Pilonja is not complete, so don't expect much out of it.
Background[]
Without getting into the detail of the world that Pilonja exists in, I can say that it has a peculiarity. In the thought process behind the language, you don't just think in a linear fashion, breaking packages of words into groups based on what is applying to what. You also have to understand and think about the characteristics of the things you are talking about. In order to talk, you need to know what things do, what they look like, how they move, and seemingly anything that could be useful. It is easy to learn charateristics, but there is no avoiding them.
This is all because in Pilonja, there are only nouns. To use a verb, you just say a noun that does that thing, and then qualify it as doing that. To use an adjective, you just say something that has the characteristic you are referring to, and qualify it as an adjective. This makes a Pilonja sentence more like a list of characteristics about something, its relation to other things in that situation and when everything is like this.
This page is set up with the knowledge of characteristics, but is laid out to show you how to make a verb, an adjective, ect.
Vowel Harmony[]
The first thing you must know about Pilonja grammar is the vowel harmony. The vowel harmony is regular, and its use is also regular. Learning where vowel harmony is used is a must in Pilonja. on the chart below, if a vowel must harmonize with another vowel, they must be on the same row. You do this by changing the vowel that is harmonizing to the one that is on the same row as the other vowel, but is in the same column as its self.
| a | í | ú | i |
| u | o | é | i |
| á/e | á/e | á/e | i |
Additionally, "i" harmonizes with everything and does not change. "á" and "e" are special. Each can only be used with certain preceding consonants, and when they need to harmonize, they change to the vowel that they are harmonizing with. When another vowel is harmonizing with it, it changes according to the preceding consonant. "d" is the exception consonant, it does not change its following vowel when it is either "á" or "e."
| á/e | consonents for each |
|---|---|
| á | k, n, t, s, b, r. "r" changes to j, and keeps á |
| e | p, m, l, j, h, v |
Examples. In this chart, the second vowel on the left is harmonizing with the first. The right side is what the result would be. None of these are words, but just examples
| ba + to | ba + tí |
| mu + kú | mu + ké |
| ké + pe | ké + pé |
| ja + si | ja + si |
| me + ko | me + ká |
Grammar[]
Nouns[]
Nouns in Pilonja are simple. They have no gender, no number, and are not marked to be a noun as opposed to other types of words. Nouns break down into 4 cases. The four cases are regular, locative, the aptly named other, and the specially explanative.
Regular Case[]
Nouns in the regular case are used as the nominative and accusative in other languages. They are the doers and the do-ees. The doer comes first, and the do-ee is suffixed to the qualifier of a verb, see Verbs, and harmonizes its first vowel.
| English | Pilonja |
|---|---|
| dog shoots cat | káhmén tanno ékobino |
| dog | káhmén |
| shoot | tanno éko |
| cat | bino |
Locative Case[]
Nouns in the locative case use prepositions, like "to" or "from." The morphology for a locative noun is that it harmonizes its first vowel with its preposition.
| English | Pilonja |
|---|---|
| I go to the school | tá ijási ko tésén |
| I | tá |
| go | ijási |
| to | ko |
| school | túsén |
| to school | ko tésén |
Other Case[]
Nouns in the other case are used similarly to the locative case, except that the locative case is used for anything that describes location. The other case is used for anything else. Like, "because of," "with," etc. Nouns in the other case harmonize their last vowel as either "á" or "e," and are followed by a postposition. The other case is also how you make a possessive, but that comes later.
| English | Pilonja |
|---|---|
| I walk with the dog | tá opsina úko káhmen po |
| I | tá |
| walk | opsina úko |
| dog | káhmén |
| with | po |
| with the dog | káhmen po |
Explainitive Case[]
- See, Copula
Pronouns & Emphatic Pronouns[]
Pronouns morph the same as any other noun. Here is a list of personal pronouns
| Person | Number | Regular | Emphatic | English |
| 1st | singular | tá | tá | I |
| 1st | plural (inclusive) | kotá | kosé | We (if the person you are talking to is part of the "we" |
| 1st | plural (exclussive) | kot | kát | We (if the person you are talking to is not part of the "we" |
| 2nd | singular | me | mís | You |
| 2nd | plural | mi | amí | You (plural) |
| 3rd (person) | singular | lí | leto | He, She |
| 3rd (person) | plural | ními | nomí | They |
| 3rd (object) | singular | ni | na | It |
| 3rd (object) | plural | to | tá | They |
| 4th | singular | ra | ja | One, as in a hypothetical person or object. |
| 4th | plural | toju | túsé | Same as the singular, except plural |
| 3rd (inquisitive person) | numberless | siji | séji | Who |
| 3rd (inquisitive object) | numberless | karo | kajá | what |
Emphatic Pronouns and nouns are used to make the listener understand the situation from the emphatic's perspective.
