OT2.0

An eclectic language created from texts from the Teach Yourself language books, originally produced by the English Universities Press, latterly by Hodder and Stoughton.

The guiding principle was to take foreign language words from the contents pages of each grammar and use them as the basis of an imaginary language. Also used were irregularities affecting verbs and nouns, etc., and descriptions of courtesy language (notably, Japanese, Samoan and Modern Persian).

The language creator is Andrew Smith.

Details of the language speakers and culture are speculative as yet. One name I have for this language is 'the language of the ghost people' or 'ghostian', suggesting that the speakers are perceived as a fair-skinned race by outsiders.

Pronunciation

Consonants:

	labial	dental	alveolar	postalveolar	palatal	velar	glottal
unvoicedstops	p	t				k
voiced stops	b	d				g
affricates				tʃ
unvoiced fricatives	f		s	ʃ
voiced fricatives	v						h
nasals	m	n				ŋ
lateral			l
approximant			ɹ
semivowels	w				j

Vowels:

OT2.0 has the vowels /i ɪ e ɛ a ʉ ʊ ɔ ɑ/. i, e, ʉ are always long and are written with a circumflex. a can be long or short and is written with an accent. ɔ is considered as a long ɑ and also written with an accent.

Orthography:

In the latin alphabet:

a b ch d e f g h i k l m n ng o p r s sh t u v w y

The 'original' conscript for OT2.0 is as yet unknown.

Dialogue 1: A Friend Arrives

Host:	Ei chomú-dâ kú druí	There is someone at the door
Servant:	A ítí ten chomú?	Who is there?
Friend:	Ei'm	It is I
Visitor:	A tí ta chomú?	Who is it?
Host:	Bodú úwedshim	I don't know
Visitor:	Bodú yir shabinant	I will go see
Host:	Kodnen dribí. Bodú bâm Shinuwin a yirant	No need, I shall tell Shinuwin to go
Host:	Shinuwin!	Shinuwin!
Servant:	Íe!	Yes!
Host:	Dâdâ!	Come here!
Servant:	Íe!	Yes!
Host:	Ei chomú-dâ kú druí. Yirú shabinant kem tí ta chomú.	There is someone at the door. Go and see who it is.
Servant:	Íe!	Right!
Servant:	Moikorí ya, a tí kembí kakai sinú?	What is your name, sir?
Friend:	Moi sinú tí Trushika. A ítí moikorí Kinig kú sebio?	My name is Trushika. Is Mr Kinig at home?
Servant:	Íe, taní ítí kú sebio. Kulahú pendânt	Yes, he is. Please come in
Friend:	Âriget	Thank you
Servant:	Moikorí Trushika ítí dâde	Mr. Trushika has come
Host:	Kulahú tamum pendânt	Ask him to come in
Host:	Moikorí Trushika ya, a ítí kembí duen ya?	Hello Mr. Trushika, how are you?
Friend:	Duen. Moikorí Kinig a meikoren Shiraba ya, a ítí ba sebio duen	Quite well. Are you Mr. Kinig and Mr. Shirab, both well?
Host and Visitor:	Duen, duen. Kulahú sedant sebio	Quite well. Please take a seat
Friend:	Âriget âriget	Thank you, thank you
Host:	Brobú chân!	Prepare tea!
Servant:	Kembí dâguôt nena dok bodú dâ	Coming in a moment
Host:	Kulahú, moikorí Trushika, pihant chân	Take some tea Mr. Trushika
Friend:	Âriget	Thank you
Host:	A pohatshim sedant sebio nidolgon	Can't you stay a little longer?
Friend:	Gúhú! Ten ítí chomú-dâ so 'pena bodú chekant. Bodú mús tai redir	Sorry! There is someone waiting for me. I must return
Friend:	Úhim'na mikantie	Don't get up
Host and Visitor:	Talik e nena dât ishikude!	Where do such words come from!
All together:	Duabin, duabin	Good-bye, good-bye

