Earthbound by DM Arnold (read book .TXT) 📕

four or five.

As an example, Andra tells Nyk that,

"My parents realized they had the genetic raw material to produce a candidate for the schools.”

In Lingwafloran, this sentence would be (and is what Andra actually said):

Mu patrien lin genete krudemateria kandidat per xi lernien fabriki posed't kompren't.

If this sentence is rewritten with brackets identifying the phrases, the three- level telescoped syntax becomes apparent:

[Mu patrien [lin genete krudemateria [kandidat per xi lernien fabriki] posed't] kompren't].

The phrase, “kandidat per xi lernien fabriki” (lit, “[a] candidate for the schools to fabricate") is an infinitive phrase that modifies krudemateria (raw material); the infinitive fabriki must be at the end of the phrase. The phrase “lin genete krudemateria kandidat per xi lernien fabriki posed't” is a complete sentence that can stand on its own: “They possessed the genetic raw material to produce a candidate for the schools.” This sentence becomes the object of the verb kompren't (realized).

Elegant expression of complex thoughts through nesting is a cherished characteristic of Floran literature, and politicians admire the obfuscatory power of telescoped syntax in speechwriting. In conversation, however, Florans tend to employ simple and direct sentences.

Verbs

Verb usage is also simple and regular. There are no declensions. Each verb has a root, a participle and an infinitive. All verbs are transitive. Intransitive actions are expressed with reflexive objects: Mi xi libra lej. I read the book. Mi mi lej. I read. Mi mi marx. I walk. Adding “-i” to the verb root forms infinitives: marxi to walk. Mi marxi ir. I go to walk. Infinitives are used in lieu of a present participle. Mi leji ju. I enjoy reading.

Past tense/past participles are formed by adding 't. marx't: walked Mi mi marx't. I walked.

A special class of verbs exist known as forkeverben (fork-verbs). These can take two objects in order to express an action on a primary object passing from the subject to a secondary object. Sentence structure is subject - secondary object - primary object - verb. An example is donati, to give -- the subject gives a primary object to a secondary object. Mi Kovina xi libra donat't. I gave the book to Kovina. In this example Kovina is the secondary object and xi libra (the book) is the primary object. Andra-lu patrien xi lernia lita vend't. Andra's parents sold her to the school.

Particles

Tenses other than the simple present and simple past, and moods other than the indicative, are formed by inserting particles into the sentence. These are otherwise meaningless words whose sole function is to modify the tense or mood of the sentence. Particles may be placed anywhere within the sentence. Most commonly, particles are placed immediately after the subject; fine shades of meaning are developed by the location of the particle. The closer the particle is to the verb, the greater the emphasis on the tense or mood over the meaning of the sentence.

Past perfect is formed by adding the particle ve to the sentence. Mi ve mi marx't. I have walked.

The progressive tense is formed by adding the particle vi to the sentence. Mi vi mi marx. I am walking. Mi vi mi marx't. I was walking.

The future tense is formed by adding the particle va to the sentence. Mi va mi marx. I will walk. Mi va marxi ir. I will go walking.

Future progressive is formed with the particle vavi. Mi vavi mi marx. I will be walking. Mi vavi marxi ir. I will be going to walk.

Conditional expressions, and the subjunctive mood, are formed with the particle vave. Mi vave mi marx. I would walk. Se mi vave rixe vira es. If I were a rich man. Future conditional is formed with the particle veva. Mi veva mi marx. I will have walked.

The imperative mood is formed with the particle dev. Zi dev xi libra mi donat. Give me the book.

The language possesses a fourth mood in addition to the indicative, the imperative and the subjunctive: the suggestive. This mood is used in expressing the desire for agreement, and is formed with the particle niva. This mood is used extensively in discussions, as Florans are consensus-builders. The sense of the suggestive mood is difficult to express in English; the closest approximation is “let us". Ni ni marx. We walk. Ni niva ni marx. Let's walk. Ni niva n'amor. Let's make love. Ni niva amfen es, nu fortunen va kune edzek. Let us be lovers, we'll marry our fortunes together. Niva, as a response, means “yes, let's” (colloq).

Nouns

Noun usage is slightly less regular than verb usage. Nouns are genderless. In general, nouns end in -a, but this is by no means a hard and fast rule. Plurals are formed by adding or replacing the ending with -en. Possessives are formed by adding -u. xi viru libren, the man's books. xi virenu libren, the men's books. Proper names do not form possessives. Instead, the name is followed by a possessive pronoun. Mu libren. My books. Ilsa-lu libren. Ilsa's books.

