Virtual Verduria

A native grammar of Caďinor

[A picture of Shm Revouse. He is wearing a süpa.]

Rather than post the chapter on Caďinor from Languages of Almea-- one more tediously balanced and linguistically informed overview-- I've decided to post a translation of Pere aluatas i Caďinor, by the Verdurian scholar Šm Fatandor Revouse, published in 3417, and intended for avisar (secondary school) students. It should not be taken as the best Verdurians can do; that would be the scholarly, three-volume Aluatas Šriftanáei Caďinei (University Grammar of Caďinor). I've chosen Revouse because it's popular and typical of Verdurian attitudes toward languages-- it's like a Verdurian Teach Yourself.

I've added the major part of each of Revouse's chapters, minus exercises and readings. I've added commentary in paragraphs like this one-- mostly to present additional material; I assume the reader is capable of discounting Revouse's linguistic naïveté and chauvinism.

I've modified the presentation to make it easy for modern tastes: added paragraph breaks, boldfaced definitions, turned lists into bullet points, used color for emphasis in place of Revouse's bracketing. I also supply Revouse's actual grammatical terms, which are the standard Verdurian terms, though most of them are direct borrowings from Caďinor.

Another page contains some items neglected by Revouse: extended examples; Caďinor-to-Verdurian sound changes; and derivational morphology. A Caďinor lexicon, with comparisons to the daughter languages, is also available.


Contents [To Virtual Verduria]

Introduction to Caďinor  Orthography   Diacritics   Punctuation   The sentence   The chain of being

Adjectives, or expressions of quality   Gender   Number   Case   First,   second,   third declension   Memorizing the forms   Adjectives and nouns   Comparatives   Superlatives   Adjectives from verbs

Nouns, or names of things   Types of nouns   Gender   The word-circles of nouns  Case usage   Trustee nouns [Pronouns]   Pointers   Question words   Quantity words

Relativizers, or expressions of relation   Numbers   Conjunctions   Prepositions

Static verbs, or expressions of state   Infinitive   Present tense   Past tense   Past anterior   Remote present   Remote past   Imperative   Negative   Exceptional verbs

Dynamic verbs, or descriptions of actions   Dynamic definite tenses   Dynamic remote tenses  

Adverbs, or expressions of manner

Sentences, or ensembles of objects acted upon


Introduction to Caďinor [To Index]

[A map of the Caďinorian empire at its height - Z.E. 1683. It reaches from west of the Eärdur to east of Sarnáe.] Caďinor is the language of our great ancestors the Caďinorians, who defeated the demons to form the greatest empire ever seen on Almea. The language we write, though the most sensitive and mellifluous of all the languages of men, is only a debased remnant of great Caďinor; and the language we speak is only a faint echo of what we write. To learn Caďinor is to learn correct speech, persuasive writing, clear thinking, and virtuous living. It is also the pathway to knowledge both ancient and modern, and is understood by educated men wherever Ervëa's legions trod. Because the very structure of Caďinor is that of the world, the language is a perfect reflection of the world, and thoughts expressed in Caďinor, of all languages, are the truest to reality and the freest of corruption.

It goes without saying that no student will advance in religion, in philosophy, in law, in alchemy, in medicine, or in diplomacy, without a thorough knowledge of Caďinor; nor should the education of a noble or a scholar be considered complete without it. To lack this language is to lack a world.

The best Caďinor is that of the mature Empire, from the reign of Benoras (1392) to the murder of Ďalir (2107), the greatest models being from the golden age from Ervëa's victory in Ctésifon (1624) till the civil war (1894). Excellent Caďinor was still written after this point, including of course the Aďivro (completed 2350), but in this period we find increasingly lax standards, jarring vocabulary, and sylistic excesses.

Orthography [To Index]

The alphabet of Caďinor is that of Verdurian, with some variations in the letters:

u a o e i k p c b g d s th z t ď r ȟ l m f n v h

The letters sh ch zh rh (š č ž ř) are not used in Caďinor.

The sound of th (ť), called ten, is that of ď, but without voicing. Note that the letters b g z ď v have the same forms as p c s ť f, but without the voicing mark ~ [vuáë]. The vuáë indicates that a letter is pronounced with a buzzing in the throat; its absence indicates the letter is pronounced whispered, without this buzzing.

The sound of h (h), called , is the sound of a heavy sigh; it is very similar to how the people of Ctésifon pronounce the letter kh (Verdurian h). If you simply expel your breath, you will pronounce an h.

The sound of kh (ȟ) is not pronounced as in Ctésifon, nor is it silent as in our language, but has a heavy gargling sound. The people of Barakhún still pronounce this letter in this way. Once you can pronounce h, you can learn to pronounce ȟ by moving the tongue forward until the breath sounds loud and turbulent.

Every letter in a Caďinor word is pronounced, including difficult combinations as in PTOCOS 'block', CTOVOS 'roof'. There are no silent letters like our h (h), and no letters which can be used ambiguously, such as i and y, or ye and ë.

The following chart may supplement Revouse's (generally accurate) descriptions. IPA equivalents are in red, transliterations in black.

CONSONANTS Labial stops: p b [p b]; dental stops: t d [t d]; velar stops: c g [k g]; uvular stops: k [q]; labial fricatives: f v [f v]; dental fricatives: th ď [θ ð]; alveolar fricatives: s z [s z]; velar fricatives: ȟ [x]; glottal fricatives: h [h]; labial nasals: m [m]; alveolar nasals: n [n]; dental liquids: l [l]; alveolar liquids: r [ɹ]; VOWELS i [i] (close front), u [u] (close back), e [e, ɛ] (open-mid/close-mid front), o [o, ɔ] (open-mid/close-mid back); a [a] (open front)

See the Verdurian grammar for the distinction between C and K. R is an approximant, as in British English; L is always clear, not dark; Ť is the initial sound in 'thin', Ď that in 'this'.

Revouse, focussing on letters, does not describe allophonic contrasts, such as between open and closed E and O. In classical Caďinor, these vowels are open (ɛ, ɔ as in 'pet, caught') in medial CV syllables and before final N and L, and closed (as in 'late, boat') elsewhere. Thus LEBES, SCOSOS, CTANEN, CALO = [lɛ bes, scɔ sos, kta nɛn, ka lo].

Also note that I and U represent semivowels before another vowel: thus IONIES = [jɔ njes], ȞUPUA = [xu pwa].

The order of the alphabet was established by the Emperor Antavon, along with the names of the letters:

IU IA O
IE I EK
PE CES BE GES DAȞ
SAS ŤEN ZAS TEN ĎAȞ
RA ȞOŤ LA
ME FAS NE VAS HEK

The only true Caďinorian letters are the majuscules, the ancient and correct forms of the letters. The minuscules are approximations of the Caďinorian letters used for speed of writing during the Dark Years.

Diacritics [To Index]

In the late Classical era, we find diacritics used to abbreviate words, chiefly combinations of vowels.

These alterations were soon joined by many others, and confused by bad pronunciation, chaotic standards, and the laziness of scribes. They therefore belong more to the darkness of medievalism than to the classical era, and the student should be prepared to recognize them, but not to employ them.

Punctuation [To Index]

The earliest punctuation mark, already found in the late classical period, was the kešaš ,, which as its name implies, marks a stop or pause. It was originally used to mark any sort of a hiatus; later the end of a sentence was marked by doubling it ., the bolyáše kešaš.

Our exclamation and interrogation marks !?, and similarly the apposition marks < > belong strictly to the Dark Years and were never used in classical Caďinor. Nonetheless the interrogation mark ? (cues) is used in modern editions of Caďinor works, because of the clarity it affords.

The sentence [To Index]

Here is a sentence in Caďinor:
MEĎOS PIDOR SNUCET.
MEĎOS PIDOR SNUCET.
Meď imure piram zië.
A son obeys his father.

What can we see about this sentence? First, some of the words resemble our own. MEĎOS is the original form of the word which in our language has worn down to meď. The same is true of PIDOR and piro. Many Verdurian words are similar to the Caďinor, and some are identical. No other language is as close to Caďinor as the speech of Verduria province.

We have the word SNUCAN, but it means only to serve in the way of a snugá ['servant']. In Caďinor SNUCAN meant the same as imuran ['obey']. Very often the meaning of a Verdurian word has been debased from its Caďinor original. Your teacher will point these instances out to you; or you can consult a lexicon of Caďinor, which will define every word in terms of its Verdurian equivalent.

If we used the word snucan in this context, we would say snuce. The Caďinor form is SNUCET, with an additional -t. In the Dark Years, people through laziness began to simplify the forms of words; but in learning Caďinor we must restore them to their original purity. Verdurian has not simplified words as much as its neighboring languages, Barakhinei and Ismaîn; and Sarroc to the east has worn them down even further.

