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Dugi Bialan - Grammar

Grammar

Overview

Dugi Bialan is a minimalist language seeking balance between simplicity and minimalism with ease of communication, for both speaker and listener.

It currently has close to 200 words, and the majority of meanings can be created by combining these. There will be more words added slowly, and carefully in future. Enough to enable species identification and some difficult concepts, but never more than 240. (Few enough to address the whole word list and alphabet within a byte)

The language has 5 types of words.

To aid the listener/reader, each type of word is only used as one of these things, and cannot be confused with the others.

The particle types are marked with each word in the word list. Words without a marking are ATOMs

Particles are used to tell the role that whatever follows them takes in the sentence. It no particle is given at the beginning of the sentence, the particle " " (' i ') is assumed, meaning that the first words will be the "subject" of the sentence.

Meaning is built by combining Atoms (and Prefixed Atoms) to describe an idea. Depending on the Particle before it, the idea is considered to be either:

The particle-idea pairs can be put together in any order to make a sentence. Verbs are not necessarily needed. For example :

"  " (' mi da vin ei elo vedelin dis ') or "I to you - pen this"

Is equivalent to :

"   " (' ei elo vedelin dis da vin i mi ') " - pen this TO you SUBJECT I"

Note that in the second sentence, because the subject was not at the beginning, it was prefaced with " " (' i '). Even though neither sentence has a verb, the meaning is clear.

If a verb is needed, " " (' wei ') is used to mark the simple form. It can be roughly translated as "do".

"   " (' mi wei bena ei elo da vin ') or "I DO give - tool TO you"

If instead an adjective is needed " " (' li ') is used, to mark the "being" form. It can be roughly translated as "am/is".

" " (' vin li buna ') or "you ARE good".

Conjunctions (CON) join sentences together into with "if" and "context".

"    " (' vin li buna esi mi da vin a elo vedelin dis ') "you ARE good IF I TO you - this pen"

Note the "" (' esi ') "A esi B" means "if A then B". This the meaning is "If you are good, I'll give you this pen.

Auxiliaries (AUX) are a small set of special words that can be used in a variety of ways that other words cannot.

Prefixes (PRE) must always have an item after them to complete their meaning. If that item is "" (' zo ') it means the concept that item represents . For example "" (' ga-una ') means "colour of mouth" or "red" but "" (' ga-zo ') means "colour"

Sentences can be negated by prefixing the relevant Particle with 'va'

Yes-no questions are asked by using the "particle not-particle" structure.

Any particle can be turned into a yes-no question like this, though only one per sentence.

Information questions can be asked by replacing the missing information with the word "" (' vemi ') or "what".

Formal Sentence Structure

A simple sentence in Dugi Bialan is a list of Particles, each followed by a set of atoms.

Word : PRE* (ATOM | PRE\2)

A Word is either an Atom, or set of Prefixes followed by an Atom.

Item : Word+ ("bi" Complex +)*

An Item is a list of words. Latter words act as an adjective/adverb everything before them. "" (' bi '), acts to create a separation, so that everything after it is treated becomes a single word.

Complex : Item | Strict

A Complex-Item can be either an Item as above, or a whole strict sentence, where every part is marked correctly.

Strict sentences always begin with a particle.

Each of these could follow "  " (' mi wei belin ei ') "I want".

Question : P:(Particle) "va" $P

A Question is at least one particle then "" (' va ') "not" then the same particles again.

Phrase : (Marker Complex) | (QuestionMark Complex)

A Phrase is a marker, followed by the Item it marks together, this can either be a simple concept, or a whole sentence.

Sentence : Item? Phrase+ | ["mi"] Item? Phrase*

A sentence may begin with an unmarked Item, that will be the subject of the sentence.

If a sentence begins with "" (' mi '), then it can be followed with an item representing a verb

Strict : Phrase+

A strict sentence has no implied markers, a subject is marked with " " (' i '). "" (' mi ') may not be followed directly by a verb.

Joined : ((Item | Sentence) CON)* Sentence

Sentences may be joined with a Conjunction, making the latter sentence dependent on the prior. Items can also be used for establishing contenxt.

Primary Particles

Particles are how dugi bialan marks the beginning and end of compound items. They also declare the role of the following item in the sentence.

These are :

It is important to note that the same word can be a noun, verb or adjective.

