User:Caro de Segeda/Grammar ya Lingua Franca Nova

Kulemba na kuyowoya

Alifabeti

Elefen wakugwiliskira nchito cilembo ico cikumanyikwa comene pa caru cose: Cilatini panji Ciroma.

vilembo vichoko
- a b c d e f g h i j l m n o p r s t u v x z
makalata ghakuru
- A B C D E F G H I J L M N O P R S T U V X Z

K (k), Q (q), W (w) na Y (y) vikuwoneka yayi mu mazgu ghacilendo. Mu mazgu pafupifupi 100 gha mu vyaru vinyake, W wangalembeka kuti U, ndipo Y wangalembeka kuti I, kuti uŵe upusikizgi: ioga/yoga, piniin/pinyin, sueter/sweter, ueb/web. K, Q, W na Y ŵakugwiliskira nchito kuti ŵaŵe na mazina ghakwambilira na mazgu ghanyake.

H nayo wakuwoneka bweka yayi, kweni wakusangika mu viyowoyero vinyake.

Makalata ghakuru

Chilembo chikuru chikuŵa pakwamba pa lizgu lakwamba mu sentesi.

Makalata ghakuru ghakugwiliskirika nchito pakwamba kwa mazina. Para lizgu limoza lili na mazgu ghanandi, lizgu lililose likulembeka mu vilembo vikuruvikuru - kwambura kusazgapo mazgu ghaciŵiri nga ni "la" na "de":

Ŵanthu, ŵaunenesko panji ŵakuyelezgera waka, kweniso vinyama na vinthu ivyo vikuwoneka nga ni munthu
- ‘‘Maria’‘, ‘‘San Paulo’‘, ‘‘Barack Obama’‘, ‘‘Jan de Hartog’‘, ‘‘Seniora Braun’‘, ‘‘Oscar de la Renta’‘, ‘‘Mickey Mouse’‘
Organizations (e.g. companies, societies)
- ‘‘Ikea’‘, ‘‘Nasiones Unida’‘, ‘‘Organiza Mundal de Sania’‘
Vinthu vya ndyali (nga ni vyaru, vigaŵa, misumba)
- ‘‘Frans’‘, ‘‘Atina’‘, ‘‘Site de New York’‘, ‘‘Statos Unida de America’‘
Geographical locations (e.g. rivers, oceans, lakes, mountains)
- ‘‘la Alpes’‘, ‘‘Rio Amazon’‘, ‘‘Mar Atlantica’‘
Makalata gha cilembo
- ‘‘E’‘, ‘‘N’‘

Kweni pa mazina gha vyakulemba na vyakulemba, lizgu lakwamba pera ndilo likulembeka mu vilembo vikuruvikuru:

‘‘Un sonia de un note de mediaestate’‘ – //A Midsummer Night's Dream//
‘‘La frates Karamazov’‘ – //The Brothers Karamazov//
‘‘Tocata e fuga en D minor’‘ – //Toccata and Fugue in D Minor//

Nyengo zinyake, nga umo vikuŵira para munthu wakuchenjezgeka, mazgu ghakurughakuru ghakulembeka kuti ŵalongosore makora mazgu.

Viyowoyero vinyake vikugwiliskira ntchito vilembo vikuruvikuru.

Mazuŵa gha sabata
- ‘‘lundi’‘, ‘‘jovedi’‘ – Mazuŵa gha sabata, Lachinayi
Miyezi
- ‘‘marto’‘, ‘‘novembre’‘ – March, November
Miyezi
- ‘‘natal’‘, ‘‘ramadan’‘, ‘‘pascua’‘ – Christmas, Ramadan, Easter
Vyaka vinandi
- ‘‘la sentenio dudes-un’‘ – Chaka cha 21
Viyowoyero na ŵanthu
- ‘‘catalan’‘, ‘‘xines’‘ – Chicatalan, Chitchaina
Abbreviations
- ‘‘lfn’‘, ‘‘pf’‘

Letter names

The following syllables are used to name letters in speech, e.g. when spelling a word:

 * ‘‘a be ce de e ef ge hax i je ka el em en o pe qua er es te u ve wa ex ya ze’‘

These are nouns and can be pluralized: ‘‘as’‘, ‘‘bes’‘, ‘‘efes’‘.

In writing, one can simply present the letter itself, capitalized, adding ‘‘-s’‘ for the plural:

 * ‘‘La parola "matematica" ave tre As, du Ms’‘ (pronounced ‘‘emes’‘)’‘, e un E.’‘ – The word "matematica" has three As, two Ms, and an E.

Vowels

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The letters A, E, I, O, and U are pronounced as in Spanish or Italian:

The vowel sounds allow a degree of variation. For example, A can be pronounced as [ɑ] (as in "car"), E as [ɛ] ("get") or [eɪ] ("gate"), and O as [ɔ] ("caught") or [oʊ/əʊ] ("coat") without causing misunderstanding.

Diphthongs

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When one vowel follows another, they are normally pronounced separately. But in four cases, when the second vowel is I or U, the two vowels form a diphthong:

| ‘‘AI’‘ | [aj] | the sound in "aisle" | ‘‘pais’‘ | | ‘‘AU’‘ | [aw] | the sound in "mouth" | ‘‘auto’‘ | | ‘‘EU’‘ | [ew] | no corresponding English diphthong; similar to the "ay w" in "bay watch" | ‘‘euro’‘ | | ‘‘OI’‘ | [oj] | similar to the sound in "coin" | ‘‘seluloide’‘ |

Adding a prefix does not create a diphthong: ‘‘reuni’‘ [re-uni], ‘‘supraindise’‘ [supra-indise]. For similar reasons, two separate syllables are normal in a few other words too: ‘‘egoiste’‘ [ego-iste], ‘‘proibi’‘ [pro-ibi]. Such words are indicated in the dictionary, e.g. "proibi (o-i)".

The sequence EI is rare. It is normally pronounced as two separate vowels: ‘‘ateiste’‘ [ate-iste], ‘‘feida’‘ [fe-ida], ‘‘reinventa’‘ [re-inventa]. But speakers who find this pronunciation difficult can say [ej] or even [e] instead.

When I or U precedes another vowel, it is reduced to a semivowel – like the English Y or W – in the following cases:

 * At the start of a word
   * ‘‘ioga’‘ [joga], ‘‘ueste’‘ [weste]
 * Between two other vowels
   * ‘‘joia’‘ [ʒoja], ‘‘ciui’‘ [kiwi], ‘‘veia’‘ [veja]
 * LI, NI between two other vowels
   * ‘‘folia’‘ [folja], ‘‘anio’‘ [anjo] – but not in the first syllable of a word
 * CU, GU before a vowel
   * ‘‘acua’‘ [akwa], ‘‘cual’‘ [kwal], ‘‘sangue’‘ [sangwe]

In other cases – e.g. ‘‘emosia’‘, ‘‘abitual’‘, ‘‘plia’‘ – the I or U remains a full vowel.

While these rules define the normal pronunciation for diphthongs, they can be ignored without confusion.

Consonants

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The following letters are consonants:

Note the following points:

 * ‘‘C’‘ is always as in "call", never as in "cell".
 * ‘‘F’‘ is always as in "off", never as in "of".
 * ‘‘G’‘ is always as in "get", never as in "gem".
 * ‘‘J’‘ has the sound that it has in French and Portuguese: like the S in "treasure".
 * ‘‘N’‘ before G or C has the sound of NG [ŋ] in English: ‘‘longa’‘, ‘‘ance’‘. NG at the end of a syllable, as in ‘‘bumerang’‘ or ‘‘gangster’‘, also has this sound: the G is silent.
 * ‘‘R’‘ has the trilled or rolled sound that it has in Italian and Spanish.
 * ‘‘S’‘ is always as in "hiss", never as in "his".
 * ‘‘V’‘ never sounds like B, unlike in Spanish.
 * ‘‘X’‘ is like SH in English, SCH in German, and CH in French and Portuguese.
 * ‘‘Z’‘ is always as in "zoo".

As some speakers have difficulty with consonants in certain combinations or positions, Elefen allows the following variations:

 * ‘‘J’‘
   * J can also be pronounced [dʒ] like the J in "judge" if preferred.
 * ‘‘R’‘
   * Other R sounds (as in French, German, or English) are acceptable, as long as they are clearly distinct from other Elefen sounds.
 * ‘‘X’‘
   * X can also be pronounced [tʃ] like the CH in "church" if preferred.
 * ‘‘Z’‘
   * Z can also be pronounced [ts] like the ZZ in "pizza" if preferred.
 * ‘‘haicu’‘, ‘‘bahamas’‘
   * H can be left silent, if a speaker prefers: [aicu], [ba-amas].
 * ‘‘blog’‘, ‘‘club’‘
   * Some international words end in unusual consonants. A trailing E can be added to ease the pronunciation: [bloge], [klube].
 * ‘‘spada’‘, ‘‘strada’‘
   * A number of words start with S followed by a consonant. A speaker who finds this difficult can add a leading E: [espada], [estrada].
 * ‘‘gnostica’‘, ‘‘psicolojia’‘
   * Some scientific words start with unusual combinations of consonants, such as FT, GN, MN, PS, or PT. The first consonant can be omitted in pronunciation: [nostika], [sikoloʒia].
 * ‘‘ambargris’‘, ‘‘esflue’‘, ‘‘fortres’‘, ‘‘rontgen’‘
   * Certain rare words contain more complex combinations, with three or more consonants. If these are difficult, a schwa (a neutral vowel) can be added to the pronunciation: [ambarəgris], [esəflue], [forətres/fortəres], [rontəgen].

Non-Elefen letters

When the non-Elefen letters appear in a word, they are normally pronounced as follows:

| ‘‘K’‘ | [k] | like C | | ‘‘Q’‘ | [k] | like C | | ‘‘W’‘ | [u] or [w] | like U | | ‘‘Y’‘ | [i] or [j] | like I |

Stress

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If a word has more than one vowel, one of the vowels is stressed (pronounced more strongly). The stressed vowels below are __underlined__.

The basic rule is to stress the vowel that precedes the last consonant of a word:

‘‘f__a__lda’‘
‘‘int__e__gra’‘
‘‘matemat__i__ca’‘
‘‘albatr__o__s’‘
‘‘ran__u__r’‘

Adding a suffix can move the stress:

‘‘matemat__i__ca’‘ (~)→(~) ‘‘matematic__a__l’‘
‘‘radiogr__a__f’‘ (~)→(~) ‘‘radiogr__a__fia’‘ (no change)
‘‘radiogr__a__f’‘ (~)→(~) ‘‘radiograf(|)__i__ste’‘

But adding the plural ‘‘-s’‘ does not move the stress:

 * ‘‘un f__a__lda’‘ (~)→(~) ‘‘du f__a__ldas’‘
 * ‘‘un jov__e__n’‘ (~)→(~) ‘‘tre jov__e__nes’‘
 * ‘‘__a__mbos’‘ – this special word is stressed like a plural

The I or U of a diphthong behaves like a consonant in this regard:

‘‘ab__a__ia’‘
‘‘c__i__ui’‘
‘‘bons__a__i’‘
‘‘cac__a__u’‘

If no vowel precedes the last consonant, the first vowel is stressed:

 * ‘‘tr__a__e’‘
 * ‘‘f__e__a’‘
 * ‘‘t__i__o’‘
 * ‘‘pr__o__a’‘
 * ‘‘j__u__a’‘

Some words have multiple vowels after their last consonant. If the vowels are IA, IE, IO, UA, UE, or UO, the stress still goes on the vowel before the consonant:

‘‘as__e__ntua’‘
‘‘jel__o__sia’‘
‘‘r__i__tuo’‘
‘‘__a__lio’‘

However, when the final vowels are AE, AO, EA, EO, OA, OE, or UI, the stress goes on the first vowel of the pair:

‘‘con__e__o’‘
‘‘id__e__a’‘
‘‘sutr__a__e’‘
‘‘prod__u__i’‘

(But in ‘‘est__i__ngui’‘ and ‘‘v__a__cui’‘, the U is a semivowel because of another rule.)

‘‘Ala’‘, ‘‘asi’‘, ‘‘agu’‘, ‘‘ami’‘, ‘‘enemi’‘, ‘‘perce’‘, ‘‘alo’‘, and ‘‘ura’‘ are often pronounced with the stress on the final vowel rather than on the previous one. Either pronunciation is acceptable.

Compound words such as ‘‘parario’‘ and ‘‘mediadia’‘ retain the original stress of the second component.

Elefen is not a tonal language: words are not distinguished by changes in the pitch of the voice. However, one way to indicate that a sentence is a question is to end on a rise:

‘‘Tu parla portuges?’‘ – with a rising pitch in the last word
‘‘Tu no parla portuges.’‘ – with a flat or falling pitch

Phonotactics

The forms of ordinary words in Elefen are constrained by certain rules.

Two examples of the same vowel (such as ‘‘aa’‘) cannot be adjacent, except where this is the result of adding a prefix: "reenvia", "coopera". In these cases, both vowels are pronounced.

The sequence ‘‘ou’‘ is not normally acceptable.

Where a suffix would create an invalid vowel sequence, the second vowel of the sequence is dropped:

 * ‘‘comedia’‘ + ‘‘-iste’‘ (~)→(~) (comediiste) (~)→(~) ‘‘comediste’‘ – comedian

Only the following 23 consonant clusters are allowed at the start of a syllable:

‘‘pr-’‘, ‘‘br-’‘, ‘‘pl-’‘, ‘‘bl-’‘
‘‘tr-’‘, ‘‘dr-’‘
‘‘cr-’‘, ‘‘gr-’‘, ‘‘cl-’‘, ‘‘gl-’‘
‘‘fr-’‘, ‘‘vr-’‘, ‘‘fl-’‘
‘‘sl-’‘
‘‘sp-’‘, ‘‘st-’‘, ‘‘sc-’‘
‘‘sf-’‘
‘‘spr-’‘, ‘‘str-’‘, ‘‘scr-’‘
‘‘spl-’‘, ‘‘scl-’‘

Only the following consonants are allowed at the end of a syllable, and they must be directly preceded by a vowel:

‘‘-f’‘, ‘‘-s’‘, ‘‘-x’‘
‘‘-m’‘, ‘‘-n’‘, ‘‘-l’‘, ‘‘-r’‘

A consonant cluster in the middle of a word is valid if it can be split over two valid syllables:

‘‘encontrante’‘ = ‘‘en-con-tran-te’‘
‘‘mostrablia’‘ = ‘‘mo-stra-bli-a’‘
‘‘instinto’‘ = ‘‘in-stin-to’‘

Proper nouns, along with technical, international, or culture-specific words, are free to break these rules.

