Phonology

	Front	Central	Back
Close	/i/		/u/
Mid	/e/		/o/
Open	/a/

	Bilabial	Labio-dental	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Plosive	/p/ /b/		/t/ /d/			/k/ /g/	/q/
Nasal	/_/ /m/		/_/ /n/
Approximant					/_/ /j/
Lateral approximant			/_/ /l/
Trill			/_/ /r/
Fricative		/f/ /v/	/s/ /z/	/ʃ/ /ʒ/				/h/

	Alveolar	Post-alveolar
Sibilant	/t͡s/	/t͡ʃ/ /d͡ʒ/

Orthography

a (a) - /a/
b (be) - /b/
c (ce) - /t͡s/
d (de) - /d/
e (e) - /e~ɛ/
f (ef) - /f~ɸ/
g (ge) - /g/
j (je) - /d͡ʒ/
k (ke) - /k/
l (el) - /l/
m (em) - /m/
n (en) - /n/
o (o) - /o/
p (pe) - /p/
q (qu) - /q/
r (er) - /r/
s (es) - /s/
t (te) - /t/
v (ve) - /v/
i (i) - /i~j/
y (ya) - /j/
sh (sha) - /ʃ~ʂ/
ch (che) - /t͡ʃ/
zh (zha) - /ʒ~ʐ/
u (u) - /u/
z (ze) - /z/
h (ha) - /h~x/
x (ex) - /ks/

Vocabulary

Grammar overview

§1. Basics.

1. §1.1. Syntax.
   
   • Basic word order is S V O.
     e.g. me ami yu – I love you.
   • Adjectives can come after or before nouns.
     e.g:
     • fela blanka – A white cat.
     • tiu e gusta mela – There's a tasty apple here.
   • Adverbs come before verbs.
     e.g. rapida andari – To go quickly.
   • You can use the particle di to explicitly specify the object of a verb.
     e.g. di yu mi ami – I love you.


2. §1.2. Copula.
   
   • There's the «to be»-verb (so-called copula) – e (es before vowels; infinitive: bi; past form: bin; future form: fuer). Use of the copula is optional.
     e.g:
     • ti e blanka fela – This is a white cat.
     • tiu e femina – There's a girl here.
     • e tiu varma – It's hot in here.
     • ti bin mirabila – It was wonderful.
     • ti auto es eminey du ano ante – This car was bought two years ago.
     • el porta e lenta aperiney – The door is being slowly opened.


3. §1.3. Impersonal sentences.
   
   • e varma – It's hot.
   • piovi – It's raining.


4. §1.4. Negation.
   
   • Use the particle non to negate a verb, a noun or an adjective.
     e.g:
     • me non vidi yu – I don't see you.
     • ti e non fela – This is not a cat.
     • non-blanka fela – Non-white cat.
   • Double negation emphasises the negative meaning.
     e.g. me non vidi nil – I can't see anything at all.
   • If you want to denote absence of something use the particle nen.
     e.g. nen libras – nen joyo – no books – no joy.


5. §1.5. Interrogation.
   
6. A common question is constructed by changing the order of words (the verb comes first).
   e.g:
   • ami yu me? – Do you love me?
   • mey me intero? – May I ask?
7. Question words don't require changing the word order.
   e.g:
   • qui ami yu? – Who loves you?
   • quid e ti? – What is this?
   • ubi e dona? – Where is the woman?


8. §1.6. Emphasis.
   
9. Emphasizing the meaning using the particle ya.
   e.g. ya bona tago! – What a nice day!
10. Logical accent is marked by the particle ci.
    e.g. manji ci yu mela? – Is this you who eat the apple?


11. §1.7. Mood.
    
    • o – imperative (optional).
      e.g. o doni a me to libra! – Give me that book!
    • ba – hortative.
      e.g. ba andari! – Lets go!
    • ne – prohibitive.
      e.g. ne diri ke yu non skio! – Don't say that you don't know!
    • vey – conditional.
      e.g. lu vey veni si vey povo – He would come if were able.

§2. Complex.

1. §2.1. Conjunctions.
   
   • en – and-conjunction.
     e.g. me manji en yu vidi – I'm eating and you're looking.
   • et – and-conjunction (word-level).
     e.g. me manji mela et fish – I'm eating an apple and a fish.
   • sed – but-conjunction.
     e.g. me voli manji mela, sed nen mela – I want to eat an apple, but there's no apple.
   • ke – subordinate clause separator.
     e.g. me non voli ke yu manji mela – I don't want you to eat an apple.
   • zo – though-conjunction.
     e.g. me passegi zo piovi – I'm taking a walk though it's raining.
   • Descriptive clauses are made using the question words.
     e.g:
     • me vidi femina, qui manji mela – I see a girl eating an apple.
     • skio yu quid kushi su tabla? – Do you know what is lying on the table?
     • dona, qui kanti bona macho, exiti. – A woman who sings very good leaves.


