Ultimit Revizjon a 07/10/2006

Alfabeto/Alphabet

Kónsonanta/Consonants

B,b /b/ English : bad

D,d /d/ English : did
F,f /f/ English : fall
G,g /g/ English : gun
K,k /k/ English : cat
L,l /l/ English : leg
M,m /m/ English : man
N,n /n/ English : now
P,p /p/ English : pen
R,r /r/ Spanish : señor
S,s /s/ English : so
Š,š /ʦ/ English : lots
T,t /t/ English : tea
V,v /v/ English : van
Z,z /z/ English : zoo
Ţ,ţ /ʣ/ English : godzilla
Vókala/Vowels

A,a /ɑ/ English : cat

E,e /e/ English : ten
O,o /o/ Italian : solo
I,i /ɪ/ English : sit
U,u /ʊ/ English : put

Sémifona/Semivowels

J,j Before a vowel

pronounced /j/ (English : yes)
After a vowel
Pronounced /ɪ/ (English : sit)
H , h Voiceless. Always found in combinations.

“short” vowel + h = “long” vowel

The above pattern results in the creation of a “long” vowel sound.

e.g.
Tih /ˋtɪ ː/ = tea (could be pronounced like /ˋ tɪ -ɪ/)
Kombíneta/Combinations

Bh /v/ English : van

Ph /f/ English : fall
Dh /ð/ English : this
Th /ɵ/ English : thin
Gh /ɣ/ Greek : γάλα
Kh /h/ English : how
(before “e” and “i” , it sounds
more like German „ich‟)
Sh /ʃ/ English : shoe
Zh /ʒ/ French : jour
Šh /ʧ/ English : chain
Ţh /ʤ/ English : jam

NOTE: The use of the above letter combinations within regular

words is minimal. The main interest of the above is the generation of
“symbols” corresponding to other language-related sounds , so as to
expand the importation of foreign word stems and names.
Ašent/Accent

Almost all words are stressed on the penultimate syllable. Words

stressed on the penultimate syllable don‟t carry an accent.
e.g.
Liber /ˋli-ber/ = book

A written acute accent “ˊ” is used only in cases of stress other

than on the penultimate syllable (antepenultimate , ultimate ,
over-antepenultimate).

NOTE: Although “j” may be pronounced as an “i” (as a vowel) , it

cannot form a syllable by itself.
e.g.

- voléj /vo-ˋleɪ/ = i want to …

- Ášenta /ˋa-ʦen-ta/ = accents
- Ašent /ˋa-ʦent/ = accent (word doesn‟t need a written
accent as the stress falls a priori on the penultimate syllable)

- Sémifona /ˋse-mi-fo-ˏna/ = semivowels (words stressed on a

syllable over the antepenultimate , the main accent falls on the
first syllable , while the last syllable carries a slighter accent)
Vérbea/Verbs
The verb is the most essential element of a sentence. Always , remember
that a single phrase can be called “sentence” only if a verb is present.
A verb actually shows some action. However an activity is quite not
self-explanatory. A verb must also provide answers to the following questions :
 Who performs the action?
 When does he perform it?
 Does this action come from the subject or is it simply pointed to the
subject?

Solving the above issue , we therefore have

to consider several “axioms” :

I. The time of the action will be declared by a single-letter suffix (e,a,o,i,u)

following the verb stem according to the tense in use (present, past,
future, conditional, gerund).
II. The performer of the action will be declared by a single-letter suffix
(j,s,t,m,d,n) following the verb stem and the tense definition according to
the person in action (1st, 2nd, 3rd Singular , 1st, 2nd, 3rd Plural).
III. An active verb or a passive one will be recognised by a stress change
(passive verbs are same in form with active ones although stressed on the
previous syllable).

