Myssela

Myssela is an artlang created by Jennifer C. who goes by the online alias "Jai". Myssela was created on January 24, 2012. It will be used for the creator's purposes only, but here's a grammar for the curious. :)

Introduction

Myssela is for me. My first five conlangs have been for my conworld called Kepa. This

conlang is just for my own personal use. I’ve always wanted a conlang to write in but

due to the nature of my conlang I could not add modern words such as “computer” or even

“credit card”. Myssela is a mash-up of all my favourite grammar points as well as some

new ones! Myssela will be simple enough to learn but complicated enough that it will

feel ‘complete’. I hope to someday write journal entries in Myssela. Journal entries

that will only be for my eyes of course. ;)

Phonology and Orthography

Phoneme Summary

Consonants

Consonants
	Bilabial		Labiod.		Dental		Alveolar		Post-alv.		Velar		Uvular		Glottal
Nasal		m					n
Plosive		b					d				g
Fricative			f				s		ʃ					χ	h
Affricate
Approximants							ɹ
Trill
Lateral Approximant							l

Also

tʃ Voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate

ǀ Dental Click

Vowels

Transliteration

Consonants
c	d	dd	f	g	h	l	r	m	n	s	ss
[ʧ]	[d]	[ǀ]	[f]	[g]	[h]	[l]	[ɹ]	[m]	[n]	[sʰ]	[ʃ]

Vowels
a	ă	e	ĕ	y
[a]	[ɐ]	[ɛ]	[ə]	[i]

Syntax

Normal

Normal syntax order is SOV.

Adde ladd dĕc myacya assanef.

SUBJ.PART-NOM I LOC.PART here am-IMPERF.

I am here.

Focus

To put the focus on a different part of the sentence put it at the beginning of a sentence.

In the following example the location is focused.

Dĕc myacya adde ladd assanef.

LOC.PART- here SUBJ.PART-NOM I am-IMPERF.

Here I am.

Simple Interrogation

To make a sentence a question simply put the verb at the beginning of a sentence.

Assanef adde ladd dĕc myacya.

Am-IMPERF SUBJ.PART-NOM I LOC.PART here.

Am I here?

Polarity

Polarity in the simplest form is answering if something is correct or incorrect. This is also called Negativity.

Positive Statement

Adde ladd decĕs Genĕdĕr assenef.

I am Jennifer.

SUBJ.PART-NOM I OBJ.PART-ACC Jennifer am-IMPERF.

Negative Statement

To make a statement negative all you have to do is add the negative particle ‘nĕy’ before the verb.

Adde ladd decĕs Genĕdĕr nĕy assanef.

I am not Jennifer.

SUBJ.PART-NOM I OBJ.PART-ACC Jennifer NEG.PART am-IMPERF.

Asking A Question In The Negative

If there are also mood or aspect particles the negative particle appears last.

Mady nĕy yamnădlef adde yadd?

Shouldn’t you sleep?

MOOD.ID-DEB NEG.PART sleep-IMPERF SUBJ.PART-NOM you?

Answer: Fyĕ! [No!]

Major Word Classes

Nouns

Pluralization

Rules
-SS	-S	-C,-D,-F,-G,-H,-L,-M,-N,-R	-A,-Ă, -E, -Ĕ
	finger/fingers gladys/gladyss FIVE FINGERS yss myedd gladyss DESC.PART five fingers	book/books cahăr/cahărs TWO BOOKS yss dă cahărs DESC.PART two fingers	glacydĕ/glacydĕs blackberry/blackberries TEN BLACKBERRIES yss yey glacydĕs DESC.PART ten blackberries

Pronouns

I	ladd	we	aladd
You	yadd	You (pl)	ayadd
He	cĕ	They (m)	acĕ
She	ca	They (f)	aca
One	lĕ

Particles

Particles are used to describe what function a word has in a sentence. Take for instance the

sentence “He buys food.” He is the subject of the sentence and will use the nominative case. Thus

you would write Adde cĕ or SUBJ.PART-NOM he. Food is the object and will use the accusative

case. Thus you would write it as dĕcĕss ydden or OBJ.MARK-ACC food. The verb is in the

imperfect tense so you would write it as arymnĕssanlef. If you wanted to say: “The food buys him.”

(though I don’t know why you would) you would put the SUBJ.PART-NOM in front of food and

OBJ.PART-ACC in front of him.

SUBJECT MARKER

• The agent of a sentence is marked by the subject marker.
  • He runs.

Subject Particle: Add-

EXAMPLE:

Adde cĕ dĕcĕss ydden arymnĕssanlef.

SUBJ.PART-NOM he OBJ.MARK-ACC food buy-IMPERF.

He buys food.

OBJECT MARKER

• The patient of sentence is marked by the object marker.
  • He pokes her.

