Flaidish / Introduction Phonology Orthography * Flaidish vowel shift Pitfalls for English speakers Loanwords Inflectional morphology * Verbs Nouns Adjectives Numbers Derivational morphology * Nominalizers Adjectivizers Verbalizers Pronouns * Base forms S-O pronouns Fourth person Required vs. optional Reflexives Interrogatives and demonstratives Indefinite Verbal system * Definite and indefinite Ongoing Irrealis Habitual The infinitive The participle Syntax * NP order Articles Measure words Sentence order Focus Conjunctions Relative clauses Sentential subjects Comparatives and superlatives Questions Imperatives Directions * Basic prepositions The direction of time Separable verbs References * Conventional expressions Time and the calendar Names Example: Jeerio tries to find a job Example 2: The 7ubeer Lexicon

Introduction [To Index]

No other flaids are known on Almea, and Flaidish is an isolate, related to no other Almean language. It's been heavily influenced by Caďinor and Verdurian, which to a large extent supply its technical vocabulary, and by Kebreni. In modern times, as flaids have become a maritime trading nation, it has borrowed words from many human languages.

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:

• Pronouns are not differentiated by sex, but by age: there is a separate, simpler set of pronouns for children.
• The unmarked form of the verb is the simple past tense.
• There is no definite article; rather, definiteness of the object is marked on the verb.
• Exchangeable nouns must be counted using measure words.

History: Our first historical references to the flaids date to over 3200 years ago, when we find them already living on Flora.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 Meťaiun, Caďinorians, and a few medieval kings) to conquer them.

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:

• The morphology is more complex: Flaidish has regularized many plurals and verb formations, and replaced many suppletive forms.
• The pronoun system has been simplified: plural accusative forms have been lost, and possessives and demonstratives have been regularized.
• Two verb forms have been lost: a resultative (now replaced with the participle) and a formal imperative (now usually replaced with the irrealis).
• There was much less reliance on infinitival constructions.
• 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.

Dialects: The standard language described here is that of the capital, Syxesteer. 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 (zermolaim, locally dzrmullein) is even more divergent.

Phonology [To Index]

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, which I will represent in this document as 7. (It lacks several English sounds, however: the consonants th, sh, zh, ng as well as several vowels.)

Stops are aspirated at the beginning of words; f and v are labiodental; t and d are alveolar; r is a single-tap trill; l tends to be dark at the end of a syllable.

• Don't carry the English-like phonology too far. Never pronounce g or c soft, and do not voice s. And don't flap or voice a medial t.

The vowels are identified by IPA symbol; transliteration will be discussed below.

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.)

Stress: 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.

Orthography [To Index]

Consonants [To Index]

Flaidish uses three additional letters:

• (j) is straightforward, adding the voicing mark to (ch).
• The glottal stop 7 is . (The letterform is usually explained as "half a ")
• is used for the combination /ks/. (The letterform derives from a cursive .)

Vowels [To Index]

Spelling	Sound	Transliteration		Spelling	Sound	Transliteration
	e	aa = late			æ	a = ai = pat
	i	ee = peer			e	e = pet
	wI	ii = quit			I	i = pit
	u	oo = boot				o = au = caught
	yu	uu = pure			u	u = cut

The long vowels tend to have lax offglides, especially in stressed syllables; thus aa = [eI], ee = [iI], oo = [uu].

The basic spelling rule is that vowels are

• long if doubled: troom = /trum/

• short if followed by two consonants: morn = /mrn/

  Doubled consonants (as in moss 'wash' = /ms/) 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 nolleck = /nlek/; the spelling noleck would represent /nulek/.

  Instead of writing (chch jj kk), flaids write (tch dj ck).

  A doubled consonant, except for ck, is simplified before a suffix beginning with a consonant: e.g. nell 'sweet' > nelmod 'sweetness'.

• (ai) is always /æ/ and (au) is always //. These were historically diphthongs, but have monophthongized as indicated. (As a mnemonic, think of english plaid, Paul.)

A single vowel followed by a single consonant is

• short in a final syllable: sam = /sæm/

  Orthographic doubling of consonants is common word-finally, though by this rule it's redundant: sam and samm would be pronounced alike. (But note that they'll differ in pronunciation if a suffix is added that begins with a vowel.)

• long earlier in the word: goreck = /gurek/; beloop = /bilup/

  For the purpose of counting consonants, x counts as single: buxel = /bjuksel/

• -e and -u, which are long: ne = /ni/, lele = /lili/, cheernu = /čirnju/
• -o or -au, which is short: tau = /t/. When unstressed, this tends to be more closed: tresspo = [trespo]
• -a or -y, which is a schwa: Flora = /flur/; gory = /gur/

The schwa // is represented (y), or, as just noted, with final -a. Note that schwa can receive the stress, as in Syxesteer /'sks es tir/

The semivowel /j/ only occurs before a vowel (when it's written y) or as part of the long vowel u.

The Flaidish vowel shift [To Index]

The major difference is in the high vowels. In English ū au (as in 'cow'), but the spelling system works like Flaidish: 'long u' is pronounced [ju], as in 'cute'. But Flaidish long ii becomes /wI/ and not /ay/ as in English. 'Twit' could be written (tiit) in Flaidish, or 'quit' as (kiit).

For both high vowels, the Flaidish rule is that the vowel acquired an initial glide of the opposite backness.

After r or l, long i is pronounced [I]: riid 'fire' = [rId], rather as in some Irish pronunciations of 'ride'; litor 'east of' = [lItr]. (It's possible that this is not an innovation but a retention of an earlier stage of the Flaidish GVS. In the island dialects, [I] for long i is found in most environments.)

Good and bad news for English speakers [To Index]

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'.

• Follow the above table, not exceptions in English. E.g. foot 'go' = /fut/ not /fut/; baul 'north' = /bl/ not /bawl/; laib 'foot' = /læb/ not /leb/; fall 'village' = /fæl/ not /fl/. Flaid /flæd/ rhymes with 'plaid', not 'played'.

• The spellings ee and oo should cause no problem; but remember to extend the principle to the other long vowels. E.g. laat 'drop' = /let/, fiich 'ten' = /fwIč/, 7uuk 'hole' = /7juk/.

• English also has the 'vowels before a single consonant are long' rule, but Flaidish is consistent. So chonick 'boat' is pronounced as if it were spelled choonick: /čunIk/ not /čnIk/.

• As in English, the vowel shift caused pronunciations of morphologically related forms to diverge. Cf. biit /bwIt/ 'study' vs. mellbit /melbIt/ 'morality'; neer /nir/ 'berry' vs. 7axner /7æksner/ 'blueberry'; suut /sjut/ 'bake' vs. sutmory /sutmur/ 'bakery'

• Flaidish has no silent e. So e.g. the word cute would have to be written in Flaidish as kuut; and Flaidish lele is /lili/, not /lil/.

• Flaidish vowels are not reduced to schwa, unless they're written with y or final -a. Thus Muncham = /munčæm/ not /munčm/; nolleck is /nlek/ not /nlk/.

• Flaidish vowels also retain their value before -r. Our notorious triplet Mary, merry, marry would be distinguished in Flaidish (and spelled almost alike: mare /meri/ merre /meri/ marre /mæri/ ).

