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 König 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."
These are also up for debate.