Determiners

Chizindikiro ni lizgu ilo likusintha zina kuti lizunulike, kusazgapo unandi wake. Padera pa chiŵelengero cha viŵelengero "s" (icho chikuwoneka nga ni icho chikwimira chiŵelengero mu chiyowoyero cha Elefen), viŵelengero ivi vikwamba na zina.

Pali mitundu yakupambanapambana ya vinthu ivyo vikupangiska vinthu vinyake. Viyelezgero vya kilasi lililose ni: tota, la, esta, cual, cada, mea, multe, otra.

Predeterminers

Tota wakung'anamura "vyose". Likulongora unandi wose wa lizgu. Mwakupambana na cada, tota wakung'anamura chinthu chose, m'malo mwa munthu waliyose payekha:

Tota linguas es asurda. – Viyowoyero vyose ni vyawakawaka.
Me va ama tu per tota tempo. – Nikutemwenge muyirayira.
La lete ia vade a tota locas. – Ubisi ukaŵa palipose.
On ia oia la musica tra tota la vila. – Sumu zikapulikikwanga mu tawuni yose.

Ambos wakung'anamura kuti "wose ŵaŵiri". Lingagwiriskika nchito mu malo gha tota para unandi wose ukumanyikwa kuŵa waŵiri pera. Zina likwenera kuŵa mu unandi:

Ambos gamas es debil. - Malundi ghose ghaŵiri ngakulopwa.

Kuyana na mazgu, tota na ambos ŵakupambana yayi na ma quantifier, kweni ŵakuŵa nga ni gulu lapadera chifukwa cha umo ŵakuyowoyera: ŵakudangira ma determiner ghanyake ghose mu mazgu gha zina, kusazgapo "la".

Ŵangagwiraso nchito nga ni mazina gha ŵanthu.

Articles

Mu vilembo ivi muli vilembo viŵiri, "la" na "un". Mu chiyowoyero ichi, lizgu lakuti "kuŵa na chigomezgo" likung'anamura kuti lizgu ili lili na chigomezgo.

Para munthu wakuyowoya lizgu la Cigiriki, lizgu ili likung'anamura munthu panji cinthu ico wakucimanya kale. Likugwiriskirika nchito mu vinthu ivi:

Cinthu ici cazunulika kale:
- Me ia compra un casa. La casa es peti. – Nkhagura nyumba. Nyumba iyi njicoko.
Uyo wakutegherezga wangamanya kuti cinthu ici ciliko nadi:
- Me ia compra un casa. La cosina es grande. – Nkhagura nyumba. Mukhitchini muli vinandi.
Mazgu ghanyake agho ghali mu sentesi iyi ghakulongosora makora:
- El ia perde la numeros de telefon de sua amis. – Wali kutaya manambara gha foni gha ŵabwezi ŵake.
Uyo wakutegherezga wangapulikiska vinthu ivi mwakudunjika:
- La musica es bela, no? – Sumu iyi njakukondweska, asi nthena?
Waliyose wakumanya. Ivi vikusazgapo vigaŵa vya masambiro na mazina ghambura kuwoneka:
- La luna es multe distante de la tera. – Mwezi uli kutali comene na caru capasi.
- Me no comprende la matematica. – Nkhumanya yayi masamu.
- El ama la cafe. – Wakutemwa khofi.
- La felisia es plu importante ca la ricia. – Chimwemwe nchakuzirwa comene kuluska usambazi.

Un ni lizgu ilo likung'anamura cinthu ico uyo wakupulika wakumanya yayi. Likugwiliskirika nchito yayi para pali mazina ghanandi. (Likuyowoyaso kuti "munthu yumoza".)

Me vole leje un libro. – I want to read a book.
Un gato ia veni en la sala. – A cat came into the room.

Viyowoyero vinyake vikuŵa na chilembo icho chikulongora kuti pali lizgu limoza ilo tingatondeka kulilemba. Elefen wakugwiliskira nchito la, panji wakuŵavya lizgu:

Me gusta la cafe. – Nkhutemwa khofi.
Me gusta cafe. –Nkhutemwa khofi.
Me bevi cafe. – Nkhumwa khofi.

Demonstratives

Vyakulongora kuti lizgu ili likuyowoya vya munthu munyake, ndipo likuyowoya vya nyengo panji malo.

Esta wakung'anamura "ici". Lizgu ili likuyana waka na la, kweni likuyowoya za chinthu icho chili pafupi na uyo wakuyowoya, kwali ni mu thupi panji mu ntharika:

Me posese esta casa. – Nyumba iyi nja ine.
Esta libros es merveliosa. – Mabuku agha ngakutowa comene.
Me gusta esta cafe. – Nkhutemwa khofi uyu.
Esta mense ia es difisil. – Mwezi uwu ukaŵa wakusuzga.
Esta frase conteni sinco parolas. – Mu sentesi iyi muli mazgu ghankhondi.

Acel wakung'anamura kuti "icho". Likuyana waka na la, kweni likulongora chinthu icho chili kutali na uyo wakuyowoya, panji chakutali chomene kuluska esta:

Acel xico regarda acel xicas. – Msepuka uyu wakulaŵiska ŵasungwana aŵa.
Atenta denova en acel modo. – Yezgani kunyake.
Acel torta es noncomable. – Cake iyi njambura kurya.

"Esta" na "acel" vingazgoka mazina.

Interrogatives

Para munthu wakufumba fumbo, wakuŵa na maghanoghano ghakwenelera.

Cual wakufumba kuti:

Cual animal es acel? – Kasi ni nyama wuli iyi?
Cual vejetales es la plu bon? – Kasi ni mphangwe wuli izo ni ziwemi comene?
Tu veni de cual pais? – Kasi mwafuma ku charu wuli?
Cual fenetras es rompeda? – Kasi ni mawindo wuli agho ghasweka?
Cual pinta tu prefere? – Kasi mukutemwa kupenta wuli?

Cuanto wakufumba kuti: "Kasi mbanandi wuli?" na lizgu lakuti "nkhukwana"?

Cuanto casas es en tua strada? – Kasi mu msewu winu muli nyumba zilinga?
Cuanto pan tu pote come? – Kasi mungarya cingwa cilinga?

Cual na cuanto ŵakugwiliskiraso nchito nga ni mazina ghakwimira.

Selection determiners

Possessives

Quantifiers

Similarity determiners

Order of determiners

Pronouns

A pronoun is a word that replaces a longer noun phrase.

Personal pronouns

me – I, me
tu – you (one person)
el – he, she, him, her
lo – it
nos – we, us
vos – you (more than one person)
los – they, them

Tu ni lizgu limoza ndipo vos ni lizgu limoza mu vigaŵa vyose, kwali ni vya pa wumba panji vyambura kwenelera.

Lizgu lakuti el likuyowoya za ŵanthu na vinyama nga ni vinyama vyakukhwaŵa na viyuni. Mazgu agha ghangang'anamulikaso ku vinyama vinyake, maloboti, mwezi, na chimphepo.

Lo is used to refer to things, simple creatures, ideas, concepts, etc.

Los is used as the plural of both el and lo.

Elefen does not normally distinguish “he” and “she”. The forms elo (“he”) and ela (“she”) are rare, but can be used to avoid excessive repetition of people’s names when talking about a man and a woman in the same context.

Do es Joana? El es en la jardin. – Where is Joana? She’s in the garden.
Do es mea come de matina? Lo es en la cosina. – Where is my breakfast? It’s in the kitchen.

A personal pronoun can be followed by a relative clause. If the meaning remains clear, the pronoun can be omitted, leaving the relative pronoun to do double duty:

El recorda sempre la nomes de los ci el ia encontra. – He always remembers the names of those he has met.
Me respeta tu, ci es tan saja. – I respect you, who are so wise.
El ci osa, gania. – He/she who dares, wins.
Ci osa, gania. – Who dares, wins.

On is a general indefinite pronoun, like “on” in French or “man” in German. It means “people in general” or “an arbitrary person” – or, in idiomatic English, “they” or “you”. It often avoids the need for a passive verb:

On dise ce tu va parti. – They say you are going to leave.
On debe repete la verbo. – You should repeat the verb. / The verb should be repeated.

Se is the reflexive pronoun for the third person, both singular and plural. It refers to the subject of the current verb, but is never the subject itself:

Lo limpi se. – It cleans itself.
Los lava se. – They wash themselves.

The possessive pronouns (“mine”, “yours”, etc) are the same as the possessive determiners (“my”, “your”, etc), preceded by la:

Me ia trova mea libros, ma tu no ia trova la tuas. – I have found my books, but you haven’t found yours.
Lo es ance plu grande ca la mea. – It is also bigger than mine.
No toca acel jueta! Lo no es la tua. – Don’t touch that toy! It isn’t yours.

Determiner pronouns

Interrogative pronouns

Relative pronouns

Other pronouns

Pronoun phrases

Adverbs

Just as adjectives are words that modify nouns, so adverbs are words that modify almost anything else, such as verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, determiners, prepositions, noun phrases, and even whole sentences. Typically, adverbs give information about place, time, circumstance, cause, manner, or degree.

Position

In Elefen, adverbs and adjectives have the same form. The difference is made clear by positioning: adjectives follow nouns; adverbs follow verbs and precede other words:

La om ia studia atendosa la testo. – The man studied the text carefully. (modifying a verb)
Me ia veni asi en un tren riable lenta. – I came here on a ridiculously slow train. (modifying an adjective)
La tren ia move asurda lenta. – The train moved absurdly slowly. (modifying another adverb)
Me no oia multe bon tu. – I can't hear you very well. ("multe" modifying "bon", and "multe bon" modifying "oia")
Cuasi sento persones ia espeta sur la plataforma. – Almost a hundred people were waiting on the platform. (modifying a quantifier)
On ia escava un buco direta ante mea porte. – They've dug a hole right in front of my door. (modifying a preposition)
Sola la manico es rompeda. – Only the handle is broken. (modifying a noun phrase)
Strana, el ia porta un balde de pexes. – Strangely, he was carrying a bucket of fish. (modifying a sentence)

An adverb (or adverbial phrase) that modifies a verb (or the whole sentence) can also be placed at the beginning of the sentence. And if it doesn't cause confusion, an adverb can also be placed after the object of the verb, or at the end of the sentence:

El dansa bon. – He dances well.
Pronto el va cade. – Soon he will fall.
Surprendente, el es un xico multe bon. – Surprisingly, he is a very good boy.
Me no oia tu multe bon. – I cannot hear you very well.
but: Me leje felis la libro. – I read the book happily.

In some cases, an adverb preceding an adjective can be joined to it with a hyphen to clarify the meaning:

la parolas nova-creada – the newly created words

Another way to make an adverbial meaning clear is to say en modo or a grado:

La melodia es bela en modo surprendente. – The tune is surprisingly good.

Comparison

Comparison of adverbs is exactly like comparison of adjectives.

Primary adverbs

In addition to the huge number of adverbs derived from adjectives, Elefen has a few words that are only adverbs:

apena – hardly, barely
cisa – perhaps
cuasi – almost
tan – so (to such an extent)
tro – too (excessively)
asi – here
ala – there
an – even (contrary to expectation)
ance – also
ancora – still
aora – now
alora – then (at that time)
denova – again
ja – already
nunca – never
sempre – always
ier – yesterday
oji – today
doman – tomorrow

Tan is used in exclamations:

Un vista tan bela! – What a lovely view!
Tan stonante! – How amazing!

Quantifier adverbs

Certain quantifiers can be converted to adverbs, indicating the extent or degree to which something is the case.

no – not
alga – some
multe – much
poca – little
plu – more
min – less
la plu – most
la min – least

No as an adverb means "not", "to no extent". It negates what it modifies. As a special case, when it modifies a verb, it precedes the verb:

Los no va comprende. – They won't understand.
Nos ave no sola un orania, ma ance du bananas. – We've got not only an orange, but two bananas as well.
O, no esta problem denova! – Oh, not this problem again!

Alga as an adverb means "some", "somewhat", "fairly", "to some extent":

Acel es un caso alga spesial. – That's a rather special case.
Alga confusada, el ia cade en la lago. – Somewhat confused, he fell into the lake.

Multe as an adverb means "much", "very", "to a large extent":

Me es multe coler. – I am very angry.
El ama multe la femes. – He loves women a lot.

Poca as an adverb means "little", "not much", "to only a small extent":

Me es poca interesada. – I'm not very interested.
El core poca. – He runs only a little.

Plu and min as adverbs mean "more" and "less", "to a greater extent" and "to a lesser extent":

Tu aspeta plu joven ca me. – You look younger than me.
No parla plu. – Don't talk any more.
Me es min contente con la resulta ca me ta prefere. – I'm less pleased with the result than I would like.

La plu and la min as adverbs mean "most" and "least", "to the maximum extent" and "to the minimum extent":

"Pardona" es la parola la plu difisil. – "Sorry" is the hardest word.
El es la om la min interesante en la mundo. – He is the least interesting man in the world.
A la min, nos ave ancora la un la otra. – At least we still have each other.

Interrogative and relative adverbs

The following adverbs can be used in several ways:

cuando – when
do – where
como – how
cuanto – how many, how much
perce – why

They create direct and indirect questions, and they introduce relative clauses. As an extension of their relative use, they also behave like conjunctions introducing adverbial clauses – cuando, for example, is then short for a la tempo cuando. They can also be introduced by prepositions.

