Tulan

Overview

Tulan is the official, formal language of Pallatium. It is used throughout Pallatium on a day to day basis, both in general conversation and government documents. English is used for international conversation (including UN debates and laws) since it is a more commonly spoken language than Tulan.

The general syntax of Tulan is easy to understand, and the grammar rules follow a lot of the same patterns as English (and a lot of other of the "romance" based languages)

The first part of this article is a set of lessons in the basics of Tulan, and the second part is/will be a guide to how it is used in the most common situations (relationships, time, numbers and so forth).

Lessons

Introduction

Tulan, as indicated, basically follows the general rules of most western (romance) languages, however there is one difference - formal and informal versions. These apply depending on who is speaking, or what/who is being spoken about.

Lesson 1 - Personal Pronouns

Personal Pronouns in Tulan come in two forms - formal and informal. The formal form indicates a specific reference, where as the informal form indicates a general version. While this might seem complicated, it will become more obvious as you go through examples.

The root of all personal pronouns is "vo". This literally translates, depending on your view, as "the one", "the soul" or "the divine". Whatever it's entamology is, it is the root that forms all the words that describe a person.

The informal object personal pronouns are :-

• First Person, Single (I)- Avo
• Second Person, Single (You) - Savo
• Third Person, Single, Human (She) - Vavo (historically this refers to a female. When Pallatium first ventured in to the international community, and another gender was discovered, a new word Vavoa, was added to specifically indicate a male person. It is less used now than it was, as the people have become more used to seeing males around)
• Third Person, Single, Non-human (It) - Lavo

• First Person, Plural (We) - Avoem
• Second Person, Plural (You) - Savoem
• Third Person, Plural, Human (They) - Vavoem (and Vavoaem, which again is deprecated)
• Third Person, Plural, Non-Human (They) -Lavoem

The informal subject personal pronouns are

• First Person, Single (Me) - Vol
• Second Person, Single (You) - Vos
• Third Person, Single, Human (Her) - Vov (and vova, though also deprecated)
• Third Person, Single, Non-Human (It) - Voi

• First Person, Plural (Us) - Volem
• Second Person, Plural (You) - Vosem
• Third Person, Plural, Human (Them) - Vovem (and vovaem, though deprecated)
• Third Person, Plural, Non-Human (Them) - Voiem

The informal possessive pronouns are

• First Person, Single (My/Mine) - mavo
• Second Person, Single (Your/Yours) - mavos
• Third Person, Single, Human (Her/Hers -mavov (and mavova, though also deprecated)
• Third Person, Single, Non-Human (It/Its) - mavoi

• First Person, Plural (Our/Ours) - mavoem
• Second Person, Plural (Your/Yours) - mavosem
• Third Person, Plural, Human (Their/Theirs) - mavovem (and vovaem, though deprecated)
• Third Person, Plural, Non-Human (Their/Theirs) - mavoiem

Note - with only one word for the Third Person, Single, Human possessive you rarely need to write mavov/mavova (hers/his) - you only write mavov, and while this is similar to writing mavovem (their) it is more gramatically correct.

Formal pronouns are generally used when referring to The Goddesses, The Queen (both present and past) and other official and revered people. Also used when there is only one of the thing being refered to.

The formal object personal pronouns are :-

• First Person, Single (I)- Avot
• Second Person, Single (You) - Savot
• Third Person, Single, Human (She) - Vavot (also vavoat, but deprecated)
• Third Person, Single, Non-human (It) - Lavot

• First Person, Plural (We) - Avotem
• Second Person, Plural (You) - Savotem
• Third Person, Plural, Human (They) - Vavotem (and Vavoatem, which again is deprecated)
• Third Person, Plural, Non-Human (They) -Lavotem

The formal subject personal pronouns are

• First Person, Single (Me) - Volt
• Second Person, Single (You) - Vost
• Third Person, Single, Human (Her) - Vovt (and vovat, though also deprecated)
• Third Person, Single, Non-Human (It) - Voit

