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Saso
Saso
Type
Fusional
Alignment
Nominative - Accusative
Head direction
Initial
Tonal
No
Declensions
Yes
Conjugations
Yes
Genders
No
Nouns decline according to...
Case Number
Definiteness Gender
Verbs conjugate according to...
Voice Mood
Person Number
Tense Aspect



General information[]

Saso is derived from an older language, Proto - Saso. Saso grew from the romantic and poetic ideals of its predecessor. An interesting note about the title, Saso refers to a specific type of poetry. However, Saso does not translate literally into English because it is very hard to describe the style of poetry in a few words. 

Phonology[]

Consonants[]

Bilabial Labio-dental Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m /m/ n /n/
Plosive

p /p/

b /b/

d /d/ k /k/
g /g/
q /q/
Fricative f /f/ w /θ/

s /s/

z /z/

x /x/

h /h/
Approximant r /ɹ/ j /j/
Flap or tap v /ⱱ/
Lateral app. l /l/ ç /ʟ/

Vowels[]

Front Near-front Central Near-back Back
Close i /i/ õ /u/
Near-close í /ɪ/ ó /ʊ/
Close-mid ã /e/ ô /ɵ/ o /o/
Mid ê /ɛ̝/ û /ə/
Open-mid ú /œ/ u /ʌ/
Near-open a /æ/ ø /ɐ/

Diphthongs and Digraphs[]

ãí /ai/

õí /ɔɪ/

iu /ʊəʳ/

aê /eəʳ/

ãi /ɪəʳ/

sh /sʰ/

fw /ʍ/

sh /ʃ/

Notes[]

1. When followed by the letters i or ã, /g/ becomes /h/, similar to romance languages. 

2. Some speakers sometimes swap /n/ for /ŋ/, especially when it is preceded by ã

3. If /z/ is followed by a diphthong, it becomes /s/.

4. /h/ is silent when followed by ã or o.

5. ê becomes i when preceded by v

6. When followed by m or p, a becomes ã.

7. /ʍ/ becomes /x/ when preceded by a long vowel.

8. When u is preceded by /g/ it is silent, and the g remains /g/

Phonotactics[]

(C/Dg)(C)V/Dp(C)(V)

Syllables in Saso follow the pattern above. C is a consonant, Dg is a digraph, V is a vowel, and Dp is a Diphthong. If the syllable has a diphthong, the diphthong must be followed by a consonant. There may never be more than two consonants next to each other in a word. For a vowel to stand alone as a syllable, it must be e, ã, or o. A diphthong may stand alone only if it is ãi.

The letters j(/j/) or h(/h/) may never appear as the last letter of a word.

Stress[]

Stress is placed on the first short vowel of a word. If there is no short vowel, then it is placed on the first vowel of the word.

In Saso, stress is placed on a because it is the first short vowel.

In Sãso, stress is laced on ã because there are no short vowels, and it is the first vowel.

Grammar[]

Gender Cases Numbers Tenses Persons Moods Voices Aspects
Verb No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Nouns No Yes Yes No No No No No
Adjectives No Yes Yes No No No No No
Numbers No No No No No No No No
Participles No No No No No No No No
Adverb No No Yes No Yes No No No
Pronouns No Yes Yes No Yes No No No
Adpositions No No No No No No No No
Article No No Yes No No No No No
Particle No No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes

Parts of Speech[]

The part of speech a work occupies is determined through a prefix. The prefixes are listed below

Part of Speech Prefixes
Verbs a, i, ã, o, ê
Nouns ô
Pronoun ô
Adjectives/Conjunctions/Negation Particles ãí
Adverbs u
Postposition n
Particle ó
Conjunctions iu

Verbs[]

All verbs in Saso end in ãs. A verb in the infinitive is the only time a word will not have a prefix. The different verb endings have different verb conjugations. Verbs conjugate for person, number, tense, mood, and aspect. Below is the chart for verb conjugations for regular verbs. The infinitive is dropped when conjugating verbs. The suffix for every mood is the same. Saso uses suffixes to express tense, aspect, person, and number. Mood is expressed through a prefix.

