(1) Linguistic word for begining of an action.
(2) The guy one made him to read, and the book one made it to be read.
Words order
Kobold has less then thousand roots so its vocabulary is mainly made with compound words.
In a compound word, the determined root (main idea) follows
the determinative root (secundary idea, noun complement), like
scholar words in european languages (microscope, stenography, ...)
lege | reading | | takilege | quick reading |
taki | speed | | legetaki | reading speed |
vama | ant | | vamadomu | ant-hill |
domu | house | | | |
meri | lump | | zukemeri | lump of sugar |
zuke | sugar | | merizuke | lump sugar |
fayo(wa) | brown | | fayozukemeri | lump of brown sugar |
| | | merifayozuke | brown sugar in lumps |
| | | zukemerifayo | the brown (color) of sugar lumps |
In order to do not make long words, you can use the genitive (-wa) :
meri zukewa | | lump of sugar |
zuke meriwa | | lump surgar |
zuke fayowa | | brown sugar |
zuke fayowa meriwa | | brown sugar in lumps |
meri zukewa fayowa | | lump of brown sugar |
zuke meriwa fayowa | | sugar in brown lumps |
fayo zukewa meriwa | | brown of lump sugar |
fayo meriwa zukewa | | brown of lumps of sugar |
Some combinations may look like equals :
yovipawu : "sheep-child" = lamb
pawuyovi : "child-sheep" = lamb
yovigune : "sheep-female" = ewe
guneyovi : "female-sheep" = ewe
But, as many languages, kobold language looks on idea of specie as
taking precedence of idea of sex (cf sheep / ram, ewe) and
will say : yovi (sheep),
guneyovi (ewe), viriyovi (ram).
Likewise, idea of age takes precedence of idea of sex
(cf "child", "chick") and of idea of specie ("chick" for all birds);
therefore, it will be said yovipawu.
In a triple compound, that will do, for example : gunehipopawu = filly.
As kobold society does not ditribute works according as sexes,
names of jobs are neutral :
yoyovi yokuri yowika |
shepherd or shepherdess doctor or doctress
wizard or witch (1) |
yopixi yosutu yoyofi |
fishmonger, fishwife couturier, dressmaker
servant, maid-servant |
(1) But wikagune can be used as "witch".
Of course, the warriors (yomaxi), the woodcutters (yoderu),
and the blacksmiths (yokude) are men, and there is midwives (yozugene).
Neutrality of jobs names makes the word gunekuri
means "gynecology" and not "doctress".
The kobold language doesn't like put affixes or roots before
yo- (absolute prefix), although you can find
ko-yomaxi, "group of warriors" = "army". It will be said
yoyovi gunewa ("shepherdess") rather than guneyoyovi;
about yoguneyovi, that means "shepherd of ewes"...
Because these hierarchy of ideas,
compound words can be shortened according to the
context :
Affixes
Conjugations and cases are suffixed to roots :
Yogeri geriwøte delegefa.
The writers write for to be read.
(Yo-geri geri-w-ø-t-e de-lege-fa.
Guy-write | write-plural-habit présent-he-indicative | passive-read-aim)
Yolege(*) vetuwa, legewuse yokuyaloxa.
Old readers, you will read with glasses.
(Yo-lege vetu-wa, lege-w-u-s-e yoku-yalo-xa.
Guy-read | oldness-gen/adj, | read-plural-future-2nd_pers-indicative | see-glass-manner)
(*) There is not vocative case :
Pita yesewa seyayete yeseda...
Thy father says to thou... ("Father thou-of says thou-to...")
Pita yesewa, seyayeme yeseda...
(Me,) thy father, I say to thou...
