Grammar
Verb conjugation is relatively straightforward. Each verb has 4 forms based around its root word. Take "senon" ( agree ) for instance. Any verb in its infinitive form has the -or, -os, or -on suffix.
A natural verb, aside from being in the simplest present tense, can also be used as a command, or turned into a personal or declarative gerund when the natural verb is proceeded by "va". (See below for more information.)
A full infinitive, or "to agree" would be asenon (lit. "the agreement").
Tense and Aspect
Taking the basic verb forms above, we can create the full range of tenses using very simple means: "u" is the progressive element, and "e" is the perfect element.
Sennin does not have inherit gender as a speaker of a western language might understand. As it is, I have 7 forms of "gender" shown here:
For more information on how to use possessive pronouns, see below.
In Sennin, there is an answer for all of these in response to the query, though the "this" and "that" correlatives are not nearly as specific. That is because when speaking in terms of "this" and "that", it is assumed that the object in question is already known, or easily accessable. For something a bit more proper, include the object before the pronoun: "eru tac" meaning "this way".
Remember that every question must end in ci, otherwise it is a statement: Iuue simply means "I don't know why", whereas Iuue ci means "why?". (Though to say "I don't know why?" (as if taken aback) you add the wildcard "va": "Iuue va ci?")
Take a word like "dark": gaur. Here are some regular derivations/conjugations for it:
Because all adjectives end in "-de" (the present participle), this aids in versatility of word order. Therefore adjectives can come before or after the noun they describe. To turn an adjective into an adverb, get rid of the "-de".
To turn an adjective into a noun, give it gender. Asdudo, "green", can become aasdudo, "the green", or even goasdudo, "The[reverence] Green". Just be careful about giving states of being a gender that is meant for use in reference to people. It can be taken as comedy, sarcasm, or even just plain lunacy.
Lorem ipsum, etc. etc.
PLURAL
Plural is simple: just append whatever word you want to pluralize with "-ai". So
POSSESSIVE
To express possession of something, use the appropriate pronoun as a prefix to the subject:
Expressing possession in the terms of a specific individual is equally as easy.
Similar to the -'s in English, suffix the subject's name with -u:
So the number 7, for example, would be thought of as "five and two", making it a two digit number. By that same logic, the number 31 would be "one twenty-five, one five, and one", making it a 3 digit number.
The concept of a base 5 number system is not all that hard to grasp if you put it in more visual terms. You'll have: 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 30, and so on and so forth. The number 7 would be visually represented as 12, and 31 would equate to 111.
And as far as saying the numbers are concerned:
0 - nuto
1 - om
2 - tet
3 - oco
4 - rel
10 - amo
20 - teto
30 - ocio
40 - reo
100 - agamo
1000 - tiemo
1,000,000 - olomo
When writing numbers in word format, it's more or less the same as english, except that "and" (cu) is required between every digit. So for instance, 64 would be "two twenty-fives, two fives, and four": tetagamo cu tetamo cu rel. Easy enough, no?
Basic Conjugation/Tense
ConjugationVerb conjugation is relatively straightforward. Each verb has 4 forms based around its root word. Take "senon" ( agree ) for instance. Any verb in its infinitive form has the -or, -os, or -on suffix.
| Bare infinitive
(natural) Singular third person Preterite (simple past) Present participle |
senon senondo seno senonde |
agree agrees agreed agreeing |
A natural verb, aside from being in the simplest present tense, can also be used as a command, or turned into a personal or declarative gerund when the natural verb is proceeded by "va". (See below for more information.)
A full infinitive, or "to agree" would be asenon (lit. "the agreement").
Tense and Aspect
Taking the basic verb forms above, we can create the full range of tenses using very simple means: "u" is the progressive element, and "e" is the perfect element.
| Past simple Past perfect Past progressive Past perfect progressive Present simple Present perfect Present progressive Past perfect progressive Future simple Future perfect Future progressive Future perfect progressive |
sa seno sa e seno sa u seno sa ue seno sa senon sa e senon sa u senon sa ue senon sa io senon sa io e senon sa io u senon sa io ue senon |
I agreed I had agreed I was agreeing I had been agreeing I agree I have agreed I am agreeing I have been agreeing I will agree I will have agreed I will be agreeing I will have been agreeing |
Articles/Gender
Sennin has an entire slew of article elements that directly precede every
improper noun and many proper nouns depending on the context, voice, and mood of
the speaker. The only situations where articles are not necessary is when
referring to something/someone in either possessive or general terms (general
usually requires the subject be pluralized).
Sennin does not have inherit gender as a speaker of a western language might understand. As it is, I have 7 forms of "gender" shown here:
| "A" (generic,
singular) "The" (specific) Denoting respect (individual) Denoting respect (group) Denoting friendship/familiarity Denoting love for/preciousness Denoting formality/professionalism Denoting superiority Denoting inferiority (usually demeaning) Underwater landform(s) Dry landform(s) Denoting something undesirable |
i- a- go- oa- mi- mai- gon- iv- at- ei(ai)- nei(ai)- iot- |
Personal Pronouns
Are as follows:| I / My You / Yours He / His She / Hers It / Its (animate) It / Its (inanimate) They / Theirs We / Ours One / One's |
Sa / Sa- Tor / To(r)- An / An- Es / Es- Avo / Av(o)- Tito / Ti- Aul / Au(l)- Ra / Ra- Avoi / Avoi- |
Other Pronouns
Sennin pronouns of this variety don't differ incredibly from English... aside from the "this" column, wherein English it is this, this, this, here, now, and thus, respectively, and the "that" column, where it is that, that, that, there, and then, repsectively. "Reason" has no correlative beyond "Query", and "Way" has none for "That", "No", and "Every".