Verb Conjugations
Singular Plural
1st 2nd 3rd 1st 2nd 3rd
Present is ís os ãs ãis øs
Present Perfect il íl ol ãl ãil øl
Present Continuous in ín on ãn ãin øn
Present Perfect Continuous iz íz oz ãz ôz øz
Past  uw ow ãw õíw ãíw iw
Past Imperfect uf of ãf õíf ãíf if
Past Perfect ur or ãr õír ãír ir
Past Continuous uv ov ãv õív ãív iv
Past Perfect Continuous ug og ãg õíg ãíg ig
Future ãm ím óm õím am im
Future Perfect ãfw ífw ófw õfw afw ifw
Future Continuous ãx íx óx õx ax ix
Future Perfect Continuous ãk ik ók õk ak ik

To indicate mood, verbs have a prefix attatached to them. A reflexive verb must also have a prefix

Prefixes 
Indicative a
Subjunctive i
Conditional ã
Imperative o
Necessity í
Reflexive ê

These prefixes conjugated to agree with the verb. The conjugations are listed below. The indicative and reflexive prefixes do not conjugate

Prefix Conjugations
Singular Plural
1st 2nd 3rd 1st 2nd 3rd
Subjunctive fa fo do
Conditional sa su ko
Imperative ni mo ma
Necesity pa wo

An example of a fully conjugated verb is Onífãsis, IMP-build-2P-SNG.

Certain verbs are irregular in Saso. The most notable ones are nãgãs (to be), fazãs (to do), and powãs (to go). No verbs in Saso experience changes in affixes. Instead, they experience stem changes. While there are other irregular verbs in Saso, the ones below are the most common.

Irregular Stem Changes
nãgãs fazãs powãs
Present nãj fas pov
Past negu fãz poj
Future nãgu fãs pej

Afãzuf - I used to do _

Negating a Verb[]

Negating a verb is more complex than in many other languages. There are many different ways for negating a verb in Saso. Each of the ways must then conjugate with the verb. These words take the ãí prefix. A few are listed below

Negation Particles
The verb was not completed /Is not happening (I did not shovel the snow/There is no snow) sha
The verb is completed, but the goal isn't met (I shoveled, but didn't clear the snow) vãí
The verb will not be completed (I will not shovel the snow) zõi
The verb will be complete, but goal will not be met (I will shovel, but the snow won't be cleared) fnãí
The verb is completed, but not to meet a goal or the verb will not be done for the goal (I shovled, but not to clear the snow/I will not shovel to clear the snow) nãsi
The verb is not being completed (I am not shoveling the snow) shã
Do not complete the verb/use in a command (Do not shovel the snow) ve

These words must decline to agree with the verb they negate. There are two letters to the conjugation. The first letter indicates tense.

Negation Particle Declensions - Tense
Present d
Present Perfect s
Present Continuous j
Present Perfect Continuous z
Past ç
Past Imperfect k
Past Perfect q
Past Continuos x
Past Perfect Continuos l
Future v
Future Perfect w
Future Continuous n
Future Perfect Continuous m

The first letter is always a consonant, the second letter is always a vowel. Negation Particles do not decline for formality. 

Negation Particle Declensions - Person
1st 2nd 3rd
Singular a ê í
Plural ã i ãí

You did not build --> Ãíshaçê afãsow.

You will not build --> Ãízõivê afãsím.

You will not build (Command) --> Ãívedê onífãsís

You are not building --> Ãíshã afãszín.

Passive Voice[]

The passive voice is constructed by adding a conjugated form of the verb to be, followed by a conjugated form of the action. The passive voice is the only time 2 conjugated verbs will follow each other in Saso. However, there are some extra rules. The 2 verbs do not always conjugate the same way, to be agrees with the patient, and the action agrees with the agent. 

The conjugation for to be is different in the passive voice. The suffixes are listed below. However, the conjugated form of the action is the same as in the active voice.