-- " " (' mi wei mugo ')
.. I eat
?? I DO food

-- " " (' mi li mugo ')
.. I am food

-- "  " (' mi wei vi ei vi ')
.. I set alight a fire

-- " " (' mi li vi ')
.. I am hot

-- " " (' mi li won vi ')
.. I am a fire

Particle pairs create Sub-Clauses

Because a Complex item may be sub-clause, and sub-clauses must always be Strict Sentences that begin with a "Particle", Two particles together will always create a sub clause.

da li : to be / in order to be

-- "   " (' mi wei mugo ei beba da li wiawa ')
.. I eat vegetables to become strong
?? I DO eat OBJECT vegetable TO BE strong

da wei : to do / in order to

-- "  " (' zan dis wei mugo da wei guma wiawa ')
.. this person eats to become strong
?? person this DO food TO DO become strong

dan wei : from doing / because did

-- "  " (' mi li buna dan wei giawin delo ')
.. i like swimming ?? I AM good FROM DO go water

gin gin : and with

-- "   " (' is-min wei dugi, gin gin luga begi wei ema-egon ')
.. She spoke, and, with her hand, drummed.

"li wei" : passive form

Verb that happened to subject

-- " " (' mi li wei mugo ')
.. I am eaten

lon wei : In the middle of

-- " " (' mi lon wei dugi ')
.. I'm in the middle of talking

Conjuctions

Conjunctions define a relationship between the clause before it, and the clause after. If the subject is the same, it doesn't need to be indicated on both sides.

-- mi wei giawin la, vin o gein uwein
.. since I'm going, you can stay

-- mi wei giawin esi, vin o gein uwein
.. If I go, you can stay.

-- mi wei giawin boina, vin wei gein uwein
.. before I go, you can stay

-- mi devin giawin , vin wei gein uwein
.. after i go, you can stay

The first clause can be something as simple as a "dis"

-- dis devin, mi wei giawin
.. after this I'm going

Vocatives / Imperatives

The word "o" can be used as both a polite call before a name, to ask for their attention.

-- o [i] zan buna .. Oh Good person

or as the beginning of a request

-- o [wei] lugin ei dis .. Oh look at this.

The 'i' and the 'wei' can be dropped, but may be said.

To request an action not happen. use va before the verb marker.

-- o va-wei giawin .. Oh don't go

Or in more urgent cases, va can come before 'o'. But many people want to be polite before negative.

-- va-o giawin .. don't go

Yes or No Questions

Yes or no questions, are asked by using the "particle not particle" structure

-- vin li va-li buna dan mi?
.. do you like me?
?? you ARE not-ARE good FROM me

To answer "yes", is "li", and "no" is "va-li"

-- vin wei va-wei giawin?
.. Are you going?
?? you DO not DO go

"yes in this case is "wei", and "no" is "va-wei"

information questions

To ask an information question, simply replace the information you with to know with "semi".

If possible put "semi" in the first item of the sentence, though this is not a strict requirement.

-- lon semi?
.. Where

-- semi wei giawin?
.. Who is going?

-- dan semi i vin wei zon.
.. how do you know?

-- wei semi i vin gin elein liawa mi
.. What are you doing with my hat?
?? DO what SUB you WITH hat me

-- gin iasin semi wei buli ei bengo
.. How does one make a car
?? WITH way what DO make OB vehicle?

Numbers

Numbers before another object are cardinal, and dicatate the amount of an object.

5 cars :  (' lan bengo ')

Numbers after an object are ordinal and mark place or position.

The 5th car :  (' bengo lan ')

Number words are :

0:  (' viazo ')
1:  (' won ')
2:  (' di ')
3:  (' van ')
4:  (' mo ')
5:  (' lan ')
6:  (' zeis ')
7:  (' vos ')
8:  (' lis ')
9:  (' lein ')

10:  (' lo ')
1000:  (' za ')

 (' viazo ') to  (' lein ') act as decimal digits, and numbers may be written and spoken in this way.

345 : 

However, when writing larger numbers,  (' lo ') and  (' za ') can be used to mulitply the number before them, and set the place for the next digit.

13 :  or 
103: 
130 : 
133 : 
303 :  

 before  allows sub 1000 separations at large numbers

30,000,000 :  

 (' gin ') can be used to separate parts of a number if the number has separate parts

3003 :  or 

 (' wiawa '), that is "power" can be used to give very large numbers

5 *10 ^ 28 :   (that is: 50 of 1000 ^ 9)

Auxiliary Particles

Auxiliary particles have a special job to do but their role is unlike any other character and have special rules for each of them.

