Mirad/Grammar

Introduction

This textbook presents Version 1 of Mirad, formerly known as Unilingua. For the Version 2 grammar and dictionary, see Mirad Grammar.

Spelling

The author of Unilingua, Agapoff, uses a double quote to signal capitalization and thus dispenses with all majuscules. In this Mirad textbook, however, majuscules (upper case graphemes) are used and capitalization adheres to the American English model.

In this book, the mostly Cyrillic single-grapheme characters used by Agapoff for iotacized vowels are replaced with the following system:

Pre-iotacized vowels, that is, those preceded by a y-glide sound, take an acute accent:

plain vowel	pre-iotacized vowel
a	á (ya)
e	é (ye)
i	í (yi)
o	ó (yo)
u	ú (yu)

Post-iotacized vowels, that is, those followed by a y-glide sound, take a grave accent:

plain vowel	post-iotacized vowel
a	à (ay)
e	è (ey)
i	ì (iy)
o	ò (oy)
u	ù (uy)

Circum-iotacized vowels, that is those that are both preceded and followed by a y-glide sound, take a circumflex accent:

plain vowel	circum-iotacized vowel
a	â (yay)
e	ê (yey)
i	î (yiy)
o	ô (yoy)
u	û (yuy)

A pre-iotacized vowel always begins a new vowel syllabic nucleus, whereas a post-iotacized vowel ends a vowel syllabic nucleus.

Upper-case vowels take the iotacizing accents just as the lower-case values do (thus Á, È, Ô, etc.

Punctuation

The punctuation marks in Mirad are the same as in English. For example, a question mark (?) is used at the end of a sentence or sentence fragment to signal an interrogation.

Nouns

Structure

All nouns in their base form end in a consonant. This distinguishes them from adjectives and conjugated verbs, which end in a vowel.

Pluralization

Nouns are made plural by adding the suffix -i.

singular	plural
tob man	tobi men
dat friend	dati friends
car instrument	cari instruments

Femininization

Although nouns do not have inherent gender, the feminine or female-related counterpart of a noun can be formed by post-iotacizing the ordinal (inner) vowel, that is, by adding the grave accent ` to the vowel. If the vowel is already pre-iotacized (with an acute accent), then the acute accent is replaced with a circumflex (^) (circum-yodification) to show that it is both pre-iotacized and post-iotacized.

male-related	female-related
tad father	tàd mother
tob man	tòb woman
tóáv sock	tóâv stocking
epet bull	epèt cow

Case Tagging

Nouns can take the following case endings, which are shortcuts for prepositional phrases:

case ending	category	base	cased form
-a	genetive/possessive/relative/ablative [origin]	tob man	toba of the man, human (adj.), man's, from the man
-u	locative/dative [destination]	tam house	tamu to the house, (at) home, for the house
-à	comitive [accompaniment]	at I, me	atà with me
-è	instrumental [means]	és work	ésè through / by / via work
-ò	privative ["without"]	tec meaning	tecò without meaning, senseless

Examples of the genetive/possessive case:

Meira zem ce gra ama. = The earth's core is very hot.

Ata ted tome íbà. = My father lives far away.

Ed et te dad ifana? = Do you know the language of love?

Examples of the locative/dative case:

Pu tamu! = Go home!

Ít peé tamu. = She is staying at home / in the house / home.

At teaco et uda moju. = I'll see you this evening. (= at this evening)

Buu dén atu! = Give the book to me!

Ev ud ce atu? = Is this for me?

Examples of the comitive case:

Upu atà! = Come with me!

Ud ca ekpan tija tujà. = This was a life-and-death struggle.

At ubeé uda ébdren ifanà. = I am sending you this letter with love.

Examples of the instrumental case:

Et vege nacikcer anà esè. = You can get rich only through work.

It aksa koenè ván. = He succeeded by hiding the truth.

Ágpar pa Parisè. = The train went through Paris.

Examples of the privative case:

Et vò vege akser nacò. = You cannot succeed without money.

Tij ifanò vò naze ser. = Life without love is not worth living.

Od et su atò? = What would you do without me.

Pronouns

Forms

All animate pronouns (those referring to people) end in t in their base form, while all inanimate pronouns (those referring to things) end in d in their base form. Pronouns can be singular or plural. All plural pronouns take the plural suffix i.

animate	animate
singular	plural
ot? who?, whom?	oti? who all?
at I, me	ati we, us
et you	eti* you (pl.), you all
it he, him, that person	iti they, these persons
ìt she, her	ìti they (fem.)
ut this person, he	uti those persons, they
ót nobody, no one	óti none
át everyone, everybody, each person	áti all
ót another, someone else	éti others
ít such a person	íti such people
ét whoever, anyone	óti any
út someone, somebody	úti certain people
oát not a single person, nobody, no one
get the same person	geti the same ones
oget someone else	ogeti others
gat another one	gati several
singular	plural
od what	odi what things
ad that (relative), the one	adi the things that
id that	idi those things
ud this	udi these things
ód nothing	ódi nothing
ád everything, each	ádi all things
ód something else, another	édi other things
íd such a thing	ídi such things
éd whatever, anything	édi any
úd something	údi some things, certain things
oád not a single thing, nothing	oádi none
ged the same thing	gedi the same things
oged something else	ogedi other things
gad another one	gadi several things

• • Note: Agapoff prefers ait, eit, iit for ati, eti, and iti.

Inflection

All pronouns can take cases, just as nouns do:

genetive/possessive ("of") ablative ("from") adjectival	dative ("to/in/on/at") locative	comitive ("with")	instrumental ("by/through/via")	privative ("without")
ata my, of me, from me	atu to me	atà with me	atè by me	atò without me
eta your, of you, from you	etu to you	età with you	etè by you	etò without you
ita his, of him, from him	itu to him	ità with you	itè by him	itò without him
ìta her, of her, from her	ìtu to her	ìtà with her	ìtè by her	ìtò without her
atia our, of us, from us	atiu to us	atià with us	atiè by us	atiò without us
ota whose?, of whom?, from whom?	otu to whom	otà with whom	otè by whom	otò without whom
áta everyone's	átu to everyone	átà with everyone	átè by everyone	átò without everyone
oda which, of what, from what	odu to which, at which, in which	odà with what?	odè by what?, how?	odò? without what?
ida that, of that, from that, those	idu to that, at that, in that	idà with that	idè by that, thus	idò' without that
uda this/these, of this, from this	udu to/at this, therefore	udà with this	udè by this, thus	udò without this
áda every, each, all	ádu to everything, in everyting	ádà with everything	ádè by everything, by all means	ádò without everything
óda not, not a	ódu to nothing	ódà with nothing	ódè by nothing	ódò without nothing
oáda not a single, no	oádu in not a single one, to none	oádà with nothing	oádè by nothing, in no way	--
éda any, whichever	édu to anything	édà with whatever	édè by whatever, however	édò without whatever
úda some, a certain	údu at a certain thing	údà with something	údè by something, somehow	údò without something
geda same, the same	gedu to the same thing	gedà with the same thing	gedè by the same thing	gedò without the same thing
ogeda different, the other, another	ogedu to another thing	ogedà with another thing	ogedè by something else	ogedò without another thing

