Grammàtica essential de uropi scrit in anglese
Uropi
Bird's eye view
alphabet and pronUnciation
There are 24 letters. Each letter corresponds to a sound and each sound to a letter.
a b c d e f g h i j 3 k l m n o p r s t u v w z
a, e, i, o, u are pronounced as in Italian or Spanish : casa, solo, vino, luna, pepe
c is pronounced as « sh » shut 3 is pronounced as « s » in pleasure*
g is always pronounced as in give r is rolled as in Spanish
j is pronounced as « y» in boy or yoghurt s is pronounced as in save or class
All the other letters are pronounced as in English
* This letter corresponds to the international phonetic symbol [3] for the French, Portuguese, Rumanian sound [j] (= s in measure). (When you don't have this symbol on your computer you can use the numeral 3 : certain fonts such as Georgia ou Hoefler text put it in the right place.)
Diphtongs
Ai, aj are pronounced as y in by, why : ex : aj, paj, vaiz
Ei, ej are pronounced as ay in pay, say ex : pej, lej, bej
Ij is pronounced as French ille in fille ex. bij, cijo, perij
Oi, oj are pronounced as oy in boy, toy ex : coj, foj, soin
Ui, uj are pronounced oo + y as French ouille in mouille ex : duj, muj, ruin
Au, aw are pronounced as ow in cow, how ex : Paul, paw, bawo
Ou, ow are pronounced as ow in low, o in nose ex : goul
Eu, ew are pronounced as eu in Italian or Spanish Europa ex : Europa
THE VERB
The Uropi verbal system can be summed up with 3 formulas (o - an - en), ( Ø - ì - ev) and ( ve-o, se-an, av-en, vid-en )
- 3 VERBAL FORMS : -o -an -en = Infinitive & Participles
-O = Infinitive ex : skrivo, liso, sopo, jedo = to write, to read, to sleep, to eat
-AN = Present participle ex : san, skrivan, flan, sopan = being, writing, blowing, sleeping
-EN = Past participle ex : lisen, jeden, flen, opren = read, eaten, blown, open
- 3 SIMPLE TENSES : Ø - ì - ev = Present, Past, Conditional
Ø (no ending or -e ending when pronouncing is impossible) = Present
ex : skriv, lis, sop, jed = write, read, sleep, eat se, ste, fle, opre = is, stand, blow, open
-Ì = Past ex : sì, avì, oprì, sopì = was, had, opened, slept
-EV = Conditional ex : sev, avev, lisev, venev = would be, have, read, come
-3 AUXILIARIES : So (to be), Avo (to have), Vido (to get) + 1 particle : Ve
VE-O (ve + infinitive) = Future ex : ve so, ve avo, ve sopo = will be, will have, will sleep
SE-AN (to be + present participle) = The Durative Form (progressive or continuous)
It is used to insist on the duration, the continuity of an action (= to be + Ving)
ex : se lisan, se sopan = is reading, is sleeping
AV-EN (to have + past participle) = PAST TENSES
av-en = Present Perfect ex : av jeden, av venen = has eaten, has come
Avo + -en is also used to form the pluperfect (avì-en, ex: avì sopen = had slept) and the
past conditional (Avev-en, ex: avev aven = would have had)
VID-EN (to get + past participle) = PASSIVE
Vid jeden, vidì tuden, ve vido opren = is (gets) eaten, got (was) killed, will be open
PERSONAL PRONOUNS & POSSESSIVES
i = I ma = me mo = to me mi = my
tu = you (sing) ta = you (obj.) to = to you ti = your
he = he ha = him ho = to him hi = his
ce = she ca = her co = to her ci = her
je = it ja = it jo = to it jo = its
nu = we na = us no = to us, ni = our
vu = you (plur) va = you vo = to you vi = your
lu = they la = them lo = to them li = their
We should add the indefinite pronoun UN = one, and the reflexive pronoun SIA = oneself (sio = to oneself, possessive siu = one's) . The verb remains the same whatever the person.
conjugaTion
Affirmative : personal pronoun + verb ; Interrogative : verb + personal pronoun; Negative : personal pronoun + verb + NE
Ex : I skriv, he lisì, ce ve sopo = I write, he read, she will sleep
Piv tu ?, Venì he ? Zavev lu ? = Do you drink ? Did he come ? Would they know ?