The order of the words is different: the verb, SNUCET, comes at the end. Good stylists in Verdurian still often place the verb at the end, because it is the most logical arrangement of the sentence. First we discuss the actors in the sentence, and then we discuss the action; moreover, the most important element of a sentence, its king as it were, is the verb, and in Caďinor this is put in the place of honor where it will remain strongest in the listener's mind: at the end.

Finally we remark that the Verdurian word zië is absent. This is not because Caďinor does not possess the word, for it does (ZEHIE). But it is not strictly speaking necessary-- naturally we are speaking of the boy's own father-- and so Caďinor omits it. In this case we see a keynote of good Caďinor style, which is brevity.

The chain of being [To Index]

Without the light of philosophy, we might assume that the world consists of "things" only. Imagine, however, what a world consisting only of "things" would be like! It would be static, because it would consist only of objects, without change or movement; and it would be undifferentiated, because everything was the same thing-- a "thing".

Rather, philosophy teaches us that the world consists of six levels of being:

These are arranged in a scale of value. An object is greater than a mere quality, which cannot exist on its own. A relation is greater than the objects it relates, for it imposes structure and mutuality on the world. States are greater than mere relations, for they introduce the aspect of time. Actions bring change and movement, and are superior to all that came before, in the way that a living thing is superior to a dead one. And manners of action are the highest of all, for they alone bestow judgment and virtue, the highest facilities of mankind.

In the same way, a child coming into the world first perceives qualities (such as bright or yellow or painful or hungry); then it recognizes persons and other objects; then it begins to understand the relations between them; then it understands their states and actions; and finally, as it matures, it learns to make judgments on the manner of their acting.

The structure of Caďinor is that of the world:

We will consider each of these in turn.

Adjectives, or expressions of quality [To Index]

An adjective (etalóg) names a quality or property of a thing, such as ZOL (strong), FLAVES (yellow), ȞALTES (tall), MUSCES (many), or VIRNIS (loyal). As we have noted, these are the first perceptions of an infant, who senses that things are such a way even before it can attach these impressions to particular objects.

An adjective does not stand on its own, but refers to a noun, either by direct modification (VIRNIS BELOR, a loyal friend) or by predication (BELOR VIRNIS ES, a friend is loyal).

Gender [To Index]

As the world is divided into things which are male, female, or neither, so is Caďinor. This is one way in which Verdurian has fallen from the initial purity of Caďinor; we have confounded the masculine and neuter genders. Ismaîn is a weaker language still, having lost gender entirely. Masculine, neuter, and feminine are called genders (dinë [= 'one third']), because each contains a third of the vocabulary and of the world.

Thus, we say:

PONOS ZOL ES. The warrior is strong. (cer, masculine)
CALO ZOLO ES. The heat is strong. (suy, neuter)
SAEA ZOLA ES. The woman is strong. (ionile, feminine)

Number [To Index]

It is essential to know if we are referring to one object or many; thus adjectives and nouns indicate number (dimo). ZOL/ZOLA/ZOLO are singular forms; the plural forms are ZOLIT/ZOLET/ZOLOI.
PONIT ZOLIT SONT. The warriors are strong. (masculine)
CALOI ZOLOI SONT. The heats are strong. (neuter)
SAEET ZOLET SONT. The women are strong. (feminine)

Case [To Index]

As in Verdurian, an adjective takes distinct forms, according to the role its referent plays in the action. We customarily arrange these forms in a word-circle (loglaun):
ZOL
ZOL ZOLEI
ZOLOŤ ZOLAN

The top side (cot) of the circle is of course its most perfect location, and here we place the nominative case (etamizë cot), which is the form of a thing in its highest state: either independent, or actively dominating other things.

The right side of the circle is powerful, representing an object's strengths: the genitive (tenec) represents ownership or lordship, while the dative (prenec) is used when an object receives goods, or is the target of motion.

The left side of the circle is weak; here we place the accusative (opfëe), which is used when the object suffers action at the hand of another, and the ablative (sadas) is used when an object loses goods, or is the source of motion.

The more perfect a being, the more it resides on the right side of the circle. Thus the gods may see us or kill us, but we do not see them or kill them. When we do interact with them, we use the dative: we make sacrifices to them, we speak to them, we make entreaties to them.

The bottom side of the circle, like the bottom of a wheel, implies movement. Movement away from the object requires the ablative; movement toward the object requires the dative.

In Verdurian we have all of these cases except the ablative. Ismaîn has just three cases, while Barakhinei has four cases in the singular, but only three in the plural.

The first declension [To Index]

An adjective has thirty possible forms, representing the combination of gender, number, and case. Here are the full circles for the adjective ZOL:
Singular Masculine Neuter Feminine
ZOL ZOLO ZOLA
ZOL ZOLEI ZOLOM ZOLOI ZOLAA ZOLAE
ZOLOŤ ZOLAN ZOLOŤ ZOLON ZOLAD ZOLAN
Plural Masculine Neuter Feminine
ZOLIT ZOLOI ZOLET
ZOLI ZOLIE ZOLOIM ZOLOIE ZOLEIM ZOLEIE
ZOLIŤ ZOLIN ZOLOIŤ ZOLOIN ZOLEID ZOLEIN

If you compare these forms to the Verdurian zol, you will see many similarities, but also differences. We do not have the neuter or ablative forms at all. The singular forms have not greatly changed, except that we write zolán instead of ZOLAN for the masculine dative; zola for ZOLAA and zole for ZOLAE in the feminine. You may find the neuter forms easier to learn if you think of Verdurian nouns ending in -o.

Not all adjectives decline like ZOL; this is only the first of three adjectival declensions [lit., circles]. It is generally used for very basic qualities, such as UIL (old), AER (south), KAR (happy), SUL (alone), SAR (east), ZOL (strong), TEL (west), TIL (each), MAL (bad), NAN (north). Verdurian consonantal adjectives derive from this declension.

The second declension [To Index]

The second declension contains most of the adjectives of Caďinor, such as ALETES 'high', BREVES 'short', GARESMES 'sensible', SUESTES 'sixth', ZONRES 'yearly', ĎAHES 'correct', LARGES 'wide', MUSCES 'many'. Verdurian adjectives in -e or derive from this declension.

Here are the circles for ALETES:
Singular Masculine Neuter Feminine
ALETES ALETE ALETIES
ALETE ALETEI ALETEM ALETEI ALETEA ALETIAE
ALETEŤ ALETEN ALETEŤ ALETEN ALETED ALETEN
Plural Masculine Neuter Feminine
ALETEIT ALETEI ALETET
ALETEI ALETEIE ALETEIM ALETEIE ALETEIM ALETEIE
ALETEIŤ ALETEIN ALETEIŤ ALETEIN ALETEID ALETEIN

For ease of memorization, note:

The third declension [To Index]

The third declension contains a number of ordinary qualities such as ORIS 'round', ILIS 'shiny', GLINIS 'long', DOLIS 'hollow', SCEHIS 'every', TECNIS 'narrow', HAUPIS 'tight'; but it is largely used for adjectives derived from other words: ADCRENIS 'deeply felt' from CRENIS 'guts', CLECNIS 'miserly' from CLEȞ 'fist', DECTIS 'tenth', DITRIS 'innocent' from DITOS 'baby', BUNAIĎRIS 'godforsaken', RUȞRIS 'fast', ȞRABRIS 'courageous'. Verdurian adjectives in -y derive from this declension.

Here are the circles for ILIS:
Singular Masculine Neuter Feminine
ILIS ILIS ILIS
ILI ILII ILIM ILII ILIA ILIE
ILIŤ ILIN ILIŤ ILIN ILID ILIN
Plural Masculine Neuter Feminine
ILUIT ILUI ILIAT
ILUI ILUIE ILUIM ILUIE ILIAM ILIAE
ILUIŤ ILUIN ILUIŤ ILUIN ILIAD ILIAN

Memorizing the forms [To Index]

The best way to learn the forms is not to individually memorize each possible ending, of which there are ninety, but to learn the patterns.

The basic pattern of the oblique (non-nominative) forms is ROOT + STEM + FINAL.

Note that the masculine accusative is usually shorter than the nominative; this is because to be acted upon diminishes a male, while to act enhances him.

Here are the endings for all three declensions repeated, with exceptions highlighted.