Possessive Pronouns

Any of the above pronominal adjective forms can be substantivized by adding -c. The resulting possessive pronouns can then take the plural affix and case endings.

singular	plural
atac mine	ataci mine
etac yours	etaci yours
itac his	itaci his
ìtac hers	ìtaci hers
atiac ours	atiaci ours
etiac yours	etiaci yours
itiac theirs	itiaci theirs
ìtiac theirs	ìtiaci theirs
utac one's	utaci one's
otac? whose?	otaci whose
átac everyone's	átaci everyone's
ótac nobody's	ótaci nobody's
odac? which one	odaci which ones
ódac the other one	ódaci the other ones
udac this one	udaci these
idac that one	idaci those
ádac each one	ádaci all of them
édac any one, whichever one	édaci whichever ones

Any of the above substantival pronouns can take case endings:

Mirad	English
ataca	of mine
otacà	with whose
átacu	to everyone's
udacò	without this one

Examples:

Mirad	English
Uda tam ce atac.	That house is mine.
Oda déni et dédaé?	Which books have you read?
Ída tej aju vò teacâe.	Such a life has not been seen before.
Buu atu udi!	Give me those!
Áda tej nazace.	Every life counts.
Ádac nazace.	Each one counts.
Áta tej nazace.	Everyone's life counts.
Átac nazace.	Everyone's counts.
Áda évcunuti kode.	All lawyers lie.
Áti kode.	All of them lie.
Át kodeé.	Everyone is lying.
Ád ce kod.	Everything is a lie.
Mar ce zem áda.	The sun is the center of everything.
Ót ége kaer if ádu.	One can find pleasure in everything.
If ége uper bi éd.	Pleasure can come from anything.
Ud ce ga fia vél id (or: ga fia idu).	This is better than that.
Od ce eta dún?	What is your name?
At vage éd et vage.	I want what(ever) you want.
At vò ta ev it upo.	I didn't know whether he would come.
At ta ad it upo.	I knew (that) he would come.
Ad tej ce gúa vò vege vodé.	That life is hard cannot be denied.
Ev it íztejo vò twe.	Whether he will survive is unknown.
At vò te ev it íztejo.	I don't know if he'll survive.
Ad ìt sa ce ota seun.	What she did is nobody's business.
Atac ce ga aga vé etac.	Mine is bigger than yours.
Odac ce etac.	Which one is yours?
Édac cu fia atu.	Whichever one would be fine for me.
Otac ce ud?	Whose is this?
Otaci ce udi?	Whose are these?
Ev et co ata dat?	Are you going to be my friend?
Oádad ifca atu.	I did not like a single one.
Odè ìt tujswa?	How (by what) was she killed?
Otà et pa?	With whom did you go?
...otacò ait vò vegu íztejer.	...without whose we could not survive.
Odu et sa id?	Why (for what) did you do it (that)?
Iti údè kaa mep.	They somehow found the way.
Ébdren drwa atà otè?	The letter was written to me by whom?
Ota tamu et peé?	To whose house are you going?
Otacu et peé?	To whose are you going?

Correlatives

By "correlatives" is meant a set of functional words in the languages than can be arranged in a matrix, all sharing a set of "deictic" or "specifier" prefixes. For example, the English words "which, what, where, why, when, how, who, whether, etc." can be considered part of a matrix of correlatives, because they all ask a question about topics such as "place", "time", "manner", and are therefore called "interrogative correlatives." The situation is similar in Unilingua. Note, however, that some of the correlative words in the chart below are slightly different from those invented by the original author of Unilingua.

Deictic morphemes (specifiers)

category	deictic morpheme
interrogative	od- which, what
relative	ad- the, the one which
proximal	ud- this
distal	id- that
intensive	íd- so, such a
generic	úd- some, a certain
distributive	ád- all, every, each
indeterminate	éd- any, whatever
negative	ód- no, not any
identical	ged- same, selfsame
non-indentical	oged- different, other

Dimensional Classifiers

The above deictic morphemes combine with the following dimensional classifiers to form a whole matrix of functional deictic correlatives:

category	classifier	short version
person	-t
thing	-d
place	-em	m
time	-job	j
manner/means	-è
quality/kind	-én
quantity	-gan
degree	-nog
frequency	-jig

Matrix of Deictic Correlatives

thing	person	adjective	place	time	manner	kind	frequency	quantity	degree
od what	ot who	oda which	odmu where	odju when	odè how	odéna what kind of	odjigu how often	odganu how much	odnogu how
ud this	ut this person	uda this	udmu here	udju now	udè this way	udéna this kind of	udjigu this often	udganu this much	udnogu to this extent
id that	it that person, he	ida that	idmu there	idju then	idè that way, thus	idéna that kind of	idjigu that often	idganu that much	idnogu to that extent
íd such a thing	ít such a person	ída such, such a	ídmu at such a place	ídju at such a time	ídè in such a way, so	ídéna such a	ídjigu so often	ídganu so much	ídnogu so
úd something	út someone	úda some, a certain	údmu somewhere	údju sometime	údè somehow	údéna some kind of	údjigu sometimes	údganu some	údnogu somewhat
ád everything	át everyone	áda every, each	ádmu everywhere	ádju every time, always	ádè in every way	ádéna every kind of	ádjigu at all times	ádganu all of	ádnogu completely
éd whatever, anything	ét whoever, anyone	éda whichever, any	édmu wherever, anywhere	édju whenever, anytime	édè however, in any way	édéna whatever kind of	édjigu however often	édganu however much, any	édnogu to any extent
ód nothing	ót nobody	óda no, not a	ódmu nowhere	ódju never	ódè in no way	ódéna no kind of	ódjigu not once	ódganu not any, no	ódnogu not at all
ged the same thing	get the same person, self	geda the same, the very	gedmu at the same place	gedju at the same time	gedè in the same way	gedéna the same kind of	gedjigu as often	gedganu, ge as much	gednogu, ge to the same degree, as
oged something else	oget someone else	ogeda the other, another	ogedmu elsewhere	ogedju at another time	ogedè elsewise	ogedéna another kind of	ogedjigu at a different frequency	ogedganu not as much	ogednogu otherwise

