General Guide to aUI
Basic Combinations
GENERAL RULES OF aUI GRAMMAR
There is no “formal” grammar since all the elements still retain their original meaning.
The rule is: we talk “as clear as we must, as short as we can.”
In creating combinations, we generally try to find the necessary and sufficient characteristics in a nutshell. This means we are looking for as many elements as we need to identify the word — but only as many as will distinguish it from other related words. What is the bare minimum of elements that are contained in this word? Which elements identify its essence – its basic, fundamental meaning? If the existing formulation doesn’t seem precise enough to our exacting sensibilities, we can add a symbol or a few more to fit the context.
For instance the original word for ‘drink’ (verb) is jEv jEv [liquid-Action/Verb ending] – perhaps the most common and relevant action humans do with a liquid. To make it more precise we can add to it:
jEt-gev jEt-gev [liquid-Toward-Inside-move];or: jEt-gov jEt-gov [liquid-Toward-Inside-Life-Action];
or: jE-togev jE-togev [liquid-Toward-body-move] which might be translated into a fancier term like imbibe.
So there are always several possibilities, depending on how exacting one wants to be. However, one also needs to consider pronounceability – sometimes the order of the elements needs to be adjusted to make pronunciation easier. If the word is used often, we may end up abbreviating it again to the shorter version. The minimalistic versions of word formulations could actually be considered informal speech or slang!
The end of the word is what it ultimately is: a dog-house is a kind of house, but a house-dog is a kind of dog. The best way to learn about word formulation is to familiarize yourself with the existing vocabulary first.
[For future completion: Go Into the Wordy Woods for a fun trail that leads to an ever developing semantic tree and see how far you can help it grow!]Complete Grammar
Based on aUI, The Language of Space, 4th ed., 1979*, pp. 42-50D.
*(Pages cited herein are from the aUI book, and I have noted a few changes with my initials, awp. Summary translations of aUI formulations are given in brackets, with aUI elements capitalized.
In a sense, there is no fully formal grammar in aUI, since any affixes (prefixes & suffixes) themselves still retain their original meaning. There are standard affixes that are patterned after English to show verb tense (time), and a few that add special meaning, but none for person or plural.
Abstract/Conceptual: -U, -Uz, -Ø
end either in -U, Mind or -Uz, Mind-Part (concept) when making a concept out of a single element, e.g. n-Uz [Quantity concept], the idea of Quantity in the abstract; or -Ø, Condition, which can form an abstract noun from an adjective (-mØ) or verb (-vØ; see Gerund). These describe words that are of a conceptual, mental (U, U: Mind) nature or a conditional (Q,Ø: Condition) state (in contrast to those with concrete (s, s: Thing) or material (E, E: Matter) components). In English this is designated by adjective endings such as -ness, -ty, -th, -hood, and -tude, e.g. kam [high], kamU or kamØ [height, highness]. If derived from verbs, endings such as -ion are used, e.g. vOv [to impress], vOvU or vOvØ [impression] (p. 42, awp)
Accent/Stress:
Most accent is given to the Nasals, which are the number elements, as in: nâkiA [summer]; in their Roman transcription they have a caret over the vowel (except in platforms where this is not available, so the numeral is used).
- The secondary accent falls on the long, capital vowels, such as iA [day].
- Third accent is on the next-to-the-last (penultimate) syllable, such as uga [house] (the syllable which starts a two-syllable word), or in kam-uga [high-house] (the middle of a three syllable word).
Distinguish: io [plant], iO [sight], IO (hearing).
- In verbs, the stem vowel keeps a melodic accent, however in Past and Future the long ‘-pA-’ & ‘-tA-’ endings compete: ov [to live] becomes o-pAv [lived] with a higher tone on the o; likewise te-vAm [coming] with a higher tone on e.
- When a word contains both LONG and nasal vowels, the nasal gets the accent: âkiA [year]; Ezê [Helium].
Adjectives/Adverbs:
As modifiers or qualifiers of nouns and verbs, both adjectives and adverbs end in -m Quality (corresponding to English -ly, -ious, -y, -al, -ary): o Life, om [alive]; a Space, am [spatial]; A, Time, Am [temporal(ly]. Modifiers usually precede their words modified: adjectives stand immediately before their nouns, as do adverbs before their verbs. A few adverbs end in –g Inside (containing): rUg [well], rØg [luckily, in luck].
Note: Using –mØ to clarify an adverb was an idea of Weilgart’s daughter at a young age, but is no longer considered necessary, since it can be confused with its use as an ending for a conditional state (see Abstract/Conceptual).
Adjectives/Adverbs: -m
As modifiers or qualifiers of nouns and verbs, both adjectives and adverbs end in -m Quality (corresponding to English -ly, -ious, -y, -al, -ary): o Life, om [alive]; a Space, am [spatial]; A, Time, Am [temporal(ly]. Modifiers usually precede their words modified: adjectives stand immediately before their nouns, as do adverbs before their verbs. A few adverbs end in -g Inside (containing): rUg [well], rØg [luckily, in luck].
Note: Using -mØ to clarify an adverb was an idea of Weilgart’s daughter at a young age, but is no longer considered necessary, since it can be confused with its use as an ending for a conditional state (see Abstract/Conceptual).
Agent: -vu
An agent is the person or object that causes an Action (in English -er or -or as in farmer, giver, traveller, sender, creator): vav [to send], vavu [sender]. In some cases –u can replace the former noun ending: odva [farm], odvu [farmer].