Lexical derivatives are prefixed to roots :
ko- |
group |
deru |
tree |
koderu |
forest |
li- |
small |
|
|
likoderu |
grove |
wa- |
will |
yoku |
see |
wayoku |
observe |
All these prefixes can be changed to nouns by lengthening of the syllab :
aha
behe bihi gehe muhu rehe wihi yuhu |
negation possibility
brace changing
(internal action)
transformation (external action) repetition contrary
alterity |
Likewise for case suffixes :
laha (1) waha (2) yihi
(3) xaha etc... |
place
belonging origin manner etc...
|
Exceptions :
hayape (4) heyape
hiyape huyape wana (2) yini (3) |
past time
present time close future future will begining |
(1) "Place" is said too topo.
(2) Because wa has not the same meaning as suffix
(genitive = possession) and as prefix ("will", cf infra).
The suffix -wa furnished the word waha,
but the root wana furnished the prefix wa-.
"Possession" is said tene, same word as "to have, to possess",
whose the passive form is detene, "to be possessed".
Therefore "belonging" can be said too detene,
"the fact to be possessed".
(3) The suffix -yi indicates spatial origin (domuyi :
from the house) or temporal origin (wino yanuyi : since one year)
and it is etymologicaly bound to yini (from latin initium).
(4) Tenses are said hoyekazu (imperfect), hayekazu
(present perfect), heyekazu (present),
høyekazu (present of habit), hiyekazu (close future),
and huyekazu (future).
Some prefixes can be bound for making lexical roots :
gega |
("begin-big") |
to grow larger |
muga |
("make-big") |
to enlarge |
geka |
("become-with") |
to meet |
muka* |
("make-with") |
to gather |
muko* |
("make-group") |
to build |
(*) The shade is arbitrary between final meaning of muka
and muko.
But the sliding of meaning from ka- / ko-,
"restrained group / big group", to "provisional (reunion) / lasting (construction)" is linguisticaly logical.
List of prefixes
- Wolebe yemewa, wayakuximu wawiyodiza i serata koxeriderula limonowa.
Mon aimé(e), allons écouter le chant des oiseaux, ce soir, dans la cerisaie de la colline.
- Ximu (1), wenesowa liwawi yemewa (2). Sa, u muvaleyese ye debexeme muveza koxeriderutu
yu wewawi koxeriderula ?
Oui, mon petit oiseau des îles. Mais veux-tu dire ("faire sens") que nous devons aller dans la
cerisaie ou que les oiseaux sont dans la cerisaie ?
- U bahaheye gutexa seyafa kokazubu yemeda ?
Xi yøxa buhuhoye wayakuza iyi, au seyayami "wewawi koxerideruwa" ?
Iye koxa...
Est-ce bien le moment de me parler de grammaire ? S'il ne s'agissait
que ("seulement") d'écouter d'ici, n'aurais-je point dit "les oiseaux de la cerisaie" ? De toutes façons...
- Ba buhuheye kohiza...
Quand il s'agit de baiser...
(1) Il n'a pas de mot "oui" en kobold. On répond par
la répétition de la conjugaison :
- U vasahiye ? | - Hiye. | |
- Va-t-il pleuvoir ? | - Il va. | |
- U romuveheyu ? | - Heyu (3). | |
- Faut-il rentrer ? | - Il faut. | |
- U tenexeme vasavetiza ? | - Axeme (4). | |
- Avons-nous (des) vêtement(s) de pluie ? | - Nous ne. | |
(2) Quand deux génitifs se rapportent au même nom, il est souhaitable de les
séparer pour éviter les contresens :
Liwawi wenesowa yemewa : petit oiseau de mes îles
Liwawi yemewa wenesowa : petit oiseau de moi qui suis des îles
(3) Il n'y a pas de verbe "falloir" ("faillir", en bon français). Heyu est un impératif de l'impersonnel :
Vasaheyu = Qu'il doive pleuvoir = Il faut qu'il pleuve = Que ne pleut-il!
Vasahoyu = Qu'il devait pleuvoir = Il fallait qu'il pleuve = Que n'a-t-il plu!
(4) On peut répondre simplement A!, mais cela est perçu comme inélégant...