NOTE: Any time we refer to a verb , we will use its gerund form.
Utilizéjs Témpoa/Using Tenses

Present Tense :
 Used to describe an action taking place on the time being or the
current period of time
 Equivalent to : Simple Present , Present Continuous
 2nd person singular and plural consists the imperative form
Past Tense :
 Used to describe an action that happened in the past
 Equivalent to : Simple Past , Present Perfect , Past Continuous ,
Past Perfect , Present Perfect Continuous , Past Perfect
Continuous
Future Tense :
 Used to describe a future or scheduled action
 Equivalent to : Simple Future , Future Continuous , “be going to
…”
Conditional Tense :
 Used in conditional expressions to describe a hypothetical action
 Equivalent to : “I would …”
Gerund :
 Equivalent to : Gerund (“to …” form)
 Can also be inflected according to the gerund‟s subject
Sejt Tempo/Present Tense
Verb stem + “e” (+ suffix) = Present Tense

Person si abi kredi voli

(to be) (to have) (to believe) (to want)

1st Sing. sej abéj kredéj voléj

2nd Sing. ses abés kredés volés
3rd Sing. set abét kredét volét
1st Plur. sem abém kredém volém
2nd Plur. sed abéd kredéd voléd
3rd Plur. sen abén kredén volén

Person bevi skrivi doni vadi

(to drink) (to write) (to give) (to go)

1st Sing. bevéj skrivéj donéj vadéj

2nd Sing. bevés skrivés donés vadés
3rd Sing. bevét skrivét donét vadét
1st Plur. bevém skrivém doném vadém
2nd Plur. bevéd skrivéd donéd vadéd
3rd Plur. bevén skrivén donén vadén

e.g.
- Vade (or vadéj) a Skola (I go to school)
- Beve (or bevés) si Zus! (Drink your juice!)
Fugájt Tempo/Past Tense
Verb stem + “a” (+ suffix) = Past Tense

Person dormi parli vinsi fugi

(to sleep) (to speak) (to win) (to leave)

1st Sing. dormáj parláj vinsáj fugáj

2nd Sing. dormás parlás vinsás fugás
3rd Sing. dormát parlát vinsát fugát
1st Plur. dormám parlám vinsám fugám
2nd Plur. dormád parlád vinsád fugád
3rd Plur. dormán parlán vinsán fugán

Person oti montri meti studi

(to push) (to show) (to put) (to study)

1st Sing. otáj montráj metáj studáj

2nd Sing. otás montrás metás studás
3rd Sing. otát montrát metát studát
1st Plur. otám montrá metám studám
m
2nd Plur. otád montrád metád studád
3rd Plur. otán montrán metán studán

e.g.
Dorma (or dormás) monit Órea? (Did you sleep for a long time?)
Vjenójt Tempo/Future Tense
Verb stem + “o” (+ suffix) = Future Tense

Person vjeni manzi vedi lezi

(to come) (to speak) (to see) (to read)

1st Sing. vjenój manzój vedój lezój

2nd Sing. vjenós manzós vedós lezós
3rd Sing. vjenót manzót vedót lezót
1st Plur. vjenóm manzóm vedóm lezóm
2nd Plur. vjenód manzód vedód lezód
3rd Plur. vjenón manzón vedón lezón

Person entri preni apeli reapeli

(to enter) (to take) (to call) (to remember)

1st Sing. entrój prenój apelój reapelój

2nd Sing. entrós prenós apelós reapelós
3rd Sing. entrót prenót apelót reapelót
1st Plur. entróm prenóm apelóm reapelóm
2nd Plur. entród prenód apelód reapelód
3rd Plur. entrón prenón apelón reapelón

e.g.
- Vjeno (or vjenój) demen. (I‟m coming tommorow)
- Apeloj (ápelo should be avoided) vo Maria. (I will be called by Maria)
Ipotezit Tempo/Conditional Tense
Verb stem + “u” (+ suffix) = Conditional Tense

Person sabi dekrivi trovi ami

(to know) (to describe) (to find) (to love)

1st Sing. sabúj dekrivúj trovúj amúj

2nd Sing. sabús dekrivús trovús amús
3rd Sing. sabút dekrivút trovút amút
1st Plur. sabúm dekrivú trovúm amúm
m
2nd Plur. sabúd dekrivúd trovúd amúd
3rd Plur. sabún dekrivún trovún amún

