Paerian Language Syntax

Pronunciation
All vowels use their short sound unless immediately followed by an 'e' or by only one consonant and an 'e.' The letter c is pronounce like a k when it is the initial letter unless immediately followed by an e. However, if it is on the interior of a sentence, it makes the same sound as an 's.'

Ceilith is “house” and is pronounced “Silith” whereas Cilith is “ship” and is pronounced “Kilith.” The reason for this quirk is unknown.

The 'e' in “Ce” does not mix vowel sounds with the consecutive vowel and it is silent.

Q is always pronounced “kw” and a “u” is not used, though it is pronouced as if it is.

Ae makes a long “a” sound, Ea makes a long e sound. "ai" makes an "ay" sound when it is at the end of the word. Otherwise vowels are not combined. Vowel combinations are treated as one vowel.

Example:

Ynarai (bright) - Y'nar'ay

Traid (spear) - (trah'id, as opposed to "trayd")

The hard G does not exist in Perian. In all cases, the letter G is pronounced like a J and the letter J is not used at all.

The letter 'e' when used at the end of a word and not when used to elongate a vowel is pronounced “eh.” For example “tanne” which means “dog” is pronounced “tan-eh”

Vowel-consenent-"e" combinations (such as the word thane which means to think) do not lengthen the first vowel. Thane would be pronounced Thah'neh, not Thaen as English speakers would pronounce it.

Nouns and Article Suffixes
Nouns in Perian are masculine or feminine with no defined reason as to why the gender assignment. The Perian definitive article, which corresponds to “the” in Common is not a word on its own but a suffix added to the noun. The infinitive (“a or an” in Common) works the same way.

The definitive suffixes are as follows:

-or: the, M, one, Ellor (the male Elf)

-ore: the, F, one, Aelore (the female elf)

-ors: the, M, plural, Ellors (the male elves)

-ores: the, F, plural, Aelores (the female elves)

Similarly, the infinitive:

-an: a, M, one, Ellan (a male elf)

-ana: a, F, one, Aelana (a female elf)

-ant: some, M, plural, Ellant (some male elves)

-anta: some, F, plural, Aelanta (some female elves)

If the noun ends in a vowel, the vowel is dropped before the suffix is added. For example, the Perian word for fox is “galle.” The word is masculine. To form it into the definitive to become “the fox” one would remove the 'e' at the end and add 'or.' In all cases, vowel combinations such as ae, ai and ea are treated as a single vowel and dropped to apply a suffix

Gallor: the fox

Gallors: the foxes

Gallan: a fox

Gallant: some foxes

Now lets do a feminine word. Lara is a feminine word meaning “sword.”

Larore: the sword

Larores: the swords

Larana: a sword

Laranta: some swords

The suffix “-ore” is pronounced “or-ay” and the suffix “-ores” is pronounced “or-ez.” The reason for this is to distinguish between “-or” and “-ore” and between “-ores” and “-ors”

Articles are almost always used but there are exceptions. One exception is that the article suffix is not used when the preposition “tor” (by) is used. Another is that the root form is used after the demonstrative articles.

He travels by horse

Or qena tor torosse.

Pronouns and Verb Conjugation
I – Dal

You – Rae

He – Or

She – Ore

We – Oren

They – Ors(m), Ores (f) (if there is even one male in the group, “ors” is used.)

The verb “to be”:
Siar, irregular

Dal sia

Rae sar

Or alla

Ore allae

Oren allaen

Ors sian

Ores siane

Verb conjugation with a noun corresponds with the proper pronoun. For example:

“The stars are pretty”

Ciarors siant polisa

“They are pretty”

Ors siant polisa

All of the regular verbs follow the following pattern of suffixes:

Dal – no suffix

Rae – no suffix

Or – -an

Ore – -ant

Oren – -anta

Ors – -ana

Ores – -anae

Example using “tarol” which means “to walk” and is a regular verb:

Dal tarol

Rae tarol

Or tarolan

Ore tarolant

Oren tarolanta

Ors tarolana

Ores tarolanae

If the verb ends in a vowel in its root form, the vowel is dropped.

An example using “zande” which means “to dance”

He dances

Or zandan

She sings (to sing: “else,” regular)

Ore elsan.