To be in the passive voice
Singular Plural
1st 2nd 3rd 1st 2nd 3rd
Present is ís im of øf øl
Past an an an a ês us
Past Imperfect ôs om in ík íb ím
Future ês ên if ip ib íp

No verb takes a prefix for moods. Instead, they take particle placed before to be, or attatched to the end of the action verb. This particle conjugates in the same way as the active voice. These take the ó prefix

Prefix Particles
Indicative
Subjunctive ba
Conditional na
Imperative
Necesity fo

There are no irregular verbs in the passive voice. Note that unlike in other languages, both verbs must still conjugate for number, person, tense, etc. 

The verb phrase in the the passive voice is this, (particle) to be (negation particle) action (particle).

Negation particles are the same in the passive voice. 

Nouns[]

Nouns in Saso decline for number and case. Nouns in Saso are marked with the prefix ô. For example, ôfãs means building. The declensions are listed below. Informal speech does not mark the Nominative case. However, formal Saso marks all cases. There are 2 different sets of declensions, one for nouns that end in a consonant, and one for nouns that end in vowels.

Noun Declensions - Consonants
English Saso
Nominative i
Accusative
Dative u
Ablative o
Genitive ãí
Vocative eu
Locative õí
Instrumental ê
Refexive

The following table is for nouns that end in a vowel

Noun Declensions - Vowels
Nominative s
Accusative f
Dative ç
Ablative m
Genitive z
Vocative p
Locative x
Instrumental q

To indicate a plural noun in Saso, one simply adds d for nouns that end in a consonat, and ã for nouns that end in a vowel. The reflexive marking is only added to pronouns. The dative case is also used for comparisons.  Proper nouns in Saso are required to be marked with case and nunber. The marking goes before the proper noun, but not attatched to it. If Jack is the subject of the sentence, speakers of Saso are required to say e Jack. A noun that does not fit nicely into one of the above cases declines for the dative case. Nouns in postpositional phrases decline for the dative cases as well. 

Nouns that end in g experience a stem change in the nominative case.

g --> gu

Nouns that end in z experience a stem change in the genitive, voactive, and locative cases.

z --> sz. (Ôfez --> Ôfeszãi). Note that the s and the z are in two separate syllables

The following chart lists the pronouns.

Pronouns in Saso
1st 2nd Inf 2nd For 3rd Inf 3rd For
Singular fos fís fãs fis fês
Plural fof fãf faf fuf fêf

Pronouns decline for case by using the singlur side of the declension chart. Pronouns also require the ø prefix. While there are informal vs formal pronouns in Saso, verbs do not agree with formality. Saso is pro drop in the first and second pronouns, though a persons can always be used.

In sentences that have ambigous subjects, such as "It is 4:30," use the third person formal singular pronoun. This can be dropped if desired, leaving just "Is 4:30."

Demonstrative Pronouns are equivalent to this one, that one, these, or those. They decline like regular nouns, and take the ø prefix

Demonstrative Pronouns
This That
Singular çox çix
Plural zox zix

A reflexive verb requires a reflexive pronoun. To make a pronouns reflexive, add an aê to the end. Øfosaê is a reflexive pronoun. 

Direct object pronouns (pronouns in the accusative case) are placed before the conjugated verb. Indirect object pronouns (pronouns in the dative case) are placed after the conjugated verb. Direct object pronouns are attatched to the end of the infinitive verb. Indirect objects are attatched to the end of the infinitive verb, but placed after a direct object pronoun. 

Creating a title, such as Alexander the Great or The Doctor requires a special marker to be placed before the word. To create a title, place fwo before before the title. Unlike in English, with The Doctor, the article is dropped. 

The Doctor --> fwo ôdemoa. 

Adjectives and Adverbs[]

Adjectives and Adverbs agree in number with the nouns they modify. Adjectives and Adverbs also agree in formality if they are modifying are pronoun. Adjectives agree in case with the noun they are modifying. 

