Key building stones of Ælis morphology

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ælis is an oligoanalytic language.

The oligo- part of this word means that the language is built with a minimal amount of basic speech concepts called 'root words'. Whereas regular languages have up to hundreds of thousands of words, Ælis only has a few hundred. The speech particles can be combined in order to form more complex words.

The analytic part of the word means that the language has no bound morphemes. A bound morpheme, for example, is the letter '-s' in the English word 'houses', where it indicates a plural. But the letter S is not an independent word in English, nor does it have the meaning of 'plural' wherever it appears. The fact that Ælis has no bound morphemes means that each morpheme always has the same meaning.

Some root words in the Ælis thesaurus are straightfoward stand-alone lexemes, meaning that they have a meaning like a word you can find in a dictionary. Examples include mA {ma} (man, male), tW {tæ} (color), or bI {bi} (funny, humor). But there are other root words that have a somewhat grammatical component to them as well. Learning what they are and how they work will be fundamental to understanding the how the morphology works.

In part 1 of this page, we will have a look at these special building blocks. In part 2, we'll go into detail about different ways to combine root words in order to form complex clusters.

PART 1: SPECIAL BUILDING BLOCKS

Number concepts

Along with the 21 common letters of the alphabet, Ælis uses a set of ten additional symbols called number concepts, from now on referred to as "Lisqa". Lisqa are proper root words which all have a numeric value:

	Low range						High range
Symbol	0	1	2	3	4		5	6	7	8	9
[IPA] {Rom.}	[a] {a}	[aɛ̯] {æ}	[ɛ] {e}	[i] {i}	[ɒ] {o}		[u̯a] {u̯a}	[u̯aɛ̯] {u̯æ}	[u̯ɛ] {u̯e}	[u̯i] {u̯i}	[u̯ɒ] {u̯o}
Num.Val.	0	1	2	3	4		0	1	2	3	4

Lisqa are a noteworthy aspect of the languages' morphology, mainly because the underlying idea doesn't share any common ground with concepts found in the English grammar (or probably most human languages' grammar, for that matter). A first important remark is that these number concepts are not the same as cardinal numbers. Instead, they are present in words where the corresponding numeric value is somehow conceptually present. The most illustrative lisqa example can be found in the very name of the language: 1lIS {ælis} consists of 1 {æ} (1) and lIS {lis} (concept, idea), the concept of one meaning as much as 'peace' or 'harmony', or of course 'unity'.

Counting

0-9

Ælis does not have individual words for numbers, nor has it any separate symbols for ciphers. But as you might have guessed, the number concepts are used to express numbers: all numbers end with the fixed root word qA [qa], which can mean 'number', 'amount', 'countable' or 'unit'; with number concepts preceding it.
The first five numbers use the lisqa of the low range:

Ælis	0qA	1qA	2qA	3qA	4qA
[IPA] {Rom.}	[aka] {aqa}	[aɛ̯ka] {æqa}	[ɛka] {eqa}	[ika] {iqa}	[ɒka] {oqa}
Number	0	1	2	3	4

The numbers from 5 to 9 use the high range lisqa. Try to see it similarly to the fact we have two hands with 5 fingers each.

Ælis	5qA	6qA	7qA	8qA	9qA
[IPA] {Rom.}	[u̯aka] {u̯aqa}	[u̯aɛ̯ka] {u̯æqa}	[u̯ɛka] {u̯eqa}	[u̯ika] {u̯iqa}	[u̯ɒka] {u̯oqa}
Number	5	6	7	8	9

10+: Simple numbers

For all positive numbers 10 and up, in the simple system, multiple number concepts are combined as if they were digits. E.g.:

10qA	11qA	12qA	20qA	30qA	100qA	347qA
{æ'aqa}	{æ'æqa}	{æ'eqa}	{e'aqa}	{i'aqa}	{æ'a'aqa}	{i'o'u̯eqa}
10	11	12	20	30	100	347

this is a margin section.

10+: Complex numbers

In the complex system, repitions of the same number may be joined in with a multiplication-like system, comparable to English: 007 (zero-zero-seven) ⇔ 007 (double-o-seven). In Ælis, this is achieved by enclosing the amount of times that the following digit has to be repeated in the letter {d}, primary case to open, secondary case to close: 007 007qA {a'a'u̯eqa} ⇔ 007 d2D07qA {deda'u̯eqa} (two times zero, then seven).

