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<h1><a name="contents"><font color="#803800">Flaidish • <tt>Flaidyx</tt> </font></a></h1>
<br><b><a href="#Introduction">Introduction</a> </b>
<br><b><a href="#Phonology">Phonology</a> </b>
<br><b><a href="#Orthography">Orthography</a> </b> *
<i><a href="#vowelshift">Flaidish vowel shift</a> </i>
<i><a href="#Good">Pitfalls for English speakers</a> </i>
<i><a href="#Loanwords">Loanwords</a> </i>
<br><b><a href="#Inflectional">Inflectional morphology</a> </b> *
<i><a href="#Verbalm">Verbs</a> </i>
<i><a href="#Nounm">Nouns</a> </i>
<i><a href="#Adjectives">Adjectives</a> </i>
<i><a href="#Numbers">Numbers</a> </i>
<br><b><a href="#Derivational">Derivational morphology</a> </b> *
<i><a href="#Nominalizers">Nominalizers</a> </i>
<i><a href="#Adjectivizers">Adjectivizers</a> </i>
<i><a href="#Verbalizers">Verbalizers</a> </i>
<br><b><a href="#Pronouns">Pronouns</a> </b> *
<i><a href="#Base">Base forms</a> </i>
<i><a href="#S-O">S-O pronouns </a> </i>
<i><a href="#Fourth">Fourth person</a> </i>
<i><a href="#Required">Required vs. optional</a> </i>
<i><a href="#Reflexives">Reflexives</a> </i>
<i><a href="#Interrogative">Interrogatives and demonstratives </a> </i>
<i><a href="#Indefinite">Indefinite </a> </i>
<br><b><a href="#Verbs">Verbal system</a> </b> *
<i><a href="#Definite">Definite and indefinite</a> </i>
<i><a href="#Ongoing">Ongoing</a> </i>
<i><a href="#Irrealis">Irrealis</a> </i>
<i><a href="#Habitual">Habitual</a> </i>
<i><a href="#infinitive">The infinitive</a> </i>
<i><a href="#participle">The participle</a> </i>
<br><b><a href="#Syntax">Syntax</a> </b> *
<i><a href="#NPOrder">NP order</a> </i>
<i><a href="#Articles">Articles</a> </i>
<i><a href="#Measure">Measure words</a> </i>
<i><a href="#Sentence">Sentence order</a> </i>
<i><a href="#Focus">Focus</a> </i>
<i><a href="#Conjunctions">Conjunctions</a> </i>
<i><a href="#Relative">Relative clauses</a> </i>
<i><a href="#SentenceObjs">Sentential subjects </a> </i>
<i><a href="#Comparatives">Comparatives and superlatives</a> </i>
<i><a href="#Questions">Questions</a> </i>
<i><a href="#Imperatives">Imperatives </a> </i>
<br><b><a href="#Directions">Directions </a> </b> *
<i><a href="#BasicPrep">Basic prepositions</a> </i>
<i><a href="#direction">The direction of time</a> </i>
<i><a href="#Separable">Separable verbs </a> </i>
<br><b><a href="#References">References</a> </b> *
<i><a href="#Conventional">Conventional expressions</a> </i>
<i><a href="#Time">Time and the calendar</a> </i>
<i><a href="#Names">Names</a> </i>
<br><b><a href="#Example:">Example:</b> <i>Jeerio tries to find a job</a> </i>
<br><b><a href="#Example">Example 2:</b> <i>The ʔubeer</a> </i>
<br><b><a href="flaidlex.htm">Lexicon</a> </b>
<hr>
</table>
<h3><a name="Introduction">Introduction</a> </h3>
Flaidish (<i>flaidyx</i>) is the language of the <a href="http://www.almeopedia.com/index.php/Flaids">flaids</a>, a Thinking Kind of obscure origins, occupying the island of <a href="http://www.almeopedia.com/index.php/Flora">Flora</a> and neighboring islands, in the Mišicama Ocean north of Verduria.
<p><img src="flora.gif" align="right" width="641" height="386"> No other flaids are known on Almea, and Flaidish is an isolate, related to no other Almean language. It's been heavily influenced by <a href="native.htm">Caďinor</a> and <a href="verdurian.htm">Verdurian</a>, which to a large extent supply its technical vocabulary, and by <a href="kebreni.htm">Kebreni</a>. In modern times, as flaids have become a maritime trading nation, it has borrowed words from many human languages.
<p>It is not a particularly alien language— indeed, having experienced something very like the Great Vowel Shift, its orthography and phonology strongly reminiscent of English— but it has some unusual features:<ul>
<li> Pronouns are not differentiated by sex, but by age: there is a separate, simpler set of pronouns for children.
<li> The unmarked form of the verb is the simple past tense.
<li> There is no definite article; rather, definiteness of the object is marked on the verb.
<li> Exchangeable nouns must be counted using measure words.</ul>
<b>
<p>History</b>: Our first historical references to the flaids date to over 3200 years ago, when we find them already living on Flora. Though friendly to humans, they have always discouraged any human settlement on their islands, and successfully resisted the few attempts (by <a href="http://www.almeopedia.com/index.php/Me%C5%A5aiu">Meťaiun</a>, Caďinorians, and a few medieval kings) to conquer them.
<p>Sometime around Z.E. 2500 they adopted the Caďinorian alphabet to write Old Flaidish, though we have very few texts that old. Texts become more abundant during the Middle Flaidish period, 400-600 years ago; this is also the time of the vowel shift. Some differences between Middle Flaidish and the contemporary language:<ul>
<li> The morphology is more complex: Flaidish has regularized many plurals and verb formations, and replaced many suppletive forms.
<li> The pronoun system has been simplified: plural accusative forms have been lost, and possessives and demonstratives have been regularized.
<li> Two verb forms have been lost: a resultative (now replaced with the participle) and a formal imperative (now usually replaced with the irrealis).
<li> There was much less reliance on infinitival constructions.
<li> The lexicon has changed quite a bit. In the last five centuries Flaidish has borrowed thousands of foreign words (mostly Verdurian, Ismaîn, and Kebreni), and very many older words have fallen out of use. </ul>
<b>
<p>Dialects</b>: The standard language described here is that of the capital, <a href="http://www.almeopedia.com/index.php/Syxesteer">Syxesteer</a>. The dialect of Ledley, on the southern coast, is distinctive; it's said to have a nasal twang. The dialect of the flaids of the smaller islands east of Flora (<i>zermolaim</i>, locally <i>dz</i><i><u>r</i></u><i>mullein</i>) is even more divergent.
<h3><a name="Phonology">Phonology</a> </h3>
<blockquote><table>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td><i>labial</i></td>
<td><i>dental</i></td>
<td><i>palatal</i></td>
<td><i>velar</i></td>
<td><i>glottal</i></td>
<td width="100"> </td>
<td><i>front</i></td>
<td width="25"</td>
<td width="25"</td>
<td width="25"</td>
<td><i>back</i></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><i>stops</i></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"><b>p b</b> <tt><br/>p b</tt></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"><b>t d</b> <tt><br/>t d</tt></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"><b>k g</b> <tt><br/>k g</tt></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"><b>ʔ</b> <tt><br/>q</tt></td>
<td></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"><b>i</b> <tt><br/>e/ee</tt></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"><b>u</b> <tt><br/>o/oo</tt></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><i>fricatives</i></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"><b>f v</b> <tt><br/>f v</tt></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"><b>s z</b> <tt><br/>s z</tt></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"><b>ch j</b> <tt><br/>ç j</tt></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
<td></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"><b>ɪ</b> <tt><br/>i</tt></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"><b>ʊ</b> <tt><br/>u</tt></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><i>nasals</i></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"><b>m</b> <tt><br/>m</tt></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"><b>n</b> <tt><br/>n</tt></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
<td></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"><b>e</b> <tt><br/>a/aa</tt></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"><b>ə</b> <tt><br/>y</tt></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><i>liquids</i></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"><b>l r</b> <tt><br/>l r</tt></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
<td></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"><b>ɛ</b> <tt><br/>e</tt></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"><b>ɔ</b> <tt><br/>o</tt></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><i>semivowels</i></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"><b>y</b> <tt><br/>y</tt></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
<td></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"><b>æ</b> <tt><br/>a</tt></td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
<td bgcolor="FFFFFF"> </td>
</tr>
</table></blockquote>
<p>Flaidish phonology, orthography, and phonological constraints are remarkably like those of English. The only Flaidish sound not present in standard English is the glottal stop <b>ʔ</b>. (It lacks several English sounds, however: the consonants <i>th, sh, zh, ng</i> as well as several vowels.)
<p>Stops are aspirated at the beginning of words; <b>f</b> and <b>v</b> are labiodental; <b>t</b> and <b>d</b> are alveolar; <b>r</b> is a single-tap trill; <b>l</b> tends to be dark at the end of a syllable.<ul>
<li> Don't carry the English-like phonology too far. Never pronounce <b>g</b> or <b>c</b> soft, and do not voice <b>s</b>. And don't flap or voice a medial <b>t</b>.</ul>
In the diagram, the <b>consonants</b> are identified by their transliterations (identical to IPA except of course for <b>ch j y</b>, which have their English values).
<p>The <b>vowels</b> are best understood in the context of the orthography, discussed below.
<p>Flaidish words cannot begin with a vowel. (Historically, this may not always have been true; it may have been that the initial glottal stop was a phonetic accompaniment to an initial vowel. It still frequently disappears in the morphology. However, the glottal stop can now occur medially or finally, and is best considered as a phoneme.)
<p><b>Stress</b>: Flaidish words are normally stressed on the first syllable. Separable verbs may be stressed on the root instead; and some flaids pronounce recent Verdurian loanwords with the Verdurian stress.
<h3><a name="Orthography">Orthography</a> </h3>
<h4><a name="Consonants">Consonants</a> </h4>
Flaidish uses the Caďinorian alphabet; the characters are shown <font color="#803800">in brown</font> in the chart above.
<p>Flaidish uses three additional letters:<ul>
<li> <tt>j</tt> (<b>j</b>) is straightforward, adding the voicing mark to <tt>ç</tt> (<b>ch</b>).
<li> The glottal stop <b>ʔ</b> is <tt>q</tt>. (The letterform is usually explained as “half a <tt>c</tt>.”)
<li> <tt>x</tt> is used for the combination /ks/. (The letterform derives from a cursive <tt>cs</tt>.)</ul>
<tt>c</tt> (<b>c</b>) is found in borrowings and is pronounced identically to <tt>k</tt> (<b>k</b>).
<p>In contexts where Unicode is not available, the glottal stop <b>ʔ</b> may be written <b>7</b>.
<h4><a name="Vowels">Vowels</a> </h4>
The vowel system is best understood as containing five <b>long</b> and five <b>short</b> vowels, plus schwa.
<blockquote><table>
<tr bgcolor="E0E0A8">
<td><i>Spelling</i> <td><i>Sound</i> <td><i>Transliteration</i>
<td bgcolor="#F0F0B8">
<td><i>Spelling</i> <td><i>Sound</i> <td><i>Transliteration</i>
<tr>
<td><tt>aa</tt></td>
<td>e</td>
<td><b>aa</b> = <i>late</i></td>
<td>
<td><tt>a/ai</tt><br></td>
<td>æ</td>
<td><b>a</b> = <b>ai</b> = <i>pat</i></td>
<tr>
<td><tt>ee</tt></td>
<td>i</td>
<td><b>ee</b> = <i>peer</i></td>
<td>
<td><tt>e</tt></td>
<td>ɛ</td>
<td><b>e</b> = <i>pet</i></td>
<tr>
<td><tt>ii</tt></td>
<td>wɪ</td>
<td><b>ii</b> = <i>q<u>ui</u>t</i></td>
<td>
<td><tt>i</tt></td>
<td>ɪ</td>
<td><b>i </b>= <i>pit</i></td>
<tr>
<td><tt>oo</tt></td>
<td>u
<td><b>oo</b> = <i>boot</i>
<td>
<td><tt>o/au</tt></td>
<td>ɔ
<td><b>o</b> = <b>au</b> = <i>caught</i>
<tr>
<td><tt>uu</tt>
<td>ju
<td><b>uu</b> = <i>pure</i></td>
<td>
<td><tt>u</tt>
<td>ʊ
<td><b>u</b> = <i>put</i></td></tr>
</table></blockquote>
<p>The long vowels tend to have lax offglides, especially in stressed syllables; thus <b>aa</b> = [eɪ], <b>ee</b> = [iɪ], <b>oo</b> = [uʊ]. The onglide in /ju/ disappears after an <b>r</b>.
<p>The basic spelling rule is that vowels are<ul>
<li> long if doubled: <b>troom</b> = /trum/<p>
<li> short if followed by two consonants: <b>morn</b> = /mɔrn/
<p><b>Doubled consonants</b> (as in <b>moss</b> 'wash' = /mɔs/) are very common in Flaidish words, but though many of them were once phonetically doubled, they are no longer; instead they serve as an orthographic indicator that the preceding vowel is short. Thus <b>nolleck</b> = /nɔlɛk/; the spelling <b>noleck</b> would represent /nulɛk/.
<p> Instead of writing <tt>çç jj kk</tt> (<b>chch jj kk</b>),
flaids write <tt>tç dj ck</tt> (<b>tch dj ck</b>). <p>
A doubled consonant, except for <b>ck</b>, is simplified before a suffix beginning with a consonant: e.g. <b>nell</b> 'sweet' > <b>nelmod</b> 'sweetness'.<p>
<li> <tt>ai</tt> (<b>ai</b>) is always /æ/ and
<tt>au</tt> (<b>au</b>) is always /ɔ/. These were historically diphthongs, but have monophthongized as indicated. (As a mnemonic, think of english <i>plaid, Paul</i>.)</ul>
<p>A single vowel followed by a single consonant is
<ul>
<li> short in a final syllable: <b>sam</b> = /sæm/
<p>Orthographic doubling of consonants is common word-finally, though by this rule it's redundant: <b>sam</b><i> </i>and<i> </i><b>samm</b><i> </i>would be pronounced alike. (But note that they'll differ in pronunciation if a suffix is added that begins with a vowel.)<p>
<li> long earlier in the word: <b>goreck</b> = /gurɛk/; <b>beloop</b> = /biljup/
<p>For the purpose of counting consonants, <b>x</b> counts as single: <b>buxel</b> = /bjuksɛl/
</ul>
Final vowels are limited to:
<ul>
<li> -<b>e </b>and -<b>u</b>, which are long: <b>ne</b> = /ni/, <b>lele</b> = /lili/, <b>cheernu</b> = /čirnju/
<li> -<b>o</b> or -<b>au</b>, which is short: <b>tau</b> = /tɔ/. When unstressed, this tends to be more closed: <b>tresspo</b> = [trɛspo]
<li> -<b>a</b> or -<b>y</b>, which is a schwa: <b>Flora</b> = /flurə/; <b>gory</b> = /gurə/</ul>
<p>The schwa /ə/ is represented <tt>y</tt> (<b>y</b>), or, as just noted, with final -<b>a</b>. Note that schwa can receive the stress, as in Syxesteer /'səks ɛs tir/
<p>The semivowel /j/ only occurs before a vowel (when it's written <tt>y</tt> <b>y</b>) or as part of the long vowel <b>u</b>.
<p>In eastern dialects (e.g. Ledley), short <b>u</b> is pronounced [ʌ] as in <i>cut</i>.
<h4><a name="vowelshift">The Flaidish vowel shift</a> </h4>
Based on the values of the Caďinorian letters, we can see that since the alphabet was adopted, the long vowels have all raised (except for the high vowels, which couldn't shift any higher and acquired an initial glide)— a movement very much like the English Great Vowel Shift.
<center><img src="illo/flaidish-vs.gif"></center>
<p>The major difference is in the high vowels. In English <i>ū → au</i> (as in 'cow'), but the <i>spelling</i> system works like Flaidish: 'long u' is pronounced [ju], as in 'cute'. But Flaidish long <b>ii</b> becomes /wɪ/ and not /ay/ as in English. 'Twit' could be written <tt>tiit</tt> (<i>tiit</i>) in Flaidish, or 'quit' as <tt>kiit</tt> (<i>kiit</i>).
<p>For both high vowels, the Flaidish rule is that the vowel acquired an initial glide of the opposite backness.
<p>After <b>r</b> or <b>l</b>, long <b>i</b> is pronounced [əɪ]: <b>riid</b> 'fire' = [rəɪd], rather as in some Irish pronunciations of 'ride'; <b>litor</b> 'east of' = [ləɪtɔr]. (It's possible that this is not an innovation but a retention of an earlier stage of the Flaidish GVS. In the island dialects, [əɪ] for long <b>i</b> is found in most environments.)
<h4><a name="Good">Good and bad news for English speakers</a></h4>
A a result of these processes, most native Flaidish words can be transliterated and read off as if they were English. Indeed, many Flaidish words look and sound exactly like English words, though the meanings are different— e.g. <b>back, boor, dell, felt, jeer, kiss, lad, met, morn, moss, much, neck, sam, seer, tell, test</b>.
<p>This is good and bad news: there aren't many new rules to learn, but on the other hand the similarity is partial, and one can go wrong assuming that 'it's all like English'.<ul>
<li> Follow the above table, not exceptions in English. E.g. <b>foot</b> 'go' = /fut/ not /fʊt/; <b>baul</b> 'north' = /bɔl/ not /bawl/; <b>laib</b> 'foot' = /læb/ not /leb/; <b>fall</b> 'village' = /fæl/ not /fɔl/. <b>Flaid</b> /flæd/ rhymes with 'plaid', not 'played'.<p>
<li> The spellings <b>ee</b> and <b>oo</b> should cause no problem; but remember to extend the principle to the other long vowels. E.g. <b>laat</b> 'drop' = /let/, <b>fiich</b> 'ten' = /fwɪč/, <b>ʔuuk</b> 'hole' = /ʔjuk/.<p>
<li> English also has the 'vowels before a single consonant are long' rule, but Flaidish is consistent. So <b>chonick</b> 'boat' is pronounced as if it were spelled <i>choonick</i>: /čunɪk/ not /čɔnɪk/.<p>
<li> As in English, the vowel shift caused pronunciations of morphologically related forms to diverge. Cf. <b>biit</b> /bwɪt/ 'study' vs. <b>mellbit</b> /mɛlbɪt/ 'morality'; <b>neer</b> /nir/ 'berry' vs. <b>ʔaxner</b> /ʔæksnɛr/ 'blueberry'; <b>suut</b> /sjut/ 'bake' vs. <b>sutmory</b> /sʊtmurə/ 'bakery'<p>
<li> Flaidish has no silent <b>e</b>. So e.g. the word <i>cute</i> would have to be written in Flaidish as <i>kuut</i>; and Flaidish <b>lele</b> is /lili/, not /lil/.<p>
<li> Flaidish vowels are <b>not reduced</b> to schwa, unless they're written with <b>y</b> or final -<b>a</b>. Thus Muncham = /mʊntʃæm/ not /mʊntʃəm/; nolleck is /nɔlɛk/ not /nɔlək/. <p>
<li> Flaidish vowels also retain their value before -<b>r</b>. Our notorious triplet <i>Mary, merry, marry</i> would be distinguished in Flaidish (and spelled almost alike: <b>mare</b> /meri/ <b>merre</b> /mɛri/ <b>marre</b> /mæri/ ).</ul>
<h4><a name="Loanwords">Loanwords</a> </h4>
The flaids are great borrowers, and over half the lexicon is borrowed from Verdurian, Caďinor, Kebreni, Ismaîn, or other languages.
<p>The oldest strata of borrowings participated in Flaidish's Great Vowel Shift:
<blockquote>
<b>berac</b> 'glory' /bi ræk/
<br><b>caimica</b> 'unit of measure' /kæm wɪ kə/
<br><b>corumaiʔa</b> 'harmony' /kur u mæ ʔə/
<br><b>curenda</b> 'festival' /kjur ɛn də/
<br><b>kestora</b> 'philosophy' /kɛs tur ə/
<br><b>cammisidas</b> 'orpiment' /kæm ɪ swɪ dæs/
<br><b>koodu</b> 'riverboat' /ku dju/
<br><b>lesteʔo</b> 'restaurant' /lɛs ti ʔɔ/
<br><b>murebuus</b> 'fantastic' /mjur i bjus/
<br><b>namary</b> 'lead' /ne me rə/
<br><b>plestura</b> 'history' /plɛs tjur ə/
<br><b>psuronda</b> 'famine' /sju rɔn də/
<br><b>scagantos</b> 'vagina' /ske gæn tɔs/
<br><b>tuma</b> 'plague' /tju mə/
<br><b>ʔaluatas</b> 'grammar' /ʔe lju e tæs/
<br><b>ʔeridas</b> 'cinnabar' /ʔi rəɪ dæs/
</blockquote>
<p>More recent borrowings can be divided into ear and eye borrowings. The latter are borrowed with their original spelling, but pronounced by Flaidish rules:
<blockquote>
<b>chëno</b> 'axis' /či nɔ/
<br><b>chupse</b> 'miserly' /čʊp si/
<br><b>ʔery</b> 'map' /ʔi rə/
<br><b>gorkrege</b> 'ledger' /gɔr kri gi/
<br><b>jyngu</b> 'expenditures' /dʒən gju/
<br><b>lagu</b> 'income' /le gju/
<br><b>lujura</b> 'affection' /lju dʒjur ə/
<br><b>nëron</b> 'holy' /ni rɔn/
<br><b>përnapa</b> 'saltpetre' /pɛr ne pə/
<br><b>plasy</b> 'nerve' /ple sə/
<br><b>pretäro</b> 'valet' /pri te rɔ/
<br><b>razumbre</b> 'intelligent' /re zʊm bri/
<br><b>satre</b> 'sovereign' /sæt ri/
<br><b>tiplüba</b> 'wig' /tɪp lju bə/
<br><b>traze</b> 'fancy' /tre zi/
<br><b>Verduria</b> /vɛr dju rɪə/
<br><b>zondre</b> 'annual' /zɔn dri/
<br><b>ʔaviza</b> 'university' /ʔe vw<font size=2>I </font>zə/
<br><b>ʔeklura</b> 'hedonism' /ɛk lju rə/
<br><b>ʔelryn</b> 'Ismaîn king' /ɛl rən/
</blockquote>
<p>Generally, Verdurian <b>š ž ř ď</b> are borrowed as <b>ch j r d</b> respectively, the " mark is borrowed but ignored, <b>h</b> is dropped, <b>c</b> and <b>k</b> are retained but both pronounced /k/, and initial vowels are supplied with a ʔ.