Loanwords [To Index]

The oldest strata of borrowings participated in Flaidish's Great Vowel Shift:

berac 'glory' /bi ræk/
caimica 'unit of measure' /kæm wI k/
corumai7a 'harmony' /kur ju mæ 7/
curenda 'festival' /kjur en d/
kestora 'philosophy' /kes tur /
cammisidas 'orpiment' /kæm I swI dæs/
koodu 'riverboat' /ku dju/
leste7o 'restaurant' /les ti 7/
murebuus 'fantastic' /mjur i bjus/
namary 'lead' /ne me r/
plestura 'history' /ples tjur /
psuronda 'famine' /sju rn d/
scagantos 'vagina' /ske gæn ts/
tuma 'plague' /tju m/
7aluatas 'grammar' /7e lju e tæs/
7eridas 'cinnabar' /7ir I dæs/

More recent borrowings can be divided into ear and eye borrowings. The latter are borrowed with their original spelling, but pronounced by Flaidish rules:

chëno 'axis' /či n/
chupse 'miserly' /čup si/
7ery 'map' /7i r/
gorkrege 'ledger' /gr kri gi/
jyngu 'expenditures' /džn gju/
lagu 'income' /le gju/
lujura 'affection' /lju džjur /
nëron 'holy' /ni rn/
përnapa 'saltpetre' /per ne p/
plasy 'nerve' /ple s/
pretäro 'valet' /pri te r/
razumbre 'intelligent' /re zum bri/
satre 'sovereign' /sæt ri/
tiplüba 'wig' /tIp lju b/
traze 'fancy' /tre zi/
Verduria /ver dju rI/
zondre 'annual' /zn dri/
7aviza 'university' /7e vwI z/
7eklura 'hedonism' /7ek lju r/
7elryn 'Ismaîn king' /7el rn/

Generally, Verdurian š ž ř ď are borrowed as ch j r d respectively, the " mark is borrowed but ignored, h is dropped, c and k are retained but both pronounced /k/, and initial vowels are supplied with a 7.

Ear borrowings are borrowed by sound, with no attempt to retain the original spelling:

chai7 'tea' /čæ7/ < V. čai
gettyt 'dice' /get t/ < geteta
kaijena 'mistress' /kædž i n/ < kažžina
nassechy 'pregnant' /næs i č/ < nasitse
pauna 'butch lesbian' /p n/ < pona
sezzu 'dried meat' /se zju/ < sezu
tauken 'have sex' /t ken/ < tocen
tootannel 'newspaper /tu tæn el/ < tutanél

bauru 'stink' /b rju/ < Keb. bauru
cheernu 'deck' /čir nju/ < cirnu
kolesa 'fleet' /ku li s/ < kulisa
lelly 'cute' /lel / < lele
memu 'fix things up' /mi mju/ < mimu
moonu 'news' /mu nju/ < mohnu
nemannick 'homosexual' /ni mæn Ik/ nemanec

bauna 'beef' /bn/ < Is. bone /bn/
cheesty 'Ismaîn guitar' /čis t/ < çis,te
sudaddy 'Ismaîn robe' /sju dæ d/ < sudâde

chesse 'sugar cane' /čes i/ < Nanese tsêsi
kim 'rice' /kIm/ < kim
niira 'yam' /nwIr / < nyara
sidrau 'soy sauce' /sId r/ < sidru
7erram 'jungle' /7er æm/ < kheram
7ugau 'coffee' /7ju g/ < yugakhau

Whatever the age or source of the borrowing, the stress is placed on the first syllable.

Inflectional morphology [To Index]

Verbs [To Index]

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 groopen 'watch':

Indefinite
groop	watched	simple past
gropse	watch	ongoing
gropno	may watch	irrealis
7engroop	always watches	habitual
Definite
gropt	watched	simple past
gropte	watch	ongoing
grobdo	may watch	irrealis
7engropt	always watches	habitual
Combining forms
groppo	watched	participle
groopen	to watch	infinitive

Further distinctions are made using auxiliary verbs.

Note that definite forms involve adding a -t- or -d-; this -t is etymologically the same as the objective case suffix.

Simple past

The definite simple past is formed as follows:

• if the root ends in a dental stop or affricate (t d ch j), or in two dissimilar consonants, add -et:

  meedet 'slept', munket 'worked', sachet 'ate', forvadjet 'oiled up'.

• if it ends in one of the remaining voiced stops (b g), add -d and shorten the last vowel:

  dobd 'threw', vrigd 'wounded

• otherwise add -t and shorten the last vowel:

  gropt 'watched', treckt 'awoke', 7ault 'dealt with'

Ongoing

medse, munkse, sachyse, dobse, forvadjyse, gropse, treckse, 7aulse

The definite form is formed by adding instead -te, or -de after a voiced stop (b d g j). The last vowel of the root is shortened:

medde, munkte, sachte, dobde, forvajde, gropte, treckte, 7aulte

A few verbs have irregular ongoing forms:

• ze 'be' zys (definite), zyt (indefinite)
• jinn 'have' jys, jyt.
• von 'not' voss, vott
• gen 'be true' gess, gett

Irrealis

medno, munkno, sachno, dobno, forvajno, gropno, treckno, 7aulno

The definite form is formed by adding instead -do. The last vowel of the root is shortened.

meddo, munkdo, sachdo, dobdo, forvajdo, gropdo, treckdo, 7auldo

Habitual

Definite: 7emmeed, 7emmunk, 7ensach, 7endoob, 7enforvadj, 7engrop, 7entreck, 7aull

Indefinite: 7emmeedet, 7emmunket, 7ensachet, 7endobd, 7enforvajd, 7engropt, 7entreckt, 7ault

Infinitive

meeden, munken, sachen, dooben, forvadjen, groopen, trecken, 7aullen

Participle

medbo, munkpo, sachpo, dobbo, forvajbo, groppo, treckpo, 7aulpo

Nouns [To Index]

Plural

feejer heads, laumer dreams, leeber geese, 7uuker holes

If the word already ends in -r, use -en instead.

booren wines, teeren cities, fivvoren brothers, gommeren stomachs

If it ends in a vowel, add -r:

surdenar facts

Some other words (marked in the dictionary) also use -en, such as flaiden 'flaids'.

Objective

fivvort brother, 7uukt hole, taut lake

If the word ends in a dental stop or affricate (t d ch j), or m, or in two dissimilar consonants, the suffix becomes -et:

feejet head, testet body, tolket oak, laimet tongue

It applies after the plural suffix, if any; but -en + -t -et:

feejert heads, laumert dreams, 7uukert holes
teeret cities, fivvoret brothers

Possessive

fivvorys brother's, 7e flaidys a flaid's

If the word ends in a vowel, the suffix is -m:

Jeeriom Jeerio's, Floram Flora's

The suffix can be added after the plural:

feejerys heads', fivvorenys brothers', flaidenys flaids'

The objective suffix can be added after the possessive; note that -m + -t = -nd:

fivvoryst brother's, flaidenyst flaids', Jeeriond Jeerio's

Adjectives [To Index]

• The superlative is formed with the prefix leg-:
  legfeck darkest; legcheen most beautiful; legbinnick most creepy
• The adverb is formed with the suffix -me:
  feckme darkly, cheenme beautifully; binnickme creepily

Numbers [To Index]

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
digit	7y	lin	fell	gory	back	liffel	sam	liggory	7ecker	fiich
tens	fiich	miffich	reffich	goreck	baffich	liffleck	sammich	liggoreck	7eckbonner	bonner
ordinals	morn	lint	felt	goreet	backet	lifflet	sammet	liggoreet	7eckret	fichet

Three- and four-digit numbers follow the model hundreds bonner units:

123	bonner fellen miffich
497	gory bonner samen 7eckbonner
1000	fiich bonner
2374	fellen miffich bonner goreen sammich
3480	goreen reffich bonner liggoreck

Six-digit numbers work the same way, using the word tragg '10,000':

512374 7een baffich tragg fellen miffich bonner goreen sammich

The Verdurian borrowing perun '1,000,000' fits into this scheme; migga '1000', from Kebreni, is also sometimes used.