The complex system becomes increasingly interesting for high numbers that contain identical adjacent digits. Compare:

Number	Simple	Complex
22 twenty-two	22qA {e'eqa} two-two-number	d2D2qA {dedeqa} two times two-number
400 four hundred	400qA {o'a'aqa} four-zero-zero-number	4d2D0qA {odedaqa} four, then two times zero-number
466 four hundred and sixty six	466qA {o'u̯æ'u̯æqa} four-six-six-number	4d2D6qA {odedu̯æqa} four, then two times six-number
8,000 eight thousand	8000qA {u̯i'a'a'aqa} eight-zero-zero-zero-number	8d3D0qA {u̯ididaqa} eight, then three times zero-number
1,000,000 one million	1000000qA {æ'a'a'a'a'a'aqa} one-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-number	1d6D0qA {ædu̯ædaqa} one, then six times zero-number
1,000,000,000 one billion	1000000000qA {æ'a'a'a'a'a'a'a'a'aqa} one-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-number	1d9D0qA {ædu̯odaqa} one, then nine times zero-number
1,111,000,000 one billion one hundred and eleven million	1111000000qA {æ'æ'æ'æ'æ'a'a'a'a'a'aqa} one-one-one-one-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-number	d4D1d6D0qA {dodædu̯ædaqa} four times one, then six times zero-number

Personal pronouns

The number concepts also play a role in the construction of personal pronouns. If you look at them as the 'first/second/third person', the idea becomes more tangible. Personal pronouns exist in five grammatical persons, and three genders. The genders male, female and undefined are purely semantical, so they don't govern the declension of nouns or the like. Note that the category of undefined pronouns is not the same as a neuter grammatical gender. In Ælis, the undefined pronouns are used only if a speaker:

1. is unaware of the gender;
2. doesn't wish to specify a gender;
3. refers to a group where both sexes are present.

Furthermore, the personal pronouns are only used for arguments that can be interpreted as having a character: people, or sometimes animals, anthropomorphized objects (in literature), ect. They are never used for referring to objects (as opposed to the English use of it).

Singular

The singular pronouns are formed as follows:

	masculine	feminine	undefined
1st p I, me	1mA  {æma}	1nI  {æni}	1tE {æte}
2nd p you	2mA {ema}	2nI {eni}	2tE {ete}
3rd p he, him / she, her	3mA {ima}	3nI {ini}	3tE {ite}

Ælis' "4^th person" refers to someone other than me, you, or him/her. It may refer to either someone beyond eyesight, or to someone unknown: me, you, him/her, and 'the other':

	masculine	feminine	undefined
4th p someone else	4mA  {oma}	4nI  {oni}	4tE {ote}

The "0^th person" refers to the generalizing 'one', as in 'one does not simply...'. The person that French refers to as on, in German man, etc.:

	masculine	feminine	undefined
0th p in general	0mA  {ama}	0nI  {ani}	0tE {ate}

Plural: simple

There are two methods to form plural personal pronouns in Ælis: the simple and complex pronouns. The latter are more natural to Ælis itself, but the former may be more intuitive to speakers from other languages. The simple plural pronouns take the same approach as the singular ones, only do they employ the first three lisqa of the high range rather than the low range.

	masculine	feminine	undefined
1st p we, us	6mA  {u̯æma}	6nI  {u̯æni}	6tE {u̯æte}
2nd p you	7mA {u̯ema}	7nI {u̯eni}	7tE {u̯ete}
3rd p they, them	8mA {u̯ima}	8nI {u̯ini}	8tE {u̯ite}
4th p 'the others'	9mA {u̯oma}	9nI {u̯oni}	9tE {u̯ote}
0th p 'people in general'	5mA {u̯ama}	5nI {u̯ani}	5tE {u̯ate}

Plural: complex

In the complex approach, the idea is not to use the high range lisqa instead of the low range ones, but instead, to use more than one lisqa. In essence, this is a way to compress two simple, singular pronouns into one. For example:

Inclusive 'we':
1mA {æma}	+	2mA {ema}	⇒	12mA {æ'ema}
me(male)		you(male)		you and me(both male)

Exclusive 'we':
1nI {æni}	+	3nI {ini}	⇒	13nI {æ'ini}
me(female)		her		me and her(both female)

If two or more people are not all the same gender, the undefined pronoun must be used:

1nI {æni}	+	3mA {ima}	⇒	13tE {æ'ite}
me(female)		him		me and him(mixed)

The complex system allows creative blends:

0nI {ani}	+	2nI {eni}	⇒	02nI {a'eni}
women in general		you(female)		you, just like all other women

Note that the lisqa ought to be placed strictly in ascending order:

21tE {e'æte}

⇒

12tE {æ'ete}

Use

Because Ælis attaches great value to the correct use of genders in personal pronouns, addressing someone face to face with 2tE {ete} (you, undefined) could be taken as an offense.