Articles: yI, yIn, pI, pIn
are the little ‘particles’ that precede a noun, either introducing it for the first time (a, an…) or referring to it after it’s been mentioned once (the…). aUI does not insist on the use of articles; they can be replaced by ‘one’ â, or ‘this’ fE, or plural ‘these’ fEn and ‘many’ nEn. English itself makes little difference between: “A dog is a man’s best friend” or: “Dog is man’s best friend” or: “The dog is the best friend of man” or: “Dogs are men’s friends”. aUI omits such articles. But in a story like, “Once upon a time, there was a princess. The princess loved to play with a golden ball. One day the ball fell into a well. The well was very deep…”, the first time a subject is mentioned it has not been spoken of or ‘sounded’ before; then, the times thereafter, ‘the’ means ‘the previously mentioned subject’. So a/an can be designated by yI [Un-Sounded], a/an plural (several) as yIn; the as pI [Before-Sounded], the plural as pIn. pIs [the Before-Sounded-Thing] can be used as a variation for ‘it’, originally given as sE [Thing-Material].
Capitals:
are used in transcribing the long (in the time held) vowels AEIUO. Capital consonants are used for proper names and words borrowed from other languages into aUI: Lincoln becomes “LiNKoLN” (names are spelled phonetically as pronounced in aUI); if written in symbols they are underlined, and do not need to be stacked (written on one level).
Cases:
Word order mostly shows the relationship between words in a sentence. There are generally no special endings or forms to show such case relationships. Possessive (genitive) is indicated by Ub [of] as in “Ugs Ub vetgUvu” [(the) book of (the) teacher]. An indirect object (dative) is indicated by at [to] at the end, as in “fu sev Ugs at vetgUvu” [I give (the) book to (the) teacher].
Causatives: see Verbs
Command/Imperative: see Verbs
Comparison: nE, nEk, pnEk, mYt
nE [much]; nEk [much-Above, super-much: more]; pnEk [Before-more: most]. These are used for all adjectives and adverbs, nouns and verbs. mYt [Quality-from: than] is the level from which the Quality is compared and measured. “vu’c nEk tonvomu mYt u” [He is more (of a) male than (a) man…(rather a he-man than a human)].
Future: see Verb tense
Gender:
Nouns are not assigned gender.
Generally accepted formulations to distinguish male and female seem to be some of the most difficult to create in aUI – what essential difference defines maleness and femaleness other than biological sex differences? Originally Weilgart used vus [man] and Yvus [woman] (Active sperm vs. conceptive, more passive ovum; –s indicates concreteness). An alternative for female he suggested was L, Rounded, for the more characteristically rounded features of the female body.
So the following formulations are more specific to the biological sex difference, and added only a few more symbols – not only for their meaning, but also for their shape:
gomLu [Inside-Life-Quality-Rounded-Human: woman]: Quality’s shape of an open vessel is an ancient way to depict the feminine; the shape of Inside and the Roundedness symbol not only represent the egg as well as other curvaceous body shapes, but also the potential of carrying life within a body (the empty circle within a circle).
tonvu [Many-seed-Make-Human: man]: Sperm is active; the angular Action and Quantity signs represent masculinity.
These formulations still allow their original abbreviations of Lu and vu to function as she and he. On the other hand, easiest is to avoid gender designation altogether, and use cu [Exist-Human] for he/she. Transgender could be specified as tYfe-voz-mu [Toward-other-Move-sex-Quality-Human]; cis-gender: toe-voz-mu [birth-sex-Quality-Human]; transman: tYfe-tonvu [Toward-other-Move-man]; transwoman: tYfe-gomLu [Toward-other-Move-woman] (p. 44, awp).
Gerund: -vØ
A gerund is a verbal noun – a noun derived from a verb – in English ending in -ing (but not the adjectival -ing; see Participle). So in aUI the –Ø is added to the verb ending: “nevØ Ec vrom” [running is healthy = to run is healthy = a run is healthy]. Further examples: “Rolling stones gather no moss” (adjectival participle, LeL-vAm) vs. “Rolling stones is fun.” (LeLvØ); “The interesting man made us laugh” (adjectival participle, OtgU-vAm) vs. “Interesting kids to learn is motivational” (vOtgUvØ – which also adds the causative prefix v–.)
Hyphen: —
The hyphen in aUI is a short, raised arch, so as not to be confused with Negation. It is used for clarity, both to separate and join basic roots within a compound formulation. This is especially important when coining new compounds, so symbols that belong together are read that way. The hyphen can be used to indicate the possessive, instead of Ub [of]: u-ca [human-world] = human’s world = ca Ub u [(the) world of (hu)man].
Infinitives:
Can be clarified by at [to]: nu pev (at) urIv [they started (to) sing]. Ut [Mentally, in order to] could also be used (p. 45. awp)
Invectives: Yr-
Are insulting and abusive words or language. In aUI they start explicitly with Yr– [bad]. This opens them up to possible question, “why are they inherently bad?”. Invective labels are less likely to be questioned because the label makes them bad by implicit definition.
Examples: ‘chicken’: Yr-Yb-wOmu [bad-without-courage-Person]; ‘vermin’: Yr-Ynubos-u; ‘geek’: Yr-ta-bwU-dvUm-u [bad-focus-technical-Person]; ‘nerd’: Yr-Yg-brunam-nidUmu [bad-outside-social-intelligent-Person] (these definitions may need to be adjusted).
Measurements:
Metric units are preferred. âna-ân [length-unit: meter]; E-ân [Matter-unit].
Negation: y, Y
Like any modifier, Negation precedes the negated; the bar covers what is denied or opposed: Yc [(is) not]; Y-iOm [Non-seeing] = iyOm [Light-Nonsensing]: blind. But yi-Om would mean darkness-sensing.
Negation transcribed in lowercase represents a semi-vowel /j/, and is pronounced as in English ‘you’ in front of a vowel: yi [shade], yum [inhuman]. But in front of a consonant, the Y is capitalized and represents a vowel /y/: Ytu [parent]; aYt [off] – tying the word together but keeping the a and Yt distinct. So in a way, Negation is also pronounced in opposition to what follows it, vowel or consonant.
Nouns:
are basic words for things that can be seen (person, place, or thing). The main vowels are nouns. Nouns ending in –s are concrete and can be formed from more abstract nouns: o [Life], os [Life-Thing/Concrete: an actual living thing (general word for animal)]. Nouns ending in –U are conceptual or abstract (opposite of concrete): yIU [Non-Sound-Concept: silence]. However, these endings are not always necessary.