Adjective Declensions
Singular Plural
Inf For Inf For
Nominative a ã as ãs
Accusative ê e ês es
Dative i í is ôs
Ablative ø o øs os
Genitive u ú us ús
Vocative õ ó õs ós
Locative ãí ãe ãís ães
Instrumental õí eu õís ius

Adjectives take the ãi prefix Adverbs do not agree in case, only in number and person with the verb. Note how the declensions are the same as the declensions for the nominative case of adjective declensions. Due to the prefix system of Saso, suffixes are often times reused between different parts of speech.

Adverb Declensions
1st 2nd 3rd
Singular ã a u
Plural ãd ad ud

Adverbs take the u prefix. Adjectives are placed after the noun they modify. Adverbs are placed after the verb they modify. 

Articles[]

Nouns do not decline for definiteness; articles do instead. Articles take the adjective prefix of ãi. Articles are different from all other adjectives in that they do not decline for case. They do not agree with the noun in case.

Articles 
Definite Indefinite
Singular ãk rãk
Plural ik rik

Articles are placed before the nouns the describe

Demonstratives[]

Demonstrative adjectives are this, that, these, and those. Notice how the roots are the exact same as the demonstrative pronouns. Demonstrative adjectives agree in number and case with the nouns they describe. Ço and çox decline using the singular formal adjective declensions; zo and zox decline using the plural adjective declensions. Demonstratives are placed after the noun they describe

Demonstrative Adjectives
This That
Singular ço çix
Plural zo zix

Comparisons[]

To use an adjective in a comparative, the following declensions are used. The object of the comparison, and the adjective used in the compariosn are in the dative case. 

Comparisons
More than
Less than sa
A lot more than si
A lot less than
Most
Least ri

Comparisons in Saso are formed very different than from English. The structure of a comparison is VSOA, where A is the adjective that is being used in the comparison. 

In English we say This house is prettier than that house. In Saso we say Is this house that house prettier than.

Gerund[]

Forming gerunds is quite simple in Saso. Simply leave the verb in the inifinitve, add on the prefix for a noun, and decline it like a noun.

sasãs is to write poetry. To make this into a gerund, One simply adds Î to the verb, making it Îsasãs. This can then be declined.

Postpositions[]

Saso has 3 main postpositions. These postpostion serve different puproses. Roughly speaking, one indicates purpose, one indicates cause, and one is used for the other contexts. 

Postpositions
Purpose szã
Cause fli
Other Contexts nãí

A more in depth chart outlining the functions of the postpositions are listed below.

Uses of postpositions

Purpose, deadlines, employment, employment

szã

Cause, opinion, time, duration, through, destination

fli
Means of communication, location, over/under something nãí

While the ones listed above are the main ones, there are more postpositions. The table below lists other commonly encountered postpositions. 

Other Saso postpositions
before ãsi
about ofí
on / on top of ãis
between/in between is

To agree with a plural noun, add ãi to the end of the postposition. Postpositions also take the n prefix if the start wth a vowel, or í if they start with a consonant. To form a postpositional phrase, the object of the phrase is placed first, followed by any adjectives, and finally the postposition. If in English, we say around the red house, in Saso it becomes the house red around. The object of the postpositional phrase should be declined for the dative case. An interesting note, while cases get rid of the need for many of the postpositions from English, some Saso speakers still use them. 

Postpositional phrases are always placed at the end of a setence

Other Parts of Speech.[]

Supine[]

The supine shows the purpose of an action. In the sentence, I shovelled to clear the snow, to clear reprsenets the supine. The infinitive form a verb represents the supine, and is placed after the conjugated verb. 

I went to build the building --> Apojuw fãsãs øfos ãk ôfãsvã. 

Particple[]

The particple is the adjective form of a verb.In the sentence, The building is closed, closed is the particple. While there are many different types of participles in Saso, they are formed the same way. Add the adjective prefix onto the infinitive form of the verb. The infinitve ending is dropped. A suffix is then added to represent the type of desired participle. The suffixes for the most common types of participles found in Saso are listed below.

