Before you begin, let me warn you: these are notes, and only notes. I don’t guarantee that anyone can understand them, or that they look pretty, or use the right terms, or make sense. 🙂
Sohdi Grammar Notes
-This section I wrote specifically for these online grammar notes.-
Sohdi (called Azhanel by native speakers) is the language of the Sohdi people of Mirztieken, who live in the northern Soda Mountains (called the Södacrēn by Sohdis). It is a member of the Aved-Lukok family of languages, which are mostly restricted to the three/four countries of the continent Lukok – Laguina, Mirztieken, Lukok, and Muhiiwuh (not recognized by most Sheesanian countries). It has around 25 million speakers across Sheesania, mostly within Mirztieken, but with large populations in Jacia, Lukok (the country), and Unia.
History
The speakers of Sohdi, the Sohdi people, were at first joined with the Aved people (which now populate the southern lowlands of Mirztieken). When the arrival of the Mirz people caused the Aved and Sohdi to split, the Sohdi began to move away from using the standard Aved language. Eventually (around 100 years after the split) their language was considered to be separate. Sohdi at this stage is known as Old Sohdi.
For hundreds of years the Sohdi people were isolated in the mountains, their language almost completely separate from the Aved tongue. However, around 500 years after the split, when an Aved-Mirz king took over the Soda Mountains, there was pressure for the Sohdi people to use the Aved language. This pressure was met by stubborn resistance, and when the king’s son Kamekhöd succeeded him, he allowed the Sohdi to use their own language. From then on the Sohdi people had more influence from the Aved/Mirz and other people outside the Soda Mountains. Sohdi at this stage is known as Kamekhöd’s Sohdi.
In recent years, during Zethra Dūsti’s rule over Mirztieken, most Sohdi have learned the modern Aved language (Avedish), the Mirz language (Mirzi), and Dūsti’s “universal language”, meant to be a national language of Mirztieken (Dūstaen). However, the old Sohdi language is still widely used by the Sohdi people and is considered an official language of Mirztieken.
OLD SOHDI |
KAMEKHÖD’S SOHDI |
MODERN SOHDI |
ENGLISH TRANSLATION |
khän |
kheŋ |
jenj |
fretoriod (small jumping mammal, frequently farmed for meat and fur) |
yäyä |
ämä |
emä |
boy |
zhûmem |
zhòmäm |
sûmim |
find |
knäyi |
gêli |
kelli |
pretty |
yetatäyi |
yïtäi |
eltai |
to be trustworthy |
-This is where my typed-in grammar notes, pasted from OpenOffice, begin. See if you can find the Linux joke!-
Sounds
CONSONANTS
s
m
r
f
n
zh
b
x (ks)
j
d
l
g
k/c (same sound)
v
sh/š
th/ţ
t
z
‘ (glottal stop)
h
y (*very* occasionally ‘ih’, most often ee)
VOWELS
ö (oh) – often spelled ‘o’, or ‘ō’
ä (ay) – often spelled ‘a…e’
ū (oo) – often spelled ‘u’, or ‘ō’
i (ee) – often spelled ‘ē’
u (uh) – often spelled ‘ũ’
û (between ‘oo’ and ‘u’) – or ‘ô’
ê (ey) – often spelled ‘ie’, or ‘eh’
a (apple) – or ‘au’
à (e/au) – or ‘ah’/’ã’
ò (ow) – or ‘aow’
e (e) – or ‘ẽ’
Grammar
Nouns
The ~ a-
Ajenj
The fretoriod
A ~ y_
Y jenj
A fretoriod
Without “a” or “the”: in general
PLURALITY
To indicate plurality, last vowel changes:
ORIGINAL |
PLURALIZED |
ö |
ò |
ä |
ä’ä |
ū |
ö |
i |
ä |
u |
ū |
û |
a |
ê |
i |
a |
ē |
à |
û |
ò |
ö’ |
e |
a |
For count noun, add -k with number after. Or, instead of a number, you can put a word like “few” or “many”.