A number of the form 10X, 1000X, etc. places the units to the far left:

108	liggoreen bonner
10001	7een tragg

To form ordinals for numbers higher than 10, add -et to the last number: linnen miffichet '23rd'; fiich bonneret 'thousandth'. (If the number word ends in a digit, use that digit's ordinal form: 203rd = lin bonner felt.)

The suffix -em is used for fractions (fellem 1/3, samem 1/7, fiichem 1/10), with the exception of 1/2, which gets its own word, 7obb. 1/4 has worn down to greem.

Negative numbers are formed with som 'without', also borrowed from Verdurian: som lin -2, som 7eckeren goreck -49.

Mathematical notation 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).

	Native	Translation
Addition		2 + 2 = 4
Verdurian	ďun er ďun eu par.	"two and two are four"
Kebreni	kur eh'c kur zaru hak	"two and two exist four"
Flaidish	lin 7ej lin zaru gory	"two plus two equals four"
Subtraction		5 - 2 = 3
Verdurian	pan sam ďunán eu ďin	"five without two are three"
Kebreni	amma kur fuuste zaru dam	"five without two are three"
Flaidish	back fuuste lin zaru fell	"two minus two equals three"
Multiplication		2 x 4 = 8
Verdurian	ftore par e žoc	"second four is eight"
Kebreni	kureh'te hak zaru midam	"second four is eight"
Flaidish	lin 7ate7 gory zaru liggory	"two times four equals eight"
Division		10 / 5 = 2
Verdurian	decë panëe e ďun	"tenth 1/5 is two"
Kebreni	krameh'te amimnu zaru kur	"tenth 1/5 is two"
Flaidish	fiich 7ate7 back nu zaru lin	"ten times five reciprocal equals two"

Derivational morphology [To Index]

Nominalizers [To Index]

sach eat sachi7 meal
taax meet taaxi7 meeting
bul share buli7

An archaic nominalizer, no longer productive, is -z (which usually absorbs the last consonant of the root):

gaad hoard gaaz wealth
geel wear geez pants
prool feel prooz emotion
neev name neez guilt

-mot (from lexical moot 'way') names an abstract quality:

feck dark feckmot darkness
kiss small kissmot smallness
7y one 7ymot unity

riil child rilmot childhood
tood know todmot knowledge

-chet (from cheet 'stuff') names substances:

sach eat satchet food
maat sell matchet wares
fool ear foolchet earwax
yaich clench yaitchet astringent

-att is found in many Verdurian borrowings, but also with native words:

cepple virginal cepplatt virginity
yuun type yunatt class
7irran Irrean 7irranatt Irreanism

-el is someone or something that does an action, or exemplifies an adjective. (Final t 7.)

prid divide priddel coin
sack bristle sackel beard
7eldoob discard 7eldoobel garbage

lott idiotic lo77el idiot
gaaz wealth gaazel rich man, noble

-mo is used for an object exemplifying an action or quality:

mard stay marmo pudding
zeer alone zermo island
lin two limmo pair

-ick can be used the same way, and is also used to name inhabitants of a place:

yatt fun yattick game
choon float chonick boat
noller huge nollerick giant

Syxesteer Syxesterick
Verduria verdurick
7ismai7i Ismahi 7ismai7ick

-mory is used for buildings:

koos drink kosmory tavern
lilo spice lilomory grocery
suut bake sutmory bakery
7ibro book 7ibromory library, bookstore

-ril (from riil 'child') is used for offspring:

flaid flaidril
luuk human luukril human child
tem cow/bull tembrick calf

-bit (from biit 'study') names a field of study (replacing -viso in Verdurian borrowings):

mell good mellbit morality
dunebit physic
meclibit chemistry
7edolobit geometry

-(i)o forms diminutives, and by extension personal names:

kess knife kessio dagger
laum dream laumo daydream
noov grow novio fruit

jeer fat Jeerio
bux wise Buxo

-che forms nicknames for children as well as female personal names:

cheen beautiful Cheenche
feck dark Feckche
nell sweet Nellche

Adjectivizers [To Index]

flaid flaidick flaidish
floom storm floomick stormy
juur convention jurick conventional
meed sleep meedick sleepy
pich dirt pichick dirty

The possessive case can also be used adjectivally: 7anys mot 'a mother's love'.

A particular use of -ick is to form an adjective relating to a place (verdurick); we have already seen this usage as a nominalizer.

Other common adjectivizers are -eck and -it:

nool big nolleck biggish
gen be true geneck true
7ev year 7eveck yearly

feck dark feckit black
miif hunger miffit hungry
nell sweet nellit nice

-er is used as an intensifier:

nool big noller enormous
lana girl laner virginal
treck awaken trecker alert
7ell away 7eller far

ro- (Verdurian řo; but pronounced [ru]) is used with loanwords as a negative:

ledise roledise abnormal
namerick ronamerick unintentional
voleme rovoleme unwilling

Reduplication with change of the initial consonant (usually to ch-, j- or g-) has a deprecative meaning:

traze fancy traze-chaze rococo, outta control
jurick conventional jurick-gurick square, uptight
laner maidenly laner-janer princessy, butter-wouldn't-melt-in-her-mouth
nëron holy nëron-chëron sanctimonious, holier-than-thou
7ulle friendly 7ulle-gulle glad-handing, unctuous

Verbalizers [To Index]

biit study biid
joot place jood be located
mot love mod
noof growth noov grow
vrick wound vrig
7uuk hole 7uug drill

Old Flaidish had a causative, formed by raising the root vowel and infixing -n- after it. It's no longer productive, but it's left a large number of doublets, some of them modified in meaning.

daat intend dont decide
domm sit dunn set, put
faach cling fench tie
foot go funt expel
geel wear giln wrap
geet burn gint kindle
kreck stand krink excite
koon seek kund send
koos drink kunz water
laat fall lent drop
lad see lend show
mard remain mend leave
moog yield munk work
sach eat sench corrode
seek lie sink pack
tood know tund proclaim
treck awaken trink warn
toor bend tunn crumple
vaur wait ve7n delay
vooj be immersed vunj submerge
yaul listen yeln inform
yest rise yint raise
zaat graze zent drive
7oz get 7unz furnish

Another archaic verbalizer is -gim, applied to nouns, and meaning to use the object. It often absorbs the final consonant of the root.

fool ear folgim heed
kess knife keggim stab
koz brain koggim figure out
laib foot laggim walk
paix market paggim shop
runn eye rungim spot
zeem finger zeggim point

See also the section on separable verbs.

Pronouns [To Index]

Base forms [To Index]

	sing	pl
1	7ok / va	tack
2	se / 7es	seer
3	ne / 7em	yau
4	na / nar	yet

The adult singular pronouns have separate object forms, as shown. The 4th person will be discussed below.