Person poti erazi lozi eziti

(can) (to erase) (to lose) (to hesitate)

1st Sing. potúj erazúj lozúj ezitúj

2nd Sing. potús erazús lozús ezitús
3rd Sing. potút erazút lozút ezitút
1st Plur. potúm erazúm lozúm ezitúm
2nd Plur. potúd erazúd lozúd ezitúd
3rd Plur. potún erazún lozún ezitún

e.g.
In jo te zagád, te sabu (or sabúj). (If you had told me that , I would know it.)
Žerund/Gerund
Verb stem + “i” (+ suffix) = Gerund

Person zagi gusti ekuti tiri

(to hear/to listen)
(to say) (to desire) (to pull)

1st Sing. zagíj gustíj ekutíj tiríj

2nd Sing. zagís gustís ekutís tirís
3rd Sing. zagít gustít ekutít tirít
1st Plur. zagím gustím ekutím tirím
2nd Plur. zagíd gustíd ekutíd tiríd
3rd Plur. zagín gustín ekutín tirín

Person kazi konti estrati bori

(to hide) (to be happy) (to extract) (to be bored)

1st Sing. kazíj kontíj estratíj boríj

2nd Sing. kazís kontís estratís borís
3rd Sing. kazít kontít estratít borít
1st Plur. kazím kontím estratím borím
2nd Plur. kazíd kontíd estratíd boríd
3rd Plur. kazín kontín estratín borín

e.g.
- Ne volu (or volúj) vadi (or vadíj) a Šínema. (I wouldn‟t like to go to the cinema.)
- Volún vadís a Skola. ( They would like you to go to school.)
Negoz/Negation

„ne‟ + Verb = Negative Verb

Negation is formed by using the word “ne” (literally meaning “for no

reason”) just before the verb.

Frágea/Questions

Questions are formed just by addign the question mark („?‟) at the end
of a sentence. No additional sentence change is required.

Udefinit verbelit Forma/Indefinite Verb Form

When the verb (or gerund) subject is obvious or already known , the
“person” suffix may be omitted. The verb‟s stress remains
unchanged.

 In simple indicative sentences , the obvious subject is 1st

singular or 1st plural.
 In simple questions , the obvious subject is 2nd singular or 2nd
plural.
 In imperative sentences , the obvious subject is 2nd singular or
2nd plural.
 A gerund‟s obvious subject is the verb‟s subject. If the verb‟s
subject is different from the gerund subject , the gerund must
adopt handle the appropriate “person” suffix.
Pathetit Voše/Passive Voice

Passive voice is used whenever we want to redirect

subject‟s action back to the subject.

In order to create a passive verb , the accent of any verb

form must simply move to the previous syllable.

NOTE : Indefinite gerund forms in passive voice should be

avoided.

e.g.
Apeloj ( ápelo) vo Maria. (I will be called by Maria)

Notice the stress differentiation :

- apelój /a-pe-ˋloɪ/ = I will call
- apeloj /a-ˋpe-loɪ/ = I will be called
Ártikela/Articles
There are three types of articles :
 Definite
 Indefinite
 Demonstrative

They present two numbers (singular and plural) and are not
gender-specific.

NOTE :
 Articles are not accepted before people‟s names and possessive
adjectives
 Articles may be omitted , if they don‟t provide essential information

singular plural

definite et at
indefinite en -
demonstrative es as

e.g.
- Et Liber set a et Tabel. (The book is on the desk)
- Liber set a Tabel. (exactly the same , providing less information –
which book? – which table?)
- En Barn zokét a Jard. (A kid is playing in the yard)
- As Liber sen rotit. (These books are red)
Noma/Nouns
Nouns are one of the most essential parts of a sentence.

They may present numbers (singular and plural) but they don‟t have cases
, as far as form changes are concerned. Cases can be formed using
prepositions.