Cuando means "when" (a cual tempo, en cual tempo):

Cuando nos va come? – When are we going to eat?
La enfante demanda cuando nos va come. – The child is asking when we are going to eat.
En la anio cuando me ia nase, la clima ia es multe calda. – In the year when I was born, the weather was very hot.
Cuando nos ariva, me va dormi. – (At the time) when we arrive, I will sleep.
Nos va canta ante cuando nos dansa. – We will sing before we dance.
Nos va dansa pos cuando nos canta. – We will dance after we sing.
Nos va dansa asta cuando nos adormi. – We will dance until we fall asleep.

Do means "where" (a cual loca, en cual loca). When used with a verb of movement, do often means "to where":

Do es la can? – Where's the dog?
Me no sabe do nos vade. – I don't know where we're going.
En la pais do me ia nase, la clima es multe calda. – In the country where I was born, the weather is very hot.
El ia dormi do el sta. – He slept where he stood.
Me veni de do tu ia visita me. – I'm coming from where you visited me.
La polisior ia desinia un sirculo sirca do el ia trova la clave. – The policewoman drew a circle around where she found the key.

Como means "how" (en cual modo). It also serves as a preposition meaning "like", "as":

Como tu conose mea nom? – How do you know my name?
Me no comprende como tu conose mea nom. – I don't understand how you know my name.
La manera como tu pasea es riable. – The manner in which you walk is ridiculous.
Me parla como me pensa. – I speak as/how I think.
La descrive ia difere multe de como la loca aspeta vera. – The description differed greatly from how the place really looks.
Tua oios es como los de un falcon. – Your eyes are like those of a hawk.

Cuanto means "how much" or "how many" (en cual cuantia). It also serves as a quantifier with the same meaning:

Cuanto la orolojo custa? – How much does the watch cost?
Cuanto tu ia compra? – How many/much did you buy?
Cuanto tu desira esta torta? – How much do you want this cake?
Me va demanda cuanto ia ariva. – I will ask how many have arrived.
Nos va aida cuanto nos pote. – We will help as much as we can.
Tu sabe cuanto me ama tu? – Do you know how much I love you?

Perce means "why" (in various senses: par cual causa, per cual razona, con cual intende). The corresponding conjunctions are car ("because", "for the reason that") and afin ("so that", "with the intention that"). The special word perce is always used, not per cual:

Perce tu core? – Why are you running?
La fem ia demanda perce la fenetra es rompeda. – The woman asked why the window was broken.

Verbs

A typical verb denotes the occurrence or abandonment of an action (run, stop), a relationship (have, lose), or a state (stand, melt). In Elefen, verbs do not change to indicate such things as tense or mood. Instead, adverbs are used – especially the three preverbs ia, va, and ta. Any verb can be reused without change as a noun.

Tense

The future tense is marked with va (a word of French origin). Past tenses, including perfect and pluperfect, are marked with ia (of Chavacano origin). These are special adverbs that precede the verb. The present tense is unmarked:

Me canta. – I sing / I am singing.
Me va canta. – I will sing / I am about to sing.
Me ia canta. – I sang / I was singing / I have sung / I had sung.

Stories often describe events that take place in the past (or an imagined past), or whose location in time is of no concern to the reader. In such cases, the ia may be omitted.

Elefen does not distinguish perfect and imperfect aspects of the verb (e.g. "I ate", "I used to eat", "I have eaten", "I had eaten"). However, one can easily clarify the temporal sequence of two actions by marking the earlier one with ja ("already"):

Cuando tu ia encontra nos, nos ia come ja. – When you met us, we had (already) eaten.
Si tu reveni doman, me va fini ja la labora. – If you come back tomorrow, I will have (already) finished the work.
Sempre cuando me ateni la fini de un capitol, me oblida ja la titulo. – Whenever I reach the end of a chapter, I've (already) forgotten the title.

There are other ways to clarify the temporal sequence:

Me ia come ante aora. – I ate before now.
Me ia come plu temprana. – I ate earlier.
Me ia fini come. – I finished eating.
Me va come pronto. – I will eat soon.
Me comensa come. – I start to eat.
Me va come pos acel. – I will eat after that.
Me va come plu tarda. – I will eat later.
Me ia abitua come en la note. – I used to eat during the night.
Me ia come abitual en la note. – I used to eat during the night.

Elefen has an optional "irrealis" particle ta (of Haitian origin) that can be used to indicate that something is unreal, or in doubt, or merely possible or desired. A sentence with ta addresses an alternative reality. In sentences using si ("if"), ta is added in the main clause, but it is usually omitted in the "if" clause – although including it there is not prohibited. It can suggest a future that is less probable than one using va. Ta can also convey a polite request. It can be used in various situations where many languages would use subjunctive or conditional moods, and it often corresponds to the English word "would":

Si me ta rena la mundo, cada dia ta es la dia prima de primavera. – If I ruled the world, every day would be the first day of spring.
Si lo no esiste, on ta debe inventa lo. – If it didn't exist, you'd have to invent it.
Si tu canta, me va escuta. – If you sing, I will listen.
Si tu va canta, me va escuta. – If you will sing, I will listen.
Si tu canta, me ta escuta. – If you sing, I would listen.
Si tu ta canta, me ta escuta. – If you were to sing, I would listen.
Me duta ce tu ta dise acel. – I doubt you would say that.
Tu ta dona la sal, per favore? – Would you pass the salt, please?

Normally, only one of va, ia, and ta can be used with each verb. An exception is ia ta, which has the same meaning as the past conditional in the Romance languages and "would have" in English. An example is an amusing comment by Richard Nixon:

Me ia ta es un bon pape. – I would have made a good pope.

Unlike in English, reported speech in Elefen retains the tense of the original utterance:

El ia dise ce la sala es fria. = El ia dise: "Oji, la sala es fria." – He said the room was cold. = He said: "The room is cold today."
El ia demanda esce la sala es fria. = El ia demanda: "Esce la sala es fria?" – He asked if the room was cold. = He asked: "Is the room cold?"
El ia pensa ce la sala ia es fria. = El ia pensa: "Ier, la sala ia es fria." – He thought the room had been cold. = He thought: "The room was cold yesterday."

Imperative

The imperative, or command form of the verb, is unmarked. It differs from the present tense in that the subject is omitted. The subject would normally be tu or vos, i.e. the person addressed. Ta or ta ce can be used if a subject has to be included:

Para! – Stop!
Pardona me. – Excuse me / Sorry.
Toca la tecla de spasio per continua. – Press the spacebar to continue.
Vade a via, per favore! – Please go away!
Ta ce tua rena veni! – May thy kingdom come!, would that thy kingdom come!
Ta ce nos dansa! – Let's dance!

Negation

Verbs are negated with the adverb no, which precedes both the verb and va, ia, or ta:

Me no labora oji, e me no va labora doman. – I'm not working today, and I won't be working tomorrow.
El no ia pensa ce algun es asi. – He didn't think anyone was here.
No traversa la strada sin regarda. – Don't cross the street without looking.

Participles

A participle is a verb used as an adjective or adverb. Verbs form active participles in -nte, and passive participles in -da. These are adjectives equivalent to those in "-ing" and "-ed" (or "-en") in English, and can be used equally well as adverbs and nouns. The active participle normally also implies an ongoing action, while the passive participle suggests that the action occurred in the past:

Un ruido asustante ia veni de la armario. – A frightening noise came from the cupboard. (adjective)
La om creante scultas es amirable. – The man creating sculptures is admirable. (adjective; = la om ci crea scultas)
El ia sta tremante en la porta. – She stood shivering in the doorway. (adverb)
Nos ia colie tota de la composantes. – We have collected all of the components. (noun)
Per favore, no senta sur la seja rompeda. – Please do not sit on the broken chair. (adjective)
El ia leje xocada la reporta. – He read the report in shock. (adverb)
Sua novela va es un bonvendeda. – Her novel will be a bestseller. (noun)

The active participle can have an object. Furthermore, it can be used as a complement of the verb es to convey a progressive sense:

Me es lenta asorbente la informa. – I am slowly absorbing the information.
Me no ia disturba tu, car tu ia es laborante. – I didn't disturb you, as you were working.

But a participial construction is often unnecessary, as there are others ways to express this meaning:

Me asorbe lenta la informa. – I slowly absorb / am slowly absorbing the information.
Vade a via, me labora. – Go away, I'm working.
Me continua come. – I continue to eat.
Me come continual. – I eat continually.
Me come tra la dia intera. – I eat throughout the day.

The passive participle can be used as a complement of the verbs es or deveni, producing a passive sense. Par ("by") introduces the agent of a passive action:

Esta sala ia es pintida par un bufon. – This room was painted by a clown.
La sala deveni pintida. – The room is being painted.
Acel ponte ia es desiniada par un injenior famosa. – That bridge was designed by a famous engineer.
Lo ia deveni conoseda ce el ia es un om perilosa. – It became known that he was a dangerous man.

An active sentence with on or algun as its subject is often an elegant alternative to a passive sentence:

On pinti la sala. – The room is being painted.
On no sabe cuanto persones teme aranias. – It's not known how many people are afraid of spiders.
Algun ia come lo. – It was eaten by someone.

The active participle of es is esente:

Esente un bufon, el ia senta sur la seja rompeda. – Being a clown, he sat on the broken chair.

Transitivity

A transitive verb is one that can be directly followed by a noun phrase (an object), with no intervening preposition. An intransitive verb does not have an object. For example:

Me senta. – I am sitting. (senta is intransitive)
La patatas coce. – The potatoes are cooking. (coce is intransitive)
El usa un computador. – She's using a computer. (usa is transitive)
Los come bananas. – They're eating bananas. (come is transitive)

Transitivity is flexible in Elefen. For example, if you add an object after an intransitive verb, the verb becomes transitive. The object corresponds semantically to the intransitive subject, and the verb now means "causes (the object) to ...":

Me senta la enfantes. – I seat the children. (= Me causa ce la enfantes senta)
Me coce la patatas. – I cook the potatoes. (= Me causa ce la patatas coce)

The object of a transitive verb can be omitted if it's obvious from the situation or the context:

El canta un melodia. – She's singing a tune. > El canta. – She's singing. (= El canta alga cosa)

When a verb's object and subject are the same thing, you can use a reflexive pronoun as the object:

Me senta me. – I seat myself / I sit down. (= Me deveni sentante)
La porte abri se. – The door opens (itself). (= La porte abri – but emphasizing that nobody seems to be opening it; it's opening by itself)

And to make it clear that a verb is being used transitively, you can use expressions with fa or causa:

Me fa ce la enfantes senta. – I make the children sit. (= Me senta la enfantes)
Me causa ce la fango adere a mea botas. – I cause the mud to stick to my boots. (= Me adere la fango a mea botas)

In some languages, the object of a transitive verb can have a complement. Elefen uses other constructions instead:

Los ia eleje el a presidente. – They elected him president. (preposition of resulting state)
Me ia pinti la casa a blanca. – I painted the house white. (preposition of resulting state)
Me ia fa ce el es felis. – I made him happy. (noun clause)
El ia dise ce me es stupida. – He called me stupid. (noun clause)

The one exception involves the verb nomi, and is regarded as an example of apposition:

La esplorores ia nomi la rio la Amazon. – The explorers named the river the Amazon. (= los ia dona la nom "la Amazon" a la rio)

Verbs with dummy subjects

Every finite verb in Elefen must have a subject, even if only as a placekeeper.

In some languages, it's possible to omit the subjects of verbs that refer to the weather or the general environment. In Elefen, lo ("it") is used:

Lo neva. – It's snowing.
Lo va pluve. – It's going to rain.
Lo es tro calda en esta sala. – It's too hot in this room.
Lo es bon – It's good.

Another example is when the subject is effectively a trailing noun clause. Because it comes after the verb, lo is used as a dummy subject:

Lo pare ce tu es coreta. – It seems that you are correct.
Lo es importante ce me no oblida esta. – It's important that I don't forget this.

Likewise, with the verb es, if the subject is a pronoun (typically el, lo, or los) followed by a relative clause, one can move the real subject to the end of the sentence and substitute lo as a dummy subject:

Lo es me ci ama Maria. = El ci ama Maria es me. – It's me who loves Mary. = The one who loves Mary is me.
Lo es Maria ci me ama. = El ci me ama es Maria. – It's Mary that I love. = The one that I love is Mary.
Lo es la bal blu cual me ia perde. = Lo cual me ia perde es la bal blu. = La bal blu es lo cual me ia perde. – It's the blue ball that I've lost. = What I've lost is the blue ball. = The blue ball is what I've lost.

On ave indicates the presence or existence of something:

On ave un serpente en la rua. – There is a snake in the road.
On no ave pexes en esta lago. – There aren't any fish in this lake.
On ave multe persones asi oji. – There are many people here today.

Verbs as nouns

Elefen has two ways to use verbs as nouns: the infinitive and the verbal noun. Both use the verb unmodified.

The infinitive introduces a special kind of noun clause, called an "infinitive clause", whose meaning is like a clause introduced by ce. The infinitive is still really a verb, capable of being followed by adverbs and an object, and of negation by the word no placed before it. Importantly, it does not accept a subject or an indicator of tense or mood. These are conveyed by the context.

The most common use of an infinitive clause is as the object of another verb. The subjects of both verbs are usually the same, but they can be different if the meaning suggests this, as in the example with proibi come below:

Me espera ariva ante tua parti. – I hope to arrive before you leave.
Me ia gusta multe escuta oji mea musica. – I greatly enjoyed listening to my music today.
On pote nunca spele coreta mea nom. – People can never spell my name correctly.
El teme no velia en la matina. – He fears not waking up in the morning.
La empleor proibi come sanduitxes en la ofisia. – The employer forbids eating sandwiches in the office.

Infinitives are also often found after prepositions, where they can still accept no before them, and adverbs and an object after them:

Me viaja per vide la mundo. – I'm travelling (in order) to see the world.
El ia mori pos nomi sua susedor. – She died after naming her successor.
El ia abri la noza par colpa lo forte con un martel. – He opened the nut by hitting it hard with a hammer.
On no pote pasea tra la mundo sin lasa impresas de pede. – You can't walk through the world without leaving footprints.