1st declension 2nd declension 3rd declension
m n f m n f m n f
s. - o a    es e ies    is is is
- ei om oi aa ae e ei em ei ea iae i ii im ii ia ie
an on ad an en en ed en in in id in
m n f m n f m n f
pl. it oi et eit ei et uis ui iat
i ie oim oie eim eie ei eie eim eie eim eie ui uie uim uie iam iae
in oiť oin eid ein eiť ein eiť ein eid ein uiť uin uiť uin iad ian
The eight highlighted endings are the only exceptional forms. The 2nd declension neuter singular nominative has the right vowel, but lacks the expected -S final. The other irregularities all have the correct final, but an unexpected stem: We may also compare the Caďinor endings to those of our own language:
1st declension 2nd declension 3rd declension
m f m f m f
s. - a    e e    y y
- ei a e em ei a ei im ii ya ye
án an en en ín yan
m f m f m f
pl. î î î î î î
i em ië em em ië om yem y
in en ein en uin yen

The forms in black are the same as in Caďinor, with some spelling changes (e.g. is the same as EIE, since we do not use ë in Caďinor).

Unexpected vowels or consonants are shown in red. In several instances, -m has been generalized into accusatives which did not have it in Caďinor; in others, vowels have been simplified, or borrowed from another gender.

Forms in green have lost the nominative -S. Most of these have the correct vowel, however.

Adjectives and nouns [To Index]

An adjective always refers to a noun, whether directly (PONOS ZOL) or predicatively (PONOS ZOL ES). The normal position of a adjective is after the noun it qualifies.

As in Verdurian, an adjective matches its noun in number, gender, and case:

NECET MUDRAIAT PIDOR MELI AMARIT.
Mesî mudraî ontu lon dobren piron.
Wise daughters esteem a good father.

NECET and MUDRAIAT are both feminine plural nominatives; PIDOR and MELI are both masculine singular accusatives.

Comparatives [To Index]

To ascribe qualities to things is to perceive, which is a function of the understanding (leria); with the higher facility of the intellect (razum) we make judgments. Reflecting the importance of judgment, Caďinor has a separate comparative form for use in comparing one thing to another.

The comparative (valtec) is formed as follows:

Declension m. nom. sing. Comparative
1 ZOL ZOLOR
2 ALETES ALETEĎES
3 ILIS ILIOR
Exceptional forms
'good' MELIS MELIOR
'bad' DURENGES AVECOR

The comparatives in -OR decline as 1st declension adjectives; those in -EĎES, as 2nd declension.

Here are some sample comparative expressions:

ATRABIONOŤ BOLGEĎES ES ATRABANTOS.
The Empire is larger than the Emperor.

SCUSTILE VIRNIS MELIOR ZONNIŤ GLINUIŤ DISCLAETECIE ES.
A loyal death is better than the long years of a traitor.

ZONNIT GLINUIT DISCLAETECIE AVECORIT SCUSTILED VIRNID SONT.
The long years of a traitor are worse than a loyal death.

KRASEID LUREĎEN KIRAN MARETEIS.
You will marry a wife more beautiful than roses.

In each of these we see that the comparative agrees in number, case, and gender with the object which is superior in that quality, and that the inferior object is expressed in the ablative (one of the inferior left-hand-side cases). The two objects may be listed in any order.

Superlatives [To Index]

To compare is only the first step in judgment: the perfection of judgment is to state an absolute, to find the item which excels the most in its particular quality. This also is reflected in Caďinor, by means of the superlative (perunec).

The superlative is formed as follows. It declines as a 2nd declension adjective.

Declension m. nom. sing. Superlative
1 ZOL ZOLASTES
2 ALETES ALETASCES
3 ILIS ILISCES
Exceptional forms
'good' MELIS MELASTES
'bad' DURENGES AVESTES

Here are some sample sentences featuring superlatives:

ELORION BERACRASCES URESTUIE ES.
The king is the most glorious of men.

GINET ESTALDEI LURASCET ALAMEIAD SONT.
The women of the Plain are the most beautiful on Almea.

TISISCEM GLABROM TENI.
I will have the sharpest sword.

The superlative agrees with the object deemed most superior in number, case, and gender. The class from which the comparison is drawn (e.g. 'of men' in the first example) is placed in the genitive plural (not the ablative, because it is no vice for something simply not to hold the very first rank).

Weak writers give in to the temptation to claim first rank for what is merely superior. Do not call a man MUDRAISCES ('most wise') if he is merely very wise, but only if he is truly the wisest of those he is compared to.

Adjectives from verbs [To Index]

From every verb, three participles (mevdonecî) may be formed. They are declined as regular adjectives.

For verbs in -EC add -ILES; for verbs in -IR add -IC; otherwise -EC.

For verbs in -EC or -ER, add -EL; otherwise -UL.

For verbs in -EC or -ER, add -IM; otherwise -AUM.

Nouns, or names of things [To Index]

Types of nouns [To Index]

In ordinary language, a name (nom) refers directly to a person, such as Albes or Londrot. In grammar, however, these are only one of the types of nouns:

Gender [To Index]

[Fresco of girls playing, ZE 1705] In Verdurian, there are masculine (cer) and feminine (ionile) nouns, and this seems to us an obvious division of the world. Can something be male and female? We know that it cannot.

Yet here Caďinor shows its greater perfection and logic, for of course something can be neither male nor female-- it can be neither (suy). This is why we call gender dinë, or one-third, because each of the three genders of Caďinor covers one third of the possible gender states.

When it comes to human beings or to the higher animals, the Caďinor word of course matches the object in gender. Many inhuman objects are also, as one would expect, neuter.

Masculine Feminine Neuter
PONOS strong man, warrior
ELORION king
AIĎOS god
SAEA woman
ELOREIS queen
AIĎA goddess
URESTU human being
DASCO animal
PIDOR father
MEĎOS son
MIDRA mother
NECA daugher
FORIDEC stallion
BOUNOS bull
VERAŤOS boar
KRESOS male dog
IUMENTA mare
BOUNA cow
TROIA sow
BAETERA female dog

Many words have a gender one might not expect. However, on reflection, the Caďinor gender will always be seen to reflect the inner nature of the object.

Almost always, when a Verdurian word descends from the Caďinor, the gender is the same. In just a few instances we have erroneously changed the gender, such as the flower NUELEN, now nölne; FRAGAS strawberry, now fraga; PEOS peace, now ; KLESCA clash, now kleš; SCAGANTOS emptiness, now šagati in the sense of pudendum.

The word-circles of nouns [To Index]

There are three declensions (loglaunî) of masculine nouns:
Singular First Second Third
AIĎOS AESTAS
OȞEI AIĎ AIĎEI AESTA AESTAI
OȞOŤ OȞAN AIĎOŤ AIĎAN AESTAŤ AESTAN
Plural First Second Third
OȞIT AIĎIT AESTAIT
OȞI OȞIE AIĎI AIĎIE AESTAI AESTAIE
OȞIŤ OȞIN AIĎIŤ AIĎIN AESTAIŤ AESTAIN
There are four declensions of neuter nouns:
Singular First Second Third Fourth
CITRO URESTU FUELIS MANUS
CITROM CITROI URESTUM URESTUI FUELIM FUELII MANO MANOI
CITROŤ CITRON URESTUŤ URESTUN FUELIŤ FUELIN MANUŤ MANUN
Plural First Second Third Fourth
CITROI URESTUI FUELUI MANUIT
CITROIM CITROIE URESTUIM URESTUIE FUELUIM FUELUIE MANUI MANUIE
CITROIŤ CITROIN URESTUIŤ URESTUIN FUELUIŤ FUELUIN MANUIŤ MANUIN

There are three declensions of feminine nouns:

Singular First Second Third
AIĎA UNGE SURIS
AIĎAA AIĎAE UNGEA UNGEI SURIA SURIE
AIĎAD AIĎAN UNGED UNGEN SURID SURIN
Plural First Second Third
AIĎET UNGET SURIAT
AIĎEIM AIĎEIE UNGEIM UNGEIE SURIAM SURIAE
AIĎEID AIĎEIN UNGEID UNGEIN SURIAD SURIAN

Case usage [To Index]

In general Verdurian uses cases in the correct way: However, Verdurian has lost the ablative, and this has destroyed the perfection and symmetry of our case system, leaving us ignorant of the true relationship of the cases. The dative is an isolated and piteous thing, without its twin and peer, the ablative; and unaware of this relationship, how can we understand the similar pairing of accusative and genitive?

The ablative is used for the one who gives away (PONOS BELACAA TENES VIRAȞOŤ, the warrior has the sword from an enemy), for the source of action (TIPELILED CTANAE, it came from the stable), or for a person's status, role, or origin (PONOS MASCIONOŤ, the warrior as master; TIPEL PARENEID, a horse from the mountains).

The last usage is of course unfamiliar to us; the following examples should then be studied. The last two examples use the remote tense, to be discussed below. This implies futurity or potentiality, and it will be seen that constructions of this sort replace our own expressions using the word 'if'.

SUMERIC PROBRECOŤ, CAĎINOR SCRIFIM.
With the teacher as our guide, we learn Caďinor.

AERIVILEAS ATRABIONOŤ, CRETEIT ESAM.
With Ervëa as our emperor, we are happy.