default: 2. E.g. “bòäk” (sing. “bòi”) is “two seakitties”; implies a pair relationship (like dual pronouns)
CASE (or preposition system or whatever)
THINGY |
MEANING |
-tö- |
above/on |
là- |
as |
-bê- |
at |
-tê- |
below/bottom of |
-tū- |
beside |
-tē- |
beyond |
-òt |
concerning (item is related) |
-ji |
excluding/except |
-eb |
for |
-tò- |
in |
-ja |
including |
-me- |
like |
-ta- |
near/around |
-òd |
of |
-öt |
regarding (item is involved) |
cö- |
since |
-bū- |
to |
-bä- |
towards |
-mi- |
unlike |
-sa- |
with |
-si- |
without |
-nû- |
worth |
-ik |
possessive, general |
-iš |
possessive, stolen |
-ix |
possessive, made by same |
-ib |
possessive, given by friend |
-id |
possessive, found |
-y (or ē) |
as subject |
-a |
as object |
-ö |
as indirect object |
cû- |
foreign |
-tû- |
across |
Y vatöldiš…
Above a stolen land…
Majekūpib Būji
Buji’s Majikoopa
Crēniš
Stolen Mountains
Of a country/place: Replace last vowel with ‘i’
Sohda → Sohdi
Mirztêken → Mirztêkin
Other noun words:
_va – every
_na – some (few)
_la – some (many, majority)
_ka – which/what
_ta – this
_ga – no
Dummy noun: dep
So “dep va” is “everything”, “dep na” is “something”, “dap na” is “somethings”
DERIVATIONS (*only nouns!*) -change first vowel; if first vowel is same, use 2nd
THINGY |
MEANING |
ê, u |
user of |
ä, ê |
creator of/cause of |
aò, òa |
made of |
ū, e |
tool for (using, creating, destroying, etc…) |
ē, a |
larger (e.g. “fight” to “war”) |
ö, à |
background (e.g. “palace” to “palace grounds”) |
u, ò |
opposite of (or backwards) |
To adj: g’-
To verb: -l/-il
Baby: si-
Sibòi
Baby seakitty [kitten]
Place: -ēm
Book: -es
Set: ers-
The study of: eme-
Verbs
DERIVATIONS:
DERIVATION |
MEANING |
-a |
doer (miedli: sing; miedlia: singer) |
-t |
result (kia: knit; kiat: knitted item) |
-č, or -àn- or -an- |
what action is frequently performed upon |
gar- |
to adjective |
-urs |
to have to do this |
ka- |
to cause to do this |
-gus |
to enjoy to do this |
-us |
to want to do this |
INFLECTION
Tense
There is no distinction between perfect and imperfect. Formatted like this: -[thingy] *Not set in stone!*
|
present |
past, “they say” |
past hoped |
past |
future |
urgent |
oi |
äi |
ũi |
ei |
ãi |
hoped |
io |
iä |
iũ |
i-e |
iã |
general |
uh |
ã |
à |
a |
ē |
bad intent |
ia |
iò |
iö |
iū |
iu |
good intent |
ai |
òi |
öi |
ūi |
ui |
sarcastic |
êi |
ûi |
ūòi |
yi |
hi |
speaker happy about it |
òe |
òa |
òu |
òû |
òã |
speaker sad/upset about it |
eò |
aò |
uò |
ûò |
ãò |
unbelievable |
ūa |
ūe |
äe |
ūò |
ūû |
hypothetical |
aū |
eū |
eä |
òū |
ûū |
The conjugation of “can” (go):
|
present |
past, “they say” |
past hoped |
past |
future |
urgent |
canoi |
canäi |
canũi |
canei |
canãi |
hoped |
canio |
caniä |
caniũ |
cani-e |
caniã |
general |
canuh |
canã |
canà |
cana |
canē |
bad intent |
cania |
caniò |
caniö |
caniū |
caniu |
good intent |
canai |
canòi |
canöi |
canūi |
canui |
sarcastic |
canêi |
canûi |
canūòi |
canyi |
canhi |
speaker happy about it |
canòe |
canòa |
canòu |
canòû |
canòã |
speaker sad/upset about it |
caneò |
canaò |
canuò |
canûò |
canãò |
unbelievable |
canūa |
canūe |
canäe |
canūò |
canūû |
hypothetical |
canaū |
caneū |
caneä |
canòū |
canûū |
Some other stuff:
I (he, she, you) would (would’ve) ~ -at
I should ~ -agt (often sudu used instead)
I could ~ -azht
Person1
|
first-person |
second-person |
third-person |
singular |
drop first vowel |
put glottal stop in place of first vowel |
put glottal stop in place of last vowel |
double2 (couple, pair, friend) |
drop 1st vowel; put glottal stop in place of last vowel |
put glottal stop between first 2 syllables |
drop last vowel |
multiple |
add glottal stop to beginning |
put glottal stop between last 2 syllables3 |
add glottal stop to end |
example…ragnēluh “to be excluded” (present general)
|
first-person |
second-person |
third-person |
singular |
rgnēluh |
r’gnēluh |
ragn’luh |
double (couple, pair, friend) |
rgn’luh |
r’agnēluh |
ragnluh |
multiple |
‘ragnēluh |
ragnē’luh’ |
ragnēluh’ |
Standalone Person (polite, official, used for some other reasons)
|
first-person |
second-person |
third-person |
singular |
ca |
cē |
cö |
double (couple, pair, friend) |
zha |
zhē |
zhä |
multiple |
ja |
jä |
jö |
COMMANDS e.g. “I __ you walk”, no inflection, using standalone person -optionally- (default is first-person)
WORD |
MEANING |
sudo |
command |
sudy |
want |
suda |
wants, but embarrassed/afraid to ask |
sudò |
improper/arrogant command |
sudä |
wants, but bad to want |
sudu |
friendly advice |
Example: I command you to walk! (good intent)
Ca sudo c’nai!