Nouns may be formed by joining other nouns or nouns with modifiers. This practice is optional and is employed as a tool for emphasis. Ex: krudemateria = raw material (krude + materia); however expressing this as either a single word or as two would be equally valid.

Nouns may be formed from verb roots in two ways. By appending the suffix -a to a verb root, a noun representing the action is created. Examples, marxi to walk, marxa a walk; ami to love, ama love; amori to make love with, amora, lovemaking. By appending the suffix -fa onto a verb root, a noun representing that which performs the action is formed. marxi to walk, marxfa a walker; ami to love, amfa a lover, amfen lovers; amori to make love with, amorfa a sex partner.

An unusual aspect of the language is the widespread and rich usage of endings to indicate diminutives and familiars. This is no doubt a feature of the language that evolved to facilitate the expression of love, as the Florans pride themselves on being a nation of lovers. The most common diminutive endings are - in, meaning little or fond, and -ta, meaning dear or sweet. Examples: vira man; virin boy (little man); virta gentleman (sweet man); virinta dear, sweet man, dear boy.

Modifiers

Modifiers serve as both adjectives and adverbs, and generally end in -e. In some cases the same word serves as either an adjective or an adverb, depending on context. Modifiers may precede or follow the word being modified. Example: malume dark brune brown malumebrune okulen dark brown eyes. Modifiers may be constructed from verbs by adding the -e ending to the verb root. Example: peli to drive, pele, driven. Li pele vira es. He is a driven man.

Modifiers may also be formed by adding the -e ending to nouns. Example, vira man, vire manly; virin boy, virine boyish. Xa dama damine figura hav. That woman has a girlish figure.

Negation

The particle for negation is ne, which alone means no. Only verbs may negated. This is done by applying ne as a prefix. Lingwafloran does not recognize the concept of the double negative. Once an action is negated, additional occurrences of ne do not alter the sense of the negation, and multiple occurrences of ne are often inserted for emphasis. Mi nexiam z'ami nehalt va. I'll never stop loving you.

Articles

There are no indefinite articles.

Definite Articles

xi the

xa that

xe this

xan those

xen these

 

 

 

 

Pronouns

mi i/me

zi you

li he/she

 

 

xi it

ni us

zin you

lin they

 

 

xin they

mu my

zu your

lu his/hers

 

 

xu its

nu our

zun your

lun their

 

 

xun their

ki who

ka what

ke where

kel which

ku whose

kil how

la there

 

 

Note 1: use of xi as an article or as a pronoun is determined by context

Note 2: lin/lun is used to refer to people or animate entities, xin/xun refers to objects

Note 3: diminuitive endings may be applied to pronouns. Ex: z'inta (zi+in+ta)=dear, sweet you

Vocabulary

An exhaustive dictionary of Floran words is beyond the scope of this appendix. A list of words used in the relating Nykkyo's story is presented below.

 

Lingwafloran akwa al ama amfa amfin amfta ami amori anke ardi ax'amfa ax'amfin ax'amorfa bele bone bon'matina bon'noka bon'taka bon'veni bon'viv brune demonde denke detrui dev devi diri doktor donati ekzamini eltir enxip esi fabriki feti forti gamba halti havi igi ji jui kaja kel kelke kor korlyta ky levi li lifxarpa lita litu malume manja medika mi mu ne nexiam ni niva noma nu nun obei okula paketa per perfa permesi psykomedika recevi regardi reveni saluti sanga senta senti serva sona taka tien tiri traduki tre trebone tuje tuj'kiam un urba va vave vavi ve veke veni vi viva vizitfa voka voyaga xa xarpa xe xi xiam xin zi z'inta zu English water to friendship, love friend, lover companion, concubine dear friend, dear lover to like, to love to make love also, too to want, to desire gigolo finishing-school grad whore beautiful good, well good morning good night good day welcome please brown off-world thank you to destroy forms imperative to have to, must to tell, to say, to speak doctor (as a title) to give to examine to remove, to take out to board (a vessel) to be to build to do to strengthen leg to stop to have to get yes to enjoy bed, platform which some heart sweetheart, dearest and to raise he, she, him, her woman's sash she, her (colloq.) hers (colloq) dark food, meal doctor of medicine I, me my no, forms negative never we, us forms suggestive name our now to obey eye packet, starliner for agent to permit psychiatrist to receive to regard to return hello, greetings blood feeling, sensation to feel service sound day here to take to translate very very good, very well soon as soon as one city forms future forms subjunctive forms future prog. forms progressive awake to come forms progressive life visitor a (phone) call journey, voyage that sash this the, it always, for ever they you you (familiar) your

 

 

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Text: DM Arnold
Images: DM Arnold
Publication Date: 07-01-2015

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