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Below will be a general overview of Dalkaisk guidelines for syntax, grammar rules, verb conjugation, prepositions/postpositions, common prefixes/suffixes, and other related grammar rules to form complex sentences in Dalkaisk.
Overview
- Dalkaisk uses Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) sentence structure like English. This means that a basic sentence would be structured like "He sees her."
- Alternatively, Object-Subject-Verb (OSV) can also be used for stylistic or emphatic purposes, such as "Land, he saw."
- There are no definite or indefinite articles in Dalkaisk (i.e. the/a/an). If specificity or generality is needed in a sentence (AKA if 'the' or 'a' is needed,), the Dalkaisk words for 'that' (kjem) and 'one' (an) are used.
Pronunciation
| Letter | IPA | Ex. | Letter | IPA | Ex. | Letter | IPA | Ex. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | /a/ | laama | B | /b/ | bee | Ch | /t͡ʃ/ | cheese |
| D | /d/ | dog | E | /e/ | end | F | /f/ | for |
| G | /g/ | give | Kh | /x/ | hen | I | /i/ | seem |
| J | /j/ | yes | K | /k/ | kin | L | /l/ | less |
| M | /m/ | mess | N | /n/ | nor | O | /o/ | lore |
| P | /p/ | path | R | /ɾ/ | party* | S | /s/ | sell |
| T | /t/ | tell | U | /u/ | food | V | /v/ | veer |
| Z | /z/ | zen | Ts | /t͡s/ | cats | Zh | /ʒ/ | vision |
| Dzh | /dʒ/ | jail | Aj | /aʲ/ | hi | Ej | /eʲ/ | hey |
| Ij | /iʲ/ | heel | Oj | /oʲ/ | soy | Uj | /uʲ/ | bababooey |
| Sh | /ʃ/ | shoe |
*flapped r, in American English, the t sound is reduced in party, and sounds like an r.
- The letter i at the end of words is reduced to /ɪ/, is.
- Stress is on the second syllable if it is 2 syllables, and on the second to last syllable if it is more than 2 syllables.
- The word ij "and" in Dalkaisk is pronounced as /jɪ/ (ji) after words that end in j.
- The word ij can also be pronounced as /i/ (i) as a more casual pronunciation, or can be reduced to /ɪ/ when speaking quickly.
Common Phrases
| English | Dalkaisk | Phonetically |
|---|---|---|
| Hello | Priva | Pree-vah |
| Welcome | Lestale | Leh-stall-lyeh |
| Please | Popresheke / Popra | Po-preh-sheh-kyeh / Po-prah |
| Thank you | Khula | Hoo-lah |
| You're welcome | Pretjesej | Preh-tye-say |
| Yes | Saj | Sai |
| No | Pjo | Pyo |
| Where are you? | Jevjar jetejlajm? / Vjartej? | Yeh-vyar yeh-tey-lime / Vyar-tey |
| I don't know | Pjo lavevaj /Pjolav | Pyo lah-veh-vai / Pyo-lahv |
| Of course | Guvanaj | Goo-vah-nai |
| I speak Dalkaisk | Bajevaj Dalkajsk. | Bah-jeh-vai Dahl-kaisk |
| My Dalkaisk is bad | Vjin Dalkajsk je tsij | Vyin Dahl-kaisk yeh tsye |
| Do you speak English? | Bajetej Anglesk (lajm)? | Bye-yeh-tey On-glesk (lime)? |
Pronouns
Personal (I, he, they)
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Person | vaj | vanaj/vajsk* |
| 2nd Person | tej | tajsk |
| 3rd Person | ren | renaj |
*Vanaj includes the speaker and the listener (inclusive we), while Vajsk only includes the speaker (exclusive we).
Possessive (My, his, their)
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Person | vjin | vanaje/vasin* |
| 2nd Person | tujen** | tasejn |
| 3rd Person | ranen | renaje |
*Vanaje includes the speaker and the listener (inclusive our), while Vasin only includes the speaker (exclusive our).
*Tujen is written as -taj when written in suffix form.
Demonstrative (this, that)
| Singular | Plural | Singular (EN) | Plural (EN) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proximal | kev | kevan | this | these |
| Medial* | kjemtaj** | kjantaj** | that by you | those by you |
| Distal | kjem | kjeman | that | those |
*Medial describes objects near the second person, in contrast to the dual nature of English's 'this' and 'that.'
**Originally dialectal, but increasingly growing in usage.
Usage Notes
- For aesthetic or emphatic reasons, pronouns before a word can also be attached as a suffix to the root word.
- Most pronouns are the same in suffix form (e.g. Vaj oleve, Olevevaj 'I appear'), but for tujen, It is -taj in its suffix form (e.g. tujen pju, pjutaj 'Your water').
- Suffix form pronouns almost always come after any verb or noun inflections. For example, 'he had been needing' would normally be 'ren holje najeret,' but would be changed to 'holje najaretren'
- The exception in suffix form pronouns being added last is that -lajm, or the question marker always comes last in a word.
Noun
Noun Inflections
The main noun inflections decline based on number and prepositional phrasing (i.e to-, at-, from-).
The noun inflections are as follows:
Number Affixes:
Plurals are formed in nouns based on a mostly regular system, with exceptions for common nouns. Multiple systems are used depending on the ending of the root word.
- -v, plural marker, only when root word ends with -a and -o
- -z, plural marker, only when root word ends with -i
- -n, plural marker, only when root word ends with -e and -u
- -av, plural marker, only when root word ends with a consonant
Certain common use words with consonant endings have an -ets ending. This includes shtajets, denizets, helisets, vojets, ledets, and murets (days, brothers, noses, lives. doors, words).
Preprepositional Affixes:
To express prepositions such as to, from, and at, prefixes are used rather than separate words.
- av-, to (the/a) #
- lo-, by (the/a) #, (when attached onto a noun starting in a vowel, a /β/ "v" sound is usually included when spoken, loajtse, "by the end" sounds more like lovajtse)
- on-, in (the/a) #
- je-, at (the/a) #
- in-, from (the/a) #
- por-, with (the/a) #
- jaj-, on (the/a) #
- las-, about (the/a) #
- evo-, among (the/a) #, (see lo#)
- -tsi, of (the/a) #, attached after a noun as a stylistic choice or a redundancy reducer, (from tsi # tsi #, to tsi # #tsi)
Postpositional Affixes:
- -naj, for (the/a) #
Order of noun affixes go: Preposition + Root + Plural + Postposition (Suffix)
Verbs
Verb Inflections
- -re, Past Tense
- -(s)ejn, Future Tense
- -te, Continuous Tense, (reduced to -t after the past tense marker)
- holje #, Perfect Tense, (i.e had #, have #, etc.)
- #lajm, Interrogative tense, (Question markers at the end of words, optional to reduce spoken confusion, always last in the order of suffixes.)
- -jen, Habitual Tense, (Informal, dialectal)
Order of verb suffixes go: Past/Fut. + Cont./Hab. + Int.
Word Patterns
General Patterns
- -a, ja, Possible suffix for Nouns
- -je, -e, Common suffixes for Verbs
- -ij / -esk, Common suffixes for Adjectives
Derivational Patterns
- -isej / -isam*, Adjectives → Adverb
* -isam is much rarer, and only present in some common adjectives.