Rakash Grammar (book)

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RAKASH GRAMMAR by Ivukav Voskid

1 MORPHOLOGY

PARTS OF SPEECH

The parts of speech in Rakash are nouns, verbs, modifiers, pronouns, prepostions, and conjunctions.

NOUNS

NUMBER

Rakash nouns have only a single form rather than the singular and plural forms of, say, Gamgweth. If there is a need to indicate more than one, the noun is pre-ceded by a number or by the word kads, indicating an undetermined quantity.

Examples: tris Rukis "three Gnomes"; kads Rukis "some Gnomes".

NUMERALS

Rakash counting consists of compounding numbers. A number drops its last vowel and adds fadsrit for numerals between eleven and twenty. After nineteen, add desrit "ten", sirt "hundred", tukstos "thousand". Ais is added to a number to indicate position instead of quantity.

Examples:

two divi

second divais

twelve divfadsrit

twenty divdesrit

two hundred divi sirt

two thousand divi tukstos

ten desrit

tenth desritais

hundred sirt

thousand tukstos

GENDER

When necessary, the gender of an ambiguous noun can be shown by adding 's' to the end of the word for masculine gender or 'r' for feminine gender.

Examples:

nacija "people", gender unspecified or mixed;

nacijar "a group of women"; nacijas "a group of men".

VERBS

TENSE

Rakash has six different tenses, shown by a tense indicator placed just before the verb and an ending on the verb itself. In these examples, notice the development of the verb saest "eat".

Simple Present Tense: used for habitual action.

-- Add nothing:

Cefrit eats eggs.

Cefrit saest olsuna.

Present Perfect Tense: shows a completed action or state

that has relevance at the present time.

-- Add aws before the verb.

Cefrit has eaten eggs.

Cefrit aws saest olsuna.

Present Progressive Tense: used for actions or states

continuing at the present time.

-- Add o to the end of the verb.

Cefrit is eating some eggs.

Cefrit vut saesto kads osluna.

Simple Past Tense.

-- Add dzu before the verb.

Cefrit ate some eggs.

Cefrit dzu saest kads olsuna.

Past Perfect Tense: shows completed action in the past.

-- Add dzuaws before the verb. (Notice it is a com-

bination of the perfect tense indicator and the

past tense indicator.)

Cefrit had eaten some eggs.

Cefrit dzuaws saest kads osluna

Past Progressive Tense: shows continuing action in

the past.

-- Add dzu before the verb and o to the end of it.

Cefrit was eating some eggs.

Cefrit vut dzu saesto kads osluna.

MODAL VERBS

Rakash has no other tenses, but it does have words like those used in Common to show various contexts of the verb. These words are often called modal auxiliaries or modal verbs and are placed before the verb or tense indicator. The order is: modal - tense indicator - verb.

For ability or permission: vare "can"; varet "could".

You can run but he will find you.

Jusu vare skrawt citka vins griva jusu atrast.

You could hide but they will search for you.

Jusu varet noglavat citka vini griva jo jusu reklet.

Indicating possibility: drikste "may"; drikstet "might".

An Empath may ask before healing me.

Erfatija drikste lugt awfra dzawdinaso ran.

Martyr might heal me if I ask.

Martyr drikstet dawdinsast vai es lugt.

Indicating obligation: lik "shall"; likt "should"

The sun shall follow the rain.

Saule lik lawtus awtfat.

The blizzard should stop soon.

Snawgavetra likt driz cawrot.

Indicating future time: griva "will"; grivat "would".

The river will grow above its bed and cover the land.

Ufe griva augt virs ta gulta un zere aspegt.

He would work hard to get food.

Vins grivat gruts darvs krajuri sanert.

Indicating compulsion: vinogu "must".

You must swim or go down in a lake.

Jusu vinogu ezer feldesant vai lejufa kustivat.

FORMATION OF NOUNS FROM VERBS

Most Rakash verbs end in the sound represented by the letter t. A related noun is often formed by dropping this sound:

Examples:

lawkt "to bend", lawk "a bend in something";

luzurt "to break", luzur "a break in something";

saraisit "to mix", saraisi "a mixture".