NOTE : All Nouns have a capital first letter

e.g.
Maria , Nom , Pjano , etc

Pluralit Nome/Plural Number

When transforming a noun to its plural equivalent , one must consider two
separate factors : IS THERE AN ARTICLE?
 YES
The plural is carried by an article change and the noun remains unchanged
e.g.
Et Liber (The book) -> At Liber (The books)
 NO
The plural is formed by adding the suffix “-a” at the end of the noun. In the
plural form , the stress remains on the same syllable as on the singular form.
If the new syllable is other then the penultimate , a written acute accent “ˊ”
must be used.
NOTE : if the noun already ends in “-a” , it should become “aa” or just a long
“a”(/ɑː) sound. To solve this, we would use the “ah” combination.
e.g.
Liber (Book) -> Líbera (Books) , Vita (Life) -> Vitah (Lives)
Nom (Noun) -> Noma (Nouns) , Done (Woman) -> Dónea (Women)
Fornoma/Pronouns
Pronouns – as the word suggests – can be used to “replace” a noun.

Personalit Fornoma/Personal Pronouns

Pronoun English equivalent

Ja I
Sa You (singular)
Ta He / She / It
Ma We
Da You (plural)
Na They

NOTE :
 Personal pronouns must have a capital first letter
 Personal pronouns may be used just in order to create
emphasis and are not obligatory

e.g.
Volés manzím aber , Ja , ne vole. (You want us to eat , but I
don‟t want to)
Refleksivit Fornoma/Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are adopted when we want to use a personal pronoun

as an object. According to this , we distinguish two cases :

 The pronoun is used as a direct object

 The pronoun is used as an indirect object

Personal Pronoun As Direct Object As Indirect Object

Ja je jo
me to me
Sa se so
you to you
Ta te to
him / her / it to him / her / it
Ma me mo
us to us
Da de do
you to you
Na ne no
them to them

e.g.
- Vede se! (I see you!)
- Skrive en Leter. Te Skrive. (I‟m writing a letter. I‟m writing it.)
- Maria zaga jo ot vola manzím. Maria jo te zaga.
(Maria told me that she wanted us to eat. Maria told me about it.)
- Brota no et Liber. No te brota. (I brought them the book. I brought it to them)
Ážektifa/Adjectives
There are two types of adjectives :
 Personal
 Objective

They don‟t present numbers (singular and plural) and are

not gender-specific.

Personal adjectives are used to describe people and nouns

representing people and always have an “-is” ending

Objective adjectives are used to describe anything else than

people (objects , animals , abstract meanings ,etc) and always
have an “-it” ending

e.g.
- Sej altis. (I am tall)
- Es Kane set fortit. (This dog is strong)
- Veda en belis Done. (I saw a beautiful woman)
- En kapabilis Doter pote salvi monit Vitah. (A capable doctor
can save many lives)
Kompara i Ážektifa/Comparation of adjectives

Comparative Grade
 Used to compare two nouns
 In positive comparation (“more … than”), is formed by adding the “-or-”
prefix before the adjective‟s ending
 In negative comparation (“less … than”), is formed by adding the “-on-”
prefix before the adjective‟s ending
 The second parameter of the comparation must be in “genitive case” ,
thus preceded by the preposition „i‟.

e.g.
- Maria set beloris i Peter (Maria is more beautiful than Peter)
- At Tortéz sen fortonit Ánimala i Kánea (Turtles are weaker [less strong]
animals than dogs)

Superlative Grade
 Used to express the maximum level of a quality
 Must be preceded by the definite article
 In positive comparation (“the most … ”), is formed by adding the “-im-”
prefix before the adjective‟s ending
 In negative comparation (“the least …”), is formed by adding the “-il-”
prefix before the adjective‟s ending
 In relative superlative , the second parameter of the comparation must
be in “genitive case” , thus preceded by the preposition „i‟.
 In absolute superlative , there is no second parameter.
e.g.
- Maria set et belimis Done i et Situ (Maria is the most beautiful woman of the
city)
- Atom set grandilit Elemente (An atom is the tiniest [the least big] element)
Pozesit Ážektifa/Possessive adjectives

Possessive adjectives are used in order to show possession and are placed
just before the noun being described.