<p>Ear borrowings are borrowed by sound, with no attempt to retain the original spelling:
<blockquote>
<b>chaiʔ</b> 'tea' /čæʔ/ ← V. <i>čai</i>
<br><b>gettyt</b> 'dice' /gɛt ət/ ← <i>geteta
<br><b></i>kaijena</b> 'mistress' /kæ dži nə/ ← <i>kažžina</i>
<br><b>nassechy</b> 'pregnant' /næs i čə/ ← <i>nasitse</i>
<br><b>pauna</b> 'butch lesbian' /pɔ nə/ ← <i>pona</i>
<br><b>sezzu</b> 'dried meat' /sɛ zju/ ← <i>sezu</i>
<br><b>tauken</b> 'have sex' /tɔ kən/ ← <i>tocen</i>
<br><b>tootannel</b> 'newspaper /tu tæn ɛl/ ← <i>tutanél</i>
<p><b>bauru</b> 'stink' /bɔ rju/ ← Keb. <i>bauru</i>
<br><b>cheernu</b> 'deck' /čir nju/ ← <i>cirnu</i>
<br><b>kolesa</b> 'fleet' /ku li sə/ ← <i>kulisa</i>
<br><b>lelly</b> 'cute' /ləl ə/ ← <i>lele</i>
<br><b>memu</b> 'fix things up' /mi mju/ ← <i>mimu</i>
<br><b>moonu</b> 'news' /mu nju/ ←<i>mohnu</i>
<br><b>nemannick</b> 'homosexual' /ni mæn ɪk/ ← <i>nemanec</i>
<p><b>bauna</b> 'beef' /bɔnə/ ←Is. <i>bone </i>/bɔnə/
<br><b>cheesty</b> 'Ismaîn guitar' /čis tə/ ← <i>çis,te
<br><b></i>sudaddy</b> 'Ismaîn robe' /sju dæ də/ ← <i>sudâde</i>
<p><b>chesse</b> 'sugar cane' /čɛs i/ ← Nanese <i>tsêsi</i>
<br><b>kim</b> 'rice' /kɪm/ ← <i>kim</i>
<br><b>niira</b> 'yam' /nwɪr ə/ ← <i>nyara</i>
<br><b>sidrau</b> 'soy sauce' /sɪd rɔ/ ← <i>sidrɔu</i>
<br><b>ʔerram</b> 'jungle' /ʔɛr æm/ ← <i>kheram</i>
<br><b>ʔugau</b> 'coffee' /ʔju gɔ/ ←<i>yugakhau</i>
</blockquote>
<p>Whatever the age or source of the borrowing, the stress is placed on the first syllable.
<h3><a name="Inflectional">Inflectional morphology</a> </h3>
Flaidish inflectional morphology is fairly simple; the usage is more difficult. For ease of exposition, I've discussed the forms only; the usage will be discussed below.
<h4><a name="Verbalm">Verbs</a> </h4>
Verbs are not conjugated for person, number, or age; these things are expressed using pronouns.
<p>There are ten inflected forms for each verb, divided into four definite and four indefinite forms, plus two combining forms. For instance, here is the complete conjugation for <b>groopen</b> 'watch':
<blockquote><table>
<tr bgcolor="E0E0A8"><td colspan=3><i>Indefinite</i></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>groop</td>
<td></b>watched</td>
<td><i>simple past</td>
<td></i></td></tr>
<tr><td><b>gropse</td>
<td></b>watch</td>
<td><i>ongoing</td>
<td></i></td></tr>
<tr><td><b>gropno</td>
<td></b>may watch</td>
<td><i>irrealis</td>
<td></i></td></tr>
<tr><td><b>ʔengroop</td>
<td></b>always watches</td>
<td><i>habitual</td>
<td></i></td></tr>
<tr bgcolor="E0E0A8"><td colspan=3><i>Definite</i></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>gropt</td>
<td></b>watched</td>
<td><i>simple past</td>
<td></i></td></tr>
<tr><td><b>gropte</td>
<td></b>watch</td>
<td><i>ongoing</td>
<td></i></td></tr>
<tr><td><b>gropdo</td>
<td></b>may watch</td>
<td><i>irrealis</td>
<td></i></td></tr>
<tr><td><b>ʔengropt</td>
<td></b>always watches</td>
<td><i>habitual</td>
<td></i></td></tr>
<tr bgcolor="E0E0A8"><td colspan=3><i>Combining forms</i></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>groppo</td>
<td></b>watched</td>
<td><i>participle</td>
<td></i></td></tr>
<tr><td><b>groopen</td>
<td></b>to watch</td>
<td><i>infinitive</i></td>
<td></td></tr>
</table></blockquote>
<p>Further distinctions are made using auxiliary verbs.
<p>Note that definite forms involve adding a -<b>t</b>- or -<b>d</b>-; this -<b>t</b> is etymologically the same as the objective case suffix.
<h5><a name="Simplevm">Simple past</a></h5>
The root form of the verb is the indefinite simple past.
<p>The <b>definite</b> simple past is formed as follows:<ul>
<li> if the root ends in a dental stop or affricate (<b>t d ch j</b>), or in two dissimilar consonants, add -<b>et:
<p>meedet</b> 'slept', <b>munket</b> 'worked', <b>sachet</b> 'ate', <b>forvadjet</b> 'oiled up'.<p>
<li> if it ends in one of the remaining voiced stops (<b>b g</b>), add -<b>d</b> and shorten the last vowel:
<p><b>dobd</b> 'threw', <b>vrigd</b> 'wounded<p>
<li> otherwise add <b>-t </b>and shorten the last vowel:
<p><b>gropt</b> 'watched', <b>treckt</b> 'awoke', <b>ʔault</b> 'dealt with'</ul>
<h5><a name="Ongoingvm">Ongoing</a></h5>
The indefinite ongoing tense is formed by adding -<b>se</b> (or -<b>yse</b> after <b>ch</b> or <b>j</b>). The last vowel of the root is shortened:
<blockquote><b>medse, munkse, sachyse, dobse, forvadjyse, gropse, treckse, ʔaulse</b></blockquote>
<p>The definite form is formed by adding instead -<b>te</b>, or -<b>de</b> after a voiced stop (<b>b d g j</b>). The last vowel of the root is shortened:
<blockquote><b>medde, munkte, sachte, dobde, forvajde, gropte, treckte, ʔaulte</b></blockquote>
<p>A few verbs have irregular ongoing forms:<ul>
<li> <b>ze</b> 'be' → <b>zys</b> (definite), <b>zyt</b> (indefinite)
<li> <b>jinn</b> 'have' → <b>jys, jyt</b>.
<li> <b>von</b> 'not' → <b>voss, vott
<li> gen </b>'be true' → <b>gess, gett</b></ul>
<h5><a name="Irrealisvm">Irrealis</a></h5>
The indefinite irrealis is formed by adding -<b>no</b>. The last vowel of the root is shortened.
<blockquote><b>medno, munkno, sachno, dobno, forvajno, gropno, treckno, ʔaulno</b></blockquote>
<p>The definite form is formed by adding instead -<b>do</b>. The last vowel of the root is shortened.
<blockquote><b>meddo, munkdo, sachdo, dobdo, forvajdo, gropdo, treckdo, ʔauldo</b></blockquote>
<h5><a name="Habitualvm">Habitual</a></h5>
The habitual is formed by adding the prefix <b>ʔen</b>- to the simple past forms. Before a labial (<b>p b m f v</b>), add <b>ʔem</b>-).
<blockquote>Indefinite:<b> ʔemmeed, ʔemmunk, ʔensach, ʔendoob, ʔenforvadj, ʔengrop, ʔentreck, ʔenaull
<p></b>Definite:<b> ʔemmeedet, ʔemmunket, ʔensachet, ʔendobd, ʔenforvajd, ʔengropt, ʔentreckt, ʔenault</b></blockquote>
<h5><a name="Infinitivevm">Infinitive</a></h5>
The infinitive (which doesn't have separate definite and indefinite forms) is formed by adding -<b>en</b>:
<blockquote><b>meeden, munken, sachen, dooben, forvadjen, groopen, trecken, ʔaullen</b></blockquote>
<h5><a name="Participlevm">Participle</a></h5>
The participle (which doesn't have separate definite and indefinite forms) is formed by adding -<b>po</b>, or -<b>bo</b> after voiced <b>b d g j</b>; it also shortens the last syllable of the verb.
<blockquote><b>medbo, munkpo, sachpo, dobbo, forvajbo, groppo, treckpo, ʔaulpo</b></blockquote>
<h4><a name="Nounm">Nouns</a> </h4>
Nouns are inflected by number (singular and plural) and case (subject, object, and possessive).
<h5><a name="Plural">Plural</a></h5>
The normal <b><i>plural</b></i> is -<b>er</b>:
<blockquote><b>feejer</b> heads, <b>laumer</b> dreams, <b>leeber</b> geese, <b>ʔuuker</b> holes</blockquote>
<p>If the word already ends in -<b>r</b>, use -<b>en</b> instead.
<blockquote><b>booren </b>wines,<b> teeren </b>cities, <b>fivvoren</b> brothers, <b>gommeren</b> stomachs</blockquote>
<p>If it ends in a vowel, add -<b>r</b>:
<blockquote><b>surdenar </b>facts</blockquote>
<p>Some other words (marked in the dictionary) also use -<b>en</b>, such as <b>flaiden</b> 'flaids'.
<h5><a name="Objective">Objective</a></h5>
The objective or accusative case is formed with the suffix -<b>t</b>:
<blockquote><b>fivvort</b> brother, <b>ʔuukt</b> hole, <b>taut</b> lake</blockquote>
<p>If the word ends in a dental stop or affricate (<b>t d ch j</b>), or <b>m</b>, or in two dissimilar consonants, the suffix becomes -<b>et</b>:
<blockquote><b>feejet</b> head, <b>testet</b> body, <b>tolket</b> oak, <b>laimet</b> tongue</blockquote>
<p>It applies <i>after</i> the plural suffix, if any; but -<b>en</b> + -<b>t</b> → -<b>et</b>:
<blockquote><b>feejert</b> heads, <b>laumert</b> dreams, <b>ʔuukert</b> holes<br><b>teeret</b> cities, <b>fivvoret</b> brothers</blockquote>
<h5><a name="Possessive">Possessive</a></h5>
The possessive or genitive case is formed with -<b>ys</b>:
<blockquote><b>fivvorys</b> brother's, <b>ʔe flaidys</b> a flaid's</blockquote>
<p>If the word ends in a vowel, the suffix is -<b>m</b>:
<blockquote><b>Jeeriom</b> Jeerio's, <b>Floram</b> Flora's</blockquote>
<p>The suffix can be added after the plural:
<blockquote><b>feejerys </b>heads', <b>fivvorenys</b> brothers', <b>flaidenys</b> flaids'</blockquote>
<p>The objective suffix can be added after the possessive; note that -<b>m</b> + -<b>t</b> = -<b>nd</b>:
<blockquote><b>fivvoryst</b> brother's, <b>flaidenyst</b> flaids', <b>Jeeriond </b>Jeerio's</blockquote>
<h4><a name="Adjectives">Adjectives</a> </h4>
Adjectives have two inflected forms:<ul>
<li> The <b><i>superlative</b></i> is formed with the prefix <b>leg</b>-:<br><b>legfeck</b> darkest; <b>legcheen</b> most beautiful; <b>legbinnick</b> most creepy
<li> The <b><i>adverb</b></i> is formed with the suffix -<b>me</b>:<br><b>feckme</b> darkly, <b>cheenme</b> beautifully; <b>binnickme</b> creepily</ul>
<h4><a name="Numbers">Numbers</a> </h4>
<blockquote><table>
<tr bgcolor="E0E0A8"><td></td>
<td>1</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>6</td>
<td>7</td>
<td>8</td>
<td>9</td>
<td>10</td></tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8"><i>digit</i></td>
<td><b>ʔy</b></td>
<td><b>lin</b></td>
<td><b>fell</b></td>
<td><b>gory</b></td>
<td><b>back</b></td>
<td><b>liffel</b></td>
<td><b>sam</b></td>
<td><b>liggory</b></td>
<td><b>ʔecker</b></td>
<td><b>fiich</b></td></tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8"><i>tens</i></td>
<td>fiich</td>
<td>miffich</td>
<td>reffich</td>
<td>goreck</td>
<td>baffich</td>
<td>liffleck</td>
<td>sammich</td>
<td>liggoreck</td>
<td>ʔeckbonner</td>
<td>bonner</td></tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8"><i>ordinals</i></td>
<td>morn</td>
<td>lint</td>
<td>felt</td>
<td>goreet</td>
<td>backet</td>
<td>lifflet</td>
<td>sammet</td>
<td>liggoreet</td>
<td>ʔeckret</td>
<td>fichet</td></tr>
</table></blockquote>
<br>Two-digit numbers are formed on the model <i>unit-</i><b>en</b><i> tens</i>: 23 = <b>fellen miffich</b>, 74 = <b>goreen sammich</b>, 96 = <b>liffelen ʔeckbonner</b>. The first two teens are worn down: 11 = <b>ʔymfich</b>, 12 = <b>limfich</b>.
<p>Three- and four-digit numbers follow the model <i>hundreds </i><b>bonner</b><i> units</i>:
<blockquote><table>
<tr><td>123 <td><b>bonner fellen miffich</b>
<tr><td>497 <td><b>gory bonner samen ʔeckbonner</b>
<tr><td>1000 <td><b>fiich bonner </b>
<tr><td>2374 <td><b>fellen miffich bonner goreen sammich</b>
<tr><td>3480 <td><b>goreen reffich bonner liggoreck</b>
</table></blockquote>
<p>Six-digit numbers work the same way, using the word <b>tragg</b> '10,000':
<blockquote>512374 <b>ʔeen baffich tragg fellen miffich bonner goreen sammich</b></blockquote>
<p>The Verdurian borrowing <b>perun</b> '1,000,000' fits into this scheme; <b>migga</b> '1000', from Kebreni, is also sometimes used.
<p>A number of the form 10X, 1000X, etc. places the units to the far left:
<blockquote><table>
<tr><td>108 <td><b>liggoreen bonner</b>
<tr><td>10001 <td><b>ʔeen tragg</b>
</table></blockquote>
<p>To form ordinals for numbers higher than 10, add -<b>et</b> to the last number: <b>linen miffichet</b> '22nd'; <b>fiich bonneret</b> 'thousandth'. (If the number word ends in a digit, use that digit's ordinal form: 203rd = <b>lin bonner felt</b>.)
<p>The suffix -<b>em</b> is used for <b><i>fractions</b></i> (<b>fellem</b> 1/3, <b>samem</b> 1/7, <b>fiichem</b> 1/10), with the exception of 1/2, which gets its own word, <b>ʔobb</b>. 1/4 has worn down to <b>greem</b>.
<p><b><i>Negative</b></i> numbers are formed with <b>som</b> 'without', also borrowed from Verdurian: <b>som lin</b> -2, <b>som ʔeckeren goreck</b> -49.
<p><b><i>Mathematical notation</b></i> is identical to Verdurian. In a sense it's read in Verdurian too, but rather indirectly. The Kebreni borrowed the arithmetic operations from Verdurian, translating the expressions literally. The flaids then borrowed them from Kebreni, borrowing the Kebreni words (in some cases, taking Kebreni case suffixes as the names of the operators).
<blockquote><table>
<tr bgcolor="E0E0A8">
<td> <td><i>Native</i> <td><i>Translation</i>
<tr bgcolor="D0D0A0"><td><b>Addition</b></td>
<td><tt>2 + 2 = 4</tt></td>
<td>2 + 2 = 4</td>
<td></td></tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8">Verdurian</td>
<td><i>ďun er ďun eu par.</i></td>
<td>"two and two are four"</td>
<td></td></tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8">Kebreni</td>
<td><i>kur eh'c kur zaru hak</i></td>
<td>"two and two exist four"</td>
<td></td></tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8">Flaidish</td>
<td><b>lin ʔej lin zaru gory</b></td>
<td>"two plus two equals four"</td>
<td></td></tr>
<tr bgcolor="D0D0A0"><td><b>Subtraction</b></td>
<td><tt>5 – 2 = 3</tt></td>
<td>5 - 2 = 3</td>
<td></td></tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8">Verdurian</td>
<td><i>pan sam ďunán eu ďin</i></td>
<td>"five without two are three"</td>
<td></td></tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8">Kebreni</td>
<td><i>amma kur fuuste zaru dam</i></td>
<td>"five without two are three"</td>
<td></td></tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8">Flaidish</td>
<td><b>back fuuste lin zaru fell</b></td>
<td>"five minus two equals three"</td>
<td></td></tr>
<tr bgcolor="D0D0A0"><td><b>Multiplication</b></td>
<td><tt>2 ‡ 4 = 8</tt></td>
<td>2 x 4 = 8</td>
<td></td></tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8">Verdurian</td>
<td><i>ftore par e žoc</i></td>
<td>"second four is eight"</td>
<td></td></tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8">Kebreni</td>
<td><i>kureh'te hak zaru midam</i></td>
<td>"second four is eight"</td>
<td></td></tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8">Flaidish</td>
<td><b>lin ʔateʔ gory zaru liggory</b><i></i></td>
<td>"two times four equals eight"</td>
<td></td></tr>
<tr bgcolor="D0D0A0"><td><b>Division</b></td>
<td><tt>10 ° 5 = 2></td>
<td>10 / 5 = 2</td>
<td></td></tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8">Verdurian</td>
<td><i>decë panëe e ďun</i><b></b></td>
<td>"tenth 1/5 is two"</td>
<td></td></tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8">Kebreni</td>
<td><i>krameh'te amimnu zaru kur</i><b></b></td>
<td>"tenth 1/5 is two"</td>
<td></td></tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8">Flaidish</td>
<td><b>fiich ʔateʔ back nu zaru lin</b></td>
<td>"ten times five reciprocal equals two"</td>
<td></td></tr>
</table></blockquote>
<h3><a name="Derivational">Derivational morphology</a> </h3>
Suffixes often shorten the root vowel.
<h4><a name="Nominalizers">Nominalizers</a> </h4>
<b>-iʔ </b>nominalizes many simple verbs:
<blockquote><b>sach </b>eat → <b>sachiʔ</b> meal<br><b>taax</b> meet → <b>taaxiʔ</b> meeting<br><b>bul</b> share → <b>buliʔ</b></blockquote>
<p>An archaic nominalizer, no longer productive, is -<b>z</b> (which usually absorbs the last consonant of the root):
<blockquote><b>gaad </b>hoard → <b>gaaz </b>wealth<br><b>geel </b>wear → <b>geez </b>pants <b><br>prool </b>feel → <b>prooz</b> emotion<br><b>neev</b> name → <b>neez</b> guilt<b></blockquote>
<p>-mot </b>(from lexical <b>moot</b> 'way') names an abstract quality:
<blockquote><b>feck </b>dark → <b>feckmot </b>darkness<br><b>kiss</b> small → <b>kissmot</b> smallness<br><b>ʔy</b> one → <b>ʔymot</b> unity
<p><b>riil</b> child → <b>rilmot</b> childhood<br><b>tood</b> know → <b>todmot</b> knowledge<b></blockquote>
<p>-chet </b>(from <b>cheet</b> 'stuff') names substances:
<blockquote><b>sach</b> eat → <b>satchet</b> food<br><b>maat</b> sell → <b>matchet</b> wares<br><b>fool</b> ear → <b>foolchet</b> earwax<br><b>yaich</b> clench → <b>yaitchet</b> astringent</blockquote>
<p><b>-att</b> is found in many Verdurian borrowings, but also with native words:
<blockquote><b>cepple</b> virginal → <b>cepplatt</b> virginity<br><b>yuun </b>type → <b>yunatt</b> class<br><b>ʔirran</b> Irrean → <b>ʔirranatt</b> Irreanism</blockquote>
<p><b>-el</b> is someone or something that does an action, or exemplifies an adjective. (Final <b>t → ʔ</b>.)