The possessive is formed using the suffix -ry in the singular and -(y)m in the plural:

	sing	pl
1	7okry	takym
2	sery	serym
3	nery	yaum
4	nary	ye7m

The childhood pronouns are as follows. The plurals are formed by reduplication.

	sing	pl
1	fu	fufu
2	7il	7ilil
3	le	lele

The child forms do not have separate object or possessive forms.

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 fu rather than 7ok.

S-O pronouns [To Index]

Neva much. He/she kissed me.
Se7em yeln. You told him/her.
Yautack modse. They love us.
Ne7es geetno. It might burn you.
7oxeer grop. I watched you all.
Seeryau kroog. You all broke them.

A medial 7 drops out after a consonant: tackes lad 'we saw you'. Also note 7ok + seer = 7oxeer.

When speaking to children, or when children speak, pronouns are not combined, and word order is usually SVO: Ne much va 'He/she kissed me'; 7ok lad 7il 'I saw you!'

Combination forms with child pronouns can be found when adults are speaking among themselves: Leva much 'He/she (a child) kissed me (an adult)'.

Fourth person [To Index]

Cheenche1 muchet Jijot2. 7ok jamse ty ne1nar2 techyse. Zeckno, na2 zys lelly.
Cheenche kissed Jijo. I think she likes him. Well, he is cute.

Leste7o1 7ydmunk Jeeriot2, frett yoven ne1 ziitse ty na2 zys loost.
The restaurant hired Jeerio, but it will find that he is lazy.

There are no fourth person forms among the child pronouns.

Pronouns are 'reset' by explicitly stating a new topic. Compare two possible continuations of the last example. The first continues to use na for Jeerio; the second switches to ne for him because he has been restated as the topic.

Na 7emprott munken. He hates to work.
Jeerio ne 7emprott munken. Jeerio hates to work.

Jocularly, flaids sometimes use a third alternate form no; it's rather as if, in enumerating people, we said "Him, her, and-- er, hum." It has no object or possessive form.

Deejo1, Jeerio7en2 Cheenche3 yonse. Ne1 zys tuuch, na2 zys vecke, yoven no3 zys chuun.
Deejo, Jeerio, and Cheenche are coming. The first is sad, the second is thin, and the third is ugly.

Required and optional pronouns [To Index]

7ok modse 7icetebitet. I love math.
7il zys miffit? You're hungry?
7okry ferick voss frintooden va. My wife doesn't understand me.

Third person pronouns are optional if the antecedent is present, required otherwise. Thus 'It burned' is Ne geet, while 'The fire burned' can be either Riidet geet or Riidet ne geet.

If just one 3p antecedent is present, one can either omit it, or use the S-O cluster anyway:

7ok(em) passette 7okry nellerick.
I'm visiting my sweetheart.

7okry 7an ne7es voss techpo.
7okry 7an voss techpo 7es.
My mother doesn't like you.

Ne(nar) eldoobd smettet.
He threw out the trash.

When speaking to children, it's usual to include the third person pronouns no matter what.

Reflexives [To Index]

	sing	pl
1	7okva	tatack
2	se7es	seseer
3	ne7em	yayau
4	nanar	yeyet

Note the difference between:

Nenar moss. He washed him (someone else).
Ne7em moss. He washed himself .

Interrogative and demonstrative pronouns [To Index]

mill	who, what	neck	this / that one
millick	which	neckit	this / that
miikor	when	neckor	then
miinit	how much	nennit	that much
mildoz	what extent	neddoz	that extent
7ool	what direction	ninx	that direction
7ollyd	where (at)	ninxyd	there (at)
7olor	where (to)	ninxor	there (to)
yauj	why	sood	because
7oj	how	nemot	in that way

The interrogative pronouns are used for questions only; relative clauses use the demonstratives instead. (See Syntax.)

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 vick 'nearby' is used for 'this', 7ell 'away' for 'that'; but any of the directions can be used.

neck vick this one
neck 7ell that one
neck loll the one underneath
neck dor the one outside

ninx vick here
ninx 7ell there
neckit metch vick this country
neckit max 7ell that rabbit
neckit lana 7ut the girl right here (alongside)
neckit bin 7atyd 7es the creepy guy behind you

Indefinite pronouns [To Index]

vott none
naak rare
tim some
liss any
toob many, much
toober too many
chem other
minden all

vott neck no one, nothing
tim neck someone, something
chem neck another one
minden neck everyone, everything

vott ninx in no direction, nowhere
chem neckor some other time
naak neckor rarely, seldom
liss nennit any amount
tim nennoz to some extent
toob kor many times, often

However, there are separate lexemes for these time words:

tinkor sometimes
sau7 never
mingor always

Verbal system [To Index]

Definite and indefinite forms [To Index]

7ok much 7y lanat. I kissed a girl.
7ok muchet lanat. I kissed the girl.
Baub kroog 7y chunt. The fool broke a bone.
Baub krogd 7okry chuntet! The fool broke my bone!

First and second person objects take indefinite verbs: Neva much 'she kissed me', 7okes lad 'I saw you'.

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: 7ok modet Syxesteert 'I love Syxesteer'.

Simple past [To Index]

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.

Ne laum for chonicker.
He dreamed (or, was dreaming) about boats.

Sery fivvor meed 7ator dell.
Your brother slept until noon.

If an event started in the past and extends to the present, we usually use the past perfect, and Flaidish uses the simple past:

7ok lack sittyd Syxesteer back 7ever.
I've lived in Syxesteer for five years.

Ongoing [To Index]

Tack laumse. We are dreaming.
7okry lan ladmerse 7y 7ibrot. My daughter is reading a book.
7ok gropte Jeeriot. I'm watching Jeerio.
Ne ladmerte 7ibrot. She is reading the book.
7ok zys meedick. I'm tired.
Neet zyt lana. This is the girl.

It's also used for basic statements about the future, including declarations of intent.

Tack fotse for Syxesteer. We're going to Syxesteer.
7ok medse vur 7atnap. I'm sleeping all day tomorrow.

Irrealis [To Index]

Yau belopno geppt.
Perhaps they fixed (or, are fixing) a machine.

Yau belopdo geppt.
Perhaps they fixed (or, are fixing) the machine.

Yau zeno nollericken.
They might be giants.

Tootannel foryeffdo surdenart.
(I hear) the newspaper sniffed out the facts.

Mill todse neckor ty ne 7yssno?
Who knows when it will rain?

A special usage is for examples or hypothetical instances:

Maichert 7okyet voss techpo. 7y maich riikno.
I don't like cats. A cat can scratch you.

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. maicher 7enriik, cats scratch).

The irrealis is also used for wishes and desires. The conjunction ty introduces the clause (the desire or wish), unless the subjects are the same.

Ne meert ty seva 7adno 7y feej maxt.
he wanted that you-me give-IRR one head rabbit-ACC
He wanted you to give me a rabbit.

7ok mertse ty seva 7addo maxt.
I want you to give me the rabbit.

7ok dont taxno sery 7ant.
I've decided to meet your mother.

7ok mertse treckno!
I want to wake up!

What one doesn't know uses the irrealis; what one does know uses the appropriate realis form.

7ok voss todbo ty okry ferick zeno voleme.
I don't know if my wife is ready.

7ok todse ty jenu zys voleme.
I know that the carriage is ready.

Habitual [To Index]

Flora 7enze 7y zermo.
Flora is an island.

7okry fivvor 7ensach.
My brother is always eating.

With verbs of attribution like ze 'be' or lach '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 ser and estar in Spanish.

