--blog--
~ABOUT SEYEKONETH~
*the first language i ever wrote� i figured, "if J.R.R. Tolkien could do it 14 times, i
can do it once."
*started in late December '03
*influenced by many languages... English, Romance languages, Sindarin, Quenya,
Welsh, Finnish, Japanese, Chinese, Hawaiian, Arabic, Ancient Egyptian, and Swahili
*alphabet based on a cross between the Roman and Arabic alphabets
*the vocabulary is always willing to accept new words, as long as they have the right
"sound" to them so they fit the language... if you have one, just e-mail it to me. :-)
~ABJAD/ALPHABET~
*click these buttons to see examples of the writing systems
*2 systems and 2 modes
*systems
*kerthas system
*all cursive system resembling Arabic, letters start and begin at the
bottom, all letters in words attach, enough space left between them to
distinguish one letter from another
*sirth system
*runic style characters, each letter is a character, words separated by a
raised dot resembling some types of multiplication in algebra/calculus
*modes
*oith mode (oith = abjad)
*uses marks for vowels, characters for verb conjugation suffixes
*sioth mode (sioth = character of writing)
*uses characters for vowels, spells out verb conjugation suffixes
*in my personal opinion, sioth kerthas is easiest to write, but i like the way
oith kerthas looks the best.
*obviously, it can be written using the roman alphabet (duh ;-))... this is called
"english mode"
*only lower case characters are used, no capitals... this is just to keep with the
style of there being only one character per sound, and only one way to write
them in each style/mode (plus, it eliminates having to have a rule dictating
when capitals, or other types of variations, should be used... lazy me ;-))
*all letters in order
*m b v f th l t d r s n j i y e sh a h g k qu o u w
*19 consonants
*in the order they're pronounced in the mouth from lips to throat
*all pronounced like English, but r's are pronounced in the front of the mouth,
just a little higher than the teeth, rolled very slightly
*character "th" is pronounced as in "think," never as in "this"... it never occurs at
the beginning of a word
*characters "h," "sh," "w," "qu," and "y" never occur at the end of a word
*character �y� always has to have a vowel after it� it rarely has an "i" after it�
unlike the english �y,� it cannot be a vowel
*characters "t" and "k" can be both sounds and a stops
*sounds when followed by a vowel
*stops when followed by a consonant
*character "g" is always pronounced hard as in "go," never soft as in "gem"
*names of consonants in order
*emba, ib, ivin, fe, atha, elu, ota, dal, era, sama, non, jir, yor, shan, hu, gam,
kor, iqua, wel
*English letters C, P, X, and Z don�t exist in this alphabet, and I haven�t decided
what to do about them coming up in �foreign� words
*sounds commonly used that don't occur in seyekoneth
*"p" as in "pink"
*"z" as in "zip"
*"ch" as in "chess"
*"ch" as in "chaim" (hebrew style)
*"zh" as in "beige"
*"th" as in "this"
*"ts" as in "tsunami"
*5 vowels
*in the order they're pronounced in the mouth from lips to throat
*pronunciation (pretty much based on un-accented western european vowels, but
softer)
*i = eeh (in)
*e = eh, or � (en)
*a = ah (an)
*o = oh (on)
*u = ooh (un)
*in the oith mode, they are written as a mark over the letter it precedes
*when a vowel has no letter following it, the vowel is written over a carrier
character
*in the sioth mode, they are separate characters
*diphthongs
*both vowel marks are written above the letter they precede
*first vowel is marked on the top, the second beneath it, and then the letter
below them
*pronunciations that need explanation... ;-)
*ae = "eye"
*ai = "eye" gliding to "ee," like "eyeee"
*ao = like "ow!!" without tightening the lips all the way for the "w"
*ei = english "long a," as in the way "a" is pronounced in "day"
*triphthongs
*the first two vowels are written over the carrier, then the third is written over a
letter
*should a diphthong with a weird pronunciation be the first two letters,
pronounce it like the diphthong, then glide into the third letter
*quadriphthongs� if they occur at all
*the first two vowels are written like a diphthong over the carrier, then the
second two like a diphthong over the letter they all precede
*pronounce it like two diphthongs with as little break in the sound as possible
*syllabic characters
*conjugation characters are only used in oith mode
*four characters are syllables for the suffixes for conjugating verbs in reference to
time
*-er/yer, -na/ma, -the/fe, and �wen have their own syllables
*the characters for prefixes "ila-/ile-," "elo-/elon-," and "im-" remain the same in
both modes
*double letters don't occur at all
*numbers
*work just like roman numbers
*commas and periods follow the english system
*dates are written mm.dd.yy, each separated by a period rather than a line
*there is a character for ordinals that follows the number, it�s the same for every
number
*writing
*both systems are written from left to right
*both systems are read in rows from top to bottom
*when handwriting in kerthas, whether oith or sioth, each word is a continuous pen
stroke, vowel marks are added last, just roman cursive alphabet does with dots
and crosses
*when handwriting, each character and carrier is written first, the dividing dot, if
needed is written, then vowel marks are added last ... sioth sirth is simply
written straight through.
