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Patrick Hassel-Zein made this file. Andrew Nowicki updated it.
There are currently no actual grammatical rules in Ygyde. Most
of the grammar is simply defined by the meanings and use of the words.
The general idea is that the order of the words in any phrase is very
free, except when dealing with logical prepositions and combinations
of the same - more about that later. This means that people with
different linguistic backgrounds may construct sentences indifferent ways.
The only suggested restrictions are:
When speaking Ygyde, you do not need to specify plural or singular forms, temporal forms of verbs or any types of articles unless it is important to clarify details. The interpretation of basic sentences will be depending on the context. Ways to express details such as plural or time of verbs are presented in other sections of this primer.
Ygyde does not have indefinite articles (a, an), but it has two words similar to definite articles: hito (this, that, it), and hisu (they, these, them). English phrase "elephants are big" means that all elephants are big. The same Ygyde phrase (o ysozybo aso) means that most elephants are big. Ygyde phrase ysozybo aso (elephant is big) means that average elephant is big.
Some interpretations of very simple sentences:
Any sentence may be changed with the phrasal suffixes:
Affirmative sentence: ije uduti o yfodyby hifu
= "He is buying bananas." (uduti = to buy,
o = plural, yfodyby = banana,
hifu = optional last word of an affirmative sentence)
Question: ije uduti o yfodyby hipu = "Is he buying bananas?"
(hipu = last word in a general question, to which the answer
is expected to be an agreement or disagreement)
Order: uduti o yfodyby hino = "Buy bananas!"
(hino = last word of a suggestion or order)
Numbers: Fractions other than those readily defined among
the numbers may be expressed with number + olu + number.
Expressions including both an integer and a fraction are expressed
with the word iwa (meaning "and"). Use the expression
"<Integer> iwa <numerator> olu
<denominator>".
Example 1: 1/4 is expressed as (hofy) olu owi or hoku if we are talking in octal numbers.
Example 2: 3/4 is becomes hofu olu owi in octal numbers.
Example 3: 3/4 is becomes owo olu owy in decimal numbers.
Example 4: hofo iwa hofu olu owi means "2 and 3/4" in octal numbers.
Ordinal numbers: hope hofu ysobe means "third tree" in octal numbers.
Although there need not be any distinction between singular and plural nouns or pronouns, plural may be specified by adding either a number, iza (more), hika (fewer) or similar prepositions before a noun. It is also possible to specify general and unspecific plural with the letter o.
The functional vowel a (genitive) may often be left out. a
may also be referring to an entire phrase situated between e and
y.
Example 1: ije uwopy iwa o yboebo = "he dances with
wolves". (uwopy = to dance, iwa = with, plus, including,
yboebo, ybobebo = wolf)
Example 2: ije (upalu) (a) e uwopy iwa o yboebo y
= "he is one who dances with wolves". (upalu = to be,
a = genitive, e = left parenthesis, y = right parenthesis)
A phrase of the type (a) e...y may be used as a noun or
a name.
Example 1: (a) e uwopy iwa o yboebo y uba = "the
one that dances with wolves is white." (uba = white)
Example 2: huko e uwopy iwa o yboebo y = name of a
person who dances with wolves (the word uko indicates foreign
name of a person).
The functional vowel i (accusative) is used before objects that
take no preposition, but are not the active person in a phrase. This will
clarify that the object is not a subject - especially if a phrase is
written in straight order (noun followed by verb followed by object).
However, this vowel may be left out if the word order is straight.
Example 1: both imu uduti i hito yfodyby and
imu uduti hito yfodyby mean "I buy this banana."
(hito = this, that, it)
Example 2: i yfodyby imu uduti or even i yfodyby
uduti imu means "a banana I buy", i.e. "I buy a banana".
Example 3: hipy yfodyby imu uduti should be interpreted as
hipy yfodyby uduti (i) imu, i.e. "the banana buys me"!
(hipy = the)
The functional vowel i (accusative) also indicates passive voice: hipy i ylacopy hety icojaci = "the criminal was arrested" (hipy = the, ylacopy = criminal, hety = past tense, icojaci = to arrest)
Use functional vowels whenever the interpretation of a phrase is
unclear!