Basic deictic adjectives / Determiners

category	determiner	example
indefinite/unary	a a	a tam a house
definite/relative	ada the	ada tam the house, ada tami the houses
interrogative	oda which	oda dén which book, oda déni which books
proximal	uda this, these	uda pat this bird, uda pati these birds
distal	ida that, those	ida pat that bird, ida pati those birds
negative	óda no	óda mep no road, óda mepi no roads
totalative	áda every, all, each	áda mep every road, áda mepi all roads
indeterminate	éda any, whichever	éda voz any color, éda vozi whichever colors
intensive	ída such a, such	ída dún such a name, ída dúni such names
partitive	úda some, a certain, certain	úda tob some man, úda tobi certain men
identical	geda same	geda dún the same name
non-identical	ogeda different, other	ogeda dún different name, another name
quasi-identical	gèda similar	gèda ceus a similar sound
superior	ga more	ga nac vél at more money than I
equal	ge as much, as many	ge job vél et vage as much time as you want
inferior	go less, fewer	go és less work
majorative	gla a lot, much	gla if a lot of fun
quasi-majorative	glà a goodly portion of, several	glà jubi several days
excessive	gra too much, too many	gra tel too much food
maximal	gá most	gá poti most animals
sufficient	gé enough, quite a bit	gé job enough time
minorative	glo very little, very few	glo auti very few individuals
insufficient	gro too little, too few	gro ék too little effort
minimal	gó the least	gó ék the least effort

Note: Nouns in Mirad are not normally accompanied by a definite article (the) or an indefinite article (a/an). The word tob can mean man, a man, or the man, depending on circumstances. Where further definition is required, a, the numeric or deictic adjective one, can be used for the indefinite article, while ada, the deictic adjective the can be used for the definite article.

Deitic pronouns

Inanimate pronouns

singular	plural
od? what?	odi? what (things)
ad the thing (that)	adi the things (that)
ud this	udi these
id that	idi those
ád everything	ádi all things
éd anything, whatever	édi any things
íd such, such a thing	ídi such things
ód nothing	ódi none
úd something	údi certain things
ged the same thing	gedi the same things
oged another, something else	ogedi other things
gèlac a similar thing	gèlaci similar things
gac more	gaci more things
gec as much	geci as many things
goc less	goci fewer things
glac a lot, much	glaci many things
glàc a goodly portion	glàci several things
grac too much	graci too many things
gác the most	gáci most things
géc enough, quite a bit	géci quite a few things
gloc very little	gloci few things
groc too little	groci too few things
góc the least	góic as few things as possible

Animate pronouns

singular	plural
ot? who?	oti who (pl.)
at I	ati we
et you	eti you (pl.)
ut this person, this one	uti these
it that person, that one	iti those
át everyone	áti all people
ét anyone, whoever	éti any people
ít such a person	íti such people
ót not a single person, noboby	óti none
út somebody	úti certain people
get the same person, self	geti the same people, themselves
oget the other person, someone else	ogeti others, other people
ìt that female,she, her	ìti they (f.), them
ùt this female, she, her	ùti they (f.), them
aut person, individual	auti persons, people
out nobody, no one	outi no people, none
	ga auti more people
	ge auti as many people
	go auti fewer people
	gla auti many people
	glà auti several people
	gra auti too many people
	gá auti most people
	gé auti quite a few people
	glo auti few people
	gro auti too few people
	gó auti as few people as possible

Note: As with all pronouns and nouns, the above pronouns can appear in the genetive/ablative/possessive case (-a) or dative/locative case (u). For example: otu to whom, ota whose, áta everyone's, gla autia most people's, ata my, etu to you. The possessive adjective forms can, in turn, be substantivized by adding -c (thing): atac mine, atacu to mine, otac whose, getac the same person's, etc.

Determiners of Place

place
odmu? where?, whither? (also: odma? from where?, whence?)
udmu here (also: udma from here, hence)
idmu there (also: idma from there, thence)
admu at/in/to the place where (relative)
ódmu nowhere
ádmu everywhere
édmu anywhere, whereever
ídmu at/in/to such a place
ogedmu elsewhere (ogedem alibi)
údmu somewhere
gedmu at/in/to the same place (also: gedma from the same place)
gèdmu at/in/to a similar place (also: gèdma from a similar place)

Determiners of Time

time
odju? when? (also: odja whence?, ji odjob since when?, etc.)
udju now (also: udja hence)
idju then (also: idja thence)
adju when, at the time when (relative)
ódju never
ádju each time, everytime, always, ever
édju anytime, whenever
ídju at/in/to such a time
údju sometime
gedju at the same time
ogedju at another time

Determiners of Quality

kind
odéna? what kind of?
udéna this kind of
idéna that kind of
adéna the/what kind of (relative)
ódéna no kind of
ádéna every kind of
édéna any/whatever kind of
ídéna such
údéna some kind of
gedéna the same kind of
gèdéna a similar kind of
ogedéna another kind of

Determiners of Degree

degree
odnogu? how (...big, ...little, etc.)?, to what extent?
udnogu this, to this degree
idnogu that, to that extent
adnogu how, to what degree, to the extent (that...) (relative)
ódnogu not at all, to no extent
ádnogu completely, to the full extent
édnogu however, to whatever extent
ídnogu so, to such an extent
údnogu in some way, somehow
ge, genogu equally, to the same degree, as
oge, ogenogu unequally, to a different extent
gè, gènogu similarly, to a similar extent
ga, ganogu more, to a greater extent
gla, glanogu very, greatly, very much so
gra, granogu too, to too great an extent, overly, extremely
go, gonogu less, to a lesser extent
glo, glonogu slightly, to a small extent
gro, gronogu to too small a degree, under
gá, gánogu maximally, to the greatest extent possible
gó, gónogu minimally, to the smallest extent possible
gé, génogu enough, rather, pretty, sufficiently, quite
ogé, ogénogu insufficiently
fià, finogu to a good extent, well
fuà, funogu to a bad extent, poorly
végà, véga nogu proportionately
vácà, váca nogu to the right extent, properly, duly
vócà, vóca nogu to the wrong extent, disproportionately, unduly
anogu primarily
enogu secondarily
uja nogu ultimately

Determiners of Manner, Means

manner
odè? how?, in what way?
udè this way, thus
idè that way, thus
adè how, in the way that, as
ódè in no way
ádè in every way
édè in whatever way, however
ídè so, in such a way
údè somehow
gedè in the same way, also
ogedè otherwise
gèdè similarly, likewise

Determiners of Quantity

The noun following the determiner is in the singular if a mass noun (odganu dril how much ink) or in the plural if a countable noun (odganu jubi how many years).

quantity
odganu?* how much, how many
udganu this much, this many
idganu that much, that many
adganu how much, how many, the amount/number that
ódganu no, not any, no amount of
ádganu all
édganu any, however much, however many
ídganu so much, so many
údganu a certain amount of, some, some number of
ge, geganu as much, as many
oge, ogeganu a different quanity of
ga more
go less, fewer
gla a lot (of), much, many
glà a goodly amount (of), quite a few
glo little, too many
glò barely, scarcely, hardly
gá most
gro too little, too few
gó as little/few as possible
gé a fair amount (of), enough, quite a lot (of)
gê several

* Literally: in what quantity, as in Odganu nac et àce? How much money do you have?. Used substantively, Odganu becomes Odgan, as in Odgan et àce? How much do you have? If followed by a mass noun, gla means much; if followed by a counting noun, gla means many; if followed by an adjective or adverb, it means very. All of the ga...ge...go words are multifunctional in this way.