Verbs[]
Regular Verbs[]
In Pilonja, there aren't verbs in the same sense as in other languages. Instead of a verb, you use a noun that does the thing you are trying to say. There wouldn't be, for instance, a word for "walk." You'd just use "foot," followed by a marker for a verb. The markers harmonize with the last vowel of the noun.
The markers:
| Relative | Tense | Verb | State |
| Before | Past | o | al |
| Before | Present/Future | sá | ma |
| During | Past | do | da |
| During | Present/Future | éko | ré(n) |
| After | Past | íja | to |
| After | Present/Future | ka | per |
- "rén" is used when nothing is suffixed onto it, or if the suffix begins with a vowel. "ré-" is otherwise used.
The state markers are used to say what state you are in, or a change in state. This is explained in the section on ergativity. The relativity of the marker is used to express what the thing does before, during, and after the action. The tense is when the doer is actually doing it. This concept isn't heavily relevant on grammar, but more on what the item you use in the sentence as the verb, actually does.
example;
| English | Pilonja |
| snow | kilerín |
| I fall | tá kilerín úko |
| I prepare to fall | tá kilerín sí |
| I lay down | tá kilerín ka |
| I fell | tá kilerín dí |
| I prepared to fall | tá kilerín í |
| I layed down | tá kilerín íja |
Ergative Verbs[]
Pilonja is ergative, that is it makes a distinction between an action, and a change in state. "I run," vs. "I sit." Change in states use the state qualifiers, and follow the order below,
| English | Pilonja |
| The dog sits | káhmén moso rén |
| I sit the dog down | káhmén moso rété |
| The dog sits itself down | káhmén moso réni |
| ass | moso |
Copula[]
The copula is also a different case than other languages. It is a not an odd verb, it is a special case of a noun. Instead of saying "X is Y," you say "X is Y, in relation to Z." "Z" is the noun that is in the special case. To put a noun in this case, you harmonize the first vowel as "á/e," and prefix "i-" to it. The noun can be translated as either "is in relation to Z," or "is Z-ly."
| English | Pilonja |
| Finnish is difficult, linguistically | síomi salomé ilempíállá |
| Finnish | síomi |
| difficult | salomé |
| language | lampíállá |
| is in terms of language | ilempíállá |
"i-" is a prefix for progressiveness with verbs. It always has to be used in an "X is Y" situation, even an "X was Y" one. To change the tense of a statement like this, you use the state markers. However in the present during state, no marker is needed, unless a modal or mood is being used. If you use a state marker, "i-" must still be used, but it is prefixed to the qualifier instead.
This construction is usually used for explanations. i.e., Someone asks "what do you mean, 'I run cheetah-like?,'" you can reply with, "You are cheetah-like, in respect to speed." More on that in relativity though.
Relativity[]
A word is relative when it used in two consecutive sentences where the word is anything but the subject in the first, and is only the subject in the second. This is usually just one sentence in English, but Pilonjan syntax favours multiple simple sentences than large constructions. Take this example, then I will explain
| English | Pilonja |
| I walk to the pool that you swim in. | tá ijási ko ékén. ti sa-úkén, me sota úko. |
| I walk to the pool. | tá ijási ko ékén. |
| In that pool, you swim. | ti sa-úkén, me sota úko. |
| Reletivity prefix | su- |
| in / on | ti |
| pool | úkén |
The marker is used to add any extra meaning to a certain word in a sentence. In this case, rather than saying I was going to just any pool, I specified that it was the pool you swim in.
The relative word, which can be a verb, adjective or noun comes first in the trailing sentence, and takes the prefix "su-" (keeping the hyphen.) "su-" harmonizes to the first vowel of the word. Any prepostion or postposition required is kept in its regular position with the word. If an explanative noun is used with the relative word, it goes immediately after the relative word, or if a postposition is used, after that.
Moods[]
There are five moods in Pilonja, in both positive and negative. They are prefixed to the verb qualifier. The vowels in brackets are dropped if the qualifier starts with a vowel, otherwise it harmonizes. These are the moods;
- The assertive mood is the "default" mood. Emphatic nouns have relatively no affect.
| Positive | Negative | Positive example | Translation | Negative example | Translation | Emphatic example | Translation |
| n/a | n(o) | lí sota úko | He swims | lí sota núko | He didn't swim | n/a | n/a |
- The commissive mood commits the speaker to the sentence, that is the speaker is committed to accomplishing the situation similar to the English auxiliary verb, "will." Emphatic nouns make it so that the subject is committed.