Object Particle: Dĕc-

DESCRIPTION PARTICLE

• The adjective is marked by the description marker.
  • He has yellow hair.

Description Particle: Yss-

EXAMPLE:

Adde ladd yss sany assanef

SUBJ.PART-NOM I DESC.PART tall is-IMPERF.

I am tall.

TIME PARTICLE

• The period of time in which the action takes place is marked by the time marker.
  • He runs at night.

Time Marker: hyl-

ET CETERA PARTICLE

• This marker is used when two or more words share the same particle.
  • It is added to the second subject, object, description or time to signify it holds the same purpose in the sentence. His friends and quiet and nice.

Et cetera Particle: Rĕs-

These particles are a necessarily part of Myssela grammar. Just look at the two

following sentences!

Adde cĕ dĕcĕss ydden arymnĕssanlef.

SUBJ.PART-NOM he OBJ.MARK-ACC food buy-IMPERF.

He buys food.

Adde ydden dĕcĕss cĕ arymnĕssanlef.

SUBJ.PART-NOM food OBJ.MARK-ACC he buy-IMPERF.

(The) food buys him.

Noun Cases

Nominative Case

• The topic of a sentence.
  • He sees the cat.

Accusative Case

• The object of a sentence.
  • He sees the cat.

Dative Case

• The indirect object of a sentence.
  • He gives the cat food.

Genitive Case

• The noun that is possessed by the nominative.
  • My mother’s cat.

Locative Case

• The cat in the house.

Instrumental Case

• The object used to complete an action.
  • I ate cat food with a spoon.

Oblique Case Any case except for the nominative. I am taller than him.

Minor Word Classes

Time Words

MONTHS			SEASONS
JANUARY	or newmonth	măsĕfy	SPRING	sama
FEBRUARY	or treasuremonth	ăcedă	SUMMER	dyne
MARCH	or chillymonth	dygaged	FALL	alam
APRIL	or budmonth	rabymya	WINTER	frys
MAY	or happymonth	yelĕmyedd
JUNE	or smallmonth	mynhă
JULY	or freshmonth	hăsĕcer
AUGUST	or memorymonth	ramalĕm
SEPTEMBER	or freemonth	măngyny
OCTOBER	or nervousmonth	rĕdĕdayey
NOVEMBER	or fakemonth	dăgeyeyfy
DECEMBER	or surprisemonth	ygĕyeydă

rĕdĕdayey is the only irregular month. I dropped the 'l' from the word 'nervous' to make it easier to pronounce.

Days of the week are easy. Simply combine the word for "day" and "1-7" depending on the day. For example: Monday is efefy literally "day + 1".

DAYS OF THE WEEK

MONDAY	efefy
TUESDAY	efedă
WEDNESDAY	efeged
THURSDAY	efemya
FRIDAY	efemyedd
SATURDAY	efehă
SUNDAY	efecer

Determiners etc

CLOSE TO SPEAKER	CLOSE TO LISTENER	FAR FROM SP. & LI.
THIS	THAT	THAT OVER THERE
myafa	myefe	amyefe
HERE	THERE	EVERYWHERE
myacya	myecye	amyecye
THIS ONE	THAT ONE	THAT ONE OVER THERE
---	---	---

Verbs

Myssela verbs have two basic endings: -ssan and -năd. It has three tense endings and 5

moods. Myssela also has a confimation ending which is created by adding "e" to the end

of a sentence. For example:

Myefe ysse rĕd assanya e?

That DESC.PART-NOM red see-PERF CONF.

That was red, wasn't it?

This confirmation ending evidently turns the phrase into a question.

Tense

Myssela distinguishes between transitive and intransitive verbs by different endings.

Transitive

TRANSITIVE VERBS require a patient or object. *ie. I throw (a ball).

TRANSITIVE VERBS in BASE FORM always end in -ssan. For example:

• ĕssyssan
• ymessan
• calassan

PERFECT: ĕssyssanya

IMPERFECT: ĕssyssanef

FUTURE: ĕssyssanese

Intransitive

INTRANSITIVE VERBS do not. *ie. I sleep.

INTRANSITIVE VERBS in BASE FORM always end in -năd. For example:

• gaganăd
• agaganăd
• mynanăd

PERFECT: gaganădya

IMPERFECT: gaganădef

FUTURE: gaganădese

Mood

Myssela uses four moods: Subjunctive, Conditional, Imperative, Horative and Debative.

Adding mood to a sentence is very simple. All you must do is add ma- before a verb which

indicates then verb has mood. Then add the affix of the mood that is required.

See examples below:

Subjunctive

• Subjuctive - When it is unclear the action has taken place or is gathered from indirect sources.
  • He might be sleeping.

Yadd mane yamnădlef.

