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:


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


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


 * 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 &Aacute;, &Egrave;, &Ocirc;, 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.

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.

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.

Case Tagging

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


 * Examples of the genetive/possessive case:


 *  Meira zem ce gra ama. =  The earth's core is very hot.
 *  Ata ted tome &iacute;b&agrave;. =  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 !
 * &Iacute;t pe&eacute; 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 d&eacute;n atu ! = Give the book to me !
 * Ev ud ce atu ? = Is this for me ?


 * Examples of the comitive case:


 * Upu at&agrave; ! = Come with me !
 * Ud ca ekpan tija tuj&agrave; . = This was a life-and-death struggle.
 * At ube&eacute; uda &eacute;bdren ifan&agrave; . = I am sending you this letter with love .


 * Examples of the instrumental case:


 * Et vege nacikcer an&agrave; es&egrave; . = You can get rich only through work .
 * It aksa koen&egrave; v&aacute;n. = He succeeded by hiding the truth.
 * &Aacute;gpar pa Paris&egrave; . = The train went through Paris .


 * Examples of the privative case:


 * Et v&ograve; vege akser nac&ograve; . = You cannot succeed without money .
 * Tij ifan&ograve; v&ograve; naze ser. = Life without love is not worth living.
 * Od et su at&ograve; ? = What would you do without me .

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.


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

Inflection

 * All pronouns can take cases, just as nouns do:

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.


 * Any of the above substantival pronouns can take case endings:


 * Examples:

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.

Dimensional Classifiers

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

Basic deictic adjectives / Determiners

 * 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.

Animate pronouns

 * 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, &aacute;ta 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 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).


 * * Literally: in what quantity, as in Odganu nac et &agrave;ce? How much money do you have?. Used substantively, Odganu becomes Odgan, as in Odgan et &agrave;ce? 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.

Compound prepositions

 * Prepositions can be compounded for more detailed senses:

Postpositions / Cases

 * The following case endings or postpositions are shortcuts for prepositions:


 * For example, the following expressions are equivalent:

Using prepositions

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

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.

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); -&agrave; (short for b&agrave;) for with; &egrave; (short for b&egrave;) for through/by, and &ograve; (short for b&ograve;) for without.


 * Note: These are the same case endings that can be added to any nouns. For example, tamu (to the house), ta&eacute;b&ograve; (without hair), teda (father's).


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

Correlative Conjunctions/Adverbs
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.

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.

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:

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.


 * 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.


 * 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..

Interrogative

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

Negative

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

Affirmative

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

Potential

 * Used the potential adverb v&egrave; (maybe) in front of a verb to qualify it as potential or possible (like English may):

Passive voice forms

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

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.

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.

Imminent aspect forms

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

Non-finite forms

 * Note: The -ua/wua ending approximates the English -able ending. oteacwua = invisible, &iacute;ztijua = 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 mamila&uacute; at ca&uacute; uva. If it had rained (= would have rained), I would have been sad.
 * Ev at cu nasika at ga z&iacute;pu. 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:


 * Mamile&eacute;. It is raining.
 * Amco. It will warm up.
 * Eco dropek. There will be a war.
 * &Eacute;ge av et upu j&aacute;. 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 ce&aacute; and ce&eacute; can be used at times as in some of the examples below:


 * Ati ce &iacute;va! We are free.
 * At co idmu. I'll be there.
 * D&eacute;ni 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 ca&uacute; uva ev et v&ograve; upa&uacute;. I would have been sad if you hadn't come.
 * Et ce&eacute; gla fua. You are being very bad.
 * At v&ograve; ce&aacute; ivcla. I was not being funny.

Reflexive constructions

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


 * At v&iacute;mila get ja per majtulu. I washed up (washed myself) before going to breakfast.
 * Tobet tuja get. The boy killed himself.
 * At teasa get cinz&eacute;fu. I looked at myself in the mirror.
 * Tu get! Know thyself!

Modal or auxiliary verbs

 * 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 v&aacute;de&eacute;. I'm sure THAT you are telling the truth.
 * Ad mamilo ce valan. THAT it will rain is a certainty.
 * Ata t&egrave;d da (ad) iyt co tamu ojo &egrave;maj. 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 &aacute;btu. I moved so that he could (= would) sit down.
 * At ta ad it &aacute;bto. 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 v&ograve; ta ev it upo. I did not know whether he would come.
 *  Ev it upo ca tesk&iacute;a 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:


 * 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

Summary of Comparison Constructions

 * Note: v&eacute;l is a preposition that comes from the verb v&eacute;ler to relate and is used to signal the object against which a relative comparison is being made (than, relative to).

The Comparative of Superiority

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

The Comparative of Equality

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

The Comparative of Inferiority

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

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'.

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'.

Idioms Using Adjectival/Adverbial Comparison Constructions

 * Note: v&eacute;l, as a preposition, originates from a verb, much like the prepositions gal plus and gar times:

Formation

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


 * The adverbial ending -&agrave; 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 -&egrave; by means of, through, by.


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


 * Some words are inherently adverbs:


 * &aacute;b up as in go up
 * &oacute;b down as in come down
 * z&agrave; ahead as in run ahead
 * z&ograve; back as come back
 * &uacute;z 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
 * v&agrave; indeed as in He is indeed our leader.
 * v&ograve; not as in He is not our leader.
 * v&egrave; possibly as in It's possibly true.

Comparison

 * Adverbs are compared in the same way as adjectives:

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.


 *  Ig&agrave; upu! Come quickly !
 * At an&agrave; go te. I know only a little .
 * Uda tam fi&agrave; ceswa. This house was built well.
 * Et v&ograve; sa ge fu&agrave;. You did not do as badly.
 * Upu g&aacute; ub&agrave;. Come as closely as possible.
 * At v&ograve; te ev it pa &aacute;b &egrave; &oacute;b. 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
 * &eacute;su g&uacute;! Work hard!