Dialogue 2: The Teacher Arrives

Servant:	Moikorí Kinig ítí dâde	Mr Kinig is here
Student:	Kulahú tamum pendânt	Ask him in
Student:	Moikorí Kinig ya, a ítí kembí duen ya	Mr Kinig, are you well?
Teacher:	Duen. Makorina ya, kembí aft baget alí, kodin?	Well. You have eaten, haven't you, lady?
Student:	Íe. Kembí aft baget alí, kodin?	Yes. You have eaten, haven't you?
Teacher:	Belem, yao a'bagetshim or Sonan yao a'	Not yet, I have not eaten or On the contrary, I have
Teacher and Student:	Kulahú sedant sebio	Please sit down
Student:	Kembí tí talik bohoras ristú	You are too polite
Teacher:	Kulahú. Da tí shawoltaran	Please. It is the way things should be
Student:	Yako brobú chân kapena moikorí	Could you make tea for the teacher
Servant:	Íe. Da tí gotúa duen	Yes. It is well ready
Student:	Kulahú, moikorí, pihant chân	Please, teacher, drink some tea
Teacher:	Âriget	Thank you
Student:	Ei nena riaknia lâ, nadastâmshim monion	I don't understand national language very well
Teacher:	Kuan veandâde kembí kariakkan e bodúta?	When did you arrive in our country?
Student:	Bodú veandâde na kariakkan a kembí yodin mâwet porom	I arrived in your country only last month
Teacher:	Kembí dâguôt nena riaknia duen	You speak national language well
Student:	Kembí tí'na dohantie sudabodú	You flatter me
Teacher:	Ten tí alidení. Kembí dâguôt sha duen	It is true. You speak very well
Student:	Nena riaknia tí dakil úwidant, kodin?	National language is easy to learn, isn't it?
Teacher:	Sha shim odakilion	Not too hard
Student:	Bodú wol tai úwed nena riaknia duen	I would like to learn national language well
Teacher:	Yao reb mapena melion úwidant kembí	I will do my best to teach you

Vocabulary

a	and; accompanitive word, followed by dative case
a	question marker, comes before a verb
a'	have, first person singular present auxiliary verb, can be written as a prefix
aft	have, has, past perfect auxiliary verb
alí	rice, cooked rice, rice as food, collective noun
alidení	true
andâde	arrived, past tense and past participle
âriget	thank you
ba	both, followed by genitive
baget	ate, past tense and past participle of to eat
bâm	command, tell
belem	not yet
bodú	I, me, my; bodúta, we, us, our
bohora	life-force, soul, -s genitive ending
brobú	brew, imperative
chân	tea, accusative
chekant	waiting, verbal noun
chomú	who, interrogative pronoun
chomú-dâ	someone, pronoun, dative case, also used as direct object for persons
dâ	come, first person singular present
dâdâ	come here, imperative
dâde	come, here, past participle
dâguôt	say (to me), present verb
dohantie	to praise, flatter, causative verb
dakil	easy
dât	come, present tense verb
dok	so, then, sequence word
druí	door(s)
duabin	good-bye
duen	well, adverb
e	of, accompanitive word, plural
ei	topic marker, about; there is,'it is, implies something is physically present, followed by dative case
gieruk	need
gotú	ready, a predicate adjective that must agree with its subject
gúhú	sorry
íe	yes, right
-ion	very, suffix
ishikude	from where (within), interrogative adverb
ítí	'is, are (at a place), is, are (in a temporary state of), have (perfect verb)'
ka-	to, for, shortened form of kapena used as a prefix to place words, takes accusative case.
kakai	what, which, interrogative adjective
kapena, 'pena	for, benefactive
kem	that, relative pronoun
kembí	you, polite form
Kinig	proper name
kodin	no, not a, negative indefinate article; also used as a question tag at the end of sentences, have, haven't, isn't
kulahú	please; ask someone to, polite form; polite imperative
kú	at, at home, followed by the genitive case; also verb marker
kuan	when, question-word
la	emphatic particle
'm	me, enclitic pronoun, implies the speaker has superior status to the person being addressed
makorina	madam, ma'am, missus, lady
mapena	most, used with comparative adjectives and adverbs
mâwet	moon, month
meikoren	sir, mister, lord, indirect case
melion	better, best, adverb
mikantie	to accompany, accompanying
moi	my, possessive adjective
moikorí	sir, mister, lord
monion	very well, greatly
mús	must
nadastâm	understand, first person singular verb
nena	words, language, plural noun
nidolgon	for a time
odakil	difficult, hard
pendânt	to go in, to come in, to enter
pohat	can
pihant	to drink, drinking
porom	last
reb	strive, first person singular present verb
redir	return
riakka	kingdom, country, -n accusative ending
riaknia	national, neuter plural adjective, used as a language name
ristas	guest; ristú, genitive form, of a guest, guest's
sebio	oneself, one's own, reflexive pronoun
sedant	to sit, sitting
sha	very, too
shabinant	to see, seeing, take a look, definite verb
shawoltaran	courtesy, politeness, the way things should be done
Shinuwin	proper name
shim	not, nothing. Usually suffixed to the verb
Shirab	proper name
sinú	surname, clan, tribe
so	who is
sonan	on the contrary, but
súdabodú	myself, me
ta	that, he, it, demonstrative pronoun
tai	desiderative particle, used after auxiliary verb
tamum	him, polite form
taní	he, polite form
talik	such
ten	there, pronoun
tí	is, are
Trushika	proper name
úwed	know, come to know, definite verb
úwidant	to know, come to know, get to know, teach, learn, verbal noun
ve	non-present marker
ya	vocative particle, comes after the noun, used as a greeting
yao	I, first person singular pronoun, superior status
yir	go, first person singular verb
yirant	to go, going (on foot)
yirú	go, imperative
yodin	only

Grammar

Infinitive/Verbal Noun

The infinitive generally ends with -ant. It is alternative uses to being the infinitive form of the verb. The language also uses it as a verbal noun: a word ending in '-ing' or in '-ation'; and as an adjective derived from verbs.