Determiners of Frequency

frequency (jig = rate, frequency
odjigu? how often?(lit: on how many occasions)
udjigu this often
idjigu that often
adjigu as often as, the rate that
ódjigu never
ádjigu every time
édjigu however often, anytime
ídjigu so often
údjigu with some frequency, sometimes
gejigu as often
ogejigu at a different rate
gajigu more often
gojigu less often
glajigu (very) often, frequently
glojigu seldom, rarely, not very often
grajigu too often
gájigu as often as possible
grojigu too seldom
gójigu as seldom as possible
géjigu quite often, rather often, frequently enough

Prepositions and relational adverbs

positive		middle		negative
ab	on, at the top of	eb	between	ob	off, at the bottom of
áb	above, up	éb	amid, among	ób	below, down
bà	with, along	bè	by, via	bò	without
ib	away from	---		ub	toward
íb	far from	---		úb	near to
bi	from, of	be	at	bu	to
bí	starting with, since	---		bú	ending with, up to, as far as
án	together	---		ón	apart
za	in front of	ze	in the middle of	zo	behind
zà	forward	zè	across	zò	back
áz	flush with	éz	in	óz	out
iza	straight	---		uza	roundabout
íz	beyond	---		úz	around, about
zi	right	---		zu	left
zí	all over	zé	through	zúa	round
ja	before	je	during, while	jo	after
jà	ahead (in time)	jè	throughout	jò	back (in time)
ji	since	---		ju	until
av	for	ev	if	ov	against

Compound prepositions

Prepositions can be compounded for more detailed senses:

compound preposition	example
ézbu into	It tôapa ézbu tim. He walked into the room.
ézbi in from	At upa ézbi mamil. I came in from the rain.
ézbe in (location)	Dén ce ézbe ném. The book is inside the box.
ózbu out to	Po ózbu ekem. Go out to the playground.
ózbi out of, out from	It upea ózbi ita ésim. He was coming out of his office.
ózbe out in (as in: out in the backyard)	Potòg ce ózbe mamil. The pet is out in the rain.
ábzè over	Mampar pa ábzè tam. The plane flew over the house.
óbzè under	At tôapa óbzè domep. I walked under the highway.
zèbu across to	At tôapa zèbu ogeda kum. I walked over to the other side.
zèbi across from	It beme zèbi at. He sits across from me.
zòbu back to	Ait pee zòbu Berlin. We are going back to Berlin.
zòbe back at	Ait ce zòbe tom. We are back at home.
zòbi back from	Ait ce zóbi Berlin. We are back from Berlin.
zàbu ahead to	Teaso zàbu eta oj. Look forward to your future.
zàbi ahead of	Ed et ce zàbi at? Are you ahead of me?
ónbi apart from	Pa ónbi ogeti. It went apart from the others.
ánbe together with	Upo ánbe at. Come along with me.
izbu straight to	Po izbu ótotem! Go straight to hell!
izbi straight from	Ìt upa izbi nunem. She came straight from the market.
izbe right at	At ca izbe zem. I was right at the center.
zabi in front of	At ce zabi et. I am in front of you.
zobi in back of	Et ce zobi at.' You are in back of me.
abu onto	Bo dén abu cem. Put the book onto the table.
abe on (at)	Dén ce abe cem. The book is on the table.
obi off of	Bio dén obi cem. Take the book off of the table.
obe on the underside of	Ece úd obe cem. There is something on the underside of the table.
ábu up to	Po ábi eta tim. Go up to your room.
ábe up in	Od ce íd ábe mam? What is that up in the sky?
ábi up from	It upa ábi aaned. He came up from the first floor.
ábè up (via)	At tôapa ábè meb. I walked up the mountain.
óbu down to	Upo óbu momtim. Come down to the basement.
óbe down in	At ce óbe momtim. I am down in the basement.
óbi dowm from	Upo óbi mamtim. Come down from the attic.
óbè down (via)	It igpa óbè meb. He hurried down the mountain.
óbézbu down into	Pa óbézbu mom. He went down into the underground.
úzbu around to	Po úzbu ogeda kum tama. Go around to the other side of the house.
úzbè around (via)	Par pa úzbè tam. The car went around the house.
ízbi past, beyond	Par pa ízbi ait. The car went past us.
ízbu on to	At pa ízbu Kanad. I went on to Canada.

Postpositions / Cases

The following case endings or postpositions are shortcuts for prepositions:

short form	long form
-a of, from	bi
-u to, on, at	bu to or be at / in / on
-à with	bà
-ò without	bò
-è by, via, through, per	bè

For example, the following expressions are equivalent:

long form	short form
be tam bi X at the house of X	tamu Xa
bi dom bu dom from town to town	doma domu
tej bò if life without pleasure	tej ifò
bè Paris by way of Paris	Parisè
bà at with me	atà

Other Prepositional Constructions

vélu regarding, concerning, about, with respect to

gè ov despite

kumu next to, beside, along, on the side of

ón bi apart from

án bu together with

gal in addition to, plus, including, besides

gol minus, except

gar times, multiplied by

gor divided by

zamu...-a in the face of (also: be zamu bi)

cànu ...-a in the guise of

canu ...-a in the form of

debanu ...-a under the auspices of

ûb in the presence of, in the face of

dida ...-è at the request of

iju...-a at the end of

tecu...-a in the sense of

av búun...-a for the sake of

... thanks to

... along the lines of

izanu...-a in the direction of

zág along

kumnidu ...-a on the edge of, on the brink of

genidu ...-a in line with, parallel to

úbanu ...-a in the vicinity of, around

gáanu ...-a in excess of

bi abem...-a off the top of

bi kumnidu...-a from the brink of

dudea...-u in response to

ovbea in opposition to

... in contrast to

lovanu...-a in spite of

oejanu...-a in the absence of

usu ...-a because of

usu ...-a on account of

gè ov notwithstanding

...-è per

zé via

vél than, compared to, relative to

adju ...-a at the time of

admu ...-a at the place of

Using prepositions

Prepositions go between the two elements they link, just as in English. Here are some examples:

Mirad	English
Odju et po bu déntam?(or: déntamu)	When are you going to the library?
Uda bun ce av et (or: etu).	This gift is for you.
Dyen ca ab cem (or: cemu).	The book was on the table.
Upu bay at (or: atà).	Come with me.
Iyt igpa ub titam.	She ran toward the school.
Et co éz gela titim.	You will be in the same class.
Tob tyoyapa ózbi tam.	The man walked out of the house.
Mampar zaymampa ábzè dom.	The plane flew over the city.
Nidpar pa bi him bu hum.	The train went from here to there.
Et voy ibo bun ju zemoj.	You won't receive the gift until midnight.