AERIVILEAS ATRABIONOŤ, VIOCTEIM VENCETUM.
With Ervëa as our emperor, we will defeat the demons.

KIRA MASCEID, AIĎOTAUBREL SUBREMET.
If the wife is master, ruin will follow.

We are used to express geographic origin using the genitive (uestu erei, a man of the south); but this is the proper role of the ablative, which represents origins; in Caďinor we write URESTU AEROŤ.

We are also used to expressions of time using the dative alone: nochín 'at night'. The proper expression, even in Verdurian, is de nochín, and this is the only correct expression in Caďinor: DE NOCTUN. In all time expressions, the preposition must be explicitly expressed.

When noun usurps a verb's role in representing action, the subject is expressed by the genitive and the object acted upon by the dative. Thus ELORION MACTANAA VENCAE, the king conquered the city, but VENCEIO ELORIONEI MACTANAN, the king's conquest of the city.

The treatment of possession will be clear to the Verdurian reader but not, perhaps, to us. To the (imperial) Caďinorians the genitive implied possession, and thus superiority. Thus you can write TIPEL SANNOI 'the lord's horse', but it would be insulting to write SANNO GIEI 'the boy's lord', as if the lord belonged to the boy. You must write SANNO GION, 'lord to the boy'.

Trustee nouns [Pronouns] [To Index]

Trustee nouns (nomî promevecî) are nouns of vague meaning, which for the sake of brevity can substitute for more precise nouns, or entire expressions.

The simplest of these are those that refer to the speaker (SEO); to a group including the speaker (TAS), to the listener (LET), to a group including the listener (MUȞ), or to another party (singular TU, plural CAI).

'I' 'thou' 'he/she'
SEO LET TU
EAE EK LEAE TUA TUAE
ED SEON LEŤ LUN TOŤ TUN
'we' 'you' 'they'
TAS MUȞ CAI
TAIM TAIE MUIM MUIE CAIM CAIE
TAD TAUN MUOŤ MUIN CAIŤ CAIN
The similarity to our own trustee nouns will be evident, except for tu, which for us refers only to an indefinite person, a definite person being referenced with il 'he' or ila 'she'. Caďinor is more logical in this area, for if we do not distinguish between the genders in the plural (ca), why should we do so in the singular?

The genitive forms are not used for direct possession; rather, we use the possessive adjectives ERIS my, TANDES our, LERIS thy, MUNDES your, TURIS his or her, CAIRIS their. These adjectives offer more clarity, since they are declined to match the noun they refer to: for example, in BELACA LERIA VULU 'I want your sword', LERIS is accusative and feminine.

Like Verdurian, Caďinor has a reflexive pronoun, used when the subject of the action is also its object. This pronoun has no nominative form.

singular plural
ZEŤ ZEHIE ZAHAM ZAHIE
ZEHOŤ ZEHUN ZAHAŤ ZAHAN
As in Verdurian, it is not necessary to supply a pronoun when the person is clearly indicated by the verb, unless emphasis is desired: SEO ANELLOM PRENEMAI, I myself will take the ring.
Again, Verdurian readers need little explanation of the reflexive. The sticking point for English speakers is likely to be the genitive: we can say "The king praised his name," where the king may be praising his own name or that of another. In Caďinor we distinguish ELORION NOM ZEHIE EGLERAE 'the king praised his own name' from ELORION NOM TUAE EGLERAE 'the king praised his (someone else's) name.'

Pointers [To Index]

A particular class of trustee nouns are those which are used to indicate (kazec) which of a class of objects we are referring to; they are thus called kansilî, pointers. There are two sets of pointers, those indicating a near object, and those indicating a far one.

The following pointers are used in conjunction with a noun, and thus behave like adjectives, as in AELU LOGOS 'this word', ILLAE SAEAE 'of that woman', AELON SANNON 'to that lord'. Our equivalents are invariable prefixes, ci- ['this'] and ce- ['that'], so you must remember to decline the Caďinor words.

Near ('this')
Masculine Neuter Feminine
AELU AELO AELA
AELEŤ AELUI AELOR AELOI AELEA AELAE
AELOŤ AELUN AELOŤ AELON AELAD AELAN
Far ('that')
Masculine Neuter Feminine
ILLU ILLO ILLA
ILLEŤ ILLUI ILLO ILLOI ILLEA ILLAE
ILLOŤ ILLUN ILLOŤ ILLON ILLAD ILLAN

The words AETTOS and TOTOS are used in place of a more specific noun: AETTOT VULU 'I want this one'; TOT LEILINES 'Did you see that one?' They are regular masculine nouns, since they refer to SCOSOS 'thing', which is masculine.

Near ('this one') Far ('that one')
AETTOS TOTOS
AETTOT AETTEI TOT TOTEI
AETTOŤ AETTAN TOTOŤ TOTAN

In late Caďinor, ILLU / ILLO / ILLA are used alone, referring to a previously mentioned person or object. The classical grammarians rightly condemn this practice as a barbarism, pointing out that if no noun is present, only AETTOS or TOTOS is correct. However, when learning was lost or ignored, during the Dark Years, this barbarism spread, and it is the reason we say ilu and ila today. The Barakhinei are more correct in this one regard, since they use continue to use derivatives of AETTOS and TOTOS. Sometimes we find that the classical virtues persist in backward lands when they have been lost in more sophisticated realms.

Another late Caďinor practice we must deprecate is the use of SOH 'aforementioned' in the sense of our so, as a definite article. We are so used to our article that, reading such late, corrupted authors, many a student is aware of nothing wrong and imitates the bad usage. It does take some time to get used to the correct classical usage, where ELORION may mean 'king', 'a king', or 'the king'. In most cases there is no need for the distinction we make. Where there is, Caďinor expresses it by sentence order (previous referents come first in the sentence) or through the remote mood (used among other purposes to make a description indefinite).

The words AECTA and CESTA refer to locations. They are regular feminine nouns, since they refer to NAURE 'place', which is feminine.

Near ('here') Far ('there)
AECTA CESTA
AECTAA AECTAE CESTAA CESTAE
AECTAD AECTAN CESTAD CESTAN

Finally we will mention the pointers relating to time, NUNC 'now' and ANCE 'then'.

Question words [To Index]

Clearly, if we do not know one of the actors in a situation, we cannot refer to it with their proper description; we must use a trustee noun. For questions we use a special class of trustee nouns, the interrogatives (curesecî).
'who' (sing.) 'what' 'where'
KAE KETTOS KEDIE
KAEŤ KAIE KETTOT KETTEI KEDIA KEDIEI
KAEŤ KAEN KETTOŤ KETTAN KEDID KEDIEN
'who' (pl.)
KAHE
KAHAM KAHIE
KAHAŤ KAHAN

We use KAE when we are asking about the involvement of a person; KETTOS about the involvement of a thing. Only KAE has plural forms. These declensions follow neuter patterns, since they can refer to persons or things of any gender.

KEDIE asks about location; like AECTA/CESTA, its declension is essentially feminine.

The other question words are KET 'which' (used with a following noun), KEDA 'when', KENSA 'how', and SCOLI 'how much'.

The question words are normally placed first in the sentence:

KAEŤ ELORION EGLERU?
Whom did the king praise?

KETTOT IM MISCUN NACITEIS?
What are you carrying in the bag?

KEDIEN KIRA ERIS LAUDAE?
Where did my wife go?

SCOLI SONT MORUŤIT?
How much are the carrots?

Question words are also used to form descriptive phrases: ELORION KAE AIĎI CALPIT, a king who reveres the gods; MACTANA KEDIE BELOR ERIS LACET, the city where my friend lives.

Such phrases may occur without a main verb; this is rare in Verdurian.

KAHAM MONNINSONT AIĎIT BENGIT.
(Those) who work hard, the gods bless.

KEDIEN AȞGAETILE SUBRAN BUEPES LAUDAI.
I am going where revenge cannot follow.

Quantity words [To Index]

The final category of trustee nouns is used when we want to emphasize the quantity or percentage of persons or objects were involved in an action. Since we are interested in how many (SCOLI), these words are called scolisecî.
'no one' 'someone' 'everyone'
NIKTOS NIES PSIAT
NIKTOT NIKTEI NIET NIEI PSIAT PSIE
NIKTOŤ NIKTAN NIEŤ NIEN PSIAD PSIAN
'nothing' 'something' 'everything'
NISIOS ŤISIOS PSIES
NISIOT NISIEI ŤISIOT ŤISIEI PSIET PSIEI
NISIOŤ NISIAN ŤISIOŤ ŤISIAN PSIEŤ PSIEN
'nowhere' 'somewhere' 'everywhere'
NIKUDA ŤIKEDIE PSUDA
NIKUDAA NIKUDAE ŤIKEDIA ŤIKEDIEI PSUDAA PSUDAE
NIKUDAD NIKUDAN ŤIKEDID ŤIKEDIEN PSUDAD PSUDAN
Words relating to time: NIKEDA 'never', ŤIKEDA 'sometimes', PSIEKEDA 'always'.

