Lamallu Grammar
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This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 21 Jun 2020, 03:30.
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2. Giving Directions
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6. Lamallu Grammar
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This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
Lamallu is a language spoken by angels. They share a lore background with Abrahamic religions, but this interpretation of them is not fully religion-based. These angels live in a parallel plane to Earth that they call Īlímel, a compound word meaning "holy ground", which we translate as Heaven. It is a massive network of floating, mountainous islands connected by bridges. On these islands the angels build their cities. This other plane functions as both their home and a direct connection to their creator, Shílemékh, a word which means Grandfather but we translate as God. It is a pantheistic entity, best likened to the Force rather than a personified being. The angels are, in this metaphor, the Jedi. Their population is much smaller than the human one, and they do not exist in infinite ranks. Most cities are fairly small, tight-knit communities, constrained by the size of the islands, and do not get much larger than 5-10,000 angels per city.Lamallu is an empathetic language, in practice relying on a near hivemind of telepathy between angels as they project emotion to one another through their voices. The language uses a complex system of musical chords to indicate emotion and changes in emotion, a concept which is further fleshed out in these articles. The basic emotions conveyed by each musical note are as follows:
A: contentment, faith; loss, sadness
B: compassion, love; unease, fear
C: neutrality, peacefulness; unclear, warning
D: happiness, joy; expectation, confusion
E: neutrality, order; focus, trust/certainty
F: curiosity, suspicion; anger, chaos
G: hope, uncertainty; disgust, horror
Currently there isn't really a way to romanize this level of pronunciation, other than making a parenthetical note after a word to emphasize when a particular chord has been used.
Nouns in Lamallu are grouped into three conceptual classes, each with two conceptual sub-classes, based on the perceived association of the word and then its ending. Words fit into the conceptual categories of solar, lunar, or neuter based on angelic concepts of morality, physical attributes, or other cultural values. They are then organized into the sub-classes of tangible or abstract.
| Ending | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| Solar Tangible | -l/r | lāmāl [lA˚amal] ; "angel" |
| Solar Abstract | -a | khá [k͡xF˚a] ; "art" |
| Lunar Tangible | -m/n | nēfalám [nA˜efalA˔am] ; "demon" |
| Lunar Abstract | -khu | shīlkhu [ʂC˜ɪlk͡xu] ; "darkness" |
| Neuter Tangible | -sh/kh | thūsh [θC˔uʂ] ; "bed" |
| Neuter Abstract | -u/e/i | thāmi [θC˚amɪ] ; "name" |
Nouns decline into a total of 9 cases: 5 grammatical cases, and 4 emotional cases. The latter are used in combination with one of the grammatical cases, as they do not affect the declined ending of the word. All nouns tend to decline based on the same pattern, with some variation depending on class ending.
Grammatical Cases:
| AGNAgentive (case) active or volitional case. | PTNPatientive (case) passive or nonvolitional case. | DATDative (case) indirect object; recipient, beneficiary, location. | GENGenitive (case) possessive. | INSTRInstrumental (case) 'with' 'using'. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | |||||
| Plural |
Emotional Cases:
| AMARAmarative (case) expressing affection. | Changes the first available vowel from the end to a high-pitch B major chord. |
|---|---|
| MIRSMiristive (case) expressing enmity. | Changes the first available vowel from the end to a high-pitch G diminished chord. |
| BENBenefactive (case) recipient of benefit. | Prefix ge- before consonant or eg- before vowel. |
| MALMalefactive (case) recipient of bad intent. | Prefix ha- before consonant or ah- before vowel. |
Angels have no concept of gender. Many take a human form, but this does not necessarily mean that they will take a gendered pronoun, nor one that matches their appearance by human standards. Lamallu has a standard set of basic pronouns to convey point of view. Beyond that, they have a large variety of pronoun epithets, often a title or noun transformed into a pronoun. Lamallu has four pronoun perspectives: first, second, third, and fifth. The good news about pronoun declension is that they share declensions with noun classes.