Numerals/Numbers:
The usual Arabic numerals are used for aUI figure symbols, and correspond phonetically to the order of the vowels, except that they are nasalized (with a pinched or wrinkled nose). As Roman letters, they are underlined:
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Ŷ, â, ê, î, û, ô; Â, Ê, Î, Û, Ô
Ordinal numbers: first = nâ, [Number-One], second = nê,…nÔkê [100th].
In aUI multiplication, if factors sound alike, their product has the same ending quality:
(A means ‘times’; j means ‘equals’; neb means ‘plus’)
2 x 6 = 12 sounds: ê A  j Ôê 3 x 9 = 27 sounds: î A Û j êÊ
7 x 6 = 42 sounds: Ê A Â j ûÔê 8 x 4 = 32 sounds: Î A û j îê
8 + 5 = 13 sounds: Î neb ô j Ôî : adding 5 changes length but not quality of î (Î).
(A multiplication table can be drawn in red (for 1&6), yellow (2&7), green (3&8), blue (4&9), violet (5&10), writing 1 through 10 in both the first row and left column, and having their products form the body of this multiplication square.)
Being so short, the numeral nasals are used within words:
Colors: âim [First-Light-Quality: red], êim [yellow], îim [green], ûim [blue], ôim [violet]
If color difference is considered solely a quantitative difference in wavelength, perhaps more correct would be nâi, nêi, nîi, nûi, nôi [Quantity-One-Light] or [first-Light] of the rainbow (p. 46, awp).
Stars: âki [First-star: sun], êki [moon]
Dimensions: âna [First-dimension: length], êna [flatness, plane], îna [Third-dimension]
As in the Roman numeral system:
Additions of tens are put after: 13 = 10 + 3 = ten-three Ôî
Multiplications are put before: 50 = 5 x 10 = five-ten ôÔ.
23 = 2 x 10 + 3 = two-ten-three = êÔî, or simply 2,3 êî.
Powers of ten use simply the number of zeros as exponent, with k, Above, High: 109 [one billion] = ÔkÛ “ten-high-nine” (as expressed in German).
1492 sounds either short: âûÛê, or longer: Ôkî–û-Ôkê–Û-Ô–ê (which is still shorter than “thousand-four-hundred-ninety-two”; Ôû-ÛÔ-ê “fourteen-ninety-two” is also possible (p. 46, awp).
Plus = neb [Quantity-Move-Together] or Ib [and]; minus = nYt [Quantity-from]; times = A [Time]; divided by = zE-pAm Ud [split by]; one-half = âzvê [One-Part-Make-Two]; four-fifth = ûzvô [Four-Parts-Make-Five].
For clarification in pronouncing numbers, say when listing off a longer number over the phone, the book suggests number words that contain as many letters as the number represents: â =1, bê = 2, cîc = 3, drûd = 4, frônf = 5; the numbers above five are then are said with exaggerated long vowels: Â, bÊ, cÎc, drÛd, frÔnf (or Ôkâ = 101).
Participles: see Verbs
Plural: -n, (if necessary)
Except in mass nouns, the plural is usually omitted or replaced by ‘many’, nEn, or a specific number (such as ê gaf î, [two or three]. Even in English the plural is sometimes not indicated (many sheep, instead of sheeps). If needed, the plural is expressed by the preceding article ending in –n [Quantity]:
pIn [the, plural], pIn rUm [the good (ones)]; yIn [a, plural: several], yIn u [several people].
fEn [these]; pfEn [those].
Pronouns are inserted with –n-: fnu [we]; bnu [you all]; nu [they]; snE [they].
Plural possessive pronouns become: fnum [our]; bnum [your, plural]; num [their].
“pIn fnum bru bav nEn Ugs; fnu UiOv snE*.” [Our friends have many books; we read them.] “yIn fnum bru” [some (of) our friends]. The noun itself stays the same, as does the verb.*Alternate form: pIns [the many Things].
Mass (collective) nouns include the –n, usually at the end: jEn [water]; un [people]; En [mass], kion [forest].
Pronoun: fu, bu, Lu/vu/cu (see Prounoun chart for complete list)
fu [This-Human] I; bu [Together-Human] (the one you are Together with). See Gender for further explanation of Lu [Rounded-Human] she; vu [Active sperm-Human] he; unspecified gender cu [Existing-Human] s/he.
Plural is made with –n-, as shown under Plural.
Possessive is made with –m, Qualified.
Mine, yours, and theirs is preceded by pI (singular) or pIn (plural): pI fum, pI bum, pI num. fE’c pI bum [This is yours]; fEn’c pIn bum [These are yours]; fEn’c pIn num [These are theirs].
For he, she, or it when referring to living things, vo, Lo, and co or so can be used; similarly adapted are the plural and possessive forms.
Relative pronouns are types of pronouns that connect a relative clause to the main clause of a sentence – in order to clarify who or what a sentence is talking about or to give extra information about it (“the person, who wrote this letter”: ‘u, xu vUiO-pAv fE vaUs’). They ‘relate’ one part of a sentence to the other, or are related to the subject of the sentence. As in direct questions, no inversion is necessary.
“The person whom I saw is my friend” = “The person – I saw him – is my friend” becomes “The person, I saw whom, is my friend” ‘u, fu iO-pAv xu, Ec fum bru.’