The word-circles of NIKTOS, NISIOS, ŤISIOS follow the same pattern as AETTOS. NIKUDA and PSUDA are regular feminine nouns. ŤIKEDIE follows KEDIE. NIES and PSIES are like masculine adjectives in -ES, except that the accusative ends in -ET. Only PSIAT has a distinctive circle of its own.

SCEHIS 'every' and SUIS 'not any' are regular adjectives, unlike our invariant prefixes shi- and rho. Thus they must be declined by case, number, and gender: SCEHIN URESTUN to every man; MALNEICA SUIAE LENKEIE a sickness of no remedies.

Relativizers, or expressions of relation [To Index]

To refer to one thing is less noble than to compare two things, to indicate their mutual relations. The type of word which does this is called a raspuyec, because it enables one word to lean against [ras-puye] another.

Numbers [To Index]

The simplest relation of objects is to belong to a group of their own kind, graded by number (hicet). The ten basic numbers of Caďinor match the number of fingers on the two hands.
AN ĎUN ĎIN PAHOR PANŤ SUEST ȞAEP IOCI NEBRI DECT
[Enäron (Caď. Endauron) vanquishing a ktuvok. 6C bas-relief, Enocur]

AN is one or unity, the individual. A thing which is one is sovereign, whole; and yet it may be considered defective, alone, because the things of the universe belong together in groups. A man who is one, without wife or lord, is a pitiable thing. As a quantity, one is the minutest; yet in order or hierarchy, one is the highest, and the first of any series, PERUES, is the noblest. There is one chief god, Enäron, who is the equal of all the rest.

ĎUN is two or a pair. Two is the minimum number to form a community-- or a division. There are two forms of virtue, individual holiness (seorát) and social harmony (elut). The day is divided in two, day and night; the earth is divided into land and sea. A man and a woman together make two, and our own bodies are divided into twos: eyes, ears, arms, breasts, buttocks, testicles, legs, and feet. The next in order after the first is PTORES, the second. A division into two forms METUIS, one half.

ĎIN is three or a trinity. There are three Fates (gaieî) which determine our lives; in the Cuzeian religion, three gods. There are three moons, and three Ages of Almea. There are three genders of nouns (masculine, feminine, and neuter). Its order is TMERES, the third. A division into three forms DIMAGAU, one third.

PAHOR is four. Four is a divine number, the number of the seasons, the directions, the ages of the body , and the parts of the soul. Because of this, it and the smaller numbers are declined as adjectives; the higher numbers are invariable. Students must remember to write PAHORET GINET 'four maidens', although in Verdurian we write par zhinî. Animals have four legs, while we have four toes on each foot, and four fingers on each hand excluding the thumb. There were four peoples in ancient times: the Caďinorians to the south; the Cuzeians to the west; the Monkhayu to the north; and the demon worshippers to the east. The order of four is TIETNES, the fourth. A division into four forms BARGAU, a quarter.

PANŤ is five. It is the number of digits on our hands, the number of cases in the noun, and the number of years in a kasten (leap year) cycle. Its order is PANTES.

SUEST is six. There are six levels of being, six senses, six parts of speech, six forms for each circle of a verb, Six Sentences of commandment, six colors in the spectrum, and six hours in each of the day's quarters. The Cuzeian week was six days long. Its order is SUESTES.

ȞAEP is seven. It is another sacred number: there are seven elements (ftaconî) in the physical world, seven temperaments in the spiritual world, seven Thinking Kinds, seven planets, seven days in a week. Its order is ȞAEPES.

IOCI is eight. There are eight forms of verbal art: pomäe (chronicle), racont (story), šant (song), cevai (chant), ralinë (play), kallogi (speech), onemu (treatise), and curayora (argument). In Caďinorian society there were eight ranks of men (emperor, prince, governor, prefect, count, headman, citizen, and slave). There are similarly eight ranks in the old religion (patriarch, primate, high curate, curate, vicar, priest, acolyte, and layman). Its order is IOCRIS.

NEBRI is nine. It is a sinister number, since it is one less than ten, a full number; it is the number of defect and of deception. There were nine conspirators in the Red Cabal. Its order is NEBRIS.

DECT is ten. It is the basis of numeration and arithmetic, and the number of digits on both hands, making a full man. There are ten meguî in an hour. Its order is DECTIS.

[11 - 19] The next numbers are formed by adding DECT to the number minus ten. The most important of these are DECT ER ĎUN 'twelve', as there are twelve gods, twelve months in the year, and twelve forms of a noun; and DECT ER IOCI 'eighteen', the number of digits on a man's hands and feet together. The ancient Monkhayu counted by eighteens (ORANDET), and this is still a custom in Ismahi. DECT ER ȞAEP 'seventeen' is another sinister number.

[20 - 90] The multiples of ten are formed with shortened forms of the numbers:

PTEDECT TMEDECT TIEDECT PANDECT SUESDECT IEDECT IODECT NERDECT

Between these numbers one simply adds the remainder: PTEDECT AN, PTEDECT ĎUN, etc.

SECAŤ is ten tens or one hundred. This is a noun and is declined as such, the object counted being placed in the genitive: one says SECAŤ URESTUIE KEKEVUT 'he had one hundred men put to death'.

The multiples of one hundred are formed with the abbreviated numbers:

PTESECAŤ TMESECAŤ TIESECAŤ PANSECAŤ SUESSECAŤ IESECAŤ IOSECAŤ NERSECAŤ

Intermediate numbers are formed by addition: TMESECAŤ ER IODECT PANŤ, 385. (An added AN through PAHOR is not declined.)

MIL is ten hundreds or one thousand. It is a noun, on the model of SECAŤ.

Up to ten tens of thousands are indicated using the ordinal numbers: FTORE MIL is the second thousand, that is 2000; ȞAEPES MIL is 7000. Beyond this, the multiple is expressed as a number in itself, preceding MIL: TMEDECT ĎIN MIL, 33000.

LEȞOS is one hundred thousand [Verdurian leh]; it is also a noun, on the model of SECAŤ, and can be increased using the ordinal numbers: FTORE LEȞOS 200,000, up to DECTIS LEȞOS 1,000,000.

If a higher number need be expressed, the multiple is expressed as a number in itself, preceding LEȞOS. This takes us as far as:

NERDECT NEBRI MIL ER NERSECAŤ ER NERDECT NEBRI LEȞOS ER NERDECT NEBRI MIL ER NERSECAŤ ER NERDECT NEBRI = (99 mil + 900 + 99) leȟos + 99 mil + 900 + 99 = 9,999,999,999
This number plus one, a leh of lehî or 10,000,000,000, is called LEȞONDOS or the great leh.

Conjunctions [To Index]

The next simplest relators are additive conjunctions (raspuyecî surmetecî), which simply add (ER) or contrast (AC) two objects: ELORION ER ELOREIS 'king and queen'; TONOS ER GRILU 'rice and wheat'; OFORIS AC FROHES 'fertile yet cold'.

They are not limited to conjoining nouns, but can join verbs (LAPRAE ER SALTAE 'he ran and lept') or entire sentences: CO CELEREN MACTANA ES AC COREIM BUTENONT, 'the city is on the river, but they have no boats'.

Some verbs take as their object not a noun but an entire idea, that is, a sentence. The special conjunction DIA is used before a sentential object:

DIA ANELLOM BUVELAE CLAETE.
He swore that he did not steal the ring.

PSIAŤ DIA SANNO GARESMES SEIS GADIT.
Everyone perceives that you are a wise lord.

Even if an entire sentence is an object, it occupies the normal position of an object, between subject and verb, as in the last example. However, it is common to move such a heavy constituent to the end or the beginning of the sentence:

PSIAŤ GADIT DIA SANNO GARESMES SEIS.
DIA DOMORION VIRNIS ES OREISTA EPES.
That the steward is loyal may be true.

A wish is introduced by the conjunction UT, followed by a remote tense:

UT BAN TELNEMAI ER CUM CASSIA RENLODAI!
May I find the way and return with the helmet!