Habitual: Sery keem 7enze borpo. Your friend is a drunkard (all the time).

Ongoing: Sery keem zys borpo. Your friend is drunk (now).

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.

7ok 7enladmert tootannelt.
I read the newspaper.

In a past narrative, the habitual implies that the event was repeated or generally true, even if it's not any longer.

Sery 7ott 7emmod kerter.
Your father loved gardens.

The infinitive [To Index]

Bin footet zecken 7y tantelt.
creep go-DEF tell-INF a teacher-ACC
The creep went and told a teacher.

Beloopel yont beloopen triffmot.
repairman came-DEF fix-INF loom-ACC
The repairman came and fixed the loom.

In early Flaidish we see expressions like footent zeck. When the first verb was inflected, it was easier and just as proper to add the clitic to the second verb, e.g. irrealis footno zeckent. Till a few centuries ago either verb could receive the -en in the simple past; but now it's only correct to add it to the second verb.

The flaids have devised a large number of conjunctive verbs. First, here are some common expressions with the second element free (meemen 'do' stands for any verb).

foot meemen	went and did	did X (conveys firm intent, rashness, or regret)
yon meemen	came and did	did X (for the speaker's benefit or at his/her place)
kreck meemen	stood and did	did X (stubbornly, foolishly, or without compassion)
mard meemen	stayed and did	did X (which took longer than expected)
lad meemen	saw and did	did X (conveys clear understanding and resoluteness)
siit meemen	rushed and did	did X (hurriedly or without preparation)
vaav meemen	jumped and did	did X (immediately, without thinking)
munk meemen	worked and did	did X (very thoroughly or laboriously), Xed out
domm meemen	sat and did	was doing X, was in the process of doing X
gedfoot meemen	advanced and did	kept on doing X
7eem meemen	finished and did	finished doing X; did X completely
keez meemen	began and did	started to do X
proom meemen	stopped and did	stopped doing X
mauk meemen	could and did	could do X, was able to X
tood meemen	knew and did	knew how to do X
tech meemen	liked and did	liked to X

Some examples:

7okry lan 7eemt ladmeren 7ibrot.
my daughter finish-DEF read-INF book-ACC
My daughter read the book. (Perfective, emphasizing that she finished it.)

7y madder 7emmauk naaven.
a bird can-HAB fly-INF
A bird can fly.

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.

yon vissen	came and carried	brought
foot vissen	went and carried	took
foot 7ozen	went and got	acquired (from elsewhere), fetched
yon 7ozen	came and got	acquired (from here), took away
fiit 7ozen	paid and got	bought
kuld 7ozen	sent and got	sent away for
yaul sittozen	heard and accepted	believed
fost sachen	cooked and ate	consumed
mer jamen	considered and thought	reflected a long time
taat ladmeren	opened and read	read with great attention
lop 7ozen	stole and got	shamelessly stole
7oz tarten	got and held	took firm hold of, grabbed

yon vissen	brought	simple past
yonse vissen	is bringing	ongoing
yonno vissen	may bring	irrealis
7enyon vissen	always brings	habitual
yonpo vissen	brought	participle
yonen vissen	to bring	infinitive

The participle [To Index]

The negative auxiliary von is used to negate a sentence:

Riil von techpo toosert.
child not like-PART egg-PL-ACC
The child didn't like eggs.

Se vont mosspo sery crettert.
you not-DEF wash-PART your hand-PL-ACC
You didn't wash your hands.

If the negated verb was itself inflected, its inflections migrate to von:

7y zermo zys 7y chonick. 7y zermo voss zepo 7y chonick.
An island is ( not) a boat.

7edolobit tromno tack. 7edolobit vonno trompo tack.
Geometry might ( not) hurt us.

7okry fivvor 7ensach yart. 7okry fivvor 7emvon sachpo yart.
My brother is ( not) always eating fish.

Sentences with other negative words don't need von:

7ok sau7 jatet lanat.
I never touched the girl.

Vott flaid 7enze 7y zermo, frett yoven Flora 7enze.
No flaid is an island, but Flora is.

Flaidish also has a positive auxiliary gen, whose usage is exactly parallel to von. It can be used to emphasize the truth of a sentence:

7ice 7engen zepo rogeddick!
math yes-HAB be-PART difficult
Math is hard!

Sery chonick gen lolvojpo.
Your boat did sink.

The passive auxiliary baa7 (which is simply the verb 'suffer') works the same way. Note that the agent, if present, is expressed in the genitive.

Katch sachet beckat. Becka baa7 sachpo (katchys).
duck ate-DEF frog-ACC frog suffered eat-PART duck-GEN
The duck ate the frog. The frog was eaten (by the duck).

Flaiden techyse sidrau. Sidrau ba7se techpo (flaidenys).
Flaids like soy sauce. Soy sauce is liked (by flaids).

7edolobit von ba7po tantpo.
Geometry wasn't taught.

The verb 7oz 'get' can replace baa7, for a more colloquial feel.

Lo77el 7oz getpo.
The idiot got himself hurt.

Conditionals are expressed with an auxiliary verb, gaar, followed by the participle.

Se gaar fostpo garchet, 7ok fotse for 7y leste7o.
you if cook-PART catfish-ACC I go-ONG toward a restaurant
If you cooked catfish, I'm going to a restaurant.

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:

Se fost garchet, sooden 7ok fotse for 7y leste7o.
You cooked catfish, so I'm going to a restaurant.

Here are some samples using various tenses:

Se garse kospo, se medse zeer.
you if-ONG drink-PART, you sleep-ONG alone
If you're drinking, you'll sleep alone. (ongoing)

Se 7engaar techpo luckit satchet, Pickapo ninx 7enjinn 7y verdurick leste7o.
you if-HAB like-PART human food, Pickapo there have-HAB a Verdurian restaurant
If you like human food, there's a Verdurian restaurant in Pickapo. (habitual)

The irrealis is used when the consequent would be doubtful even if the condition were true:

Se garse raulmertpo 7y porrt, se 7ozno 7y nellericket.
you if-ONG wish-PART a cup-ACC, you get-IRR a sweetheart-ACC
If you wish upon a cup, you just might get a sweetheart. (irrealis)

Ne sitviitet lanat latpo.
s/he push-DEF girl-ACC fall-PART
He pushed the girl, who fell down.

Booz mard dor rontpo.
wheat stay out spoil-PART
The wheat stayed outside and spoiled.

Tack fostte veezt plorpo.
we heat-ONG water-ACC boil-PART
We're cooking the water to boiling.

Rusom veert mattrinelt bojbo.
thug beat-DEF shopkeeper-ACC kill-PART
The thug beat the shopkeeper to death.

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 pivot construction can be seen as a transformation which raises the subject and changes the tense of the verb in the subclause:

Leebche kundet [nery lan 7ozt grettet] Leebche kundet nery lant 7ozpo grettet.
Leebche sent-DEF [her daughter get-DEF wood-ACC] Leebche sent-DEF her daughter-ACC get-PART wood-ACC
Leebche sent [her daughter fetched wood] Leebche sent her daughter to fetch wood.

The initial examples, in fact, can be seen as pivot constructions where the verb in the subclause has no underlying object.

Causative expressions work the same way:

Jijo ne dunnt [7ok lentet yartet] Jijo neva dunnt lentpo yartet!
Jijo he set-DEF [I drop-DEF fish-ACC] Jijo he-me set-DEF drop-PART fish-ACC
Jijo made [I dropped the fish] Jijo made me drop the fish!

