How the tongue is built
Grammar
Grimtian marks meaning with suffixes on a bare stem. Learn the handful of endings below and most of the language opens up.
Word order
- Sentence order
- Subject – Verb – Indirect object – Direct object
- Adjectives
- Adjectives come before the noun.
- Adpositions
- Postpositions (the adposition follows its noun).
Example: “She gave the dog a bone” keeps subject, then verb, then the indirect object (the dog), then the direct object (a bone).
Nouns & articles
There is no separate word for the or a — definiteness and number ride on the noun as suffixes. Examples build from sjo “dog”.
| Form | Suffix | Example | Means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Definite singular | -i | sjoi | the dog |
| Definite plural | -rr | sjorr | the dogs |
| Indefinite singular | -u | sjou | a dog |
| Indefinite plural | -p | sjop | some dogs |
| Possessed | -f | sjof | (sb's) dog |
Plural & possessed endings vary: after a vowel the short form is used,
otherwise a linking vowel is added (e.g. definite plural is
-rr after a vowel, -ärr otherwise).
Pronouns
| Person | Nominative | Accusative | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | spruk | ply | i |
| 2sg | irt | i | you |
| 3sg | pu | gå | he, she, it |
| 1pl.incl | pi | bla | we |
| 1pl.excl | hu | spi | — |
| 2pl | trä | gräl | you, you all, y'all |
| 3pl | vö | of | they |
Grimtian distinguishes inclusive “we” (you + me) from exclusive “we” (them + me, not you).
Possession
Possessive determiners stand before the noun. The possessed noun also
takes a suffix (-f after a vowel, else -yf) —
it is the thing owned, not the owner, that is marked.
| Person | Possessive | English |
|---|---|---|
| 1sg | krö | my |
| 2sg | klu | your |
| 3sg | vä | his, her, its |
| 1pl.incl | batt | our |
| 1pl.excl | my | — |
| 2pl | i | your |
| 3pl | fla | their |
Verbs
The bare stem is the present tense. Tense, aspect and voice are suffixes. Examples build from krir “learn”.
| Form | Suffix | Example | Means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present | — | krir | learn |
| Past | -ålv | krirålv | learned |
| Future | -i | kriri | will learn |
| Progressive | -ongs | krirongs | be learning |
| Perfect | -ätt | krirätt | have learned |
| Passive | -irs | kririrs | be learned |
Questions
A question is formed by suffixing the verb:
-ngkt after a vowel, -ängkt otherwise.
krirängkt “learn?”
Numbers
Grimtian counts in base-20.
- 1 grik
- 2 pock
- 3 vu
- 4 pla
- 5 ma
- 6 vi
- 7 bro
- 8 la
- 9 pä
- 10 vy
- 11 ni
- 12 flars
- 13 unt
- 14 sju
- 15 fuv
- 16 svörko
- 17 ja
- 18 o
- 19 e
- 20 to
- 400 i
- 8000 bä
Word building
New words are derived with suffixes. A few of the most useful:
| From | To | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Adjective | Adverb | vowel: +gs · else +ägs |
| Adjective | Noun (quality of) | +o |
| Adjective | Verb (to make X) | +a |
| Noun | Adjective (having X) | vowel: +ngs · else +ings |
| Noun | Adjective (relating to) | +e |
| Noun | Verb | +un |
| Verb | Adjective (result of) | +itt |
| Verb | Noun (act of) | +ymn |
| Verb | Noun (product of) | vowel: +mti · else +ämti |
| Verb | Agent (one who Xs) | +i |
| Noun | Place of | +e |
| any | Tending to | +u |
| any | Diminutive | vowel: +di · else +udi |
| any | Augmentative | +å |
Sound & spelling
Stress falls on the second-to-last syllable. A handful of spelling conventions map letters to sounds:
| Spelling | Sound (IPA) |
|---|---|
| ä | ɛ / ɛː |
| ö | œ / øː |
| å | oː |
| y | ʏ / yː |
| u | ɵ / ʉː |
| o | ɔ / ʊ / uː |
| ng | ŋ |
| gn | ŋn |
| sj | ɧ |
| ck | kk |
| g (word-final) | j |