Addressing someone is often also done by merging a personal pronoun with a noun. Compare:

nIuE3rA	{ni'ue'ira}	=	"mother" (when speaking about someone's mother);
2nIuE3rA	{eni'ue'ira}	=	"(you,) mother" (when addressing your own mother).

It is even common and polite to prefix a personal pronoun (with the correct gender) to a given name:

kqEVINK	{qevin}	=	"Kevin";
2mAkqEVINK	{ema('re)'qevin}	=	"(youmale ) Kevin".

ksARAK	{sara}	=	"Sarah";
2nIksARAK	{eni('re)'sara}	=	"(youfemale ) Sarah".

ksANDERSK	{sanders}	=	"Sanders";
2mAksANDERS	{ema('re)'sanders}	=	"Mr. Sanders".

keNDZZUZK	{endzzuz}	=	"Andrews";
2nIkeNDZZUZK	{eni('re)'endzzuz}	=	"Ms. Andrews".

Qualifiers

Qualifiers are a set of five words that can be attached to other words, which will then express a certain amount, degree, extent or quality of of that word. The qualifiers are formed by prefixing Lisqa from 0 to 4 to the fixed root word {-ra}. Therefore, there are five qualifiers 'levels':

0rA
{ara}
(nothing)

1rA
{æra}
(little)

2rA
{era}
(moderate/middle/half)

3rA
{ira}
(much)

4rA
{ora}
(all/total)

Let's have a look at a few examples. Pay attention to which effect the qualifiers have to the base word:

nA {na} – "quality"
nA0rA	{na'ara}	terrible
nA1rA	{na'æra}	bad
nA2rA	{na'era}	mediocre
nA3rA	{na'ira}	good
nA4rA	{na'ora}	perfect

uB {ub} – "power"
uB0rA	{ub'ara}	powerless
uB1rA	{ub'æra}	weak
uB2rA	{ub'era}	moderately strong
uB3rA	{ub'ira}	strong
uB4rA	{ub'ora}	almighty

zU {zu} – "temperature"
zU0rA	{zu'ara}	freezing
zU1rA	{zu'æra}	cold
zU2rA	{zu'era}	lukewarm
zU3rA	{zu'ira}	warm, hot
zU4rA	{zu'ora}	hot, blistering heat

dI {di} – "volition"
dI0rA	{di'ara}	prohibition
dI1rA	{di'æra}	disadvice
dI2rA	{di'era}	allowance
dI3rA	{di'ira}	preference
dI4rA	{di'ora}	obligation, demand

vE {ve} – "value"
vE0rA	{ve'ara}	worthless
vE1rA	{ve'æra}	cheap
vE2rA	{ve'era}	priceworthy
vE3rA	{ve'ira}	valuable, expensive
vE4rA	{ve'ora}	priceless

dW {dæ} – "brightness"
dW0rA	{dæ'ara}	pitch black
dW1rA	{dæ'æra}	dark
dW2rA	{dæ'era}	dim
dW3rA	{dæ'ira}	bright
dW4rA	{dæ'ora}	blinding

These examples only show few of numerous possibilities; the qualifiers can attach to many root words, by which a fivefold of words is created. Getting a grasp on the qualifiers means getting a grip on what the Ælis language is all about.

 

Axes of time and space

Ælis' axes of time and space lay out the fundaments of what will later be the equivalent of many prepositions and also time tenses. The system exploits the mechanics of both the lisqa and the qualifiers, so that the entire system can be built around one root word. This is the root word dA {da}, which means 'axis', also 'axle' or '(straight) line'.

Let's start with space first. The Ælis paradigm can be compared to an X-Y-Z graph that you may remember from math class: each of the axes of Ælis corresponds to one of the dimensions in such a graph.

The axes of space use the root word aN {an} (space, place, location) in combination with the root word dA {da}, and lisqa added before the latter of these, to indicate which spatial axis is referred to.