Nu vol ne, vu av ne vizen = We don't want, you haven't seen
De beb sì sopan, je v'ne liuvo = The baby was sleeping, it won't rain
Avev vu iten za ? Tu jed ne = Would you have gone there ? You don't eat
ARTICLES
In Uropi, there are 2 articles.
* The definite article de = the, for all nouns
ex : de man, de mata, de kat, de hase = the man, the mother, the cat, the houses
* The indefinite article u, un (in front of a vowel) = a, an ; doesn't'exist in the plural
ex : u kun, u kuna, un ovel, mane, kate = a dog, a bitch, a bird, men, cats
THE NOUN
In Uropi there are 2 types of nouns : the nouns ending in a consonant and the nouns ending
in -a
* All masculinE nouns end in a consonAnT
They designate only male sexed beings and correspond to the pronoun he = he
ex : man, kun, pater, frat, kwal, doktor = man, dog, father, brother, horse, doctor
* All fémininE nouns end in -a
ex : 3ina, kata, mata, sesta, kwala = woman, she-cat, mother, sister, mare
They designate only female sexed beings and correspond to the pronoun Ce = she
Feminine nouns can be formed by adding -a to masculine nouns ex : kat > kata
* All the other nouns are neutEr ; they correspond to the pronoun je = it
They end either in a consonant or in -a
ex : has, tag, strad, luc, vag, natùr = house, roof, street, light, car, nature
kina, teatra, dia, sta, vima = cinema, theatre, day, place, winter
Plural
* The nouns ending in a consonant take an -E
ex : hase, mane, vage, kune, frate = houses, men, cars, dogs, brothers
* The nouns ending in -a take an -S
ex : katas, kinas, tiotas, dias, aktoras = she-cats, cinemas, aunts, days, actresses
THe génitiVE
It is the possessive phrase (‘s). It is the last trace of the old Indo-european declension system ; it remains in most of the present European languages: Slavic, Baltic, Germanic languages (except Dutch), Greek, Rumanian, Albanian, Armenian, etc...
* The nouns ending in a consonant take an -i , in the singular, -is in the plural
ex : mani = man's, vagi = car-, of a car, kuni = dog's, kwalis = horses', de kunis = the dogs', de tage de hasis = the roofs of the houses, de kun mi patri = my father's dog, de luce de vagis = the lights of the cars
* For the nouns in -a, the -a is replaced by -u in the singular, -us in the plural
ex : veste 3inus = women's clothes, de fram ti sestu = your sister's friend, un aktora kinu = a film star (cinema actress) , de mata mi kuzinu = my cousin's mother
* The genitive can be used to form adjectives from nouns
ex : noc = nuit > noci = night-, nightly, noci ovel = night bird, diu fafìl = (day) butterfly, man > mani = man's, masculine, mani veste = men's clothes, mani moda = men's fashion
* The genitive is used to form compounds
ex : vag + luc > vagilùc = « car light », headlight, vod = water + fal = fall > vodifàl = waterfall, strad =
street + lamp = lamp > stradilàmp = streetlamp, vima = winter + sport > vimusporte = winter sports ,
kina + stel = étoile > kinustèl = film star
prépositions
a to gon against po for tra across
ane without in in, into pos after trawan during
be at instà instead pro in front of tru through
berù behind intra between slogan according to ude under
do towards ki with su on us out of
dod since obte in spite of sube above usim except
for before ov about tis till uve over
ADJECTIVES
In Uropi adjectives are invariable ; They are always placed in front of the noun
Ex : u jun man, mi seni mata, nar kate, = a young man, my old mother, black cats
de somu dias, u famos aktora = the summer days, a famous actress
Comparatives
Greater degree maj... te = more..., ...er than
ex : ce se maj jun te i = she is younger than me (I)
Lesser degree min... te = less... than, not so... as
ex : vu se min alti te he = you are not so tall as him (he)
Equal degree os... te = as... as
ex : he se os glaj te tu = he is as merry as you
Superlatives
Greater degree de maj... = the most... (or de + adjective + -es)
ex : di flor se de maj bel, de beles = this flower is the most beautiful
Lesser degree de min... = the least...
