Mirad Grammar/Adverbs

Adverb Types

Adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. There are two types of adverbs in Mirad, namely:

• derived adverbs
• inherent adverbs.

Derived Adverbs

Adverbs can be derived from descriptive adjectives by suffixing the adverbial marker y, eg.:

Derived Adverbs

ADJECTIVE	ADVERB
fia....good	fiay....well
yeva....fair	yevay....fairly
uja....final	ujay....finally
ejna....new	ejnay....newly
teyda....maternal	teyday....maternally

At the end of sentences or clauses, common one-syllable-stem adverbs can be shortened by removing the ay ending:

• Iyt deuze fi.....She sings well.
• At upo ig.....I'll come quickly.

Otherwise, the full adverb form is used, eg.:

• Yet yefe ugay fiaser.....You people must slowly improve.
• At tojo ivay, tea van at beaye fia tej.....I will die happily knowing that I've had a good life.

Inherent Adverbs

There are some words in the language that are inherently invariable adverbs and do not take the ay ending, because they are not formed from adjectives, or because they already end in ay. Here are the most common examples:

Inherent Adverbs

yab....up yaob....up and down	(a)yeb1....in oyeb....out aoyeb....in and out	yob....down	yub....near yuib....near and far	yib....far oyib....not far
ab....on ayb....above aob....of and on	eb....between eyb....among	ob....off oyb....under	ub....toward	ib....away
bay....with/along	bey....by/via	boy....without	byu....as far (as)	byi....since
vay....indeed	vey....perhaps	voy....not
za....in front (of) zay....ahead zya....throughout zao....back and forth	ze....to/at the middle (of) zey....across zye....through	zo....in back (of) zoy....back	zu....on the left (of) zui....right and left	zi....on the right (of)
			uz....on a curve uiz....zigzig	iz....straight, directly
	yez....along		yuz....around	yiz....beyond oyiz....not beyond
ga....more gao....more or less	ge...equally	go....less
gay....also	gey....even	goy....no more/except
gaj....still		goj....no longer
yan....together		yon....apart
ja....before jao....before and after jay....already	je....meanwhile jey....meanwhile	jo....after joy...next	ju....until	ji....since

Note 1: Ayeb is almost always shortened to yeb.

The words in the above chart that are underlined can also serve as prepositions (See Prepositions).

The words underlined below are considered adverbial because they can modify verbs. For example:

• At teaxa yab.....I looked up.   (= At yabteaxa.)
• Duven et hyej upo zoy?.....Will you ever come back.   (= ...zoyupo?)
• Et po yib be tej......You will go far in life.   (= Et yipo...)
• At voy se eta ted.....I am not your father.
• Pu zu, jogat!....Go left, young man!   (= Zupu...)
• Yat vay sa hum.....We were indeed there.
• It pa oyeb.....He went outside.   (= It oyepa.)
• Iyt gay deuze.....She also sings.
• Yit yexe gey be moji.....They work even nights.
• Ha tobud gaj tujeye.....The baby is still sleeping.
• Yat yefe yexer yan.....We must work together.   (= ...yanyexer.)
• His vey upo yon.....This may come apart.   (= ...yonupo.)
• Hit se jay toja.....This one is already dead.
• Hut se voy toja.....That one is not dead.
• At popeyo zya.....I will be traveling all around.   (= zyapopeyo.)
• Et byase yon.....You stand apart.
• Van yet besu yan.....Stay together, guys.

Many of the above adverbs can be prefixed to verbs, nouns, and even adjectives to indicate motion in various directions. (Keep in mind that the b or p can be assimilated to the first letter of per (go) or ber (put). For example:

• yeb (in) + per (go) = yeper (to enter)  [NOT: yebper]
• oyeb (out) + bier (take) = oyebier (to take out)  [NOT: oyebbier]
• yab (up) + per (go) = yaper (to rise)  [NOT: yabper]
• yob (up) + kima (sloped) = yobkima (downward-sloping)
• yub (near) + per (go) = yuper (to approach)  [NOT: yubper]
• yib (far) + daler (talk) = yibdaler (to telephone)
• yiz (beyond) + per (go) = yizper (to surpass)
• yez (along) + per (go) = yezper (to go along)
• yuz (around) + pipen (sailing) = yuzpipen (circumnavigation)
• zay (ahead) + paser (move) = zaypaser (to advance)
• zao (back and forth) + baser (move) = zaobaser (to rock)
• ze (to the middle) + jaga (aged) = zejaga (middle-aged)
• zye (through) + teatyafwa (visible) = zyeteatyafa (transparent)
• zey (across) + mep (road) = zeymep (bridge)
• zoy (back) + nogea (gradual) = zoynogea (retrogressive)
• iz (straight) + nad (line) = iznad (vector)
• zi (to the right) + kum (side) = izkum (right side)
• zu (far) + tuyab (hand) = zutuyaba (left-handed)
• uz (on a curve) + nad (line) = uznad (curve)
• yan (together) + up (come) = yanup (a meeting)
• yon (apart) + ber (put) = yonber (to separate)

Word Order of Adverbs

The word order of adverbs is fairly free, as in English. But, to avoid ambiguity, the adverb should be placed immediately before or after the sentence element it modifies, eg.:

• It deuze vi.....He sings beautifully.
• Et yefe xer gwa ig.....You must do it as quickly as possible.
• Et hyoj ako fika ivan.....You will never gain perfect happiness.
• At voy te. (OR) At te voy. ....I do not know.

Comparison of Adverbs by Degree

Adverbs can be compared just as adjectives with the use of Quantitative Determiners. The words than, compared to, and as are translated by the relative conjunction vyel (than, compared to, with respect to)

Comparison of Adverbs by Degree

POSITIVE	+/=/- COMPARATIVE	+/- SUPERLATIVE
yikay....easily	ga yikay vyel....more easily than ge yikay vyel....as easily as go yikay vyel....less easily than	(ha) gwa yikay....(the) most easily (ha) gwo yikay....(the) least easily

Examples:

• At pipe ga fi vyel et.....I swim better than you.
• Yat tra hua twob go fi vyel yet.....We knew that man less well than you guys.
• Eta tayd deuza ha gwa vi be ha ebyek.....Your wife sang the most beautifully in the competition.
• Et xa has ha gwa fu vyel hyet.....You did it the worst compared to anyone.
• Dalu ge azay vyel et yafe.....Speak as loudly as you can.