This morning I woke up thinking about how a "why" question fits into the forms I posted yesterday, and then I realized that it might not be clear how a "how" question works. To be clear, the topic is in the nominative, followed by the question part.
Here's the sample I put in the grammar document:
Dha fiosa, ve ano weros? (That house, 2nd-singular-past build how?; "How did you build that house?")
"Why" questions would be similar. I don't have an example off the top of my head, but you might even go as far as "About the civil war, you-wrote why?" ("Why did you write about the civil war?") -- this includes a topic phrase.
Addendum from the Comments:
Thomas said...
I notice that in your other questions, the topic stands alone at the beginning of the sentence; what about wording it as "the civil war, you wrote about [it] why" (rather than "about the civil war, you wrote why")? Just a thought.
March 15, 2010 1:52 PM
Mee-ah said...
I think that's what I originally had in mind. I ended up writing my clarification between errands today, and I may have failed at clarifying.
Either would probably be allowed, grammatically, but your example is less awkward. Thanks. :)
March 15, 2010 2:55 PM
Monday, March 15, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
You've Got Questions? We've Got Grammar!
Yes/No question tagging had been addressed previously in the grammar, but now it is possible to ask other kinds of questions too!
Questions in Teliya Nevashi are formed by mentioning the subject or topic first, followed by the verb and usually ending in one of the 7 interrogative words. Those words are jenos ("who"), eyos ("what"), kios ("why"), alos ("where"), lumos ("when"), weros ("how") and gedos ("which (one)").
For instance:
Ya kawunar, mi dev alos? (The bathroom, 3rd_person-s is-located where?; "Where is the bathroom?")
Amá dez, mi an gedos? (Mother your, 3rd-singular is which one?; "Which one is your mother?)
Dha Sheshet, mi an jenos? (That young-woman, 3rd-sing is who?; "Who is that girl?")
Kawunar is generally the bathroom in someone's home, since it is the "bathing room". A public bathroom would be iane'ar, the "water room", or thusar, the "urination room".
I've labeled thusar as vulgar in the vocabulary document, but I don't think it is strongly vulgar. It's just not as euphemistic as iane'ar. Do the Nevashi have those kinds of taboos about bodily functions? I am not sure yet.
I noticed something about the name of the world, Ianea, recently. It is called "Ya Ianen", "The Waters" by the Nevashi who live there, and I had thought that "Ianea" was the same thing, but I think it actually means something closer to "Flow" or "Flowing".
Questions in Teliya Nevashi are formed by mentioning the subject or topic first, followed by the verb and usually ending in one of the 7 interrogative words. Those words are jenos ("who"), eyos ("what"), kios ("why"), alos ("where"), lumos ("when"), weros ("how") and gedos ("which (one)").
For instance:
Ya kawunar, mi dev alos? (The bathroom, 3rd_person-s is-located where?; "Where is the bathroom?")
Amá dez, mi an gedos? (Mother your, 3rd-singular is which one?; "Which one is your mother?)
Dha Sheshet, mi an jenos? (That young-woman, 3rd-sing is who?; "Who is that girl?")
Kawunar is generally the bathroom in someone's home, since it is the "bathing room". A public bathroom would be iane'ar, the "water room", or thusar, the "urination room".
I've labeled thusar as vulgar in the vocabulary document, but I don't think it is strongly vulgar. It's just not as euphemistic as iane'ar. Do the Nevashi have those kinds of taboos about bodily functions? I am not sure yet.
I noticed something about the name of the world, Ianea, recently. It is called "Ya Ianen", "The Waters" by the Nevashi who live there, and I had thought that "Ianea" was the same thing, but I think it actually means something closer to "Flow" or "Flowing".
Monday, March 8, 2010
Small Advancements, Big Plans
Nevashi gained a number of words for body parts and clothing tonight. Those are the small advancements.
The Big Plans? I plan on starting to keep a diary in the language to help advance it further. I hope that actually using it will result in a lot more advancement. I may start posting entries here in Nevashi, when I feel a little more comfortable using it.
I also plan on fleshing out the conculture a little more, paying particular attention to the differences between the cultures of Nevashi speakers on the island of Nevash and on the mainland, and also between Ianea Nevashi and Earth Nevashi. (I might like to start by coming up with some story to explain how some Nevashi people ended up on Earth, since Ianea is their home world.)
I am also trying to start a little collaborative conlang project athttp://conlangery.freeforums.org/ http://colla.conlang.org. (It has moved!)
The Big Plans? I plan on starting to keep a diary in the language to help advance it further. I hope that actually using it will result in a lot more advancement. I may start posting entries here in Nevashi, when I feel a little more comfortable using it.
I also plan on fleshing out the conculture a little more, paying particular attention to the differences between the cultures of Nevashi speakers on the island of Nevash and on the mainland, and also between Ianea Nevashi and Earth Nevashi. (I might like to start by coming up with some story to explain how some Nevashi people ended up on Earth, since Ianea is their home world.)
I am also trying to start a little collaborative conlang project at
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