VSO: (Particle) -> (Time) -> (Adverb) -> Verb -> (Adjective) -> (Subject) -> (Adjective) -> (Object) – (Location)
Since the subject is already encoded in the verb, it can be dropped in many cases – but only in casual speech. To be polite, the personal pronoun is not declined in the verb and instead added as the subject of the sentence.
Questions are formed by preceding the sentence with the particle “dae”.
Vowels: a e i o u /a e i o u/
Hard Consonants: k l n s sh t th f p /k l n s ʃ t θ f p/
Soft Consonants: g ll ñ z zh d dh v b /g ʎ ɲ z ʒ d ð v b/
Independent Consonants: h y r m /h j r m/
The stress is always on the second to last syllable.
Pluralization is tied to soft consonants. For nouns and their adjectified forms, the beginning consonant is softened or d-/da- added. For verbs, the consonant preceding the personal pronoun is softened.
composed of (prefix) + stem + personal/neutral interfix + (potential interfix) + n(u)/k(u) + (temporal suffix)
all verbs must have a hard consonant before the personal interfix, which is softened for PL
name form is stem + i + n
imperative changes n to k
present tense negative nu/ku
past tense pos. with suffix -am, past tense negative with suffix -um
future tense pos. with suffix -eir, future tense negative with suffix -uir
potential declines the personal pronoun to the -a diphthong (oa, ea, aa)
mirative with interfix -sa-
perfect adds particle fei before verb
For polite speech, the verb is declined in its name form, the personal pronoun added as the subject of the sentence.
Category 1 – strong nouns begin with hard consonant, PL beginning consonant is softened
Category 2 – weak nouns begin with vowel or independent consonant, add d- or da- for PL
Strong Noun + suffix shi (nouns ending on s or th flex into sh and add i, nouns ending on sh add i)
Weak noun + suffix ti (nouns ending on g, ll, ñ, z, zh, d and dh add i before ti, nouns ending on t add i)
comparative is noun + shi/ti + ra
maximum is noun + shi/ti + ra + s
negation: shi becomes shu, ti becomes tu, zhi becomes zhu, di becomes du
Plural of noun and adjective must agree.
The possessive is constructed with the help of the possessive pronouns fashi and vashi, depending on context. The possessor always precedes the possessed. Eg. poshi eko - my book, mael fashi matau - the waves of the ocean, maari vashi ontas - the colour of the bubbles.
In very informal speech the possessor may simply be adjectified where applicable and the possessive pronoun will be dropped. Eg. maelshi matau - the oceanic waves, maariti ontas - the bubbly colours.
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