| 1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I | khā [k͡xE˚a] ; "I" | Follows solar abstract declension. |
|---|---|---|
| 2Second person (person) addressee (you) | thē [θE˚e] ; "you" | Follows neuter abstract declension. |
| 3Third person (person) neither speaker nor addressee | īrr [E˚ɪr] ; "they" | Follows solar tangible declension. |
| 5Fifth person (person) indefinite or generic; one, "they" say that | vē [fE˚e] ; "one" | Follows neuter abstract declension. |
Pronoun epithets are a way of differentiating between people, like a sort of nickname. They are generally taken from nouns, or are a unique title in their own right. The difference between an epithet and the noun it comes from is that the epithet will always be that particular angel's pronoun when differentiating from the basic pronouns; this means that the epithet can be adjusted to conjugate or decline to the different pronoun perspectives, whereas the noun version will always conjugate in third person.
The pronoun chīrr [t͡ʃE˔ɪr] is an epithet meaning "they who takes care of others". It is derived from the noun chūre [t͡ʃE˔uɾə], meaning "caretaker". An angel who uses this as their pronoun would, when discussing themselves in first person, give the pronoun a first person ending, changing it to chīrra, where it would carry the meaning "I, the caretaker". The word would change to chīrre in second or fifth person.
Lamallu adjectives are agglutinative. They agree with the noun in both case and number, but their endings are suffixed after a glottal stop. Adjectives have one of three possible endings, -j, -ch, or -lu. They can occur either before or after the noun, although it is more traditional to use noun-first order when multiple adjectives are used, and to place the conjunction er between the last two adjectives in a list.
| AGNAgentive (case) active or volitional case. | PTNPatientive (case) passive or nonvolitional case. | DATDative (case) indirect object; recipient, beneficiary, location. | GENGenitive (case) possessive. | INSTRInstrumental (case) 'with' 'using'. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | |||||
| Plural |
Ex. mījech shōmim
/mɪjet͡ʃ ʂo̞mɪm/
"small mountain"
Ex. amījól ēluch er shēlēch
/amɪjo̞l elut͡ʃ eɾ ʂelət͡ʃ/
"old, dead tree" lit. tree, old and dead
Comparative
Adjectives use BENBenefactive (case)
recipient of benefit. and MALMalefactive (case)
recipient of bad intent. to express comparison. Benefactive here has the same meaning as "more" and malefactive has the same meaning as "less".
Ex. Khā lōd gegēj'a th thē.
/k͡xa lo̞t̠ k̠ek̠əjʔa θ θə/
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case. be-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.BELVBelieved (mood/evid)
speaker believes it true. good.BENBenefactive (case)
recipient of benefit.PTNPatientive (case)
passive or nonvolitional case. than 2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).PTNPatientive (case)
passive or nonvolitional case.
"I am better than you."
In a comparative where the adjective translates as "best" or "worst", a high pitch B major or G diminished chord, respectively, appears on the benefactive or malefactive prefix.
Lamallu verbs conjugate based on truth. Five evidentiality moods reflect an angel's inability to speak something that is untrue to their mind: ASSAssumptive (mood/evid)
assumed truth. , EVIEvidentiality (mood)
categorises information source/certainty. , BELVBelieved (mood/evid)
speaker believes it true. , VERVeridical (mood)
truthful, certain. , and OPNOpiniative (mood/evidential)
expresses speaker's opinion. Evidentiality is further explained in this article.
Tense is expressed through auxiliary particles that precede the verb. The present tense has no auxiliary. Position of an action in time can be expressed generally as past or future, or more specifically as being in the near/distant past or future. Additionally, the habitual aspect and obligatory mood are expressed using auxiliaries.
| Aux | |
|---|---|
| PSTPast (tense) action occurred before moment of speech. | mī |
| FUTFuture (tense) action occurring after the moment of speech. | rī |
| PDISDistant past (tense) events which occurred a long time ago. | tā |
| PNEANear past (tense) past events that occurred recently. | pēs |
| FDISDistant future (tense) something that will happen far into the future. | kā |
| FNEANear future (tense) something that will happen in not much time. | shē |
| HABHabitual (aspect) done often or out of habit. | hūn |
| OBLGObligatory mood (mood) must ; not imperative. | vūl |
Ex. Īrr shē ōprésapash mā tīlatāā.