You MOOD.ID-SBJV sleep-IMPERF.

You might be sleeping...

Cĕ ydden ĕss mane arymnĕssanya.

He food-DAT MOOD.ID-SBJV buy-PERF.

He might buy food...

Conditional

• Conditional - When reffering to a hypothetical action that has not taken place yet.
  • If you sleep...

Yadd mafess yamnădlef.

You MOOD.ID-COND sleep-IMPERF.

If you were sleeping...

Adde cĕ yddenĕss mafess arymnĕssanya.

Food-DAT MOOD.ID-COND buy-PERF.

If he bought food...

Impertative

• Imperative - When expressing a commanding action.
  • Sleep!

Marel yamnădlef.

MOOD.ID-IMP sleep-IMPERF.

Sleep!

Ydden ĕss marel arymnĕssanya.

Food DAT MOOD.ID-IMP buy-PERF.

Buy Food!

Hortative

• Hortative - When encouraging another party to do the action or participate in the action.
  • Please sleep. / I wish you would sleep.

Mady yamnădlef.

MOOD.ID-HORT sleep-IMPERF.

Please sleep! I wish you would sleep!

Ydden ĕss mady arymnĕssanya.

Food DAT MOOD.ID-IMP buy-PERF.

Please buy food! I wish you would buy food!

Debative

• Debative - When suggesting that someone should do an action.
  • I should sleep.

Mady yamnădlef.

MOOD.ID-DEB sleep-IMPERF.

I should sleep.

Ydden ĕss mady arymnĕssanya.

Food DAT MOOD.ID-DEB buy-PERF.

You should buy food.

Numerals

Myssela has a base 10 system number system. There are words for 1-10.

For 11-19 all one must do is add 10 + 1-9.

• Example: 11 is 10 + 1 or yey fy.

For 20-90 all one must do is add (2-9) + 10 + (1-9).

• Example: 21 is 2 + 10 + 1 or dă yey fy.

1-10		11-20		21-30		31-40		51-91
1	fy	11	yey fy	21	dă yey fy	31	ged yey fy	50	myedd yey
2	dă	12	yey dă	22	dă yey dă	32	ged yey dă	51	myedd yey fy
3	ged	13	yey ged	23	dă yey ged	33	ged yey ged	60	hăo yey
4	mya	14	yey mya	24	dă yey mya	34	ged yey mya	61	hăo yey fy
5	myedd	15	yey myedd	25	dă yey myedd	35	ged yey myedd	70	lĕm yey
6	hăo	16	yey hăo	26	dă yey hăo	36	ged yey hăo	71	lĕm yey fy
7	lĕm	17	yey lĕm	27	dă yey lĕm	37	ged yey lĕm	80	cer yey
8	cer	18	yey cer	28	dă yey cer	38	ged yey cer	81	cer yey fy
9	ny	19	yey ny	29	dă yey ny	39	ged yey ny	90	ny yey
10	yey	20	dă yey	30	ged yey	40	mya yey	91	ny yey fy

Family Names

Indefinite Pronouns

Comparative & Superlative

To drescribe some thing being more ------ than something else you will use the words for

‘more’ and ‘less’ and the desc.part for the original word and the etc.part for the words ‘more

than’ and ‘less than’.

SUBJ.PART she NEG.PART DESC.PART-smart ETC.MARK-more he-DAT is-IMPERF

COMPARATIVE

taller

DESC.PART tall ETC.PART more

SUPERLATIVE

tallest

DESC.PART tall ETC.PART most

Examples

Adde ladd yss sany assanef

I DESC.PART tall is-IMPERF.

I am tall.

Ladd yss sany rĕs hĕcĕ assanef

I DESC.PART tall ETC.PART more is-IMPERF.

I am taller.

Ladd yss sany rĕs ahĕcĕ assanef.

I DESC.PART tall ETC.PART most is-IMPERF.

I am tallest.

Ladd dĕc sany rĕs hĕcĕ dĕcega yadd assanef.

I DESC.PART tall ETC.PART more OBJ.PART-OBL. you is-IMPERF.

I am taller than you.

Greetings & Phrases

Greetings

Hello (call)	Dydĕ!	Greetings!
Hello (formal call)	Adydĕ!	Hello!
Hello (casual)	Ey!	Hey! Hi!
Good Night. (Normal)	Hyledĕ aymessanef.	TIME.PART-NOM-night acknowledge.
Good Night. (Informal)	Hyledĕ.	Time.PART-NOM-night. / Night.
Good Morning. (Normal)	Hylenya aymessanlef.	TIME.PART-NOM-morning acknowledge. / Acknowledge the morning.
Good Morning. (Informal)	Hylenya.	TIME.PART-NOM-morning. / Morning.
Good Afternoon. (Normal)	Hylemĕy aymessanef.	TIME.PART-NOM-afternoon acknowledge. / Acknowledge the afternoon.
Good Afternoon. (Informal)	Hylemĕy.	TIME.PART-NOM-afternoon. / Afternoon.
Good Day. (Normal)	Hylefe aymessanef.	TIME.PART-NOM-day acknowledge. / Acknowledge the day.
Good Day. (Informal)	Hylefe.	Time.PART-NOM-day. / Day.