As such, the axes of space are:

1)	aN1dA	{an'æda}	the horizontal axis,	which ranges from left to right;
2)	aN2dA	{an'eda}	the vertical axis,	which ranges from bottom to top;
3)	aN3dA	{an'ida}	the depth axis,	which ranges from back to front.
Though the space we live in is threedimensional, Ælis has two more axes in its system:
4)	aN4dA	{an'oda}	the in-out axis,	which ranges from inside to outside;
5)	aN0dA	{an'ada}	the absolute axis,	which describes the cardinal points.

Then, an additional qualifier is added to indicate one of five points on the axis.

aN1dA {an'æda} – "horizontal"
aN1dA0rA	{an'æda'ara}	leftmost
aN1dA1rA	{an'æda'æra}	left
aN1dA2rA	{an'æda'era}	middle
aN1dA3rA	{an'æda'ira}	right
aN1dA4rA	{an'æda'ora}	rightmost

aN2dA {an'eda} – "vertical"
aN2dA0rA	{an'eda'ara}	bottom
aN2dA1rA	{an'eda'æra}	down/below
aN2dA2rA	{an'eda'era}	middle
aN2dA3rA	{an'eda'ira}	up/above
aN2dA4rA	{an'eda'ora}	top

aN3dA {an'ida} – "depth"
aN3dA0rA	{an'ida'ara}	far back
aN3dA1rA	{an'ida'æra}	back
aN3dA2rA	{an'ida'era}	middle
aN3dA3rA	{an'ida'ira}	front
aN3dA4rA	{an'ida'ora}	far front

aN4dA {an'oda} – "in-out"
aN4dA0rA	{an'oda'ara}	deep inside
aN4dA1rA	{an'oda'æra}	inside1
aN4dA2rA	{an'oda'era}	middle2
aN4dA3rA	{an'oda'ira}	outside3
aN4dA4rA	{an'oda'ora}	far outside
used to describe, for example, something against a wall on the inside of a house. used to describe, for example, something on a doorstep, an open window, ... used to describe, for example, something against a wall on the outside of a house.

aN0dA {an'ada} – "cardinal"
aN0dA0rA	{an'ada'ara}	North
aN0dA1rA	{an'ada'æra}	East
aN0dA2rA	{an'ada'era}	center°
aN0dA3rA	{an'ada'ira}	South
aN0dA4rA	{an'ada'ora}	West
° used to describe the absolute geographical middle.

With the axes of space covered, we can now speak about time. This axis is slightly easier, because there is only one axis. Therefore, the first lisqa is dropped, as there is no need to determine a dimension. The temporal axis uses the root word for 'time' instead of the one for 'space': aSdA {asda}, which ranges from past to future:

aSdA0rA
{asda'ara}
far past
history

aSdA1rA
{asda'æra}
(recent) past

aSdA2rA
{asda'era}
present

aSdA3rA
{asda'ira}
(near) future

aSdA4rA
{asda'ora}
far future
eternity

Singular vs. Plural

In its core, Ælis does not have a notion of 'singular' vs. 'plural': all lexical root words of Ælis are seen as mass nouns. English examples of mass nouns, also called non-count nouns, include 'water', 'sand' or 'furniture'. This means that if you see any (root) word X, you ought to interpret it as "a(n unspecified amount of) X". This makes transcription to English a bit tricky sometimes, as, for example, tE {te} can mean both 'person' and 'people', qOrEmI {qoremi} can mean both 'cat' and 'cats', aN {an} can mean both 'place' and 'places', etc.

In practice, however, the amount implied can often be derived from context. If not, Ælis has two ways to specify the amount of a noun.

Method number one exists of none simpler than simply adding a cardinal number before the other word.

0qAtE
{aqa'te}
zero people

1qAtE
{æqa'te}
one person

2qAtE
{eqa'te}
two people

3qAtE
{iqa'te}
three people

4qAtE
{oqa'te}
four people

0qAqOrEmI
{aqa'qoremi}
zero cats

1qAqOrEmI
{æqa'qoremi}
one cat

2qAqOrEmI
{eqa'qoremi}
two cats

3qAqOrEmI
{iqa'qoremi}
three cats

4qAqOrEmI
{oqa'qoremi}
four cats

If it proves undesirable or even impossible to use this method (e.g.: with uncountables), method two consists of adding a qualifier to the root word qA {qa}, and prefix that to another word:

qA0rAtE
{qa'ara'te}
no people
no one

qA1rAtE
{qa'æra'te}
some people

qA2rAtE
{qa'era'te}
several people

qA3rAtE
{qa'ira'te}
many people

qA4rAtE
{qa'ora'te}
all people
everyone

qA0rAqOrEmI
{qa'ara'qoremi}
no cats

qA1rAqOrEmI
{qa'æra'qoremi}
some cats

qA2rAqOrEmI
{qa'era'qoremi}
several cats

qA3rAqOrEmI
{qa'ira'qoremi}
many cats

qA4rAqOrEmI
{qa'ora'qoremi}
all cats
every cat

 

PART 2: CHAINING

Basic word structure

The whole idea of the Ælis morphology is that the actual root words convey very basic concepts. But several root words can be combined to create derived, slightly more complex ideas:

Ælis	Transcribed	Roots	Meaning
aQ	{aq}	length	length
aQaN	{aqan}	length + place	→ distance
aQaS	{aqas}	length + time	→ duration

Ælis	Transcribed	Roots	Meaning
uB	{ub}	force, effort	force, effort
uBuM	{ubum}	force + body	→ physical force
uBeI	{ubei}	force + mind	→ thinking effort

 

When two root words are combined, then a hierarchy will grow between them automatically. The first root will have a nominal value, meaning that it can be compared to a noun. The second root will then be a descriptor of that noun, similar to an adjective or adverb. For example: the root word tE {te} can mean both "person" (noun), or "human" (noun/adj.). The word uB3rA {ub'ira} can mean both "strength" (noun) and "strong" (adjective).

If we combine them in this order, then tE {te} will be the noun 'person', and uB3rA {ub'ira} will be the adjective 'strong':

tEuB3rA {te>ubira} → strong person

If we flip the word order, we'll also turn the noun into an adjective and vice-versa:

uB3rAtE {ubira>te} → human strength

Another example.

eG1lIS {eg>ælis} → language>harmony → harmonious language

1lISeG {ælis>eg} → harmony>language → linguistic harmony ⇒ poetry

So, creating words in Ælis does not solely depend on which root words you pick, it is also important how you combine them.

Node particles

There are six root words that can be used to link two (root) words in special ways. Infixing such a node particle between one (root) word and the next will add an additional relationship between the two.

The characteristic particle

X eM Y
X adj. Y
X which is Y
X with characteristic Y

The characteristic particle, eM {em}, is a particle that can be used to create adjectives. Even though the relationship of noun-adjective is already present in two randomly joined root words, the characteristic particle allows one group of root words (i.e.: a word) to become an adjective of another group of root words. Again, the word order is relevant for the way in which the roles of noun and adjective are assigned:

nIaQ1rAaS {ni'aq'æra'as} girl	⇒	nIaQ1rAaSeMeLeAnA3rAeN {ni'aq'æra'asemeleana'ira'en} beautiful girl	🔁	eLeAnA3rAeNeMnIaQ1rAaS {eleana'ira'enemni'aq'æra'as} a girl's beauty
+
eLeAnA3rAeN {eleana'ira'en} beauty

Another example:

aSdA0rA {asda'ara} history	⇒	aSdA0rAeMnWoW4rA {asda'ara'emnæ'oæ'ora} turbulent history	🔁	nWoW4rAeMaSdA0rA {næ'oæ'ora'emasda'ara} historical revolution
+
nWoW4rA {næ'oæ'ora} unease, turmoil

The referent particle

X vW Y
X with regard to Y
X is compared to Y
applies to X more than Y

The referent particle, vW {væ}, is a particle that can be used to create a framework. This framework is limiting in nature, meaning that the rest of the utterance is only valid with regard to the referent, not to anything else. The referent particle {væ} could therefore be understood as meaning "when compared to". The particle can make itself useful in various ways.

