Ælis/Morphology

    

    





Ælis is an oligoanalytic language. The oligo- part of this word means that the language is built with a minimal amount of basic speech concepts called 'root words'. Whereas regular languages have up to hundreds of thousands of words, Ælis only has a few hundred. The speech particles can be combined in order to form more complex words. The analytic part of the word means that the language has no bound morphemes. A bound morpheme, for example, is the letter '-s' in the English word houses, where it indicates a plural. But the letter S is not an independent word in English, nor does it have the meaning of plural wherever it appears. The fact that Ælis has no bound morphemes means that each morpheme always has the same meaning.

Some root words in the Ælis thesaurus are straightfoward stand-alone lexemes, meaning that they have a meaning like a word you can find in a dictionary. Examples include mA {ma} (man, male),  tW {tæ} (color) , or  bI {bi} (funny, humor). But there are other root words that have a somewhat grammatical component to them as well. Learning what they are and how they work will be fundamental to understanding the how the morphology works.

In part 1 of this page, we will have a look at these special building blocks. In part 2, we'll go into detail about different ways to combine root words in order to form complex clusters.

PART 1: SPECIAL BUILDING BLOCKS

Number concepts



Along with the 21 common letters of the alphabet, Ælis uses a set of ten additional symbols called number concepts, from now on referred to as "Lisqa". Lisqa are proper root words which all have a numeric value:

Lisqa are a noteworthy aspect of the languages' morphology, mainly because the underlying idea doesn't share any common ground with concepts found in the English grammar (or probably most human languages' grammar, for that matter). A first important remark is that these number concepts are not the same as cardinal numbers. Instead, they are present in words where the corresponding numeric value is somehow conceptually present. The most illustrative lisqa example can be found in the very name of the language: 1lIS {ælis} consists of 1 {æ} (1) and lIS {lis} (concept, idea), the concept of one meaning as much as 'peace' or 'harmony', or of course ' uni ty'.

Counting



0-9



Ælis does not have individual words for numbers, nor has it any separate symbols for ciphers. But as you might have guessed, the number concepts are used to express numbers: all numbers end with the fixed root word qA [qa], which can mean 'number', 'amount', 'countable' or 'unit'; with number concepts preceding it. The first five numbers use the lisqa of the low range:

The numbers from 5 to 9 use the high range lisqa. Try to see it similarly to the fact we have two hands with 5 fingers each.

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10+: Simple numbers

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For all positive numbers 10 and up, in the simple system, multiple number concepts are combined as if they were digits. E.g.:

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<div style="background-color:hsl(30,82%,87%);margin:0em;"> <div style="float:right;color:hsl(30,82%,95%);text-shadow: 1px 1px 2px hsl(30,82%,15%);font-variant:small-caps;font-size:1.25em;position:relative;bottom:0.125em;right:0.5em;">this is a margin section.

10+: Complex numbers

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<p style="padding:0em 1em;">In the complex system, repitions of the same number may be joined in with a multiplication-like system, comparable to English: 007 (zero-zero-seven) &#8660; 007 (double-o-seven). In Ælis, this is achieved by enclosing the amount of times that the following digit has to be repeated in the letter {d}, primary case to open, secondary case to close: 007 007qA {a'a'u̯eqa} &#8660; 007 <span style="color:hsl(100,100%,25%);">d2D0 <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,40%);">7qA {<span style="color:hsl(100,100%,25%);">deda '<span style="color:hsl(200,100%,40%);">u̯eqa } (<span style="color:hsl(100,100%,25%);">two times zero, <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,40%);">then seven ).

<p style="padding:0em 1em;">The complex system becomes increasingly interesting for high numbers that contain identical adjacent digits. Compare:

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Personal pronouns

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<p style="margin:2em 0em;">The number concepts also play a role in the construction of personal pronouns. If you look at them as the 'first/second/third person', the idea becomes more tangible. Personal pronouns exist in five grammatical persons, and three genders. The genders male, female and undefined are purely semantical, so they don't govern the declension of nouns or the like. Note that the category of undefined pronouns is not the same as a neuter grammatical gender. In Ælis, the undefined pronouns are used only if a speaker: <ol> <li>is unaware of the gender;</li> <li>doesn't wish to specify a gender;</li> <li>refers to a group where both sexes are present.</li> </ol> <p style="margin:2em 0em;">Furthermore, the personal pronouns are only used for arguments that can be interpreted as having a character: people, or sometimes animals, anthropomorphized objects (in literature), ect. They are never used for referring to objects (as opposed to the English use of it).