Phrases

How do you describe yourself? / How are you?	Assanef yadd yss syd?	Be-IMPERF you DESC. unknown.
How do you describe your name? / What is your name?	Assanef yadd yĕ năm yss syd?	Be-IMPERF you GEN name DESC. unknown.
At what location were you born? / Where are you from?	Gaganădef yadd ăh syd?	Be born-IMPERF you LOC. unknown.
I am happy. / I am yellow.	Adde ladd yss yelĕ assanef.	Subj.PART-NOM I DESC. yellow be-IMPERF.
I am (described as) Jennifer. / I am Jennifer.	Ladd dĕc Genĕder assanef.	I DESC. Jennifer be-IMPERF.

Examples

Assanef myefe dĕc syd?

Be-IMPERF that DESC. unknown.

What is that?

Amamĕy yĕ garĕn...

Today GEN goal...

Today's Goal...

Ladd dĕcĕss yadd sarassan.

I OBJ-ACC you love.

I love you.

Adydĕ. Adde ladd dĕcĕs Genĕdĕr assenef.

Hello.FOR SUBJ.PART-NOM I OBJ.PART-ACC Jennifer is-IMPERF.

Hello. I am Jennifer.

Adde mysefe ysse rĕd assanya.

SUBJ.PART-NOM that DESC.PART-NOM red see-PERF.

That was red.

Adde ladd dĕcĕs cahăr yssĕss yelĕ ymessanef.

SUBJ.PART-NOM I OBJ.PART-ACC book DESC.PART-ACC yellow see-IMPERF.

I am seeing a yellow book.

Adde Genĕdĕr dĕcĕss ydden dĕcery yadd agĕnessanya.

SUBJ.PART-NOM Jennifer OBJ.PART-ACC food OBJ.PART-DAT you give-PERF.

Jennifer gave you food.

SUBJ.PART-NOM sun shine-IMPERF.

Adde ladd yamnădlef

SUBJ.PART-NOM I sleep-PERF.

I am sleeping.

Adde ladd mane yamnădlef...

SUBJ.MARK-NOM I MOOD.ID-COND sleep-IMPERF.

If I was sleeping....

SUBJ.MARK-NOM I DESC.PART this born-PERF.

Adde ladd yss myafa gaganădya.

SUBJ.MARK happy ETC.MARK-GEN one DESC.PART one ETC.MARK only exist-IMPERF, SUBJ.MARK (to) love-IMPERF ETC.MARK be love-PERF.

One’s happiness is only one.

there is only one happiness in life, to love and to be loved

I like chicken

SUBJ.PART-NOM I OBJ.MARK-ACC chicken like-IMPERF.

Adde ladd dĕces chicken calassanef.

This blanket is soft.

SUBJ.PART-NOM blanket DESC.PART this ETC.PART soft be-IMPERF.

I gloss everything.

I OBJ.PART-ACC everything gloss-IMPERF.

I walk like a duck.

I DESC. duck-ADV walk-IMPERF.

Ladd dĕc sylĕdam rĕmssanef.

I am a duck.

I OBJ-ACC duck be-IMPERF.

Ladd dĕcĕs sylĕdam assanef.

Sleep!

MOOD.ID-IMP sleep-FUTURE.

Marel yamnădlef.

I SUBJ.PART-GEN fish OBJ-ACC this see-PERFECT. TIME.PART. Now SUBJ.PART-NOM I SUBJ.PART-GEN fish DESC.PART shark be-PERF.

My goldfish saw this, now he's a shark

Ladd addyĕ myna dĕcĕs myafa ymessanya, hyl yma ladd addyĕ myna yss fĕrsmyna assanya.

Yesterday I went into the forest to find a bunch of tiny berries.

Ladd dĕc gedly hyl agăsa sesĕ, dĕcĕss ydĕs yss myn amaryssanya.

I loc.part forest Time.part yesturday, reason-being, obj,part-acc berry-PL desc.part tiny find.

I am behind you.

I LOC behind you be-IMPERF.

Ladd ăh sedd yadd assanef.

"łasasaá tłariiłali'aar!" desc. long etc. word is-IMPERF CONF.?

"łasasaá tłariiłali'aar!" dĕc calar rĕs reda assanef e?

"łasasaá tłariiłali'aar!" is a long word, isn't it?