Example 1: hipy haso ycujepy owoajo means nothing more and
nothing less than "the big boy helicopter", and must actually be
interpreted as "the big boy is a helicopter." (haso = big,
ycujepy = boy, owoajo = helicopter)
Example 2: a e haso ycujepy y owoajo, owoajo a e
haso ycujepy y both mean "a helicopter of big boy."
Example 3: a ycujepy haso owoajo and haso owoajo a
ycujepy both mean "big helicopter of a boy."
Example 4: a haso ycujepy owoajo and ycujepy a haso
owoajo both mean "a boy of a big is a helicopter"
Example 5: haso e ycujepy owoajo y and
haso ycujepy u owoajo both mean "a big <boy
helicopter>", and it is not very clear how this is supposed to be
interpreted - possibly as "big boy-helicopter", but then the question
is what a "boy-helicopter" might be. This phrase should probably better
be changed to haso (e) acujepy owoajo (y) = "big boyish helicopter"- that
is still a strange phrase, but the possible interpretation is
much more obvious.
Throughout this document, the functional vowels are usually written between parentheses when the vowels may be left out.
Remember that e and y are always used in pairs! Several pairs and even nested pairs may be used in one and the same phrase.
All the prepositional verb modifiers are defined in other tables describing
Ygyde. This section describes how the four listed words may be used as verb
modifiers. It is quite possible to find further modifiers for other or similar
functions... hety followed by verb indicates past tense of that verb.
hecu followed by verb indicates future tense of that verb.
hepa may be used to explicitly specify present tense of that verb.
Example 1: imu uduti (i) hipy (o) yfodyby = "I buy the bananas."
Example 2: imu hety uduti (i) o yfodyby = "I have bought bananas."
Example 3: imu hecu uduti (i) o yfodyby = "I will buy bananas."
Example 4: imu hepa uduti (i) o yfodyby = "I am buying bananas."
Example 5: o yfodyby ize uduti hiko imu = "Bananas are
bought by me." (ize = passive voice, hiko = by)
It is possible to use the construction (a) e...y for passive
constructions.
The word ize may be used together with any of the other verb
modifiers.
Example: o yfodyby ize hety uduti hiko imu = "Bananas were
bought by me."
If neither hety, hecu nor hepa is specified,
present tense is likely but it is not taken for granted!
Example: o yfodyby ize uduti hiko imu may be interpreted as "Bananas
are bought by me", "Bananas will be bought by me" as well as "Bananas
were bought by me!"
upalu = "verb alive abstraction" = "to be, to exist".
This verb is not necessary in simple or common phrases where the verb "to be" is
required in English. Adjectives and other descriptions of objects may be
regarded as "pseudo-verbs". However, this verb is absolutely necessary in
some occasions.
Example 1: A phrase such as "that is a giraffe", is simply
translated as hito yzyobo ("that giraffe") or hito upalu yzyobo
("That is giraffe"). The more specific phrase hito hepa upalu hofy yzyobo
("That presently is one giraffe") is less suitable, since it implies that we
are dealing with some mutating lifeform that currently is a giraffe, but may
have been something else before and may turn into something else in a little
while.
Example 2: "The giraffe is yellow" is best expressed as
yzyobo huco. The phrase yzyobo epa huco means "giraffe now yellow",
which may imply that the giraffe wasn't yellow before, and may not remain yellow.
Example 3: "I am a dentist" is expressed as imu yseneco or
imu upalu yseneco. The phrase "I am happy to be a dentist" must
however be expressed with use of upalu: imu hape
upalu yseneco
("I am happy being dentist"), (hape = happy), since imu hape yseneco should be
interpreted as "I (am) a happy dentist!"
The English verb "to have" can be used to express many very different actions.
Be careful to use the correct translation to Ygyde depending on the context!
(upylu = "to have, to own" = "verb owned abstraction",
usumo = "to hold" = "verb prolonged fusion")
Consider the deeper meaning of the definitions of these verbs in Ygyde
when selecting which is most suitable in a given context. In many cases,
such as when the verb "to have" is followed by abstract items, it is often best
expressed with other verbs.
