Ylysepen/Grammar

Grammar rules for Ylysepen.

Word Order
Ylysepen is a mixture of SVO and SOV word order. The grammatical tense is introduced before the object, but the verb itself isn't revealed until afterwards. The formula for sentences is thus:
 * SUBJ VERB TAG OBJ VERB (PREP)

Subordinate clauses
Subordinate clauses are formed in a manner similar to English.
 * The woman saw [the man who had given her the flowers].
 * I ser ver [o imer kim sjerom gilker luken] kjosen.

Note that infinitives do not exist in Ylysepen. They must be represented as subordinate clauses with a subject.
 * The dog wants [to fight the cat].
 * I kanak es [mke im es o korbiker somen] spajren.

Pluralization
Nouns have complex pluralization. The accented (usually first) syllable of the word rises if the vowel is unrounded, or comes forward if its unrounded. If the accented syllable is the final syllable also, then an -i is added to the end. A set of irregular nouns ending in -Vs  pluralizes differently. In this case, -Vs is dropped, and em is added.

The s>m also affects the articles i and ilos. They form dem and ilem this way. Interestingly, speaking of the i article is even more strangely pluralized:
 * Dem iren jans rticul.
 * Is are articles.

This is the only word that takes -n when pluralized. Note that articul is a nonstandard word, borrowed from English.