Prepositions prefixed to verbs

As adverbials, many prepositions can be prefixed to other words, especially to verb bases. The following is a list of per (go) and ber (put) verbs with prepositional prefixes. Note that prepositions ending in b drop the b before the verb bases per and ber.

intransitive		transitive
aper	get on	aber	put on
eper	stop	eber	stop
oper	get off	ober	take off
áper	rise	áber	raise
éper	intervene	éber	block
óper	descend	óber	lower
iper	go (away)	iber	receive
uper	come	uber	send
úper	approach	úber	bring near
íper	go away	íber	take away
ézper	enter	ézber	bring in
ízper	surpass	ízber	take beyond
zéper	go through	zéber	pull through
zèper	transit	zèber	take across
ánper	meet	ánber	unite
ónper	separate	ónber	separate
izper	go straight/ head (for)	izber	guide
zúper	roll	zúber	turn
ózper	exit	ózber	take out
zòper	return, go back	zòber	take back
zòpuer	arrive back	zòbuer	give back
zateaser	look forward	zoteaser	look behind
zèteaser	look across	zíteaser	look all around
zéteaser	look through	ízteaser	look beyond
ézteaser	look in	ózteaser	look out
ábteaser	look up	óbteaser	look down
ibteaser	look away	izteaser	look straight (ahead)
ziteaser	look left	zuteaser	look right
uzteaser	look askance	úzteaser	look around
avdaer	speak for	ovdaer	speak against

Personal pronouns and pronominal adjectives

Personal pronouns have three persons (represented by the ordinal vowels a (1st), e (2nd), and i (3rd).

The plural forms have the suffix i.

There are also three case forms, which are alternate ways of expressing prepositional relations: Add -a for the genetive/possessive (of, from); -u for the locative/dative (to, at, for); -à (short for bà) for with; è (short for bè) for through/by, and ò (short for bò) for without.

Note: These are the same case endings that can be added to any nouns. For example, tamu (to the house), taébò (without hair), teda (father's).

nominative/accusative	genetive/possessive	dative/locative	comitive	instrumental	privative
at (I, me)	ata (my, mine)	atu (to/for me)	atà (with me)	atè (through/by me)	atò (without me)
et (you)	eta (your, yours)	etu (to/for you)	età (with you)	etè (through/by you)	etò (without you)
it (he, him)	ita (his)	itu (to/for him)	ità (with him)	itè (through/by him)	itò (without him)
ìt (she,her)	ìta (her, hers)	ìtu (to/for her)	ìtà (with her)	ìtè (through/by her)	ìtò (without her)
ati (we, our)	atia (our, ours)	atiu (to/for us)	atià (with us)	atiè (through/by us)	atiò (without us)
eti (you [all])	etia (your, yours)	etiu (to/for you)	etià (with you)	etiè (through/by you)	etiò (without you)
iti (they, them (m. or m/f))	itia (their)	itiu (to/for them)	itià (with them)	itiè (through/by them)	itiò (without them)
ìt (they (f.))	ìtia (their)	ìtiu (to/for them)	ìtià (with them)	ìtiè (through/by them)	ìtiò (without them)

Possessive pronouns are expressed with the addition of -c to the genetive/possessive ending:

English	Mirad
This book is mine.	Uda dén ce atac.
Those books are ours.	Ida déni ce atiaci.
Theirs has not arrived.	Itiac vò puaé.
Theirs have arrived.	Itiaci puaé.
Is this yours or mine?	Ev ud ce etac vè atac?
Will you come to mine tomorrow?	Ev et upo atacu zajubu?
Nothing will happen without yours.	ód swo etacò.

Conjunctions

Correlative Conjunctions/Adverbs

positive	neutral	negative
va yes	ve maybe	vo no
và indeed	vè possibly	vò not
và...và both...and	vè...vè either...or	vò...vò neither...nor
av that, so that, for	ev whether, if	ov lest, against
à and	è or	ò but
-à with	-è by, through, via	-ò without
ga more (than)	ge as, equal to	go less (than
gá most	gé enough	gó least
gà also, moreover	gè even, including	gò except, but
gla very	gle somewhat	glo slightly, little, not very
gra too (much)	gre just, exactly	gro too little

Note: oev = unless; ad means that as the conjunction introducing a factual clause, not to be confused with av meaning so that introducing a subjunctive or unreal clause.

English	Mirad
I do want to go, but I cannot.	At và vage per ò at vò vege.
Do you know whether he's coming.	Ev et te ev it upo?
It will either rain or snow.	Vè mamilo vè màlómo.
If it rains, I'll not come.	Ev mamilo at vò upo.
No, it's not true that he died.	Vo, vò ce váa ad it tuja.
My father and mother are still alive.	Ata ted à tèd gaju tejeé.
Is it true that you were you born here?	Ev et tija udmu?
We did not know (that) you were married.	Ati vò ta ad et ce tadca.
The fact that you work is not the issue.	Ad et ése vò ce kos.
Whether you work or play is more important.	Et vè ése vè eke ce ga kíta.
Unless you go to school you will never learn anything.	Oev et po titamu et ódju tio úd.
In order to learn you must study more.	Av ticer et ége ga tier.
Everyone except you is ready.	Yat gò et ce perfia.
Did you want me to come long?'	Ev et vaga av at àpu?
I want you not to leave.	At vage ov et piu.
Don't tell her what I did.	Ov du ìtu od at sa.
Are you for or against me?	Ev et av è ov at?