By contrast, the verbal noun is just a noun, and is normally preceded by la or another determiner. The noun denotes either an occurrence of the verb's action, or its immediate result. It can accept adjectives, but a preposition (most commonly de) must be used if an object needs to be included:

Sua condui ia es vera xocante. – His behaviour was really shocking.
El ia destrui sua labora intera. – She destroyed her entire work.
La valsa e la samba es dansas. – The waltz and the samba are dances.
Esta va es un ajunta bela a la ragu. – This will be a fine addition to the stew.
Me ia prepara du traduis de la testo. – I've prepared two translations of the text.
Tu ave no comprende de la problemes. – You have no understanding of the problems.
"LFN" es un corti de "Lingua Franca Nova". – "LFN" is an abbreviation of "Lingua Franca Nova".
La universo ia es estrema peti a la momento de sua crea. – The universe was extremely small at the moment of its creation.

With a verb such as ajunta, there is little difference between un ajunta and un ajuntada. But la traduida is the original text from which la tradui is produced, and un crea is an act of creating un creada. This follows from the meaning of the objects of the verbs themselves: -da always refers to the object. With crea, the object is also the result of the action; but with tradui, the object and the result are two different things. With a few verbs, such as dansa, where the object and the action are the same thing, we say un dansa, not un dansada.

An infinitive clause can be used as the subject of a sentence:

Nada es un eserse gustable. – Swimming / To swim is an enjoyable exercise.
Nada en fango no es un eserse gustable. – Swimming in mud / To swim in mud is not an enjoyable exercise.
Scrive la novela ia aida el a boni sua stilo. – Writing the novel helped her to improve her style.

But, in writing, if an infinitive clause is long, the reader may risk mistaking the infinitive verb for a command, at least until they get to the main verb of the sentence. One can avoid this by changing the infinitive to a verbal noun by adding la or another determiner before it, or by using the plural:

La nada en fango no es un eserse gustable. – Swimming in mud is not an enjoyable exercise.
La scrive de la novela ia aida el a boni sua stilo. – Writing the novel / The writing of the novel helped her to improve her style.
Eras es umana, pardonas es divin. – To err is human, to forgive is divine.

Prepositions

A preposition is a special word that introduces a noun phrase, forming a prepositional phrase. A prepositional phrase typically modifies a preceding noun, pronoun, adjective, or adverb – or it can modify a whole sentence. The preposition indicates how the noun phrase relates to the containing structure, showing the role it plays in the modification.

LFN has 22 prepositions.

a

A means "at". It presents a place or a time as a simple point, or as a general space or period, ignoring its internal structure:

Nos senta a la table. – We are sitting at the table.
Me va encontra tu a la crus de vias. – I'll meet you at the crossroads.
La scala apoia a la mur. – The ladder is leaning on the wall.
Tua casa es a lado de mea casa. – Your house is next to mine.
El reposa a casa. – He's resting at home.
Sudan es a sude de Misre. – Sudan is to the south of Egypt.
La barco es a mar. – The boat is at sea.
El ia fini la labora a la comensa de la anio. – She finished the work at the start of the year.
A medianote, on va vide focos artal. – At midnight, there will be fireworks.
Me debe parti a la ora des-ses. – I have to leave at four o'clock.

By metaphorical extension, a introduces the point of reference in a relationship:

Tu sta tro prosima a la borda. – You're standing too close to the edge.
La forma de Italia es simil a un gama. – The shape of Italy is similar to a leg.
Esta pen parteni a me. – This pen belongs to me.
Cual aveni si on no conforma a la regulas? – What happens if you don't conform to the rules?
A la min tredes persones espeta. – At least thirty people are waiting.

In addition, a can express movement towards a point. This includes metaphorical movements such as transfers to recipients, and changes into new states:

Me viaja a New York. – I am travelling to New York.
Pone tua libros a via. – Put your books away.
El leva sua oios a la sielo. – He raises his eyes to the sky.
El ia dona un oso a la can. – She gave a bone to the dog / She gave the dog a bone.
La sorsor ia cambia se a un capra. – The wizard changed himself into a goat.
La seja ia cade a pesos. – The chair fell to bits.
La xico ia ajunta sua nom a la lista. – The boy added his name to the list.
Dise a me tua nom. – Tell me your name.
Me no va responde a acel demanda. – I will not answer that question.
Nos desira a tu un bon aniversario. – We wish you a happy birthday.
Tua idea pare asurda a me. – Your idea seems absurd to me.
Me pasea longo la strada, de un fini a la otra. – I walk down the street, from one end to the other.
Tu irita me de tempo a tempo. – You annoy me from time to time.
La note progresa a la lus prima. – The night is progressing towards dawn.
De lundi a jovedi es cuatro dias. – From Monday to Thursday is four days.

In fact, any preposition that indicates a location can also indicate movement towards that location. For example, in me pone mea libros en mea saco ("I put my books in my bag"), en obviously implies motion "into". When extra clarity is needed, a can be placed before the preposition to clarify the sense of movement towards:

Core a la casa. – Run to the house.
Core en la casa. – Run in the house.
Core a en la casa. – Run into the house.
La gato salta sur la table. – The cat jumps on the table.
La gato salta a sur la table. – The cat jumps onto the table.

A special use of a is before another preposition, to create an adverb. If the preposition denotes a place, the combination suggests movement in the direction indicated. A ante and a pos are also used to denote earlier or later times:

La can core a ante. – The dog runs forward.
Tu pote pone tua saco a supra. – You can put your bag overhead.
La sumerjor ia vade a su. – The diver went down.
Vide a su. – See below.
Me ia visita esta vila a ante. – I have visited this town before.
Nos pote reveni a pos. – We can return later.

Another special use of a is to add a complement to the object in a sentence. (In some cases, other prepositions can also be used for this purpose.)

El ia pinti sua casa a blanca. – He painted his house white.
Me va servi la gambas a/en fria. – I will serve the shrimp cold.
Los ia eleje Maria a/per presidente. – They elected Maria (as) president.

The complement can be an infinitive. Per can be used instead of a, but then the meaning is that the subject of the main verb intends to perform the action of the infinitive verb. A indicates that the subject intends the object to do it:

El comanda la soldatos a ataca la fortres. – He orders the soldiers to attack the fort.
Me va instrui vos a parla la lingua. – I will teach you to speak the language.

ante

Ante means "before" or "in front of". Its opposite is pos.

In space, ante indicates a location at the more important side of a specified object. Which side is more important depends on the object and its context. Many things have an obvious front side with which they face the world; in other cases ante just means "at the nearer side of":

Mea peto es ante mea dorso. – My chest is in front of my back.
La jornales es ante la libros. – The magazines are in front of the books.
Lo es tan oscur ce me no pote vide mea mano ante mea oios. – It's so dark that I can't see my hand in front of my eyes.
Un can reposa ante la boteca. – A dog is lying in front of the shop.
Nos ave multe labora ante nos. – We have a lot of work ahead of us.

In time, ante indicates a point that precedes a specified time:

Janero veni ante febrero. – January comes before February.
Los intende fini la labora ante la reposa de sol. – They intend to finish work before sunset.
Verje a sinistra ante la fini de la strada. – Turn left before the end of the street.
Nos esperia la lampo ante la tona. – We experience lightning before thunder.

Ante can also indicate movement to a point in front of something (= a ante):

On ia pone un monton de libros ante me. – They put a pile of books in front of me.
Me veni ante tu per demanda per tua pardona. – I come before you to apologize.

Ante cuando, or ante ce, means "before" as a conjunction ("before the time when"):

Nos vide la lampo ante cuando nos oia la tona. – We see lightning before we hear thunder.

asta

Asta means "up to" or "as far as" a specified object or location:

El ia acompania me asta mea auto. – She accompanied me to my car.
La tera es covreda con neva asta la montania. – The ground is covered in snow as far as the mountains.
Me es empapada asta mea pel. – I am soaked to the skin.
La custa ia cade asta sola un euro. – The price fell to just one euro.
El ia visita cada pais de Andora asta Zambia. – He's visited every country from Andorra to Zambia.
Studia la pajes dudes-sinco asta cuatrodes-du. – Study pages 25 to 42 (inclusive).

This leads to the temporal sense of asta, which is "until":

El labora asta medianote. – He works until midnight.
Espeta asta la estate. – Wait until the summer.
Asta doman! – Until tomorrow / See you tomorrow!

ca

Ca means "than". It indicates the reference point for an inequality comparison:

Mea can es plu intelijente ca me. – My dog is more intelligent than me.
Acel es multe min interesante ca esta. – That is much less interesting than this.
La sielo e tera ave plu cosas ca tu imajina en tua filosofia. – There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

como

Como means "as" or "like". It indicates the reference point for an equality comparison:

El rie como un iena. — He laughs like a hyena.
Tua cor es dur como petra. – Your heart is hard as stone.
Iogurte es como crema. – Yoghurt is like cream.
Tu ia veni a la mesma conclui como me. – You've reached the same conclusion as me.
Me pote salta tan alta como tu. – I can jump as high as you.
Condui como un adulte. – Behave like an adult.

con

Con means "with". Its opposite is sin.

It introduces an accompanying person, thing, or state:

Me vide la xica con sua padre. – I see the girl with her father.
Los vole come con nos. – They want to eat with us.
Nos bevi cafe con lete. – We are drinking coffee with milk.
On ia misca la zucar con sal. – The sugar has been mixed with salt.
Los batalia con la elementos. – They are battling with the elements.
No multe parolas comensa con X. – Not many words start with X.
El ia dona a me un libro con multe fotos. – She's given me a book with many photos.
Elena es un xica con capeles roja. – Elena is a girl with red hair.
La om vea senta con un pipa en sua boca. – The old man sits with a pipe in his mouth.
Sua sposa regarda el con stona. – His wife looks at him in amazement.
Compara esta con la clima de ier. – Compare this with yesterday's weather.
Tota cambia con la pasa de tempo. – Everything changes with the passage of time.
A cada dia, me leva con la sol. – Every day I get up with the sun.
E con acel parolas, el ia desapare. – And with those words he disappeared.

Con can also mean "by means of", presenting something that is used as a tool:

Me scrive con un pen. – I write with a pen.
Nos oia con nosa oreas. – We hear with our ears.
La cavalo colpa con sua pede. – The horse kicks.
El ia compra un casa con la mone cual el ia erita. – He bought a house with the money he inherited.

When an action happens by means of something more abstract or less tool-like, par is preferred.

An con means "despite":

Nos va fali an con tua aida. – We will fail even with your help.

contra

Contra means "against". It introduces something that faces or moves in the opposite direction, either for real or metaphorically:

Clui tua oios contra la lus. – Close your eyes against the light.
Esta camera es secur contra acua. – This camera is waterproof.
La elinicas antica ia batalia contra Persia. – The ancient Greeks fought against Persia.
La scala es contra la serca. – The ladder is against the fence.
El lisca e cade contra la mur. – He slips and falls against the wall.
Nada contra la flue es difisil. – Swimming upstream is hard.
Me es contra la gera. – I am against the war.
Tu ia ata contra mea desiras. – You have acted against my wishes.

de

De means "from". It presents something as an origin:

Me es de New York. – I am from New York.
Me viaja de Paris a London. – I'm traveling from Paris to London.
La paperes ia cade de la fenetra. – The papers fell from the window.
Me ia reseta un letera de la re. – I have received a letter from the king.
La furor asconde sua fas de la cameras. – The robber hides his face from the cameras.
La acua difere de la asida par sua cimica. – Water differs from acid in its chemistry.
La resulta depende de la metodo usada. – The result depends on the method used.
Nos labora ja de la lus prima. – We've been working since dawn.
Multe anios ia pasa de la gera. – Many years have passed since the war.
La table es fada de lenio. – The table is made of wood.
Tu gusta carne de oveta? – Do you like lamb?

By extension, de introduces the person or thing that something belongs to:

Acel es la auto de mea frate. – That is my brother's car.
Me gusta escuta la canta de la avias. – I like listening to the singing of the birds.
El ia es impresada par la cuietia de la foresta. – She was impressed by the stillness of the forest.
Dona un peso de torta a me, per favore. – Give me a piece of cake, please.

More abstractly, de often indicates a general relationship between two things, or between a quality or action and a thing:

Me ave tre caxas de libros per vende. – I have three boxes of books to sell.
El ia presta a me un tela de un color fea. – She lent me an ugly-colored towel.
La tore ave cuatro metres de altia. – The tower is forty metres high.
Esta balde es plen de pexes. – This bucket is full of fish.
Nos vole es libre de vos. – We want to be free of you.
La ora ia veni per parla de multe cosas. – The time has come to talk of many things.

What would be a compound noun in some languages is commonly expressed as two nouns joined by de in LFN:

Mea oculo de sol es rompeda. – My sunglasses are broken.
La gavota es un avia de mar. – The seagull is a seabird.
Esta va es tua sala de dormi. – This will be your bedroom.
Tu ia oblida aplica la freno de mano. – You forgot to apply the handbrake.
Per sua come de matina, el bevi sola cafe. – For his breakfast, he just drinks coffee.
El es la campion de mundo de tenis de table. – He is the world table-tennis champion.

De occurs as the second element in a number of fixed expressions that function as complex prepositions:

Los ia ajunta tota la ingredientes con eseta de la sal. – They added all the ingredients except the salt.
Los ia usa zucar en loca de sal. – They used sugar instead of salt.
Me es tarda par causa de un conjesta de trafica. – I'm late because of a traffic jam.
La campaneria es a destra de la catedral. – The belltower is to the right of the cathedral.

De can be placed before another preposition to indicate motion away from:

La gato salta de sur la seja. – The cat jumps off the chair.
Un arania rampe de pos la orolojo. – A spider creeps from behind the clock.
La pasaros asende de entre la arbores. – The sparrows climb from among the trees.

Like a, de can convert a preposition to an adverb. The adverb means "from the location suggested by the context":

La monstro ia veni de su. – The monster came from below.
La gidor ia cria de ante, ma me no ia pote oia. – The leader was shouting from the front, but I couldn't hear.