Participle suffixes
Past ês
Present ãv
Future il

Participles decline like adjectives do. Add the adjective declension after the declension of the participle.

The three different participles have different uses in Saso. The past participle is used to describe the previous states of objects. The office was closed, closed is the past participle. The present participle is used to describe  objects in the present tense, as well as the states of objects in the perfect aspects in all tenses. The office is closed, closed is the present participle. The office would have been closedclosed is also the present participle. The future pariticple is used to describe the state of objects in the future. The office will be closed, closed is the future participle. The future participle is used in the subjunctive mood. I wish the office would be closed, closed is the future participle

Past Participle example

The office was closed --> Aniguãw ãk ôflãís ãisirsêsa.

Present Participle example

The office is closed --> Anãjos ãk ôflãís ãisirsêsa.

The office would have been closed --> Aneguãr ãk ôflãís ãisirãva

Future Particple example

The office will be closed --> Anãguóm ãk ôflãís ãisirela.

I hope the office is closed --> Inãjos ãk ôflãís ãisirila.

Numbers[]

Numbers in Saso are very simple, are stated the same as in English. Numbers do not require a prefix

Numbers 0 - 9
0
1 fãí
2 flãí
3 kiu
4 fwê
5 ja
6
7
8 çõí
9 wõí

To expres numbers in powers of ten, use the following chart.

Powers of 10
10 (10^1) ji
100 (10^2) jãí
1.000 (10 ^ 3) ru
1.000.000 (10 ^ 6) xi
1.000.000.000 (10 ^ 9)

Note that Saso uses a . for a comma, and a , for a decimal point. To write a number in Saso, expand the number, then write out the parts. 450 --> four hundreds five tens --> fwê jãi ja ji.

19 --> ji wõi (ten nine)

34.000 --> keu je fwê ru (three ten four thousand)

2.234.341 --> flãi qe flãi jãi kiu ji fwê ru kiu jãi fwê ji fãi (two millions, two hundreds three tens four thousands, three hundreds four tens one.)

Time[]

There are two different parts to the time system in Saso, the time like 4:30, and time like yesterday, last year, etc.

To express minutes and hours, add on suffixes to the number system in Saso. Minutes are written before the hour. The prefix is always added on to the last number. 

Hours/Minutes
Hour da
Minute

4:30 --> Keu jedã fwêda

It is 4:30 --> Anãjos øfãse keu jedã fwêda

To express phrases such as today, next week, yesterday, etc, use the following system of suffixes.

Time vowel/consonant
Present l/i
Past s/ã
Future v/o

Add on the suffixes to words such as day, night, year, etc.

Night - ômãí

Tonight - ômãíl

Tomorrow night - ômãív

Last Night - ômãís

Syntax[]

Different types of sentences may be marked using particles. The unmarked sentence is a performing action, i.e. He is running. Informal Saso also does not mark a command, though formal Saso does. Several of the most common particles are listed below. Particles are marked with the ó prefix. They do not decline.

Particles
Imperative slo
Interrogative
Statement of a Scientific Fact si
Statement of a General Truth
Stating an Emotion 

Saso is a (P)VS(O) language. The particle, if needed, is placed first, follwed by the verb, then the subject. After the subject, any other phrases are added to the sentence. 

Basic Sentence[]

The most basic sentence in Saso is a VS sentence. In English one might say I build. In Saso, one would say Afãses øfos, literally build I.

More Complex Sentences.[]

A more complex sentence has 1 or more object in it. If English, one might say I build the building, somone in Saso would say Afãsis øfos ãk ôfãsvã. In a sentnece that has both a direct and indirect object, the indirect object is always placed after the direct object.

I want to build the building for Suzy --> Ifãsis øfos ãk ôfãsvã u Suzy.

Interrogative Sentences[]

The interrogative sentence, or question, always starts with the fõ particle. Words such as, What, who, where, and why, come before the verb. These words take the interrogative prefix of i

Interrogative words.
What
Where jis
Who zis
Why ça

An interrogative sentece is fored the same way as a normal sentence, the only difference is the addition of a particle at the fron of the sentence.

