Brief Beginners guide to Weren Common Tongue (for English speakers) ------------------------------------------------------------------- by Dan Comstock (Minotaur15@juno.com) and Rob Allen (gcdragns@jps.net) Weren, as to be expected, think very differently from Humans. Contrary to what would be expected, their language is somewhat simple when compared to their extensive codes and rules. The Weren speak a multitude of languages. However the most common one is called Weren Imperial Common. (or WIC) It was engineered to be easy to learn, and similar to other commonly spoken languages. It borrows grammar and vocabulary from other popular Weren dialects, so most Weren don't have trouble learning it. WIC is short, and to the point. There are no articles (such as 'a' and 'the') or genders. Different thoughts are divided up into sentences and words, like English. (where as Fraal Common uses a combonation of words, gestures, and telepathic pulses) Structure: ---------- Sentences in Weren Common always follow the same general pattern: Verb / Subject / Object Words that are not either a subject, direct object or verb follow the word that they modify. Because of this, WIC does not allow more than one adjective to modify the same noun. Each noun has a suffical ending to determine what it's function is within the sentence. A subject, for example, is always labled with the subject ending. Noun Case Endings: ---- ---- -------- Such as the old Terran Language Latin, the identifiers, or cases used for a noun determine it's function within the sentence. The noun 'Tjal' meaning 'group' is used for an example. To indicate plurality, a "y" is added to the case ending. ('am becomes 'amy to indicate that the subject is plural.) Function (translates to) Ending Example -------- --------- ------ ------- Subject subject 'am Tjal'am : the group Object object 'ut Tjal'ut : the group Possessive of 'el Tjal'el : of the group Ablative 'by' or 'using' 'et Tjal'et : by the group Dative to 'hat Tjal'hat: to the group Locative near 'olt Tjal'olt: near the group Examples: [some vocab] Tjal : group Weren : Weren Hrat : Weapon Yunul : Home [phrases] Weren'am Yunul'olt : The Weren near the home Weren'amy Yunul'olty : the Weren [pl] near the homes Hrat'amy Tjal'el : The weapons of the group Verbs: ------ The Weren verb is a simple construction. It is composed of the word for the action itself, along with an optional tense indicator, which is seperated into a different word. The tense indicator is similar to the English 'will' to indicate future or '-ed' to indicate perfect tense. Verb Tense Indicators: ---- ----- ----------- morel : Future dimorel : Perfect bidimorel : Imperfect Examples: [some vocab] Chlop : run Hrack : strike Bra'eg : enter Hmuk : eat [phrases] Bra'eg morel Weren'am Yunul'ut : The Weren will enter the home. Hrack bidimorel Weren'amy hrat'et : The Weren [pl] were striking with weapons. Hmuk dimorel Tjal'am hrat'ut yunul'el : The group ate the weapons of the home. Hrack hrat'am yunul'olt : The weapons near the home strike The tense indicators, when written, are usually contracted to these forms: dimorel (past): dim bidimorel (imperfect): b'dim Adjectives / Adverbs: ---------- - -------- The noun ending 'alhur indicates that the noun describes the noun to it's left. An adverb, with the 'uthur suffix follows the verb it modifies. Examples: [some vocab] Dar : Strong Wern : Honor Sath : Quick [phrases] Hrack Weren'am dar'alhur hrat'et : The strong Weren strikes with a weapon. Bra'eg tjal'amy wern'alhur yunul'uty : The brave groups enter the homes. Hmuck sath'uthur dimorel Weren'am sath'alhur : The quick Weren ate quickly. Chlop dimorel wern'uthur Weren'am : The Weren ran honorably. The Passive Voice: --- ------- ------ A verb may take the passive voice by adding the Gret- prefix. Examples: [phrases] Gret-hrack bidimorel Weren'am hrat'et : The weren was being struck by the weapon. Gret-bra'eg morel yunul'am : The house will be entered Gret-bra'eg morel sath'uthur yunul'am tjal'ety dar'alhur: The house will be entered quickly by strong groups. Superlatives: ------------- Superlative and diminutive modifiers are endings tacked on to the end of a noun, after it's case identifier. When a superlative is used with an adjective, it has the equivalent translation of '-er', showing the intensity of the adjective. Intensity Ending Example (translates to) --------- ------ ------- ----------- --- Most/Best 'uuq tjal'hat'uuq To the best group More/Better 'uq tjal'el'uq To the better group Least/Worst 'eq Weren'am'eq The worst Weren Less/Worse 'ehq Weren'el'ehq To less weren Examples: [phrases] Chlop Weren'am yunul'hat'uq : The weren runs to the better home. hrat'am'eq : The better weapon hrat'am dar'alhur'uq : The stronger weapon Imperative Verbs: ---------- ------ The 'command' form of a verb can be expressed by using the "Ha-" prefix. This assumes that the subject is the second person (you). The direct object indicated within the sentence become an indirect object. [some vocab] Food : Kluun Examples: [phrases] HaChlop yunul'am : Run home! HaChlop sath'uthur yunul'am : Run home quickly! HaHmuck dar'uthur : Eat heartily! HaHmuck dar'uthur kluun'am. : Eat the food heartily. HaHmuck dar'uthur kluun'am dar'alhur : Eat the hearty food heartily.