Nordiche

Overview

Nordiche is the predominant language of AnortHea, the largest known nation on the Otherworld of Urdhe.

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=Basic Grammar=

Presented here is a description of proper, formal grammar in Nordiche. Visitors will find that strict adherence to grammar is not typical of ordinary daily speech, but it still helps to know the ground rules that most casual speakers will be bending.

The most basic sentence structure is [tense marker][predicate clause][subject clause]. A simple, reading-primer sentence, which we'll use variations on for demonstration, is Ba vuge u gemHa: "I saw a dog".

Tense Markers
This feature of Nordiche derives from its ancestry in the magical languages of Eiama and Voiama, languages which have or are believed to have uncanny properties including influence over the subject of discussion. In these languages it is vital to establish when the sentence is intended to take place, and this fundamental concern has been inherited by the mundane descendant languages.

There are many different tense markers, but for a beginning student only the basics are necessary:

ba: simple, definite past tense. The predicate has already taken place, within easy memory, and is not happening now. Ba vuge u gemHa, "I saw a dog."

bai: distant, indefinite or subjunctive past tense, "long ago". Often translated into English as "Once", or poetically as "Once upon a time". The predicate may or may not have "really" taken place, at a time unspecified but not within immediate memory. Bai vuge u gemHa, "Once, I saw a dog."

baso: indefinite past tense; corresponds closely to the present perfect in English. The predicate has already occurred at an unspecified time, or in some sentences, occurred before another predicate both in the past. Baso vuge u gemHa, "I have seen a dog"; Baso vuge u gemHa, bachaHe narge, "I saw the dog, before it bit me" or "I had seen the dog when it bit me."

a: simple present tense. The predicate is occurring, or has occurred and remains true at the present time. A vuge u gemHa, "I see a dog", "I am seeing a dog", or "I still see the dog." A is nearly always dropped from daily speech, and is the tense assumed by an untensed verb -- Vuge u gemHa is taken to mean "I see a dog."

ai: present continuous. The predicate is ongoing, has started or will continue to occur, but may or may not be happening right at the moment. Ai vuge u gemHa, "I keep seeing a dog." Another usage of ai, not technically considered proper but so widespread that it probably will be soon, is as a simple present tense in sentences which are not meant to be taken literally -- in subjunctives, speculations, jokes and sarcasm. Ai varge e gemHa, "I'm eating a dog" -- or, translated for tone, "Oh yeah, I'm totally eating a dog."

cha: Simple future tense. The predicate will take place sometime in the predictable future, or the speaker declares an intention for the future. Cha vuge u gemHa, "I will see a dog". Cha can be a very subtly shaded tense, with a range of meaning from "I hope to see a dog" to "Nothing will stop me from seeing a dog!", but these differences are conveyed by inflection and expression, not by grammar.

chai: indefinite, distant or hypothetical future, "someday" or "always". Again, much of the meaning in this tense is carried by different deliveries of the same word. Chai vuge u gemHa, "One day I will see a dog" or "I will always see a dog."

Verbs
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