<blockquote><b>prid</b> divide → <b>priddel</b> coin<br><b>sack</b> bristle → <b>sackel</b> beard<br><b>ʔeldoob</b> discard → <b>ʔeldoobel</b> garbage
<p><b>lott</b> idiotic → <b>loʔʔel</b> idiot <br><b>gaaz</b> wealth → <b>gaazel</b> rich man, noble<b></blockquote>
<p></b>-<b>mo</b> is used for an object exemplifying an action or quality:
<blockquote><b>mard</b> stay → <b>marmo</b> pudding<br><b>zeer</b> alone → <b>zermo</b> island<br><b>lin</b> two → <b>limmo</b> pair</blockquote>
<p><b>-ick</b> can be used the same way, and is also used to name inhabitants of a place:
<blockquote><b>yatt </b>fun → <b>yattick</b> game<br><b>choon</b> float → <b>chonick </b>boat<br><b>noller</b> huge → <b>nollerick</b> giant
<p><b>Syxesteer → Syxesterick<br>Verduria</b> → <b>verdurick<br>ʔismaiʔi </b>Ismahi → <b>ʔismaiʔick</b></blockquote>
<p>-<b>mory</b> is used for buildings:
<blockquote><b>koos</b> drink → <b>kosmory</b> tavern<br><b>lilo</b> spice → <b>lilomory</b> grocery<br><b>suut</b> bake → <b>sutmory</b> bakery<br><b>ʔibro</b> book → <b>ʔibromory</b> library, bookstore</blockquote>
<p><b>-ril</b> (from <b>riil</b> 'child') is used for offspring:
<blockquote><b>flaid → flaidril<br>luuk </b>human → <b>luukril</b> human child<br><b>tem</b> cow/bull → <b>tembrick</b> calf<b></blockquote>
<p>-bit</b> (from <b>biit</b> 'study') names a field of study (replacing <i>-viso</i> in Verdurian borrowings):
<blockquote><b>mell </b>good → <b>mellbit</b> morality<b><br>dunebit</b> physic<br><b>meclibit</b> chemistry<br><b>ʔedolobit</b> geometry</blockquote>
<p>-<b>(i)o</b> forms diminutives, and by extension personal names:
<blockquote><b>kess</b> knife → <b>kessio</b> dagger<br><b>laum</b> dream → <b>laumo</b> daydream<br><b>noov</b> grow → <b>novio</b> fruit
<p><b>jeer</b> fat → <b>Jeerio<br>bux </b>wise → <b>Buxo</blockquote>
<p></b>-<b>che</b> forms nicknames for children as well as female personal names:
<blockquote><b>cheen </b>beautiful → <b>Cheenche<br>feck </b>dark → <b>Feckche</b><br><b>nell</b> sweet → <b>Nellche</b></blockquote>
<h4><a name="Adjectivizers">Adjectivizers</a> </h4>
The most common adjectivizer is <b>-ick</b>:
<blockquote><b>flaid → flaidick</b> flaidish<b><br>floom </b>storm → <b>floomick</b> stormy<br><b>juur</b> convention → <b>jurick</b> conventional<br><b>meed</b> sleep → <b>meedick</b> sleepy<br><b>pich</b> dirt → <b>pichick</b> dirty</blockquote>
<p>The possessive case can also be used adjectivally: <b>ʔanys mot</b> 'a mother's love'.
<p>A particular use of -<b>ick</b> is to form an adjective relating to a place (<b>verdurick</b>); we have already seen this usage as a nominalizer.
<p>Other common adjectivizers are -<b>eck</b> and -<b>it</b>:
<blockquote><b>nool</b> big → <b>nolleck</b> biggish<br><b>gen</b> be true → <b>geneck</b> true<br><b>ʔev</b> year → <b>ʔeveck</b> yearly
<p><b>feck</b> dark → <b>feckit</b> black<br><b>miif</b> hunger → <b>miffit</b> hungry<br><b>nell</b> sweet → <b>nellit</b> nice</blockquote>
<p><b>-er</b> is used as an intensifier:
<blockquote><b>nool</b> big → <b>noller</b> enormous<br><b>lana</b> girl → <b>laner</b> virginal<br><b>treck</b> awaken → <b>trecker</b> alert<br><b>ʔell</b> away → <b>ʔeller</b> far</blockquote>
<p><b>ro- </b>(Verdurian <i>řo</i>; but pronounced [ru]) is used with loanwords as a negative:
<blockquote><b>ledise</b> → <b>roledise</b> abnormal<br><b>namerick</b> → <b>ronamerick</b> unintentional<br><b>voleme</b> → <b>rovoleme</b> unwilling</blockquote>
<p>Reduplication with change of the initial consonant (usually to <b>ch</b>-, <b>j</b>- or <b>g</b>-) has a deprecative meaning:
<blockquote><b>traze</b> fancy → <b>traze-chaze</b> rococo, outta control<br><b>jurick </b>conventional → <b>jurick-gurick</b> square, uptight <br><b>laner</b> maidenly → <b>laner-janer</b> princessy, butter-wouldn't-melt-in-her-mouth<br><b>nëron</b> holy → <b>nëron-chëron</b> sanctimonious, holier-than-thou<br><b>ʔulle</b> friendly → <b>ʔulle-gulle</b> glad-handing, unctuous </blockquote>
<h4><a name="Verbalizers">Verbalizers</a> </h4>
There are many doublets of words, where the noun has a voiceless final and the verb a voiced one. This process is no longer productive.
<blockquote><b>biit </b>study → <b>biid </b><br><b>joot </b>place → <b>jood </b>be located<br><b>mot</b> love → <b>mod</b> <br><b>noof</b> growth → <b>noov </b>grow<br><b>vrick</b> wound → <b>vrig<br>ʔuuk </b>hole → <b>ʔuug </b>drill</blockquote>
<p>Old Flaidish had a <b>causative</b>, formed by raising the root vowel and infixing -<b>n</b>- after it. It's no longer productive, but it's left a large number of doublets, some of them modified in meaning.
<blockquote><b>daat </b>intend<b> → dont</b> decide<b><br>domm</b> sit → <b>dunn</b> set, put<br><b>faach</b> cling → <b>fench</b> tie<br><b>foot</b> go → <b>funt</b> expel<br><b>geel</b> wear → <b>giln</b> wrap<br><b>geet</b> burn → <b>gint</b> kindle <br><b>kreck</b> stand → <b>krink</b> excite<br><b>koon</b> seek → <b>kund</b> send<br><b>koos</b> drink → <b>kunz</b> water<br><b>laat</b> fall → <b>lent</b> drop<br><b>lad</b> see → <b>lend</b> show<br><b>mard</b> remain → <b>mend</b> leave<br><b>moog </b>yield → <b>munk </b>work<br><b>sach</b> eat → <b>sench</b> corrode<br><b>seek</b> lie → <b>sink</b> pack<br><b>tood</b> know → <b>tund</b> proclaim<br><b>treck</b> awaken → <b>trink</b> warn<br><b>toor</b> bend → <b>tunn </b>crumple<br><b>vaur</b> wait → <b>veʔn</b> delay<br><b>vooj</b> be immersed → <b>vunj</b> submerge<br><b>yaul</b> listen → <b>yeln</b> inform<br><b>yest</b> rise → <b>yint</b> raise<br><b>zaat</b> graze → <b>zent</b> drive<br><b>ʔoz</b> get → <b>ʔunz</b> furnish</blockquote>
<p>Another archaic verbalizer is -<b>gim</b>, applied to nouns, and meaning to use the object. It often absorbs the final consonant of the root.
<blockquote><b>fool </b>ear → <b>folgim </b>heed<b><br>kess </b>knife → <b>keggim </b>stab<b><br>koz </b>brain → <b>koggim </b>figure out<b><br>laib</b> foot → <b>laggim</b> walk<br><b>paix </b>market → <b>paggim </b>shop<br><b>runn </b>eye → <b>rungim </b>spot<br><b>zeem </b>finger → <b>zeggim </b>point</blockquote>
<p>See also the section on <b>separable verbs</b>.
<h3><a name="Pronouns">Pronouns</a> </h3>
Flaidish personal pronouns are notable for being marked not by gender but by <b>age</b>. There are separate forms to use for persons before and after the coming of age (<i>vurickmod</i>)— normally 23, but in (rare) cases where a flaid marries or inherits a title early, the adult pronouns are used.
<h4><a name="Base">Base forms</a> </h4>
The <b>adult</b> pronouns are as follows:
<blockquote><table>
<tr bgcolor="E0E0A8"><td></td>
<td><i>sing</i></td>
<td><i>pl</i></td>
</tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8">1</td>
<td><b>ʔok / va</b></td>
<td><b>tack</b></td>
</tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8">2</td>
<td><b>se / ʔes</b></td>
<td><b>seer </b></td>
</tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8">3</td>
<td><b>ne / ʔem</b></td>
<td><b>yau</b></td>
</tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8">4</td>
<td><b>na / nar</b></td>
<td><b>yet</b></td>
</tr>
</table></blockquote>
<p>The adult singular pronouns have separate object forms, as shown. The 4th person will be discussed below.
<p>The <b>possessive</b> is formed using the suffix -<b>ry</b> in the singular and -<b>(y)m</b> in the plural:
<blockquote><table>
<tr bgcolor="E0E0A8"><td></td>
<td><i>sing</i></td>
<td><i>pl</i></td>
</tr>
</i><tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8">1</td>
<td><b>ʔokry</b></td>
<td><b>takym</b></td>
<td><b></td></tr>
</b><tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8">2</td>
<td><b>sery</b></td>
<td><b>serym</b></td>
<td><b></td></tr>
</b><tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8">3</td>
<td><b>nery</b></td>
<td><b>yaum</b></td>
<td><b></td></tr>
</b><tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8">4</td>
<td><b>nary</b></td>
<td><b>yeʔm</b></td>
<td><b></td></tr>
</table></blockquote>
</b>
<p>The <b>childhood</b> pronouns are as follows. The plurals are formed by reduplication.
<blockquote><table>
<tr bgcolor="E0E0A8"><td></td>
<td><i>sing</i></td>
<td><i>pl</i></td>
</tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8">1</td>
<td><b>fu</b></td>
<td><b>fufu</b></td>
</tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8">2</td>
<td><b>ʔil</b></td>
<td><b>ʔilil</b></td>
</tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8">3</td>
<td><b>le</b></td>
<td><b>lele</b></td>
</tr>
</table></blockquote>
<p>The child forms do not have separate object or possessive forms.
<p>Examples in this grammar use mostly adult pronouns; this is probably the best approach for the traveler or academic, but it should be noted that it's opposite the experience of the flaids themselves, who grow up using the child pronouns. Even adults sometimes use the child pronouns among themselves, in moments of deep emotion. Till flaids have children of their own, it can be said that they think of themselves with <b>fu</b> rather than <b>ʔok</b>.
<h4><a name="S-O">S-O pronouns </a> </h4>
In adult speech, if there's a subject and object pronoun, the latter cliticizes to the former. This is an exception to the normal SVO order of Flaidish. The S-O cluster precedes the verb (and indeed, generally nothing else can be inserted between the pronouns and the verb).
<blockquote>
<b><u>Neva</u> much. </b><i>He/she kissed me. </i>
<br><b><u>Seʔem</u> yeln. </b><i>You told him/her. </i>
<br><b><u>Yautack</u> modse<i>.</i></b><i> They love us.</i>
<br><b><u>Neʔes</u> geetno. </b><i> It might burn you. </i><i>
<br><b></i><u>ʔoxeer</u> grop. </b><i>I watched you all. </i>
<br><b><u>Seeryau</u> kroog. </b><i> You all broke them.</i>
</blockquote>
<p></i>A medial <b>ʔ</b> drops out after a consonant: <b>tackes lad</b> 'we saw you'. Also note <b>ʔok + seer = ʔoxeer</b>.
<p>When speaking to children, or when children speak, pronouns are not combined, and word order is usually SVO: <b>Ne much va</b> 'He/she kissed me'; <b>ʔok lad ʔil </b>'I saw you!'
<p>Combination forms with child pronouns can be found when adults are speaking among themselves: <b>Leva much</b> 'He/she (a child) kissed me (an adult)'.
<h4><a name="Fourth">Fourth person</a> </h4>
The 'fourth person' in the tables provides an alternate pronoun for use when there is more than one third-person referent. Typically <b>ne / yau</b> are used for the first person or thing referred to, <b>na / yet</b> for the second.
<blockquote>
<tt>Çeenche muçet Jijot. Qok jamse ty nenar teçyse. Zeckno, na zys lelly.</tt><br/>
<b>Cheenche<font size=2>1</font> muchet Jijot<font size=2>2</font>. ʔok jamse ty <u>ne</u><font size=2>1</font><u>nar</u><font size=2>2</font> techyse. Zeckno, <u>na</u><font size=2>2</font> zys lelly.
<br></b><i>Cheenche kissed Jijo. I think she likes him. Well, he is cute.</i>
<p><tt>Lesteqo qydmunk Jeeriot, frett yoven ne ziitse ty na zys loost. </tt><br/>
<b>Lesteʔo<font size=2>1</font> ʔydmunk Jeeriot<font size=2>2</font>, frett yoven <u>ne</u><font size=2>1</font> ziitse ty <u>na</u><font size=2>2</font> zys loost.
<br></b><i>The restaurant hired Jeerio, but it will find that he is lazy.</i>
</blockquote>
<p>There are no fourth person forms among the child pronouns.
<p>Pronouns are 'reset' by explicitly stating a new topic. Compare two possible continuations of the last example. The first continues to use <b>na</b> for Jeerio; the second switches to <b>ne</b> for him because he has been restated as the topic.
<blockquote><b><u>Na</u> ʔemprott munken. </b><i>He hates to work.</i>
<br><b>Jeerio <u>ne</u> ʔemprott munken. </b><i>Jeerio hates to work. </i>
</blockquote>
<p>Jocularly, flaids sometimes use a third alternate form <b>no</b>; it's rather as if, in enumerating people, we said "Him, her, and— er, <i>hum</i>." It has no object or possessive form.
<blockquote>
<tt>Deejo, Jeerioqen Çeenche yonse. Ne zys tuuç, na zys vecke, yoven no zys çuun.</tt><br/>
<b>Deejo<font size=2>1</font>, Jeerioʔen<font size=2>2</font> Cheenche<font size=2>3</font> yonse. <u>Ne</u><font size=2>1</font> zys tuuch, <u>na</u><font size=2>2</font> zys vecke, yoven <u>no</u><font size=2>3</font> zys chuun.</b>
<br><i>Deejo, Jeerio, and Cheenche are coming. The first is sad, the second is thin, and the third is ugly.</i>
</blockquote>
<h4><a name="Required">Required and optional pronouns</a> </h4>
First and second person pronouns are always required:
<blockquote>
<b><u>ʔok</u> modse ʔicetebitet. </b><i>I love math.</i>
<br><b><u>ʔil</u> zys miffit? </b><i>You're hungry?</i>
<br><b>ʔokry ferick voss frintooden <u>va</u>. </b> <i>My wife doesn't understand me.</i>
</blockquote>
<p>Third person pronouns are optional if the antecedent is present, required otherwise. Thus 'It burned' is <b>Ne geet</b>, while 'The fire burned' can be either <b>Riidet geet</b> or <b>Riidet ne geet</b>.
<p>If just one 3p antecedent is present, one can either omit it, or use the S-O cluster anyway:
<blockquote>
<b><u>ʔok(em)</u> passette ʔokry nellerick.</b>
<br><i>I'm visiting my sweetheart.</i>
<p><b>ʔokry ʔan <u>neʔes</u> voss techpo. <br>ʔokry ʔan voss techpo <u>ʔes</u>.</b>
<br><i>My mother doesn't like you.</i>
<p><b><u>Ne(nar)</u> eldoobd smettet. </b>
<br><i>He threw out the trash.</i>
</blockquote>
<p>When speaking to children, it's usual to include the third person pronouns no matter what.
<h4><a name="Reflexives">Reflexives</a> </h4>
Flaidish doesn't have a reflexive pronoun; instead it simply combines the corresponding subject and object pronouns. The plural forms lose their final consonant.
<blockquote><table>
<tr bgcolor="E0E0A8"><td></td>
<td><i>sing</i></td>
<td><i>pl</i></td>
</tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8">1</td>
<td><b>ʔokva</b></td>
<td><b>tatack</b></td>
</tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8">2</td>
<td><b>seʔe</b>s</td>
<td><b>seseer</b></td>
</tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8">3</td>
<td><b>neʔem</b> </td>
<td><b>yayau</b></td>
</tr>
<tr><td bgcolor="E0E0A8">4</td>
<td><b>nanar</b></td>
<td><b>yeyet</b></td>
</tr>
</table></blockquote>
<p>Note the difference between:
<blockquote>
<b>Nenar moss. </b><i>He washed him (someone else).</i>
<br><b>Neʔem moss. </b><i>He washed himself</i> .
</blockquote>
<h4><a name="Interrogative">Interrogative and demonstrative pronouns</a> </h4>
<blockquote><table>
<td><b>mill</b></td>
<td>who, what</td>
<td><b>neck</b></td>
<td>this / that one</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>millick</b></td>
<td>which</td>
<td><b>neckit</b></td>
<td>this / that</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>miikor</b></td>
<td>when</td>
<td><b>neckor</b></td>
<td>then</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>miinit</b></td>
<td>how much</td>
<td><b>nennit</b></td>
<td>that much</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>mildoz</b></td>
<td>what extent</td>
<td><b>neddoz</b></td>
<td>that extent</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>ʔool</b></td>
<td>what direction</td>
<td><b>ninx</b></td>
<td>that direction</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>ʔollyd</b></td>
<td>where (at)</td>
<td><b>ninxyd</b></td>
<td>there (at)</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>ʔolor</b></td>
<td>where (to)</td>
<td><b>ninxor</b></td>
<td>there (to)</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>yauj</b></td>
<td>why</td>
<td><b>sood</b></td>
<td>because</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>ʔoj</b></td>
<td>how</td>
<td><b>nemot</b></td>
<td>in that way</td>
</tr>
</table></blockquote>
The interrogatives are typically derivatives of <b>mill</b> 'who', the demonstratives, of <b>neck</b> 'this or that one'. The initial <b>n</b>- of the later is etymologically the same as that in the third person pronouns <b>ne / na</b>.
<p>The interrogative pronouns are used for questions only; relative clauses use the demonstratives instead. (See <i>Syntax</i>.)
<p>The demonstratives are unmarked in meaning between 'this' and 'that', 'here' and 'there', 'now' and 'then', etc. Rather, the direction adverbs are used to clarify such relationships. Usually <b>vick</b> 'nearby' is used for 'this', <b>ʔell</b> 'away' for 'that'; but any of the directions can be used.
<blockquote>
<b>neck vick </b><i>this one</i>
<br><b>neck ʔell </b><i>that one</i>
<br><b>neck loll </b><i>the one underneath </i>
<br><b>neck dor </b><i>the one outside </i></b>
<p><b>ninx vick </b><i>here </i>
<br><b>ninx ʔell </b><i>there </i>
<br><b>neckit metch vick </b><i>this country </i>
<br><b>neckit max ʔell </b><i>that rabbit</i>
<br><b>neckit lana ʔut </b><i>the girl right here (alongside)</i>
<br><b>neckit bin ʔatyd ʔes </b><i>the creepy guy behind you</i>
</blockquote>
<p>
<h4><a name="Indefinite">Indefinite pronouns</a> </h4>
Indefinite pronouns are synthetic constructions in Flaidish, formed from a quantifier plus a demonstrative:
<blockquote><b>vott</b> none<br><b>naak</b> rare<br><b>tim</b> some<br><b>liss</b> any<br><b>toob</b> many, much<br><b>toober</b> too many<br><b>chem</b> other<br><b>minden</b> all
<p><b>vott neck </b>no one, nothing<b><br>tim neck</b> someone, something<br><b>chem neck</b> another one<br><b>minden neck</b> everyone, everything<br><br><b>vott ninx</b> in no direction, nowhere<br><b>chem neckor</b> some other time<br><b>naak neckor</b> rarely, seldom<br><b>liss nennit</b> any amount<br><b>tim nennoz</b> to some extent<br><b>toob kor</b> many times, often
</blockquote>
<p>However, there are separate lexemes for these time words:
<blockquote><b>tinkor</b> sometimes<br><b>sauʔ</b> never<br><b>mingor</b> always
</blockquote>
<h3><a name="Verbs">Verbal system</a> </h3>
<h4><a name="Definite">Definite and indefinite forms</a> </h4>
The definite forms are used when the verb has a definite third-person object. That is, where English establishes the definiteness of an object via the article 'the', Flaidish uses a different verb form:
<blockquote>
<tt>Qok muç qy lanat. Qok muçet lanat.</tt><br/>
<b>ʔok much ʔy lanat. </b><i>I kissed a girl.</i>
<br><b>ʔok <u>muchet</u> lanat. </b><i>I kissed the girl.</i>
<p><tt>Baub kroog qy çunt.</tt><br/>
<b>Baub kroog ʔy chunt. </b> <br/><i>The fool broke a bone. </i>
<p><tt>Baub krogd qokry çunt.</tt><br/>
<b>Baub <u>krogd</u> ʔokry chuntet! </b><br/><i>The fool broke my bone!</i>
</blockquote>
<p>First and second person objects take indefinite verbs: <b>Neva much</b> 'she kissed me', <b>ʔokes lad</b> 'I saw you'.
<p>As a general rule, you should use the definite forms where we would use a definite article ('the mule'), a possesive ('my mule'), or a proper name: <b>ʔok modet Syxesteert</b> 'I love Syxesteer'.
<h4><a name="Simple">Simple past</a> </h4>
The unmarked form of the verb (and the citation form in the lexicon) is the <i>past</i> tense (<i>scrifel</i>); the flaids explain that the most frequent communicative act is to report that something has occurred. They also consider past actions to be the surest: the future is unknown, and the present is confused and in process— who knows how it will turn out?
<p>The sure meaning of the past tense is that the action is no longer going on; auxiliaries are needed if it's desired to specify whether the event was completed.