They are:

"" (' bi ') - of

bi has two main jobs

Normally a noun or adjective is defined as

A B C -> meaning (A of B) of C

but if we add a 'bi' we get

A bi B C -> A of (B of C)

compare :

For dependent clauses.

'bi' can be followed by any other particle, and mean "that"

" []   " (' vo-wuwi bi wei moili ei gela-zo mi [la] li luga ei guli-delo lon luga is-vo. ')

The 'cat', that killed my fish, has blood on it's hands.

"" (' wi ') - purpose

"" is used to help separate a "cup of water", and a "water cup".

THe latter may not have any water in it.

"" (' deso ') - Except/But

"" can be used like a particle to mean "except"

" " (' mi wei mugo muli deso gela-zo ')
-- I eat everything except fish

"" (' deso la ') allows you to begin a sentence with "however".

"     " (' mi wei giawin da man ziavi, deso la, va-zan lon man dis ')
-- I went to the park, however, there was no-one there.

It can be used with negation to mean "nothing but","only" or "just". The va can apply to the particle or to deso directly

-- mi va-wei deso mugi ei gela-zo -- mi wei va-deso mugi ei gela-zo
.. I only eat fish

-- mi wei mugi va-ei deso gela-zo dis -- mi wei mugo ei va-deso gela-zo dis
.. I eat only this fish

-- me wei bena ei dis va-da deso vin -- me wei bena ei dis da va-deso vin .. I give this to only you

"" (' iani ') - or / choice

"" can be used to separate options

"   " (' vin wei mugo ei delo ziana, iani delo bi zi beba ')
-- you do consume tea OR coffee? -- would you like to drink tea OR coffee?

It can be used as a verb to mean "decide".

"   " (' me wei iani mugo ei delo ziana ')
-- I choose to drink tea

"" (' iani la ') can mean "otherwise".

"    " (' o vi buna ei delo ziana, iani la, mi va-wei gein mugo ')
-- Oh cook well the tea, otherwise I can't drink [it].

"" (' egin ') - also / same

"" can mean "also"

" " (' mi egin li vi ')
-- I too am hot

It can also mean "the same"

" " (' mi li egin vin ')
-- I'm the same as you

"" (' egin la ') can mean "moreover / again"

"    " (' mi li belin liabei, egin la, mi li belin mugo ') -- I'm tired, moreover, I'm hungry.

" / " (' boina / devin ') - Before / After

Prefix Particles

Prefix Particles do not break the flow of meaning, but are always followed by another word that completes them. Because of this "bi" is not needed to separate these words from any words before them. In the Romanisation, it is appropriate to hyphenate the join.

these are :

When joined to each other the child prefix has its own clarifier

The Pronoun "is"

"is" is the general pronoun for anyone or anything in a previous sentence. It is always followed a clarifying word disambiguate. The clarifier doesn't have to be first/main word, just the least ambiguous.

Simple clarifiers

is-zo, The General It*

The general "it", such as "It's raining" "It's dark" "there is" "It is required"

-- is-zo li ga-va-zo .. It's dark

Possesive instances

"Mine", as opposed to "My thing". Does not need an object specified as conversation already implies that.

Labeled Pronouns

These pronouns can be assigned using to following phrase

<person> is-<number> la

-- zan Elenuna is-buna la, li buna
.. Elenuna, who we shall call "is-buna" is/was good

"va"

"va" before a particle, says the whole coming particle is false.

-- mi va-wei giawin .. I'm not going / I don't go

-- dis va-li buna
.. this is not good

-- mi va-wei zon .. I don't know

"va" before a verb is equivelant to "un" in english

-- mi wei va-zon
.. I unknow / I forget

-- va-o va-zon .. don't forget

Colours with "ga"

Describe colours how you like, but these are some good starters.

If you wish to say, "all the colours" you can say "ga-zo muli"

Shapes with geni

As with colours, these are guidelines.

Atoms and molecules with edin

If you want to be precise just use the atomic number

Animals with vo

Body parts with guli

Tastes with edi

Sounds with ema

Measurements with megi

Repeated Particles

The following particles may be repeated to achieve commmunicate that that particles is key.