MODIFIERS

Rakash does not have adjectives and adverbs as separate parts of speech. Instead, words we can call modifiers work on either a noun or a verb. These modifiers are placed immediately before the word they modify:

relna pasutit "black book"

Cefrit wrote the price in his black book.

Cefrit dzu rakstit cena awksa vinas relna pasutit.

Words that modify a modifier, like "his" in the example above or 'little' in the one below also appear directly before the word they modify:

Cefrit wrote the price in his little black book.

Cefrit dzu rakstit cena awksa vinas mazs relna pasutit.

PRONOUNS

Most Rakash pronouns are used like those found in Common except when the pronoun in question refers to another Rakash. In that case, tev is used preceeding or instead of the other pronoun, depending on the choice of the user.

Function in Sentence

Subject Object Modifier

First person singular:

Es "I" ran "me" rans "my/mine"

First person plural:

res "we" asv "us" rusu/rusejra "our/ours"

Second person, all uses:

jusu "you / your / yours"

Third person singular:

vins "he" sev "him" vinas "his"

vinr "she" sevr "her" vinar "her/hers"

ta "it" ta "it" ta "its"

Third person plural:

vini "they" vini "them" vinu "their/theirs"

PREPOSITIONS

about = af in = awksa

above = virs into = turklat

across = fari of = del

after = aiz off = fror

against = fret on = uz

ahead = frawksa onto = uz

along = gar out = ara

among = starf outside = svaiga

around = af over = otrfus

before = awfra past = gar

behind = aiz through = fa

beneath = zer till = lidz

besides = vez to = uz

between = starf toward = uz

but = citka under = zem

by = caur until = lidz

down = lejufa up = augsuf

during = liaka upon = virs

except = iznerot with = ar

for = jo within = rovezas

from = no without = arfuse

CONJUNCTIONS

and = un if = vai

because = tafec or = vai

both = avi that = lai

but = citka unless = ja ne

either = ari while = karer

SYNTAX

SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Rakash sentences normally have a subject-verb-object order for simple sentences. The language includes the coordinate sentences, where clauses are joined by a conjunction:

Sheri likes chocolate but Zima likes wine.

Sheri veletawt sokolade citka Zima veletawt zufo.

In addtion, Rakash has two kinds of subordinate clauses, included clauses and relative clauses.

INCLUDED CLAUSES

These clauses in reality are sentences that are treated as the subject or object of the main verb. Included clauses begin with the word lai.

Example:

John expected that it would rain.

John dzu gaidit lai ta grivat lawtus.

RELATIVE CLAUSES

These are clauses that modify a word in the main sentence. They begin with a relative pronoun (kur and kurs in the examples below), and are placed immediately after the word they modify.

I know a man who has only nine fingers.

Es zinat virawtis kur vut vaunigais devin firkst.

John's cloak which Jane sewed is very colorful.

John rantija kurs Jane dzu sut vut kads krasa.

The relative pronouns are:

"how" cik "when" kad "who/whom" kur

"if/whether" vai "where" kurp "whose" kura

"what" kas "which" kurs "why" awmesls

QUESTIONS, EXCLAMATIONS, AND COMMANDS

QUESTIONS

Rakash indicates a question by placing the word ne immediately after the word being questioned.

Examples:

Vut ne vins luk?

Is  ? he here (Expects a "yes" or "no" answer.)

Vut vins ne luk?

Is he  ? here (As opposed to someone else.)

Vut vins luk ne?

Is he here ? (As opposed to somewhere else.)

EXCLAMATIONS

To show an exclamation, Rakash adds the capitalized word Ak at the end of the sentence. Ak translates very loosely as "Oh!"

Run, the sky is falling!

Skrawt, devesis vut kristo Ak.

COMMANDS

Commands are shown by beginning the sentence with the word rad.

Examples

You need to go home. Jusu vajadivut kustivat raja.

Go home. Rad kustivat raja.