Other Conjunctional Expressions

conjunction	example
ad that	Ati ta ad it upo. We knew (that) he would come.
av so that	At egdo id av et tico. I will repeat it so that you'll understand.
avad because	It tuja bi us avad it vò abá ígtef. He died because he was not wearing a helmet.
ju until	Ju et uvdo at vò teapo et. Until you apologize, I will not visit you.
ji since	Ji et pua at cee iva. Since you arrived, I've been happy.
ánad even though, although	Ánad et oka, at gaju fítce et. Even though you lost, I still respect you.
ovad despite the fact that	Ovad et zageda, et vò upa. Despite the fact that you agreed in advance, you didn't come.
igjo as soon as	Igjo ìt pua at gafi teca. As soon as she arrived, I felt better.
váfà ge just as	Váfà ge at jada, ija mamiler. Just as I predicted, it started raining.
ge ev as if	Ìt teubozá ge ev ìt ca iva. She smiled as if she were happy.
ev whether	At vò te ev mamilo. I don't know whether it will rain.
ev if	Et zàpo ev et éko. You will advance if you try.
à and	Et à at ce gá fia. You and I are the best.
è or	Et vege jobier è kobier; ce eta kebi. You can borrow or steal; it's your choice.
kéà ad in the event that	Kéà ad mamilo, aúbio eta mamilovar. In the event that it should rain, bring along your umbrella.
fiákea av in the hope that	It nucbia drénet fiákea av it ako. He bought a ticket in the hope that he would win.
fúnea ov for fear that	It ézpa fúnea ov mamilo. He went inside for fear that it might rain.
ov lest	Bono ov et tíjso lopét. Stay calm lest you awake the snake.
ónad aside from the fact that	Yonad gaijop mamile, doma mamecan ce gla fia. Aside from the fact that it rains occasionally, the city's weather is very nice.
tea ad knowing that	At vage tujer tea ad at po totamu. I want to die knowing that I will go to heaven.

Verbs

Verbs in Mirad are conjugated for tense (present, past, future), mood (indicative, conditional/imperative/subjunctive/jussive), voice (active, passive), and finiteness. The verbal system is perfectly regular and predictable.

The infinitive, which serves as the dictionary lookup form, always ends in -er. The stem, therefore, is the infinitive without the -er ending. For example, the stem of the verb buner (to push) is bun. The stem is used as the base of all conjugated verb forms.

Finite forms

Finite verb forms are modulated for tense based on the three-way vowel distinction a (present), e (past), and o (future).

A fourth ending, u is used for the equivalent of the English conditionals, subjunctives, and imperatives.

Verbs can be further modulated for progressive, anterior (perfect), and imminent senses through compounding.

Endings do not change depending on the subject person. For example, unlike in English where am, are, and is are used in the present depending on the subject, the Unilingua verb cer has one present indicative form of to be for all persons: ce.

Mirad	English
at ce	I am
et ce	you are
it ce	he is
ìt ce	she is
id ce	that is, it is
ud ce	this is
ot ce	who is?
ati ce	we are
eti ce	you (all) are
iti ce	they are
íti ce	they are
oti ce	who are?
át ce	everyone is
ét ce	whoever/anyone is
ód ce	nothing is
apeti ce	horses are

Simple tense forms

The simple tense verb forms are generated by adding the tense markers a, e, o, or the conditional marker u to the stem of the verb. For example, the stem of the verb ter to know is t and the inflected forms of the simple tenses are as follows:

Active voice forms

ending	meaning	example
e	present	It te. He knows.
a	past	At ta. I knew.
o	future	Et to. You will know.
u	conditional	Iti tu. They would know.

Non-indicative forms

The u ending is not only used for the conditional as above, but also non-indicatives moods such as the imperative and and subjunctive. The conditional form without a subject is used for imperatives (direct commands). Positive subjunctives and jussives are expressed with the use of the affirmative jussive conjunction av (for, so that, let) followed by the subject and the verb in the conditional.

pattern	meaning	example
Vu	direct command	Aku! (short for Av et aku!) Win!.
av N Vu	may N V	Av ati aku! May we win!.
av N Vu	let N V	Av it upu. Let him come.
av N Vu	wishes, etc.	At vàge (av) et piu. I wish you would leave.

Negative subjunctives and jussives are expressed with the use of the negative jussive conjunction ov (against, lest) followed by the subject and the verb in the conditional.

pattern	meaning	example
ov Vu	direct command	Ov oku!. Don't lose!
ov N Vu	may N V	Ov ati oku! May we NOT lose!.
ov N Vu	lest N V	Ov it upu. Don't let him come.
ov N Vu	wishes, etc.	At vayge ov et piu. I wish you would NOT leave (lit: I wish lest you leave).

Unreal conditionals are expressed with the conditional conjunction ev (if, whether) followed by the subject and the verb in the conditional (-u) in both the main and subordinate clause..

pattern	meaning	example
ev N Vu, N Vu...	if N were..., N would...	Ev at cu edeb, at ívsu it. If I were king, I would free him.

Illative patterns

Interrogative

Beginning a sentence with the conditional conjunction ev (whether, if) makes the sentence into a yes/no question:

pattern	meaning	example
ev + VP	Is it true that...?	Ev et aka? Did you win?

Negative

Use the negative adverb voy (not) in front a verb to negate it:

pattern	meaning	example
vò + V	negative	Et vò ako. You will not win.
ev + negVP	negative interrogative	Ev et vò akeé? Aren't you winning?

Affirmative

Similary, the positive adverb vay (indeed) is used in various combinations to qualify verbs. Like vò (not), this adverb immediate preceeds the verb form.

ending	meaning	example
và + V	affirmative	At và aka. I did win. / I won indeed.

Potential

Used the potential adverb vè (maybe) in front of a verb to qualify it as potential or possible (like English may):

ending	meaning	example
vè + V	potential	It vè ako He may win!.
ev + VP	negative potential interrogative	Ev et vè vò akaú? Might'nt you have won?

Passive voice forms

The passive voice is formed by preceding the tense endings with w.

ending	meaning	example
w+e	present	It twe. He is known.
w+a	past	It twa. He was known.
w+o	future	It two. He will be known.
w+u	conditional	It twu. He would be known.

Progressive aspect forms

The progressive or continuous tenses, which are optional and used only where the distinction is useful, are formed from the simple present forms by compounding with pre-iotacized tense vowels.

ending	meaning	example
e+é	present continuous active	At akeé. I am winning. (pronounced: a-KE-ye)
e+á	past continuous active	At akeá I was winning. (pronounced: a-KE-ya)
e+ó	future continuous active	At akeó. I will be winning.
e+ú	conditional continuous active	At akeú. I would be winning.
we+é	present continuous passive	At akweé. I am being beaten.
we+á	past continuous passive	At akweá I was being beaten.
we+ó	future continuous passive	At akweó. I will be in the process of being beaten.
we+ú	conditional continuous passive	At akweú. I would be in the process of being beaten.

Anterior tense forms

The anterior or perfect tenses, which are also optional, are formed from the simple past tense form by compounding with pro-iotacized tense vowels.

ending	meaning	example
a+é	present perfect active	At akaé. I have won.
a+á	past perfect active	Ati akaá We had won.
a+ó	future perfect active	Ati akaó. We will have won.
a+ú	conditional perfect active	Ati akaú. We would have won.
wa+é	present perfect passive	Iti akwaé. They have been beaten.
wa+á	past perfect passive	Iti akwaá. They had been beaten.
wa+ó	future perfect passive	Iti akwaó. They will have been beaten.
wa+ú	conditional perfect passive	Iti akwaú. They would have been beaten.