In Sennin, there is an answer for all of these in response to the query, though the "this" and "that" correlatives are not nearly as specific. That is because when speaking in terms of "this" and "that", it is assumed that the object in question is already known, or easily accessable. For something a bit more proper, include the object before the pronoun: "eru tac" meaning "this way".
| Query | This | That | |
| Adjective | anioi (state[unknown]) | tac (this here) | taoc (that there) |
| Person | avoi (person[unknown]) | tac (this here) | taoc (that there) |
| Thing | titoi (thing[unknown]) | tac (this here) | taoc (that there) |
| Place | lioi (place[unknown]) | tac (this here) | taoc (that there) |
| Time | caoi (time[unknown]) | tac (this here) | taoc (that there) |
| Way | eruoi (way[unknown]) | tac (this here) | taoc (that there) |
| Reason | uuoi (reason[unknown]) | tac (this here) | taoc (that there) |
| Some | None | All | |
| Adjective | iani ([undisclosed]state) |
nuani ([lack of/false]state) |
oru anai (all states) |
| Person | iavo ([undisclosed]person) |
nuavo ([lack of/false]it) |
oru avoai (all its) |
| Thing | itito ([undisclosed]thing) |
nutito ([lack of/false]thing) |
oru titoai (all things) |
| Place | ilio ([undisclosed]place) |
nulio ([lack of/false]place) |
oru lioai (all places) |
| Time | icao ([undisclosed]time) |
nucao ([lack of/false]time) |
oru caoai (all times) |
| Way | ieru ([undisclosed]way) |
nueru ([lack of/false]way) |
oru eruai (all ways) |
| Reason | iuue ([undisclosed]reason) |
nuue ([lack of/false]reason) |
oru uuai (all reasons) |
Remember that every question must end in ci, otherwise it is a statement: Iuue simply means "I don't know why", whereas Iuue ci means "why?". (Though to say "I don't know why?" (as if taken aback) you add the wildcard "va": "Iuue va ci?")
Simple Verbs
CONTENT
Adjectives
Sennin adjectives don't exist in the same manner as English speakers know it. As states of being, they are thought of as passive actions, and therefore verbs. So instead of "I am happy", you'll have "I happying". Or instead of "the clear day" you'll have "the clearing day".
This rule applies to the conjugations below, aside from inhabitant. That is always expressed as "I am a Iiueim", not "I Iiueiming."
Take a word like "dark": gaur. Here are some regular derivations/conjugations for it:
| Opposite | un- | gaurnu |
| Lack of / Full of | -less/-ful | gaurnude/gauriilde |
| Possibility | -able | gaurocde |
| Liking/Disliking | -philic/-phobic | gauriunde/gauriande |
| Inhabitant | -ling, -en, -ian, -an | gaurut, gaura, gaurinot, gaurim |
| Diluted meaning/Strong meaning | -ish/-est | gaurubude/gaurod(o/e) |
To turn an adjective into a noun, give it gender. Asdudo, "green", can become aasdudo, "the green", or even goasdudo, "The[reverence] Green". Just be careful about giving states of being a gender that is meant for use in reference to people. It can be taken as comedy, sarcasm, or even just plain lunacy.
Case, Plural, and Possessive
CASELorem ipsum, etc. etc.
PLURAL
Plural is simple: just append whatever word you want to pluralize with "-ai". So
POSSESSIVE
To express possession of something, use the appropriate pronoun as a prefix to the subject:
| Family My family Your family His family Her family It's family Their family Our family |
Conta Saconta Toconta Anconta Esconta Avoconta Auconta Raconta |
| Siai's family | Siaiu conta |
Style
CONTENT
Number
The Noarunosdan numeral system is base 5. So it's 5, 25, 125, 525 (etc.), instead of 10, 100, 1000, 10,000 (etc.).
So the number 7, for example, would be thought of as "five and two", making it a two digit number. By that same logic, the number 31 would be "one twenty-five, one five, and one", making it a 3 digit number.
The concept of a base 5 number system is not all that hard to grasp if you put it in more visual terms. You'll have: 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 30, and so on and so forth. The number 7 would be visually represented as 12, and 31 would equate to 111.
And as far as saying the numbers are concerned:
0 - nuto
1 - om
2 - tet
3 - oco
4 - rel
10 - amo
20 - teto
30 - ocio
40 - reo
100 - agamo
1000 - tiemo
1,000,000 - olomo
When writing numbers in word format, it's more or less the same as english, except that "and" (cu) is required between every digit. So for instance, 64 would be "two twenty-fives, two fives, and four": tetagamo cu tetamo cu rel. Easy enough, no?