Habituality: __ [verb], present if just begun, past if in past, future if going to do so
WORD |
MEANING |
döva |
very regular; e.g. every day |
däva |
relatively regular; e.g. every week |
dēva |
every so often; e.g. every few months |
dòa |
whenever subject remembers |
dūwa |
trying to do so, with success |
dawa |
trying to do so, without success |
Example: I try unsuccessfully to read. (read is elar)
Dawa lara.
Example: I can’t believe she ate the licorice! (ate is ri; licorice [well, a sweet similar to licorice] is lēbēbēf)
Riu’ alēbēbēf!
Example: Bowser ate the mountain. (w/ bad intent, past “they say”)
Bòzery riiö acrana.
One other thing: To refer to the act of doing something, or to speak about it in general (e.g. “defeating him is as easy as…”) just use the verb, without any conjugation or anything like that. E.g. “to find” is “sûmim”, but only when conjugated (e.g. “smimuh”, “I find/am finding”). To refer to the act of finding, you just use “sûmim”.
Adjectives
Do adjectives conjugate?
Yes and no. To say, “He is fun”, “fun” becomes a verb and conjugates; to say “The fun man eats”, “fun” sits around like a wet log. (That is, it doesn’t conjugate.) Therefore there is no verb “to be”.
Adjectives can be wherever you like around the noun, as long as they’re not in this arrangement:
[noun] [adj] [adj] [noun]
Then you either puts the adjs first, or use switch-noun:
[noun] [adj] [switch-noun] [adj] [noun]
In fact, one switch-noun is considered a form of “and”. So you can say:
“Woman beautiful [switch-noun] ugly toad”
to mean “Beautiful woman and ugly toad”. It’s really just a style thing; most of the time you put the adjs first.
There are two switch-nouns. One switches; one switches and conjuncts.
Switch: ûd
Switch & conjunct: ûdi
COMPARITIVES
I am [adj]er than…
Formed like this: [conj. adj] + [conj. adj] [whoever-I’m-so-and-soer-than]
Example: I am scareder than Sticky. (sarcastic)
Mbiêi mbiêi Stikē.
I am less [adj] than…
Simply flipped around like this:
I am less scared than Sticky. (sarcastic)
Stikē-ē mūbiêi mūbiêi ca. (lit: Sticky is scareder than me.)
I am as [adj] as…
Formed like this: [conj. adj 1] [asword] [conj. adj 2]
As word is täen (official) or tän (colloquial)
Example: I am as scared as Sticky. (sarcastic)
Mbiêi täen Stikē’ē mūbiêi.
I am the most [adj]
Formed like this: [conj. adj]‘ay
Example: I am the most scared. (sarcastic)
Mbiêi’ay.
I am the least [adj]
Formed like this: [conj. adj]‘ya
Example: I am the least scared. (sarcastic)
Mbiêi’ya.
DERIVATIONS
DERIVATION |
MEANING |
first vowel becomes u; if already, ò |
opposite |
-ši |
to adverb |
-tū |
lack |
-kû |
possibility, ability (similar to -able) |
-gê |
liking |
-êg |
disliking |
u- |
weakening of meaning (e.g. -ish) |
-ãb |
to an unusual degree; talented |
-i |
to verb |
gêr- |
too much, as in “that game was too hard!” |
Other stuff you can do:
Emphasize something by repeating it.