<blockquote>
<tt>Ne laum for çonicker.</tt><br/>
<b>Ne <u>laum</u> for chonicker. </b>
<br><i>He dreamed (or, was dreaming) about boats.</i>
<p>
<tt>Sery fivvor meed qator dell.</tt><br/>
<b>Sery fivvor <u>meed</u> ʔator dell. </b>
<br><i>Your brother slept until noon. </i>
</blockquote>
<p>If an event started in the past and extends to the present, we usually use the past perfect, and Flaidish uses the simple past:
<blockquote>
<tt>Qok lack sittyd Syxesteer back qever.</tt><br/>
<b>ʔok <u>lack</u> sittyd Syxesteer back ʔever.</b>
<br><i>I've lived in Syxesteer for five years.</i>
</blockquote>
<h4><a name="Ongoing">Ongoing</a> </h4>
Flaids call this the nonpast tense (<i>roscrifel</i>); it's used for either present or future events. It normally corresponds to our present progressive.
<blockquote>
<tt>Tack laumse.</tt><br/>
<b>Tack <u>laumse</u>.</b> <br/><i> We are dreaming.</i>
<p><tt>Qokry lan ladmerse qy qibrot..</tt><br/>
<b>ʔokry lan <u>ladmerse</u> ʔy ʔibrot. </b><br/><i>My daughter is reading a book.</i></b>
<p><tt>Qok gropte Jeeriot.</tt><br/>
<b>ʔok <u>gropte</u> Jeeriot. </b><br/><i>I'm watching Jeerio.</i>
<p><tt>Ne ladmerte qibrot.</tt><br/>
<b>Ne <u>ladmerte</u> ʔibrot. </b><br/><i>She is reading the book.</i>
<p><tt>Qok zys meedick.</tt><br/>
<b>ʔok <u>zys</u> meedick. </b> <br/><i>I'm tired. </i>
<p><tt>Neet zyt lana.</tt><br/>
<b>Neet <u>zyt</u> lana. </b><br/><i>This is the girl.</i>
</blockquote>
<p>It's also used for basic statements about the future, including declarations of intent.
<blockquote>
<tt>Tack fotse for Syxesteer.</tt><br/>
<b>Tack <u>fotse</u> for Syxesteer. </b><br/><i>We're going to Syxesteer.</i>
<p><tt>Qok medse vur qatnap.</tt><br/>
<b>ʔok <u>medse</u> vur ʔatnap. </b><br/><i>I'm sleeping all day tomorrow.</i>
</blockquote>
<h4><a name="Irrealis">Irrealis</a> </h4>
The basic meaning of the irrealis tense (<i>epesec</i>) is uncertainty, and its simplest use is for present or past events the speaker cannot vouch for.
<blockquote>
<tt>Yau belopno geppt.</tt><br/>
<b>Yau <u>belopno</u> geppt. </b>
<br><i>Perhaps they fixed (or, are fixing) a machine.</i>
<p><tt>Yau belopdo geppt.</tt><br/>
<b>Yau <u>belopdo</u> geppt. </b>
<br><i>Perhaps they fixed (or, are fixing) the machine.</i>
<p><tt>Yau zeno nollericken.</tt><br/>
<b>Yau <u>zeno</u> nollericken.</b>
<br><i>They might be giants.</i>
<p><tt>Tootannel foryeffdo surdenart.</tt><br/>
<b>Tootannel <u>foryeffdo</u> surdenart.</b>
<br><i>(I hear) the newspaper sniffed out the facts.</i>
<p><tt>Mill todse neckor ty ne qyssno?</tt><br/>
<b>Mill todse neckor ty ne <u>ʔyssno</u>?</b>
<br><i>Who knows when it will rain?</i>
</blockquote>
<p>A special usage is for examples or <b><i>hypothetical instances</b></i>:
<blockquote>
<tt>Maiçert qokyet voss teçpo. Qy maiç riikno.</tt><br/>
<b>Maichert ʔokyet voss techpo. ʔy maich <u>riikno</u>.</b>
<br><i>I don't like cats. A cat can scratch you.</i>
</blockquote>
<p>Here the switch from the habitual to the irrealis indicates that the speaker is now imagining a specific but fictional instance of a cat scratching, as opposed to a general fact about cats (cf. <b>maicher ʔenriik</b>, cats scratch).
<p>The irrealis is also used for <b><i>wishes and desires</b></i>. The conjunction <b>ty</b> introduces the clause (the desire or wish), unless the subjects are the same.
<blockquote>
<tt>Ne meert ty seva qadno qy feej maxt. </tt><br/>
<b>Ne meert <u>ty</u> seva <u>ʔadno</u> ʔy feej maxt.</b>
<br><font size=2> he wanted that you-me give-<font size=1>IRR</font> one head rabbit-<font size=1>ACC</font></font>
<br><i>He wanted you to give me a rabbit.</i>
<p><tt>Qok mertse ty seva qaddo maxt. </tt><br/>
<b>ʔok mertse <u>ty</u> seva <u>ʔaddo</u> maxt.</b>
<br><i>I want you to give me the rabbit.</i>
<p><tt>Qok dont taxno sery qant. </tt><br/>
<b>ʔok dont <u>taxno</u> sery ʔant.</b>
<br><i>I've decided to meet your mother.</i>
<p><tt>Qok mertse treckno! </tt><br/>
<b>ʔok mertse <u>treckno</u>!</b>
<br><i>I want to wake up!</i>
</blockquote>
<p>What one <b><i>doesn't</b></i> <b><i>know</b></i> uses the irrealis; what one does know uses the appropriate realis form.
<blockquote>
<tt>Qok voss todbo ty okry ferick zeno voleme </tt><br/>
<b>ʔok voss todbo ty okry ferick <u>zeno</u> voleme.</b>
<br><i>I don't know if my wife is ready. </i>
<p><tt>Qok todse ty jenu zys voleme. </tt><br/>
<b>ʔok todse ty jenu zys voleme.</b>
<br><i>I know that the carriage is ready.</i>
</blockquote>
<h4><a name="Habitual">Habitual</a> </h4>
The basic implication of the habitual tense (<i>mingrick</i>) is that a situation is always the case. It is thus appropriate for 'timeless' things that are always true, for which we'd generally use the present tense.
<blockquote>
<tt>Flora qenze qy zermo. </tt><br/>
<b>Flora <u>ʔenze</u> ʔy zermo.</b>
<br><i>Flora is an island.</i>
<p><tt>Qokry fivvor qensaç. </tt><br/>
<b>ʔokry fivvor <u>ʔensach</u>.</b>
<br><i>My brother is always eating. </i>
</blockquote>
<p>With verbs of attribution like <b>ze</b> 'be' or <b>lach</b> 'appear', the habitual describes an inherent state or permanent nature, while the past or ongoing tenses refer to temporary conditions; the distinction is similar to that between <i>ser </i>and <i>estar</i> in Spanish.
<blockquote>
<b><i>Habitual: </i></b><br/>
<tt> Sery keem qenze borpo.</tt><br/> <b>
</i>Sery keem <u>ʔenze</u> borpo. </b><i>Your friend is a drunkard (all the time).</i>
<p><b><i>Ongoing: </i></b><br/>
<tt>Sery keem zys borpo. </tt><br/>
<b>Sery keem zys borpo. </b><i>Your friend is drunk (now). </i>
</blockquote>
<p>By extension, the habitual is used for repeated events and habits, even if the period of repetition isn't eternal. Again, we normally use our present tense for this.
<blockquote>
<tt>Qok qemladmert tootannelt. </tt><br/>
<b>ʔok <u>ʔenladmert</u> tootannelt.</b>
<br><i>I read the newspaper.</i>
</blockquote>
<p>In a past narrative, the habitual implies that the event was repeated or generally true, even if it's not any longer.
<blockquote>
<tt>Sery qott qemmod kerter. </tt><br/>
<b>Sery ʔott <u>ʔemmod</u> kerter.</b>
<br><i>Your father loved gardens.</i>
</blockquote>
<h4><a name="infinitive">The infinitive</a> </h4>
The infinitive (<i>ʔislaunë</i>) looks suspiciously like the conjunction -<b>en</b>, and historically that's what it is. The development is clearest if we look at expressions like these, which have parallels in English:
<blockquote>
<tt>Bin footet zecken qy tantelt. </tt><br/>
<b>Bin <u>footet zecken</u> ʔy tantelt.</b>
<br><font size=2>creep go-<font size=1>DEF</font> tell-<font size=1>INF</font> a teacher-<font size=1>ACC</font></font>
<br><i>The creep went and told a teacher.</i>
<p><tt>Beloopel yont beloopen triffmot. </tt><br/>
<b>Beloopel <u>yont beloopen</u> triffmot.</b>
<br><font size=2> repairman came-<font size=1>DEF</font> fix-<font size=1>INF</font> loom-<font size=1>ACC</font></font>
<br><i>The repairman came and fixed the loom.</i>
</blockquote>
<p>In early Flaidish we see expressions like <i>footent zeck</i>. When the first verb was inflected, it was easier and just as proper to add the clitic to the second verb, e.g. irrealis <i>footno zeckent</i>. Till a few centuries ago either verb could receive the <i>-en</i> in the simple past; but now it's only correct to add it to the second verb.
<p>The flaids have devised a large number of <b><i>conjunctive verbs</b></i>. First, here are some common expressions with the second element free (<b>meemen</b> 'do' stands for any verb).
<blockquote><table>
<tr><td><b>foot meemen</b></td>
<td>went and did</td>
<td>did X (conveys firm intent, rashness, or regret)</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>yon meemen</b></td>
<td>came and did</td>
<td>did X (for the speaker's benefit or at his/her place)</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>kreck meemen</b></td>
<td>stood and did</td>
<td>did X (stubbornly, foolishly, or without compassion)</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>mard meemen</b></td>
<td>stayed and did</td>
<td>did X (which took longer than expected)</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>lad meemen</b></td>
<td>saw and did</td>
<td>did X (conveys clear understanding and resoluteness)</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>siit meemen</b></td>
<td>rushed and did</td>
<td>did X (hurriedly or without preparation)</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>vaav meemen</b></td>
<td>jumped and did</td>
<td>did X (immediately, without thinking)</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>munk meemen</b></td>
<td>worked and did</td>
<td>did X (very thoroughly or laboriously), Xed out</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>domm meemen</b></td>
<td>sat and did</td>
<td>was doing X, was in the process of doing X</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>gedfoot meemen </b></td>
<td>advanced and did </td>
<td>kept on doing X</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>ʔeem meemen</b></td>
<td>finished and did</td>
<td>finished doing X; did X completely</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>keez meemen</b></td>
<td>began and did</td>
<td>started to do X</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>proom meemen</b></td>
<td>stopped and did</td>
<td>stopped doing X</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>mauk meemen</b></td>
<td>could and did</td>
<td>could do X, was able to X</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>tood meemen</b></td>
<td>knew and did</td>
<td>knew how to do X</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>tech meemen</b></td>
<td>liked and did</td>
<td>liked to X</td>
</tr>
</table></blockquote>
<b></b>
<p>Some examples:
<blockquote>
<tt>Qokry lan qeemt ladmeren qibrot. </tt><br/>
<b>ʔokry lan <u>ʔeemt</u> <u>ladmeren</u> ʔibrot. </b>
<br><font size=2> my daughter finish-<font size=1>DEF</font> read-<font size=1>INF </font>book-<font size=1>ACC</font></font>
<br><i>My daughter read the book. (Perfective, emphasizing that she finished it.)</i>
<p><tt>Qy madder qemmauk naaven. </tt><br/>
<b>ʔy madder ʔem<u>mauk</u> <u>naaven</u>.</b>
<br><font size=2> a bird can-<font size=1>HAB</font> fly-<font size=1>INF</font></font>
<br><i>A bird can fly.</i>
</blockquote>
<p>There are infinitive expressions with both verbs fixed, and an idiomatic meaning. Flaids are fond of combinations that will seem redundant to us, though at the very least there is an intensive effect.
<blockquote><table>
<tr><td><b>yon vissen</b></td>
<td>came and carried</td>
<td>brought</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>foot vissen</b></td>
<td>went and carried</td>
<td>took</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>foot ʔozen</b></td>
<td>went and got</td>
<td>acquired (from elsewhere), fetched</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>yon ʔozen</b></td>
<td>came and got</td>
<td>acquired (from here), took away</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>fiit ʔozen</b></td>
<td>paid and got</td>
<td>bought</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>kuld ʔozen</b></td>
<td>sent and got</td>
<td>sent away for</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>yaul sittozen</b></td>
<td>heard and accepted</td>
<td>believed</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>fost sachen</b></td>
<td>cooked and ate</td>
<td>consumed</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>mer jamen</b></td>
<td>considered and thought </td>
<td>reflected a long time</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>taat ladmeren </b></td>
<td>opened and read</td>
<td>read with great attention</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>lop ʔozen</b></td>
<td>stole and got</td>
<td>shamelessly stole</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>ʔoz tarten</b></td>
<td>got and held</td>
<td>took firm hold of, grabbed</td>
</tr>
</table></blockquote>
If the first verb is inflected, the second is not:
<blockquote><table>
<tr><td><b>yon vissen</b></td>
<td>brought</td>
<td><i>simple past</i></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>yonse vissen</b></td>
<td>is bringing</td>
<td><i>ongoing</i></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>yonno vissen</b></td>
<td>may bring</td>
<td><i>irrealis</i></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>ʔenyon vissen </b></td>
<td>always brings </td>
<td><i>habitual</i></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>yonpo vissen</b></td>
<td>brought</td>
<td><i>participle</i></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>yonen vissen</b></td>
<td>to bring</td>
<td><i>infinitive</i></td>
</tr>
</table></blockquote>
<h4><a name="participle">The participle</a> </h4>
The participle (<i>mevdonec</i>) is used after the negative and passive auxiliaries.
<p>The <b><i>negative auxiliary</b></i> <b>von</b> is used to negate a sentence:
<blockquote>
<tt>Riil von teçpo toosert.</tt><br/>
<b>Riil <u>von techpo</u> toosert.</b>
<br><font size=2> child not like-<font size=1>PART</font> egg-<font size=1>PL-ACC</font></font>
<br><i>The child didn't like eggs.</i>
<p><tt>Se vont mosspo sery crettertw.</tt><br/>
<b>Se <u>vont</u> <u>mosspo</u> sery crettert.</b>
<br><font size=2> you not<font size=1>-DEF</font> wash-<font size=1>PART</font> your hand-<font size=1>PL-ACC</font></font>
<br><i>You didn't wash your hands.</i>
</blockquote>
<p>If the negated verb was itself inflected, its inflections migrate to <b>von</b>:
<blockquote>
<tt>Qy zermo zys qu çonick. → Qy zermo voss zepo qy çonick.</tt><br/>
<b>ʔy zermo <u>zys</u> ʔy chonick. → ʔy zermo <u>voss zepo</u> ʔy chonick.</b>
<br><i>An island is (→ not) a boat.</i>
<p><tt>Qedolobit tromno tack. → Qedolobit vonno trompo tack</tt><br/>
<b>ʔedolobit <u>tromno</u> tack. → ʔedolobit <u>vonno trompo</u> tack.</b>
<br><i>Geometry might (→ not) hurt us.</i>
<p><tt>Qokry fivvor qensaç yart. → Qokry fivvor qemvon saçpo yart.</tt><br/>
<b>ʔokry fivvor <u>ʔensach</u> yart. → ʔokry fivvor <u>ʔemvon sachpo</u> yart.</b>
<br><i>My brother is (→ not) always eating fish. </i>
</blockquote>
<p>Sentences with other negative words don't need <b>von</b>:
<blockquote>
<tt>Qok sauq jatet lanat. </tt><br/>
<b>ʔok <u>sauʔ</u> jatet lanat.</b>
<br><i>I never touched the girl.</i>
<p><tt>Vott flaid qenze qy zermo, frett yoven Flora qenze. </tt><br/>
<b><u>Vott</u> flaid ʔenze ʔy zermo, frett yoven Flora ʔenze.</b>
<br><i>No flaid is an island, but Flora is.</i>
</blockquote>
<p>Flaidish also has a positive auxiliary <b>gen</b>, whose usage is exactly parallel to <b>von</b>. It can be used to emphasize the truth of a sentence:
<blockquote>
<tt>Qice qengen zepo rogeddick! </tt><br/>
<b>ʔice <u>ʔengen zepo</u> rogeddick!</b>
<br><font size=2> math yes-<font size=1>HAB</font> be-<font size=1>PART</font> difficult</font>
<br><i>Math <b>is</b> hard!</i>
<p><tt>Sery çonick gen lolvojpo. </tt><br/>
<b>Sery chonick <u>gen lolvojpo</u>.</b>
<br><i> Your boat <b>did</b> sink.</i>
</blockquote>
<p>The <b><i>passive auxiliary</b></i><b> baaʔ</b> (which is simply the verb 'suffer') works the same way. Note that the agent, if present, is expressed in the genitive.
<blockquote>
<tt>Katç saçet beckat. → Bekca baaq saçpo (katçys). </tt><br/>
<b>Katch <u>sachet</u> beckat. → Becka <u>baaʔ sachpo</u> (katchys).</b>
<br><font size=2> duck ate-<font size=1>DEF</font> frog-<font size=1>ACC</font> → frog suffered eat-<font size=1>PART</font> duck-<font size=1>GEN</font></font>
<br><i>The duck ate the frog. → The frog was eaten (by the duck).</i>
<p><tt>Flaiden teçyse sidraut. → Sidrau baqse teçpo (flaidenys). </tt><br/>
<b>Flaiden <u>techyse</u> sidraut. → Sidrau <u>baʔse techpo</u> (flaidenys).</b>
<br><i>Flaids like soy sauce. → Soy sauce is liked (by flaids).</i>
</blockquote>
Notice the double participles in a negative passive sentence:
<blockquote>
<tt>Qedolobit von baqpo tantpo.</tt> <br/>
<b>ʔedolobit <u>von baʔpo tantpo</u>.</b>
<br><i>Geometry wasn't taught.</i>
</blockquote>
<p>The verb <b>ʔoz</b> 'get' can replace <b>baaʔ</b>, for a more colloquial feel.
<blockquote>
<tt>Loqqel qoz getpo. </tt><br/>
<b>Loʔʔel <u>ʔoz getpo</u>.</b>
<br><i>The idiot got himself hurt.</i>
</blockquote>
<p><b><i>Conditionals</b></i> are expressed with an auxiliary verb, <b>gaar</b>, followed by the participle.
<blockquote>
<tt>Se gaar fostpo garçet, qok fotse for qy lesteqo. </tt><br/>
<b>Se <u>gaar fostpo</u> garchet, ʔok fotse for ʔy lesteʔo.</b>
<br><font size=2>you if cook-<font size=1>PART</font> catfish-<font size=1>ACC</font> I go-<font size=1>ONG</font> toward a restaurant</font>
<br><i>If you cooked catfish, I'm going to a restaurant.</i>
</blockquote>
<p>Be careful not to follow English tense usage here; our conditionals use tense in a very different way. A good rule of thumb is: use the tenses that would be appropriate if the verb were an assertion rather than a conditional— e.g., compare:
<blockquote>
<tt>Se fost garçet, sooden qok fotse for qy lesteqo. </tt><br/>
<b>Se fost garchet, sooden ʔok fotse for ʔy lesteʔo.</b>
<br><i>You cooked catfish, so I'm going to a restaurant.</i>
</blockquote>
<p>Here are some samples using various tenses:
<blockquote>
<tt>Se garse kospo, se medse zeer. </tt><br/>
<b>Se <u>garse kospo</u>, se medse zeer.</b>
<br><font size=2>you if-<font size=1>ONG</font> drink-<font size=1>PART</font>, you sleep-<font size=1>ONG</font> alone</font>
<br><i>If you're drinking, you'll sleep alone. (ongoing)</i>
<p><tt>Se qengaar teçpo luckit satcet, Pickapo ninx qenjinn qy verdurick lesteqo. </tt><br/>
<b>Se <u>ʔengaar techpo</u> luckit satchet, Pickapo ninx ʔenjinn ʔy verdurick lesteʔo.</b>
<br><font size=2>you if-<font size=1>HAB</font> like-<font size=1>PART</font> human food, Pickapo there have<font size=1>-HAB</font> a Verdurian restaurant</font>
<br><i>If you like human food, there's a Verdurian restaurant in Pickapo. (habitual)</i>
</blockquote>
<p>The irrealis is used when the consequent would be doubtful even if the condition were true:
<blockquote>
<tt>Se garse raulmertpo qy porrt, se qozno qy nellericket. </tt><br/>
<b>Se <u>garse raulmertpo</u> ʔy porrt, se ʔozno ʔy nellericket.</b>
<br><font size=2>you if-<font size=1>ONG</font> wish-<font size=1>PART</font> a cup-<font size=1>ACC</font>, you get-<font size=1>IRR</font> a sweetheart-<font size=1>ACC</font></font>
<br><i>If you wish upon a cup, you just might get a sweetheart. (irrealis)</i>
</blockquote>
Another use of the participle is as a <b><i>resultative</b></i>. In this construction, the participle follows the object of the sentence and indicates its final state. Note the diversity in the English glosses:
<blockquote>
<p><tt>Ne sitviitet lanat latpo. </tt><br/>
<b>Ne sitviitet lanat <u>latpo</u>.</b>
<br><font size=2>s/he push-<font size=1>DEF</font> girl-<font size=1>ACC</font> fall-<font size=1>PART</font></font>
<br><i>He pushed the girl, who fell down.</i>
<p><tt>Booz mard dor rontpo. </tt><br/>
<b>Booz mard dor <u>rontpo</u>.</b>
<br><font size=2>wheat stay out spoil-<font size=1>PART</font></font>
<br><i>The wheat stayed outside and spoiled.</i>
<p><tt>Tack fostte veezt plorpo. </tt><br/>
<b>Tack fostte veezt <u>plorpo</u>.</b>
<br><font size=2>we heat-<font size=1>ONG</font> water-<font size=1>ACC</font> boil-<font size=1>PART</font></font>
<br><i>We're cooking the water to boiling.</i>
<p><tt>Rusom veert mattrinelt bojbo. </tt><br/>
<b>Rusom veert mattrinelt <u>bojbo</u>.</b>
<br><font size=2>thug beat-<font size=1>DEF</font> shopkeeper-<font size=1>ACC</font> kill-<font size=1>PART</font></font>
<br><i>The thug beat the shopkeeper to death.</i>
</blockquote>
<p>In an extension of this construction, the object of the main verb can be the subject of the resultative, which has an object of its own. This <b><i>pivot construction</b></i> can be seen as a transformation which raises the subject and changes the tense of the verb in the subclause:
<blockquote>
<tt>Leebçe kundet (nery lan qozt grettet)</tt> → <tt>Leebçe kundet nery lant qozpo grettet. </tt><br/>
<b>Leebche kundet [nery lan ʔozt grettet] → Leebche kundet nery lant <u>ʔozpo</u> grettet.</b>
<br><font size=2>Leebche sent-<font size=1>DEF</font> [her daughter get-<font size=1>DEF</font> wood-<font size=1>ACC</font>] → Leebche sent-<font size=1>DEF</font> her daughter-<font size=1>ACC</font> get-<font size=1>PART</font> wood-<font size=1>ACC</font></font>
<br><i>Leebche sent [her daughter fetched wood] → Leebche sent her daughter to fetch wood.</i>
</blockquote>
<p>The initial examples, in fact, can be seen as pivot constructions where the verb in the subclause has no underlying object.