2. §2.2. Participle.
   
   • -ki – active participle.
     e.g:
     • somniki femina – A sleeping girl.
     • skioki – The one who knows.
     • restiki viva kulta – A survived cult.
   • -kay – past active participle.
     e.g:
     • nekikay rego – The one who killed the king.
     • rego nekikay – The king who killed.
   • -ata – active future participle.
     e.g. kadata kulera – A spoon that is about to fall.
   • -kam – passive participle.
     e.g. manjikam mela – An apple which is being eaten.
   • -em – past passive participle (roughly equivalent to the -ney suffix).
     e.g. skrivem epistula – A written letter.
   • -anta – passive future participle.
     e.g. skrivanta libra – A book that is going to be written.
   • -she – descriptive participle (verbal adverb).
     e.g. dona andari kantishe – A woman walks singing.


3. §2.3. Prepositions.
   This is a list of the most important prepositions. Check the vocabulary for the rest.
   
   • a – to / for.
     e.g:
     • lu doni mela a me – He give me an apple.
     • ela andari a sea doma – She is going home.
     • lu fari ti a ni – He's doing this for us.
   • ab – from / thanks to / of.
     e.g:
     • lu prenuve mela ab skatola – He takes an apple from a box.
     • me andari ab doma – I'm going out of the house.
     • me spiri ab lu – I breathe thanks to him.
   • de – of.
     e.g. gamba de seda – A chair's leg.
   • kum – with.
     e.g. me passegi kum mea amigos – I'm walking with my friends.
   • sine – without.
     e.g. quare a tu tabla sine gambas? – Why do you need a table without legs?
   • kaz – becase / due.
     e.g. me non povo passegi kaz pluvi – I can't walk because it's raining.
   • bay – by / with / using / via.
     e.g. me monji bay kulera – I eat using a spoon.
   • at – at / in / on (place or time).
     e.g:
     • me habi at Ukraina – I live at Ukraine.
     • ili venite at nove decitrisex AM – They will arrive at 9:36 AM.


4. §2.4. Tense.
   
   • -te – future tense.
     e.g. me donite libra a tu – I will give you a book.
   • -ve – past tense.
     e.g. el fela manjive fish – The cat ate a fish.
   • -re – habitual tense.
     e.g. me legire – I read regularly.
   • -nu – perfect tense.
     e.g. dona kantinu – The woman has already sung.
   • yao – perfect aspect.
     e.g. lu yao manjire melas – He used to eat apples.
   • ye – progressive aspect.
     e.g. ela ye somnive – She was sleeping.
   • -yen – near future.
     e.g. kulera kadiyen ab tabla! – The spoon is about to fall from the table!
   • -he – near past.
     e.g. ela andarihe into doma – She just entered the house.


5. §2.5. Number.
   The plurality is denoted using a suffix -s (or -es).
   This suffix is unnecessary if the number can be guessed from the context (numerals, quantifiers, plural personal pronouns, a class of uniform objects... etc.).
   e.g:
   • melas – Some apples.
   • lapises – Some pencils.
   • libra (libras) multo – A lot of books.


6. §2.6. The article.
   There's a definite article el, which is almost equivalent to English the.
   The article is optional and you often can just omit it.
   e.g. el fela e rapida – The cat is fast.

§3. Word formation.

1. §3.1. Word formation affixes.
   