Another possibility, mentioned on p. 49, is to introduce the relative clause with xØ [Relation-Condition: ‘where’]: “The man, whom I showed you, was my brother” pI u, xØ fu viO-pAv xu at bu, pAc fum jYtvu’ or “The man, where I showed whom to you,…(But if this seems too awkward, the former inverted form is also permissible. p. 49, awp)
Singular
who, whom xu
whose xum
what, which xE
where xa
whither xat
whence xYt
when xA
why xU
how (by what means) xUd
how (what kind) xUm
which (what kind of) xEm
that Uf
as (after same or such) Uj (…the same… as…)
Plural
who, whom xnu
whose xnum
which xEn
how much xnE
how many xnEn
Pronunciation:
(see also Elements of Meaning at the website https://auilanguage.org/modules/elements-of-meaning/ )
Vowels are pronounced as in most European languages: a, e, i, u, o as in mama, jet, see, push, of; A, E, I, U. O as in Ah!, Eh!, polIce, trUe, Oh! Care must be taken not to make any of the vowels dipthongs, i.e. the sound changes from beginning to end, so E becomes E-ee.
Y is as in you in front of vowels, but as in boy – with a strong dipthong at the end, keeping the lips rounded (ü). Ø as in word, also keeping lips rounded (ö).
j as in jour; c as in special; x as in the Spanish pronunciation of Mexico.
Questions: (see Pronoun chart for complete list)
No inversion is necessary: “What does he eat?” becomes “He eats what?” ‘vu dov hE?’ If no other question word is present, use ‘hI?’ at the end: “Does he eat bread? becomes “He eats bread, eh?” ‘vu dov nod, hI?’
Singular Plural
who/whom?;(for living things) hu; ho who; (for living things) hnu; hno
what? hE what quantity? hEn
where? ha how much? hnE
whither? where to? hat how many? hnEn
whence? where from? hYt
when? hA
why? in what Spirit? hU
how? by what means? hUd
how? by what Material means? hEd
how, what kind? hUm
which, what kind? hEm
Verbs: -v
Verbs, in general, show action in a sentence, so in aUI end in –v, Action, to represent the prototypical, dynamic verb.
Auxiliary Verbs
In contrast, the most common stative verb describes a state of being (using forms of to be) and can be represented in aUI with an –c, Exist, at the end (p. 50C, awp).
The original cEv [be, am, are materially] is abbreviated to Ec in the present, pAc in the past, and tAc for the future (p. 50C, awp). But there are many meanings of ‘be’ depending on context:
Linking verb – to be
Uc to be Spiritually or Mentally; “truth is beautiful”
amUc to be only of the Mind, hypothetically; “unicorns are usually white”
oc to be by nature, in Life; “grass is green”
Øc to be in a Condition; “I am sick”
vØc to be Made in a Condition; “the table is green”
zØc to be Partly in a Condition; “you are an ass” (“you are not a whole ass – rather the inverse” 😉
Oc to be Emotionally; “he is angry”
fOc to be in My Feeling; “you are beautiful”
Auxiliary or helping verbs
be Ec (see above)
do Ev
have bav
Modal auxiliary verbs
can wav, wØv
could –wØc
would –Øc, –tØc, –trØc, –hØc
should –rv, –wØrc
will/shall –tAv
may –twØc, –dYvØc
might –twØc
must wYv (wYv-tAv [will be obliged]; wYv-pAv [was obliged]); –wYvØc
Causatives: v-, vet-, -vev
are verbs that cause an Action, so should start with v–, or can be formed with –vev [Make-move] at the end if pronunciation is otherwise awkward. It is especially necessary to distinguish the causative from its root verb when the root itself is transitive (acting on an object in the sentence): dov [to eat (food)], vet-dov [Make-Movement-Toward-eat: feed] (p. 44, awp).
Command/Imperative: -rv
Commands in aUI are politely made by inserting r, Good, in front of the verb ending, as in ‘it would be Good to do this’ or ‘you better do this!’: ev [to move], erv [move!] In commands made from verbs ending in –Yv, the r must precede the Yv (otherwise the Y negates r): sYv [to receive], srYv [receive!]
A command in the passive is possible: “s/he ought to be moved by your words”, ‘cu O-ve-rYv Ud bum UI’ [s/he emotionally-Make-Good-to be-moved by your word(s)]. In the active past (perfect) form it would be: ‘bu Ove-fApArv cu Ud bum UI’, “you ought-to-have-moved hir by your words”; and in the passive past (perfect): ‘cu Ove-fApA-rYv Ud bum UI’, “s/he ought-to-have-been-moved by your word(s).”
So commands, which otherwise may work subliminally, are exposed in aUI to explicit questioning, for verification: “Why would doing this be good?”
Conditional: -Qc
Sentences in the conditional mood describe hypothetical scenarios that require certain conditions to be met. They generally begin with if, Øg [Condition-Inside] and use modal auxiliary verbs (such as will, would, can, could, may, must, should) to express a range of mood between possibility and actuality – (e.g. the level of its likelihood, ability, permission, obligation, or future intention). Like the forms of ‘to be’, the nuanced meanings can be further distinguished in ending, beyond the original counterfactual suffix –yEc, [-Anti-is; Opposite of-Materially-Exist]. For instance, “If you had not come, she would have been sad”: ‘Øg bu Yc tepAv-Qc, cu pAc-Øc UYrOm.’ [If you not came-would, she conditionally-was-would be sad.] (p. 50B, awp):
Level of Existence in Actuality
(approximate applications from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irrealis_mood)
–yEc unreal would: “If you were a famous writer…if you had a phone…”
–âmUc abstract, hypothetical would: “I would ride a unicorn if I could”
–hEc hypothetical, questionable material existence would: “If he were to come…”
–Øc conditional would: “…you would call me.” Also simply: would be Q-yEc.
–tØc conditional would (like to, ‘desiderative’): “…you would tend toward/like to call me.”
–trØc conditional would (likely, probably, ‘optative’): “…you would probably call me.”
–hØc conditional would (doubtfully, ‘dubitative’): “…you would doubtfully call me.”
–wØc conditional could: “…you could call me.” Also simply: could be wØc.
–wØrc conditional should (imperative): “…you should call me.”
–twØc conditional might, may: “…you might call me.”
–dYvØc conditional may (‘permissive’): “…you may/are permitted to call me.”
–wYvØc conditional must (‘necessitative’): “…you must call me.”