<p><b><i>Causative</b></i> expressions work the same way:
<blockquote>
<tt>Jijo ne dunnt [qok lentet yartet] → Jijo neva dunnt lentpo yartet!</tt><br/>
<b>Jijo ne dunnt [ʔok lentet yartet] → Jijo neva dunnt <u>lentpo</u> yartet!</b>
<br><font size=2>Jijo he set-<font size=1>DEF</font> [I drop-<font size=1>DEF</font> fish-<font size=1>ACC</font>] → Jijo he-me set-<font size=1>DEF</font> drop-<font size=1>PART</font> fish-<font size=1>ACC</font></font>
<br><i>Jijo made [I dropped the fish] → Jijo made me drop the fish! </i>
</blockquote>
<p>If the subclause is intransitive, its subject can be raised instead:
<blockquote>
<tt>Jijo ne dunnt [lanar kalt] → Jijo neyet dunnt <u>kaltpo</u> lanart!</tt><br/>
<b>Jijo ne dunnt [lanar kalt] → Jijo neyet dunnt <u>kaltpo</u> lanart!</b>
<br><font size=2>Jijo he set-<font size=1>DEF</font> [girl-<font size=1>PL</font> cry] → Jijo he-them set-<font size=1>DEF</font> cry-<font size=1>PART</font> girl-<font size=1>PL-ACC</font></font>
<br><i>Jijo made [the girls cried] → Jijo made the girls cry. </i>
</blockquote>
<p><b><i>Dative expressions</b></i> are essentially resultatives in Flaidish. Where English uses a single verb with two objects ("give that man / a fish"), Flaidish uses two verbs, each with a single object ("give the fish, the man gets it").
<blockquote>
<tt>Veen soon maat yartet qozpo qelfootelt.</tt><br/>
<b>Veen soon maat yartet <u>ʔozpo</u> ʔelfootelt.</b>
<br><font size=2>old woman sold fish-<font size=1>ACC</font> got-<font size=1>PART</font> traveler-<font size=1>ACC</font></font>
<br><i>The old woman sold the traveler a fish.</i>
</blockquote>
<p>Either object can cliticize with the subject pronoun, but not both; the excess pronoun follows the participle:
<blockquote>
<tt>Jeerio neva qaad vedpo nar.</tt><br/>
<b>Jeerio <u>neva</u> ʔaad vedpo <u>nar</u>.</b>
<br><font size=2>Jeerio he-me gave take-<font size=1>PART</font> it-<font size=1>ACC</font></font>
<p><tt>Jeerio nenar qaad vedpo va>.</tt>
<br/><b>Jeerio <u>nenar</u> ʔaad vedpo <u>va</u>.</b>
<br><font size=2>Jeerio he-it gave take-<font size=1>PART</font> I-<font size=1>ACC</font></font>
<br><i>Jeerio gave it to me.</i>
</blockquote>
<h3><a name="Syntax">Syntax</a> </h3>
<h4><a name="NPOrder">Noun phrase order</a> </h4>
Noun phrases work rather like English: numbers and articles first, then adjectives or genitives, then nouns, then prepositional phrases and relative clauses.
<blockquote>
<b>ʔy ferick </b><i>a wife</i>
<br><b>lin fericker </b><i>two wives</i>
<br><b>sery ferick </b><i>your wife</i>
<br><b>ʔy veen ferick </b> <i>an old wife</i>
<br><b>vickelys ferick </b><i>the neighbor's wife</i>
<br><b>ferick sittyd nery trin </b><i>a wife in her house</i>
<br><b>ferick neck ʔok vautet </b><i>the wife I married</i>
</blockquote>
<h4><a name="Articles">Articles</a> </h4>
An <b><i>indefinite</b></i> form (required only in the singular) is formed with <b>ʔy</b>: <b>ʔy fivvor</b> 'a brother', <b>ʔy ʔuuk</b> 'a hole', <b>ʔy tau</b> 'a lake'.
<h4><a name="Measure">Measure words</a> </h4>
With what we might call 'merchandise'— exchangeable physical objects or animals— numbers cannot be used directly, but must be used with a measure word.
<p>This concept tends to be difficult for English (or Verdurian) speakers, so let's ease into it by considering expressions where English also requires a measure word:
<blockquote>
<b>lin <u>porr</u> kimys</b> two cups of rice<br><b>lin <u>maig</u> kimys</b> two grains of rice<br><b>lin <u>meche</u> kimys</b> two bags of rice
</blockquote>
<p>You can never say just "*two rice" or *<i>lin kim</i>; you must insert a measure word so it's clear what you're counting.
<p>In English, only <i>mass nouns</i> require measure words; <i>count nouns</i> do not. Mass nouns are, as the name implies, seen as an undifferentiated mass which can't be directly counted— it has to be divided into countable containers. The distinction seems obvious to us, but it can be confusing to a foreigner: why are "peas" countable while "corn" isn't?
<p>Most animals are count nouns, but they can be treated as mass nouns as well:
<blockquote>
<b>lin <u>feej</u> temys </b>two head of cattle<br><b>lin <u>limmo</u> temys </b>two brace of oxen<br><b>lin <u>nen</u> baunam</b> two pounds of beef
</blockquote>
<p>In Mandarin, almost all nouns are mass nouns. Even people must be counted with a measure word: <i>liǎng ge lǎoshī</i> 'two teachers.' Flaidish is in between: most physical objects are mass nouns which can only be counted with measure words. The best general description of this class is indeed 'merchandise': anything that can be bought or sold, from food to animals to manufactures. In more detail:
<blockquote><table>
<tr bgcolor="E0E0A8"><td><b><i>Mass nouns</b></i></td>
<td><b><i>Count nouns</b></i></td>
</tr>
<tr><td>Domestic and game animals, including fish</td>
<td>Non-game animals (except honeybees)</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>Manufactured objects</td>
<td>Buildings, cities, canals, walls</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>Parts, tools, components</td>
<td>Features of a thing (e.g. 'scratch', 'protuberance', 'bottom')</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>Paper, physical books, paintings, sculptures</td>
<td>Ideas, titles, melodies, characters</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>Real estate</td>
<td>Geographic features</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>Oil, wax, butter, wood, gems, liquids, and other natural or mined commodities</td>
<td>Body parts, waste, garbage</td>
</tr>
<tr><td></td>
<td>Astronomical bodies; aspects of weather</td>
</tr>
<tr><td></td>
<td>People (flaids, other species, spiritual beings)</td>
</tr>
<tr><td></td>
<td>Containers and measures</td>
</tr>
</table></blockquote>
<p>As the examples indicate, measurements like <b>nen</b> 'pound' or <b>cremo</b> 'hand', as well as containers like <b>porr</b> 'cup', <b>meche</b> 'bag', <b>tarmo</b> 'shelf', or <b>kaux</b> 'wagon', are valid measure words. Others depend on the type of object:
<blockquote><table>
<tr><td><b>novel</b></td>
<td>'growth'</td>
<td>entire plants</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>novio</b></td>
<td>'plantlet'</td>
<td>fruits, flowers</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>neer</b></td>
<td>'berry'</td>
<td>berries, nuts, beans, grapes, and fruits of a similar size</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>maig</b></td>
<td>'grain'</td>
<td>cereals, other items that come in small discrete units, like sand </td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>kriv</b></td>
<td>'bunch'</td>
<td>grouped plants or vegetables (e.g. leeks, carrots, grapes); arrows</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>vaal</b></td>
<td>'leaf'</td>
<td>leaves (e.g of laurel); paper, documents</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>valer</b></td>
<td>'folio'</td>
<td>bunches of leaves; magazines, books</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>tex</b></td>
<td>'trunk'</td>
<td>beams, other large rod-like objects</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>feej</b></td>
<td>'head'</td>
<td>animals; large round vegetables </td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>saʔ</b></td>
<td>'mouth'</td>
<td>jars, pots, cups, buckets, and other open containers</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>test</b></td>
<td>'body'</td>
<td>clothing, armor; meals, rooms, or other items sold per person; hides</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>limmo</b></td>
<td>'pair'</td>
<td>animals, shoes, candles, scissors, horns— anything that comes in pairs</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>tarj</b></td>
<td>'object'</td>
<td>boxes, or blocky objects in general</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>semm</b></td>
<td>'cake'</td>
<td>pastry, meat; cushions, pillows</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>lammo</b> </td>
<td>'flat'</td>
<td>plates, tiles, planks, other flat thin things</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>zuss</b></td>
<td>'blade'</td>
<td>weapons</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>flit</b></td>
<td>'stick'</td>
<td>pens, reeds, needles, other small rod-like objects</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>gepp</b></td>
<td>'machine' </td>
<td>machines, instruments</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>trock</b></td>
<td>'frame'</td>
<td>doors, windows, furniture, vehicles</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>lurmo</b></td>
<td>'coil'</td>
<td>coils of rope or wire; rolls; wreaths</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>tratt</b></td>
<td>'pile'</td>
<td>anything that can be stacked</td>
</tr>
</table></blockquote>
<p>The same word will appear with multiple measure words. This is not really different from English; it's simply that there is a default measure in English— what we consider single items— while in Flaidish the measure must always be given:
<blockquote>
<b>lin <u>neer</u> bornerys </b>two grapes<br><b>lin <u>kriv</u> bornerys</b> two bunches of grapes<br><b>lin <u>tarj</u> bornerys</b> two boxes of grapes
<p><b>back <u>vaal</u> dainam </b>five sheets of paper<br><b>back <u>valer</u> dainam </b>five sheaves of paper<br><b>back <u>lurmo</u> dainam</b> five rolls of paper
<p><b>fell <u>flit</u> niilys</b> three arrows<br><b>fell <u>kriv</b></u> <b>niilys</b> three quivers of arrows
<p><b>gory <u>lammo</u> chenam</b> four plates<br><b>gory <u>test</u> chenam</b> four place settings <br><b>gory <u>tratt</u> chenam</b> four stacks of plates
</blockquote>
<p>Neither the measure nor the merchandise is pluralized; and the merchandise appears in the genitive. Either can be modified:
<blockquote>
<b>lin nool <u>semm</u> legdalachte munizelys </b>two large most elegant cakes
</blockquote>
<p>Measure words can be used with quantifiers, too. This usage is optional and difficult for outsiders to define; it's fair to say that it makes the expression more precise and more commercial-sounding. You definitely want to use the measure word if the quantifier is being used in lieu of a more precise count ("Some of the doors still need painting"); you don't need them if you're making a general statement and don't care about quantities ("Some doors lead to wonderful stories").
<blockquote>
<b>vott <u>valer</u> ʔibrom</b> no books<br><b>tim <u>zuss</u> bellackys</b> some swords<br><b>minden <u>trock</u> temmom</b> all the windows
</blockquote>
<p>If the same type of object is referred to multiple times, it's the object rather than the measure word which is omitted:
<blockquote>
<tt>Qok mertse fell noviot loomam yoven Jeerio lin noviot.</tt><br/>
<b>ʔok mertse fell <u>noviot</u> loomam yoven Jeerio lin <u>noviot</u>.</b>
<br><font size=2> I want-<font size=1>ONG</font> three meas-<font size=1>ACC</font> apple-<font size=1>GEN</font> then-<font size=1>AND</font> Jeerio two meas-<font size=1>ACC</font></font>
<br><i>I want three apples and Jeerio wants two.</i>
<p><tt>Se qenmauk jinnen liffel noviot dretor ladick riigu.</tt>
<br/><b>Se ʔenmauk jinnen liffel <u>noviot</u> dretor ladick riigu.</b>
<br><font size=2> you can-<font size=1>HAB</font> have-<font size=1>INF</font> six meas-<font size=1>ACC</font> across same price</font>
<br><i>You can have six (apples) for the same price.</i>
</blockquote>
<p>As seen here, the measure word and not the merchandise takes accusative endings.
<p>Foreigners are not really expected to master the measure words; it's always safe to use <b>feej</b> 'head' for animals and <b>tarj</b> 'object' for everything else.
<h4><a name="Sentence">Sentence order</a> </h4>
Unmarked sentence order is SVO; but the S-O pronouns and explicit accusative allow for almost any order.
<blockquote>
<tt>Riil leqem doobd smettet qator frej.</tt><br/>
<b>Riil leʔem doobd smettet ʔator frej.</b>
<br><i>The child threw the trash behind a bush.</i>
<p><b>→ Riil smettet leʔem doobd ʔator frej.
<br>→ Smettet ʔator frej riil leʔem doobd.
<br>→ Smettet leʔem doobd ʔator frej riil.
<br>→ ʔator frej leʔem doobd riil smettet.
<br>→ Leʔem doobd ʔator frej smettet riil.</b>
</blockquote>
<p>The S-O pronoun <b>leʔem</b> is optional (since both referents are present), but if present must directly precede the verb. It's preferred not to begin a sentence with a verb, however, so the pronoun would almost always appear in the last variant above.
<h4><a name="Focus">Focus</a> </h4>
A better way to describe Flaidish sentence order, however, is <b>Topic Verb Comment</b>. That is, the <b><i>topic</b></i> (the known information, what you're talking about) comes first, followed by the verbal complex (including SO pronouns and infinitive or participle constructions), followed by the <b><i>comment</b></i> (the new information). <ul>
<li> SVO implies that the topic is the subject:
<blockquote>
<b><u>Jeerio</u> muchet lanat.</b> <i>Jeerio kissed the girl. As for Jeerio, he kissed the girl.</i>
</blockquote>
<li> OVS implies that the topic is the object:
<blockquote>
<b><u>Lanat</u> muchet Jeerio.</b> <i>The girl was kissed by Jeerio. As for the girl, Jeerio kissed her.</i>
</blockquote>
<li> Another constituent may be the topic:
<blockquote>
<b><u>Sittyd ʔerram</u> ne medse teenys maum.</b> <i>In the jungle, the lion sleeps tonight.</i>
</blockquote>
</ul>
The topic need not be a constituent of the sentence at all. In such cases it can be taken as locating the following statement in space or time, or limiting its applicability, or simply setting the scene.
<p>The best way to grasp the feature may be to study a set of examples. Note that some of the English glosses work much like the Flaidish, simply stating the topic; but in other cases we use an introductory prepositional phrase or other syntactical construction.
<blockquote>
<tt>Ledley ne zys nellit teer. </tt><br/>
<b><u>Ledley</u> ne zys nellit teer.</b>
<br><i>Ledley, it's a nice city.</i>
<p><tt>Qeedvocker</u> qok qenteç geddyd ty qenzoop grettet.</tt><br/>
<b><u>ʔeedvocker</u> ʔok ʔentech geddyd ty ʔenzoop grettet.</b>
<br><i>Winters, I like to buy wood rather than chop it.</i>
<p><tt>Sooner se zys legçeen. </tt><br/>
<b><u>Sooner</u> se zys legcheen.</b>
<br><i>Among women, you are the most beautiful.</i>
<p><tt>Limmo zeer yau keez muçen. </tt><br/>
<b><u>Limmo zeer</u> yau keez muchen.</b>
<br><i>Once the couple were alone, they started kissing.</i>
<p><tt>Quveremot ne geel qy dalaçte sudaddy. </tt><br/>
<b><u>ʔuveremot </u>ne geel ʔy dalachte sudaddy.</b>
<br><i>As for clothes, she wore an elegant Ismaîn dress.</i>
<p><tt>Luckit teeren, Verduria zys kematt nellit. </tt><br/>
<b><u>Luckit teeren</u> Verduria zys kematt nellit.</b>
<br><i>Among human cities, Verduria is pretty nice.</i>
<p><tt>Qokry datmot qimlelel mornzitdo qokry qibrot. </tt><br/>
<b><u>ʔokry datmot</u> ʔimlelel mornzitdo ʔokry ʔibrot.</b>
<br><i>My aim is for a publisher to notice my book.</i>
<p><tt>Teer vick< tack meerse gedfotno laggimen. </tt><br/>
<b><u>Teer vick</u> tack meerse gedfotno laggimen.</b>
<br><i>The city being near, we want to keep walking.</i>
</blockquote>
<h4><a name="Conjunctions">Conjunctions</a> </h4>
Conjunctions use the clitic -<b>en</b>: <b>feejen creter</b> 'head and hands'; <b>fecken floomick</b> 'dark and stormy'. It can be added to either conjoint; the examples could equally be <b>feej creteren</b> and <b>feck floomicken</b>.
<p>For entire sentences, use <b>yoven</b> 'and then':
<blockquote>
<tt>Jeerio konse qy munkmot, yoven ne zitno qy rocurat.</tt> <br/>
<b>Jeerio konse ʔy munkmot, <u>yoven</u> ne zitno ʔy rocurat.</b>
<br><i>Jeerio is looking for a job, and he may find an adventure.</i>
</blockquote>
<p>Verbs can be conjoined by adding -<b>en</b> to the second verb, with no other inflections: <b>sachyse koosen</b> 'eats and drinks', <b>sachno koosen</b> 'may eat and drink'. This can be seen, of course, as another use for the infinitive. Where the verbs are separated by objects, adverbs, or other material, however, it's best to use <b>yoven</b> instead: <b>ne sachyse ʔuss yoven kosse boor</b> 'he's eating meat and drinking beer'.
<p>Add the adverb <b>frett</b> to convey the idea of <b><i>'but'</b></i>: <b>meedicken frett deej</b> 'tired but happy'.
<p>An <b><i>alternative</b></i> <i>X or Y</i> is expressed <b>zyn</b> X <b>zyn</b> Y: <b>zyn razumbre zyn cheen</b> '(either) intelligent or beautiful'. With entire sentences, use <b>zynen</b>:
<blockquote>
<tt>Se qenmauk koonen qy munkmot zynen se qenmauk koonen rocurart.</tt> <br/>
<b>Se ʔenmauk koonen ʔy munkmot <u>zynen</u> se ʔenmauk koonen rocurart.</b>
<br><i>You can look for a job or you can look for adventures.</i>
</blockquote>
<h4><a name="Relative">Relative clauses</a> </h4>
Relative clauses use the demonstrative pronouns, not the interrogatives.
<blockquote>
<tt>flaid neck lopt qokry ferickt </tt> <br/>
<b>flaid <u>neck</u> lopt ʔokry ferickt </b>
<br><font size=2> flaid the-one stole-<font size=1>DEF</font> my wife-<font size=1>ACC</font></font>
<br><i>the flaid who stole my wife — (literally) the flaid, the one who stole...</i>
<p><tt>bodde neck qokry ferick teçte </tt> <br/>
<b>bodde <u>neck</u> ʔokry ferick techte </b>
<br><i>the recipe my wife likes — (literally) the recipe, the one my wife likes</i>
<p><tt>naap neckor caarau miip </tt> <br/>
<b>naap <u>neckor</u> caarau miip </b>
<br><i>the day (when) the music died — (lit.) the day, at that time the music...</i>
<p><tt>teer ninxyd yatt sauq qemproom </tt> <br/>
<b>teer <u>ninxyd</u> yatt sauʔ ʔemproom </b>
<br><i> the city where the fun never stops — (lit.) the city, there the fun...</i>
</blockquote>
<p>These can be seen as deriving by a raising transformation:
<blockquote>
<tt>bodde [qokry ferick teçte boddet] → bodde neck qokry ferick teçte </tt> <br/>
<b>bodde [ʔokry ferick techte boddet] → bodde neck ʔokry ferick techte </b>
<br><i>a recipe [my wife likes the recipe] → a recipe which my wife likes</i>
</blockquote>
<p>This explains why the verb in the subclause is definite. Before the transformation the subclause has a definite direct object (since it's a repetition of the head noun, "recipe" in this case). The verb is therefore definite, and this doesn't change when the sentence becomes a relative clause.