• First Person, Plural (Us) - Voltem
• Second Person, Plural (You) - Vostem
• Third Person, Plural, Human (Them) - Vovtem (and vovatem, though deprecated)
• Third Person, Plural, Non-Human (Them) - Voitem

The formal possessive pronouns are

• First Person, Single (My/Mine) - mavot
• Second Person, Single (Your/Yours) - mavost
• Third Person, Single, Human (Her/Hers -mavovt (and mavovat, though also deprecated)
• Third Person, Single, Non-Human (It/Its) - mavoit

• First Person, Plural (Our/Ours) - mavotem
• Second Person, Plural (Your/Yours) - mavostem
• Third Person, Plural, Human (Their/Theirs) - mavovtem (and mavovatem, though deprecated)
• Third Person, Plural, Non-Human (Their/Theirs) - mavoitem

Note - with only one word for the Third Person, Single, Human possessive you rarely need to write mavov/mavova (hers/his) - you only write mavov, and while this is similar to writing mavovem (their) it is more gramatically correct.

Note - though at one time it was considered the height of rudeness to use an informal pronoun when a formal one was required, and the height of arrogance to use a formal pronoun when an informal one was required, that distinction has faded over the past 100 years. Although the tradition of respect remains for The Goddesses and The Queens (and to some extent the PPA), the difference between the two is fading, and informal pronouns are most commonly used, regardless of the situation. The only hard and fast rule that remains is that The Queen will always use the formal pronouns if talking as Queen, and the informal pronouns if talking as herself - this is to ensure there is never any confusion between the person and the position.

Lesson 2 - Verbs

When a verb is defined, it is always in the inifinitive form (to run, to walk, to speak), which is also (generally) the First Person, Singular version (though not always).

All verbs follow the same conjugation, and there are no irregular verbs, which makes learning a lot easier. Further more there are no formal and informal forms - they are purely restricted to the personal pronouns. There are other forms - general, command, variations in tense and "potential" (can/will/may and so forth), but generally they work the same way.

Further more, even though the personal pronouns specificy who is doing the running, the conjugation of the verbs and the pronouns must agree, otherwise it is non-sensical. However there is no difference between the third person human and non-human forms.

The examples will be based on three verbs - Seaka (To Walk), Ilana (To Rule) and Qava (To Like)

General Conjugation (Used in general discussion) :-

• First Person, Singular - append "sol"
• Second Person, Singular - append "son"
• Third Person, Singular - append "sot"

• Plural - append "em" to the version above

Examples

• Seakasol, Seakason, Seakasot, Seakasolem, Seakasonem, Seakasotem
• Ilanasol, Ilanason, Ilanasot, Ilanasolem, Ilanasonem, Ilanasotem

Command Conjugation (Used to instruct someone) :-

• First Person, Singular - append "rel"
• Second Person, Singular - append "ren"
• Third Person, Singular - append "ret"

• Plural - append "em" to the version above

Examples

• Seakarel, Seakaren, Seakaret, Seakarelem, Seakarenem, Seakaretem
• Ilanarel, Ilanaren, Ilanaret, Ilanarelem, Ilanarenem, Ilanaretm

Submissive Conjugation (Used to request something of someone) :-

• First Person, Singular - append "zel"
• Second Person, Singular - append "zen"
• Third Person, Singular - append "zet"

• Plural - append "em" to the version above

Examples

• Seakazel, Seakazen, Seakazet, Seakazelem, Seakazenem, Seakazetem
• Ilanazel, Ilanazen, Ilanazet, Ilanazelem, Ilanazenem, Ilanazetem

Use of active and passive verbs

"I want you to walk to the shops" (avo velasol savo seaka av lo kialem)

In this sentence "want" is the active verb - the action of the object of the sentence, whereas "walk" is the passive verb - the action of the subject of the sentence.

In the case of General conjugations, the conjugation of the active and passive verbs does not matter, however for Command and Submissive conjugations, there is a difference. The active verb is the one that must be conjugated in the Command or Submissive form, and the passive verb is always conjugated in the General form.

• General Conjugation - "I want you to walk to the shops" (avo vela savo seaka av lo kialem) would be understood to mean that the emphasis would be on "walk" - that the person has agreed to go to the shops, but agrees to walk, rather than any other way.