–tØic conditional apparent (‘inferential’): “…I assume you would call me.”
Counterfactual: -yEc
Verbs in the subjunctive mood describe hypothetical or non-real situations, such as wishes, and use the –yEc ending [-Anti-is; Opposite of-Materially-Exist]. For instance, “I wish it were Saturday; I wish I did not have to go to work”: ‘fu tOv sE Ec-yEc nÂ-iA; fu tOv fu Yc wYv-yEc av at ruwe.’ [I wish it is/not-is (were) Saturday; I wish I not must/not-is to go to work.]
Optative: ØtrOm-
is a mood of verbs that expresses a wish or desire, and uses a counterfactual (irrealis or subjunctive) mood. If one wants to further emphasize this mood, beyond what is given above under Conditional endings, one could use and adjectival prefix: fu ØtrOm-sev [I Conditional-hope-give: I would like to give]. (The book gives simply –rO– (se-rO-v) in the original, but this does not give a sense of wish (tO) or condition (Ø), so I added these; p. 46, awp).
ØtOm– would desire (desiderative)
ØtrOm– would hopefully (optative)
ØwOm– may (conditionally feel the power…)
Participles
are words formed from verbs that can function as adjectives or gerunds (type of noun), and can be used to form tenses that describe continuous (progressive, ongoing) and completed (‘perfect’) actions. In English these end in -ing for present tense, and in -ed for past tense. They are used in both Active and Passive voice constructions.
Since the adjectival participle is descriptive it takes an adjective ending in aUI, –pAm; the simple past verb ending, –pAv, becomes a type of adjective, –pAm, showing that something was happening in the past over time to qualify the subject.
Active Participle: -pvAm, -vAm, -tvAm (see chart under Verb Tense for complete list)
The active participle is the one for active constructions and implies continuous Action over Time on the part of the noun being described. Therefore, they end in –vAm [Active-Time-Adjective] in the present tense: LeL-vAm wE [a rolling stone]. In the past tense, –pvAm adds the p, Before, from pA, past; and the future tense –tvAm, adds the t, Toward, from tA, future. We remember the Roman gladiators, who said before their deadly fights to the emperor, “morituri te salutant”, “The going-to-die ones greet thee”: ‘pIn yo-tvAm vrOUIv bu.’
To show that an action is recent, with a continuing effect that emphasizes its duration (‘have been’), –fApvAm combines the fA, present, with the past form participle, –pvAm; for the past (‘had been’) this becomes –pApvAm, and for the future (‘will have been’), –tApvAm. “We will have been dying when the sun sets”, ‘fnu yo-tApvAm, xA pI âki tYk-YtOiv.’
For a so-called ‘perfect participle’ (“Having seen the movie before…”), –fAvpAm can be used (‘iO-fAvpAm pI evUis Ap…’), which adds Action to the (adjectival) present perfect participle –fApAm, showing that the Action done Before over Time (pAm) is now still relevant (fA). (It is not to be confused with the Active perfect continuous form –fApvAm). [The book gives –pvAm as the ending, but that would be the same as the past continuous form (p. 50A,B; awp, see Past participle below)].
Passive Participle: -pAm, -fAm, -tAm (see chart under Verb Tense for complete list)
The passive participle also describes Action over Time but is used in passive constructions. Most common is the past participle which indicates past or completed Action and ends in –pAm [past-Adjective]: LeL-pAm wE [a rolled stone]. “They killed the cow; they ate the killed cow.”: ‘nu vyo-pAv pI bijEbos; nu do-pAv pI vyo-pAm bijEbos.’
It is also used with auxiliaries (helping words) to form the passive voice and perfect tenses.
Passive: -Yv
Passive verbs end in –Yv [Non-Action, passive] and express passive, receiving type occurrences in which the subject receives the action of the verb. In English the passive voice is formed with a form of ‘to be’ + past participle: KaiN vyo-pAv ABeL,“Cain killed Abel” vs. ABeL vyo-pAYv Ud KaiN, “Abel was killed by Cain.” “Abel was killed” ‘ABeL vyo-pAYv’, also suffices.
The present passive continuous form that begins with ‘being’ uses the ending –YvAm: “Being expected to sing, she blushed.”: ‘pO-YvAm rIv, cu tâi-pAv.’ The book suggests the –Yv can be omitted (pO-Am) since it denies the active, but the verb ‘to sing, rIv’ still contains Action (p. 50B, awp).
This verbal passive is often difficult to distinguish from an adjectival participle: “The vase was broken” could mean “someone broke the vase” (verbal): ‘riOio-gad zwE-pAYv’ or “the vase was in pieces” (adjectival): ‘riOio-gad pAc zwE-pAm.’
Although the adjectival passive participle and the true verbal passive construction share the same endings in English, aUI can distinguish these.
Examples:
“The window was broken (this morning)”, ‘pI dugai zwE-pAYv fE yitiA.’ (verbal passive)
But “The window was broken (and unrepairable)”, ‘pI dugai pAc zwE-pAm Ib Y-tYp-revEv-wQm.’ (adjectival participle)
“The answer was known by everyone”, ‘pI YhI pAc gU-pAm Ud cânu’; (can’t say ‘…was being known’ as if it were a verb). (adjectival participle)
“The bridge is being designed in Paris”, ‘pI jE-dak tUvma-fYvAm ag PaRIS.’ (can’t say ‘…is being un-designed’ as if it were an adjective). (verbal passive)
“The building was surrounded all day”: ‘pI ugavs pAc LYgâna-pAm can iA.’ (adjectival participle)
“The building was surrounded early in the morning”: ‘pI ugavs LYgâna-pAYv A-pem Ag yitiA.’ (verbal passive)
“We think we are driving, but we are (emotionally) driven.” (Tolstoy): fnu Uv, fnu Ec dave-vAm, yUg fnu Oc dave-pAm – as in compulsively…(can be ‘very driven’ or ‘seem driven’) (adjectival present and past participle)
Or:. “We think we are driving, but we are (being) driven.” : fnu Uv, fnu Ec dave-vAm, yUg fnu dave-Yv (as in passively, with someone else in the driver’s seat; cannot be ‘being very driven’ or ‘seem driven’ by someone) (verbal passive).