| d(íi)- | r(ú) | lí sota dúko | He swims, and I am committed to making and/or keeping this true | lí sota rúko | He swims, and I am not committed to making and/or keeping this true | leto sota dúko | He will swim, and is committed to making and/or keeping this true |
- The declarative mood makes the sentence a statement. Emphatic nouns make the sentence like a statement from the perspective of the subject about what it does. The declarative mood can have two subjects, if one is emphatic.
| an- | k(o)- | lí sota anéko | I say, "he swims" | lí sota kúko | I don't say, "he swims" | leto me sota anéko | He says, "you swim." |
- The directive mood is used to make commands. If the subject of the sentence is not 2nd person, the sentence is more like a declaration from the speaker that he wants the sentence accomplished. If the sentence is emphatic, it means that the subject wants the sentence accomplished. 2nd person non-emphatic subjects make commands.
| j(i)- | vall(o)- | lí sota júko | I want him to swim | lí sota valléko | I don't want him to swim | leto sota júko | He wants to swim |
- The expressive mood is used to describe whether or not the speaker like's that the sentence is true or not. Emphatic nouns makes it whether or not the subject likes that the sentence is true or not
| m(o)- | h(a)- | lí sota múko | I like that he swims | lí sota húko | I don't like that he swims | leto sota múko | He likes that he swims. |
Numbers[]
Numbers in Pilonja are quinary, that is they have a base of 5, with the numbers 0-4. For the chart below, X represents either 1, 2, 3, or 4. One, two, three and four are represented by the letters, k, j, s, and m.
| pilonja numerals | decimal | pilonja name |
| 0 | 0 | dís |
| 1 | 1 | kúks |
| 2 | 2 | joén |
| 3 | 3 | sék |
| 4 | 4 | istí |
| 10 | 5 | kul |
| 20 | 10 | jul |
| 100 | 25 | kén |
| 300 | 75 | sén |
| 1000 | 125 | kít |
| 4000 | 500 | mít |
| 10000 | 625 | kúk |
| 30000 | 1875 | súk |
| 100000 | 3125 | kostí |
| 200000 | 6250 | jostí |
| 341234 | 12069 | sostímúkkítjénsulistí |
| 10131 | 666 | kúkkénsulkúks |
Numbers higher than (pilonja: 444444, decimal: 15624) use exponential numerals, and are separated - unlike lower numbers.
| pilonja numerals | decimal | mathematical representation | pilonja name |
| 1`1 | 15625 | 1*5^(5+1) | kalkét |
| 2`1 | 31250 | 2*5^(5+1) | jalkét |
| 1`2 | 78125 | 1*5^(5+2) | kaljét |
| 3`2 | 234375 | 3*5^(5+2) | saljét |
| 1`3 | 390625 | 1*5^(5+3) | kalsét |
| 4`3 | 1562500 | 4*5^(5+3) | malsét |
| 1`4 | 1953125 | 1*5^(5+4) | kalmét |
| 3`4 | 5859375 | 3*5^(5+4) | salmét |
| 3`4 2`2 4`1 | 6078125 | (3*5^(5+4)) + (2*5^(5+2)) | salmét jaljét malkét |
| 2`4 1`3 200341 | 4303221 | (2*5^(5+4)) + (1*5^(5+3)) + (2*5^5) + (3*5^2) + (4*5) + 1 | jalmét kalsét jostísénmulkúks |
The next set of numbers are used when Z in X*5^(5+Z) exceeds 4. This is written as X`Z. When it exceeds 4, the equation becomes X*5^(Y5+Z) and is written X~Y`Z. Because Z exists, Y cannot be less than 2. It is said, XáYíitZét
| pilonja numerals | decimal | mathematical representation | pilonja name |
| 1~2 | 9765625 | 1*5^(2*5) | kájíit |
| 1~2`1 | 48828125 | 1*5^((2*5)+1) | kájíitkét |
| 1~2`2 | 244140625 | 1*5^((2*5)+2) | kájíitjét |
| 1~2`3 | 1220703125 | 1*5^((2*5)+3) | kájíitsét |
| 1~2`4 | 6103515625 | 1*5^((2*5)+4) | kájíitmét |
| 1~3 | 6103515625 * 5 | 1*5^(3*5) | kásíit |
Nothing above 4~4`4 4~4`3 4~4`2 4~4`1 4~4 4~3`4 4~3`3 4~3`2 4~3`1 4~3 4~2`4 4~2`3 4~2`2 4~2`1 4~2 4`4 4`3 4`2 4`1 444444 (mámíitmét mámíitsét mámíitjét mámíitkét mámíit másíitmét másíitsét másíitjét másíitkét másíit májíitmét májíitsét májíitjét májíitkét májíit mákíitmét mákíitsét mákíitjét mákíitkét mákíit malmét malsét maljét malkét mostímúkmítménmulistí) has not yet been created.