ex : he se de min seni od tale = he is the least old of all
THE NUMBERS
0 nul 7 sep 30 trides
1 un 8 oc 100 sunte
2 du 9 nev 200 dusunte
3 tri 10 des 1000 tilie
4 kwer 11 desùn 3000 tritilie
5 pin 12 desdù 1000 000 un miliòn
6 ses 20 dudes 1000 000 000 un miliàrd
ex : 574 = pinsunte sesdes kwer, 2 350 819 = du milione trisunte pindes tilie ocsunte desnèv
Ordinal numbers : pri = 1st, duj = 2nd, trij = 3rd, kweri = 4th, pini = 6th, sesi = 6th, sepi = 7th, etc...
THE TIME
Ka hor se je ? = What time is it ? Je s' un (hor) = It's one o' clock
Je s' midià = It's twelve o' clock (noon) Je s' du id dudes = It's twenty past two
Je s' midià id des = it's ten past twelve Je s' tri min des = it's ten to three
Je s'oc min kwert = it's a quarter to eight Je s' kwer id mij = it's half past four
Je s' nev id kwert = it's a quarter past nine
Be ka hor inìz de konsèrt ? = What time is the concert ?
Be dudes id mij = At half past eight pm
Hor = hour minùt = minute sekùnd = second
THE DATE
The days of the week
Lundia = Monday Mididia = Wednesday Wendia = Friday
Mardia = Tuesday Zusdia = Thursday Sabadia = Saturday
Soldia = Sunday
The months of the year
Janvar = January Maj = May September = September
Febrar = February 3un = June Oktober = October
Mars = March 3ul = July November = November
Aprìl = Avril Agùst = August December = December
Odia se 26i (dudes sesi) September 2005 (dutilie pin) = Today is 26 September 2005
Be pri Maj = on 1st May, be 11i (desuni) November = on 11th November
Jesta = yesterday odia = today domòr = tomorrow
Forjesta = day before yesterday posdomòr = day after tomorrow
Tri dias for = three days ago in tri dias = in three days
The seasons
Verna = spring, soma = summer, otèm = autumn, vima = winter
origin oF uropi WORDS
Uropi words stem from the common Indo-European roots which gave birth to most of the words used today in nearly all European languages (apart from Hungarian, Finnish and Estonian.)
For example the root sâwel* = sun > Uropi sol can be found in Latin, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Rumanian, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, English, German, Dutch, Russian, Po-lish, Czech, Serbo-Croatian..., Lithuanian, Lettish, Greek, Welsh, Breton, + Sanskrit and Hindi.
The root mâtêr* = mother > Uropi mata can be found in Greek, Latin, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, English, German, Dutch, Russian, Polish, Czech, Serbo-Croatian..., Lithuanian, Lettish, Albanian, Armenian, Gaelic, Breton, + Sanskrit, Hindi, Farsi (Persian), etc...
Here are a few examples of Indo-European roots which gave birth to basic Uropi vocabulary:
Pëtêr* = father > U. pater, bhrâtêr* = brother > U. frat, sûnús* = son > U. son, mori* = sea > U. mar, snighws* = snow > U. snev, stâyô* = to stand > U. sto, sed-* = to sit > U. sedo, leghmi* = to lie > U. le3o, gwîwô* = to live > U. 3ivo, mer-* = to die > U. moro, mêns* = month > U. mon, dyêus* = day > U. dia, édmi* = to eat > U. jedo, pibô = to drink > U. pivo, gwous* = ox > U. gov, kwôn = dog > U. kun, etc...