In the few verbs that end in –Yv, the ending should stay together in commands and tense changes, e.g. srYv! Receive! [you ought to receive, it is good to receive!] sYv-pAv [received]; sYv-tAv [will receive]; sYv-ppAYv [had been received]; sYv-pAm [received, p.participle]; sYv-pvAm [having received]; syYv [is being received] – This double passive is almost active: sev [to give]. “Grace is being received = mercy gives”: ‘riOma syYv = kUbrO sev.’
(See https://www.englishforums.com/English/AdjectiveOrPartOfAPassive/znxqp/post.htm;
https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Participles.htm;
http://www.ling.cam.ac.uk/li8/passive.pdf)
Tense/Time: -pA, -tA (See Chart of Verb Tenses for complete list)
The system of tense conjugation in the original aUI text unfortunately appears somewhat unclear, incomplete, and inconsistent. On page 47 under Past Participle, for instance, ‘are driving’ is translated as “c dave-vAm” and ‘are driven’ as “c dave-pAm“, both as participles. But on p. 50A, the verbal passive form (for the simpler form of ‘drive’ vev) “ve-Yv” is recommended instead of ‘c ve-pAm‘. ‘Is killed (by)’ is “vyo-Yv” and ‘was killed (by)’ is “vyo-pAYv” (correct verbal passives). Also on p. 57, both “cEv va-pAm” (‘is sent’) and in the same paragraph, “vaYv” (‘are sent’ – correct verbal passive) are given for similar meaning.
So these examples illustrate the difference between a passive verb (-Yv, as in ‘it is driven by me’) and an adjectival participle (-pAm, as in ‘the window lay broken on the floor’). See further explanations below.
Looking at the tense chart on p. 50B, it is not clear whether and which form of ‘to be’ is to accompany the indicative and participle forms. It appears that the indicative forms go without a helping verb (to be), which is implied, but the participles do get one, which is inflected with tense (as appears from two examples on p. 145, “pAc YpOm twYrO-pAm31” and on p. 191, “pAc kYpO-pAm“).
Though I have resisted for a long time making changes in the tense scheme, following my father’s goal of simplification and my goal of consistency, I have declined to use the 12 possible forms of participles (which get to be up to eight letters long if one extrapolates to the Continuous and Perfect Continuous. I have kept three forms as in Latin, present, past, and future participle and the original participial clause forms for past and future.
Chart of Verb Tenses
(conjugation)
ACTIVE |
PAST | PRESENT | FUTURE |
| Simple | -pAv
-pAv* |
-v
-v* |
-tAv
-tAv* |
| Perfect | -pApAv
–pApAv* |
-(fA)pAv
-(fA)pAv |
-tApAv
-tApAv* |
| Continuous | pAc -vAm
pAc -vAm |
Ec -vAm
Ec -vAm* |
tAc -vAm
tAc -vAm |
| Perfect Continuous | pApAc -vAm
pApAc -vAm |
(fA)pAc -vAm
(fA)pAc -vAm |
tApAc -vAm
tApAc -vAm |
Example:
ACTIVE |
PAST | PRESENT | FUTURE |
| Simple | fu e-pAv
fu e-pAv* I moved |
fu ev
fu ev* I move |
fu e-tAv
fu e-tAv* I will move |
| Perfect | fu e-pApAv
fu e-pApAv* I had moved |
fu e-(fA)pAv
fu e-(fA)pAv I have moved |
fu e-tApAv
fu e-tApAv* I will have moved |
| Continuous | fu pAc e-vAm
fu pAc e-vAm1 I was moving |
fu Ec e-vAm
fu Ec e-vAm* I am moving |
fu tAc e-vAm
fu tAc e-vAm2 I will be moving |
| Perfect Continuous | fu pApAc e-vAm
fu pApAc e-vAm I had been moving |
fu (fA)pAc e-vAm
fu (fA)pAc e-vAm I have been moving |
fu tApAc e-vAm
fu tApAc e-vAm I will have been moving |
Active participial phrases
1Past ‘having moved…’: e-pvAm (contraction of pAc e-vAm)
2Future ‘(the) going-to-move (ones)’: e-tvAm (contraction of tAc e-vAm)
Verbal PASSIVE |
PAST | PRESENT | FUTURE |
| Simple | -pAyv
-pAYv* |
-yv
-Yv* |
-tAyv
-tAYv* |
| Perfect |
-pApAYv-pApAYv* |
-(fA)pAyv
-(fA)pAYv |
-tApAyv
-tApAYv* |
| Continuous | Ec-vAm -pAyv
Ec-vAm -pAYv |
Ec-vAm -(fA)Yv
Ec-vAm -(fA)Yv |
Ec-vAm -tAYv
Ec-vAm -tAYv |
| Perfect Continuous | Ec-vAm -pApAYv
Ec-vAm -pApAyv |
Ec-vAm -(fA)pAYv
Ec-vAm -fApAYv |
Ec-vAm -tApAYv
Ec-vAm -tApAYv |
Example:
Verbal PASSIVE |
PAST | PRESENT | FUTURE |
| Simple | fu e-pAyv
fu e-pAYv* I was moved into a different room. |
fu e-Yv
fu e-Yv* I am moved into a different room. |
fu e-tAyv
fu e-tAYv* I will be moved into a different room. |
| Perfect | fu e-pApAYv
fu e-pApAYv* I had been movedinto a different room. |
fu e-(fA)pAyv
fu e-(fA)pAYv I have been moved into a different room. |
fu e-tApAyv
fu e-tApAYv* I will have been moved into a different room. |
| Continuous | fu Ec-vAm e-pAYv
fu Ec-vAm e-pAYv I was being moved into a different room. |
fu Ec-vAm e-(fA)Yv
fu Ec-vAm e-(fA)Yv I am being moved into a different room. |
fu Ec-vAm e-tAYv
fu Ec-vAm e-tAYv I will be being moved into a different room. |
| Perfect Continuous | fu Ec-vAm e-pApAYv
fu Ec-vAm e-pApAYv I had been being moved into a different room. |
fu Ec-vAm e-(fA)pAYv
fu Ec-vAm e-(fA)pAYv I have been being moved into a different room. |
