Tydash-Verbals and Descriptives

If you're a native I-E speaker, you're used to a distinction between verbs, which indicate an action (generally), adverbs, which describe how (or when, or where, etc) an action is performed, and adjectives, which describe a state of being (again, so general as to be nearly useless). In Tydash, no such distinction exists. In addition, there is no verb meaning "to be."

Therefore, when translated literally many Tydash sentences sound rather odd to the English-trained ear: thinaferetve ve "He handsomes." More gramatically for English: "He is handsome."

For adjectives that are not dependant upon a copula, a very stripped-down form of the present-affix is used at the beginning of the word: romizat eneferet adan "The handsoming man is walking."

Verbs are conjugated using one of three sets of affixes. Any of the affixes can be either a suffix or a prefix; infixes are not allowed. In essence, the affixes are used to show the starting point of the action, relative to the position in time of the speaker. Perfective tenses indicate when the action will end, as well. Note that present actions are almost always indicated using a recent-past affix, while past actions generally use distant-past; using the present-affix usually indicates that the action is of extremely short duration: ceomizat lok, I have just started walking. There is no distinction of number or person in the conjugation, so a subject is always required.

  Dist.Past Recent Past Pres. Near Fut. Dist. Fut.
Indicativethi ni ceo ri ve
Passive thu nu cu ro ve
Reflexivethy ny ca ru vae

Indicative Examples:
mizat - (to) walk
romizat lod - I am walking
romizatve lod - I walk

Passive Examples:
tacta - (to) throw
thutacta hreþaek tok - The rock was being thrown by her.
thutactani hreþaek tok - The rock was thrown by her.

Reflexive Examples:
saellin - (to) love
rusaellin thek - They will be loving each other
rusaellinvæ thek - They will love each other

Subjunctive Examples:
shin - (to) bake
ceshin shik - You are beginning to bake
ceshince shik - You have just begun to bake

Conditionals and Negatives

A conditional phrase uses the subjunctive, but the rest of the sentence is indicative: nehl rysaellin hreshi lo, vesaellin hrelo shi - If you will love me, I will love you.

Negatives are constructed with tul, placed immediately after the verb: rusaellinvae tul thek - They will not love each other.

Modals

English contains a number of modal auxilliaries, like "can," "may," and "might," that are used in conjunction with a full verb: "I can walk." In Tydash, they are full verbs in their own right, usually conjugated with the otherwise rare present affix: ceorezul lok mizat . The word expressing the actual action performed is treated as a noun and declined in the inanimate.

rezun - to be able to (can)
ceorezun lok mizat - I can walk

solun - to be allowed to (may)
ceosolun lok mizat - I may walk

some word - to be obliged to (must)
some phrase - I must walk

demen - to like to, enjoy
codemen lok mizat - I like to walk

typan - to be supposed to (should)
ceotypan lok mizat - I should walk

jhithen - to want to
ceojhien lok mizat - I want to walk

Questions

All questions in Tydash depend upon two interrogative pronouns, naen and nem. Simple yes/no questions are formed by appending naen onto the end of the sentence: rusaellinae thek naen - Will they love each other?
Questions requiring more informational answers, sometimes called WH-questions, use nem, by replacing the noun which the questioner wishes to know about: nisaellin hreshik nem? - Who do you love?

Last modified 24 January 2000