If the subclause is intransitive, its subject can be raised instead:

Jijo ne dunnt [lanar kalt] Jijo neyet dunnt kaltpo lanart!
Jijo he set-DEF [girl-PL cry] Jijo he-them set-DEF cry-PART girl-PL-ACC
Jijo made [the girls cried] Jijo made the girls cry.

Dative expressions 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").

Veen soon maat yartet 7ozpo 7elfootelt.
old woman sold fish-ACC got-PART traveler-ACC
The old woman sold the traveler a fish.

Either object can cliticize with the subject pronoun, but not both; the excess pronoun follows the participle:

Jeerio neva 7aad vedpo nar.
Jeerio he-me gave take-PART it-ACC

Jeerio nenar 7aad vedpo va.
Jeerio he-it gave take-PART I-ACC
Jeerio gave it to me.

Syntax [To Index]

Noun phrase order [To Index]

7y ferick a wife
lin fericker two wives
sery ferick your wife
7y veen ferick an old wife
vickelys ferick the neighbor's wife
ferick sittyd nery trin a wife in her house
ferick neck 7ok vautet the wife I married

Articles [To Index]

Measure words [To Index]

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:

lin porr kimys two cups of rice
lin maig kimys two grains of rice
lin meche kimys two bags of rice

You can never say just "*two rice" or *lin kim; you must insert a measure word so it's clear what you're counting.

In English, only mass nouns require measure words; count nouns 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?

Most animals are count nouns, but they can be treated as mass nouns as well:

lin feej temys two head of cattle
lin limmo temys two brace of oxen
lin nen baunam two pounds of beef

In Mandarin, almost all nouns are mass nouns. Even people must be counted with a measure word: liǎng ge lǎoshī '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:

Mass nouns	Count nouns
Domestic and game animals, including fish	Non-game animals (except honeybees)
Manufactured objects	Buildings, cities, canals, walls
Parts, tools, components	Features of a thing (e.g. 'scratch', 'protuberance', 'bottom')
Paper, physical books, paintings, sculptures	Ideas, titles, melodies, characters
Real estate	Geographic features
Oil, wax, butter, wood, gems, liquids, and other natural or mined commodities	Body parts, waste, garbage
	Astronomical bodies; aspects of weather
	People (flaids, other species, spiritual beings)
	Containers and measures

As the examples indicate, measurements like nen 'pound' or cremo 'hand', as well as containers like porr 'cup', meche 'bag', tarmo 'shelf', or kaux 'wagon', are valid measure words. Others depend on the type of object:

novel	'growth'	entire plants
novio	'plantlet'	fruits, flowers
neer	'berry'	berries, nuts, beans, grapes, and fruits of a similar size
maig	'grain'	cereals, other items that come in small discrete units, like sand
kriv	'bunch'	grouped plants or vegetables (e.g. leeks, carrots, grapes); arrows
vaal	'leaf'	leaves (e.g of laurel); paper, documents
valer	'folio'	bunches of leaves; magazines, books
tex	'trunk'	beams, other large rod-like objects
feej	'head'	animals; large round vegetables
sa7	'mouth'	jars, pots, cups, buckets, and other open containers
test	'body'	clothing, armor; meals, rooms, or other items sold per person; hides
limmo	'pair'	animals, shoes, candles, scissors, horns-- anything that comes in pairs
tarj	'object'	boxes, or blocky objects in general
semm	'cake'	pastry, meat; cushions, pillows
lammo	'flat'	plates, tiles, planks, other flat thin things
zuss	'blade'	weapons
flit	'stick'	pens, reeds, needles, other small rod-like objects
gepp	'machine'	machines, instruments
trock	'frame'	doors, windows, furniture, vehicles
lurmo	'coil'	coils of rope or wire; rolls; wreaths
tratt	'pile'	anything that can be stacked

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:

lin neer bornerys two grapes
lin kriv bornerys two bunches of grapes
lin tarj bornerys two boxes of grapes

back vaal dainam five sheets of paper
back valer dainam five sheaves of paper
back lurmo dainam five rolls of paper

fell flit niilys three arrows
fell kriv niilys three quivers of arrows

gory lammo chenam four plates
gory test chenam four place settings
gory tratt chenam four stacks of plates

Neither the measure nor the merchandise is pluralized; and the merchandise appears in the genitive. Either can be modified:

lin nool semm legdalachte munizelys two large most elegant cakes

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").

vott valer 7ibrom no books
tim zuss bellackys some swords
minden trock temmom all the windows

If the same type of object is referred to multiple times, it's the object rather than the measure word which is omitted:

7ok mertse fell noviot loomam yoven Jeerio lin noviot.
I want-ONG three meas-ACC apple-GEN then-AND Jeerio two meas-ACC
I want three apples and Jeerio wants two.

Se 7enmauk jinnen liffel noviot dretor ladick riigu.
you can-HAB have-INF six meas-ACC across same price
You can have six (apples) for the same price.

As seen here, the measure word and not the merchandise takes accusative endings.

Foreigners are not really expected to master the measure words; it's always safe to use feej 'head' for animals and tarj 'object' for everything else.

Sentence order [To Index]

Riil le7em doobd smettet 7ator frej.
The child threw the trash behind a bush.

Riil smettet le7em doobd 7ator frej.
Smettet 7ator frej riil le7em doobd.
Smettet le7em doobd 7ator frej riil.
7ator frej le7em doobd riil smettet.
Le7em doobd 7ator frej smettet riil.

The S-O pronoun le7em 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.

Focus [To Index]

• SVO implies that the topic is the subject:

  Jeerio muchet lanat. Jeerio kissed the girl. As for Jeerio, he kissed the girl.

• OVS implies that the topic is the object:

  Lanat muchet Jeerio. The girl was kissed by Jeerio. As for the girl, Jeerio kissed her.

• Another constituent may be the topic:

  Sittyd 7erram ne medse teenys maum. In the jungle, the lion sleeps tonight.

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.

Ledley ne zys nellit teer.
Ledley, it's a nice city.

7eedvocker 7ok 7entech geddyd ty 7enzoop grettet.
Winters, I like to buy wood rather than chop it.

Sooner se zys legcheen.
Among women, you are the most beautiful.

Limmo zeer yau keez muchen.
Once the couple were alone, they started kissing.

7uveremot ne geel 7y dalachte sudaddy.
As for clothes, she wore an elegant Ismaîn dress.

Luckit teeren Verduria zys kematt nellit.
Among human cities, Verduria is pretty nice.

7okry datmot 7imlelel mornzitdo 7okry 7ibrot.
My aim is for a publisher to notice my book.

Teer vick tack meerse gedfotno laggimen.
The city being near, we want to keep walking.

Conjunctions [To Index]

For entire sentences, use yoven 'and then':

Jeerio konse 7y munkmot, yoven ne zitno 7y rocurat.
Jeerio is looking for a job, and he may find an adventure.

Verbs can be conjoined by adding -en to the second verb, with no other inflections: sachyse koosen 'eats and drinks', sachno koosen '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 yoven instead: ne sachyse 7uss yoven kosse boor 'he's eating meat and drinking beer'.

Add the adverb frett to convey the idea of 'but': meedicken frett deej 'tired but happy'.

An alternative X or Y is expressed zyn X zyn Y: zyn razumbre zyn cheen '(either) intelligent or beautiful'. With entire sentences, use zynen:

Se 7enmauk koonen 7y munkmot zynen se 7enmauk koonen rocurart.
You can look for a job or you can look for adventures.