fu Ec-vAm e-tApAYv
fu Ec-vAm e-tApAYv I will have been being moved into a different room. |
Adjectival PASSIVE* |
PAST | PRESENT | FUTURE |
| Simple |
pAc -pAmpAc -pAm* |
Ec -fAmEc -fAm |
tAc -tAm
tAc -tAm* |
| Perfect |
pApAc -pAmpApAc -pAm |
(fA)pAc -fAm
(fA)pAc -pAm |
tApAc -tAm
tApAc -tAm |
| Continuous | pAc-vAm -pAm
pAc-vAm -pAm |
(fA)c-vAm -fAm
(fA)c-vAm -fAm |
tAc-vAm -tAm
tAc-vAm -tAm |
| Perfect Continuous | pApAc-vAm -pAm
pApAc-vAm -pAm |
(fA)pAc-vAm -fAm
(fA)pAc-vAm -fAm |
tApAc-vAm -tAm
tApAc-vAm -tAm |
Example:
Adjectival PASSIVE** |
PAST | PRESENT | FUTURE |
| Simple | fu pAc e-pAm
fu pAc e-pAm I was moved by the music. |
fu Oc e-fAm
fu Oc e-fAm I am moved by the music. |
fu tAc e-tAm
fu tAc e-tAm I will be moved by the music. |
| Perfect | fu pApAc e-pAm
fu pApAc e-pAm I had been moved by the music. |
fu (fA)pAc e-fAm
fu (fA)pAc e-fAm I have been moved by the music. |
fu tApAc e-tAm
fu tApAc e-tAm I will have been moved by the music. |
| Continuous | fu pAc-vAm e-pAm
fu pAc-vAm e-pAm I was being moved by the music. |
fu (fA)c-vAm e-fAm
fu (fA)c-vAm e-fAm I am being moved by the music. |
fu tAc-vAm e-tAm
fu tAc-vAm e-tAm I will be being moved by the music. |
| Perfect Continuous | fu pApAc-vAm e-pAm
fu pApAc-vAm e-pAm I had been being moved by the music. |
fu (fA)pAc-vAm e-fAm
fu (fA)pAc-vAm e-fAm I have been being moved by the music. |
fu tApAc-vAm e-tAm
fu tApAc-vAm e-tAm I will have been being moved by the music. |
**The examples could also read, “I was moved by the attendants…”, making it even more apparently equivalent to the adjectival example below, “I was moved by the music.” It seems that the adjective ‘moved’ both describes the emotional character of the subject, I, (but also refers to the metaphorical action of the music on the subject), whereas the verbal passive refers only to the physical action of the attendants on the subject.
*See below for further distinction tests.
To clarify the difference between the verbal passive as used in “I was moved into a different room” (an event) and the adjectival passive in “I was moved by the music” (a state), there are several indications to check for an adjective.
– can take un- (‘I was unmoved by the music’, but not ‘unmoved into a different room’)
– used with an adverb such as very (‘I was very moved…’), extremely, fully, more, less, most… or with seem, look, or remain (‘I remained moved all evening’, but not ‘I was very moved into a different room.’)
None of these phrasings works with the verbal passive. It is usually a more immediate event (“I was moved into a different room this morning”, not “I was moved into a different room all afternoon.”)
The German equivalent also shows more clearly the distinction:
adjectival participle verbal passive
Present bin bewegt werde bewegt
Oc* e-pAm e-Yv (*special designation as emotional)
Past war bewegt wurde bewegt
pAc* e-pAm e-pAYv (*could also designate O-pAc, emotionally)
Past, pA [Before-Time] is set before the verb ending to form past tense; o-pAv [lived]; the Past is before us in Time.
Future, tA [Toward-Time] (the Time Toward which we move, or which seems to come Toward us); o-tAv [will live].
To show that an action is recent, with a continuing effect that emphasizes its result (‘have lived’), fA [present] can be added to the past ending to make o-fApAv; the past of this form (‘had lived’) adds pA, past, and is then o-pApAv; the future (‘will have lived’) adds tA, future: o-tApAv. These can be abbreviated into -fpAv, -ppAv, and –tpAv (p. 47).
To introduce the past tense when it is continued throughout a story (without having to continue the ending on each verb), the following initial signal can be used:
pAg: (“what follows is In the past”)
pApAg: past perfect
tAg: future
fAg: re-enters the present
Word formation:
Words in nearly all languages contain, and may even consist only of basic root forms (morphemes). aUI carries these basic morphemes to an extreme – in that they each consist solely of one letter or symbol element. That element is proposed to be so basic in meaning that it is not further divisible into more basic elements. But as other languages, English words also consist of compounds of roots that originally come from older languages (Latin, Greek, Germanic, Sanskrit…). So when thinking about creating a new aUI composition for an existing word in another language, it is very helpful to look up its etymology in a good dictionary – what do its roots mean? Often (but not always, due to too much historical change), these roots provide hints to what the word’s basic meaning is (or was) and to which aUI elements and roots they might contain. At least this gives you a start, e.g. interrupt (Latin, between-burst) gê-zwEv [between-break]; convene (Latin, together-come) nub-tev [people-Together-come].
