Salute, Jonathan!/Grammar (adverbs)

Adverbs

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Adverbs can be created from adjectives using the suffix -men, which is similar to the suffix -ly in English.

Adding -men

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  • Avan Jonathan es li via, e solmen li via. - Before Jonathan es the road, and only the road. (sol = sole, alone)
  • Li altri cochero prende li bagage con su fort manus, e tre rapidmen li cose es finit. - The other coachman takes the baggage with his strong hands, and very quickly the affair is finished. (rapid = fast, rapid)
  • Li cavallos vermen ne ama que li lupos ulula. - The horses truly do not like that the wolves are howling. (ver = true)

Adding -men does not change the stress of a word:

  • rapid = rapíd
  • rapidmen = rapídmen (not rapidmén)

Implied -men

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The suffix -men is often dropped when an adjective alone suffices to make the meaning clear. This generally occurs with short adjectives like bon, mal, rapid, etc., but the addition of -men is always permitted.

  • Jonathan ha bon dormit, e it es pos midí. Il avigila se, lava se, e intra li chambre in quel il e li Comto manjat. - Jonathan has slept well (= good), and it is afternoon. He wakes himself, washes up, and enters the room in which he and the Count ate.

Words that are adverbs by nature

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Many words by themselves are adverbs: tre, sempre, strax, etc.

  • Nu il pensa que anc su lette es tre bell. - Now he thinks that his bed is very nice too.
  • Dunc quande il vide Dracula, il es sempre calm. Quande Dracula questiona le: “Qualmen vu standa?” il di sempre “Yo standa bon, mersí. E vu?” e ili fa mult parladas. - Thus, when he sees Dracula, he is always calm. When Dracula asks him: "How are you doing?" he always says "I'm doing well, thank you. And you?" and they talk a lot.
  • Dracula: “Ah! Li matine va strax arivar. Vu es fatigat e li témpor ha venit por dormir. A revidentie!” - Dracula: "Ah! The morning will soon come. You are tired and the time has come to sleep. Until later!

Adverbs as a gerund

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The -ing form is used as a gerund in English, such as "The phone rang while I was watching TV". To do the same in Occidental, use the -nt present participle and add an e.

  • Vidente li lune, li lupos comensa ulular. - Seeing the moon, the wolves begin to howl. (Ch. 8)
  • Ah, scriente ti paroles yo senti me bon. - Ah, I feel good writing these words. (Ch. 22)
  • Il questionat me ca yo vell posser amar le plu tard, e yo movet mi cap, diente no. - He asked me if I could love him later, and I moved (shook) my head, saying no. (Ch. 23)