Uropi gathers the terms which are common to most European languages (Indo-European roots, international words, borrowings, calques, etc...) It is the greatest common denominator between European languages.
A FeW simple seNTENCEs
Piv tu ne bir ? Don't you drink beer ? Di se bel voke ! These are fine words !
Di bib se Petri This book is Peter's I nud okle I need glasses
Tu staj be dom You stay at home Mi sesta jeg pianò My sister plays the piano
He av ne mozen veno He couldn't come I se le3an su ruk I'm lying on my back
Is verem se bel i v'ito pasìto If the weather is fine I'll go for a walk
I av iten kopo u romàn I have gone and bought a novel
I ve diko ja vo domòr I'll show it to you tomorrow
He pragì mo kamòl kostì de vin He asked me how much the wine cost
Un rekonì ha od dal He could be recognized from afar
préfixes AND suffixes
Prefixes (See prepositions)
a- = 1) arrival, 2) to make + verb ex : veno = to come > aveno = to arrive
ex : frajo = to fear > afrajo = to frighten
an- = un-, -less (adjectives) ex : justi = fair > anjusti = unfair
ap- = off, away ex : duto = to lead > apduto = to abduct, to kidnap
be- = fixing, setting, seizing, holding ex : cepo = to seize > becepo = to receive
di- = reverse action, un-, de- ex : deto = to do, dideto = to undo
dis- = scattering, splitting, breaking up ex : part = part > disparto = to share
for- = before, pre- , fore- ex : vizo = to see, forvizo = to foresee
gon- = against, anti- counter- ex : dezo = to say > gondezo = to contradict
in- = movement inward ex : muvo = move > inmuvo = move (feelings)
intra- = reciprocity, inter- ex : mico = to mix, intramico = to intermix
ko- = with, together, co-, con-, com- ex : varko = to work > kovarko = to collaborate
niz- = down, downward ex : volto = to turn round > nizvolto = to capsize
ob- = obstacle ex : falo = to fall > obfàl = accident
od- = provenance, origin ex : veno = to come, odvenad = origin
op- = up, upwards ex : duto = to lead > opduto = to educate
pas- = passage, past ex : ito = to go > pasìto = to go for a walk
per- = pejorative, deterioration, ex : curo = to swear > percuro = to betray one's oath
po- = goal, purpose ex : mozo = can, be able > pomozo = to enable
pos- = after, following, post- ex : pero = to carry > pospero = to postpone
pro- = movement forward ex : seto = to put > proseto = to introduce, present
re- = repetition, re- ex : geno = to be born > regeno = to be born again
ru- = back, backwards, return ex : voko = to speak > ruvoko = to answer
su- = on, to add ex : flujo = to flow > suflujo = to flood
sube- = above, over, super- ex : seto = to put > subeseto = to superpose
tra- = crossing, transition, trans- ex : davo = to give > tradavo = to pass on, transmit
tru- = through ex : vizo = to see > truvizi = see-through, transparent
ude- = under, sub- ex : kut = skin > udekuti = subcutaneous
us- = out, outside, ex- ex : kluzo = to close > uskluzo = to exclude
uve- = over, too much ex : deto = to do > uvedeto = to overdo, exaggerate
Suffixes
-ad = verbal or adjectival noun ex : akto = to act > aktad = action, bel > belad = beauty
-id, -ij = nouns from adjectives in -i, -ic ex : veri = true > verid = truth, peric > perij = danger
-or -a = agent ex : liso = to read > lisor, -a = reader
-ìst, -a = specialist or supporter ex : dant = tooth > dantìst = dentist, komunìst, etc...
-an, -a = in a certain state, inhabitants ex : pod = foot > podan = pedestrian, Roman = Roman
-en, -a = undergoing ex : akulpo = to accuse > akulpen = accused
-èl = object used to ex : koto = to cut > kotèl = knife
-ar = bearing or containing ex : pir = pear > pirar = pear tree, ac > acar = ashtray
-ia = place (for ex : countries, etc...) ex : koko = to cook, kokia = kitchen, Francia = France