However, to begin with, a good understanding of the elemental categories – and their sometimes wider, but related meanings – is needed. The basic compounds of aUI should first be studied and become familiar (Hundred Basic Compounds, p. 21). Some of these function also as basic short roots from which compounds are built, or are abbreviated to enable reasonable word length. A few examples:
nam, nEn: n– [Big-, Many-] t– [Toward-, Near-]
Ynam, YnEn Yn– [small-, few-] –d [-Means, -Tool]
nYnEm [sandy]: nYn– [Many, Very-small-] –s [-Concrete instance]
YnYn– [Very small-] –u [-Person]
tYn– [Toward-small-, less-] –U [-Abstract, Concept]
rUm: r– [Good-] –z [-Part]
YrUm: Yr– [bad-]
nYrUm [wicked]: nYr– [Very,Big-bad-]
tYb– [Towards-Non-Together- (apart)]
tYd– [Towards-against-]
tYp– [Towards-back-]
tYt– [To & fro-]
tYg– [Towards-out-]
The distinction between big and many, both represented by n-, may become apparent by context. If it’s important to make this distinction, the full word nEn should be used for ‘many.’ To emphasize further gradients of size, one can reduplicate or reiterate a prefix, e.g. Ynam [small]; nYnam [very small]; nYnYnam [tiny]; nYnYnYnam [minute]. For words like microscopic, its etymology tells us it is composed of Latin micro+scope (very small + to look at) YnYn-tiOm; infinitesimal is from Latin in-finitus (no + end, limit) Yc-tnak-YnYnam [no-limit-very small].
(See the Negation section for review in using Y and y in new compositions.)
Any word can become a simple, Moving, Material, Feeling, or Spiritual verb by adding –v, –ev,
–Ev, –Ov, –Uv, e.g. nEm-kYpO [very-surprise, astonishment Feeling] becomes nEm-kYpOv [to feel astonishment].
Word order: SVO
SUBJECT-VERB-OBJECT (SVO) order is preferred, even in questions and relative clauses. Modifier precedes the thing modified: adjective/adverb before noun/verb.
Instead of “Whom did he see?, rather “He saw whom?” vu iO-pAv hu?
“The good teacher quickly gives just rewards to the hard-working student, whom s/he (does) not ignore”: ‘pI rUm vetgUvu nem sev yIn jwUrm jruts at pI nE-rUwe-vAm etgUvu, cu Yc vYgUv xu.’ The relative clause immediately follows the word it modifies, and must contain a relative particle (with x-).
Verb forms
Finite |
Mood | Tense | Active | |
| Sense | Form | |||
Indicative |
Present | does | E-v (-fAv) | |
| Past | did | E-pAv | ||
| Future | will do | E-tAv | ||
| Present Perfect | have done | E-fApAv | ||
| Past Perfect | had done | E-pApAv | ||
| Future Perfect | will have done | E -tApAv | ||
| Conditional (II)* | would do | Ev-Øc | ||
| Conditional Perfect (III)* | would have done | EpAv-Øc | ||
| Subjunctive**
(irrealis) |
Present | “we ask that they do…” | E-v | |
| Past | if I were; if I had… | Ec-yEc; bav-yEc | ||
| Infinite |
Participles |
Present Continuous | (am) doing | E-vAm |
| Past Continuous | (was) doing | E-pvAm | ||
| Future Continuous | (will be) doing | E-tvAm | ||
| Present Perfect Continuous | (have been) doing | E-fApvAm | ||
| Past Perfect Continuous | (had been) doing | E-pApvAm | ||
| Future Perfect Continuous | (will have been) doing | E-tApvAm | ||
| Conditional (II) | would… | -m-Øc | ||
| Conditional Perfect (III) | would have… | -m-Øc | ||
Imperatives |
Present | do! | E-rv / -rYv | |
| Future | do [later]! | E-tArv / tArYv | ||
| Past | should have done | E-pArv / pArYv | ||
Infinitive |
other verbs | to do | E-v | |
Gerund |
doing | E-vØ | ||
*Conditional tense: used with if, would, could, might (what would happen or what one would do in certain circumstances).
Subjunctive: situations that are uncertain, unreal, or a wish; also urgency and importance
**Present Subjunctive: used with triggers (suggestions, requests, commands, needs);
Past Subjunctive: unreal or hypothetical situations (If I were …)
| Tense |
Verbal Passive (eventive) |
Participial Adjective (stative) |
||
| Sense | Form | Sense | Form | |
| Present | is done | E-Yv (-fAYv) | is excited | Oc Oe-fAm |
| Past | was done | E-pAYv | was excited | Oc Oe-pAm |
| Future | will be done | E-tAYv | will be excited | Oc Oe-tAm |
| Present Perfect | has been done | E-fApAYv | has been excited | Oc Oe-fApAm |
| Past Perfect | had been done | E-pApAYv | had been excited | Oc Oe-pApAm |
| Future Perfect | will have been done | E-tApAYv | will have been excited | Oc Oe-tApAm |
| Conditional (II)* | ? | EYv-Øc | ? | |
| Conditional Perfect (III)* | ? | EpAYv-Øc | ? | |
| Present Subjunctive | ? | E-QYv | ? | – |
| Past Subjunctive | ? | E-pQYv | ? | |
| Present Continuous | is being done | E-YvAm (-fYvAm) | is being excited? | -vApAm? |
| Past Continuous | was being done | E -pYvAm | was being excited? | -pvApAm? |
| Future Continuous | will be being done | E-tYvAm | will be being excited? | -tvApAm? |
| Present Perfect Continuous | has been being done | E-fApYvAm | has been being excited? | -fApvApAm? |
| Past Perfect Continuous | had been being done | E-pApYvAm | had been being excited? | -pApvApAm? |
| Future Perfect Continuous | will have been being done | E-tApYvAm | will have been being excited? | -tApvApAm? |
| Conditional | ? | |||
| Conditional Perfect | ? | |||
| Present | ? | E-rYv / -ryYv | ||
| Future | ? | E-tArYv / -tAryYv | ||
| Past | ? | E-pArYv / -pAryYv | ||
| other verbs | to be done | E-Yv | ||
| Gerund | ? | E-YvØ | ||