Example 1: "I have a house" is probably best translated as
imu upylu ycyzo ("I own home").
Example 2: "I have a banana" can be expressed as imu upylu yfodyby
("I own banana"), imu usumo yfodyby ("I hold banana"), or yfodyby igi imu
("banana in the same place as me", igi = in the same place).
Example 3: "I have to go" should be phrased as "I must go" or
"I am forced to go".
Example 4: "I have a headache" can be expressed as
imu usumo obapabu (more or less implying that "I have a prolonged fusion with
a headache") or a imu ybapa ibuma ("my head is aching")
(usumo = to hold = verb prolonged fusion, obapabu = headache,
ybapa = head, ibuma = to ache).
Example 5: "I have an idea" is best expressed with
the verb umini = "to have an idea"(corresponding to the noun
ymini = "mental path" = "idea")
Prepositions are often used in ways similar to how the corresponding prepositions are used in, for example, English, but you must be careful with the exceptions and restrictions in the definitions of prepositions such as "then", "by", "about" and "and"!
The words ojuju (equal) and ade (different) may be used in expressions such as "at the same time" (ojuju ejo) and "someone else" (ade hypy).
"Too many" is expressed as iba hiki ("above many"),"too few" as hisa ily ("below any").
The words hupu (south), huti (north), ube (west),
and uby (east) may be combined with each other to specify diagonal directions
such as huti ube = "northwest". Geographic coordinates may be specified by use
of yle (unit):owo oge owa yle huti owy oge yle uby = "25 units north,
30 units east. By the way, yle is a very useful word for degrees of anything!
Example 1: hofi yle yzyle = "zero degrees Celsius" -- but
it may also be acceptably clear to say hofi yzyle.
Example 2: owy yle oneguby = "three units tea" (to be
interpreted as "three cups of tea")
Example 3: owa yle yfodyby = "five units bananas"
(this may sound funny in English, but not in Chinese, Swedish or some
other languages)
For those that speak Chinese: compare with the generic
classifier "ge"!
The words hiky (to) and hite (from) may be used together with preposition that state positions. If the preposition izu (in, inside, into, within) is used alone, it means "to be located in". hiky izu = "into". hite izu = "from the inside". Note, for example, the difference between phrases such as "he is walking in the garden" and "he is walking into the garden"!
The word iwa (and) can only be used to join objects together.
The word igy (also) may join phrases. igy may also be used
for expressions like "Me too!" igy imu! In most other cases the
word "and" is translated as iwa (with).
Example 1: it is OK to say "I and you are buying a house".
Example 2: it is OK to say "We are buying a house and a car".
Example 3: it is not OK to say "We move to Mars and buy a house".
The correct way of phrasing the meaning of such a sentence might be "We move
to Mars. We also buy a house" (that would call for the word igy (also)!)
"We move to Mars. At that time we buy a house" or "We move to Mars. There we
will buy a house." The rephrasing will generally cause more logical
expressions. The word iwy (or) can only be used to join objects together.
The word hina (or) joins phrases only. A phrase such as "apples,
bananas and pears" should in Ygyde be expressed with the word iwa (and)
between all the nouns.
Words such as "sometime", "anytime", "never", "always", "somewhere", "nowhere", "everywhere", "somebody", "anybody" and so on are translated with the prepositions ily (any), ige (some), iga (nothing, no), ola (a few), hiki (many), hiso (most), or idu (all) followed by a suitable word, such as ejo (time of day), ypy (person), yji (place).
The functional vowels e ... y are very useful to group causes
and actions of logical prepositions clearly. This becomes especially
useful in long and/or complex statements. However, the e ... y
may be excluded from simple statements where the logic is clear
- particularly the word "then" may be excluded.
Example 1: ilu (e) hipe uduti (i) o yfodyby (y) iwi
(e) imu udugali (i) hisu (y) = "If <you buy bananas>,
then <I will borrow them>".
Example 2: ilu haca (e) hipe uduti (i) o yfodyby (y) imu ulati
ige = "Unless <you buy bananas>, I will steal some."