Singular

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<p style="margin:2em 0em;">The singular pronouns are formed as follows:

<p style="margin:2em 0em;">Ælis' "4th person" refers to someone other than me, you, or him/her. It may refer to either someone beyond eyesight, or to someone unknown: me, you, him/her, and 'the other':

<p style="margin:2em 0em;">The "0th person" refers to the generalizing 'one', as in 'one does not simply...'. The person that French refers to as on, in German man, etc.:

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Plural: simple

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<p style="margin: 2em 0em;">There are two methods to form plural personal pronouns in Ælis: the simple and complex pronouns. The latter are more natural to Ælis itself, but the former may be more intuitive to speakers from other languages. The simple plural pronouns take the same approach as the singular ones, only do they employ the first three lisqa of the high range rather than the low range.

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Plural: complex

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<p style="margin: 2em 0em;">In the complex approach, the idea is not to use the high range lisqa instead of the low range ones, but instead, to use more than one lisqa. In essence, this is a way to compress two simple, singular pronouns into one. For example:

If two or more people are not all the same gender, the undefined pronoun must be used:

The complex system allows creative blends:

<p style="margin: 2em 0em;">Note that the lisqa ought to be placed strictly in ascending order:

Use

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<p style="margin: 2em 0em;">Because Ælis attaches great value to the correct use of genders in personal pronouns, addressing someone face to face with 2tE {ete} (you, undefined) could be taken as an offense.

<p style="margin: 2em 0em;">Addressing someone is often also done by merging a personal pronoun with a noun. Compare:

<p style="margin: 2em 0em;">It is even common and polite to prefix a personal pronoun (with the correct gender) to a given name:

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Qualifiers

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Qualifiers are a set of five words that can be attached to other words, which will then express a certain amount, degree, extent or quality of of that word. The qualifiers are formed by prefixing Lisqa from 0 to 4 to the fixed root word {-ra}. Therefore, there are five qualifiers 'levels': <div style="display:flex;flex-flow: row wrap; justify-content: space-around; align-items:center;margin:1em;"> <div style="min-width:10em;margin:0.5em;padding:0.5em;padding-top:0em;border:solid 1px silver;border-radius:25px;text-align:center;"> 0rA {ara} (nothing) <div style="min-width:10em;margin:0.5em;padding:0.5em;padding-top:0em;border:solid 1px silver;border-radius:25px;text-align:center;"> 1rA {æra} (little) <div style="min-width:10em;margin:0.5em;padding:0.5em;padding-top:0em;border:solid 1px silver;border-radius:25px;text-align:center;"> 2rA {era} (moderate/middle/half) <div style="min-width:10em;margin:0.5em;padding:0.5em;padding-top:0em;border:solid 1px silver;border-radius:25px;text-align:center;"> 3rA {ira} (much) <div style="min-width:10em;margin:0.5em;padding:0.5em;padding-top:0em;border:solid 1px silver;border-radius:25px;text-align:center;"> 4rA {ora} (all/total) Let's have a look at a few examples. Pay attention to which effect the qualifiers have to the base word:

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<p style="margin-top:2em;">These examples only show few of numerous possibilities; the qualifiers can attach to many root words, by which a fivefold of words is created. Getting a grasp on the qualifiers means getting a grip on what the Ælis language is all about.

Axes of time and space

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Ælis' axes of time and space lay out the fundaments of what will later be the equivalent of many prepositions and also time tenses. The system exploits the mechanics of both the lisqa and the qualifiers, so that the entire system can be built around one root word. This is the root word dA {da}, which means axis, also axle or (straight) line. Let's start with space first. The Ælis paradigm can be compared to an <span style="color:hsl(25,100%,50%);">X -<span style="color:hsl(50,100%,45%);">Y -<span style="color:hsl(100,100%,25%);">Z  graph that you may remember from math class: each of the axes of Ælis corresponds to one of the dimensions in such a graph. The axes of space use the root word aN {an} (space, place, location) in combination with the root word  dA {da}, and lisqa added before the latter of these, to indicate which spatial axis is referred to. As such, the axes of space are:

<p style="margin-top:2em;">Then, an additional qualifier is added to indicate one of five points on the axis.