The Negative Form
The negative is formed by simply placing “no” between the noun/pronoun and the verb.

He does not dance

Or no zandan

The word for never (torar) works the same way.

He never dances

Or torar zandan

The Interrogative
The interrogative has two forms, intonation and inversion. The intonation is very simply a change in pitch at the end of a sentence to indicate a question. It is exactly the same as in common.

He dances? Or zandan?

The inversion form flips the verb and the pronoun/noun around and is always hyphenated.

Does he dance? Zandan-or?

Alternatively, the verb “paer” (to do, an irregular verb) can be used in the inversion form:

Does he dance? Paeri-or zande?

Does she dance? Paeri-ore zande?

In this form, the root form of the verb being asked about is used and paer is conjugated with the subject.

The conjugation of paer is as follows:

Dal paer

Rae paer

Or paeri

Ore paeri

Oren paerin

Ors paeril

Ores paeril

Finally, questions are formed with the following question words

Ceara – Why

Ceora – Who

Qalla – What

Qolla – Where

Ganne – How

Why does he dance?

Ceara paeri-or zande?

Who does he dance with?

Ceora paeri-or zande anza?

What does he sing?

Qalla paeri-or else?

Where is the horse?

Qolla alla torossor?

How does he dance?

Ganne paeri-or zande?

Use of Adjectives and Adverbs
Adverbs are constructed by adding -an to the end of an adjective and -ta to the end of a verb that ends in a vowel

A few examples:

Pit (quick) - pitan (quickly)

Ynarai (bright) - ynaraita (brightly)

Polisa (pretty) - polisata (prettily)

dunos (stupid) - dunosan (stupidly)

Regular sentences are structured thus:

Subject – Verb – Adverb

He walks quickly

Or tarolan pitan

With a negative

Subject - negative - verb - adverb

He does not walk quickly

Or no tarolan pitan

Adjectives follow the same structure:

Subject – To Be – Noun – Adjective

She is pretty.

Ore allae polisa.

He is a good man.

Or alla humor arida.

The jester is funny.

Devalor alla melis.

Adjectives always follow the noun they describe.

The pretty flower is yellow

Suzore polisa allae yeun.

Be careful with proper nouns! While the sun is treated as a regular noun in the common tongue (Resarian) it is always a proper noun in Paerian. As such, no article suffix is used. Sal is, of course, always capitalized.

The bright sun is yellow

Sal ynarai allae yeun

Relationship and Ownership: Possession
Possession is tricky in Paerian but follows the following format:

The item owned in the possessive form + apostrophe + the owner, with the proper article suffix. To form the possessive, take the noun's root form and add an 'a' if the word ends in a consonant or 'ca' otherwise.

Orissa's sword.

Laraca'Orissa

The chair's cushion

Messona'beiror.

The City of the Drake

Aldara'draskor

These are pronounced as one word. If the object being possessed is also described with an adjective, then the adjective follows the possessive phrase.

The girl's yellow flower

Suzaca'etta yeun

If the subject is described with an adjective, then the adjective comes before the subject. This is an exception to the “adjectives follow the noun” rule.

The pretty girl's yellow flower

Polisa suzaca'etta yeun

The possessive form is also used to indicate relationship. The format is:

Subject in possessive form + apostrophe + the object in the relationship

The girls of the city are pretty.

Ettaca'aldaror siane polisa

The subject in this case is “etta” and the object in the relationship with “etta” is “aldar.”

“Aldara'ettores siane polisa” is incorrect as it would translate into “the city of the girls is pretty” which makes little sense.

If the owner is a proper noun, be sure to capitalize it:

The elves of Paeriannis are wise.

Ella'Paeriannis sian estelle.

Note that elven surnames, as tradition, use apostrophes. This does not have anything to do with the possessive, nor is it even grammatically correct. Apostrophes in surnames are used to replace spaces and make the name one word.

Ownership is also indicated with a possessive adjective (my, your, their, etc.). When the possessive adjective is being used the noun in question is either in its root form, or ends in an 's.' If the noun is plural and ends in an 's,' there is no change. This is one of the few times the article suffixes are not used.