Imminent aspect forms

The so-called imminent tenses are formed from the simple future active tense forms in the same way.

ending	meaning	example
o+é	present imminent active	At akoé. I am going to win.
o+á	past imminent active	At akoá I was about to win.
wo+é	present imminent passive	Et akwoé. You are going to be beaten.
wo+á	past imminent passive	Et akwoá. You were about to be beaten.

Non-finite forms

ending	meaning	example
er	active infinitive	Et ége aker You must win.
wer	passive infinitive	Et vò vagu akwer You would not want to be defeated.
en	active verbal noun	Aken ce ád. Winning is everything.
wen	passive verbal noun	At vò ife akwen. I do not like being beaten.
ea	active present participle	Akea ekut The winning player
aa	active past participle	Akaa ekut The player who won.
oa	active future participle	Tob ce tujoa. Man is mortal (about to die).
ua	active conditional participle	Tob cua deb. The man who would be king.
wea	passive present participle	Akwea ekut The player being beaten
waa	passive past participle	Magelwaa taol Cooked meat.
woa	passive future participle	Teacwoa pancin the film to be seen
wua	passive conditional participle	Oteacwua tob the invisible man
eà	present affirmative gerundive	At teacibso pueà. I will call upon arriving.
eò	present negative gerundive	At ija teò éd. I started without knowing anything.
aà	past affirmative gerundive	Teacaà at pia. Having seen, I left.
aò	past negative gerundive	At pila dom teacaò ád. I left the town without having seen everything.
enè	present instrumental gerundive	Et akso gla ésenè. You will succeed by working hard.

• • Note: The -ua/wua ending approximates the English -able ending. oteacwua = invisible, íztijua = survivable, ogorwua = indivisible, vegua = capable, opanua = immobile. Adding an -n forms the substantive, eg. ogorwuan = indivisibility.

Conditional constructions

In sentences with conditional clauses the conditional clause is in the same tense as the main clause, contrary to the practice in English:

• Ev mamilo at co uva. If it rains (= will rain), I will be sad.
• Ev mamilaú at caú uva. If it had rained (= would have rained), I would have been sad.
• Ev at cu nasika at ga zípu. If I were (=would be) rich, I'd travel more.
• Ev et tu dud, (av et) du id atu. If you (= would) know the answer, (= that you would) tell it to me.

Sequence of tenses

Unlike in English, the tense of a consecutive clause is a real tense, not an adjusted tense relative to the main clause:

• It da ad it tadco at. He said he would (= will) marry me.
• It da ad it teaca it ejipu. He said he had seen (= saw) it twice.

Impersonal constructions

Impersonal verbs are conjugated without the subject personal pronoun:

• Mamileé. It is raining.
• Amco. It will warm up.
• Eco dropek. There will be a war.
• Ége av et upu já. It is necessary that you come early.
• Ce fia. It's ok.

The verb "to be"

In Mirad, the verb cer (to be) is not suppressed in the present tense as in some languages like Russian or Agapoff's original version of Unilingua. Also, there is no existential distinction as in Spanish between ser and estar. Furthermore, the progressive forms ceá and ceé can be used at times as in some of the examples below:

• Ati ce íva! We are free.
• At co idmu. I'll be there.
• Déni ca ab cem. The books were on the table.
• Cayo e jubi ji at ca dopu. It will have been two days since I was in the army.
• Cer ey voy cer. To be or not to be.
• At caú uva ev et vò upaú. I would have been sad if you hadn't come.
• Et ceé gla fua. You are being very bad.
• At vò ceá ivcla. I was not being funny.

Reflexive constructions

Verbs can be made reflexive by adding the direct object get (self).

• At vímila get ja per majtulu. I washed up (washed myself) before going to breakfast.
• Tobet tuja get. The boy killed himself.
• At teasa get cinzéfu. I looked at myself in the mirror.
• Tu get! Know thyself!

Modal or auxiliary verbs

Mirad	English	Meaning	Example
íver	may	permission	Et íve iper. You may leave.
úver	must	requirement	Et úve iper. You must leave.
ûver	should	obligation	Et ûve iper. You should leave.
éger	have to	necessity	At ége iper. I have to leave.
êger	should	obligation	Et êge iper. You ought to leave.
vager	want to	volition	At vage iper. I want to leave.
vaager	long to	yearning	At vaage iper. I long to leave.
vàger	would like to	preference	At vàge iper. I would like to go.
vagrer	be eager to	eagerness	At vagre iper. I am eager to leave.
valter	intend to	intention	At valte iper. I intend to leave.
veger	can	ability	At vege ser id. I can do that.
voger	refuse to	refusal	At voge ser id. I refuse to do that.
áker	expect to	expectation	At áke aker. I expect to win.
áaker	hopeto	aspiration	At áake aker. I hope to win.
éker	try to	attempt	It vò éko iper. He won't try to leave.
ékler	dare to	dare	It vò éklo iper. He will not dare leave.
óker	to be surprised to	surprise	At óka aker. I was surprised to win.
ifer	to love to	love	It ife eker. He loves to play.
ìfer	to like to	liking	It ìfe eker. He likes to play.
ufer	to hate to	hate	It ufe eker. He hates to play.
ùfer	to dislike to	dislike	It ùfe eker. He dislikes playing.
iver	to be glad to	gladness	At ivo iper. I shall be glad to leave.
uver	to regret to	regret	At uva der id. I regretted saying it.
aver	to favor	espousal	At ave iper. I favor leaving.
over	to be opposed to	opposition	At ove eker. I am opposed to playing.

As you see in the examples above, modal verbs are followed by the infinitive form (-er) of the main verb.

Subordinate clauses introduced by ad

The positive complementizer particle ad (the fact that) is used to introduce a subordinate clause:

• At ta (ad) it upo. I knew THAT he would come.
• At ce vala (ad) et vádeé. I'm sure THAT you are telling the truth.
• Ad mamilo ce valan. THAT it will rain is a certainty.
• Ata tèd da (ad) iyt co tamu ojo èmaj. My mother said THAT she would be home by noon.

As in English, if the that can be dropped without any loss of meaning, it can be:

• At da at dro. I said I'd (= I'll) write.
• Et ta it sa id. You knew he had done (= did) it.

Unlike in English, a relative sequence of tenses is not applied. For example, English "I knew he would come." is rendered in Unilingua as "I knew he will come."

Do not confuse the particles ad and av. Clauses following ad are facts, whereas clauses following av are unreal wishes. Av should be thought of as so that.

• At pana av it ábtu. I moved so that he could (= would) sit down.
• At ta ad it ábto. I knew that he would (= will) sit down.

Subordinate clauses introduced by ev

The conditional complementizer particle ev (whether) is used to introduce a subordinate clause of the type "whether...":

• At vò ta ev it upo. I did not know whether he would come.
• Ev it upo ca teskía atu. whether he would or would come was not important to me.