• Command Conjugation - "I want you to walk to the shops" (avo velarel savo seaka av lo kialem) would be understood to mean that the emphasis would be on "want", implying there is no choice about it. The walk part, however, is in the general conjugation (the imperitive in this case), because it is not what is being commanded. It can, however, be emphasised.

• Alternative - "avo velasol savo seakaren av lo kialem" - this would mean that the person has to walk, and can not run, skip or hop. However this is only a more emphasised version of the General Conjunction.

• Submissive Conjugation - "I want you to walk to the shops" (avo velazel savo seaka av lo kialem) would be understood to mean that that the emphasis would be on "want", implying the speaker is requesting this of someone else, and the someone else can say no. Again, the walk part can be emphasised, even though it is in the imperitive form.

• Alternative - "avo velasol savo seakazen av lo kialem" - this would mean that while the person has agreed to go to the shops, the speaker would like them to walk, but it is up to the person being spoken to to chose.

These conjugations can be combined and varied - "avo velaren savo seakazen av lo kialem" would mean that the speaker is ordering the person to the shops, but would like the person to walk, however the person can chose how they go.

Generally almost everything is done in one form (general, command or submissive), and most of the time people use the general conjugation in day to day talk. The submissive form is generally only used when someone is making a plea for something, or a formal request for something, and the command form is mostly use by parents when telling their children what to do, and sometimes by The Queen in formal proclamations (though it is really used very rarely, as the tone it sets is not one most Queens like to put)

Lesson 2.1 - Tense and Potential Modifiers

The tense of the sentence indicates whether the events of the sentence will happen in the past, the present or the future. The potential of the sentence indicates whether it happened, it might happen or it will happen.

There are seven variations of tense and potential in Tulan - Future Definite, Future Possible, Present Indicative, Past Transative, Past Definitive, Past Negated and Past Potential. All of these can be modified by a clause to make them negative.

Definition

• Future Definintive - I will be going (used to indicate something you are about to do, or will do in the future)
• Future Possible - I might be going (used to indicate something you might do in the future)

• Present Indicative - I am going (used to indicate something you are doing. Also applies if you do not wish to modify the sentence by variation, but by words instead)

• Past Transative - I was going (used to indicate the motion of time in the past)
• Past Definitive - I went (used to indicate the order of events in a story)

• Past Negated - I would have been going (used to indicate something that would have happened. Even if it is in the future, it is always referred to as the past)
• Past Potential - I might have gone (used to indicate something that might have happened. Even if it is in the future, it is always referred to as the past)

All of the above variations can be made negative, to reverse their meaning. While this does lead to double negatives (to some degree), it is the best way to understand the language.

The variations are

• FD - ele
• FP - ela

• PI - (no modification. Any sentenced not modifed implies present indicative)

• PT - ale
• PD - ala

• PN - ile
• PP - ila

(note - emphasis occurs on the last latter of each triplet)

To make something the negative of itself, prefix any of the variants with "t". In the case of the Present Indicitive, prefix the verb with "ta" (this is because there is no general modifier for the PI variant)

Examples

(note - turning a verb in to it's noun form - the gerund - you can append the verb with "zal")

• "I walk to the shops". This sentence doesn't really have a variation - it is just a statement. As such is it voiced in the PI variant - avo seaka av lo kialem

• "I am walking to the shops" This sentence falls in the PI variant - avo seakazal av ko kialem

• "I will be walking to the shops" This sentence indicates a definite future action, and so falls in to the FD variant - avo ele seakazal av ko kialem

• "I might be walking to the shops" This sentence indicates a possible future action, and so falls in to the FP variant - avo ela seakazal av ko kialem

• "I was walking to the shops" This sentence indicates one of two things - either that it is the start of a sentence ("I was walking to the shops when...") or a reply to a question ("Where were you?" "I was walking to the shops"). Depending on which you want to convey, it is either Past Transative - avo ale seakazal av ko kialem - or Past Definitive - avo ala seakazal av ko kialem.