Why did you build the building? --> Fõ íça afãsís ãk ôfãsvã?

Compound/Complex Sentences[]

Creating a complex sentence is slightly different from in English. Subordinate clauses also maintain as VSO order, with the subordinate conjugation at the end of the phrase. For example, because he went becomes went he because. Common subordiate words are listed below. Conjugtions are marked with the eu prefix

Common Subordinate Words
After
Although siu
Because zaê
While nosh

Subodinate clauses are placed at the end of the sentence.

While we were going to the store, I saw a man --> Asãísis rãk ôjumasvã eunosh apojõív ãk ôfãgu ífli.

Lit: Saw I a man, while going we the store to.

Saso allows for compound sentences. The are threated like to separate sentences, however they are joined by sã. This goes before the first word of the second sentence. It also takes the eu prefix. 

He is tall and he is good --> Anãjos ôfisi ãíxasi eusã anãjos ôfisi ãivoã. 

Lit: Is he tall and is he good.

Vocabulary[]


No. English
1I
2you (singular)
3he
4we
5you (plural)
6they
7this
8that
9here
10there
11who
12what
13where
14when
15how
16not
17all
18many
19some
20few
21other
22one
23two
24three
25four
26five
27big
28long
29wide
30thick
31heavy
32small
33short
34narrow
35thin
36woman
37man (adult male)
38man (human being)
39child
40wife
41husband
42mother
43father
44animal
45fish
46bird
47dog
48louse
49snake
50worm
51tree
52forest
53stick
54fruit
55seed
56leaf
57root
58bark
59flower
60grass
61rope
62skin
63meat
64blood
65bone
66fat
67egg
68horn
69tail
70feather
71hair
72head
73ear
74eye
75nose
76mouth
77tooth
78tongue
79fingernail
80foot
81leg
82knee
83hand
84wing
85belly
86guts
87neck
88back
89breast
90heart
91liver
92drink
93eat
94bite
95suck
96spit
97vomit
98blow
99breathe
100laugh
101see
102hear
103know
104think
105smell
106fear
107sleep
108live
109die
110kill
111fight
112hunt
113hit
114cut
115split
116stab
117scratch
118dig
119swim
120fly
121walk
122come
123lie
124sit
125stand
126turn
127fall
128give
129hold
130squeeze
131rub
132wash
133wipe
134pull
135push
136throw
137tie
138sew
139count
140say
141sing
142play
143float
144flow
145freeze
146swell
147sun
148moon
149star
150water
151rain
152river
153lake
154sea
155salt
156stone
157sand
158dust
159earth
160cloud
161fog
162sky
163wind
164snow
165ice
166smoke
167fire
168ash
169burn
170road
171mountain
172red
173green
174yellow
175white
176black
177night
178day
179year
180warm
181cold
182full
183new
184old
185good
186bad
187rotten
188dirty
189straight
190round
191sharp
192dull
193smooth
194wet
195dry
196correct
197near
198far
199right
200left
201at
202in
203with
204and
205if
206because
207name


Example text[]

Birds Sing

Translated: Sê alistøs ek ôvligui.

Literal: Sing some birds

[General Truth] [indicative]sing[present][plural][3rd] some[indefinite][plural] [noun]birds[plural][nominative].

The cow jumped over the moon

Akênãw ãk ôsmif ãk ôlõm õnãí

Literal: Jumped the cow the moon over

[indicative]jumped[past][singular][3rd] the[definite][singular] [noun]cow[singular][nominative] the[definite][singular] [noun]moon[singular][dative] [postposition]over[singular]

Let it go (From Frozen)

The snow glows white on the mountain tonight, not a footprint to be seen.

Avilos ãk ôzos ãíwosã ômãílu ãk ôdõmu nãis, ósã nãgøl shadãí sãísos rik ôfõsosã

Lit: Glows the snow white tonight the mountain on, are not seen some footprints (by some). 

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