Eurolang quick reference ~ Rapida
aid-text de Eurolang
This document is a slightly expanded form of the
"Eurolang Quick Reference Sheet" which is an
A4-sized sheet of paper, containing
reference information about Eurolang. The other side of the sheet contains
a 500-word dictionary.
Spelling
The list below shows how letters and digraphs in EL are pronounced. EL stresses the penultimate syllable.
The letters b, d, f, h, l, m, n, p, t, v, z are the same as in English.
c, k, q [k]itchen
ch [ch]urch
g [g]ive
j [j]agged
ng si[ng]
qu [qu]ick
r [r]at
s [s]and
sh [sh]ine
th [th]in
w [w]et
x e[x]tra
y [y]ellow
zh mea[s]ure
a br[a]
e s[e]t
i, y s[ea]t
o s[aw]
u f[oo]d
ae t[i]me
au h[ow]
ou h[oe]
ai, ay t[a]me
Pronouns
The personal pronouns are:
me I, me
tu you (singular)
he he, him
she she, her
it it
ge he/she, him/her
on one
nos we, us
vos you (plural)
los they, them
The singular pronouns are inflected like this:
Pos adjective: mes my
Genitive: meson mine
Reflexive: meself myself
The plurals like this:
Pos adjective: nostra our
Genitive: nostron ours
Reflexive: nosself ourselve
Verbs
The uninflected form is used for the present tense and infinitive.
- me donov
= I will give
- me don
= I give
- me donab
= I gave
- Donu!
= Give!
Perfect tenses are formed with deja, eg:
- me deja donov
= I will have given.
Passives use the relevant tense of est with the -eda participle, eg:
- it estab doneda
= it was given
Derivations
The subject and object nouns are formed with -er and -ed. The corresponding
adjectives add -a.
- donover
= someone who will give
- doner
= giver
- donaber
= someone who has given
- donoved
= thing that will be given
- doned
= gift
- donabed
= thing that was given
(-er and -ed can both actually refer to people or things.)
Adjectives
An adjective goes before the noun it modifies. Adjectives
end in -a. Nouns and verbs can end with any
letter except "a". (Exception: Proper nouns can end in "a").
Comparison of adjectives is like this:
- It est seca equal X
= It is as dry as X
- It est plus seca rel X
= It is drier than X
- It est la plus granda
= It is the driest
Wordbuilding
Wordbuilding refers to the way that Eurolang uses affixes
to form new words. For each affix, the
syntax-categories involved are stated, so "verb > > adjective"
means that the affix converts a verb to
an adjective.
If a prefix is listed with "--" it means that a "-" is included
when the prefix is attached to a word, eg
non-friga, re-vive.
-a (> > adjective)
general-purpose suffix to make an adjective.
-abla (verb > > adjective)
Able to be ..., (Like English -able)
- combust
= to burn; cumbustabla = flammable
-ae (adjective > > adverb)
makes an adjective into an adverb.
- facila
= easy; facilae = easily
-at (> > verb)
This is a general-purpose suffix to make a verb. Eg:
- nova
= new; novat = innovate
-en (> > verb)
to make something more so. Usually applied to an adjective.
-et (any)
smaller, or less intense, version of a thing or property
- friga
= cold; frigeta = cool
-isim (any)
augmentive. Makes something qualitatively bigger or more forceful.
-ism (> > noun)
A belief/value system, especially political or religious.
-ist (> > noun)
An adherent of a belief/value system.
-ista (> > adjective)
Relating to an -ism.
-iti (adjective > > noun)
Forms abstract nouns.
- brila
= bright; briliti = brightness
-iz (adj/verb > > verb)
When applied to an adjective, this means to make or cause something:
- granda
= big
- grandiz
= to make big
Applied to a verb: "Xiz s.thing" means "cause s.thing to X", eg:
- he mortab =
he died
- me mortizab he =
I killed him
-on (adjective > > noun)
a thing having a property
- grava
= heavy; gravon = a heavy thing or person
-op (verb > > verb)
Used to switch over the subject and object of a verb. NB it is not always a direct swap between subject and
direct object..
- lern
= learn; lernop = teach
-s/-es (noun > > noun)
used to make a noun plural. Plural means any number > 1 or < -1.
ex-- (any)
former, previous
non-- (any)
Negates the meaning of a word.
- friga
= cold; non-friga =
not cold (but not
necessarily hot)
Compare un- which forms the exact opposite.
re-- (verb > > verb)
Redo, do again, do repeatedly
vive = live; re-vive = live again,
relive (an experience)
un-/dis- (any)
Makes a word its exact opposite. un- is used unless the word a
lready starts with "u"
- usa
= useful; disusa = useless
Questions
Questions always start with Quiz. For a simple
yes/no question, that's all you need to do.
- Quiz tu lire it?
= Do you read it?
More complex questions keep the word-order of a declarative
sentence and use qui (or a varient)
as a placeholder for what is being asked:
- Quiz qui lire it?
= Who reads it?
- Quiz tu lire qui?
= What do you read?
If the blank is an adjective, qua is used:
- Quiz tu lire qua libro?
= What book are you reading?
It is also used for "Where", etc:
- Quiz tu lire qua place?
= Where do you read?
- Quiz tu lire qua method?
= How do you read?
- Quiz tu lire qua raison?
= Why. do you read?
- Quiz tu lire qua temp?
= When do you read?
This/That
- di
= this one
- da
= this (followed by a noun)
Like qua, da can be used in such compounds as
da place (=here),
da method (=this way), etc. These
compounds can be used as adverbs as well as
nouns.
The prefix tele (=far) is used to form that,
ie: tele-di, tele-da.
Numbers
0 zero
1 un
2 du
3 tri
4 quator
5 quinque
6 six
7 septem
8 octo
9 novem
10 dec
100 cent
1000 kilo
10^6 mego
10^9 gigo
Long numbers can be said by saying their digits:
- 206,000 = du zero six zero zero zero
by using dec, cent, kilo, mego, gigo:
- 206,000 = du cent six kilo
or by mixtures of the two:
- 206,000 = du zero six kilo
Ordinal numbers add -a to the final number-word. Fractions used div:
- 1/2 = div-du
- 1/6 = div-six
- 5/6 = quinque div six
Although numbers are usually written using numerals, as this is easiest to read. ordinals are written with
the numerals followed by "a", eg: 1a (=first), 20a
(=twentieth).
Last altered 25-Apr-95
Relates to version 2.0 of Eurolang.
By Philip Hunt --
philip@storcomp.demon.co.uk