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.

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.