NOTE : Possessive adjectives must not be preceded by article. Combined

with an article , and a capitalised first letter , they can be used unchanged as
possessive pronouns.

Personal Pronoun Possessive Adjective

Ja ji
my
Sa si
your (singular)
Ta ti
his / her / its
Ma mi
our
Da di
your (plural)
Na ni
their

e.g.
- Ji Kaza set grandorit i et Si. (My house is bigger than yours.)
- Ji Kaza set grandorit i si Kaza. (My house is bigger than your house.
- Jo donát ji Pena. (He gave me my pen.)
Avérbea/Adverbs
Avérbea i Manjera/Adverbs of manner

Adverbs of manner as well as other types can be derived from

adjectives.

Adjective – suffix(is,it) + “er” = Adverb of Manner

e.g.
- bonis , bonit (good) -> boner (well)
- fasilis , fasilit (easy) -> fasiler (easily)
- fortoris , fortorit (stronger) -> fortorer (more strongly)

Thus , all types of comparative and superlatives grades for the

adjective are valid for the adverbs as well.

e.g.
- Ko es Strada , potús vadi fasilorer a et Situ. (By this way , you
would go more easily to the city)
Sentéj boner. (I feel good)
Avérbea i Tempo/Adverbs of time

Word Meaning
estag today
demen tomorrow
jertag yesterday
sindemen the day after tomorrow
forjertag the day before yesterday

nue now
frekenter frequently / often
enote sometimes
alote always
note never
rarer seldom

for before
sin after
duri during

e.g.
- For vadi a Skola , dove manzi. (before going to school , I
must eat)
- Enote guste lezi Líbera. (I sometimes like reading books)
Utilibit Fornoma & Avérbea/
Useful Pronouns & Adverbs
Interrogativ Negativ Relativ Indefinit Inclusive
e e e e (al-)
(k-) (n-) (-) (en-)
Person kis nis is enis alis
(-is) who? nobody who someone everyone

Object kit nit it enit alit

(-it) what? nothing which something everything

Time kote note ote enote alote

(-ote) when? never when sometimes always

Place ku nu u enu alu

(-u) where? nowhere where somewher everywher
e e
Manner ker ner er ener aler
(-er) how? no way as somehow in every
way
Cause ke ne - ene ale
for no for some reason for every reason
(-e) why?
reason

Quantit kum num um enum alum

some quantity the whole
y how much? no … which …
quantity

(-um)

e.g.
- Kis ses? (Who are you?)
- Kum kostét es Apel? (How much does this apple cost?)
- Et Apel , it set a et Tabel , set rotit. (The apple , which is on the table , is
red.)
- Perda ji Pena. Deve si enu. (I lost my pen. It must be somewhere.)
- Ku sen alis? (Where is everyone?)
Konésora/Conjunctions
Conjunctions are used to connect different sentences.

Koordonéjt Konésora/Coordinating Conjunctions

equivalent
and ve
or uj
both … and … ve … vehse (ve ese) …
also ese
neither … nor .. ne … nehse (ne ese) …
but aber

e.g.
- Vada a Skola ve studa ji Leson. (I went to school and studied
my lesson.)
- Resto uj fugo? (Are you going to stay or are you going to
leave?)
- Ve Maria vehse Peter sen a Skola. (Both Maria and Peter are
at school.)
- Vada a Šínema aber sat fermit. (I went to the cinema but it
was closed.)
Suordonéjt Konésora/Subordinating Conjunctions

equivalent
because par
if in
unless nin (ne in)
so that / in order to utás
so alor
thanks to Gras i
because of Koz i
before for
after sin
while men
without anef
when ote
although inve
however peró