   • mal- – anti- / non-.
     e.g. ti e malbona – This is anti-good (i.e. bad).
   • de(s)- – un- / de-.
     e.g. ti non povo defarisen – This can't be undone.
   • may- – to get, to become.
     e.g. mayvarma – It's getting hot.
   • -ilo – an instrument / tool.
     e.g. scavilo – A shovel.
   • ko- – co-.
     e.g. ko-existi – To coexist.
   • tra- – through.
     e.g. tralegi – To read through.
   • -ina – feminization.
     e.g. felina – A female cat.
   • gra- – emphasis.
     e.g. gravarma – Incinerating.
   • dis- – separation / distribution.
     e.g. dis-jeti – To throw about.
   • -kin – diminutive.
     e.g. felakin – A kitten.
   • -yun – a baby (infant) of / a young of an animal.
     e.g. kaprayun – A baby goat.
   • haf- – a half of.
     e.g. hafano – A half of the year.
   • -inka – diminutive.
     e.g. felinka – A pussy.
   • -ega – augmentative.
     e.g. domega – A mansion.
   • -fi – disgust.
     e.g. librafi – A shitty/filthy book.
   • mis- – mis-.
     e.g. misutili – To use incorrectly.
   • re- – re-.
     e.g. refari – To do again.
   • -ish – -like / -ish.
     e.g. blankish – Whitish.
   • -ful – -ful.
     e.g. utiliful – Useful.
   • -fay – verbal passivization.
     e.g. libra legifay bay me – The book is being readed by me.
   • -sen – passive voice (cf. -isi).
     e.g. me kushisen – I'm lying.
   • ek- – momentary action / verb perfectivization.
     e.g. me ekami lu – I fall in love with him.
   • -nay – -like.
     e.g. ela e donanay macho – She is very femine.
   • -nem – transform an adjective into a noun.
     e.g. veranem – Truth.
   • -ney – transform a noun or a verb into an adjective.
     e.g:
     • fish-ney – Fish-related (fish-ney taberna – a fish shop).
     • aminey – Favourite.
     • Jon-ney mela – John's apple.
   • -ivi – transform a noun into an active verb.
     e.g. amigivi – To make someone friends with someone else.
   • -isi – transform a noun (or a verb, cf. -sen) into a passive verb.
     e.g. amigisi – To make yourself friends with someone.
   • -gey – transform a noun or an adjective into a verb.
     e.g:
     • fish-gey – To fish.
     • autogey – To drive a car.
     • lapis-gey – To draw using a pencil.
     • blankagey – To make white.
   • -agi – transform an adjective into a verb.
     e.g:
     • sakragi – To sacrifice.
     • amuzagi – To amuse.
     • vivagi – To live.
   • -ika – transform the word into a noun.
     e.g:
     • rustika – A rusty thing / something rusty.
     • dudecika – A dozen.
   • -ing – gerund.
     e.g. leging e bona – Reading is awesome.
   • -isma – -ism.
     e.g. komunisma – Communism.
   • -ist – -ist.
     e.g. komunist – A communist.
   • -era – a part of.
     e.g. ignera – A spark.
   • -enda – mandatory.
     e.g. legenda – Reading required.
   • -uja – a holder of / a container / -pot / -pod.
     e.g. gladuja – A scabbard.
   • -ana – a member of.
     e.g:
     • amerikana – An american.
     • vilajana – A villager.
   • -eja – a place where.
     e.g:
     • emeja – A shop.
     • kokeja – A kitchen.
   • -pey – numerical fraction.
     e.g:
     • dupey – One half.
     • quatopey – A quarter.
     • du sex-pey – Two sixth.
   • -ifa – transform a verb into a noun.
     e.g. amifa – Love.
   • -ipi – make a verb passive.
     e.g:
     • amipi – To be loved.
     • naskipi – To be born.
   • -ple – -ple (adjective).
     e.g. duple – Double.
   • -pli – -ple (verb).
     e.g. dupli – To double.
   • -inda – worth of / -worthy.
     e.g. laudinda – Praiseworthy.
   • -iva – capable of.
     e.g. konvinkiva – Convincing.
   • -ura – result or product of an action.
     e.g. desegnura – A picture.
   • -ebla – -able.
     e.g. videbla – Visible.
   • -eka – -ness, -ship, -hood.
     e.g:
     • amigeka – Friendship.
     • frateka – Brotherhood.
   • -les – -less.
     e.g. utililes – Useless.
   • -igi – to make.
     e.g:
     • grantigi – To enlarge.
     • timigi – To scare.
     • morigi – To kill.
     • lernigi – To teach.
   • -sha – descriptive adverb.
     e.g:
     • lu exitive ofendisha – He went away offended.
     • ela ek-vidi amisha me – She looked at me with love.
   • -eli – adverb.
     e.g. casa rapideli rumpisen – A house breaks down rapidly.
   • -er – -er (person).
     e.g. skriver – A writer.
   • -anta – -ant.
     e.g. koloranta – A colorant.

§4. Numerals.

1. §4.1. Ordinals.
   
   0. nil
   1. uno
   2. du
   3. tri
   4. quato
   5. quin
   6. sex
   7. sepe
   8. okto
   9. nove
   10. deci
   100. centi
   1000. mile
   1000000. milion
   e.g:
   • decidutri – 23.
   • dudeci – 12.
   • centiquin decisexuno – 561.
   • milenove centitri decidusex – 9326.


2. §4.2. Cardinals.
   To make a cardinal number use a suffix -m (or -em).
   e.g:
   • dudecim – 12th.
   • decidutrim – 23th.
   • milequin deciquatodum – 5042th.