De cuando, or de ce, means "since" as a conjunction ("from the time when"):

De cuando me ia es un enfante, me desira sta sur la luna. – Since I was a child, I've wanted to stand on the moon.

en

En means "in". Its opposite is estra.

It indicates a location in space or time that is wholly or partly contained in something else:

Mea cor es en mea peto. – My heart is in my chest.
La sol es en la sielo. – The sun is in the sky.
Nos espeta en la auto. – We are waiting in the car.
La plantas es en vasos. – The plants are in pots.
Sua ditos es fisada en la manico de un tas. – His fingers are stuck in the handle of a cup.
Me ave alga pensas en mea mente. – I have some thoughts in my mind.
Gatos no gusta es en acua. – Cats don't like being in water.
Nos no vide la stelas en la dia. – We don't see the stars in the day.
Beethoven ia nase en 1770. – Beethoven was born in 1770.
Nos ia visita la museo en febrero. – We visited the museum in February.
El ia scrive la libro en tre semanas. – She wrote the book in three weeks.

Metaphorically, the location can be a state, or an activity, or a manner:

Me no vole viaja en esta clima. – I don't want to travel in this weather.
La construida es en foco. – The building is on fire.
Nos es en peril. – We are in danger.
Esce nos es en acorda? – Are we in agreement?
En ajunta, me vide un problem nova. – In addition, I see a new problem.
En fato, me vide du problemes. – In fact I see two problems.
Nos ia pasa un ora en conversa. – We spent an hour in conversation.
La enfantes senta en un sirculo. – The children are sitting in a circle.
Me va repete esta en elinica. – I will repeat this in Greek.
La custas es en euros. – The prices are in euros.

En can also mean "into" (= a en):

El ia cade en la rio. – He fell into the river.
Pone la dejetada en la baldon. – Put the rubbish in the bin.
Un bon idea ia veni en sua testa. – A good idea came into her head.
Me ia tradui la article en franses. – I've translated the article into French.
Nos pasa en un eda nova. – We are passing into a new era.

En cuando, or en ce, means "while", "at a point during the time when":

Lo ia comensa pluve forte en cuando la reportor ia parla. – It started raining heavily while the reporter was talking.

entre

Entre means "between". It indicates that one place or time is surrounded by two or more others:

Mea testa es entre mea oreas. – My head is between my ears.
La table es entre la seja e la mur. – The table is between the chair and the wall.
Txesco es entre Deutxland, Osteraic, Slovensco, e Polsca. – The Czech Republic is between Germany, Austria, Slovakia, and Poland.
El viaja entre Paris e Madrid a cada semana. – She travels between Paris and Madrid every week.
Tu es entre amis asi. – You are among friends here.
La bal ia cade entre la flores. – The ball fell among the flowers.
Cual es la difere entre un mur e un serca? – What is the difference between a wall and a fence?
Elefen promove comunica entre poplas. – LFN promotes communication between peoples.
On va ave un interval de des minutos entre la du atas. – There will be a ten-minute interval between the two acts.
El ia nase entre la geras. – He was born between the wars.
Me velia usual entre sete e oto. – I usually wake up between seven and eight.
On debe paia entre des e dudes euros. – You have to pay between ten and twenty euros.

estra

Estra means "outside". Its opposite is en.

It indicates a location that is not contained in something else:

Mea sapato es estra mea calseta. – My shoe is outside my sock.
El abita estra la site. – She lives outside the city.
On no ave aira estra la barcon. – There is no air outside the ship.
Tu es aora estra peril. – You are out of danger now.
No telefoni estra la oras de labora. – Don't phone outside work hours.

Estra can also indicate movement towards such a location (= a estra):

La enfantes core estra la casa. – The children ran outside the house.

Metaphorically, estra can mean "except for":

El recorda no cosa estra sua nom. – He remembers nothing except for his name.

longo

Longo means "along". It indicates the route that something follows as it moves:

Me pasea longo la strada. – I walk along the street.
La balsa ia flota longo la rio. – The raft floated down the river.
La xico lisca longo la ramo. – The boy slides along the branch.
Un arania rampe longo mea gama. – There's a spider crawling up my leg.

By extension, it can also mean "according to" what someone has said or written:

Longo la predise, oji va es an plu calda. – According to the forecast, tomorrow will be even warmer.
La viaja tra tempo es posible, longo esta fisiciste. – Time travel is possible, according to this physicist.

par

Par means "by". It indicates the agent of a passive verb, or the author of a creation:

El ia es colpada par un bal de neva. – He was hit by a snowball.
Me es surprendeda par tua reata. – I am surprised by your reaction.
Suiz es ensircada par otra paises. – Switzerland is surrounded by other countries.
Hamlet es un teatral par Shakespeare. – Hamlet is a play by Shakespeare.

By extension, it also indicates an action or method by which something is done:

Me ia viaja asi par tren. – I travelled here by train.
Roberto es mea fio par sposi. – Roberto is my son-in-law.
La botelas es codigida par color. – The bottles are color-coded.
Nos ia descovre tua secretas par nosa spiores. – We discovered your secrets via our spies.
La prisonida ia evade par asconde su un camion. – The prisoner escaped by hiding under a truck.
Me va destrui la serca par sola un colpa de pede. – I shall destroy the fence with a single kick.
On no pote solve esta problem par negosia. – This problem cannot be solved by negotiation.

When a transitive verb is converted into a noun, and the verb's subject and object are of a similar nature (e.g. they're both people), par is used to indicate the subject and de or a to indicate the object:

La ama par la madre. – The mother's love. (The mother loves)
La ama de/a la madre. – The love of/for the mother. (The mother is loved)
La ataca de la troianes par la elinicas. – The attack of/on the Trojans by the Greeks. (The Greeks attack the Trojans)

per

Per means "for". It introduces an intended goal or recipient:

Nos labora per mone. – We work for money.
Tases es usada per bevi. – Cups are used for drinking.
Me viaja per vide la mundo. – I'm travelling (in order) to see the world.
Tu es vestida per un sera de dansa. – You're dressed for an evening of dancing.
Me va vade a la botecas per tu. – I will go to the shops for you.
El ia scrive la libro per sua madre. – She wrote the book for her mother.
La viaja va es perilosa per tu. – The journey will be dangerous for you.
Me batalia per mea vive. – I'm fighting for my life.
Per esta razona, me no pote parla longa. – For that reason, I can't talk for long.
Per esemplo, considera la balena. – For example, consider the whale.

By extension, it also indicates an item exchanged for another:

Tu ia paia tro per acel computador. – You paid too much for that computer.
Me ia compra lo per mil euros. – I bought it for a thousand euros.
Grasias per tua carta postal. – Thank you for your postcard.

It can indicate an intended period of time:

Nos vade a Colorado per un semana. – We are going to Colorado for a week.
Me no va retarda tu per plu ca un minuto. – I won't delay you for more than a minute.

As a special case, per introduces something that is favoured or represented:

Me ia vota per la proposa, ma tu ia vota contra lo. – I voted for the proposal, but you voted against it.
Car tu no ia es ala, me ia parla per tu. – Because you weren't there, I spoke on your behalf.

pos

Pos means "after" or "behind". Its opposite is ante.

In space, it indicates a location at the less important side of a specified object:

Mea dorso es pos mea peto. – My back is behind my chest.
La aparatos es pos un porte securida. – The equipment is behind a locked door.
La xicos turbosa ia asconde pos la cabana. – The naughty boys hid behind the shed.

In time, pos indicates a point that follows a specified time:

Desembre veni pos novembre. – December comes after November.
Los va comensa bevi pos la reposa de sol. – They will start drinking after sunset.
Verje a destra pos la eglesa. – Turn right after the church.
Me va reveni pos tre dias. – I will come back in three days.

Pos can also indicate movement to a point behind something (= a pos):

La serpente ia desapare pos la arbor. – The snake disappeared behind the tree.

Pos cuando, or pos ce, means "after" as a conjunction ("after the time when"):

Nos oia la tona pos cuando nos vide la lampo. – We hear thunder after we see lightning.

sin

Sin means "without". It indicates something that is absent:

Tua sposa gusta sua cafe sin lete. – Your wife likes her coffee without milk.
Me ia pasea tra la pluve sin parapluve. – I walked through the rain with no umbrella.
On ave no fuma sin foco. – There's no smoke without fire.
Me va decora la casa intera sin aida. – I shall decorate the entire house without help.
Tu es tota sin compatia. – You are totally without mercy.
El ia adormi sin intende. – He fell asleep without meaning to.
La rexercor ia sorti sin descovre la responde. – The researcher left without discovering the answer.
La depinta ia cade sin causa evidente. – The painting fell down for no apparent reason.

sirca

Sirca means "around". It indicates a position that surrounds or encloses something else:

La campores fa cantas sirca la foco. – The campers sing songs around the fire.
Mea mano es cluida sirca mea diton. – My hand is closed around my thumb.
Edera crese sirca la tronco. – Ivy grows around the trunk.
On ave pinta verde sirca la fenetras. – There is green paint around the windows.

It can also indicate movement along a surrounding path:

La luna vade sirca la tera, e la tera vade sirca la sol. – The moon goes around the earth, and the earth goes around the sun.
Nos intende viaja sirca la mundo par cavalo. – We intend to travel round the world on horseback.
El vaga sirca la jardin e ole la flores. – She wanders round the garden and smells the flowers.

With expressions of time and quantity, sirca indicates that the value is approximate – the actual value is somewhere in the surrounding range:

Me ave sirca sincodes anios. – I am about 50 years old.
Me pote pensa a sirca sento razonas per no revela mea eda. – I can think of about a hundred reasons not to reveal my age.
La conserta ia comensa sirca dui pos dudes. – The concert began at about half past eight.
Sirca la lus prima, me ia oia tua can abaiante. – Around dawn, I heard your dog barking.

su

Su means "under". It indicates a location that is lower than another, either physically or metaphorically:

La neva craci su mea pedes. – The snow crunches under my feet.
La solo es su la sofito. – The floor is below the ceiling.
Antilopes ia reposa su la arbores. – Antelopes were resting under the trees.
On ave un table de sanduitxes su la fenetra. – There's a table of sandwiches under the window.
Tu pare es su la influe de la vino. – You appear to be under the influence of the wine.
Me no pote labora su tua regulas. – I can't work under your rules.

By extension, su can also indicate any location that is physically covered by something, whether it's actually lower or not:

La color vera de la sofito es apena vidable su esta pinta fea. – The real color of the ceiling is scarcely visible under this nasty paint.
Me ave un paceta su mea braso. – I have a parcel under my arm.
El ia porta un sueter su sua jaca. – He wore a sweater under his jacket.

Su can also indicate motion to a location below something (= a su):

La acua ia vade su la mobilas. – The water went under the furniture.

supra

Supra means "above". It indicates a location that is higher than another, either physically or metaphorically:

La nubes es supra mea testa. – The clouds are above my head.
La teto es supra la sofito. – The roof is above the ceiling.
El ia apoia supra la table per ateni la sal. – She leaned over the table to reach the salt.
Un tempesta enorme developa supra la mar. – A huge storm is brewing over the sea.

Supra implies a gap between the two items. If there is no gap, sur is used instead.

By extension, supra can also indicate anything that physically covers something else, whether it's actually higher or not:

La montania lansa un ombra supra nosa casa. – The mountain casts a shadow over our house.
El ia porta un covretota supra sua otra vestes. – He was wearing overalls on top of his other clothes.

Supra can also indicate motion to a location above (= a supra):

La sol leva supra la tera. – The sun rises over the earth.

sur

Sur means "on". It indicates a location at the surface of something, either held on top of it by gravity, or fixed to it in some other way:

Mea xapo es sur mea testa. – My hat is on my head.
No senta sur la seja rompeda. – Don't sit on the broken chair.
Si on sta sur la balcon, on vide la mar. – If you stand on the balcony, you can see the sea.
La asfalto sur la strada fonde en la caldia. – The tarmac on the road is melting in the heat.
Esce la vive esiste sur Marte? – Is there life on Mars?
Me va pende esta depinta sur la mur. – I'll hang this painting on the wall.
La om ia besa la fem sur sua jena. – The man kissed the woman on her cheek.

Sur can also mean "onto" (= a sur):

Pone tua cartas sur la table. – Put your cards on the table.
Un roca cual cade sur la tera es nomida un meteorite. – A rock that falls onto the earth is called a meteorite.
El ia pone un dital sur sua dito. – She put a thimble onto her finger.

Metaphorically, sur means "concerning" or "on the subject of":

La teatral es sur la gera. – The play is about the war.
Me ia leje multe libros sur la tema. – I've read many books on the subject.
La xica plora sur sua pupa perdeda. – The girl is crying over her lost doll.

tra

Tra means "through". It indicates a location within which movement occurs, passing from one end to the other:

Acua flue tra la tubos. – Water flows through the pipes.
La enfantes ia core tra la vileta. – The children ran through the village.
La pluve ia trova un via tra mea saco. – The rain has found a way through my bag.
La tren vade de Milano a Roma tra Bologna. – The train goes from Milan to Rome via Bologna.
Un rueta gida tra la campos a la lago. – A lane leads through the fields to the lake.
Me regarda la stelas tra la fenetra abrida. – I look at the stars through the open window.
Los ia resta juntada tra la anios. – They've stayed together through the years.
El ia senta en un sejon tra la note. – He sat in an armchair throughout the night.
On ia oia la esplode tra la site. – The explosion could be heard throughout the city.

Tra cuando, or tra ce, means "as long as, so long as, while, throughout the time when":

Me senta tra cuando mea larmas flue. – I sit for as long as my tears flow.

ultra

Ultra means "beyond". It indicates a location on the other side of something:

La scola es ultra la eglesa. – The school is beyond the church.
Ultra la ponte es un vista merveliosa. – (To be seen from) across the bridge is a wonderful view.
Esta taxe es ultra mea capasia. – This task is beyond my talents.

It can also indicate movement towards such a location (= a ultra):

La esplorores ia viaja ultra la montanias. – The explorers journeyed beyond the mountains.
Los ia remi un barceta ultra la lago. – They rowed a dinghy across the lake.