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<p style="margin-top:2em;">With the axes of space covered, we can now speak about time. This axis is slightly easier, because there is only one axis. Therefore, the first lisqa is dropped, as there is no need to determine a dimension. The temporal axis uses the root word for 'time' instead of the one for 'space': aSdA {asda}, which ranges from past to future :

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aSdA<span style="color:hsl(0,100%,50%);">0 rA {asda'<span style="color:hsl(0,100%,50%);">a ra} <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,50%);">far past history

aSdA<span style="color:hsl(25,100%,50%);">1 rA {asda'<span style="color:hsl(25,100%,50%);">æ ra} <span style="color:hsl(25,100%,50%);">(recent) past

aSdA<span style="color:hsl(50,100%,45%);">2 rA {asda'<span style="color:hsl(50,100%,45%);">e ra} <span style="color:hsl(50,100%,45%);">present

aSdA<span style="color:hsl(100,100%,25%);">3 rA {asda'<span style="color:hsl(100,100%,25%);">i ra} <span style="color:hsl(100,100%,25%);">(near) future

aSdA<span style="color:hsl(200,100%,40%);">4 rA {asda'<span style="color:hsl(200,100%,40%);">o ra} <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,40%);">far future eternity

Singular vs. Plural

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In its core, Ælis does not have a notion of 'singular' vs. 'plural': all lexical root words of Ælis are seen as mass nouns. English examples of mass nouns, also called non-count nouns, include 'water', 'sand' or 'furniture'. This means that if you see any (root) word X, you ought to interpret it as "a(n unspecified amount of) X". This makes transcription to English a bit tricky sometimes, as, for example, tE {te} can mean both 'person' and 'people', qOrEmI {qoremi} can mean both 'cat' and 'cats', aN {an} can mean both 'place' and 'places', etc.

In practice, however, the amount implied can often be derived from context. If not, Ælis has two ways to specify the amount of a noun.

Method number one exists of none simpler than simply adding a cardinal number before the other word.

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0qAtE {aqa'te} zero people

1qAtE {æqa'te} one person

2qAtE {eqa'te} two people

3qAtE {iqa'te} three people

4qAtE {oqa'te} four people

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0qAqOrEmI {aqa'qoremi} zero cats

1qAqOrEmI {æqa'qoremi} one cat

2qAqOrEmI {eqa'qoremi} two cats

3qAqOrEmI {iqa'qoremi} three cats

4qAqOrEmI {oqa'qoremi} four cats

If it proves undesirable or even impossible to use this method (e.g.: with uncountables), method two consists of adding a qualifier to the root word qA {qa}, and prefix that to another word:

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qA0rAtE {qa'ara'te} no people no one

qA1rAtE {qa'æra'te} some people

qA2rAtE {qa'era'te} several people

qA3rAtE {qa'ira'te} many people

qA4rAtE {qa'ora'te} all people everyone

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qA0rAqOrEmI {qa'ara'qoremi} no cats

qA1rAqOrEmI {qa'æra'qoremi} some cats

qA2rAqOrEmI {qa'era'qoremi} several cats

qA3rAqOrEmI {qa'ira'qoremi} many cats

qA4rAqOrEmI {qa'ora'qoremi} all cats every cat

<h1 style="margin:1em auto;width:auto;text-align:center;padding:0.5em 1em;font-size:1.5em;background: linear-gradient(to right,rgba(0,51,51,1), rgba(0,128,128,0.5), rgba(255,255,255,0));color:white;text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px rgb(0,51,51), 1px -1px 1px rgb(0,51,51), -1px 1px 1px rgb(0,51,51), -1px -1px 1px rgb(0,51,51);border-radius: 0px 50px 0px 50px;">PART 2: CHAINING

Basic word structure

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The whole idea of the Ælis morphology is that the actual root words convey very basic concepts. But several root words can be combined to create derived, slightly more complex ideas:

When two root words are combined, then a hierarchy will grow between them automatically. The first root will have a nominal value, meaning that it can be compared to a noun. The second root will then be a descriptor of that noun, similar to an adjective or adverb. For example: the root word tE {te} can mean both "person" (noun), or "human" (noun/adj.). The word uB3rA {ub'ira} can mean both "strength" (noun) and "strong" (adjective).