Prepositions [To Index]

The prepositions (ktëloži), as their name indicates, tell where (ktë) an object is located or an action takes place. These can be divided into those concerned with position in space:
IM in, inside, into, among
IS out of
IR above, over
ȞUPE under, below
SUHER on
DE from, off, of
AD to, toward
AIUS away from
RAS against, touching
CO near, by, alongside
ON among, at the house of, in the place of
CAEL between
SAS through
PRED before, in front of
TRAS across, over, beyond, behind
and those which indicate more abstract relationships:
AND for the benefit of
PRO in return for
ICTE before (time)
SACTE after (time)
against, opposed to
AB through, via, using
CUM with
BUSAN without
ETA about
HARAD despite, although

If the location to be expressed is static, the noun which follows the preposition appears in the dative: IM MACTANAN 'in the city', IR MEIN 'above the water', AȞ ELORIONAN 'against the king'. Note that ETA is used with the dative (ETA MACTANAN 'about the city'), not with the nominative as in Verdurian.

[Plan of the Temple of Enäron and Ishira in Ctésifon, Z.E. 1800. The temple of Enäron is round and is connected by a walkway with the temple of Ishira, which is rectangular with a semi-circle at one end. The temple complex also includes the Patriarch's residence, servants' quarters, a library, stables, a seminary, a kitchen and dining room, and a chapel. Outside the temple, there is a pool.] A dynamic relationship is expressed with the other cases. As in Verdurian, if the object suffers a change ending up in the specified relationship, the accusative is used: IM AIĎNAUREN PROSAN 'walk into the temple', SUHER DORS TIPELEI SCADRAN 'mount onto the horse's back'.

If the change is that the relationship no longer applies, the ablative is used: IM MACTANAD LAUDAN 'go out of the city', CAEL ARBIŤ TIMEN 'step out from between the trees'.

We do not have this expression in Verdurian, because we have lost the ablative. When informed of it, some students wonder why motion toward is not expressed using the dative. The answer is that, when indicating the higher, dynamic relation, we must use a nobler case-- the accusative, which is higher on the case circle. The static relationship is indicated using the lower case, the dative.

The preposition AD always indicates motion toward, and therefore is used only with the dative: AD NIERIMAN SCADRAN 'ride to the shrine'. When the dative is used without a preposition to indicate a destination, AD is understood. Similarly IS, which always indicates motion away, is used only with the ablative (IS ALADEIAN LAPREN 'run out of the village'); and an ablative of motion contains an understood IS.

If the verb by its own nature rules out motion, simple location may be expressed by the ablative: ATONNOŤ TEKER 'stand in the room'; ASUENEID LESTAN 'talk (sitting in their) chairs.'

Static verbs, or expressions of state [To Index]

Without verbs (mevloži), language is able only to deal with mere existence, naming agents and their objects.

In this chapter we will speak of the static (nuncre) verbs, which describe actions, states, and relations; in the next we will consider the category of dynamic (olocec) verbs, which allow us to refer to change and the exercise of power. This distinction is known as aspect (nuncreisa).

The infinitive [To Index]

The form of the verb you will find in the dictionary is the infinitive, which conveys nothing more than the bare meaning. Nonetheless the infinitive, like all verb forms, has a termination, which will always be one of --EC, -AN, -EN, -ER, -IR. These terminations identify which of the five circles (launî) the verb belongs to. For convenience, we name the circles by their infinitive form, so that LAUDAN 'go' belongs to the circle in -AN.

The verb is normally inflected to show tense [diďa], person [ifke-cot], and number [dimo]. The infinitive is exempt from these requirements because it relates to another verb in the sentence which fulfills them. Thus we say LAUDAN VULU, I want to go. To refer the action to the past we write LAUDAN VULIE, I wanted to go, inflecting only the main verb of the sentence. Because the infinitive is not inflected, it is called islaunë-- outside the circle.

The infinitive is also used to refer abstractly to any action: ZOBREC MELIES ES KEŤULIN, to play is good for children.

The present tense [To Index]

The simplest form of the verb is the definite (prilise) present tense (demeric). It is used for relations which are currently or always true, or for any action which is taking place in the current time.

For the verbs in --EC, the circle looks like this:

DUMEC 'to think'
DUMAO
DUMES DUMEOS
DUMONT DUMOUS
DUMOM

The sides of the circle are named by the trustee nouns. The superior position is SEO 'I', since the surest and most meritorious course of action is to act by oneself. The right hand side, the next place of honor, belongs to the listener: LET 'thou' on the top, MUȞ 'you' on the bottom. The left hand side, the least place of honor, is given to whoever is neither speaker nor listener, TU 'he/she' for the top, CAI 'them' for the bottom. The bottom side is TAS 'we'.

Thus

The circles for the remaining verbs follow.
KEKAN 'to kill' NOMEN 'to name'
KEKAI NOMAI
KEKET KEKEIS NOMET NOMEIS
KEKONT KEKUS NOMENT NOMES
KEKAM NOMEM
CLAGER 'to flog' PARIR 'to bet'
CLAGU PARU
CLAGET CLAGEUS PARIT PAREUS
CLAGUNT CLAGUS PARINT PARUS
CLAGUM PARUM
In case Revouse's explanation is unclear, I add this explanatory diagram, relating the Cadinorian circle to our own traditional grammatical categories. I should note that a minority, troubled by the implication that TAS is getting the short end of the stick, places it directly under SEO; the effect however is more triangular than circular.
1sg
3sg   2sg
3pl 2pl
1pl

As an aid to memory, it can be noted:

The Verdurian forms can help the student master the Cadinor forms:

Commentators have generally failed to grasp the full reasons behind our ancestors' choice of these endings. But this is a bootless quest in any aspect of the study of Cadinor; we had might as well ask why TIPEL, rather than some other sequence of letters, is the word for horse. With few exceptions, words do not suggest their meanings by their sound or by the appearance of their letters.

The past tense [To Index]

The definite past tense (scrifel) is used to speak of states which are no longer, or of actions which have already taken place.
DUMEC 'to think'
DUMI
DUMU DUMIUS
DUMIUNT DUMUS
DUMUM
KEKAN 'to kill' NOMEN 'to name'
KEKIO NOMIO
KEKAE KEKIOS NOMAE NOMIOS
KEKIONT KEKUOS NOMIONT NOMUES
KEKUOM NOMUOM
CLAGER 'to flog' PARIR 'to bet'
CLAGIE PARIE
CLAGE CLAGIES PARAE PARIES
CLAGIENT CLAGES PARIENT PARES
CLAGEM PAREM

Students often find this tense difficult, since it has been lost in Verdurian. It will be simple to learn once it is realized that it differs from the present almost entirely in the vowels.

The characteristic vowels are:

They are used:

The past anterior tense [To Index]

The definite past anterior (ižcrifel) is used, as in Verdurian, when we are speaking of past events and wish to refer to events taking place at an even earlier time.

It is formed by inserting -ER- or -IR- before the normal past tense endings. This is different from Verdurian, which uses the present tense endings, but adds them to the past root of the verb. -IR- is used for the -R verbs only. It should suffice to show a single verb circle:

DUMEC 'to think'
DUMERI
DUMERU DUMERIUS
DUMERIUNT DUMERUS
DUMERUM
The inserted --U- in the TAS and MUȞ forms belonging to the --N circles disappears in the past anterior; so that we write KEKEROS, not KEKERUOS.

If the verb stem ends in a consonant followed by R, then before adding -ER- or -IR-, this final R is deleted and the consonant is doubled. Thus the SEO form of SUDRIR 'decide' in this tense is not SUDRERI, which would be difficult to pronounce, but SUDDERI.

The remote present tense [To Index]

As creatures filled with fears and longings, we often feel the need to refer to states that are desired, doubtful, impossible, or yet to come. Cadinor requires us to carefully distinguish what is true (whether in the present or the past) from what is false or not known, by expressing the latter in the remote (buprilise) tenses. This distinction is known as mood (priliseca).

The remote present is formed by inserting --ET- or --EM- before the normal present tense endings. --EM- is used for the --N verbs only.

Doubled vowels are generally simplified in the remote tense; and in place of the difficult--ETIT in the --R TU forms we find --ETIS. These differences from the definite present are highlighted in red below.

DUMEC 'to think'
DUMETAO
DUMETES DUMETEIS
DUMETONT DUMETOS
DUMETOM
KEKAN 'to kill' NOMEN 'to see'
KEKEMAI NOMEMAI
KEKEMET KEKEMES NOMEMET NOMEMES
KEKEMONT KEKEMUS NOMEMENT NOMEMES
KEKEMAM NOMEMEM
CLAGER 'to flog' PARIR 'to bet'
CLAGETU PARETU
CLAGETIS CLAGETOS PARETIS PARETOS
CLAGETUNT CLAGETUS PARETINT PARETUS
CLAGETUM PARETUM
Various are the uses of the remote mood, including:

The remote past tense [To Index]

The remote past tense is formed in the way of the remote present, but with a different insertion: -EC- for the --C circle, -IN- for the --N circles, and --IR- for the --R circles. As an example:
DUMEC 'to think'
DUMECAO
DUMECES DUMECEIS
DUMECONT DUMECOS
DUMECOM

The clever student will be reminded of the ordinary Verdurian past tense, and this is for a reason. During the Dark Years it seems that people's recollections of the very past became clouded, perhaps because the greatness of the Cadinorian years seemed mythical in comparison with the brutal, squalid present. It became conventional to refer to past events using the remote tenses. Thus the Cadinor remote past became our simple past. There is no longer any reason to express doubt about the past, but lost tenses cannot be revived.

