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Korendian Language – A Primer
20090723
RULES OF GRAMMAR
Comparatively, Korendian is a much simpler language to master than English, as concerns grammatical structure. The rules are simple, direct, and almost without exception.
This tutorial deals mostly with verbs. Nouns and other topics may be presented at a later date.
There are 12 Modes of Verbal Expansion, as they are known, which compare to our tenses. In the following examples they are outlined in English and phonetic Korendian. Before dealing with them, however, basic rules concerning all verbs are in order.
- The final "a" in PERSONAL verbs is pronounced "ah", as in "father".
- The final "e" in IMPERSONAL verbs is pronounced "ay", as in "ray".
- Impersonal verbs may be made personal by adding a final "a". Forms ay-ah.
- Personal verbs may be made impersonal by adding a final "e". Forms ah-ay.
- The verb form used in the REFLECTIVE MODES, meaning the forms of "to be", is always placed before the verb, with no words intervening, EXCEPT:
- The verb form "sen", used in the various BINARY MODES OF both DIRECT and REFLECTIVE modes, meaning the various forms of "to have", will intercede between the form "es" and the verb; this is the ONLY word which may make such intercession, and this word is to WITHOUT EXCEPTION be placed as the word directly before the verb proper.
- There is no change in the verb from singular to plural. The only change is in the noun or pronoun used as the subject of the verb.
- To form a question, in most cases the positions of the verb and subjects are transposed. The mark QUAN is used at the end of the sentence.
- To form a DIRECTIVE, such as GO! the letter "n" added to the infinitive form, and no subject is needed. The mark PARO is used at the end of the directive sentence. This mark also signifies an exclamation, as in English.
- The two types of verbs are DIRECT and REFLECTIVE. These are equivalent to active and passive voices respectively, and they are used identically.
- The two classes of verbs, as opposed to types, are PERSONAL and IMPERSONAL. Personal suggests human or animal action. Impersonal refers to actions by nonliving or insentient forms. For example, a man may walk or run, but only liquids can ripple.
THE TWELVE MODES OF VERBAL EXPANSION
Divisions:
By alignment: unitary first, binary second.
By polarity: direct first, reflective second.
UNITARY ALIGNMENT |
Mode | English | Phonetic |
Present mode | I bring | May roga |
Historic mode | I brought | May rogahl |
Future mode | I shall bring | May rogaray |
Present reflective | I am brought | May es roga |
Historic reflective | I was brought | May es rogahl |
Future reflective | I shall be brought | May es rogaray |
BINARY ALIGNMENT |
Mode | English | Phonetic |
Present binary | I have brought | May sen roga |
Historic binary | I had brought | May sen rogahl |
Future binary | I shall have brought | May sen rogaray |
Present refl. binary | I have been brought | May es sen roga |
Historic refl. binary | I had been brought | May es sen rogahl |
Future refl. binary | I shall have been brought | May es sen rogaray |
Notice that in no instance is the form 'sen' ('e' as in 'men) or the form 'es' ('e' as in 'they') altered. The only change occurs in the verb itself.
Since the Korendians are a telepathic race, their oral language has remained fairly simple. The exact shades of meaning are not expressed in their spoken word, since the nuances are transferred directly without language. If a visitor is given a Korendian form, this is not an issue, nor is a language primer required. The written Korendian language has more formal rules and a much greater vocabulary.
The following lists of common words serves as an adequate introduction to Korendian language. They would enable anyone who mastered them to travel freely on the planet Korendor, without being "in the dark" concerning the spoken tongue.
Vowel Pronunciations |
Vowel | Korendian pronunciation |
A | A as in "father" or "car" (short A) |
E | E as in "grey" (long A) |
I | I as in "ski" (long E) |
O | O as in "go" (long O) |
U | U as in "flu" |
AY | Y in "my" – "may" is pronounced "my" |
The vowels are pronounced essentially the same as the vowels in the Hawaiian language. Note that these are general rules, and exceptions do exist. Also, the pronunciations found on the Alliance Units of Measurement page are based on Alliance pronunciations. |
COMMON EXPRESSIONS AND PHRASES
Common Greetings |
English | Korendian |
Hello | kalo |
Good day | kali |
Goodbye/farewell | kala |
Good morning | kalati |
Good afternoon | kalata |
Good evening | kalate |
Good night | kalato |
In this small sample of useful phrases, parentheses denote an assumed word.
Common Phrases |
English | Korendian |
(Do) you need help? | Aven arga salvan? |
I need help. | May arga salvan. |
What (is) a/an ___? | Nil ka ___? (asking for identification) |
Where (is) a/an ___? | Nilu ka ___? (asking for directions) |
How (do) I ___? | Nal may ___? (asking for instructions) |
My name (is) ___. | Nimay bana ___. |
I (am) from ___. | May dal ___. |
Are you a/an ___? | Estaven ka ___? (abbrev. 'estea aven ka') |
I am a/an ___. | May esta ka ___. |
What time is it? | Ar kron nil? (The time (is) what?) |
The time is ___. | Ar kron estia ___. |
I need a ___ . | May arga ka ___. |
Go in light. | Va i luce. |
Go in love and light. | Va i amas eso luce. |
I love you. | May ama aven. (included just because ) |
© 2009 Robert P. Renaud -- all rights reserved
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