Mbiuh mbiuh.
I am really scared.
Other Things
YES-NO QUESTIONS
Put in yes (“vös”) or no (“iv”) before or after a statement.
Example: You are scared, yes? (to imply you are)
M’biuh, vös?
Another example: You are scared, no? (to imply you aren’t)
M’biuh, iv?
To emphasize something, put in a noun question.
Example: The mountain ate it, no?
Acrany ka riã cöa, iv?
NEGATION
Put in “iv” (no), e.g.
I am not scared.
Mbiuh iv.
CONJUNCTIONS
Like this: [conjunc] [X] bū [Y]
THINGY |
MEANING |
gūx |
X because of Y |
jūx |
X therefore Y |
ex |
if X then Y |
dûx |
X while Y |
bûx |
X before Y |
mûx |
X after Y |
vax |
X until Y |
fax |
X since Y |
òx |
X, but Y |
sòx |
X, except Y |
sox |
X, unless Y |
ţax |
X or Y |
miex |
X, yet Y |
luhx |
both X and Y (strong) |
yex |
and while X, also Y |
sûx |
from X to Y |
dax |
X though Y |
yux |
something was so X that Y |
sūx |
X enough to Y |
tūx |
when X then Y |
yûx |
as X as Y |
uţx |
X instead of Y |
atsx |
X so that Y |
Example: If Buji eats, then I eat.
Ex Buji-ē riē bū xrē.
SUBCLAUSES
Sentenial Arguments
As object (e.g. “I think you’ve been eating”) – like this:
[verb] [thingy] [verb]
Example: I think you’ve been eating. (every once in a while) (Think is “ţen”)
Ţnuh [thingy] dēva x’ria.
Thingy is “là”
As subject (e.g. “it’s possible that the magikoopa ate”) – like this:
[clause] [thingy] [verb]
Example: It’s possible that the magikoopa ate. (Possible is būni)
Amajakūpaē ria [thingy] būniuh. (lit, the magikoopa ate possibles.)
Thingy is “nà”
Preposition Taking Sentence As Argument
Like this: [noun][prep] [rest-of-sentence]
Example: …without Buji eating…
…Busiji riuh…
If pronoun is needed as subject (e.g. “without you eating”) standalone pronoun is used.
Relative Clauses, e.g. “the magikoopa who loved eating”
Like this: [noun] [thingy] [sentence]
Example: …the magikoopa who loved eating… (love is “narl”)
…amajikūpa [thingy] narlã döva riã…
Thingy is “rà”
SENTENCE ORDER
Sentence order is very loose; however, sometimes a word is emphasized by putting it at the beginning.
Example: Buji loves majikoopas.
Narluh Buji-ē majikūpöa.
OTHER STUFF
Two of something (verb, adj, etc.): [word]-a-[word]
Example: “To give back” is literally “two gives” – “res” is “give”; “res-a-res” is “give back”.
To say many of something, use the above form, but with plural.
For a word like “kick”, it is formed by saying “do foot” (wenuh cana-a). Sometimes you can say “do [noun]” or its own verb. (Generally “do [noun]” is considered more colloquial.)
Colloquial Notes
Often person isn’t marked on verbs (e.g. “canuh”, not “can’uh”)
Two short examples
Sûmim Piča äderuh can y zhêtòjia.
Finding Peach is like walking through an avalanche.
find peach-obj equals walk a avalanche-through-obj
Cultural note: The Sohdi live in the mountains, where avalanches are a constant threat and claim many lives each year. So if something is “like walking through an avalanche” it is very difficult and dangerous.
Miedli’à y miedlia-a-miedliaa mia.
They sang a beautiful (lit. rhythmic) duet.
sang-3ps-plural a duet-obj rhythmic
Note on word usage: “miedlia-a-miedlia” literally means “two singers”, but in usage it means “duet”.
1If only one vowel, add -xa to the beginning of the word & continue as normal.
21st person: if no last vowel, end w/ glottal stop. 3rd person: if one vowel, drop, put glottal stop at beginning. 2nd person: if one syllable, put glottal stop between first and second letter.
32nd person: if one syllable, put glottal stop between last two letters, AND at end