Triparic Grammar
This is all a draft.
In March 2016 we're cleaning up the language yet again. This time for sure. Presto!
Nouns
Gender
Nouns have no grammatical gender.
Plural
Nouns form their plurals in -s (-es if the singular ends in s, z, x, or sz):
menszes "men" mädins "young women"
Articles and Genitive
We're not sure. Currently der (sing) and les (plur), but I prefer they not look like they came from two different languages. Carrie suggested del/des; Shawn thinks maybe der/des but del is also kinda cool.
Of course, "of" is a problem. If we do Germanic articles, then the genitive needs to be -s, perhaps with an apostrophe, like English. If we do Romance (l-) articles, then d- l- phrases and even contractions like French/Spanish/Italian are options.
Adjectives
Adjectives usually precede the nouns they modify, but are rarely placed afterwards, for effect:
gute morgen "good morning"
alta rol "high office"
but tempos conects "contiguous times"
Most adjectives form their comparatives and superlatives with the adverbs ply "more" and plä "most":
ply alta "higher" plä lange "longest"
Adjectives agree with their nouns in number:
tempos conects "contiguous times" duväds miăs "black cats"
Note that some adjectives are plural only:
alle mensches "all men"
Some adjectives have irregular comparative and superlative forms:
gute, besser, ...
... but should they??
Pronouns
Personal Pronouns
| Nominative | Objective | Possessive | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Sing. | ego | me | me | |
| 2. Sing. | dză | dzi | dzæ | |
| 3. Sing. | Masculine | erre | ri | ris |
| Feminine | esse | szi | szir | |
| Epicene | ex | ex | exes | |
| Neuter | idde | id | ids | |
| 1. Plur. | wå | nos | ăr | |
| 2. Plur. | vø | vos | vor | |
| 3. Plur. | lø | los | lor | |
These are all up for debate.
Other Pronouns
The reflexive pronoun is selb, plural selbs. It may be used as nominative, for emphasis, or as objective, for reflexiveness:
Der Kønig Selb ist hir! "The King Himself is here!"
Lø libe selbs plä. "They love themselves most."
The relative pronoun is velk:
Der mensz, velk esse libe, kenne ri. "The man whom she loves knows him."
Der mensz, velk libe schi, kenne ri. "The man who loves her knows him."