As with the definite past anterior, verbs ending in a consonant plus R are modified before adding -IR: SUDRIR 'judge' has the remote past SEO form SUDDIRU.

The imperative [To Index]

The imperative (befel) is a remote tense, because it refers to desired events; but it is separate from the ordinary remote present because it is specialized for giving orders.

The Verdurian imperative can be applied to the top and bottom of the circle (SEO and TAS), but this is a dubious practice and not permitted in Cadinor. Instead of suggesting an order to oneself, one should simply act. In this way we see that Cadinor discourages procrastination and rumination, which are fatal to the will.

DUMEC 'to think'
DUMUAS DUME
DUMUANT DUMEL
KEKAN 'to kill' NOMEN 'to name'
KEKUAT KEKI NOMUAT NOMI
KEKUANT KEKIL NOMUANT NOMIL
CLAGER 'to flog' PARIR 'to bet'
CLAGAS CLAGU PARUAT PARU
CLAGANT CLAGUL PARUANT PARUL

Some aids to memory:

The negative [To Index]

Negative (arhemë) forms of a verb are made by prefixing BU-:

BULEILAI, I do not see.
BUCTANAE, He did not come.
AIĎI BULIUBETEIS? Do you not love the gods?

It is not good writing to use the negative forms when a negative pronoun already exists in the sentence:

NIKTOS SCRIT. No one knows.
NIKUDAA LAUDAI. I went nowhere.

This rule does not however apply to the negative particle NIS, which is used to single out an item in the sentence, besides the verb, for denial.

NIS TIPEL BUHESCEVUI. It wasn't the horse that I lost.
BUVIRNIS NIS ESARȞ BUES. It isn't the prefect that is disloyal.
ELORION NIS RURA NIS MACTANA VULT. Neither city nor country desires this king.

Caďinor does not have words for yes or no; simple questions are answered by using the verb alone, in the definite mood, with or without the negative prefix as necessary.

--SURIA KEKINES? Did you kill the mouse?
--KEKIO. Yes, I killed it. Or:
--BUKEKIO. No, I didn't kill it.

Exceptional verbs [To Index]

Some verbs, for brevity, have shortened forms.

Infinitive

Three verbs have an exceptional infinitive. All the forms of 'to do' have the root FASC-, but the infinitive is FAR, and its circle -EC; the root KAIV- 'to do what thing' has the infinitive KES, and the circle -AN; and the root NES- 'to be born' has the infinitive NEN, and the circle -EN.

Present tense

ESAN 'be' EPESAN 'be able to' CTANEN 'come' FAR 'do'
SAI EUSAI CTAI FAEU
ES SEIS EPES EUSEIS CTET CTES FAET FAES
SONT ESOS EUSONT EPESOS CTANONT CTANUS FASCONT FASCOUS
ESAM EPESAM CTANAM FASCOM
IUSIR 'provide' LIUBEC 'love' KEŤEN 'bear' CULLIR 'gather'
IUSU LIUO KEŤUI CULLU
IUT IUS LIUS LIUOS KEŤUT KEŤUS CULT CULS
IUINT IUSUS LIUBONT LIUBOUS KENT KEŤES CULLINT CULLUS
IUSUM LIUBOM KEŤEM CULLUM
OHIR 'hear' SCRIFEC 'know' NEN 'be born' KES 'to do what thing'
OHU SCRIFAO NEI KEAI
UIT UIS SCRIT SCRIS NIT NIS KIET KIES
OHINT OHUS SCRIFONT SCRIFOUS NENT NESES KEHONT KEHUS
OHUM SCRIFOM NESEM KEHAM
VOLIR 'want' FAUCIR 'leave' FAILIR 'run out'
VULU FAU FAILU
VULT VULS FEUT FEUS FELT FELS
VOLINT VOLUS FAUCINT FAUCUS FAILINT FAILUS
VOLUM FAUCUM FAILUM
CLAETER 'vow' CADIR 'order'
CLAEŤU CAĎU
CLAETET CLAETEUS CADIT CADEUS
CLAEŤUNT CLAEŤUS CADINT CAĎUS
CLAEŤUM CAĎUM
The forms for EPESAN are those of ESAN, with a preceding EP- before a vowel, EU- before a consonant.

The forms for CTANEN are typical of many exceptional verbs. The top half of the circle is affected.

The forms in the top half of the circle are the only exceptional forms of VOLIR. Forms like vulint are corruptions not found in the best authors, though ancestral to our own word vulir.

Verbs ending in -TER or -TIR normally, for euphony, change the T to Ť before the U- of an ending, while those ending in -DER or -DIR change the D to Ď. Note that the CAI form is affected only for the -ER conjugation.

Past tense

ESAN 'be' EPESAN 'be able to' KEŤEN 'bear' NEN 'be born'
FUIO EUSIO KIO NIO
FUAE FUIOS EPAE EUSIOS KIAE KEŤIOS NAE NIOS
FUNT FUOS EUSIONT EUSUOS KEŤIONT KEŤUES NIONT NESUES
FUOM EUSUOM KEŤUOM NESUOM
KREDEC 'believe' SUTEC 'adorn'
KREDI SUTI
KREĎU KREDIUS SUŤU SUTIUS
KREDIUNT KREĎUS SUTIUNT SUŤUS
KREĎUM SUŤUM
In metaphorical uses KEŤIO is used in place of KIO: IELAA KEŤIO 'I gave birth to an idea'.

Many verbs ending in -DEC change the D to Ď, and those in -TEC change the T to Ť, before the U- of an ending (in the TU, MUȞ, and TAS forms).

Past anterior tense

ESAN 'be' EPESAN 'be able to'
FURIO EUSERIO
FURAE FURIOS EPERAE EUSERIOS
FURIONT FUROS EUSERIONT EUSEROS
FUROM EUSEROM

Remote tenses

ESAN 'be'
remote present remote past
ESTAO ESCAO
ESTES ESTEIS ESCES ESCEIS
ESTONT ESTOS ESCONT ESCOS
ESTOM ESCOM

In addition, there are a number of verbs which form the remote stem not with the usual suffixes (present -ET, -EM; past -EC, -IN, -IR), but with a modified stem, plus the definite endings. For instance, the remote present of CURREC 'hold' is not curretao but CORSAO, and the remote past is CORSI. Here is a list of these exceptional forms.

Forms changing SC to SS: KESCEN --> KESS- 'stop';
TOSCEN --> TOSS- 'suffice';
FAR (root FASC-) --> FASS- 'do';
LESCEN --> LESS- 'sell'

Forms changing T to S: SALTER --> SELS- 'jump';
VALTER --> VELS- 'be worth';
METTAN --> MESS- 'put'

Forms inserting S: CURREC --> CORS- 'hold';
DESIEN --> DESS- 'stop';
STERER --> STERS- 'watch over';
MERIR --> MERS- 'measure';
FERIEN --> FERS- 'bear (things)';
LEILEN --> LELS- 'see'
NURIR --> NORS- 'nurture'
AMARIR --> AMERS- 'appreciate'

Forms inserting a consonant: DAN --> DON- 'give';
NOER --> NOS- 'rain'

Verbs changing the vowel to O: PUGAN --> POG- 'finish';
PUHAN --> POH- 'push';
BRIGAN --> BROG- 'fight';
SUBRAN --> SOBR- 'follow';
DUCIR --> DOC- 'lead' ;
LEGAN --> LOG- 'lie';
LAUDAN --> LOD- 'go';
KUSAN --> KOSS- 'chew';
KEŤEN --> KOŤ- 'bear (young)';
IUSIR --> IOSS- 'provide'

Dynamic verbs, or descriptions of actions [To Index]

To act is nobler than to be, but it is nobler yet to change, or to change other things. Thus the dynamic (olocec) verbs are greater than the static (nuncre) verbs. Compare, for instance:

IBRO MEDETAD TOMBAE. The book fell from the table.
GIOS IBROM TOMBEVUT. The boy dropped the book.

HOSOL MISCUM NACITET. The donkey is carrying the sack.
DOMORION HOSOL NACITUT. The steward loads up the donkey.

ȞMATULIT PENTEMONT. The slaves may sing.
SANNO ȞMATULIN PENTUAT. The lord may have the slaves sing.