Questions

There are three kinds of question: those that can be answered with a simple "yes" or "no", those that present a range of options to choose from, and those that ask for a particular piece of information.

Additionally, questions can be direct ("Where are we going?") or indirect ("I asked you where we are going", "I don't know who I am"). Direct questions end in a question mark (?).

Yes/no questions

A sentence can be turned into a yes/no question by adding esce ("is it the case that...") at the start:

Esce tu parla deutx? – Do you speak German?
Esce tu ia come la salada? – Did you eat the salad?

There are two other ways. In speech, in questions that present a possibility and merely ask for confirmation, si? or no? can be added at the end of the sentence. And in very simple questions, a speaker can simply raise the pitch of their voice at the end:

Tu ia come la salada, si?
Tu ia come la salada, no?
Tu ia come, si?
Nos es perdeda, no?
Vos comprende?

The answer to a yes/no question is si ("yes") or no ("no"). Si states that the possibility expressed in the question is true; no states that it is false:

Tu desira bir? – Do you want beer?
- Si, per favore. – Yes, please. (I do want beer)
- No, grasias. – No, thanks. (I don't want beer)

If the question was phrased in the negative, si and no convey the same meanings as they would if the question had not been negative. But this can be confusing, so it can be clearer to answer with a full sentence:

Tu no desira bir? – Don't you want beer?
- Si. – Yes. (I do want beer)
- No. – No. (I don't want beer)
- Si, me desira bir. – Yes, I want beer.
- No, me no desira bir. – No, I don't want beer.

Alternative questions

An alternative question simply asks the listener to pick one of a number of options, usually expressed as a list joined with the conjunction o:

Tu desira te, cafe, o bir? – Do you want tea, coffee, or beer?
- Cafe, per favore. – Coffee, please.
Tu ia veni par auto, o par bisicle, o tu ia pasea? – Did you come by car, or by bicycle, or did you walk?
- Par auto, probable. – By car, probably.

Reported questions

Reported questions (also known as "indirect questions") are expressed as noun clauses, which normally contain the same series of words as a direct question would have, including the same verbal tense. In a reported question, the question word is always placed at the start of the subordinate clause:

Vos va demanda: "Ci tu ia vide?" (~)→(~) Vos va demanda ci me ia vide.
- You will ask: "Who did you see?" (~)→(~) You will ask who I saw.
Me no recorda: "A ci me ia parla?" (~)→(~) Me no recorda a ci me ia parla.
- I don't remember: "To whom did I speak?" (~)→(~) I don't remember to whom I spoke.
Los no sabe: "Cual nos va fa?" (~)→(~) Los no sabe cual cosa los va fa.
- They don't know: "What are we going to do?" (~)→(~) They don't know what they are going to do.
Me vide: "Do me va senta?" (~)→(~) Me vide do me va senta.
- I see: "Where will I sit?" (~)→(~) I see where I will sit.
Me no ia sabe: "Cuando nos va parti?" (~)→(~) Me no ia sabe cuando nos va parti.
- I didn't know: "When will we depart?" (~)→(~) I didn't know when we would depart.

Yes/no questions, when reported, always use esce:

El no sabe: "Esce los ia parti?" (~)→(~) El no sabe esce los ia parti.
- He doesn't know: "Did they depart?" (~)→(~) He doesn't know whether they departed.
El ia demanda: "Esce tu pote aida?" (~)→(~) El ia demanda esce me pote aida.
- He asked: "Can you help?" (~)→(~) He asked whether I could help.

In some cases, the difference between a reported question and an relative clause is very subtle:

(a) Me ia descovre cual cosa ia es en la caxa. – I discovered what had been in the box. (a reported question)
(b) Me ia descovre lo cual ia es en la caxa. – I discovered the thing that had been in the box. (a relative clause)

In example (a), I discovered the identity of the thing in the box, even if I didn't see or touch it directly. In example (b), I discovered it, the physical thing itself.

Clauses

Like a sentence, a clause contains a subject and a verb, but it forms part of a larger sentence.

Every sentence contains a main clause. This can be modified in a variety of ways by one or more subordinate clauses. If a subordinate clause modifies a noun phrase, it is called a relative clause. If it modifies a verb or the entire main clause, it is called an adverbial clause. And if it plays the part of a noun, it is called a noun clause.

In addition, a sentence can contain more than one main clause.

Relative clauses

A relative clause is a clause that modifies a noun. Relative clauses follow the nouns they modify, and they usually start with one of the relative pronouns ci and cual:

La om ci ia abita asi ia vade a New York. – The man who lived here went to New York.
La poma cual ia cade de mea saco es aora noncomable. – The apple which fell from my bag is now inedible.

For clarity, a relative clause can be separated from the rest of the sentence by commas, especially if it's long or complicated:

La poma, cual ia cade de mea saco en la fango a matina ier, es aora noncomable. – The apple, which fell from my bag into the mud yesterday morning, is now inedible.

Some relative clauses are not essential to the meaning of the sentence, but simply add a comment in passing. Such clauses are always set off by commas:

La can, ci ave manxas negra, ia morde la polisior. – The dog, which has black markings, bit the policeman.
Mea padre, ci ia jubila, abita en Mexico. – My father, who is retired, lives in Mexico.
Esta jus, cual Ana ia fa, ave un bon sabor. – This juice, which Anna made, tastes good.

Ci and cual can behave as either the subject or the object of the relative clause. Objects normally follow the verb, but when one of these is the object, it precedes both the subject and the verb:

La fem ci me ama veni de Frans. – The woman (whom) I love comes from France.
La robot cual me ia construi no opera. – The robot I built doesn't work.
Ta ce nos vade a mea casa, cual es prosima. – Let's go to my house, which is nearby.

When the relative pronoun is the object of a preposition, the preposition comes first:

La fem de ci nos parla labora a mea ofisia. – The woman of whom we speak works at my office.
Tua libro, en cual me ia scrive sua nom, es sur la table. – Your book, in which I wrote her name, is on the table.

When de ci or de cual introduces a possessed noun within the relative clause, that noun is usually introduced by sua for clarity:

Esta fem, de ci sua sposo labora en la banco, es un cocor eselente. – This woman, whose husband works at the bank, is an excellent cook.
La fem, de ci tu conose sua sposo, labora a mea ofisia. – The woman, whose husband you know, works at my office.
La fem, de ci tu ia dona la letera a sua sposo, es encantante. – The woman, whose husband you gave the letter to, is charming.
Mea auto, de cual sua motor es rompeda, es aora dejetada. – My car, whose motor is broken, is now garbage.

In some languages, a relative clause can modify the whole of the preceding clause. In Elefen, if that would be ambiguous, an expression such as lo cual, e lo, e esta or e acel can be used instead:

El pote salta a un metre alta, e esta ia surprende me. – He can jump a meter high, which surprised me.
Me ia eleje aprende elefen, lo cual ia es un deside multe bon. – I chose to learn Elefen, which was a very good decision.

Another way to start a relative clause is with a relative adverb:

Me labora en Paris, do me abita. – I work in Paris, where I live.
El va visita en julio, cuando la clima es bon. – He will visit in July, when the weather is good.
Acel es la razona perce Juan ia parti. – That's the reason why Juan left.

Such relative clauses are often similar to adverbial clauses:

Me labora do me abita. – I work where I live.
El va visita cuando la clima es bon. – He will visit when the weather is good.

Adverbial clauses

An adverbial clause modifies either the verb of the main clause or the main clause itself. An adverbial clause is introduced by one of the adverb subordinators (como, cuando, cuanto, do) or one of the special subordinators si, car, afin, and ca:

Me no teme la can, car el es multe peti. – I am not afraid of the dog, because it is very small.
Si los redui tro rapida sua pesa, los va regania lo. – If they lose weight too quickly, they will regain it.
Me core afin la rinoseros no catura me. – I'm running so that the rhinos don't catch me.
Esta es plu labora ca me ia previde. – This is more work than I expected.
El ia scrive cuando sua madre ia demanda. – He wrote when his mother asked.
El dise ce el es felis do el abita. – He says that he is happy where he lives.
On no ia permete ce me fa la cosas como me ia desira. – I wasn't allowed to do things as I wanted.

An adverbial clause introduced by an adverb subordinator (como, cuando, cuanto, do) can be thought of as an abbreviated relative clause. For example, the last three examples above can also be expressed as follows:

El ia scrive a la ora cuando sua madre ia demanda. – He wrote at the time his mother asked.
El dise ce el es felis a la loca do el abita. – He says that he is happy at the place where he lives.
On no ia permete ce me fa la cosas en la modo como me desira. – I wasn't allowed to do things in the way I wanted.

Noun clauses

A noun clause functions like a noun: it can be the subject or object of a verb or preposition. Noun clauses are introduced by the special subordinators ce or esce, by one of the pronoun subordinators ci and cual, or by one of the adverb subordinators.

To see if a clause is really a noun clause, substitute "he", "she", "it", or "they" for the clause. If that produces a good sentence, the clause is a noun clause. Noun clauses are typically objects of verbs of thinking, sensing, or emotion:

Me vide do tu es. – I see where you are.
Cuando me va parti, me no sabe. – When I will depart, I don't know.
Me sabe de do tu veni. – I know where you come from.
Me sabe ci ia dise acel. – I know who said that.
Me ia oia cual tu ia dise. – I heard what you said.
Me pote divina cual el leje. – I can guess which one he's reading.

Many noun clauses are introduced by the special subordinators ce ("that") or esce ("whether"):

Me pensa ce el es bela. – I think that she is beautiful.
Me pensa ce el pote salta a un metre alta. – I think that he can jump a meter high.
Me pensa ce si. – I think so.
Me duta esce el pote salta a un metre alta. – I doubt whether/that he can jump a meter high.

Noun clauses often report what someone has said, thought, or asked. In all cases, the tense of the verb in the noun clause remains the same as that in the original speech, thought, or question:

Me ia dise: "Me veni de London." (~)→(~) Me ia dise ce me veni de London.
- I said: "I come from London." (~)→(~) I said that I came from London.
El pensa: "La tren ia es tarda." (~)→(~) El pensa ce la tren ia es tarda.
- She thinks: "The train was late." (~)→(~) She thinks the train was late.
El ia demanda: "Cuando nos va parti?" (~)→(~) El ia demanda cuando nos va parti.
- He asked: "When are we going to leave?" (~)→(~) He asked when we would leave.
Me va vole sabe: "Do la selebra es?" (~)→(~) Me va vole sabe do la selebra es.
- I'll want to know: "Where's the party?" (~)→(~) I'll want to know where the party is.

Relative and adverbial clauses can sometimes be confused with noun clauses. To clarify that a relative or adverbial clause is meant, add a noun or pronoun before cual or ci:

Me no comprende la ata cual tu intende. – I don't understand the action you intend.
Me ia oia lo cual tu ia dise. – I heard what you said.
Me no conose el ci tu ia indica. – I don't know the person who you pointed to.
Me vide la loca do tu es. – I see the place where you are.
Me no sabe la ora cuando me va parti. – I don't know the hour when I will leave.

An infinitive verb can also be thought of as introducing a type of noun clause.

Coordinated clauses

Two main clauses can be linked together into a single sentence by means of coordinating conjunctions. A comma is often included before the conjunction:

Me ia desira la auto, ma me no ia ave la mone. – I wanted the car, but I didn't have the money.
Me desira un bon carera e me vole ance trova un sposa bela. – I want a good career and I also want to find a beautiful wife.

Such clauses can stand as independent sentences, with or without conjunctions:

El ia vole canta e el ia vole dansa, ma el ia teme. – He wanted to sing and he wanted to dance, but he was afraid.
El ia vole canta. E el ia vole dansa. Ma el ia teme. – He want to sing. And he wanted to dance. But he was afraid.
El ia vole canta. El ia vole dansa. El ia teme. – He wanted to sing. He wanted to dance. He was afraid.

Numbers

Cardinal numbers

The basic cardinal numbers are:

zero – zero
un – one
du – two
tre – three
cuatro – four
sinco – five
ses – six
sete – seven
oto – eight
nove – nine
des – ten
sento – hundred
mil – thousand
milion – million

Numbers up to 999 are written as single words containing up to three components, hyphenated together. Each component represents a digit, and consists of a cardinal number between un and nove, with des or sento appended if the digit represents a multiple of ten or a hundred. Single multiples of ten and a hundred are expressed as just des and sento, with no mention of un. The components for zero multiples (such as the "0" in "209") are omitted entirely.

des-un – 11
des-du – 12
des-nove – 19
dudes – 20
dudes-un – 21
dudes-sinco – 25
sento-un – 101
sento-des-du – 112
tresento-dudes-un – 321
cuatrosento – 400
novesento-sinco – 905

Mil and milion are always written as standalone words, separating each group of three digits:

mil setesento-sesdes-tre – 1763
du mil un – 2001
tre mil des-cuatro – 3014
cuatrodes-sinco mil sessento-setedes-oto – 45(~)678
novesento-otodes-sete milion sessento-sincodes-cuatro mil tresento-dudes-un balones roja – 987(~)654(~)321 red balloons

When writing numbers in digits, Elefen uses a space between each group of three digits, as shown above. The decimal point is written as either a period (a dot) or a comma, according to preference, and likewise pronounced as either punto or virgula. Digits following the decimal point are simply listed:

tre punto un cuatro un ses – 3.1416
du virgula zero nove – 2,09

Negative numbers are expressed with min:

min sinco grados – minus five degrees

Thousands of millions

The word "billion" can mean either a thousand million or a million million, depending on culture. Similar problems affect "trillion", "quadrillion", etc. To avoid confusion, Elefen prefers to spell such numbers out explicitly:

mil milion – 1(~)000(~)000(~)000 (one with nine zeroes, 10⁹)
milion milion – 1(~)000(~)000(~)000(~)000 (10¹²)
mil milion milion – 1(~)000(~)000(~)000(~)000(~)000 (10¹⁵)

The words bilion, trilion, cuadrilion, etc do exist in Elefen, but a speaker who uses them should take care to clarify the meaning.