/ɪr ʂə ɔpɾesapaʂ ma tɪlataa/
3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case. FNEANear future (tense)
something that will happen in not much time-see-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.VERVeridical (mood)
truthful, certain. DEFDefinite
"the". city.PTNPatientive (case)
passive or nonvolitional case.
"They will soon see the city."
Negation is also done by auxiliary, prefixing the negative affix he- to the front of the verb.
Expressing ability to do an action (equivalent to English "can") is done by auxiliary, prefixing the affix ju- to the front of the verb. This will come after any negative affix.
Progressive is done by reversing word order from SVO to OVS.
Passive voice is done through a construction using the 5th person. More on that in this article.
Imperative
Lamallu takes three forms of imperative.
ADMAdmonitive (mood)
warning.: -án/ánur, én/énur (Cˆ )
IMPImperative (mood)
command.: -ái/áiur, -éj/éjur (E˔)
OPNOpiniative (mood/evidential)
expresses speaker's opinion.: -ás/ásur, -és/ésur (G˚ )
Interrogative
To ask a yes or no question, the speaker makes a statement in OPNOpiniative (mood/evidential)
expresses speaker's opinion. , and the answer either repeats it or negates it to confirm or deny.
Ex. Thē ūlifun īja?
/θə ulɪfun ɪja/
2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case. want-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you).OPNOpiniative (mood/evidential)
expresses speaker's opinion. water.PTNPatientive (case)
passive or nonvolitional case.
Khā he-ūlifash.
/k͡xa heʔulɪfaʂ/
1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case. NEGNegative (polarity)
not-want-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current.1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.VERVeridical (mood)
truthful, certain.
"Do you want water?"
"I do not want."
Conditional
When making a conditional statement, a combination of VERVeridical (mood)
truthful, certain. and EVIEvidentiality (mood)
categorises information source/certainty. is used. Because the dependent clause expresses a hypothetical fact, this is considered evidence for the consequent. The hypothetical consequent is also considered to exist in a distant time, and what English translates as "would" is expressed using PDISDistant past (tense)
events which occurred a long time ago. or FDISDistant future (tense)
something that will happen far into the future. .
Ex. Li mī khūmtash mā īlkhi, khā tā he-lētseses jūktse īj misāā.
/lɪ mɪ k͡xumtaʂ ma ɪlk͡xɪ | k͡xa ta helət͡sesəs jukt͡sə ɪj mɪsaa/
if PSTPast (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech-know-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.VERVeridical (mood)
truthful, certain. , 1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case. PDISDistant past (tense)
events which occurred a long time ago-NEGNegative (polarity)
not-tell-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I.EVIEvidentiality (mood)
categorises information source/certainty. buy 3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.DATDative (case)
indirect object; recipient, beneficiary, location. grain.PTNPatientive (case)
passive or nonvolitional case.
"If I knew the cost, I would not have told them to buy grain."
Lamallu is strongly head-initial, with SVO word order.
Ex. Mā gamīl mī khēmtapsh mā amjāā.
/ma k̠amɪl mɪ k͡xemtapʂ ma amjaa/
DEFDefinite
"the". human.AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case. PSTPast (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech-eat-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.VERVeridical (mood)
truthful, certain. DEFDefinite
"the". fruit.PTNPatientive (case)
passive or nonvolitional case.
"The human ate the fruit."
A reversed word order to OVS indicates the progressive.
Ex. Mā amjāā mī khēmtapsh mā gamīl.
/ma amjaa mɪ k͡xemtapʂ ma k̠amɪl/
DEFDefinite
"the". fruit.PTNPatientive (case)
passive or nonvolitional case. PSTPast (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech-eat-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee.VERVeridical (mood)
truthful, certain. DEFDefinite
"the". human.AGNAgentive (case)
active or volitional case.
"The human was eating the fruit."
Some noun classes make it difficult to tell when word order has been reversed, because their patientive form is the same as their agentive form. In these situations, an angel may emphasize which end of the sentence contains the subject by quite literally telling you to focus - Ílshái! ✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article
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