Sidhaisin:

Grammar and Syntax

Table of Contents

  1. Verbs
  2. Nouns
  3. Modifiers
  4. Syntax

I. Verbs

The verb in Sidhaisin is distinguished by its simple system of tense suffixes. In all tenses, the final "i" which distinguishes the infinitive form is dropped and a tense suffix is put in its place.

Verbs do not change form for gender. However, they are pluralized when necessary by adding the letter "l" to the suffix, i.e., sel val, "we do", compared to se va, "I do". Three forms of the verb do not pluralize in any instance: the infinitive, the participle (gerund) and the imperative.

If the verb stem ends in a t, k or d, the letter "r" is added before the suffix is attached: se dostra, "I keep", from dosti, "to keep".

Verb Conjugation Table
Tense Suffix English Equivalent Sidhaisin Form
Infinitive +i to do vi
Present +a I do/I am doing se va
Imperfect +o I was doing/I used to do se vo
Simple Past +era I did/I did do se vera
Simple Future +u I will do se vu
Conditional +ara I should do se vara
Present Subjunctive +eru (that) I may do se veru
Imperfect Subjunctive +iru (that) I might do se viru
Past Indefinite +ora I have done se vora
Pluperfect/Past Anterior +oru I had done se voru
Future Perfect +aru I shall have done se varu
Conditional Perfect +ari I should have done se vari
Past Subjunctive +ura (that) I may have done se vura
Past Perfect Subjunctive +ira (that) I might have done se vira
Conditional Past Future +ori (that) I would have been doing se vori
Conditional Past Prevented +osu (that) I would have done se vosu
Conditional Present Prevented +iro (that) I would be doing se viro
Participle (Gerund) +is doing vis
Imperative +e do! ve!

Note that the "passive" tenses and voice are not used in the same manner as their equivalents in English. In Sidhaisin, the passive Imperfect is used for statements about a person dead or permanently departed in some other way. No one, except perhaps one of the drulathryn (undead), would say se vo "I was doing...", for to do so implies that the speaker has died or is no longer in the vicinity. The Simple Past tense is always preferred over the Imperfect with the living: se vera "I did" instead of se vo "I was doing". There are, of course, exceptions: insults, life-threatening statements, and sentences in which a subject action has been interrupted.

Imperative structures require all subjects and objects. As noted in Syntax, direct objects are positioned between subject and verb, and indirect objects after the verb. Continuing our use of vi "to do", the English phrase "Do this" would be translated as:

Fa he va -- literally, "You this do."

Reflexive Structures

Any verb can be rendered reflexive by the insertion of the reflexive pronoun between subject and verb: na, plural nal. This pronoun is used to prevent doubling of the subject/object pronoun, i.e., se na lythra "I arm myself" instead of se se lythra, which is a child's or beginner's mistake and considered clumsy and ineuphonic. When the reflexive pronoun is the object of a preposition, the preposition is placed before the pronoun: Fa luth na gastera "You saw for yourself".

Reciprocal Structures

A reciprocal construction is created in a manner identical to the reflexive, using the reciprocal pronoun ne(l).

In both cases, if the pronoun is an indirect object, it is placed after the relevant verb, in according with standard syntax rules.

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II. Nouns

All nouns are pluralized by the addition of -l to the end of nouns ending in vowels, or -el to nouns ending in consonants. In the case of nouns that end in a vowel pair, such as elbai "word" and asohai "demon", the second vowel is dropped and -l appended: elbal "words" and asohal "demons". Words of such construction are rare, though (and are descended from a divergent and subsequently reabsorbed branch of Sidhaisin); do not mistake the more common collective forms of some nouns for these singular forms.

In all cases of pluralization, either the major or secondary stress in pronunciation will fall on the final syllable.

Collective Nouns

Most nouns are able to take the collective suffix -ai (sometimes requiring spelling changes). This suffix is usually translated as "-kind" and when found refers to the entire body of some such thing: lathrai "the dead", shymai "all the stars", Rinuai "Humankind".

Augmentive Suffix

Similar to the collective suffix is the augmentive suffix -on, meaning "great" or "big".

Performer Suffix

Equivalent to the English -er and -or (and the feminine versions thereof), the suffix -yn changes a verb or a noun from an act to the name of the person who does that act.

Possessives

There is no possessive case for nouns. Possession is indicated with the structure o X ad Y -- "the X of Y", where Y possesses X. Example: O tholm ad Kithanor "The sword of Kithanor" or "Kithanor's sword".

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III. Modifiers

Adjectives always end in -as and do not change for number or gender of the word modified. Almost any noun or verb can be made into an adjective by dropping the terminal vowel(s), if any, and appending -as: lathri "to die" becomes lathras "dead". Adverbs are formed by adding -a to an adjective (lathrasa "deadly"), and are as unchanging as their roots.

Adverbs and adjectives are placed around the word they modify, with the more emphatic modifiers found before the word modified, and the weaker, less emphatic after the word, except when modifiers of two different words would then be adjacent. In such a case, all modifiers are placed in front of their objects in greater to lesser order of emphasis.

When comparisons are involved, there is no change in structure for adjectives and adverbs, as there often is in English. Rather, comparative/superlative auxiliary adverbs are used in a manner that corresponds to more/most and less/least in English:

ethasa (more)
ethrasa (most)
ythasa (less)
ythrasa (least)

For example, Tha aila ethasa otyras enye se aila. Literally, "He is more weak than I am," but more concisely translated as "He is weaker than me".

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IV. Syntax

Like English, Sidhaisin is overall a very freeform language, with many possible sentence structures open for use. However, several rules over valid structures within sentences. Some have already be presented above, such as the placement restrictions for modifiers. The few remaining rules are given here.

In any basic declarative sentence, epitomized by the subject-verb-object structure in English, the direct object of a verb must always be placed between the subject and the verb. Indirect objects must follow the verb.

In question structures (as opposed to questions formed from statements by vocal intonation), the most common pattern is:

indirect object verb-subject direct object

Note that in all questions, the subject-verb order is inverted and hyphenated: Va-se? "Do I?"

Inverted verb-subject form declarative sentences are also allowed. They usually connote a certain excitement or a strong emphasis on the event described. In such an inverstion, the verb and noun are not hyphenated, and as in the more common declarative structures, the direct object is placed between them. Indirect objects, though, still precede the verb as per interrogatives.

Compound subjects in a declarative sentence are treated in the same manner as in English. Compound verbs require a subject (either noun or pronoun) for each verb. Similarly in an interrogative -- a compound verb requires an inversion and hyphenated subject for each element of the compound.

Gerund forms of verbs are accepted as subjects and objects, and are formed with the otherwise extinct participial tense of the relevant verb.


This page was created on November 7, 1997.
Last modified March 12, 2011.