * Yesterday: rolax
 * Today: qedax
 * Tomorrow: edlax
 * Year: rang
 * Season: vosi
 * Month: mind (from Minde, larger of the two moons)
 * Week: alustors
 * Hour: jaurà
 * Minute: veidò (from veit, first)
 * Second: kið

Calendar
Alemarese speakers use a twelve month lunisolar calendar based on the larger moon Minde, where every month (mind) begins in a full moon and lasts twenty days, or four Patronan weeks. A leap month Texuþ is inserted before the last month Àluso in years divisible by 6, but not in years divisible by 24. Months are mostly named after positions in the year and certain gods.

The current year is 2208.

Days of the Week
The Patronan week is only five days long. The Alemarese word for this period is alustors from àluso dorso "five ends", referring to sunrises which are the end and beginning of each Patronan day. The days are named after the larger moon, the sun, and three of the planets. Each Patronan day is a little over 31 hours long.


 * 1) Mindax: named after Minde, the larger of Patrona's two moons
 * 2) Deruax: named after Patrona's sun, Derù
 * 3) Kavekax: named after the largest planet in Patrona's system, Kavèk, or the god of intellect, Kaveka
 * 4) Veverax: named after the closest planet to Derù, Vever, which is an archaic word meaning "wind"
 * 5) Lameax: named after the desert planet Lamea, which is an archaic word meaning "love"

Seasons
Seasons (vosti) do not begin on solstices/equinoxes, those are their middles instead. The first day of the year is very close to the Summer solstice. Because of Patrona's slightly elliptical orbit, in the northern hemisphere, autumn is the longest season and spring is the shortest. This is reversed in the southern hemisphere.


 * esè (eseo): summer
 * dimbri: fall/autumn
 * veyeþ (veyedo): winter
 * àdler (aldro): spring

Naming days
Days are named by the following formula: so Day Ordinal (not for first week) el Month (in the genitive) ij rango Year number. This can be abbreviated as D el M (r Y). In these abbreviations, the month Texuþ is simply t.


 * 21 el 4 r 0424 or so deruax mirme el dxaðumo ij rango mirsiqdizmirsikied (M/D/Y system 4/10/2208)
 * 1 el 1 or so mindax el lupejo (1/1)
 * 51 el t r 2324 or so lameax horme el texuþo ij rango dizhorsiqdizmirsikied (12/13/2202)

Onomatopoeia

 * kauhau: crow
 * kukururù: cock-a-doodle-doo
 * jraf: bark
 * avuv: howl
 * jisss: hiss
 * bris: shatter
 * jrep: rip
 * epjiq: splash
 * xul: swoosh
 * pirb: drip
 * bum: boom
 * txiqxeq: chatter
 * epsiq: spit
 * vix: swish
 * juk: slurp
 * txuq: hiccup

Example Text
''Jyumen ipsen tyui kara veaðra, elkinize, qadrize, ð abelo. Joen foi odaug apelauze ð ogame ð zavè tirre kòsemben ga joa.''

(Abelette ip jyumà dox veit)

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)