Brief Beginners guide to Weren Common Tongue (for English speakers)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
by Dan Comstock (Minotaur15@juno.com)
and Rob Allen (gcdragns@jps.net)
Weren, as to be expected, think very differently from Humans.
Contrary to what would be expected, their language is somewhat
simple when compared to their extensive codes and rules.
The Weren speak a multitude of languages. However the most common
one is called Weren Imperial Common. (or WIC) It was engineered to
be easy to learn, and similar to other commonly spoken languages.
It borrows grammar and vocabulary from other popular Weren dialects,
so most Weren don't have trouble learning it.
WIC is short, and to the point. There are no
articles (such as 'a' and 'the') or genders. Different thoughts
are divided up into sentences and words, like English. (where as
Fraal Common uses a combonation of words, gestures, and telepathic
pulses)
Structure:
----------
Sentences in Weren Common always follow the same general pattern:
Verb / Subject / Object
Words that are not either a subject, direct object or verb follow
the word that they modify. Because of this, WIC does not
allow more than one adjective to modify the same noun.
Each noun has a suffical ending to determine what it's function
is within the sentence. A subject, for example, is always labled
with the subject ending.
Noun Case Endings:
---- ---- --------
Such as the old Terran Language Latin, the identifiers, or cases
used for a noun determine it's function within the sentence.
The noun 'Tjal' meaning 'group' is used for an example. To
indicate plurality, a "y" is added to the case ending.
('am becomes 'amy to indicate that the subject is plural.)
Function (translates to) Ending Example
-------- --------- ------ -------
Subject subject 'am Tjal'am : the group
Object object 'ut Tjal'ut : the group
Possessive of 'el Tjal'el : of the group
Ablative 'by' or 'using' 'et Tjal'et : by the group
Dative to 'hat Tjal'hat: to the group
Locative near 'olt Tjal'olt: near the group
Examples:
[some vocab] Tjal : group
Weren : Weren
Hrat : Weapon
Yunul : Home
[phrases] Weren'am Yunul'olt : The Weren near the home
Weren'amy Yunul'olty : the Weren [pl] near the homes
Hrat'amy Tjal'el : The weapons of the group
Verbs:
------
The Weren verb is a simple construction. It is composed of the word
for the action itself, along with an optional tense indicator, which
is seperated into a different word. The tense indicator is similar
to the English 'will' to indicate future or '-ed' to indicate perfect
tense.
Verb Tense Indicators:
---- ----- -----------
morel : Future
dimorel : Perfect
bidimorel : Imperfect
Examples:
[some vocab] Chlop : run
Hrack : strike
Bra'eg : enter
Hmuk : eat
[phrases] Bra'eg morel Weren'am Yunul'ut : The Weren will enter the home.
Hrack bidimorel Weren'amy hrat'et : The Weren [pl] were striking with weapons.
Hmuk dimorel Tjal'am hrat'ut yunul'el : The group ate the weapons of the home.
Hrack hrat'am yunul'olt : The weapons near the home strike
The tense indicators, when written, are usually contracted to these forms:
dimorel (past): dim
bidimorel (imperfect): b'dim
Adjectives / Adverbs:
---------- - --------
The noun ending 'alhur indicates that the noun describes the
noun to it's left. An adverb, with the 'uthur suffix follows
the verb it modifies.
Examples:
[some vocab] Dar : Strong
Wern : Honor
Sath : Quick
[phrases] Hrack Weren'am dar'alhur hrat'et : The strong Weren strikes with a weapon.
Bra'eg tjal'amy wern'alhur yunul'uty : The brave groups enter the homes.
Hmuck sath'uthur dimorel Weren'am sath'alhur : The quick Weren ate quickly.
Chlop dimorel wern'uthur Weren'am : The Weren ran honorably.
The Passive Voice:
--- ------- ------
A verb may take the passive voice by adding the Gret- prefix.
Examples:
[phrases] Gret-hrack bidimorel Weren'am hrat'et : The weren was being struck by the weapon.
Gret-bra'eg morel yunul'am : The house will be entered
Gret-bra'eg morel sath'uthur yunul'am tjal'ety dar'alhur: The house will be entered quickly by strong groups.
Superlatives:
-------------
Superlative and diminutive modifiers are endings tacked on to the end
of a noun, after it's case identifier. When a superlative is used
with an adjective, it has the equivalent translation of '-er', showing
the intensity of the adjective.
Intensity Ending Example (translates to)
--------- ------ ------- ----------- ---
Most/Best 'uuq tjal'hat'uuq To the best group
More/Better 'uq tjal'el'uq To the better group
Least/Worst 'eq Weren'am'eq The worst Weren
Less/Worse 'ehq Weren'el'ehq To less weren
Examples:
[phrases] Chlop Weren'am yunul'hat'uq : The weren runs to the better home.
hrat'am'eq : The better weapon
hrat'am dar'alhur'uq : The stronger weapon
Imperative Verbs:
---------- ------
The 'command' form of a verb can be expressed by using the "Ha-"
prefix. This assumes that the subject is the second person (you).
The direct object indicated within the sentence become an indirect
object.
[some vocab] Food : Kluun
Examples:
[phrases] HaChlop yunul'am : Run home!
HaChlop sath'uthur yunul'am : Run home quickly!
HaHmuck dar'uthur : Eat heartily!
HaHmuck dar'uthur kluun'am. : Eat the food heartily.
HaHmuck dar'uthur kluun'am dar'alhur : Eat the hearty food heartily.
(
geocities.com/timessquare/ring) (
geocities.com/timessquare)