~PUNCTUATION~
*period
*used at the end of sentences
*comma
*separates phrases in sentences
*? mark
*goes at the beginning and end of a sentence like Spanish
*"" marks
*surround quotes, titles of things
*commas are not needed before quotes
*period that ends sentences containing quotes goes outside the quotes
*... marks
*used where they're used in English
*used where semi-colons would be in English
~GRAMMAR~
*pronouns
*I/me = lor, we = elor
*you = rel, you (pl) = erel
*he/she = le/la, they = ele/ela
*it/one = ent, they = ient
*selves = pronoun + -suffix iath
*myself = loriath
*themselves = ientiath
*possessive pronouns
*prefix elo- + pronoun
*ex: elolor, elorel, elole, elola, eloent, eloelor, eloerel, eloele, eloela, eloient.
*direct object pronouns
*prefix im- + pronoun
*ex: imlor, imrel, imle, imla, iment, imelor, imerel, imele, imela, imient
*in cases of 1st d. o. p. --> 2nd pronoun or 2nd d. o. p. --> 1st pronoun,
sing. or pl., they contract, deleting one of the double letters
*ex: imlor rel = imlorel, imelor rel = imelorel, imrel lor = imrelor, imerel
lor = imerelor
*this doesn�t work with 3rd pronouns*sentences (incomplete, will finish as I go)
*noun --> adj. --> verb --> adv.
*ex: lor ilabeleona sek sen aweyo ro = i need a long nap badly
*d.o. (if a pronoun.) --> noun --> verb --> d.o. (if a noun) --> i.o.
*ex: imrelor neruer u lame = i gave you the apple
*relative clause
*subject --> description of subject --> verb
*doesn't use "that," "whom," or anything like that
*ex: the man that you love likes bread = u norlek, imle rel elanina, le
furanma lamas
*the man, you love him, likes bread
*ex: the pastor whom I met is a good man = u otena, imle lor nathuer, le
alna sen norlek hale.
*the pastor, i met him, is a good man
*questions
*same structure as statements, but switch main verb and pronoun
*ex: did you (pl) walk the dogs? = ?hiloer erel ilakath u yasesha?*locations
*location --> description of location
*location word treated as a noun, but no article
*ex: it's very dark outside = fuor alna sek morneth
*outside it�s very dark*nouns
*no gender, all the same
*tend to be the root for all related words
*noun --> verb --> adjective
*kir = cut(n) --> ilakir = cut(v) --> talakir = cut(adj)
*plural
*suffix -sha
*ex: tree = eth, trees = ethsha
*articles
*a/an, the = sen/sen, u
*are not pluralized with nouns
*possessive
*prefix elo- + noun
*should the word begin in �o,� use the prefix �elon-�
*horses shoes = elosana alathmesha
*possessive names use the word "elo" before the name
*God's glory = elo nae lorien*adj/adv
*go after noun/verb
*-er = -an, -est = -ani
*big, bigger, biggest = inir, iniran, inirani
*noun becoming adjective
*add prefix len-
*should the word begin in "n," use the suffix "lene-"
*ex: eternity = belu, eternal = lenbelu
*ex: snow = losa, snowy = lenlosa*negative
*prefix se- + noun
*should the noun start with "e," use the prefix "sey-"
*ex: clean/unclean = talageth / setalageth
*negate sentences by making the main verb negative
*ex: i can draw/i can't draw = lor selemna agel/lor seselemna agel*-less or -ful
*-less = without (noun)
*ex: shoeless = seyene alathme
*-ful = much (noun)
*ex: joyful = sek feri*possibility (-able)
*verb + selem (able to)
*ex: drinkable = valenselem*liking, lover of (-phile) or disliking, fearer, or hater of (-phobe)
*liking = noun + elani (to love)
*should the word end in "e," add a "y" between them
*dog lover = yaseyelani
*disliking = noun + mulo (hate)
*should the word end in "m," add an "e" between them
*dog hater = yasemulo*people
*inhabitant of a place = entel- + (place) (one of [place])
*American = entelamerica
*should the name of the place start with "l," use the prefix "entele-"
*-er, one who does something (that doesn�t have a specific word in the
vocabulary)
*thing the person does + -fal (person)
*should the word end in "f," use the suffix "-efal"
*build = menin, builder = meninfal
*win = ilaiver, winner = ilaiverfal
*-maker = thing the person makes + -hilo
*peacemaker = jenyehilo
*troublemaker = torenhilo*weakening, strengthening of meaning
*weakening of meaning, -ish = adj/adv + suffix -or
*should the word end with "o," use the suffix "-nor"
*ex: bluish = masinor
*strengthening of meaning (to the max)
*adj/adv + suffix -ani (-est)
*should the word end in "a," use the suffix "-rani"
*ex: cleanest = talagethani*-ness
*adj/adv + suffix -lar
*should the word end in "l," use the suffix "-elar"
*darkness = mornethlar*adverb using -ly
*adverb + suffix -li (why not? :-))
*should the word end in "l," use the suffix "-eli"
*ex: weakly = onethli*ordinal
*number + suffix �ian
*always the same, no different rules for first, second, and third
*first = langian
*fourth = milian*conjunctions
*and = between 2 objects, between last 2 objects in a list