In scientific writing, the clearest option is to use the international prefixes:

deca- (da) – 10
ecto- (h) – 100
cilo- (k) – 10³
mega- (M) – 10⁶
giga- – 10⁹
tera- – 10¹²
peta- – 10¹⁵
exa- – 10¹⁸
zeta- – 10²¹
iota- – 10²⁴

Ordinal numbers

When a number precedes a noun, it is a cardinal number, indicating a quantity:

tre omes e cuatro femes – three men and four women

But when a number follows a noun, it is an ordinal number, indicating a position in a sequence:

la om tre – the third man
la pato ses – the sixth duck
la paje un – the first page, page one

Prima is a common alternative to ordinal un, but it can't be used for higher ordinals that happen to end in "1":

la paje prima – the first page
sala sento-un – room 101

Numero can be used as a dummy noun to support an ordinal number:

El es numero tre. – He is number three / He is third.
A cual paje tu es? Me es a numero setedes. – What page are you on? I'm on number seventy.
Numero tre, me vole grasia la furnores de come. – Thirdly, I want to thank the caterers.

Fractions

One use of the suffix -i is to form words for fractional numbers:

dui – half
tri – third
cuatri – quarter, fourth
desi – tenth
des-dui – twelfth
cuatrodesi – fortieth
senti – hundredth
tresento-sesdes-sinci – 1/365
mili – 1/1000
dudes-mili – 1/20 000

Fractions follow the rules for ordinary nouns:

un tri de la tarte – a third of the pie
du tris de la tarte – two thirds of the pie
esta tri ardeda de la tarte – this burnt third of the pie
un cuatri de un sentenio – a quarter century
tre tredes-duis de un diton – three thirty-seconds of an inch

There are also other way to express fractions:

tre e un dui oras – three and a half hours
tre oras e un dui – three hours and a half
sete e un dui milion anios – seven and a half million years
des persentos de la popla = ten percent of the people
des sentis de la popla = ten percent of the people
du punto sete sinco oto metres = 2.758 meters

For scientific writing, international prefixes are available:

desi- (d) – 1/10
senti- (c) – 1/100
mili- (m) – 10⁻³
micro- (μ) – 10⁻⁶
nano- (n) – 10⁻⁹
pico- (p) – 10⁻¹²
femto- (f) – 10⁻¹⁵
ato- (a) – 10⁻¹⁸
zepto- (z) – 10⁻²¹
iocto (y) – 10⁻²⁴

Multiples

The suffix -uple forms words for numeric multiples:

duple – double, duo, pair, couple
truple – triple, trio
cuatruple – quadruple

Phrases with ves or veses express how many times something happens:

a un ves – once, one time
a du veses – twice, two times
a tre veses – thrice, three times

Ves does not express arithmetic multiplication.

Arithmetic

Addition is expressed with plu or e:

Un plu un es du. – One plus one is two.
Du e du no es sinco. – Two and two are not five.

Subtraction is expressed with min:

Ses min tre es tre. – Six minus three is three.

Multiplication is expressed with multiplida par, often simplified to just par:

Du multiplida par tre es ses. – Two multiplied by three equals six.
Ses par cuatro es dudes-cuatro. – Six times four is twenty-four.

Division is expressed with divideda entre, often simplified to just entre:

Des divideda entre du es sinco. – Ten divided by two is five.
Sinco entre du es du e un dui. – Five over two is two and a half.
Sinco entre du es du punto sinco. – Five over two is 2.5.
Sinco entre du es du virgula sinco. – Five over two is 2,5.

Powers are expressed with a potia and an ordinal number. Cuadrida and cubida are alternatives for "squared" and "cubed":

Tre a potia du es nove. – Three to the power of two is nine.
Tre cubida es dudes-sete. – Three cubed is twenty-seven.
des a potia min nove – 10⁻⁹
des a potia sento – 10¹⁰⁰

Roots are expressed with a radis and an ordinal number:

256 a radis cuatro es 4. – The fourth root of 256 is 4.
La radis cuadral de 64 es 8. – The square root of 64 is 8.
La radis cubo de 27 es 3. – The cube root of 27 is 3.

Word formation

In Elefen, new words can be formed by adding prefixes or suffixes to existing words, or by combining two existing words as a compound noun.

It's also possible to reuse adjectives as nouns, and verbs as nouns, without adding an affix.

Prefixes

When a prefix ending with a consonant is added to a word that starts with the same consonant, this consonant is only written once (inter+rede (~)→(~) interede, non+nesesada (~)→(~) nonesesada).

Anti- means "anti-". It forms adjectives and nouns that indicate opposition:

sosia – society (~)→(~) antisosial – anti-social
avion – airplane (~)→(~) antiavional – anti-aircraft
proton – proton (~)→(~) antiproton – anti-proton

Auto- means "self-" or "auto-". It forms nouns, verbs, and adjectives that indicate reflexive or automatic actions:

respeta – respect (~)→(~) autorespeta – self-respect
flue – flow (~)→(~) autoflue – to wordwrap
adere – adhere (~)→(~) autoaderente – self-adhesive

Des- means "un-" or "dis-" in the sense of undoing an action. It forms verbs. It simplifies to de- before S, Z, X, or J:

botoni – to button (~)→(~) desbotoni – to unbutton
infeta – to infect (~)→(~) desinfeta – to disinfect
jela – to freeze (~)→(~) dejela – to thaw
sifri – to encode (~)→(~) desifri – to decode

Inter- means "inter-". It forms nouns, verbs, and adjectives that indicate mutual actions or states:

cambia – to change (~)→(~) intercambia – to exchange
nasional – national (~)→(~) internasional – international

Media- means "mid-". It forms nouns that indicate the midpoint of something:

note – night (~)→(~) medianote – midnight
estate – summer (~)→(~) mediaestate – midsummer
punto – point (~)→(~) mediapunto – midpoint

Non- means "un-", "non-". It forms adjectives and nouns indicating opposites:

justa – just (~)→(~) nonjusta – unjust
ativa – active (~)→(~) nonativa – inactive
nativa – native (~)→(~) nonativa – non-native
nesesada – necessary (~)→(~) nonesesada – unnecessary
crede – belief (~)→(~) noncrede – disbelief

Pos- means "post-". It forms nouns, verbs, and adjectives that refer to a time (or place) that lies after or behind (pos) another:

graduada – graduate (~)→(~) posgraduada – postgraduate
media – middle (~)→(~) posmedia – afternoon
alveolo – alveolus (~)→(~) posalveolal – postalveolar

Pre- means "pre-". It forms nouns, verbs, and adjectives that refer to a time (or place) that lies before or in front of (ante) another:

graduada – graduate (~)→(~) pregraduada – undergraduate
istoria – history (~)→(~) preistoria – prehistory
judi – judge (~)→(~) prejudi – prejudge

Re- means "re-". It forms verbs indicating a repeated action, or an action in the reverse direction:

comensa – to begin / to start (~)→(~) recomensa – to begin again / to restart
pleni – to fill (~)→(~) repleni – to refill / to replenish
paia – to pay (~)→(~) repaia – to pay back / to repay
veni – to come (~)→(~) reveni – to come back / to return

Su- means "sub-" or "under-". It forms nouns, verbs, and adjectives that indicate a lower point in a hierarchy:

teninte – lieutenant (~)→(~) suteninte – sublieutenant
divide – to divide (~)→(~) sudivide – to subdivide
consensa – conscious (~)→(~) suconsensa – subconscious
indise – index figure (~)→(~) suindise – subscript
campion – champion (~)→(~) sucampion – runner-up

Supra- means "super-" or "over-". It forms nouns, verbs, and adjectives that indicate a higher point in a hierarchy. It simplifies to supr- before A:

computador – computer (~)→(~) supracomputador – supercomputer
pasa – to pass (~)→(~) suprapasa – to surpass
dramosa – dramatic (~)→(~) supradramosa – overdramatic / sensational
fem – woman (~)→(~) suprafem – superwoman
natural – natural (~)→(~) supranatural – supernatural
analise – analyze (~)→(~) supranalise – overanalyze

Vis- means "vice-". It forms nouns indicating deputies:

presidente – president (~)→(~) vispresidente – vice-president
re – king (~)→(~) visre – viceroy

Bon- and mal- form good and bad (or mistaken) versions of adjectives and verbs, sometimes metaphorically. Mal- is often equivalent to "mis-" in English:

parla – speak (~)→(~) bonparlante – eloquent
vende – sell (~)→(~) bonvendeda – bestselling
dise – say (~)→(~) bondise – bless
veni – come (~)→(~) bonveni – welcome
acusa – accuse (~)→(~) malacusa – libel / slander
comprende – understand (~)→(~) malcomprende – misunderstand
nomida – named (~)→(~) malnomida – misnamed
odorosa – smelly (~)→(~) malodorosa – foul-smelling

Numbers and fractions are used as prefixes on certain words. With family members, numbers denote increasingly distant generations, like sequences of "great-" in English:

avo – grandfather (~)→(~) duavo – great-grandfather
neta – granddaughter (~)→(~) treneta – great-great-granddaughter
pede – foot (~)→(~) cuatropede – quadruped(al)
sore – sister (~)→(~) duisore – half-sister
galon – gallon (~)→(~) cuatrigalon – quart

Suffixes

Many suffixes start with a vowel. When such a suffix is added to a word that already ends in a vowel, the existing vowel is dropped, unless it was the only vowel in the original word:

fruta – fruit (~)→(~) frutosa – fruity
jua – game (~)→(~) jueta – toy
fe – fairy (~)→(~) fein – fairy-like

Where a suffix would create an invalid vowel sequence, the second vowel of the sequence is dropped:

comedia + -iste (~)→(~) (comediiste) (~)→(~) comediste – comedian

There are two exceptions to these rules:

tre + -i (~)→(~) tri
tre + -uple (~)→(~) truple

Suffix forming verbs

Just like other verbs, the verbs produced by this suffix can be used both transitively and intransitively, or as nouns.

-i is added to nouns and adjectives to form verbs meaning "to become ...", "to change into ...". As a special case, this also includes verbs meaning "to emit a substance or a new part":

arco – arch (~)→(~) arci – to arch
roja – red (~)→(~) roji – to redden
umida – damp (~)→(~) umidi – to humidify
duple – double (~)→(~) dupli – to double
saliva – saliva (~)→(~) salivi – to salivate
flor – flower (~)→(~) flori – to blossom

-i also makes verbs meaning "to use ..." (typically as a tool or device), or "to apply ..." (a substance or a convention):

boton – button (~)→(~) botoni – to button
telefon – telephone (~)→(~) telefoni – to telephone
sponja – sponge (~)→(~) sponji – to sponge
pinta – paint (~)→(~) pinti – to paint
nom – name (~)→(~) nomi – to name

Suffixes forming adjectives

Just like other adjectives, the adjectives produced by these suffixes can be reused as nouns denoting people or things that have the specified quality.

-in is added to a noun to create an adjective meaning "similar to ...", "-like", "-ish":

ami – friend (~)→(~) amin – friendly
enfante – child (~)→(~) enfantin – childlike / childish
fantasma – ghost (~)→(~) fantasmin – ghostly
menta – mint (~)→(~) mentin – minty
monstro – monster (~)→(~) monstrin – monstrous
serpente – snake (~)→(~) serpentin – snakelike / serpentine

-osa is added to a noun to make an adjective meaning "full of ..." or "made of ...":

zucar – sugar (~)→(~) zucarosa – sugary
oro – gold (~)→(~) orosa – made of gold
capel – hair (~)→(~) capelosa – hairy
crea – create (~)→(~) creosa – creative
melma – slime (~)→(~) melmosa – slimy
jua – game (~)→(~) juosa – playful
caos – chaos (~)→(~) caososa – chaotic

-al is added to a noun to form a general adjective meaning "pertaining to ..." or "to do with ...":

fotografia – photography (~)→(~) fotografial – photographic
nasion – nation (~)→(~) nasional – national
siensa – science (~)→(~) siensal – scientific
averbo – adverb (~)→(~) averbal – adverbial
erita – inheritance (~)→(~) erital – hereditary
mito – myth (~)→(~) mital – mythical
monce – monk (~)→(~) moncal – monastic

-iste is added to a noun denoting a belief, such as a religion or a philosophy, to make a general adjective. If the noun ends in -isme, then -iste takes its place. In some words where the root is a proper noun, the noun's final vowel is retained if this produces a more international word:

bigamia – bigamy (~)→(~) bigamiste – bigamous
otimisme – optimism (~)→(~) otimiste – optimistic
puria – cleanliness (~)→(~) puriste – puristic
Mitra – Mithras (~)→(~) mitraiste – Mithraist

-an is added to a few nouns denoting extents of space or time (places and eras) to form general adjectives:

suburbe – suburb (~)→(~) suburban – suburban
Victoria – Victoria (~)→(~) victorian – Victorian

-an is also one of the five standard suffixes for forming adjectives that denote languages and peoples. The other four are -es, -ica, -i, and -sce. For these adjectives, Elefen uses words that sound as similar to the native names as possible: as a result, some names use a special suffix of their own, or no suffix at all, and the root is sometimes modified too:

Africa – Africa (~)→(~) african – African
Frans – France (~)→(~) franses – French
Elas – Greece (~)→(~) elinica – Greek
Arabia – Arabia (~)→(~) arabi – Arabian
Rusia – Russia (~)→(~) rusce – Russian
Europa – Europe (~)→(~) european – European
Deutxland – Germany (~)→(~) deutx – German
Britan – Britain (~)→(~) brites – British

But those who prefer it can simply add -an to any country name:

Frans – France (~)→(~) fransan – French
Elas – Greece (~)→(~) elasan – Greek
Arabia – Arabia (~)→(~) arabian – Arabian
Rusia – Russia (~)→(~) rusian – Russian
Deutxland – Germany (~)→(~) deutxlandan – German
Britan – Britain (~)→(~) britanan – British

-ica is added to a noun denoting a medical, psychological, or similar problem, to form an adjective that describes a person who has the problem:

catalesia – catalepsy (~)→(~) catalesica – cataleptic
xenofobia – xenophobia (~)→(~) xenofobica – xenophobic

-nte is added to a verb to create the active participle, an adjective that means "-ing", i.e. "such that it does (the specified action)". The active participle of es is esente:

ama – to love (~)→(~) amante – loving
depende – to depend (~)→(~) dependente – dependent
dormi – to sleep (~)→(~) dorminte – asleep
obedi – to obey (~)→(~) obedinte – obedient
pare – to appear / to seem (~)→(~) parente – apparent
es – to be (~)→(~) esente – being

Nouns ending in -nte are not used as names of actions:

La covrente es sur la caxa. – The lid/covering is on the box.
Covre la caxa es un bon idea. – Covering the box is a good idea.