Prepositions of time and place

The referent can connect to words that express a location or a point in time (cf. Axes of time and space) in order to make them relative. This way, they turn into prepositions:

aN1dA3rA {an'æda'ira} right-hand side	⇒	aN1dA3rAvW3nI {an'æda'ira'væ'ini} to her right, right of her
+
3nI {ini} she, her

Another example:

aN2dA3rA {an'eda'ira} up, above	⇒	aN2dA3rAvWknUiOOUQK {an'eda'ira'væ(re)nu ioouq} over New York, above New York
+
knUiOOUQK {(re)nu ioouq} New York

Or:

aSdA1rA {asda'æra} the past	⇒	aSdA1rAvWlI1mAiI2mA {asda'æra'væli'æma'ii'ema} before I give (it) to you
+
lI1mAiI2mA li'æma'ii'ema} I give to you

Fractions

The referent particle can also be used to express fractions. Its meaning then becomes "X out of Y":

1qAvW2qA {æqa'væ'eqa} 1 out of 2 1/2

3qAvW4qA {iqa'væ'oqa} 3 out of 4 3/4

65qAvW100qA {u̯æ'u̯aqa'væ'æ'a'aqa} 65 out of 100 65%

By extension, the particle can also be used to highlight parts of a group in general:

4qAvW10qAmA {oqa'væ'æ'aqa'ma} 4 out of 10 men, four in ten men

3qAvWqOrEmI {iqa'væqoremi} 3 of the cats

qA3rAvWgOE {qa'ira'vægoe} most of the water

Comparative and superlative

The referent harbours the key to creating comparative, and by extension, superlative structures. The mechanism for comparative structures works a bit differently from English, where we create our comparative structure with either a predicative or adverbial phrase.

Predicative:

I am taller than you.

Adverbial:

I run faster than you.

The syntactical structure of Ælis is different. Two arguments are compared directly to one another in an otherwise regular, positive statement:

iA1tEvW2tEhAaQ3rAaN2dA
{ia'æte'væ'ete ha'aq'ira'an'eda}

I compared to you am tall.

lA1tEvW2tEhAaNiIvWaQ1rAaS
{la'æte'væ'ete ha'aniivæ'aq'æra'as}

I compared to you run quickly.

Ælis has no distinct superlative. Instead, the comparison is made to something much bigger. For example:

iA1tEvWqA4rAtEhAaQ3rAaN2dA
{ia'æte'væ'qa'ora'te ha'aq'ira'an'eda}

I compared to all people am tall.

lA1tEvWqA4rAtEhAaNiIvWaQ1rAaS
{la'æte'væ'qa'ora'te ha'aniivæ'aq'æra'as}

I compared to all people run quickly.

The activity particle

X lO Y
X does Y
X causes Y
X initiates Y

The activity particle, lO {lo}, is a particle that can be used to express actions. If it prefixes to another root word, it will transform that root word into an active verb. If it suffixes to another root word, it turns that root word into the subject of an action. The desired use of the activity particle is to have it play both of these roles at the same time, by infixining it between two other words, so that "X-{lo}-Y" conveys the idea of "something {that does} action":

tE {te} person	⇒	tElOeGeN {telo'egen} person who does writing writer
+
eGeN {egen} writing, script

The passivity particle

X iO Y
X affected by Y
X to whom Y is done
X at whom Y is targeted

The passivity particle, iO {io}, is a particle that can be used to express arguments affected by actions. If it prefixes to another root word, it will transform that root word into a (passive) verb. If it suffixes to another root word, it turns that root word into the (in)direct object, or the target of an action. The desired use of the passivity particle is to have it play both of these roles at the same time, by infixining it between two other words, so that "X-{io}-Y" conveys the idea of "something {target of} action":

tE {te} person	⇒	tEiOeGeN {te'io'egen} person target of writing reader, addressee
+
eGeN {egen} writing, script

The origin particle

X lI Y
X done by Y
X caused by Y
X originating from Y

The origin particle, lI {li}, is a particle that can be used to express agents of actions. Essentially, it has the same role as the activity particle, but with reversed word order:

eGeN {egen} writing, script	⇒	eGeNlI1mA {egenli'æma} writing done by me my text that which I write
+
1mA {æma} I, me

The target particle

X iI Y
X done to Y
X affecting Y
X going towards Y

The target particle, iI {ii}, is a particle that can be used to express patients of actions. Essentially, it has the same role as the passivity particle, but again with reversed word order:

eGeN {egen} writing, script	⇒	eGeNiI1mA {egenii'æma} writing done to me that which is written to me
+
1mA {æma} I, me

Combinations

The aforementioned particles eM {em} (characteristic), vW {væ} (referent), lO {lo} (activity), iO {io} (passivity), lI {li} (origin), and iI {ii} (target) are to be used as 'nodes' between one word and the next. The amount of these node particles isn't restricted to one per word. Two or three, an a theoretical infinite amount is also possible.