Adjectives

Adjectives end in the suffix -a. They are invariable in form:

• aga big
• oga small
• aza strong
• oza weak
• taba bodily
• teaba ocular
• tea aware
• otea unaware

Adjectives used substantively to describe persons end in -t, while those used to describe things end in -c:

adjective	animate substantive	inanimate substantive
yoga young / new	yogat youth	yogac novelty
tuja dead	tujat dead person	tujac dead thing
fia good	fiat good person	fiac good thing

Adjectives always preceed the noun they modify:

• aga tam a big house
• yaga drun the long sentence
• aza tob the strong man
• mona maf a dark cloud

Serial adjectives usually go in the same order as in English:

• ujna via jeeba jub the last beautiful summer day

Degrees of Comparison in Adjectives and Adverbs

Summary of Comparison Constructions

Note: vél is a preposition that comes from the verb véler to relate and is used to signal the object against which a relative comparison is being made (than, relative to).

Mirad	English
ga...vél	more...than
ge...vél	as...as
go...vél	less...than
gá...vél	the most...in/of
gé...vél	rather...compared to
gó...vél	the least...in/of

The Comparative of Superiority

More than is expressed by the adverb ga, followed by the adjective, adverb, or verb and the preposition vél (in relation to, than, as) preceding the noun, pronoun, or predicate being compared:

Mirad	English
Ata tadet ce ga aza vél et.	My brother is stronger than you.
At ga ése vél et.	I work more than you.
Ita tedet ga aga vél ata.	His son is taller than mine.
Uda dén ce ga ketlea vél idac.	This book is more interesting that that one.
Mam ce ga aga vél et tese.	The sky is bigger than you think.

The Comparative of Equality

As...as' is expressed by the adverb ge, following by the adjective, adverb, or verb and the preposition vél (in relation to, than, as) preceding the noun, pronoun, or predicate being compared.

Mirad	English
Ìt ge te vél at.	She knows as much as I do.
At ge fi deuze vél et.	I sing as well as you do.
Ata tam ce ge aga vél eta.	My house is as big as yours.
Ece ge tobi vél tobomi.	There are as many grownups as babies.

The Comparative of Inferiority

Less...than' is expressed by the adverb go, following by the adjective, adverb, or verb and the preposition vél (in relation to, than, as) preceding the noun, pronoun, or predicate being compared.

Mirad	English
Ìt go te vél at.	She knows less than I do.
At go fi deuze vél et.	I sing less well than you do.
Ata tam ce go aga vél etac.	My house is less big than yours.
Ece go tobi vél tobomi.	There are fewer grownups than babies.

The Superlative of Superiority

The most...of/in' is expressed by the adverb gya, followed by the adjective, adverb, or verb, and the compared noun or pronoun preceded by the preposition vyel.

Mirad	English
Ud ce gya yobaga miam vyel mir.	This is the deepest lake in the world.
At gya fi deuze.	I sing the best.
Gya fia ticudi vyel ticudyan akbuyo.	The best students in the class will be rewarded.
At ce gya ivat vyel yati.	I am the happiest person of all.

The Superlative of Inferiority

The least...of/in' is expressed by the adverb gyo, followed by the adjective, adverb, or verb, and the compared noun or pronoun preceded by the preposition vyel.

Mirad	English
Uda ticud ce gó tepaza vél áda ticudi.	This student is the least intelligent of all the students.
At gó fi deuze.	I sing the least well.
Gó fia ticudi vél ticudyan uóvfuso.	The worst students in the class will be punished.
At ce gó ivat vél áti.	I am the least happy person of all.

Idioms Using Adjectival/Adverbial Comparison Constructions

Mirad	English	example
ga...ga	the more...the more	Ga mamile ga ilirke. The more it rains, the more it floods.
ga...go	the more...the less	Ga iva at ce ga azà at dae. The happier I am the louder I speak.
go...ga	the less...the more	Go et tile ga fia ce. The less you drink the better.
go...go	the less...the less	Go et ézbue go et ózbie. The less you put in the less you get out.
gá...	as much as possible...	At tele gá ida telamu. I eat as much as possible in that restaurant.
gá veá...	the most possible	Puo gá já veá. Arrive as early as possible.
gó veá...	the least possible	Bookco gó veá. Tire yourself out the least possible.
vòga...vél	no more...than	At tila oga vél jubénà. I drank no more than usual.

Note: vél, as a preposition, originates from a verb, much like the prepositions gal plus and gar times:

verb	preposition
galer to add	gal plus
garer to multiply	gar times
goler to subtract	gol minus
gorer to divide	gor divided by
véler to relate	vél relative to, than

Adverbs

Formation

Adverbs can be formed from adjectives by post-iotacizing the adjectival ending, that is, by changing -a to -à, for example:

adjective	adverb
fia good	fià well
ana single	anà only
gía easy	gíà easily

The adverbial ending -à is really the same as the comitive ending, meaning with. So, in effect, nouns in the comitive case are really adverbs. The same holds true for the instrumental ending -è by means of, through, by.

noun	adverb
gúan difficulty	gúanà with difficulty
ágan length	áganè lengthwise, by length
bik care	bikà with care, carefully
at me	atè by me

Similarly, a noun in the dative case (-u) can amount to an adverbial expression.

noun	adverb
uda job this day	udjobu today
oda em which place	od(e)mu where?
tam house	tamu (at) home
mep way	mepu en route

Some words are inherently adverbs:

• áb up as in go up
• ób down as in come down
• zà ahead as in run ahead
• zò back as come back
• úz around as in spin around
• ga more as in eat more
• go less as in eat less
• ge same, as as in as big or do the same
• gla very as in very good
• glo not so as in not so bad
• và indeed as in He is indeed our leader.
• vò not as in He is not our leader.
• vè possibly as in It's possibly true.

Comparison

Adverbs are compared in the same way as adjectives:

normal	equalitive degree	comparitive degree	maximal degree
igà quickly	ge igà (vél) as quickly (as)	ga igà more quickly	gá igà as quickly as possible
ugà slowly	ge ugà (vél) as slowly (as)	go ugà less slowly	gá ugà as slowly as possible

Syntax

Adverbs, like adjectively, normally precede the element in the sentence which they modify, however, this rule is a loose one and can be bent without peril in most cases.

• Igà upu! Come quickly!
• At anà go te. I know only a little.
• Uda tam fià ceswa. This house was built well.
• Et vò sa ge fuà. You did not do as badly.
• Upu gá ubà. Come as closely as possible.
• At vò te ev it pa áb è ób. I don't know whether he went up or down.

Shortcuts

Adverbs formed from adjectives ending in -ia or -ua can be shorted to -i and -u, respectively:

• Pu fi! Fare well!
• vi swa beautifully done
• ésu gú! Work hard!

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