My - ta

Your - ya

His - mo

Her - ma

Ours - mal

Their - may

My sword: Ta lara.

My swords: Ta laras

Your sword: Ya lara

His sword: Mo lara

Her sword: Ma lara

Their sword: May lara

When conjugating verbs using the possessive adjective, conjugate with the noun.

My sword is huge.

Ta lara allae rentell.

If the noun begins with a vowel, the vowel in the possessive adjective is dropped and a contraction forms with both words, using an apostrophe.

Your nose is red.

Y'orella alla ros.

My nose is red.

T'orella alla ros.

Tane, the word mine:

That sword is mine

Sha lara allae tane.

Indicating Destination/Intention, The Verb, Eshan (To Go.)
The irregular verb eshan is used to indicate movement to a place or to express plans and intentions.

Dal esh

Rae eshe

Or esh

Ore esha

Oren eshen

Ors eshana

Ores eshanae

When used to indicate movement, eshan is used with the preposition “si” (to, at).

I go to the stable

Dal esh si qellor.

She goes to her girls

Ore esha si m'ettores

If the word following “si” starts with a vowel, the “i” is dropped and a contraction is formed with an apostrophe.

We go to a city

Oren eshen s'aldaran.

Indicating future events also uses the verb “eshan.” The format is simple, the root form of the action verb to be formed in the future follows the properly conjugated verb “eshan.” Here's a peculiar example:

We are going to go to the city

Oren eshen eshan s'aldaror.

She is going to carry her shield

Ore esha metra m'aegore.

They are going to travel by horse

Ors eshana qena tor torosse.

Pointing out objects and people
The demonstrative articles are used to point out objects. There are four of them. The nouns that follow them are in their root forms. However, add an 's' to pluralize when need be.

“Sha” and “shae” are “that” and “those” respectively, indicating objects that are distant.

I like that house.

Dal alma sha ceillith.

I like those houses

Dal alma shae ceilliths

“She and “shane” are “this” and “these” respectively, indicating objects that are near.

I like this house.

Dal alma she ceillith.

I like these houses

Dal alma shane ceilliths

This is my house.

She alla ta ceillith

These are my houses

Shane ana ta ceilliths

That is my horse.

Sha alla ta torosse.

Prepositions: Giving and receiving directions
Prepositions are useful in giving the location of a noun. Prepositions precede nouns.

Ran – In

Qo – On

Za – Under

Menta – Above

Tarlos – Before

Arlos – After

Losa – Between

Allas - Through

I am in my house

Dal sia ran ta ceillith

The book is on the table

Boralliore allae qo baldaror

Death is after life.

Tharor alla arlos viavores.

The word “le” (from) is used in several preposions, as is “si” (to):

Ura le – far from

Rasse si – near to

Ran wesel le – in the middle of

Zatel si – next to, beside

Posset le – facing, across from

I am far from Darincedonia

Dal sia ura le Darincedonia

She is near her sister

Ore allae rasse si ma seris.

The house is next to the stable.

Ceillithor alla zatel si qellor.

Talking about past events, with the verb Retna (To Have)
To express a completed past action, the verb “retna” is used. Retna is a regular verb meaning “to have.” It has the same meaning as three different Common constructions, I traveled, I have traveled, I did travel. It is formed by using the present tense of “retna” and the past participle (p. p.) of the verbs. The p. p. of all regular verbs is the root form with the letter “a” attached as a suffix or the letter “sa” if the word ends in a vowel. The verb “retna” of course conjugates with the subject.

I traveled.

Dal retna qenasa.

We traveled.

Oren retnanta qenasa.

They walked.

Ors retnana tarola.

Most irregular verbs have irregular p. p.s. The p. p. of irregular verbs is in the verbs file.

Siar – sa

I have been ready

Dal retna sa palaret

In the negative, the word “no” comes before the verb “retna.”

He did not dance

Or no retna zandesa.

Some useful expressions:

venelrena – yesterday (literally previous day, one word)

venel luna – previous evening (literally “previous moon”)

venel salsara – previous morning (literally “previous sunrise”)

Palrena – tomorrow

Pal luna – next night (next moon)

Pal salsara – next morning (next sunrise)