-da is added to a verb to form the passive participle, an adjective that means "-ed", i.e. "such that it has or has had ... done to it":

ama – to love (~)→(~) amada – beloved
clui – to close (~)→(~) cluida – closed
conose – to know (~)→(~) conoseda – known
jela – to freeze (~)→(~) jelada – frozen
nesesa – to need (~)→(~) nesesada – needed / necessary
putri – to rot (~)→(~) putrida – rotten

One does not use -da to indicate the past tense of verbs:

La caxa es covreda par la tela. - at this time, the cloth covers the box.
La tela ia covre la caxa. - in the past, the cloth covered the box.

-able is added to a verb to make an adjective that means "-able", "capable of having ... done to it", or "worthy of having ... done to it":

ama – to love (~)→(~) amable – lovable
come – to eat (~)→(~) comable – edible
infla – to inflate (~)→(~) inflable – inflatable
loda – to praise (~)→(~) lodable – praiseworthy
nota – to note (~)→(~) notable – notable
titila – to tickle (~)→(~) titilable – ticklish

Suffixes forming nouns

-or means "-er". When added to a verb, it makes a noun meaning a person who performs the specified action, often typically or habitually. When added to a noun, it makes a noun meaning a person who works with the specified thing, or plays the specified sport:

aida – to help (~)→(~) aidor – helper
deteta – to detect (~)→(~) detetor – detective
dirije – to direct (~)→(~) dirijor – director
fumi – to smoke (~)→(~) fumor – smoker
gania – to win (~)→(~) ganior – winner
jogla – to juggle (~)→(~) joglor – juggler
parla – to speak (~)→(~) parlor – speaker (person)
pexa – to fish (~)→(~) pexor – fisherman
carne – meat (~)→(~) carnor – butcher
vaso – pot (~)→(~) vasor – potter
futbal – football (~)→(~) futbalor – footballer
tenis – tennis (~)→(~) tenisor – tennis player

-ador also means "-er", but creates nouns meaning a tool or machine that performs the specified action, or works on the specified thing:

caldi – heat (~)→(~) caldador – heater
computa – compute (~)→(~) computador – computer
fax – fax (~)→(~) faxador – fax machine
lava – wash (~)→(~) lavador – washing machine / dishwasher
parla – speak (~)→(~) parlador – loudspeaker
surfa – surf / browse (~)→(~) surfador – (web) browser
umidi – dampen (~)→(~) umidador – humidifier

-eria is added to a noun or verb to make a noun meaning a place, often a shop, associated with the specified action or thing:

cafe – coffee (~)→(~) caferia – cafe
pan – bread (~)→(~) paneria – bakery, baker's shop
beli – beautify (~)→(~) beleria – beauty salon
campana – bell (~)→(~) campaneria – bell tower
fruto – fruit (~)→(~) fruteria – orchard
monce – monk (~)→(~) monceria – monastery
planeta – planet (~)→(~) planeteria – planetarium
xef – chief / leader (~)→(~) xeferia – headquarters

-ia is equivalent to "-ness" or "-ity" or "-ship" or "-hood" in English. It forms abstract nouns that serve as the names of qualities. When -ia is added to a word that ends in -ia, the word doesn't change:

ajil – agile (~)→(~) ajilia – agility
felis – happy (~)→(~) felisia – happiness
jelosa – jealous (~)→(~) jelosia – jealousy
neutra – neutral (~)→(~) neutria – neutrality
madre – mother (~)→(~) madria – motherhood
enfante – child (~)→(~) enfantia – childhood
sultan – sultan (~)→(~) sultania – sultanate
fria – cold (~)→(~) fria – coldness
vea – old / old person (~)→(~) veia – old age

Words like enfantia and sultania can denote a time or place in which the quality exists.

The names of many fields of study also end in ia (or ica) but this is part of the root, and not a suffix. The names of the corresponding practitioners are formed with -iste. -iste is also used to form the names of believers in a religion or philosophy (as derived from the adjectival suffix -iste), the names of musicians, and the names of certain other people that end in "-ist-" internationally:

jeografia – geography (~)→(~) jeografiste – geographer
psicolojia – psychology (~)→(~) psicolojiste – psychologist
cimica – chemistry (~)→(~) cimiciste – chemist
eletrica – electricity (~)→(~) eletriciste – electrician
musica – music (~)→(~) musiciste – musician
Crixna – Krishna (~)→(~) crixnaiste – Krishnaist
ideal – ideal (~)→(~) idealiste – idealist(ic)
gitar – guitar (~)→(~) gitariste – guitarist
solo – solo (~)→(~) soliste – soloist
jornal – journal (~)→(~) jornaliste – journalist
sicle – cycle (~)→(~) sicliste – cyclist

-isme forms the names of belief systems, replacing -iste in the name of the believer. It also occurs in certain other words that end in "-ism-" internationally:

dauiste – Taoist (~)→(~) dauisme – Taoism
altruiste – altruist(ic) (~)→(~) altruisme – altruism
raziste – racist (~)→(~) razisme – racism
sindicatiste – syndicalist (~)→(~) sindicatisme – syndicalism
turiste – tourist (~)→(~) turisme – tourism
simbol – symbol (~)→(~) simbolisme – symbolism
canibal – cannibal (~)→(~) canibalisme – cannibalism

Less productive suffixes

The following suffixes are only applied to specific words, as defined in the dictionary.

-eta is added to certain nouns to create a name for a version of something that has been reduced in a particular way. This includes the names of young animals and inner garments. -eta can similarly be added to a few verbs and adjectives to create words for reduced versions of actions and qualities:

bebe – baby (~)→(~) bebeta – newborn baby
caro – cart (~)→(~) careta – handcart
imaje – image (~)→(~) imajeta – thumbnail
lente – lens (~)→(~) lenteta – contact lens
mone – money (~)→(~) moneta – coin
orolojo – clock (~)→(~) orolojeta – watch
bove – cow / ox (~)→(~) boveta – calf
ovea – sheep (~)→(~) oveta – lamb
calsa – stocking (~)→(~) calseta – sock
camisa – shirt (~)→(~) camiseta – undershirt / T-shirt
jaca – jacket (~)→(~) jaceta – vest (US) / waistcoat (Br)
pluve – to rain (~)→(~) pluveta – to drizzle
rie – to laugh (~)→(~) rieta – to giggle
parla – to speak (~)→(~) parleta – to chat
bela – beautiful (~)→(~) beleta – pretty, cute

-on is added to certain nouns to create a name for a version of something that has been augmented in a particular way. This includes the names of outer garments:

abea – bee (~)→(~) abeon – bumblebee
caxa – box (~)→(~) caxon – crate
dente – tooth (~)→(~) denton – fang / tusk
dito – finger (~)→(~) diton – thumb
padre – father (~)→(~) padron – patriarch / boss
sala – room (~)→(~) salon – living room
seja – chair (~)→(~) sejon – armchair
calsa – stocking (~)→(~) calson – tights / pantyhose
jaca – jacket (~)→(~) jacon – overcoat

-eta and -on are not synonyms for peti and grande: it's quite possible to have un careta grande or un salon peti. Instead, they form words with specific new meanings that can be loosely described as being smaller or larger versions of the original.

-o and -a are added to a few nouns that denote members of the family, to switch the meaning between male and female respectively:

tio, tia – uncle, aunt

The names of some trees are formed by changing the final -a of the name of the fruit or nut to -o:

pera – pear (~)→(~) pero – pear tree

-esa is added to a few nouns denoting historical male social roles to form the female equivalent:

prinse – prince (~)→(~) prinsesa – princess

Technical affixes

International scientific and medical terms are formed from Latin and Greek sources by means of a large number of technical prefixes and suffixes. These affixes are used in Elefen too, and follow Elefen's [[vp>Transcrive|rules of transcription]].

When a preposition is used as a technical prefix, it follows the same rule as supra-: if it has two or more syllables and ends with a vowel, and the rest of the word starts with the same vowel, this vowel appears only once (contra+ataca (~)→(~) contrataca).

The suffixes -i and -uple are used to name fractions and multiples.

Compound nouns

A compound noun can be formed by combining a verb with its object, in that order. The result means a person or thing that performs the specified action on the specified object:

corti, ungia – shorten, nail (~)→(~) cortiungia – nail clipper
covre, table – cover, table (~)→(~) covretable – tablecloth
fura, bolsa – steal, handbag (~)→(~) furabolsa – pickpocket
lansa, petra – throw, stone (~)→(~) lansapetra – catapult
para, morde – stop, bite (~)→(~) paramorde – muzzle
para, pluve – stop, rain (~)→(~) parapluve – umbrella
pasa, tempo – pass, time (~)→(~) pasatempo – pastime
porta, mone – carry, money (~)→(~) portamone – wallet
porta, vose – carry, voice (~)→(~) portavose – spokesperson
brinca, dorso – hop, back (~)→(~) brincadorso – leapfrog (the game, named after its players)

If the object begins with a vowel, this is retained unless it's the same as the final vowel of the verb, as in portavion.

Elefen does not allow two consecutive nouns to form a compound. Instead, a preposition has to be placed between the two nouns. For example:

avia de mar – seabird
casa per avias – birdhouse
xef de polisia – chief of police

In rare cases, such an expression has a special non-literal meaning and is treated as if it was a single fixed word. For example, a leon-de-mar (sea lion) is not a lion. In such cases, the words are joined with hyphens, and any adjectives follow the second noun. Hyphens can also be used for more literal compounds when this improves clarity:

un leon-de-mar grande – a large sea lion
un leon grande de mar – a large lion from the sea
un avion grande de mar – a large seaplane (because a seaplane is a type of airplane)
un avion-de-mar grande – a large seaplane (alternative)
un avion de mar grande – a large seaplane (ambiguous, because it seems to be saying that the sea is large)v

Malembo ghafupi

Mu chiyowoyero cha Elefen muli mazina ghakupambanapambana. Vikulembeka na mankhata yayi.

Pali mazgu ghanyake agho ghakung'anamulika kuti mazgu ghakupambanapambana. Vilembo ivi vikulembeka mu vilembo vikuruvikuru yayi, padera pa kwamba kwa sentesi:

acc (ance conoseda como) – a.k.a. (also known as)
aec (ante la eda comun) – BCE (before the common era) / BC (before Christ)
ec (de la eda comun) – CE (common era) / AD (anno domini)
etc (e tal cosas, e tal continuante) – etc (et cetera), and so on
lfn – LFN (Lingua Franca Nova)
n (numero) – number
nb (nota bon) – NB (nota bene), please note
ovn (ojeto volante nonidentifiada) – UFO (unidentified flying object)
p (paje, pajes) – p (page), pp (pages)
pd (per dise) – i.e. (id est), that is, that is to say
pe (per esemplo) – e.g. (exempli gratia), for example
pf (per favore) – please
ps (pos scrive) – PS (post scriptum), postscript
tv (televisa, televisador) – TV (television)
v (vide) – see (introducing a cross-reference)

Mu viyowoyero vinyake, vilembo ivi vikumanyikwa pa charu chose.

cd (disco compata) – CD (compact disc)
pc (computador personal) – PC (personal computer)
cm (sentimetre) – cm (centimeter)
km (cilometre) – km (kilometer)
mg (miligram) – mg (milligram)
μm (micrometre) – μm (micrometer)
MB (megabait) – MB (megabyte)

Mu vilembo vikuruvikuru vya mazina na mazina gha udindo, ŵakulemba vilembo vikuruvikuru. Kweni mazgu ghacoko nga ni la na de , agho ghakulembeka mu vilembo vikuru yayi mu zina lakuti , ghakusangikamo yayi. Kanandi mazina agha ghakulembeka na la, nanga ni para ghapelekeka mwakudumura:

Dr (dotor) – Dr (as part of a person's name)
Sr (senior) – Mr (as part of a person's name)
Sra (seniora) – Mrs, Miss, Ms (as part of a person's name)
la NU (Nasiones Unida) – the UN (United Nations)
la RU (Rena Unida) – the UK (United Kingdom)
la SUA (Statos Unida de America) – the USA (United States of America)

Zina mwa mazina agha ghakumanyikwa chomene pa charu chose nga ni vilembo vyambura kung'anamulika:

IBM – IBM (International Business Machines Corporation)
KGB – KGB (Комитет государственной безопасности, Committee for State Security)

Kulemba na kuyowoya

Alifabeti

Makalata ghakuru

Letter names

Vowels

Diphthongs

Consonants

Non-Elefen letters

Stress

Phonotactics

Determiners

Predeterminers

Articles

Demonstratives

Interrogatives

Selection determiners

Possessives

Quantifiers

Similarity determiners

Order of determiners

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

Determiner pronouns

Interrogative pronouns

Relative pronouns

Other pronouns

Pronoun phrases

Adverbs

Position

Comparison

Primary adverbs

Quantifier adverbs

Interrogative and relative adverbs

Verbs

Tense

Imperative

Negation

Participles

Transitivity

Verbs with dummy subjects

Verbs as nouns

Prepositions

a

ante

asta

ca

como

con

contra

de

en

entre

estra

longo

par

per

pos

sin

sirca

su

supra

sur

tra

ultra

Questions

Yes/no questions

Alternative questions

Other questions

Reported questions

Clauses

Relative clauses

Adverbial clauses

Noun clauses

Coordinated clauses

Numbers

Cardinal numbers

Thousands of millions

Ordinal numbers

Fractions

Multiples