<p>Nonetheless, the head clause may be definite or indefinite within the main clause. For instance, the above phrase can be used, without change, in an indefinite and a definite sense:
<blockquote>
<tt>Qok qenkoon boddet [neck qokry ferick teçte].</tt><br/>
<b>ʔok ʔenkoon boddet [neck ʔokry ferick techte].</b>
<br><i>I'm always looking for a recipe [that my wife likes].</i>
<p><tt>Qok qenkont boddet [neck qokry ferick teçte].</tt><br/>
<b>ʔok ʔenkont boddet [neck ʔokry ferick techte].</b>
<br><i>I'm always looking for the recipe [that my wife likes].</i>
</blockquote>
Headless relative clauses are acceptable. Note that <b>neckt</b> is used when the headless clause serves as the object.
<blockquote>
<tt>Tack voss todbo [neckt boj mattrinelt].</tt><br/>
<b>Tack voss todbo [neckt boj mattrinelt].</b>
<br><i>We don't know [who killed the shopkeeper.]</i>
<p><tt>[Neck bitse qirranattet] qenze qy bux flaid.</tt>
<br/><b>[Neck bitse ʔirranattet] ʔenze ʔy bux flaid.</b>
<br><i>[Who studies Irreanism] is a wise flaid. It's a wise flaid who studies Irreanism.</i>
</blockquote>
<p>Since the indefinite pronouns are also based on the demonstratives, combinations of them would contain a repeated word. This is simply omitted; so "Someone who..." is <b>tim neck</b>..., not *<i>tim neck neck</i>; and "This one who..." is <b>neck vick</b>..., not *<i>neck vick neck</i>. (Another way of looking at these is that they are an extension of headless clauses.)
<blockquote>
<tt>[Liss neck todse Jeeriot] zeckse ty ne qenze loost.</tt><br/>
<b>[Liss neck todse Jeeriot] zeckse ty ne ʔenze loost.</b>
<br><i>Anyone [who knows Jeerio] will say he is lazy.</i>
</blockquote>
<h4><a name="SentenceObjs">Sentences as subjects or objects</a> </h4>
If an entire sentence is the object of a verb, it's preceded by <b>ty</b> 'that'. (English allows this conjunction to be omitted, but Flaidish does not.)
<blockquote>
<tt>Qok gropse ladbo ty [se qenze syxesterick].</tt><br/>
<b>ʔok gropse ladbo ty [se ʔenze syxesterick].</b>
<br><font size=2> I watch-<font size=1>ONG</font> see-<font size=1>PART</font> that you be-<font size=1>HAB</font> Syxesteer-<font size=1>ADJ</font></font>
<br><i>I perceive (that) [you are from Syxesteer].</i>
</blockquote>
<p>Like Verdurian, Flaidish allows <b>ty</b> clauses to be subjects, too. In English we normally cleft these to the end of the sentence, leaving an empty pronoun behind; this is possible in Flaidish, but not at all required.
<blockquote>
<tt>[Ty se qenze qy trazel] zys sooden qotinimaçe.</tt><br/>
<b>[Ty se ʔenze ʔy trazel] zys sooden ʔotinimache.</b>
<br><i>[That you are a fop] is therefore probable.</i>
<p><tt>→ Ne zys sooden qotinimaçe [ty se qenze qy trazel].</tt><br/>
<b>→ Ne zys sooden ʔotinimache [ty se ʔenze ʔy trazel].</b>
<br><i>→ It is therefore probable that [you are a fop].</i>
</blockquote>
<p>If an entire sentence is the object of a preposition, <b>ty</b> is still required:
<blockquote>
<tt>Qok vautse lanat, çord ty seqem qemprott.</tt><br/>
<b>ʔok vautse lanat, <u>chord ty</u> seʔem ʔemprott.</b>
<br><font size=2> I marry-<font size=1>ONG</font> girl-<font size=1>ACC</font> despite that you-her hate-<font size=1>HAB</font></font>
<br><i>I will marry the girl, although you hate her.</i>
</blockquote>
<h4><a name="Comparatives">Comparatives and superlatives</a> </h4>
A 'more than' comparison uses formula <b>ʔabb</b> (adj) <b>ty</b> (comparand), while 'less than' uses <b>soom</b>.
<blockquote>
<tt>Se zys qabb pansyr ty qy dex krazerys.</tt><br/>
<b>Se zys <u>ʔabb</u> pansyr <u>ty</u> ʔy dex krazerys.</b>
<br><font size=2> you be-<font size=1>ONG</font> more lovely that a field rose-<font size=1>PL-GEN</font></font>
<br><i>You are more lovely than a field of roses.</i>
<p><tt>Sery qan zys soom qagasick ty qy trotmory gruqerys.</tt><br/>
<b>Sery ʔan zys <u>soom</u> ʔagasick <u>ty</u> ʔy trotmory gruʔerys.</b>
<br><i>Your mother is more annoying than a barnful of owls.</i>
</blockquote>
<p>An equal comparison uses a relative clause with the demonstrative <b>neddoz</b> 'to that extent':
<blockquote>
<tt>Yart zys mell neddoz zys qy lesteqom </tt><br/>
<b>Yart zys mell <u>neddoz zys ʔy lesteʔom</u> </b>
<br><font size=2> fish be-<font size=1>ONG</font> good to-extent be-<font size=1>ONG</font> a restaurant-<font size=1>GEN</font></font>
<br><i>The fish is as good as a restaurant's.</i>
<p><tt>Ne voss zepo mell neddoz qok gedladse</u>.</tt><br/>
<b>Ne voss zepo mell <u>neddoz ʔok gedladse</u>.</b>
<br><i>It isn't as good as I remember.</i>
</blockquote>
<p>The comparison class of a superlative can be given in two ways:<ul>
<li> as the topic: <b>Sooner se zys legcheen</b>, '(among) women, you are the most beautiful'
<li> as a genitive: <b>legcheen soonerys</b> 'the most beautiful of women'.</ul>
<h4><a name="Questions">Questions</a> </h4>
<h5><a name="Yes/no">Yes/no questions</a></h5>
Yes/no questions are formed in two ways. First, the sentence may begin with the interrogative particle <b>jaaʔ</b>:
<blockquote>
<tt>Jaaq mellbit qenromifa seobojiqt?</tt><br/>
<b><u>Jaaʔ</u> mellbit ʔenromifa seobojiʔt?</b>
<br><i>Does morality prohibit suicide?</i>
</blockquote>
Second, and more colloquially, the tag question <b>zynen voss</b> (literally 'or not') can be appended to the end of the sentence:
<blockquote>
<tt>Lesteqo nivse Jeeriot, zynen voss?</tt><br/>
<b>Lesteʔo nivse Jeeriot, <u>zynen voss</u>?</b>
<br><i>Will the restaurant fire Jeerio? </i>
</blockquote>
<p>Although this has become a fixed expression which can always be used as is, careful writers are aware of the literal meaning and match the tense with the main verb, or use <b>zynen gess</b> ('or yes') if the main verb is negative:
<blockquote>
<tt>Qubeer ze sittyd vickelit komm, zynen von?</tt><br/>
<b>ʔubeer ze sittyd vickelit komm, <u>zynen von</u>?</b>
<br/><i>Was the ʔubeer in the next room?</i>
<p><tt>Lana voss zepo cepple, zynen gess?</tt> <br/>
<b>Lana voss zepo cepple, <u>zynen gess</u>?</b>
<br><i>The girl isn't a virgin, is she?</i>
</blockquote>
<p>A yes/no question is answered <b>gess</b> 'it is' or <b>voss</b> 'it's not'. It's not necessary to reflect the tense of the main verb, but some writers choose to.
<p>To question a particular component, make it the focus:
<blockquote>
<tt>Jaaq sery qott ne teçyse koosen qugaut qyd teen?</tt><br/>
<b><u>Jaaʔ sery ʔott</u> ne techyse koosen ʔugaut ʔyd teen?</b>
<br><font size=2> Q your father (T) he like-<font size=1>ONG</font> drink-<font size=1>INF</font> coffee-<font size=1>ACC</font> at night</font>
<br><i>Is it your father who likes to drink coffee at night? </i>
<p><tt>Jaaq qugaut naqem teçyse koosen sery qott qyd teen?</tt><br/>
<b><u>Jaaʔ ʔugaut</u> naʔem techyse koosen sery ʔott ʔyd teen?</b>
<br><i>Is it coffee your father likes to drink at night? </i>
<p><tt>Jaaq qyd teen sery qott teçyse koosen qugaut?</tt><br/>
<b><u>Jaaʔ ʔyd teen </u>sery ʔott techyse koosen ʔugaut?</b>
<br><i>Is it at night that your father likes to drink coffee? </i>
</blockquote>
<h5><a name="Other">Other questions</a></h5>
The interrogative particles tend to occur at the end of the sentence, since Flaidish sentences start with the topic, and the questioned element is by definition not known information.
<blockquote>
<tt>Neckit çendmorym fedjel zys mill?</tt><br/>
<b>Neckit chendmorym fedjel zys <u>mill</u>?</b>
<br><font size=2> this temple's chief be-<font size=1>ONG</font> who</font>
<br><i>Who is the head priest in this temple?</i>
<p><tt>Ninx jys qibror raulyd fold vicken yauj?</tt><br/>
<b>Ninx jys ʔibror raulyd fold vicken <u>yauj</u>?</b>
<br><font size=2> there be-<font size=1>ONG</font> book-<font size=1>PL</font> on-<font size=1>LOC</font> floor near-<font size=1>EXT</font> why</font>
<br><i>Why are there books all over the floor?</i>
<p><tt>Luuker dorfotse miikor?</tt><br/>
<b>Luuker dorfotse <u>miikor</u>?</b>
<br><i>When will the humans leave?</i>
<p><tt>Se ze qyd sammen fiçet teen ʔollyd?</tt><br/>
<b>Se ze ʔyd sammen fichet teen <u>ʔollyd</u>?</b>
<br><font size=2> you be at seven-<font size=1>AND</font> ten-<font size=1>ORD</font> night where</font>
<br><i>Where were you on the night of the 17th?</i>
</blockquote>
<p><b>Mill</b> doesn't distinguish subject from object (you don't add the accusative -<b>t</b>). If another noun phrase is given, its case will make the role of the interrogative clear, even with different word orders— e.g. <b>vajat</b> below is in the accusative, so <b>mill</b> must be a subject.
<blockquote>
<b>Ne kost mull vajat <u>mill</u>? </b>
<i>Who drank the last bottle?<br>→ </i><b>Mull vajat kost <u>mill</u>?</b>
<br><b>Lott bin veed <u>mill</u>? </b><i>The stupid creep took </i><i><u>what</i></u><i>?</i>
</blockquote>
<p>When only pronouns are present, one must pay attention to the case forms. E.g. in the first example below, the S-O pronoun <b>neʔes</b> indicates a 3s subject. 2s object; since unknowns are always third person, <b>mill</b> is the subject. In the second example, <b>seʔem</b> is 2s subject, 3s object, so <b>mill</b> is the object.
<blockquote>
<b>Neller, neʔes modse <u>mill</u>?</b> <b><i> </b></i><i>Who loves you, babe?</i>
<br><b>Neller, seʔem modse <u>mill</u>?</b> <b><i> </b></i><i>Who do you love, babe?</i>
</blockquote>
<h4><a name="Imperatives">Imperatives </a> </h4>
The simple past, probably because it is the shortest verb form, doubles as an imperative. The definite or indefinite form is used, as appropriate. These are about the only sentences in Flaidish without an explicit subject.
<blockquote>
<tt>Lentet bellackt!</tt> <br/>
<b>Lentet bellackt!</b> <br/>
<i> Drop the sword!</i>
<p><tt>Viss qugaut kospo va.</tt><br/>
<b>Viss ʔugaut kospo va.</b> <br/>
<i>Bring me some coffee.</i>
</blockquote>
<p>These sound rather peremptory to flaids. Flaidish offers a wide range of indirect imperatives, of varying degrees of politeness. One step above the ordinary imperative is to query about the possibility of an action:
<blockquote>
<tt>Jaaq qok maukse qozen qy porrt çaiʔys?</tt><br/>
<b>Jaaʔ ʔok maukse ʔozen ʔy porrt chaiʔys?</b>
<br><font size=2> Q I can-<font size=1>ONG</font> get-<font size=1>AND</font> one cup-<font size=1>ACC</font> tea-<font size=1>GEN</font></font>
<br><i>Could I get a cup of tea?</i>
</blockquote>
<p>Or the conditional is used, without a consequent:
<blockquote>
<tt>Qok garse jimpo lin sooçiot çezmom.</tt><br/>
<b>ʔok garse jimpo lin soochiot chezmom.</b>
<br><font size=2> I if-<font size=1>ONG</font> have-<font size=1>PART</font> two teaspoon-<font size=1>ACC</font> sugar-<font size=1>GEN</font></font>
<br><i>If I could have two spoons of sugar.</i>
</blockquote>
<p>Next, the irrealis can be used. On a literal level, one is merely stating a desire; one is pleasantly surprised if this is taken as a hint.
<blockquote>
<tt>Qok dordejno qy pridmot kaanys, qejme.</tt> <br/>
<b>ʔok dordejno ʔy pridmot kaanys, ʔejme.</b>
<br><font size=2> I enjoy-<font size=1>IRR</font> one slice-<font size=1>ACC</font> bread-<font size=1>GEN </font>too</font>
</font>
<br><font size=2></font><i>I might enjoy a slice of bread, too.</i>
</blockquote>
<p>This by no means exhausts the possibilities; almost any indirect statement can hide a request.
<h3><a name="Directions">Directions and prepositions</a> </h3>
Location, movement, and direction are expressed in Flaidish with a set of particles, which also are the basis of the prepositions.
<h4><a name="BasicPrep">Basic prepositions</a> </h4>
For reference, the basic (underived) prepositions are these:
<blockquote><table>
<tr><td><b>ʔyd</b></td>
<td>at</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>for</b></td>
<td>toward, about</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>frind</b></td>
<td>with, using, in favor of</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>chord </b></td>
<td>against, despite</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>meet</b></td>
<td>like, similar to</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>som</b></td>
<td>without</td>
</tr>
</table></blockquote>
<h4><a name="Adverb">Adverb</a> </h4>
The unmarked form is an <i>adverb</i>, and can express either direction (<b>sitt</b> 'inward', <b>raul</b> 'upward', <b>gedd</b> 'forward') or a general location ('inside', 'on top', 'in front').
<h4><a name="Locative">Locative</a> </h4>
The suffix -<b>yd</b> (from <b>ʔyd</b> 'at') forms a <i>locative preposition</i>: <b>sittyd podj</b> 'in bed'; <b>raulyd sery feej</b> 'on your head', <b>geddyd trin</b> 'in front of the house'. The adverb/locative pair can be compared to English pairs like <i>outside / outside of</i>, or French <i>hors / hors de</i>.
<h4><a name="Allative">Allative</a> </h4>
The suffix <b>-or</b> (from <b>for</b> 'toward') forms an <i>allative preposition</i>, expressing movement in the indicated direction, stopping at the position indicated by the locative: <b>sittor podj</b> 'into bed'; <b>raulor sery feej</b> 'onto your head'; <b>geddor trint</b> 'up to the house'.
<p>The locative/allative pair works like English on/onto, in/into, but in Flaidish this distinction is made for all locatives: you must distinguish between
<blockquote>
<b>foot ʔator ʔy frej</b> 'go behind a bush' (motion implied → allative) <br> <b>sneep ʔatyd ʔy frej</b> 'hide behind a bush' (no motion → locative).
</blockquote>
<h4><a name="Extensive">Extensive</a> </h4>
The suffix <b>-en </b>is used to form an <i>extensive adverb</i>, which can be glossed 'and further on in that direction'. Thus <b>sitten</b> 'further in', <b>raulen</b> 'farther upward', etc. This is often used with a locative phrase:
<blockquote>
<b>ʔatyd trin ʔaten </b><i>behind the house and on back</i>
<br><b>sittyd groon sitten </b><i>inside the forest and further in</i>
<br><b>geddyd teer ʔellen </b><i>in front of the city, extending away from it</i>
</blockquote>
<h4><a name="Ablative">Ablative</a> </h4>
Finally, <b>(<i>direction</b></i><b>) ʔellor </b>forms an ablative preposition, expressing movement away from the position indicated by the locative: <b>sitt ʔellor podj</b> 'from inside the bed'; <b>raul ʔellor sery feej</b> 'from on top of your head', 'off your head'; <b>dret ʔellor teer</b> 'from beyond the city'.
<h4><a name="List">List </a> </h4>
Here's a list of the directions and associated locative and allative prepositions, with English equivalents.
<blockquote><table>
<tr bgcolor="E0E0A8"><td colspan=2><b><i>Direction</b></i></td>
<td colspan=2><b><i>Locative preposition</b></i></td>
<td colspan=2><b><i>Allative preposition</b></i></td>
</tr>
<tr><td></td>
<td></td>
<td><b>ʔyd</b></td>
<td>at</td>
<td><b>for</b></td>
<td>toward</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>gedd</b></td>
<td>forwards</td>
<td><b>geddyd</b></td>
<td>in front of</td>
<td><b>geddor</b></td>
<td>(moving) in front of</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>ʔat</b></td>
<td>backward</td>
<td><b>ʔatyd</b></td>
<td>behind, in back of</td>
<td><b>ʔator</b></td>
<td>to behind</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>vuz</b></td>
<td>back (returning)</td>
<td><b></b></td>
<td></td>
<td><b>vuzor</b></td>
<td>back to</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>sitt</b></td>
<td>inward, inside</td>
<td><b>sittyd</b></td>
<td>in, inside of</td>
<td><b>sittor</b></td>
<td>into</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>dor</b></td>
<td>outward, outside</td>
<td><b>doryd</b></td>
<td>outside of</td>
<td><b>doror</b></td>
<td>(moving) out of</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>loll</b></td>
<td>downward, underneath</td>
<td><b>lollyd</b></td>
<td>under, below</td>
<td><b>lolor</b></td>
<td>down into</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>raul</b></td>
<td>upward, up</td>
<td><b>raulyd</b></td>
<td>on, over</td>
<td><b>raulor</b></td>
<td>onto</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>ʔut</b></td>
<td>alongside</td>
<td><b>ʔuttyd</b></td>
<td>next to</td>
<td><b>ʔutor</b></td>
<td>(moving) next to</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>dret</b></td>
<td>across</td>
<td><b>drettyd</b></td>
<td>across, over</td>
<td><b>dretor</b></td>
<td>(moving) across</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>vick</b></td>
<td>nearby, close</td>
<td><b>vickyd</b></td>
<td>near, close to</td>
<td><b>vickor</b></td>
<td>(moving) near</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>ʔell</b></td>
<td>away</td>
<td><b>ʔellyd</b></td>
<td>away from</td>
<td><b>ʔellor</b></td>
<td>(moving) away from</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>jirys</b></td>
<td>centerward</td>
<td><b>jirysyd</b></td>
<td>in the center of</td>
<td><b>jirysor</b></td>
<td>to the center of</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>fusys</b></td>
<td>rightward</td>
<td><b>fusysyd</b></td>
<td>on the right of</td>
<td><b>fusysor</b></td>
<td>to the right of</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>gerys</b></td>
<td>leftward</td>
<td><b>gerysyd</b></td>
<td>on the left of</td>
<td><b>gerysor</b></td>
<td>to the left of</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>baul</b></td>
<td>north, left</td>
<td><b>baulyd</b></td>
<td>left or north of</td>
<td><b>baulor</b></td>
<td>to the north of</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>tell</b></td>
<td>south, right</td>
<td><b>tellyd</b></td>
<td>south or right of</td>
<td><b>tellor</b></td>
<td>to the south of</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>liit</b></td>
<td>east</td>
<td><b>littyd</b></td>
<td>east of</td>
<td><b>litor</b></td>
<td>to the east of</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>mann</b></td>
<td>west</td>
<td><b>mannyd</b></td>
<td>to the west of</td>
<td><b>mannor</b></td>
<td>to the west of</td>
</tr>
</table></blockquote>
<h4><a name="direction">The direction of time </a> </h4>
The Flaidish metaphor for time is opposite ours. For the flaids, the <b><i>past is forward</b></i>; the <b><i>future is behind</b></i>. They explain this the same way they explain the unmarked past tense: the events we understand best and are most certain about are in the past; in effect we are always looking at them, facing them. And of course the future is behind us; it's unknown to us, we can't see it!
<center><img src="illo/flaidish-time.gif"></center>
<p>The prepositions used for time reflect this, and thus often seem opposite to ours: e.g. where we'd say 'after noon' the flaids say <b>ʔatyd dell</b> '<i>behind</i> noon'.
<p>'Predict' is <b>ʔatlad</b> 'see backward', since the future is behind us! Similarly 'remember' is <b>gedlad</b> 'see forward'. Compare also<b> ʔatnap</b> 'tomorrow' vs. <b>gednap</b> 'yesterday'.