• "I wasn't walking to the shops" This sentence is the opposite of the above, but falls in to the same two variants - avo tale seakazal av ko kialem or avo tala seakazal av ko kialem.

• "I would not have walked to the shops" This sentence indicates that you did go to the shops, but you were not planning to, and as such falls in to the Past Negated variant, but has been negated (if that makes sense) - avo tile seakazal av ko kialem

• "I might not have walked to the shops" This sentence is the potential version of the previous one, leading to the Past Potential variant (negated) - avo tila seakazal av ko kialem

• "I am not walking to the shops" This sentence is the negated version of the second one - the Present Indicative, negated - avo ta seakazal av ko kialem

Lesson 3 - Nouns

Nouns are defined in their indefinite form (a house, a mouse, a moose and so forth), but are not automatically prefixed with the indefinite article.

Examples

• shop - kial
• book - sath
• queen - dilana (this is sometimes capitilzed when refering to one of the Elected Royal Rulers)

Plurals

Nouns are made plural by appending "em" to the word. If the word ends in a vowel, "-em" is appended, and it pronounced on it's own

Examples

• Shops - kialem
• Books - sathem
• queens - dilana-em

The definite and indefinite articles.

Both the indefinite and definite articles have two forms - formal and informal (see Personal Pronouns).

• Indefinite, Informal - cav (cax)
• Indefinite, Formal - tav (tax)

• Definite, Informal - cil (cix)
• Definite, Formal - til (tix)

The two forms (-v/-l and -x) are for use when the noun (or following word) starts with a v/l (depending on the indefinite for definite form) - to avoid words running in to each other, and to aid in pronounciation the last letter "v" is changed to an "x" when the noun starts with w or v, and the "l" is changed to an "x" when the noun starts with "l"

These are all made plural by appending "em" on the end - and the plurality (which is not the right word, but will do) of the article must match the plurality of the noun.

Examples

(using the verb "draka" meaning "to buy")

• "I buy a book" - avo draka cav sath
• "I bought some books" - avo ala draka cavem sathem

• "I am the queen" - avo elvasol cil dilana
• "I am The Queen" - avot elvasol til dilana (avot elvasol Til Dilana)

(The difference between the last two is that "til dilana" generally refers to the ruler of Pallatium, and "il dilana" generally refers to an average queen (such as the one from Snow White, or a chess piece))

Lesson 4 - Adverbs And Adjectives

Adverbs and Adjectives are treated in the same way, and act on nouns/verbs the same way.

Because Adverbs and Adjectives are treated in the same way, this guide will only deal with one and the rules apply to both.

Adjectives are declared in their "neutral" form - as just a word that applies to a noun (eg fast, slow, red, blue) and generally come after the word they are modifying. There are a few words that are an exception to this rule, and those are generally "formal words" - words that are used with the formal pronouns and articles.

• Adjectives/Adverbs
  • Fast - thavon, Slow - thathon, Small - tiav,
  • Tall - tiath, Red - sarl, Blue - pola,
  • Yellow - andise, Dark - mor

• Verbs/Nouns
  • Shop - kial,
  • Cart - ulan,
  • Queen - dilana,
  • Book - sath

Examples

• a fast cart - ax ulan thavon
• a tall queen - av dilana tiav
• the blue book - il sath pola
• The Dark Queen - Til Mor Dilana

Adjectives can be modified in to their various forms by prefixing various letters.

• More - ta,
• Most - tal

• Less - sa,
• Least - sal

Examples

• a faster cart - ax ulan ta-thavon
• a tallest queen - av dilana tal-tiav

• the less blue book - il sath sa-pola
• The Least Dark Queen - Til Sal-Mor Dilana

Lesson 5 - Cross Typed Words

Words that can be used in more than one context (nouns that can be used as verbs, adjectives that can be used as nouns, verbs that are used as nouns etc) take on the "properties" of the context they are being used in.

• Verbs/Nouns
  • shop - kial
  • like - qava

Examples

• I went to the shop - avo ala shiana av il kial
• I went to shop - avo ala shiana kial

• I like to shop - avo qava kial
• She is most like you - vavo elvasel tal-qava savo