Re: Greetings

I'm not sure if you got this already...something happened with my e-mail
program and it stopped.  When I got back on this message was stored in the
"sent mail" box...but i never sent it.  So, if you have already seen the
first part of this message, keep scrolling down to find the rest.  Stupid
e-mail programs...

On Tue, 18 Jul 2000, Josh wrote:

> Sorry...  I have been rather occupied and therefore could not take the
> time to fully explain more things about the language.  So, now, in answer
> to the questions and suggestions:
>
> > > Currently Kartesian nouns have three cases and
> > > two moods, resulting in six forms:
> > >
> > > nominative _TIDE_       nom. poss. _TIDEE_
> > > accusative _TIDI_       acc. poss. _TIDII_
> > > dative     _TIDIIE_     dat. poss. _TIDJEE_ (irregular)
> > >
> > > The same holds true for the noun _mote_ so I will not inflect it here.
> >
> > What are "moods", in this usage?  What does "poss." stand for?  Can you give
> > examples of simple (glossed) sentences containing these forms?
>
> The moods concern whether the noun is objective (the subject or object
> (direct, indirect, prepositional, etc.) of a sentence) or possessive
> (hence "poss.").  I suppose possessive could be called genitive, HOWEVER
> it is different in the fact that the genitive ITSELF inflects to
> accomodate for the three cases (nominative, accusative, dative) as seen
> above in the inflection of _tide_.
>
> side note: all prepositions take the nominative.
>
> Sentences:
>
> Vje nepe ga Djassui peneje.
> The man (himself) Joshua calls.   (nominative)
> The man calls himself Joshua.
>
> The reflexive (as seen above) in the FIRST and SECOND persons are formed
> by using the simple dative pronouns (O na Djassui penee; Zu za Djassui
> peneze).  HOWEVER, the reflexive in the THIRD persons is formed using the
> particle _ga_ to avoid ambiguity.  Consider this example:
>
> Vje nepe ya Djassui peneje.
> The man (to him) Joshua calls.
> The man calls him/himself Joshua.
>
> This could either mean "The man calls himself Joshua"--the intended
> statement, but could also mean "The man calls him Joshua"--"him" referring
> to another person.  NOT the intended statement.
>
> May I also point out that proper nouns (names, places, etc.) are treated
> as regular nouns and ARE INFLECTED (Djassui is the ACCUSATIVE case of the
> name Djassue).
>
> O vje nepi tei.
> I the man see.   (accusative)
> I see the man.
>
> Not that the definite articles DO NOT change along with the case endings.
> "-e" nouns retain definite article _vje_ for all forms, and "-i" nouns
> retain definite article _vi_ for all forms.  Noun classes "-e" and "-i"
> are determined by the final letter of the NOMINATIVE case form.
>
> O vje nepiie vje culi r'howee.
> I (to) the man the book gave*(I will discuss verbs later)   (dative)
> I gave the book to the man OR I gave the man the book.
>
> Here is a concise example of the possessive (genitive) mood:
>
> Nepee fuhe nepiee djomiie nepii culi r'howeve.
> [The] man's dog (to) [the] man's son [the] man's book gave.
> The man's dog gave the man's son the man's book.
>
> This sentence IS EXTREMELY IMPRACTICAL, but it serves its purpose!
>
> > > _ot_ is EXACTLY the present tense copular element "is".  The verb "to be"
> > > is _ce_ and has two "classes" of conjugation, which I affectionately like
> > > to call "class 1" and "class 2" (yeah, the names need work).  _ot_ is from
> > > class two which has only two forms, one for singular subjects and one for
> > > plural subjects (_ose_).
> >
> > What are these classes, and what are the forms of each?  What determines which class
> > you use?
>
> The classes (yet unnamed) refer to the two sets of conjugations for this
> particular verb.  However, on a more broad level, they have entirely
> different uses.  The first class is used mostly (if not exclusively) for
> forming compound tenses, as in _O_varohe_ci_ (I am typing--in this case,
> the present progressive).  The second class is used to express basic state
> of being or ownership, etc., as in _O_nepi_ot_ (I am a person).  I will
> use the verb _ce_ as an example when I talk about verbs.
>
> > things to tell us about:
>
> > -- Basic word order
> Kartesian uses a Subject-Object-Verb word order.
> Adjectives appear after the word they modify, as adverbs appear BEFORE
> the word they modify:  _cule_wisaa_hueea_ (book very good) very good book.
> Prepositional phrases are, for the most part, considered adverbial and
> appear before the verb.
>
> > -- Word classes (how many, and what are they?)
> I already talked about "-e" and "-i" nouns.  All nouns will be either one
> or the other--EVEN FOREIGN borrowed terms (which adopt "-i" as a default).
> ALL VERBS (in the infinitive) end in e--NO EXCEPTIONS.  There are no verb
> classes such as -ar -er -ir in Spanish.
>
> > -- Noun inflection, uses of the case forms, singular/plural, etc.
> Noun inflection was detailed above.  The plural of ALL nouns is formed by
> the particle _se_ BEFORE the noun (nepe:man, se nepe:men).  If the noun
> begins with a vowel or h (always silent), the particle is contracted to
> _s'_ and is ATTACHED to the noun (home:girl, s'home:girls).
>
> > -- Verb inflection, tense and agreement
> Verbs are quite extensive in Kartesian, however this allows for the forms
> to be extremely exclusive.  Every verb (except for the second class of
> _ce_) has sixteen forms:
>
> howe:to give
>
> o howee       ose howo        (I give         we give
> zu howeze     zuse howoze      you give       y'all give
> i howeje      yise howoje      he gives       they give*
> tji howete    tjise howote     she gives      they give*
> ti howeve     tise howove      one gives**    they give*
> ov howevo     osve howovo      it gives       they give*
> vjot howejo   vjoxe howojo     this gives     these give
> vjet howetje  vjexe howotje    that gives     those give)
>
> tenses are not indicated by DIFFERENT endings--instead, they are indicated
> by particles appearing before the verb.  _re_ marks past tense, _je_
> marks imperfect tense, _si_ marks future tense.  Again, if the verb
> begins with a vowel or h, the particle is contracted and attached to the
> verb itself:
>
> howeze-you give, r'howeze-you gave, j'howeze-you used to give/were
> giving, s'howeze-you will give.
>
> There are many, many other forms of verbs, including passive voice,
> progressive tenses, as well as compound tenses involving both of these,
> subjunctive tense and imperative mood.  Basically, too much to discuss
> right away. Realize that in most cases a verb can be used without any
> pronouns or, in some conversation, even nouns, and its meaning (person,
> number, tense, mood, etc.) will be clearly understood, thus saving space
> and cleaning up sentences.
>
> > -- Are there prepositions?  Postpositions?  Neither?
> Prepositions, yes.  They end in e usually, but occasionally situations
> require strict adverbial forms thus making them end in aa (accented a).
> Frankly I have never heard of a postposition and am therefore quite
> certain that they do not exist in Kartesian.  (BTW, what ARE they?)
>
> > It would be nice to see some simple example sentences as well, with
> > word-by-word glosses and translations, so that we can get a feel for
> > the language.
> I will very soon post on this list the ever popular (and overused yet
> appropriate) Genesis 11:1-9 with glosses and translations.
>
> > Niokteh telanko!  (Thanks!)
> >
> > Matt.
>
> Ov neyi ot.  (You're welcome.)
>
> Josh :)