<blockquote><table>
<tr bgcolor="E0E0A8"><td colspan=2><b><i>Direction</b></i></td>
<td colspan=2><b><i>Locative preposition</b></i></td>
<td colspan=2><b><i>Allative preposition</b></i></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b></b></td>
<td></td>
<td><b>ʔyd</b></td>
<td>at</td>
<td><b></b></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>gedd</b></td>
<td>earlier</td>
<td><b>geddyd</b></td>
<td>before, earlier than</td>
<td><b>geddor</b></td>
<td>since</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>ʔat</b></td>
<td>later</td>
<td><b>ʔatyd</b></td>
<td>after, later than</td>
<td><b>ʔator</b></td>
<td>until</td>
</tr>
</table></blockquote>
<p>Examples:
<blockquote>
<b>ʔok zeck <u>gedd</u>. </b><i>I was speaking <u>earlier</u></i>
<br><b>Se treck <u>ʔyd dell</u>. </b><i>You woke up <u>at noon.</u></i>
<p><b>Jeerio treck <u>ʔatyd dell</u>. </b><i>Jeerio woke up <u>after noon</u>.</i>
<br><b>ʔok sauʔ koos <u>geddyd dell</u>. </b><i>I never drink <u>before noon</u>.</i>
<br><b>Jeerio meed <u>ʔator dell</u>. </b><i>Jeerio slept <u>until noon</u>.</i>
<br><b>Ne kosse <u>geddor ty ne treck</u>. </b><i>He's been drinking <u>since he woke up</u>.</i>
<p><b>ʔok voss kospo <u>ʔatyd dell ʔaten</u>. </b><i>I won't drink <u>from this noon onward</u></i>
<br><b>Mornsachiʔ ze <u>geddyd</u> dellsachiʔ. </b><i>Breakfast was <u>earlier than</u> lunch.</i>
</blockquote>
<h4><a name="Separable">Separable verbs </a> </h4>
The direction adverbs can be used to form verbs:
<blockquote>
<b>foot</b> go → <b>gedfoot</b> go forward, <b>dorfoot</b> leave, <b>dretfoot</b> cross, <b>ʔelfoot</b> go away, <b>vuzfoot</b> go back<br><b>yon</b> come → <b>sichon</b> enter, <b>lolyon</b> come down, <b>raulyon</b> come up, <b>vuzyon</b> come back<br><b>doob</b> throw → <b>ʔeldoob</b> discard, <b>dretdoob</b> throw across, <b>vuzdoob </b>throw back<br><b>vaav</b> jump → <b>sitvaav</b> jump in, <b>dorvaav</b> jump out, <b>vuzvaav</b> jump back<br><b>dunn</b> set → <b>rauldunn</b> set down<br><b>veed</b> take → <b>ʔutveed</b> pick up, <b>sitveed</b> take in
</blockquote>
<p>If the adverb ends in a doubled consonant, it's reduced: <b>ʔell + foot = ʔelfoot</b>; <b>sitt + vaav</b> = <b>sitvaav</b>.
<p>The habitual of these verbs follows the pattern <i>adverb</i> + <b>en</b> + <i>root</i>: <b>sittenyon</b> 'always enters'; <b>ʔatenfoot</b> 'always returns'; <b>dorenvaav</b> 'always jumps out'.
<p>These verbs can be used as is; but the adverb can also be placed after the object, or even at the beginning or end of the sentence.
<blockquote>
<b>Ne sichon dorfooten. </b><i>He came in and went out.</i>
<p><b>Neva <u>dretdobd</u> pulat. </b><i>He threw the ball back to me.</i>
<br><b>Neva <u>dobd</u> pulat <u>dret</u>.</b>
<br><b><u>Dret</u> neva <u>dobd</u> pulat.</b>
</blockquote>
Some adverbs have conventional metaphorical meanings, often seen using basic verbs like <b>foot</b> 'go', <b>meem</b> 'do', <b>yon</b> 'come', <b>munk</b> 'work', <b>jam</b> 'think'.
<blockquote>
<p><b>dor</b> 'out' implies doing something to completion or exhaustion:
<blockquote>
<b>dorgeel</b> 'wear out, use up', <b>dorgeet</b> 'burn up', <b>dortaat</b> 'throw open', <b>dordeej</b> 'really enjoy'
</blockquote>
<b>dret </b>'across' suggests outdoing or outcompeting someone:
<blockquote>
<b>dretsern</b> 'outrun', <b>dretkoos </b>'out-eat'<b>
</blockquote>
raul</b> 'up' suggests improvisation, lightness, or precipitation:
<blockquote>
<b>rauljam</b> 'think up', <b>raullaum</b> 'dream up', <b>raulfoot</b> 'up and leave'
</blockquote>
<b>for</b> 'toward' is used for causatives based on adjectives or nouns, or inceptive forms of verbs:
<blockquote>
<b>forvadj</b> 'oil up', <b>forfeck</b> 'darken', <b>formunk</b> 'hire'<br> <b>fornack</b> 'attack', <b>forgonu</b> 'move (one's abode)'
</blockquote>
<b>ʔell</b> 'away' is the opposite of <b>for</b>, thus meaning 'undo' or 'de-'; it's also used (especially with verbs of motion or names of virtues) to imply corruption or leading astray:
<blockquote>
<b>ʔelpich </b>'wipe off', <b>ʔelvadj</b> 'degrease', <b>ʔelgeel</b> 'undress', <b>ʔeltaat</b> 'close'<br> <b>ʔelzent</b> 'lead astray', <b>ʔelmunk</b> 'slack off work', <b>ʔelmod</b> 'fall out of love'
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<h3><a name="References">References</a> </h3>
<h4><a name="Conventional">Conventional expressions</a> </h4>
<blockquote>
<tt>Qopo! Mell reql. Mell dellaten.</tt><br/>
<b>ʔopo! Mell reʔl. Mell dellaten.</b>
<br><i>Hello! Good morning. Good afternoon. </i>
<p><tt>Lin koren. Siçon. Yon dommen. Qutoz qugaut.</tt><br/>
<b>Lin koren. Sichon. Yon dommen. ʔutoz ʔugaut.</b>
<br><font size=2>two moment-<font size=1>PL</font>. enter. come sit-<font size=1>AND</font>. accept coffee-<font size=1>ACC</font>.</font>
<br><i>Hold on. Come in. Sit down. Have some coffee!</i>
<p><tt>Yauqes qaçonse qok? Mellme. Yonse mill? Vott neck. Qok qaullse.</tt><br/>
<b>Yauʔes ʔachonse ʔok? Mellme. Yonse mill? Vott neck. ʔok ʔaullse.</b>
<br><font size=2>they-you proceed-<font size=1>ONG</font> how? well. come-<font size=1>ONG </font>what? no thing. I deal-<font size=1>ONG</font>.</font>
<br><i>How are you? Fine. What's happening? Nothing. I'm getting by.</i>
<p><tt>Taaxiq lereje. Jaaq qokes maukse skeeten? Qokes qenforsmeen.</tt><br/>
<b>Taaxiʔ lereje. Jaaʔ ʔokes maukse skeeten? ʔokes ʔenforsmeen.</b>
<br><font size=2>meeting happy. Q I-you can-<font size=1>ONG</font> help-<font size=1>AND. </font>I-you serve-<font size=1>HAB</font></font>
<br><i>Pleased to meet you. Can I help you? I'm here to serve.</i>
<p><tt>Prisick nap. Ne zys (toober) fur. Seenitme ninx jys tanick lutt.</tt><br/>
<b>Prisick nap. Ne zys (toober) fur. Seenitme ninx jys tanick lutt.</b>
<br><font size=2>pleasant day. it be-<font size=1>ONG</font> (too-much) hot. fortunately here have-<font size=1>ONG</font> sea-ish breeze.</font>
<br><i>Lovely day. It's (too) hot. At least there's a sea breeze.</i>
<p><tt>Gess. Voss. Zymme. Voss todbo. Jaaq se maukse bekrejen?</tt><br/>
<b>Gess. Voss. Zymme. Voss todbo. Jaaʔ se maukse bekrejen?</b><br/>
<font size=2>is-true-<font size=1>ONG</font>. not-<font size=1>ONG</font>. maybe. Q you can-<font size=1>ONG</font> re-ask-<font size=1>AND</font></font>
<br><i>Yes. No. Maybe. I don't know. Could you repeat the question?</i>
<p><tt>Qes precse. Qokry kusmod. Qes precse. Qelneez va. Qok ze borpo neckor vick.</tt><br/>
<b>ʔes precse. ʔokry kusmod. ʔes precse. ʔelneez va. ʔok ze borpo neckor vick.</b>
<br><font size=2>you beg-<font size=1>ONG</font>. my gratitude. you beg-<font size=1>ONG</font>. excuse me. I was drink-<font size=1>PART</font> then nearby</font>
<br><i>Please. Thank you. You're welcome. I'm sorry. I was drunk at the time.</i>
<p><tt>Mell passet. Ne ze lerejan. Qator yovy kor. Jaaq liss neck zys krogbo?</tt><br/>
<b>Mell passet. Ne ze lerejan. ʔator yovy kor. Jaaʔ liss neck zys krogbo?</b>
<br><font size=2>good visit. it was pleasure. until next time. Q any thing be-<font size=1>ONG</font> break-<font size=1>PART</font></font>
<br><i>Goodbye. It's been a pleasure. Till next time. Is anything broken?</i>
<p><tt>Sery neev mill? Se lack miinit? Qok lack liggoren miffiç qever.</tt><br/>
<b>Sery neev mill? Se lack miinit? ʔok lack liggoren miffich ʔever.</b>
<br><font size=2>your name what. you lived how-much? I lived eight-<font size=1>AND</font> twenty year-<font size=1>PL</font>.</font>
<br><i>What's your name? How old are you? I am 28 years old.</i>
<p><tt>Se yon qell qolor? Neller, se zys naj lellçe. Qokes modse. </tt><br/>
<b>Se yon ʔell ʔolor? Neller, se zys naj lellche. ʔokes modse. </b>
<br><font size=2>you came away where-<font size=1>TO</font>. sweetie, you be-<font size=1>ONG</font> very cute-<font size=1>DIM</font>. I-you love-<font size=1>ONG</font>.</font>
<br><i>Where are you from? Baby, you so fine. I love you. </i>
</blockquote>
<h4><a name="Time">Time and the calendar</a> </h4>
Flaids borrowed the hour (<b>mur</b>) from the Kebreni, but found dividing the day into 24 segments too picky; they took it as 1/12 of a day instead. When increasing trade made it useful to have an equivalent to the Verdurian hour, they called it <b>ʔobmur</b> 'half-hour'; half of this is a <b>greemur</b>. Navigation and science finally made it necessary to borrow the Verdurian <i>megua</i> (<b>megiiʔ</b>— 1/12 of an hour, or 5 minutes) and <b>piya</b> (1/100 <i>megua</i>, or 3 seconds).
<p>Hours are numbered from <b>naffest</b> 'dawn', <b>dell</b> 'noon', <b>nammed</b> 'sunset', or <b>jirten</b> 'midnight':
<blockquote>
<b>lin mur naffestys </b> <i>two hours of dawn = 10 a.m.</i>
<br><b>fell ʔobmur dellys </b><i>three half-hours of noon = 3 p.m.</i>
<br><b>ʔy mur nammedys </b><i>one hour of evening = 8 p.m.</i>
</blockquote>
Times are written Verdurian style: e.g. 10h3<b> </b>= 10h3 = 10 <b>ʔobmur</b> 3 <b>megiiʔ</b> = 4:15 p.m. (The Verdurian letter h is used; but it's simply taken as a conventional symbol, and pronounced <b>ʔobmur</b>.)
<h5><a name="Calendar">Calendar</a></h5>
Flaids follow a five-day week (<b>backmo</b>)— they find the seven-day Caďinorian week tiresome. The first four days of the week are simply numbered (<b>mornap, litnap, fetnap, greetnap</b>); the fifth, <b>pinnap</b>, means 'rest day', and indeed, a flaid finds the idea of working on <b>pinnap</b> quite scandalous. (Entertainers and restaurants work that day, and take off the next.)
<p>Market day (<b>paixnap</b>) can vary by town, but usually it's every other <b>greetnap</b>.
<p>It seems fairly clear that the flaids originally had no idea of months (<b>vockiter</b>), but only the four seasons (<b>vocker</b>)— and even these were not terribly important; Flora has about the climate of San Diego. The idea of dividing the seasons in threes was due to Caďinorian influence, and the usual pattern is to refer to the season— the month before fall starts is called 'before-fall', for instance.
<blockquote><table>
<tr bgcolor="E0E0A8"><td><i>season</i></td>
<td><i>meaning</i></td>
<td><i>month</i></td>
<td><i>meaning</td>
<td>Verdurian</i></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>ʔysfock</b> (spring)</td>
<td><i>rain-time (spring)</i></td>
<td><b>jirysfock</b></td>
<td><i>mid-spring</td>
<td>olašu</i></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b></b></td>
<td><i></i></td>
<td><b>ʔatysfock</b></td>
<td><i>after-spring</td>
<td>reli</i></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b></b></td>
<td><i></i></td>
<td><b>curenda</b></td>
<td><i>festival</td>
<td>cuéndimar</i></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>furvock </b>(summer)<b></b></td>
<td><i>hot-time (summer)</i></td>
<td><b>gromnap</b></td>
<td><i>long-day</td>
<td>vlerëi</i></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b></b></td>
<td><i></i></td>
<td><b>ʔatfurvock</b></td>
<td><i>after-summer</td>
<td>calo</i></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b></b></td>
<td><i></i></td>
<td><b>gedjosfock</b></td>
<td><i>before-fall</td>
<td>recoltë</i></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>yosfock</b> (fall)<b></b></td>
<td><i>harvest-time (fall)</i></td>
<td><b>jiryosfock</b></td>
<td><i>mid-fall</td>
<td>yag</i></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b></b></td>
<td><i></i></td>
<td><b>ʔachosfock</b></td>
<td><i>after-fall</td>
<td>ʔe;elea</i></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b></b></td>
<td><i></i></td>
<td><b>gedeedvock</b></td>
<td><i>before-winter</td>
<td>išire</i></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><b>ʔedickvock</b> (winter)<b></b></td>
<td><i>cold-time (winter)</i></td>
<td><b>fecknap</b></td>
<td><i>dark-day</td>
<td>šoru</i></td>
</tr>
<tr><td></td>
<td><i></i></td>
<td><b>ʔateedvock</b></td>
<td><i>late-winter</td>
<td>froďac</i></td>
</tr>
<tr><td></td>
<td><i></i></td>
<td><b>prommev</b></td>
<td><i>end-year</td>
<td>bešana</i></td>
</tr>
</table></blockquote>
<h4><a name="Names">Names</a> </h4>
Flaids do not use Caďinorian or Eleďe names; they have their own stock of names, almost entirely drawn from the native vocabulary.
<p>Many names are formed from adjectives or nouns by adding -<b>(i)o</b> for males and -<b>che</b> for females:
<blockquote>
<b>bux </b>wise → <b>Buxo, Buxche<br>cheen</b> beautiful → <b>Cheenio, Cheenche</b><br><b>deej </b>happy → <b>Deejio, Deedje</b><br><b>jeer</b> fat → <b>Jeerio, Jeerche<br>luur</b> round → <b>Luurio, Luurche</b><br><b>morn </b>first → <b>Mornio, Mornche</b><br><b>nell</b> sweet → <b>Nellio</b>, <b>Nellche<br>seen</b> luck → <b>Seenio, Seenche</b><br><b>sonn </b>heart → <b>Sonnio, Sonche<br>ʔaax</b> blue → <b> ʔaaxo, ʔaaxche</b>
</blockquote>
<p>Adjectives formed from a suffix, one-who-does nominalizations, and participles are also a source of names. These can be used as either male or female names, though -<b>che</b> may be added to the names of girls or young boys.
<blockquote>
<b>Feckit</b> black<br><b>Floomick</b> stormy<br><b>Geddick</b> straightforward<br><b>Prisick</b> agreeable
<p><b>Cenuel</b> defender<br><b>Kressel</b> hunter<b></b>
<p><b>Kompo </b>sought for<br><b>Mertpo</b> wished for<br><b>Modpo</b> loved<br><b>Precpo</b> begged for<br><b>Smempo</b> vowed
</blockquote>
Finally, names of natural things— weather, geographical features, plants and animals— can become names.
<blockquote>
<b>Cheef </b>wind<br><b>Fax </b>wolf<br><b>Floom </b>storm<br><b>Frebb </b>sparrow<br><b>Freff </b>cloud<br><b>Gallam</b> dove<br><b>Koʔ </b>rock<br><b>Maich</b> cat<br><b>Max </b>rabbit<br><b>Mez </b>honey<br><b>Perner</b> raspberry<br><b>Rook </b>fox<br><b>Sax</b> hawk<br><b>Secku </b>carnation<br><b>Tolk </b>oak<br><b>ʔaxner</b> blueberry<br><b>ʔyss </b>rain
</blockquote>
These lists are not exhaustive; nonetheless, the stock of names is not that great. Flaids are usually named after a relative, and no one expects to have a unique name.
<p>Most flaids don't have surnames; if there's a need to distinguish flaids with the same name, just about any nonce description will do: nicknames, personal characteristics, locatives, genitives. Some of these stick to the individual; others are devised when needed.
<blockquote>
<b>jeer Deejio </b>fat Deejio<br><b>yog neck Deejio</b> Deejio, the loud one<br><b>meezel Deejio</b> Deejio the complainer<br><b>legfatt Deejio </b>the youngest Deejio<br><b>brinys Deejio </b>Deejio from the corner<br><b>Pickapom Nellche</b> Nellche from Pickapo<br><b>Yadderys Nellche</b> Nellche from the hills<br><b>Kresselys riil</b> <b>Nellche</b> Nellche, Kressel's daughter<br><b>Floomys ferick Nellche </b>Nellche, Floom's wife
</blockquote>
<p>Upper-crust flaids do have family names; often in origin they are just this sort of nonce description, but they are placed after the given name rather than before: e.g. <b>Cenuel Maumys</b>, Cenuel of the Maumys family. The family name is not used (unlike English or Verdurian) with titles, or for second references, only to refer to the family, or disambiguate given names. An exception is the Irreanist philosopher <b>Saxys</b> (whose given name was actually <b>Mornio</b>).
<h3><a name="Example:">Example: Jeerio tries to find a job</a> </h3>
This is a short extract from my first story about the flaids, written when I was in fifth grade. Jeerio— pushed by his mother, who's sick of him sleeping all day at home— ventures forth with his dog Twain to find adventure, or a job, whichever comes first. He encounters a dragon (the fragment below is part of his conversation with the monster), walks to Syxesteer, and takes a boat; but he ends up piloting it in a circle and returning to Syxesteer. Depressed by this, Jeerio and Twain return to Pickapo, where he finds a job in a restaurant four blocks from home.
<p><a href="jeerio.htm">The full story is available here</a>.
<p><b><tt>Jeerio seelese ziiten qy munkmot</tt> • <i>Jeerio seelese ziiten ʔy munkmot</i></b>
<p><tt>—Qelneez va, qok fotse— Jeerio keez.</tt>
<br><b>—ʔelneez va, ʔok fotse— Jeerio keez.</b>
<br><font size=2>excuse me, I go-<font size=1>ONG</font>, Jeerio began </font>
<blockquote>
<i>“Sorry to go,” began Jeerio.</i>
</blockquote>
<p><tt>—Qaaq, qokes voss maukpo menden fotpo— Myasocreje jirviit. —Ne zeno vurme çord Nollertiffmodys Mören!</tt>
<br><b>—ʔaaʔ, ʔokes voss maukpo menden fotpo<font size=1><sup>1</b></sup></font><b>— Myasocreje jirviit.<font size=1><sup>2</b></sup></font><b> —Ne zeno vurme chord Nollertiffmodys Mören!</b>
<br><font size=2>oh, I-you not-<font size=1>ONG</font> can-<font size=1>PART</font> let-<font size=1>INF</font> go-<font size=1>PART</font>, Myasocreje interrupted. it be-<font size=1>IRR</font> totally against dragonhood-<font size=1>GEN</font> rule-<font size=1>PL</font></font>
<blockquote>
<i>“Oh, I can’t let you go,” interrupted Carnivourous. “It would be totally against the rules of Dragonry!”</i>
</blockquote>
<p><tt>—Qok kellse footen— Jeerio qakmize. —Mell passet.— yoven ne laggim vodme gedd.</tt>
<br><b>—ʔok kellse footen— Jeerio ʔakmize. —Mell passet.— yoven ne laggim vodme gedd.</b>
<br><font size=2>I must-<font size=1>ONG</font> go-<font size=1>INF</font>, Jeerio disagreed. nice visit. then-<font size=1>AND</font> he walked bold-<font size=1>ADV</font> forwards </font>
<blockquote>
<i> “I <b>must</b> go,” objected Jeerio. “Cheerio.” And he walked boldly forward. </i>
</blockquote>
<p>—<tt>Voss! — maleme Myasocreje, daaten verpo raulor Jeeriom lapp feej. —Qok qenranet Dorgetnom rysmoryt, yoven qok jys naj naj tereme befelert ty qok qenvon mendbo zyn flaidet zyn luukt zyn naupelt, gess zyn yadj dretfotpo! Qok garse qelziçpo, qok qozse festpo qaax!</tt>
<br>—<b>Voss! — maleme Myasocreje, daaten verpo raulor Jeeriom lapp feej. —ʔok ʔenranet Dorgetnom<font size=1><sup>3</b></sup></font><b> rysmoryt, yoven ʔok jys naj naj tereme befelert ty ʔok ʔenvon mendbo zyn flaidet zyn luukt zyn naupelt, gess zyn yadj dretfotpo! <font size=1><sup>4</b></sup></font><b> ʔok garse ʔelzichpo, ʔok ʔozse festpo ʔaax!</b>
<br><font size=2>not-<font size=1>ONG</font>, protested Myasocreje, aim-<font size=1>AND</font> hit-<font size=1>PART</font> onto Jeerio-<font size=1>GEN</font> flat head. I guard-<font size=1>DEF</font> Dorgetno-<font size=1>GEN</font> castle-<font size=1>ACC</font>, then-<font size=1>AND</font> I have-<font size=1>ONG</font> very very firm order-<font size=1>PL-ACC</font> that I not-<font size=1>HAB</font> let-<font size=1>PART</font> nor flaid-<font size=1>ACC</font> nor human-<font size=1>ACC</font> nor iliu, yes nor ant cross-<font size=1>PART</font>. I if-<font size=1>ONG</font> disobey-<font size=1>PART</font>, I get-<font size=1>ONG</font> paint-<font size=1>PART</font> blue</font>
<blockquote>
<i>“No!” protested Carnivourous, and he aimed a blow at Jeerio’s flat head. “I guard Burntup’s castle, and I am under very, very strict orders not to let a flaid, human, iliu, or even ant to cross! If I disobeyed, I’d be painted blue!” </i>
</blockquote>
<p><tt>—Le zys gozz mill for neck?— Tiin krej.</tt>
<br><b>—Le<font size=2><sup>5</b></sup></font><b> zys gozz mill for neck?— Tiin krej.</b>
<br><font size=2>it be-<font size=1>ONG</font> wrong what about that-one, Twain asked. </font>
<blockquote>
<i>“What’s wrong with that?” asked Twain.</i>
</blockquote>
<p><tt>—Jaaq qil teçno qozen festpo qaax?</tt>
<br><b>—Jaaʔ ʔil techno ʔozen festpo ʔaax?<font size=2><sup>6</b></sup></font><b></b>
<br><font size=2>Q you like-<font size=1>IRR</font> get-<font size=1>INF</font> paint-<font size=1>PART</font> blue? </font>
<blockquote>
<i>“Would you like to be painted blue?” </i>
</blockquote>
<p><tt>—Pooro voss.</tt>
<br><b>—Pooro voss.</b>
<br><font size=2>certainly no</font>
<blockquote>
<i>“Definitely not.” </i>
</blockquote>
<p><tt>—Neckor vick qil todde qokry proozert— Myasocreje zeck firden.</tt>
<br><b>—Neckor vick ʔil todde ʔokry proozert— Myasocreje zeck firden.</b>
<br><font size=2>then nearby you know-<font size=1>ONG</font> my feeling-<font size=1>PL-ACC</font>, Myasocreje said shudder-<font size=1>AND</font></font>
<blockquote>
<i>“Now you know how I feel,” said Carnivourous, and shuddered. </i>
</blockquote>
<p><tt>Jirzeckatt ninx jinn keçaç. Vott von todbo neckt zeckpo.</tt>
<br><b>Jirzeckatt ninx jinn kechach. Vott von todbo neckt zeckpo.</b>
<br><font size=2>conversation (T) there had pause. no-one not-<font size=1>PAST</font> know-<font size=1>PART</font> that-one-<font size=1>ACC</font> say-<font size=1>PART</font> </font>
<blockquote>
<i>There was a lull in the conversation. No one knew exactly what to say.</i>
</blockquote>
<p><b><i>Notes</i></b>
<p><b>1</b> That's quite a verbal complex; let's examine it in more detail. To allow someone to do something is expressed as a resultative: in effect <b>ʔok mendse [se fotse]</b> 'I allow (you go)' → <b>ʔokes mendse fotpo</b>. Next we apply the 'can' transformation: <b>mendse</b> → <b>maukse menden</b>. Finally we apply the negative: <b>maukse</b> → <b>voss maukpo</b>.