If we combine them in this order, then tE {te} will be the noun 'person', and  uB3rA {ub'ira} will be the adjective 'strong':

tEuB3rA {te> ubira } &rarr; strong person

If we flip the word order, we'll also turn the noun into an adjective and vice-versa:

uB3rAtE {ubira> te } &rarr; human strength

<p style="margin-top:2em;">Another example.

eG1lIS {eg> ælis } &rarr; language> harmony &rarr; harmonious language

1lISeG {ælis> eg } &rarr; harmony> language &rarr; linguistic harmony &rArr; poetry

So, creating words in Ælis does not solely depend on which root words you pick, it is also important how you combine them.

Node particles

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There are six root words that can be used to link two (root) words in special ways. Infixing such a node particle between one (root) word and the next will add an additional relationship between the two.

The characteristic particle

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<div style="float:right;margin:0em;margin-left:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:1em;border-left: double 3px silver;background:linear-gradient(to right, rgba(255,255,255,1), rgba(255,255,255,0.25));text-align:center;"> <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,45%);">X eM <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,45%);">Y <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,45%);">X adj. <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,45%);">Y <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,45%);">X which is <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,45%);">Y <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,45%);">X with characteristic <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,45%);">Y

The characteristic particle, eM {em}, is a particle that can be used to create adjectives. Even though the relationship of noun-adjective is already present in two randomly joined root words, the characteristic particle allows one group of root words (i.e.: a word) to become an adjective of another group of root words. Again, the word order is relevant for the way in which the roles of noun and adjective are assigned:

Another example:

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The referent particle

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The referent particle, vW {væ}, is a particle that can be used to create a framework. This framework is limiting in nature, meaning that the rest of the utterance is only valid with regard to the referent, not to anything else. The referent particle {væ} could therefore be understood as meaning "when compared to". The particle can make itself useful in various ways.

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Prepositions of time and place

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The referent can connect to words that express a location or a point in time (cf. Axes of time and space) in order to make them relative. This way, they turn into prepositions:

Another example:

Or:

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Fractions

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The referent particle can also be used to express fractions. Its meaning then becomes "X out of Y" :

By extension, the particle can also be used to highlight parts of a group in general:

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Comparative and superlative

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The referent harbours the key to creating comparative, and by extension, superlative structures. The mechanism for comparative structures works a bit differently from English, where we create our comparative structure with either a predicative or adverbial phrase.

<div style="display:flex;flex-flow: row wrap; justify-content: space-around; align-items:center;margin:0;padding:0;"> Predicative: I am taller than you.

Adverbial: I run faster than you.

The syntactical structure of Ælis is different. Two arguments are compared directly to one another in an otherwise regular, positive statement:

<div style="display:flex;flex-flow: row wrap; justify-content: space-around; align-items:center;margin:0;padding:0;"> iA<span style="color:hsl(100,100%,25%);">1tE <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">vW <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,40%);">2tE hAaQ3rAaN2dA {ia'<span style="color:hsl(100,100%,25%);">æte '<span style="color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">væ '<span style="color:hsl(200,100%,40%);">ete ha'aq'ira'an'eda} <span style="color:hsl(100,100%,25%);">I <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">compared to <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,40%);">you am tall.

lA<span style="color:hsl(100,100%,25%);">1tE <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">vW <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,40%);">2tE hAaNiIvWaQ1rAaS {la'<span style="color:hsl(100,100%,25%);">æte '<span style="color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">væ '<span style="color:hsl(200,100%,40%);">ete ha'aniivæ'aq'æra'as} <span style="color:hsl(100,100%,25%);">I <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">compared to <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,40%);">you run quickly.

Ælis has no distinct superlative. Instead, the comparison is made to something much bigger. For example:

<div style="display:flex;flex-flow: row wrap; justify-content: space-around; align-items:center;margin:0;padding:0;"> iA<span style="color:hsl(100,100%,25%);">1tE <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">vW <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,40%);">qA4rAtE hAaQ3rAaN2dA {ia'<span style="color:hsl(100,100%,25%);">æte '<span style="color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">væ '<span style="color:hsl(200,100%,40%);">qa'ora'te ha'aq'ira'an'eda} <span style="color:hsl(100,100%,25%);">I <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">compared to <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,40%);">all people am tall.

lA<span style="color:hsl(100,100%,25%);">1tE <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">vW <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,40%);">qA4rAtE hAaNiIvWaQ1rAaS {la'<span style="color:hsl(100,100%,25%);">æte '<span style="color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">væ '<span style="color:hsl(200,100%,40%);">qa'ora'te ha'aniivæ'aq'æra'as} <span style="color:hsl(100,100%,25%);">I <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,40%);">compared to <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,40%);">all people run quickly.