Relative clauses [To Index]

flaid neck lopt 7okry kesst
flaid the-one stole-DEF my wife-ACC
the flaid who stole my knife -- (literally) the flaid, the one who stole...

bodde neck 7okry ferick techte
the recipe my wife likes -- (literally) the recipe, the one my wife likes

naap neckor caarau miip
the day (when) the music died -- (lit.) the day, at that time the music...

teer ninxyd yatt sau7 7emproom
the city where the fun never stops -- (lit.) the city, there the fun...

These can be seen as deriving by a raising transformation:

bodde [7okry ferick techte boddet] bodde neck 7okry ferick techte
a recipe [my wife likes the recipe] a recipe which my wife likes

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.

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:

7ok 7enkoon boddet [neck 7okry ferick techte].
I'm always looking for a recipe [that my wife likes].

7ok 7enkont boddet [neck 7okry ferick techte].
I'm always looking for the recipe [that my wife likes].

Tack voss todbo [neckt boj mattrinelt].
We don't know [who killed the shopkeeper.]

[Neck bitse 7irranattet] 7enze 7y bux flaid.
[Who studies Irreanism] is a wise flaid. It's a wise flaid who studies Irreanism.

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 tim neck..., not *tim neck neck; and "This one who..." is neck vick..., not *neck vick neck. (Another way of looking at these is that they are an extension of headless clauses.)

[Liss neck todse Jeeriot] zeckse ty ne 7enze loost.
Anyone [who knows Jeerio] will say he is lazy.

Sentences as subjects or objects [To Index]

7ok gropse ladbo ty [se 7enze syxesterick].
I watch-ONG see-PART that you be-HAB Syxesteer-ADJ
I perceive (that) [you are from Syxesteer].

Like Verdurian, Flaidish allows ty 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.

[Ty se 7enze 7y trazel] zys sooden 7otinimache.
[That you are a fop] is therefore probable.

Ne zys sooden 7otinimache [ty se 7enze 7y trazel].
It is therefore probable that [you are a fop].

If an entire sentence is the object of a preposition, ty is still required:

7ok vautse lanat, chord ty se7em 7emprott.
I marry-ONG girl-ACC despite that you-her hate-HAB
I will marry the girl, although you hate her.

Comparatives and superlatives [To Index]

Se zys 7abb pansyr ty 7y dex krazerys.
you be-ONG more lovely that a field rose-PL-GEN
You are more lovely than a field of roses.

Sery 7an zys soom 7agasick ty 7y trotmory gru7erys.
Your mother is more annoying than a barnful of owls.

An equal comparison uses a relative clause with the demonstrative neddoz 'to that extent':

Yart zys mell neddoz zys 7y leste7om
fish be-ONG good to-extent be-ONG a restaurant-GEN
The fish is as good as a restaurant's.

Ne voss zepo mell neddoz 7ok gedladse.
It isn't as good as I remember.

The comparison class of a superlative can be given in two ways:

• as the topic: Sooner se zys legcheen, '(among) women, you are the most beautiful'
• as a genitive: legcheen soonerys 'the most beautiful of women'.

Questions [To Index]

Yes/no questions

Jaa7 mellbit 7enromifa seoboji7t?
Does morality prohibit suicide?

Leste7o nivse Jeeriot, zynen voss?
Will the restaurant fire Jeerio?

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 zynen gess ('or yes') if the main verb is negative:

7ubeer ze sittyd vickelit komm, zynen von? Was the 7ubeer in the next room?

Lana voss zepo cepple, zynen gess?
The girl isn't a virgin, is she?

A yes/no question is answered gess 'it is' or voss 'it's not'. It's not necessary to reflect the tense of the main verb, but some writers choose to.

To question a particular component, make it the focus:

Jaa7 sery 7ott ne techyse koosen 7ugaut 7yd teen?
Q your father (T) he like-ONG drink-INF coffee-ACC at night
Is it your father who likes to drink coffee at night?

Jaa7 7ugaut na7em techyse koosen sery 7ott?
Is it coffee your father likes to drink coffee at night?

Jaa7 7yd teen sery 7ott techyse koosen 7ugaut?
Is it at night that your father likes to drink coffee?

Other questions

Neckit chendmorym fedjel zys mill?
this temple's chief be-ONG who
Who is the head priest in this temple?

Ninx jys 7ibror raulyd fold vicken yauj?
there be-ONG book-PL on-LOC floor near-EXT why
Why are there books all over the floor?

Luuker dorfotse miikor?
When will the humans leave?

Se ze 7yd sammen fichet teen 7ollyd?
you be at seven-AND ten-ORD night where
Where were you on the night of the 17th?

Mill doesn't distinguish subject from object (you don't add the accusative -t). If another noun phrase is given, its case will make the role of the interrogative clear, even with different word orders-- e.g. vajat below is in the accusative, so mill must be a subject.

Ne kost mull vajat mill? Who drank the last bottle?
Mull vajat kost mill?
Lott bin veed mill? The stupid creep took what?

When only pronouns are present, one must pay attention to the case forms. E.g. in the first example below, the S-O pronoun ne7es indicates a 3s subject. 2s object; since unknowns are always third person, mill is the subject. In the second example, se7em is 2s subject, 3s object, so mill is the object.

Neller, ne7es modse mill? Who loves you, babe?
Neller, se7em modse mill? Who do you love, babe?

Imperatives [To Index]

Lentet bellackt! Drop the sword!
Viss 7ugaut kospo va. Bring me some coffee.

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:

Jaa7 7ok maukse 7ozen 7y porrt chai7ys?
Q I can-ONG get-AND one cup-ACC tea-GEN
Could I get a cup of tea?

Or the conditional is used, without a consequent:

7ok garse jimpo lin soochiot chezmom.
I if-ONG have-PART two teaspoon-ACC sugar-GEN
If I could have two spoons of sugar.

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.

7ok dordejno 7y pridmot kaanys, 7ejme.
I enjoy-IRR one slice-ACC bread-GEN too
I might enjoy a slice of bread, too.

This by no means exhausts the possibilities; almost any indirect statement can hide a request.

Directions and prepositions [To Index]

Basic prepositions [To Index]

7yd	at
for	toward, about
frind	with, using, in favor of
chord	against, despite
meet	like, similar to
som	without

Adverb [To Index]

Locative [To Index]

Allative [To Index]

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

foot 7ator 7y frej 'go behind a bush' (motion implied allative)
sneep 7atyd 7y frej 'hide behind a bush' (no motion locative).

Extensive [To Index]

7atyd trin 7aten behind the house and on back
sittyd groon sitten inside the forest and further in
geddyd teer 7ellen in front of the city, extending away from it

Ablative [To Index]

List [To Index]

Direction		Locative preposition		Allative preposition
		7yd	at	for	toward
gedd	forwards	geddyd	in front of	geddor	(moving) in front of
7at	backward	7atyd	behind, in back of	7ator	to behind
vuz	back (returning)			vuzor	back to
sitt	inward, inside	sittyd	in, inside of	sittor	into
dor	outward, outside	doryd	outside of	doror	(moving) out of
loll	downward, underneath	lollyd	under, below	lolor	down into
raul	upward, up	raulyd	on, over	raulor	onto
7ut	alongside	7uttyd	next to	7utor	(moving) next to
dret	across	drettyd	across, over	dretor	(moving) across
vick	nearby, close	vickyd	near, close to	vickor	(moving) near
7ell	away	7ellyd	away from	7ellor	(moving) away from
jirys	centerward	jirysyd	in the center of	jirysor	to the center of
fusys	rightward	fusysyd	on the right of	fusysor	to the right of
gerys	leftward	gerysyd	on the left of	gerysor	to the left of
baul	north, left	baulyd	left or north of	baulor	to the north of
tell	south, right	tellyd	south or right of	tellor	to the south of
liit	east	littyd	east of	litor	to the east of
mann	west	mannyd	to the west of	mannor	to the west of

The direction of time [To Index]

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 7atyd dell 'behind noon'.