<p><b>2</b> The dragon's name is expressed in a slightly antique form, <b>Myasocreje</b>. This is difficult for Flaidish, which now spells it <b>Masocreje</b>. It's a borrowing from Verdurian <i>myasocreže</i> 'meat-eating'. I've translated it "Carnivourous" to give the same feeling.
<p><b>3</b> <b>Dorgetno</b>, the wizard whose castle the dragon is guarding, has a name meaning "burned up"; I've translated it Burntup. It sounds just as silly in Flaidish.
<p><b>4</b> Another resultative, complicated by a complicated object. Start with the resultative transformation <b>ʔok ʔenmend [flaid dretfotse]</b> 'I allow a flaid to cross' → <b>ʔok ʔenmend flaidet dretfotpo. </b>Apply the negative:<b> ʔenmend</b> → <b>ʔenvon mendbo</b>. The single object is replaced with a conjunction <b>zyn</b> X <b>zyn</b> Y <b>zyn</b> Z "X or Y or Z". <b>Gess</b> 'yes' before the last conjoint expresses surprise or emphasis: yes, even this.
<p><b>5</b> Dogs, like children, use the child pronouns. The dragon addresses Twain using the child pronoun <b>ʔil</b>, too. I've anglicized the dog's name— <b>Tiin</b> 'loyal', pronounced '<i>twin'</i>— as "Twain".
<p><b>6</b> This could use some analysis too. <b>Lele festno ʔil</b> 'they may paint you' is passivized to <b>ʔil ʔozno festpo </b>'you may get painted'. Then <b>ʔozno</b> 'may get' → <b>techno ʔozen</b> 'may like to get'.
<h3><a name="Example">Example 2: The ʔubeer</a> </h3>
The <i>ʔubeer</i> is a monster from flaidish folklore; the description is taken from a bestiary written by Zaulio of Ledley.
<p><b><tt>Qubeer</tt> • <i>ʔubeer</i></b>
<p><tt>Minden molnuxer qenze legsidiisick qubeer, sood ty nenar qydenmunk vickelys çainesat: </tt>
<br><b>Minden molnuxer<font size=2><sup>1</b></sup></font><b> ʔenze legsidiisick ʔubeer,
sood ty nenar ʔydenmunk<font size=1><sup>2</b></sup></font><b> vickelys chainesat: </b>
<br><font size=2>all monster-<font size=1>PL</font> (T) be-<font size=1>HAB</font> <font size=1>MOST</font>-deceptive ʔubeer / because that 3sS-4sO<b><font size=1><sup>3</b></sup></font> don-<font size=1>HAB</font> neighbor-<font size=1>PL</font>-<font size=1>GEN</font> appearance-<font size=1>ACC</font> </font>
<blockquote>
<i>Of all monsters, the ʔubeer is the most deceptive, because it takes on the appearance of its neighbors: </i>
</blockquote>
<p><tt>ne qengaar gonupo jirysyd flaiden, meet qy flaid, jirysyd zyn luuker zyn sooreler, meet yau.</tt>
<br><b>ne ʔengaar gonupo<font size=1><sup>4</b></sup></font><b> jirysyd flaiden, meet ʔy flaid, jirysyd zyn luuker zyn sooreler, meet yau.</b>
<br><font size=2>3sS if-<font size=1>HAB</font> live-<font size=1>PART</font> among flaid-<font size=1>PL</font> (T) like a flaid, among or human-<font size=1>PL</font> or elcar-<font size=1>PL</font> like them </font>
<blockquote>
<i>like a flaid if it lives among flaids, like a man or an elcar if it lives among those people. It is handsome, </i>
</blockquote>
<p><tt>Ne qenze linnar, qengeelen gaazelys quveret, qenzecken frind prolesta rysmoten.</tt>
<br><b>Ne ʔenze linnar, ʔengeelen gaazelys ʔuveret, ʔenzecken frind prolesta rysmoten.</b>
<br><font size=2>3sS be-<font size=1>HAB</font> handsome wear-<font size=1>HAB</font>-<font size=1>AND</font> noble-<font size=1>GEN</font> clothes-<font size=1>ACC</font> speak-<font size=1>HAB</font>-<font size=1>AND</font> with charm force-<font size=1>AND</font></font>
<blockquote>
<i>dresses like a nobleman, and speaks with charm and force. </i>
</blockquote>
<p><tt>Çor ty ubeer qenjinn çriftat frind bellacken kessio, ne mornenteç qelzenten geddyd ty fornacken. </tt>
<br><b>Chor ty ubeer ʔenjinn chriftat frind bellacken kessio, ne mornentech ʔelzenten geddyd ty fornacken. </b>
<br><font size=2>despite that ubeer have-<font size=1>HAB</font> skill-<font size=1>ACC</font> with sword-<font size=1>AND</font> dagger 3sS prefer-<font size=1>HAB</font> seduce-<font size=1>INF</font> before that attack-<font size=1>INF</font> </font>
<blockquote><i>Though it is skilled with sword and dagger, it prefers to seduce rather than attack.
</i></blockquote>
<p><tt>Ne forgeeldo legçem yunaqqelys çainesat (çor ty ninx jys nemannick qubeeren), dommno zecken kenme forvadjicken.</tt>
<br><b>Ne forgeeldo<font size=2><sup>5</b></sup></font><b> legchem yunaʔʔelys chainesat (chor ty ninx jys nemannick ʔubeeren), dommno zecken kenme forvadjicken.</b>
<br><font size=2>3sS assume-<font size=1>IRR</font> <font size=1>MOST</font>-other gender-person-<font size=1>GEN</font> appearance-<font size=1>ACC</font> (despite that there be-<font size=1>HAB</font> homosexual ubeer-<font size=1>PL</font>), sit-<font size=1>IRR</font> speak-<font size=1>INF</font> light-<font size=1>ADV</font> flattering-<font size=1>ADV</font>-<font size=1>AND</font> </font>
<blockquote><i>It assumes the appearance of a member of the opposite sex (though there are homosexual ʔubeers), speaking lightly and flatteringly.
</i></blockquote>
<p><tt>Nery datmot qy qopfë naqem sitrexdo sittor nary kraiçre kommer; ne munkno forgedjonen ty çemmer naqem vonno groppo ladbo.</tt>
<br><b>Nery datmot ʔy ʔopfë naʔem<font size=2><sup>6</b></sup></font><b> sitrexdo sittor nary kraichre kommer; ne munkno forgedjonen ty chemmer naʔem vonno groppo ladbo.</b><sup>7</sup>
<br><font size=2>3s-<font size=1>GEN</font> aim (T) a victim 4sS-3sO invite-<font size=1>IRR</font> into 4s-<font size=1>GEN</font> private lodging; 3sS work-<font size=1>IRR</font> ensure-<font size=1>INF</font> that person 4sS-them not-<font size=1>IRR</font> look-<font size=1>PART</font> see-<font size=1>PART</font> </font>
<blockquote><i>Its aim is to be invited to the victim's private lodgings; it is careful that third parties do not observe them.
</i></blockquote>
<p><tt>Limmo zeer qopfë baaqno geelpo qell, yoven tinkor buliq testerys gedjonno.</tt>
<br><b>Limmo zeer ʔopfë baaʔno geelpo ʔell, yoven tinkor buliʔ testerys gedjonno.</b>
<br><font size=2>couple alone (T) victim suffer-<font size=1>IRR</font> dress-<font size=1>PART</font> off, then-<font size=1>AND</font> sometimes sharing body-<font size=1>PL</font>-<font size=1>GEN</font> occur-<font size=1>IRR</font> </font>
</i></blockquote>
<blockquote><i>Once alone, the victim is undressed, and sometimes sex occurs.
</i></blockquote>
<p><tt>Qopfëm cenumoter vurme bespo qubeer nenar muçdo, yoven sitviitdo nery rolediseme kroom laimet lolor qopfëm forgoom chuqpo mippo.</tt>
<br><b>ʔopfëm cenumoter vurme bespo ʔubeer nenar muchdo, yoven sitviitdo nery rolediseme kroom laimet lolor ʔopfëm forgoom chuʔpo mippo.</b>
<br><font size=2>victim-<font size=1>GEN</font> defense-<font size=1>PL</font> entirely lose-<font size=1>PART</font> (T) ubeer 3sS-4sO kiss-<font size=1>IRR</font>, then-<font size=1>AND</font> push-<font size=1>IRR</font> 3s-<font size=1>GEN</font> abnormal-<font size=1>ADV</font> long tongue down-to victim-<font size=1>GEN</font> throat choke-<font size=1>PART</font> die-<font size=1>PART</font> </font>
</i></blockquote>
<blockquote><i>When the victim's defenses are entirely lost, the ubeer gives them a kiss, and pushes its abnormally long tongue down the victim's throat, choking them to death.
</i></blockquote>
<p><tt>Ne fotdo geelen nery laimet fuchpo qopfëm kozt neck zeerme ne saçdo. </tt>
<br><b>Ne fotdo geelen nery laimet fuchpo ʔopfëm kozt<font size=2><sup>8</b></sup></font><b> neck zeerme ne sachdo. </b>
<br><font size=2>3sS go-<font size=1>IRR</font> use-<font size=1>INF</font> its tongue suck-<font size=1>PART</font> victim-<font size=1>GEN</font> brain which alone-<font size=1>ADV</font> 3sS eat-<font size=1>IRR</font> </font>
</i></blockquote>
<blockquote><i>It then uses its tongue to suck out the victim's brain, which is all it consumes. </i>
</i></blockquote>
<p><tt>Ne snepno liss nery qutzemodys zendonick yoven qipme qelfotno— baqpo qeltampo qopfëm boçy zemod.</tt>
<br><b>Ne snepno liss nery ʔutzemodys zendonick yoven ʔipme ʔelfotno— baʔpo ʔeltampo ʔopfëm bochy zemod.</b>
<br><font size=2>3sS hide-<font size=1>IRR</font> its any presence-<font size=1>GEN</font> evidence then-<font size=1>AND</font> silent-<font size=1>ADV</font> leave-<font size=1>IRR</font>, suffer-<font size=1>PART</font> discover-<font size=1>INF</font> victim-<font size=1>GEN</font> horrible state </font>
<blockquote><i>It hides any evidence of its presence, then leaves silently, leaving the horrible state of the victim to be discovered. </i>
</blockquote>
<p><tt>Meregut tinkor nenar lopdo, sood qubeer neqem qenteç krecken gaazick loll; frett yoven ne qenze sigi yoven ne sauq vedno liss neck çemmer maukdo çemoren vuzor ne.</tt>
<br><b>Meregut tinkor nenar lopdo, sood ʔubeer neʔem ʔentech krecken gaazick loll<font size=2><sup>9</b></sup></font><b>; frett yoven ne ʔenze sigi yoven ne sauʔ vedno liss neck chemmer maukdo chemoren vuzor ne.</b>
<br><font size=2>wealth-<font size=1>ACC</font> (T) sometimes 3sS-4sO steal-<font size=1>IRR</font>, because ubeer 3sS-3sO like-<font size=1>HAB</font> stand-<font size=1>INF</font> rich-<font size=1>ADV</font> inside but then-<font size=1>AND</font> 3sS be-<font size=1>HAB</font> discreet then-<font size=1>AND</font> 3sS never take-<font size=1>IRR</font> any that-one which people can-<font size=1>IRR</font> trace-<font size=1>INF</font> back-<font size=1>TO</font> 3s</font>
<blockquote><i>Sometimes valuables are stolen, since the ubeer likes to live richly; but it is discreet, and never takes anything that can be traced back to it.</i>
</blockquote>
<p><tt>Nery nool jeckmod qenze veez, neck naqem qengedjat meet riid natack.</tt>
<br><b>Nery nool jeckmod ʔenze<font size=2><sup>10</b></sup></font><b> veez, neck naʔem ʔengedjat meet riid natack.</b>
<br><font size=2>its great weak-NOM be-<font size=1>HAB</font> water, which 4sS3sO affect-<font size=1>HAB</font> like fire 4sS-us </font>
<blockquote><i>Its great weakness is water, which is like fire to you and me.
</i></blockquote>
<p><tt>Qy bux flaid sooden ne sitrexno vott neck sittor nery kommer neckor nenar vondo ladpo koosen ʔy porrt veezys zynen mossno frind neck— veez nenar qaddo frind nery cretter, sood qubeeren tackyau qenlad vaumaten, qydjot yau qenkoos qutul boorsiçunt.</tt>
<br><b>ʔy bux flaid sooden ne sitrexno vott neck sittor nery kommer neckor nenar vondo ladpo koosen ʔy porrt veezys zynen mossno frind neck— veez nenar ʔaddo frind nery cretter, sood ʔubeeren tackyau ʔenlad vaumaten, ʔydjot yau ʔenkoos ʔutul boorsichunt.</b>
<br><font size=2>a wise flaid (T) therefore he invite-<font size=1>HAB</font> none to 3s-<font size=1>GEN</font> lodging when 3sS4sO not-<font size=1>IRR</font> see-<font size=1>PART</font> drink-<font size=1>INF</font> a glass water-<font size=1>GEN</font> or wash with that - water (T) 3sS4sO give-<font size=1>IRR</font> with 3s-<font size=1>GEN</font> hand-<font size=1>PL</font>, because ubeer-<font size=1>PL</font> (T) we-them see-<font size=1>HAB</font> fake-<font size=1>INF</font> instead they-3sO drink-<font size=1>HAB</font> pure alcohol-<font size=1>ACC</font></font>
<blockquote><i>
A wise flaid, then, will invite no one to their lodgings without having seen them drink a glass of water, or wash with it— water given by one's own hands, since ubeers have been known to feign this, drinking pure alcohol instead. </i>
</blockquote>
<p><tt>Qubeer ne qenvon mauken baqpo bojpo frind niilen bellack; nery vricker lox forenvaar tim nennoz qeltaaten.</tt>
<br><b>ʔubeer ne ʔenvon mauken baʔpo bojpo frind niilen bellack; nery vricker lox forenvaar tim nennoz ʔeltaaten.</b>
<br><font size=2>ʔubeer (T) 3sS not-<font size=1>HAB</font> can-<font size=1>INF</font> suffer-<font size=1>PART</font> kill-<font size=1>PART</font> with arrow-<font size=1>AND</font> sword- its wound-<font size=1>PL</font> only bleed-<font size=1>HAB</font> some that-extent close-<font size=1>AND</font> </font>
<blockquote><i>An ubeer can't be killed with arrow or sword: its wounds only bleed a little and then close. </i></blockquote>
<p><tt>Yauqem qengedjat sauq riid furmoden.</tt>
<br><b>Yauʔem ʔengedjat sauʔ riid furmoden.</b>
<br><font size=2>they-3sO affect-<font size=1>HAB</font> never fire heat-<font size=1>AND</font> </font>
<blockquote><i>It is immune to fire and heat. </i></blockquote>
<p><tt>Ne maukno baaqen bojpo vunjiqys sittyd taan, zynen seqem bramno yaitçetet raulor nery jaddys qato forbufauqpo yoven seqem jordo nery testet frind çatçet.</tt>
<br><b>Ne maukno baaʔen bojpo vunjiʔys sittyd taan, zynen seʔem bramno yaitchetet raulor nery jaddys ʔato forbufauʔpo yoven seʔem jordo nery testet frind chatchet.</b>
<br><font size=2>3s can-<font size=1>IRR</font> suffer-<font size=1>INF</font> kill-<font size=1>PART</font> drowning-<font size=1>GEN</font> in-<font size=1>LOC </font>ocean or you-3sO smear-<font size=1>IRR</font> alum-<font size=1>ACC</font> on-<font size=1>ALL</font> its neck-<font size=1>GEN</font> back for you-3sO immobilize then-<font size=1>AND</font> you-3sO rub-<font size=1>IRR</font> its body-<font size=1>ACC</font> with lye </font>
<blockquote><i>It can be killed by drowning in the ocean; or smear alum on the back of its neck to immobilize it, and then rub its body with lye; </i></blockquote>
<p><tt>Neckit juydoni naqem vonno bojpo, frett yoven nery test dorgeetno begailnen qy pun testet lox sittyd qy qeller joot.</tt>
<br><b>Neckit juydoni naʔem vonno bojpo, frett yoven nery test dorgeetno begailnen ʔy pun testet lox sittyd ʔy ʔeller joot.</b>
<br><font size=2>this procedure (T) 4sS-3sO not-<font size=1>IRR</font> kill-<font size=1>PART</font> but then-<font size=1>AND</font> 3s-<font size=1>GEN</font> body out-burn-<font size=1>IRR</font> reconstitute-<font size=1>AND</font> a new body only in-<font size=1>LOC</font> far place</font>
<blockquote><i>this will not kill it, but its body will burn off and it will reconstitute a new one in a faraway place.</i></blockquote>
<p><b><i>Notes</b></i>
<p><b>1</b> The domain of the superlative is given as a topic. Where a topic/comment construction is used, the gloss separates them with (T).
<p><b>2</b> Most of this passage is in the habitual— the tense used for 'timeless' narratives, for which we use the present.
<p><b>3</b> The formula 3sS-4sO in the glosses should be read "third person singular subject pronoun / fourth person singular object pronoun"; fourth person being the obviative (alternative) pronoun set. Simple English glosses would be misleading, as English indicates gender in the 3s and cannot express the fourth person.
<p><b>4</b> An instance of Flaidish's unusual <b>if</b> verb. Instead of saying "If he lives...", flaids say "He ifs to live..."
<p><b>5</b> For vividness, the writer switches from general facts about <i>ʔubeers</i>, using the habitual tense, to an imagined particular incident, using the irrealis.
<p><b>6</b> Normally an explicit subject becomes third person <b>ne</b>; but <b>ne</b> was used for the <i>ʔubeer</i> in the topic. The introduced subject (<b>ʔopfë</b> 'the victim') therefore becomes fourth person <b>na</b>.
<p><b>7</b> An example of a resultative idiom: <b>groop</b> 'look' is the basic action, <b>ladbo</b> 'seen' is the result— thus, 'look in order to see' = 'observe'.
<p><b>8</b> A resultative with object: the syntax is that of the causative. "X uses Y to affect Z" can be seen as starting from "X uses [Y affects Z]", transforming it to "X uses Y-<font size=2>ACC </font>affect-<font size=2>PART</font> Z".
<p><b>9</b> The separable verb <b>lolkreck</b> surrounds the object; compare English expressions like "look the word up".
<p><b>10</b> The imagined incident is done, and we are talking in generalities again; the author therefore shifts back to the habitual.<b></b>
<h3><a href="flaidlex.htm">[ To the Lexicon ]</a> <font size=-1><a href="#contents">[To Index]</font></a></h3>
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