Activity + characteristic
tElOeGeR {telo'eger} person (who) does speaking	+	eGeReM1lIS {egerem'ælis} speaking with attribute harmony
⇓
tElOeGeNeM1lIS {telo'egerem'ælis} person (who) does speaking with attribute harmony (speech) poet

Activity + target
3nIlOeGeN {ini'lo'egen} she does writing	+	eGeNiI1mA {egenii'æma} writing done to me
⇓
3nIlOeGeNiI1mA {ini'lo'egenii'æma} she does writing done to me that which she writes to me

Passivity + origin
3nIiOeGeN {ini'io'egen} she (who is) target of writing	+	eGeNlI1mA {egenli'æma} writing done by me
⇓
3nIiOeGeNlI1mA {ini'io'egenli'æma} she (who is) targeted by writing done by me that which she receives from me in writing; my letter to her

Passivity + origin + characteristic
3nIiOeN {ini'io'en} she (who is) target of vision	+	eNlIqOrEmI {enli'qoremi} vision done by cat	+	qOrEmIeMtWdW0rA {qoremi'emtædæ'ara} cat which is black
⇓
3nIiOeNlIqOrEmIeMtWdW0rA {ini'io'enli'qoremi'emtædæ'ara} she (who is) target of vision done by cat which is black she who is looked at by the black cat; her being seen by the black cat

The separator particle

It is key to understand that the node particles always link a word to the one immediately preceding it. Have a look at the following word:

nI {ni woman

lO lo who does

eG1lIS eg'ælis Ælis language

eM em with attribute

eLeAnA3rAeN eleana'ira} pleasant, beautiful

In this word, the word "beautiful" refers to "Ælis", and therefore it means '(female) speaker of the beautiful Ælis language'. That is how the chaining principle of Ælis is inherently structured. But what do we do if we want both the words "(to speak) Ælis" and "beautiful" to refer to the "woman"?

In comes the separator particle, tA {ta}. The particle functions as a kind of "reset" button for the hierarchy within a word. We can place the particle before the word "beautiful" in order to make it refer back to the "woman":

nI {ni woman	lO lo who does	eG1lIS eg'ælis Ælis language	tA ta and	eM em with attribute	eLeAnA3rAeN eleana'ira} pleasant, beautiful
⇒ Beautiful (female) speaker of Ælis.

Hyper-noding (sentence words)

Ælis makes extensive use of both the node particles and the separator in order to create massive words. These words are so rich in meaning that they could be considered to be one word sentences. Let's have a look at an example of such a "hyper-noded"word:

qOrEmIeMtWdW0rAtAeMaQ3rAaNtAiOeLeAnA0rAlIqA4rAeRlI1mA {qoremi'emtædæ'ara ta'emaq'ira'an ta'io'eleana'ara'liqa'ora'erli'æma}

First, let's determine the 'node' and the separator particles within this word:

qOrEmI {qoremi

eM em

tWdW0rA tædæ'ara

tA ta

eM em

aQ3rAaN aq'ira'an

tA ta

iO io

eLeAnA0rA eleana'ara

lI li

qA4rAeR qa'ora'er

lI li

1mA æma}

Then, we need to know the meanings of the individual lexical words:

qOrEmI {qoremi cat

eM em

tWdW0rA tædæ'ara black

tA ta

eM em

aQ3rAaN aq'ira'an big

tA ta

iO io

eLeAnA0rA eleana'ara discomfort, unease

lI li

qA4rAeR qa'ora'er noise, loudness

lI li

1mA æma} I, me

Finally, we add the roles of the nodes:

qOrEmI {qoremi cat

eM em with attribute

tWdW0rA tædæ'ara black

tA ta and

eM em with attribute

aQ3rAaN aq'ira'an big

tA ta and

iO io affected by

eLeAnA0rA eleana'ara discomfort

lI li by

qA4rAeR qa'ora'er noise

lI li by

1mA æma} me

And so, we get:

qOrEmIeMtWdW0rAtAeMaQ3rAaNtAiOeLeAnA0rAlIqA4rAeRlI1mA {qoremi'emtædæ'ara ta'emaq'ira'an ta'io'eleana'ara'liqa'ora'erli'æma} The big black cat, (which is) annoyed by the noise I make.

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Further reading

Main page

Reading and writing

Morphology

Function marking

Root word list and vocabulary