e.g.
- In sa zenoris , potu te fi. (If I was younger , I would be able to do it.)
- Ke rite? Par se kontentis! (Why are you laughing? Because I‟m
happy!)
- Men dormás , studáj. (While you were sleeping , I was studying.)
- Rena vo Órea. Peró , nue , Sjel se klarit. (It was raining for two hours.
However , now , the sky is clear.)
Forpártikela/Prepositions
Prepositions are used to show relations with nouns.
NOTE :
 Prepositions must always precede the noun , article ,
pronoun , etc
 In order to assure fluent pronounciation , the
preposition may be connected to the article
 After the connection of “i” with the article (e.g. “et”) ,
it gives “jet” (and not “iet”)

equivalent
with ko
from / by vo
to / at a
of (/ genitive case) i
for pro
in nel
e.g.
- Et Port jet (or i et) Kaza set rotit. (The House‟s door is red.)
- Vjene ko Ja. (Come with me.)
- Vade aet (or a et) Skola. (I‟m going to school.)
- Es Gató se pro Ja? (Is this present for me?)
- Neles (or nel es) Kase , trovós en Klef. (In this box, you will find a key.)
- Es skrivat vo Ja. (This was written by me.)
Númera/Numbers
Asolutit Númera/Cardinal Numbers

equivalent
0 nul
1 en
2 vo
3 tre
4 dor
5 fif
6 sis
7 set
8 ut
9 nef
decade(s) dek(a)
hundred(s) sent(a)
thousand(s) mil(a)
million(s) mel(a)
billion(s) bil(a)

e.g.
- 12 = dek-vo (one decade plus two)
- 34 = tredeka-dor (three decades plus five)
- 103 = sent-tre (one hundred plus three)
- 154 = sent-fifdeka-dor (one hundred plus five decades plus four)
- 1986 = mil-nefsenta-utdeka-sis (one thousand plus nine hundreds plus
eight decades plus six)
Ordinalit Númera/Ordinal Numbers

Ordinal numbers are used just like adjectives and share the same
endings (personal,objective) according to the noun being described.

Cardinal Number + “t” + “it”(or “is”) = Ordinal Number

NOTE : In case the last letter is “t” (e.g. ut , set , etc) , the second “t” is
omitted

equivalent
first entis
second votis
third tretis
fourth dortis
fifth fiftis
sixth sistis
seventh setis
eightth utis
nineth neftis
tenth dektis
eleventh dek-entis

e.g.
- 12th = dek-votis
- 34th = tredeka-dortis
- 103rd = sent-tretis
- 154th = sent-fifdeka-dortis
- 1986th = mil-nefsenta-utdeka-sistis
Ezemplit Téstoa/Example Texts
Oskar Ghuájld – Et Imáz i Dórian Grej (Prolog)/
Oscar Wilde – The Picture of Dorian Gray (Preface)

The artist is the creator of beautiful things. To reveal art and conceal the artist is
art‟s aim. The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his
impression of beautiful things.
Et Artiste set et Fabriker i belit Mátera. Montri Art ve kazi et Artiste set et Gol jet
Art. Et Kritiker set Ta is pote traduki alterer uj koen novit Materit ti Vedete i belit
Mátera.
The highest as the lowest form of criticism is a mode of autobiography. Those
who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This
is a fault. Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For
these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only beauty.
Ve Altimit vehse kortimit Forma i Kritik set Modus i Sebiografja. Na is trovén
malit Sinifika a belit Mátera sen favelis anef si belis. Se faltit. Na is trovén belit Sinifika
a belit Mátera sen at Kultivis. Pro Na , ezistét Spera. Sen at Selektis a is belit Mátera
sinifikén soler Bela.
There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or
badly written. That is all. The nineteenth century dislike of realism is the rage of
Caliban seeing his own face in a glass. The nineteenth century dislike of romanticism
is the rage of Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass.
Ne ezistét en moralit uj en umoralit Liber. Líbera sen boner uj maler skrivéjt. Set
alit. Et Ugusto jet dek-neftit Sekel pro Realizmo set et Manjo i Káliban vedéjs ti Fas
nelen Glas. Et Ugusto jet dek-neftit Sekel pro Romantizmo set et Manjo i Káliban
uvedéjs ti Fas nelen Glas.