If the static verb reports a state, the dynamic verb reports a change in that state-- it starts, or comes to be, or is caused to be. Because we have lost the dynamic verbs in Verdurian, students often have trouble grasping their meaning. Below are listed a number of verbs, with their static and dynamic meanings. From this list it is possible to understand the subtle power of the dynamic aspect, and to admire the economy of our ancestors, who achieved with one verb what we can only express with two.

The static verb is not restricted to states; it can also report simple actions-- for instance LAUDIO 'I went'. In such cases the dynamic verb is causative: TUA LAUDEVUI 'I caused him to go.'

verb static meaning dynamic meaning
ADVEITEN answer make to answer
AIUBREN rest retire
AMARIR appreciate come to appreciate
ASIR be seated sit down
BAEȞDAN portray make a portrait of
BRIGAN fight begin fighting
BURUȞAN use (a tool) pick up (the tool)
CEPAN abstain give up
CERNAN sift, separate put to the test
CINTURAN surround go around
CLAETER vow administer an oath
CREGEN eat feed; come to eat
CTANEN come bring
CULPIR be guilty accuse
DEMERIR exist create
DESIEN stop (doing something) stop (someone acting)
DITAVAN enjoy come or cause to enjoy
DORMIR sleep fall asleep
DUCIR head for steer
ĎIAN extend propel
FAILIR be necessary run out
FERIEN bear lift
GUEBREC fear terrify
HABER wear put on
HASCIR maintain argue
ȞIRAN flutter shake vigorously
IDURAN desire fall for
KEŤEN bear beget
LACEN dwell move in
LEILEN see become aware of
LIHALAN rise raise
MALTREN be sick make sick
MONNAN work hire
NACITAN carry load up
NOER rain start raining
NURIR grow raise, rear
OBRENIR sit in judgement make a judgment
PILLATIR blink shock
PLESTEN be spun (cloth, stories) spin
PRECUREC beg impoverish
PRENAN take grab
PSORER serve enter the service of
PUGAN end finish
RABRIR be delightful delight
RIDRIR laugh burst out laughing
SCADRAN ride mount
SCRIFEC know learn
SKADEC pay punish
SNUCAN obey give orders
SPURIR be subject to surrender
SUMERIR study teach
TEKER be standing stand up
TENEC have obtain
TROMIR go astray trick
TUORAN flow pour
ŤIBEC hurry urge on
VALTER be worth evaluate
VEŤURAN travel depart
ZENDAN indicate signal

The closest we have to the dynamic verbs in Verdurian is the inceptive prefix za-, as in zashantan 'start singing'. Writers who know their Caďinor may use za- as an equivalent of the dynamic aspect: Belgom zashadne shual, "The warrior mounted [began to ride] the horse."

Dynamic verbs do not have a separate imperative, but share that of the static form: SUMERU! teach! AĎI SKADUANT! may the gods punish!

Dynamic definite tenses [To Index]

Dynamic verbs have the same endings for all five conjugations. The present tense has the following forms:
DUMUI
DUMUT DUMUIS
DUMINT DUMIS
DUMIM

The endings may be divided into stem and final; the final matches those of the static definite present; the stem is U for the top half of the circle, I for the bottom half.

Before the U stem, a final D in the root changes to Ď, T to Ť, P to F; thus KREDEC 'believe' forms (TU) KREĎUT, CLAETER 'vow' forms CLAEŤUT, CEPAN 'abstain' forms CEFUT.

The past tense is formed by the infix -EV-, followed by the present tense endings:

DUMEVUI
DUMEVUT DUMEVUIS
DUMEVINT DUMEVIS
DUMEVIM

The past anterior is formed using the infix -ER-; thus, DUMERUI, etc.

Dynamic remote tenses [To Index]

The remote present is formed by changing the stem vowel to -UA- (except in the SEO and LET forms, which should simply be learned as exceptions).
DUMI
DUMUAT DUMIS
DUMUANT DUMUAS
DUMUAM

The same euphonic changes before U are seen as in the definite present; eg. KREDEC forms (TU) KREĎUAT.

The remote past is formed by infixing -IS- before the remote present endings, with -UA- simplified to -A- (and note the exceptional LET form):

DUMISI
DUMISAT DUMISUS
DUMISANT DUMISAS
DUMISAM

Adverbs, or expressions of manner [To Index]

Adverbs (eceloži) are the highest form of word, because they express judgment, the highest human faculty.

An adverb is normally derived from an adjective, according to these rules:

Since the adverb refers to the action as a whole, it is placed either next to the verb or (for more emphasis) at the beginning of the sentence:

GINA PON ĎORINDA LIUS.
ĎORINDA GINA PON LIUS.
The maiden passionately loves the warrior.

Sentences, or ensembles of objects acted upon [To Index]

To this point we have studied words, which are the elements of speech; but the substance of speech is made of up of sentences (sulirulî), or ensembles of words expressing a state or an action.

The simplest complete sentence consists of a single verb, such as an imperative, or a description of the action of a character already known, or an action without proper subject.

LAUDI. Go!
CTANAI. I am coming.
NOET. It is raining.
VENCAE. He conquered.
Next in order of complexity are sentences consisting of a subject, and the action which is predicated of it.
FALAȞ FAUCAE. The soldier left.
MACTANA LAINET. The city is suffering.
ARBOS KESTERAE. The tree had fallen over.

Next come sentences having only an object, which are more complex because they imply also an unstated or known actor.

DOM CURRI. I bought the house.
MACTANAA VENCAE. He conquered the city.
AIĎOCLIŤON DIO. I gave (it) to the priest.
PARENEID CTET. It comes from the mountains.

Next come sentences with both subject and object stated, or multiple objects.

URESTU SAEAA LIUS. A man loves a woman.
IBROM AIĎOCLIŤON DEM. We gave the book to the priest.
BELACAA VIRAȞOŤ CARPEVUI. I seized this sword from the enemy.
ELORION CTESIFONAN ARAUNICOROŤ LAUDET. The king is going from Aránicer to Ctésifon.

Every sentence except the simplest has two places of honor (asuenî lonei)-- the beginning and the end. The last of these is the nobler, for it is the last word heard, and thus stays in the mind like the last chord of a song ringing in the air. The end of the sentence is therefore the normal place for the verb, which encompasses all the objects of the sentence and explains their relations.

The order of the nouns is determined by their position in the word circle. A higher position takes precedence over a lower; the stronger right side takes precedence over the left. Thus the nominative precedes the accusative, and that, the dative or ablative; while a dative precedes an ablative.

We see decadence in our own language, where the verb confusedly takes up a position between the subject and the objects of the sentence. How much more proper and logical is the Caďinor order, for the actors are named first, and then the action! The nouns are all together, laid out in order of nobility, and the verb then comes to give them meaning, or movement, or judgment.

Nobility is not, however, the only concern of the writer; there are also familiarity, suspense, emphasis, and grace. If an actor has been previously referred to, for instance, it is normally stated first in the sentence, so that the reader may be reminded of what is already known, and move to what is unknown.

ZOLBAREȞ BOUNAA TELNEVUT. BOUNAA IM AETANIA PUHAE BANSES.
Zolbareȟ found the cow. The cow was pushed into the lake by a foreigner.

In the example, BOUNAA 'the cow' takes the initial place of honor because she is the subject of discussion, already referred to, while the nominative BANSES 'a stranger' is a new actor.

The last example is also an example of suspense (forheo), in which a key element is withheld from the reader till the end of the sentence. A sense of surprise or tension is conveyed when the final position is used for anything but the verb.

Because nouns and adjectives fully indicate their case in Caďinor, the writer has a wide range of possibilities, which cannot be exhausted by mere lists of rules, but involve grace (sheli), taste and mellifluity. All of the following sentences, for instance, are proper grammatically.

AEFAR MUDRAIS KESUILEA KIRAN PELEGUT.
lord wise estate-acc wife-dat trust-dynamic
The wise lord his estate to his wife entrusts.

KIRAN AEFAR MUDRAIS KESUILEA PELEGUT.
To his wife the wise lord his estate entrusts.

MUDRAIS KIRAN KESUILEA AEFAR PELEGUT.
Wise, to his wife his estate the lord entrusts.

KESUILEA MUDRAIS AEFAR PELEGUT KIRAN.
His estate the lord (who is) wise entrusts to his wife.

PELEGUT MUDRAIS KIRAN KESUILEA AEFAR.
Entrusts, wise, to his wife, his estate, the lord.

AEFAR KESUILEA PELEGUT KIRAN MUDRAIS.
The lord his estate entrusts to his wife, (if) wise.

KIRAN AEFAR MUDRAIS PELEGUT KESUILEA.
To his wife the wise lord entrusts his estate.

The student, bearing in mind the logical order, the principles of suspense and familiarity, and even the sound of the words, should consider the effect intended by the writer in each of these sentences.

Virtual Verduria