'Predict' is 7atlad 'see backward', since the future is behind us! Similarly 'remember' is gedlad 'see forward'. Compare also 7atnap 'tomorrow' vs. gednap 'yesterday'.

Direction		Locative preposition		Allative preposition
		7yd	at
gedd	earlier	geddyd	before, earlier than	geddor	since
7at	later	7atyd	after, later than	7ator	until

Examples:

7ok zeck gedd. I was speaking earlier
Se treck 7yd dell. You woke up at noon.

Jeerio treck 7atyd dell. Jeerio woke up after noon.
7ok sau7 koos geddyd dell. I never drink before noon.
Jeerio meed 7ator dell. Jeerio slept until noon.
Ne kosse geddor ty ne treck. He's been drinking since he woke up.

7ok voss kospo 7atyd dell 7aten. I won't drink from this noon onward
Mornsachi7 ze geddyd dellsachi7. Breakfast was earlier than lunch.

Separable verbs [To Index]

foot go gedfoot go forward, dorfoot leave, dretfoot cross, 7elfoot go away, vuzfoot go back
yon come sichon enter, lolyon come down, raulyon come up, vuzyon come back
doob throw 7eldoob discard, dretdoob throw across, vuzdoob throw back
vaav jump sitvaav jump in, dorvaav jump out, vuzvaav jump back
dunn set rauldunn set down
veed take 7utveed pick up, sitveed take in

If the adverb ends in a doubled consonant, it's reduced: 7ell + foot = 7elfoot; sitt + vaav = sitvaav.

The habitual of these verbs follows the pattern adverb + en + root: sittenyon 'always enters'; 7atenfoot 'always returns'; dorenvaav 'always jumps out'.

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.

Ne sichon dorfooten. He came in and went out.

Neva dretdobd pulat. He threw the ball back to me.
Neva dobd pulat dret.
Dret neva dobd pulat.

dor 'out' implies doing something to completion or exhaustion:

dorgeel 'wear out, use up', dorgeet 'burn up', dortaat 'throw open', dordeej 'really enjoy'

dret 'across' suggests outdoing or outcompeting someone:

dretsern 'outrun', dretkoos 'out-eat'

raul 'up' suggests improvisation, lightness, or precipitation:

rauljam 'think up', raullaum 'dream up', raulfoot 'up and leave'

for 'toward' is used for causatives based on adjectives or nouns, or inceptive forms of verbs:

forvadj 'oil up', forfeck 'darken', formunk 'hire'
fornack 'attack', forgonu 'move (one's abode)'

7ell 'away' is the opposite of for, thus meaning 'undo' or 'de-'; it's also used (especially with verbs of motion or names of virtues) to imply corruption or leading astray:

7elpich 'wipe off', 7elvadj 'degrease', 7elgeel 'undress', 7eltaat 'close'
7elzent 'lead astray', 7elmunk 'slack off work', 7elmod 'fall out of love'

References [To Index]

Conventional expressions [To Index]

7opo! Mell re7l. Mell dellaten.
Hello! Good morning. Good afternoon.

Lin koren. Sichon. Yon dommen. 7utoz 7ugaut.
two moment-PL. enter. come sit-AND. accept coffee-ACC.
Hold on. Come in. Sit down. Have some coffee!

yau7es 7achonse 7ok? Mellme. Yonse mill? Vott neck. 7ok 7aullse.
they-you proceed-ONG how? well. come-ONG what? no thing. I deal-ONG.
How are you? Fine. What's happening? Nothing. I'm getting by.

Taaxi7 lereje. Jaa7 7okes maukse skeeten? 7okes 7enforsmeen.
meeting happy. Q I-you can-ONG help-AND. I-you serve-HAB
Pleased to meet you. Can I help you? I'm here to serve.

Prisick nap. Ne zys (toober) fur. Seenitme ninx jys tanick lutt.
pleasant day. it be-ONG (too-much) hot. fortunately here have-ONG sea-ish breeze.
Lovely day. It's (too) hot. At least there's a sea breeze.

Gess. Voss. Zymme. Voss todbo. Jaa7 se maukse bekrejen?
is-true-ONG. not-ONG. maybe. Q you can-ONG re-ask-AND
Yes. No. Maybe. I don't know. Could you repeat the question?

7es precse. 7okry kusmod. 7es precse. 7elneez va. 7ok ze borpo neckor vick.
you beg-ONG. my gratitude. you beg-ONG. excuse me. I was drink-PART then nearby
Please. Thank you. You're welcome. I'm sorry. I was drunk at the time.

Mell passet. Ne ze lerejan. 7ator yovy kor. Jaa7 liss neck zys krogbo?
good visit. it was pleasure. until next time. Q any thing be-ONG break-PART
Goodbye. It's been a pleasure. Till next time. Is anything broken?

Sery neev mill? Se lack miinit? 7ok lack liggoren miffich 7ever.
your name what. you lived how-much? I lived eight-AND twenty year-PL.
What's your name? How old are you? I am 28 years old.

Se yon 7ell 7olor? Neller, se zys naj lellche. 7okes modse.
you came away where-TO. sweetie, you be-ONG very cute-DIM. I-you love-ONG.
Where are you from? Baby, you so fine. I love you.

Time and the calendar [To Index]

Hours are numbered from naffest 'dawn', dell 'noon', nammed 'sunset', or jirten 'midnight':

lin mur naffestys two hours of dawn = 10 a.m.
fell 7obmur dellys three half-hours of noon = 3 p.m.
7y mur nammedys one hour of evening = 8 p.m.

Calendar [To Index]

Market day (paixnap) can vary by town, but usually it's every other greetnap.

It seems fairly clear that the flaids originally had no idea of months (vockiter), but only the four seasons (vocker)-- 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.

season	meaning	month	meaning	Verdurian
7ysfock (spring)	rain-time (spring)	jirysfock	mid-spring	olašu
		7atysfock	after-spring	reli
		curenda	festival	cuéndimar
furvock (summer)	hot-time (summer)	gromnap	long-day	vlerëi
		7atfurvock	after-summer	calo
		gedjosfock	before-fall	recoltë
yosfock (fall)	harvest-time (fall)	jiryosfock	mid-fall	yag
		7achosfock	after-fall	želea
		gedeedvock	before-winter	išire
7edickvock (winter)	cold-time (winter)	fecknap	dark-day	šoru
		7ateedvock	late-winter	froďac
		prommev	end-year	bešana

Names [To Index]

Many names are formed from adjectives or nouns by adding -(i)o for males and -che for females:

bux wise Buxo, Buxche
cheen beautiful Cheenio, Cheenche
deej happy Deejio, Deedje
jeer fat Jeerio, Jeerche
luur round Luurio, Luurche
morn first Mornio, Mornche
nell sweet Nellio