Bodin Lesson #2: view article

Verbs and Tense
Bodin verbs do not change form - there is no conjugation to learn. They almost always end in a vowel, diphthong, or vowel + -r, and due to Bodin's VSO order are usually the first word in the sentence.

When a pronoun is the subject of a sentence, it is written joined to the verb:
clamar = to go, clamarmi = I go, clamarda = he/she/ey goes

Tense (and the subjunctive) is shown by adding a tense particle to the end of the sentence or clause:

Clamarmi moi khapshu.
go.1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I to home
I go home.

Clamarmi moi khapshu pukh.
go.1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I to home FTFuture tense (tense)
action occurring after the moment of speech
I willgo home.

Clamarmi moi khapshu bakh.
go.1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I to home PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech
I went home.

Clamarmi moi khapshu shukh.
go.1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I to home SBJVSubjunctive mood (mood)
desired or possible events
I would go home.

You can use "shukh" along with the other two to create subjunctive past and subjunctive future. The order they're in doesn't matter.

There's also tukh, the eternal tense particle, but this is archaic and falling out of use in favor of preceding the sentence with roi instead (more on this later).

There is no perfect/imperfect distinction in Bodin!

If you're speaking informally, or telling a story, you can leave out the tense particles entirely, as long as it's clear you're talking about the past (or future). It's perfectly OK and common to say something like "Tomorrow I go to the bank" or "Three years ago I fight a bear".

Adjectives and the Genitive
Adjectives in Bodin follow the noun, and (except for determiners) always end in -n. They also aren't supposed to have consonant clusters in the first syllable, although there are a lot of exceptions because I keep forgetting this rule.

Nouns and pronouns in the genitive case are considered a type of adjective - they also end in -n, have any beginning consonant cluster broken up by an -a-, and follow the noun they belong to.

khedshti ransun
dog dark_brown
the dark-brown dog

khedshti dacatin
dog person.GENGenitive (case)
possessive
the person's dog

khedshti ransun dacatin saloshin
dog dark_brown person.GENGenitive (case)
possessive blond
the blond person's dark-brown dog

khedshtidasun
dog.3APThird person animate plural (person)
them (animate).GENGenitive (case)
possessive
their dog

Family names are treated as adjectives describing the personal name, so they also follow the given name and end in -n, e.g. Scipix Sumarin.

Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases
Bodin prepositions are pretty standard, denoting position or direction in space or time. The one important thing to know is that any prepositional phrase has to end with the pp-closing particle ru. (It can be left off at the end of a sentence, though.)

An example in the wild from Translapril2019:

[P]apannordo [...]sha nambisu ru can dapre de dare sutrin.
die.2S [...] without problem.PL AF with foot.DU REL 3A.DU fast
[Y]ou die [...] without problems [end pp], with feet that are fast.

The ru makes it clear that both prepositional phrases apply separately to the subject of the sentence, "you".
Without the ru, this would be read as a single prepositional phrase, "without problems with feet that are fast" - that is, "with feet" would be modifying "problems". (Actually since the function of ru wasn't 100% clear in the gloss, that's how the next person in the chain read it, eventually leading to the final sentence having something about not having evil feet.)

Simple Sentences
Bodin sentences always use VSO (verb-subject-object) order:

Shichar norsh nano bakh.
eat girl bread PTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech
[A/the] girl ate [a/the] bread.

(Note that Bodin does not have articles.)

The exception is sentences that in English would have "to be" as the main verb. In Bodin, this verb does exist (sad, v. "to be") but it is almost always dropped, leading to an effective SO sentence order.

Roi mi dacat. Chitamin Kheirish.
INHInherent (mood)
inherent quality 1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I human | name.1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.GENGenitive (case)
possessive Kheirish
I [am] a human. My name [is] Kheirish.

Note roi at the beginning of the first sentence, glossed as INHInherent (mood)
inherent quality. This word is added to the beginning of a sentence, usually a to-be sentence, to indicate that the stated relation is inherent or permanent. See this article for more on using "roi".

Glossary / New Vocab

Verbs
clamar - go, travel
papannor - die (polite way of saying it, similar to "pass away" in English)
shichar - eat

Nouns
dacat - human, person
dapa - foot (irregular dual: dapre)
khapshu - home, residence
khedshti - dog
kheirish - ebony
nambi - problem
nano - bread, piece of bread
norsh - girl

Particles
bakh - past-tense particle
pukh - future-tense particle
shukh - subjunctive particle
ru - prepositional phrase closing particle
de - relative clause opening particle - more on this in the next lesson!

Prepositions
can - with (instrumental or comitative)
moi - to (a place or person)
sha - without

Adjectives
sutrin - fast, quick

Adjectives: Colours, Patterns, and Light (may need to highlight to read)
nucnin - pink, light red
sirpin - magenta, purple
rikhon - blue, cyan, green
sorrin - pale yellow, greenish yellow
pirshun - yellow, amber
saloshin - golden, (of person) golden-blond
carushin - coral-colored, pinkish yellow, pale orange
narshin - bright/dark orange, (of person) ginger
khurnin - crimson
tucan - reddish-brown, russet, cinnamon-colored
ransun - dark brown
sharnen - beige, sand-colored, tan
nircen - brownish-gray, warm gray
khecrin - matte black
rishkhen - shiny black, silver-black, smoky black
labrin - silvery, (of person) gray-haired
candin - blue-gray, slate; word used for blue eyes
balabin - pale gray, ashy, (of person) pallid, pale, (archaic) albino
bacrin - white
bitnashin - mottled, brindled, streaked
mornan - ringed, striped
dirnun - (colour)-tinted, (of a person) salt-and-pepper haired, (of a liquid) clouded, opaque
carin - clear, transparent
sacadun - same-colored (as something else), matching in color
mancun - dark, dim
cuimancun - somewhat dim, twilit
limun - bright
pixun - sparkling, twinkling, shining ✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article

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