Name TBD
Pronunciation
The sounds of TBD need little explanation for English speakers. For the most part, they are spelled as in English.
Stress
Stem Forms and Plurals
Nouns in TBD have a plural form, which is used for talking about more than one of something. (In English, we also use the plural for talking about zero of something, but TBD uses the singular form for this.) The plural is formed by adding a suffix -a after the stem form of a noun.
Ah, yes! First, I should explain what a stem form is. The stem form is a variant of a word that endings are added to.
For example, the word for forest
is niel. Its stem form
is nield- (denoted as such by the hyphen at the end), and
so the plural form forests
is nielda.
Usually, the stem form of a word is longer than the standalone form. In the dictionary, extra letters added in the stem form are placed in parentheses: niel(d-)
The Definite Article
The word for the
in TBD is i. When written, it is
separated from the following word by an apostrophe:
i'niel the forest
This convention of using an apostrophe indicates two things:
- the article i cannot be separated from the following noun by any other word (an adjective, for example).
- the article doesn't change the stress of the noun. That is, it's still considered a separate word for the purposes of stress (and usually, the article is completely unstressed).
TBD has no indefinite article corresponding to a/an in English. It's simply implied by context.
niel forest
or a forest
Adjectives
Adjectives in TBD follow the noun they modify.
Possession
Where English has only a single possessive form, TBD has two, termed (somewhat confusingly) the possessive and the genitive.
The Genitive Form
The genitive form is used specifically to indicate a relationship of creation or production. The genitive singular is formed by suffixing -an to the stem form of the noun, and the genitive plural is formed by suffixing -in.
i'nieldan of/from the forest
nieldin of/from forests
i'cevnan of/from the earth
wildra i'nieldan birds of the forest
The genitive form is used when describing a person in relation to their ancestors:
- aneron Galdoran
a descendant of Galdor
The Possessive Form
The possessive form is used for all types of possession
not covered by the genitive. Actually, calling it a form
is probably a bit overwrought, because nouns don't change
at all when used possessively. They're simply placed after
the noun they modify, like so:
i'niel Galdor Galdor's forest
i'wildra Arsos Arsos's birds
Imperatives
The imperative or command form of a verb is simply the dictionary form:
aist listen!
An imperative can have a direct object, which follows it:
aist i'wildra listen to the birds
(the word to
in English has no corresponding TBD word in
the sentence above. aist by itself means listen to
when
a direct object is present.)
The verb to be
The verb aerth means is
or are
:
Galdor aerth wilir Galdor is a bird
i'wildra aerth i'nieldan the birds are of the forest
The Present Tense
The present tense is used to describe situations that are occurring right now. The formula is:
(subject) aerth (verb)as (object)
Galdor aerth aistas i'wildra Galdor is listening to the birds
.
There is a deeper reason behind this idiosyncratic bit of grammar, but to understand it we're going to have to look at another noun form.
The Locative Form
The locative form is used when describing the location of
something. It is formed by suffixing -as to the stem form
of the noun. The resulting noun means at/in/on/by X
wildra i'nieldas birds in the forest
niel cilyas a forest by a river
The plural locative is -esse
niel cilyesse a forest near rivers
wildra nieldesse birds in forests
Explanation of the Present Tense
The present tense form of a verb is actually the locative.
Surprise! Verbs in TBD are treated just like nouns. A
verb
like aist actually refers to the act of listening.
So a form like aistas actually means at listening
.
Galdor aerth aistas i'wildra
literally means Galdor is at listening (to) the birds
.
While this sounds rather strange and stilted in English, it is the normal way of forming the present tense in TBD.
The Aorist Tense
Galdor aerth aistar wildra Galdor (often) listens to birds
The Dative Form
-ar, pl. -ara
The Near Future
Galdor aerth or aist wildra Galdor is about to listen to birds
or lit. on
Metaphors of time
The future is below us, the past above.
(plants grow, smoke goes up)
The Perfect Aspect
Galdor aerth nu aist wildra Galdor has listened to birds
nu lit. below
The Past Tense
Galdor oith aistas Galdor was listening
Galdor oith nu aist Galdor had listened
The Future Tense
Galdor var aistas Galdor will be listening
Want, Need, and Must
Galdor aerth maeras aist wilir Galdor wants to listen to a bird
Galdor aerth maeras aist wildras Galdor wants to be listened to by a bird
Saying and Knowing
Relative Clauses
Lexicon
TBD | POS | English |
---|---|---|
niel(d-) | n | forest |
aneron (anern-) | n | descendent, child, son, daughter |
wilir (wildr-) | n | bird |
aist | v | listen |