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The activity particle

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<div style="float:right;margin:0em;margin-left:1em;padding:1em;margin-bottom:1em;border-left: double 3px silver;background:linear-gradient(to right, rgba(255,255,255,1), rgba(255,255,255,0.25));text-align:center;"> <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,45%);">X lO <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,45%);">Y <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,45%);">X does <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,45%);">Y <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,45%);">X causes <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,45%);">Y <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,45%);">X initiates <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,45%);">Y

The activity particle, lO {lo}, is a particle that can be used to express actions. If it prefixes to another root word, it will transform that root word into an active verb. If it suffixes to another root word, it turns that root word into the subject of an action. The desired use of the activity particle is to have it play both of these roles at the same time, by infixining it between two other words, so that "X-{lo}-Y" conveys the idea of "something {that does} action":

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The passivity particle

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<div style="float:right;margin:0em;margin-left:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:1em;border-left: double 3px silver;background:linear-gradient(to right, rgba(255,255,255,1), rgba(255,255,255,0.25));text-align:center;"> <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,45%);">X iO <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,45%);">Y <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,45%);">X affected by <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,45%);">Y <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,45%);">X to whom <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,45%);">Y is done <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,45%);">X at whom <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,45%);">Y is targeted

The passivity particle, iO {io}, is a particle that can be used to express arguments affected by actions. If it prefixes to another root word, it will transform that root word into a (passive) verb. If it suffixes to another root word, it turns that root word into the (in)direct object, or the target of an action. The desired use of the passivity particle is to have it play both of these roles at the same time, by infixining it between two other words, so that "X-{io}-Y" conveys the idea of "something {target of} action":

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The origin particle

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<div style="float:right;margin:0em;margin-left:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:1em;border-left: double 3px silver;background:linear-gradient(to right, rgba(255,255,255,1), rgba(255,255,255,0.25));text-align:center;"> <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,45%);">X lI <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,45%);">Y <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,45%);">X done by <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,45%);">Y <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,45%);">X caused by <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,45%);">Y <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,45%);">X originating from <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,45%);">Y

The origin particle, lI {li}, is a particle that can be used to express agents of actions. Essentially, it has the same role as the activity particle, but with reversed word order:

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The target particle

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<div style="float:right;margin:0em;margin-left:1em;margin-bottom:1em;padding:1em;border-left: double 3px silver;background:linear-gradient(to right, rgba(255,255,255,1), rgba(255,255,255,0.25));text-align:center;"> <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,45%);">X iI <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,45%);">Y <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,45%);">X done to <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,45%);">Y <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,45%);">X affecting <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,45%);">Y <span style="color:hsl(0,100%,45%);">X going towards <span style="color:hsl(200,100%,45%);">Y

The target particle, iI {ii}, is a particle that can be used to express patients of actions. Essentially, it has the same role as the passivity particle, but again with reversed word order:

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Combinations

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The aforementioned particles eM {em} (characteristic),  vW {væ} (referent) ,  lO {lo} (activity),  iO {io} (passivity) ,  lI {li} (origin) , and  iI {ii} (target) are to be used as nodes between one word and the next. The amount of these node particles isn't restricted to one per word. Two or three, an a theoretical infinite amount is also possible.

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The separator particle

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It is key to understand that the node particles always link a word to the one immediately preceding it. Have a look at the following word:

In this word, the word "beautiful" refers to "Ælis", and therefore it means (female) speaker of the beautiful Ælis language. That is how the chaining principle of Ælis is inherently structured. But what do we do if we want both the words "(to speak) Ælis" and "beautiful" to refer to the "woman"? In comes the separator particle, tA {ta}. The particle functions as a kind of "reset" button for the hierarchy within a word. We can place the particle before the word "beautiful" in order to make it refer back to the "woman":

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Hyper-noding (sentence words)

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Ælis makes extensive use of both the node particles and the separator in order to create massive words. These words are so rich in meaning that they could be considered to be one word sentences. Let's have a look at an example of such a "hyper-noded"word:

First, let's determine the 'node' and the separator particles within this word:

Then, we need to know the meanings of the individual lexical words:

Finally, we add the roles of the nodes:

And so, we get:

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<p style="text-align:center;font-weight:bold;margin-bottom:1em;">Further reading Main page Reading and writing Morphology Function marking Root word list and vocabulary