A number of verbs derived from nouns exist only as verbal nouns; as do causative verbs derived from other verbs. In such cases tense and person are described peripherally from the verb. More information will be released as a better understanding on how they work emerges.

Wohant, to be, being

The present tense of 'to be' is as follows:

me mi	I am	meme en	we are
te si	you (sg) are	tete ti	you (pl) are
ta ti	he is	ga en (ti)	they are

The pronouns for 'she' and 'it' are da and ten respectively. If the subject is a plural noun, the verb form is ti rather than en.

In old high literature the forms of the verb for 'we are' and 'they are' are emo and eno. These forms are not used in the spoken language.

The past tense of 'to be' is

me wora	I was	meme woren	we were
te woret	you (sg) were	tete woret	you (pl) were
ta woret	he was	ga woren (woret)	they were

The past tense of 'to be' translates both 'I have been' and 'I was' It can also acts as an auxiliary.

The negative verb marker is a clitic. After a consonant it is shim, after a vowel him. In a subordinate clause it becomes an independent adverb and moves to in front of the verb.

me ve tehim

I was not

meme ve enshim

we were not

As an independent word shim, shidim means 'nothing'.

The future tense of 'to be' is

me ve bude	I will be	meme ve budun	we will be
te ve bud	you (sg) will be	tete ve bud	you (pl) will be
ta ve bud	he will be	ga ve budun (bud)	they will be

Ve is described as a non-present participle that is placed between the subject and a past or future verb. It is not used with wora, but it is used with bud

The imperative is wohú. This is considered abrupt and only used as a command.

With adjectives mi and wora describes a temporary or accidental situation, and deide mi and deide wora describes a more permanent or general situation.

A'nt, to have, auxiliary verb

A'nt is used to mean 'to have (done something)'. It is not used to mean 'to have, possess or hold'. In this sense the language prefers to use a prepositional phrase.

Present tense:

me a'	I have	meme a'n	we have
te aft	you (sg.) have	tete aft	you (pl.) have
ta aft	he has	ga a'n (aft)	they have

In the old high language the contracted forms insert a -b-: me ab, meme/ga aben, abant. This has dropped out of the modern language.

Past tense:

me ve yed	I had	meme ve yeden	we have
te ve yed	you (sg.) had	tete ve yed	you (pl.) had
ta ve yede	he had	ga ve yeden (ve yed)	they had

A'nt is not used with reflexive verbs or verbs of motion. Instead these verbs use the verbal noun, combined with the forms of wohant to indicate the number and the tense.

Future Auxiliary

The modal auxiliaries kal and wol are used with the verbal noun. Kal, shall, be going to, is ...ing, is used with the first person, and wol, will, be willing, want, like, wish, with the second, although this is not rigid.

me ve kal	I shall	meme ve kalen	we shall
te ve wolt	you (sg.) will	tete ve wolt	you (pl.) will
ta ve wolt	he will	ga ve wolen	they will

If the verbal noun is a verb of motion it can be dropped if the direction is indicated by an adverb or a preposition. The present tense can be used for future action, especially if it is marked by an adverb of time. Dyant or kal/wol dyant, will become, can also replace bud in which case it portends an unchanging state (will always be...). Dyant cannot replace kal/wol aryant, to be (in a place).

Yirant, to go (by foot)

Present tense:

me yire	I go	meme yirun	we go
te yir	you (sg.) go	tete yir	you (pl.) go
ta yir	he goes	ga yirun

The past tense is irregular (there must be a story behind that):

me ve sefa	I went	meme ve seften	we went
te ve seft	you (sg.) went	tete ve seft	you (pl.) went
ta ve sefte	he goes	ga ve seften	they went

Similar to Yirant is the verb yerant, to go (by vehicle), present tense:

me yere	I go	meme yerun	we go
te yer	you (sg.) go	tete yer	you (pl.) go
ta yer	he goes	ga yerun	they go

Yerant uses the same ending in the past tense as in the present:

me ve yerte	I went	meme ve yerten	we went
te ve yerte	you (sg.) went	tete ve yerte	you (pl.) went
ta ve yerte	he went	ga ve yerten	they went

Completed action with these verbs are made by combining the verbal noun with wohant, to be: me mi yirant, I have gone (on foot); ga worun yerant, they had gone (by vehicle).

Kulahant

Literally this is a polite word meaning 'to beg'. The phrase me kulas is used widely to mean 'I beg (you)', 'please' and 'please don't mention it, you are welcome'. With the imperative ending it becomes a polite way of phrasing a command: kulahú yirant, (please) go.