Verb forms such as "would", "might" and "definitely" are usually used in
logical statements such as "if you give me money then I will/would/might buy
a house". The degree of probability in the resulting action may be specified
with hica (impossible), hife (unlikely, 25% certain), izy (50% certain),
hiku (75% certain), ime (certain), hini (unknown probability)
Example 1: ilu (e) hipe uduti (i) o yfodyby (y) hife (e)
imu ulati (i) hisu (y) = "If <you buy bananas>, it is
slightly probable that <I steal them>".
Example 2: ilu (e) hipe uduti (i) o yfodyby (y) hiku (e)
imu udugali (i) hisu (y) = "If <you buy bananas>,
it is most probable that <I borrow them>".
If the answer to a question is expected to be "yes" or "no," the last word of the question is hipu. For example, "are you busy?" can be translated into hipe hano hipu (you busy question), or just hano hipu (busy question).
If the answer to a question is expected to be more elaborate than "yes" or "no," the last word of the question is imi. These detailed questions use the word iwe (what, who, which, whose) to specify what we are asking about. iwe is always placed before the word we are asking about. "When?" becomes iwe ejo (what time of day), "who?" becomes iwe hypy ("what person?") "Why?" becomes iwe opope ("what cause?"), "how many?" becomes iwe olely ("what quantity?"). If the context makes it clear what we are asking about, the entire sentence may have only two words, for example, ejo imi means "what time of day is it now?".
iwe is also used in relative clauses, for example: "I do not know what/which person is missing." It does not transform affirmative sentence into a question, so iwe ejo is not a question, but a phrase meaning "pertaining to a time of day".
The words "when" and "then" in the meaning of "at that time" can be translated into hito ejo (that time, hito = this, that, it, ejo = time of day) in Ygyde.
The words "neither" and "nor" may be expressed as "also not", i.e., igy haca.
Words such as "may", "might", "could" and "should" often
mean assumptions, guesses or uncertainty. Such expressions may be expressed with
the preposition ili possibly combined with probability words such as
hife, izy, hiku hini. The word ili can also be
used to express doubt.
Example 1a: ije uduti o yfodyby = "he buys bananas".
Example 1b: ije ili uduti o yfodyby = "he is assumed to be buying
bananas".
Example 2a: ilu ije hety uduti o yfodyby iwi imu hife
uzuby hisu
= "If he has bought bananas, then I may eat them" (chances are around 25%).
Example 2b: ilu ije ili hety uduti o yfodyby iwi imu hife
hepa uzuby hisu =
"Assuming that he bought bananas, then I might have eaten them."
Example 3a: ije uduti o yfodyby hipu = "Is he buying bananas?"
Example 3b: ili ije uduti o yfodyby hipu = "Could he be buying
bananas?"
Example 3c: imu umino ije ili uduti o yfodyby =
"I think he may be buying bananas"
Most simple sentences in Ygyde will have structures that do not deviate much from English. More complex phrases may seem complicated for beginners, but phrases written in Ygyde will generally be clearer and cause less risk for misinterpretation. Here is one example of a more complex sentence in Ygyde (with some words marked in bold characters or with underlining to simplify the reading, as well as possible extra use of e ... y marked as < ... >) to illustrate the strengths of the language:
"ilu <hipe hety uduti o yfodyby> hiku <imu hecu udugali hisu>idi igy e igo <izu a imu ofygaza iga yga>hife <imu ulati olu owy a hipe o yfodyby> y hifu"
Literal, word for word translation: "If <you have bought bananas>, it is very probable that <I will borrow them>but also because< I have no money in my purse>, it is slightly probable that <I steal a third of your bananas>> (end of statement)."
Plain English translation: "If you've bought bananas, I will most probably borrow them, but since I have no money in my purse, I might even steal a third of your bananas."
There are two possible ways to write foreign names in Ygyde.
There are two ways to make superlatives in Ygyde; either the adjective follows the word hiki (many, very), or a special adjective is made of two identical morphemes from the adjective table. Example of the latter way: very bad = asysyli == asysli = "adjective bad bad."