*ex: dog and cat = yase kal mia
*ex: dog, cat, and rabbit = yase, mia, kal ban
*or = works like "and"
*ex: dog or cat = yase una mia
*ex: dog, cat, or rabbit = yase, mia, una ban
*either/or = either [object(s)] or [object]
*ex: either dog or cat = muna yase una mia
*neither/nor = same as either/or
*ex: semuna yase seuna mia
*with = goes between the 2 things that are together
*ex: dog with cat = yase ene mia
*without = same as "with"
*ex: dog without cat = yase seyene mia*verbs, tenses
*infinitive
*same as English, but doesn't need the word "to" before it, it's implied
*present
*infinitive + suffix -na (always unstressed)
*should the word end in �n,� use the suffix �-ma�
*conjugated by putting pronoun before it
*ex: I am thirsty = lor alna werth
*ex: The show ends at 10 = u emonien ilatothanma a 10
*past
*infinitive + suffix -er (always unstressed)
*should the word end in �e,� use the suffix �-yer�
*conjugated by putting pronoun before it
*ex: you were hungry = rel aler jal
*ex: I went to the store = lor oshaneyer olu afiwen
*future
*infinitive + suffix -the (always unstressed)
*should the word end in �th,� use the suffix �-fe�
*conjugated by putting pronoun before it
*ex: He will be happy = le althe smi
*ex: She will work tomorrow = la ilalarothfe entomaler
*progressive
*present progressive
*infinitive + suffix -wen (always unstressed)
*ex: I'm loving it = iment lor elaniwen
*all other progressive tenses
*when used in conjunction with another tense, -wen is last
*ex: We had been writing = elor quedalerwen
*reflexive (happens to the pronoun)
*pronoun-->conjugation + suffix -las
*you hurt yourself = rel vashnalas
*could, might
*pronoun-->"quan"-->conjugation
*ex: She could walk = la quan ilakathna
*would
*pronoun-->"bel"-->conjugation
*ex: He would have sang = le bel katoraer
*should
*pronoun-->"quai"-->conjugation
*ex: You should go = rel quai oshanena
*may
*pronoun-->"shen"-->conjugation
*ex: they may go = ele shen oshane
*when subjunctive, �shen� goes before the pronoun
*ex: may you be blessed = shen rel alna talaenya
*imperative
*i or you (sing/pl), we + infinitive
*ex: show me = imlorel emone
*negative
*prefix se- + normal conjunction
*ex: we don't have dogs = elor sejethelna yasesha
*no double negatives
*verbs as adjectives or adverbs
*prefix tal- + infinitive
*ex: it is written = ent alna talquedal
*noun becoming a verb
*prefix ila- + noun
*ex: bottle (n/v) = valor/ilavalor
*should the noun start with "a," use the prefix "ile-"
*if an ila- verb becomes an adj/adv, use prefix tala-
*tie(n), tie(v), tied(adj) = kurase, ilakurase, talakurase
*should the word start in "a," use the prefix "tale-"*direct object
*goes after the verb sequence
*goes before verb sequence when the d.o. is a pronoun.
*when d.o, is a pronoun., add prefix im-
*I will lead you = imrelor sionthe*indirect object
*goes after the verb sequence
*ex: I showed you the shoes = imrelor emoneyer u alathmesha
*ex: we will give them to you = imerel elor neruthe ol ient*prepositions
*preposition/preposition + article --> object of prep.
*when the preposition is followed by an article, they combine into one word
*fixing double letters
*should it cause a double vowel, add an "r" between them
*should it cause a double consonant, add an "e" between them
*ex: in the = uru� of a = elsen� on the = buru� over a = aiesen
*the candy is in the box = u akoni alna uru joquea
*the tree is over a house = u eth alna aiesen oleth*idiomatic phrases
*list of idiomatic phrases on the vocabulary document
*most of them were created just to shorten the way you say something
*the language is always willing to accept new idiomatic phrases... if you have one,
just e-mail it to me :-)*miscellaneous quirks and stuff
*there are NO cuss words in this language� a Christian can confidently say any
word and not worry about it.
*using the verb �to need� (ilabeleo)
*when in english the verb �to be� (al) would follow it, �to be� doesn�t need to
be there, just the adjective� it�s implied
*the computer needs to be fixed = u asthere ilabeleona talkelis (the
computer needs fixed)
*your hands need to be washed = elorel kamsha ilabeleo talaliene (your
hands need washed)
*the verb �to get� (nile) can be used where �to become� (athil) would be used in
description
*they are interchangeable, both are grammatically correct
*�to become� is more proper, �to get� is more familiar
*when off-roading, your truck will get dirty = fol jaso, elorel horu nilethe
lenbaru.
*a broken heater can become troublesome = sen runethen setalafalon
selemna athil lentoren.
*there�s only one irregular word in the entire language: �elani.� i have no idea
why, but it was the first word i invented, not counting the personal pronouns, and
i just didn�t have the heart to change it. :-)
