aUI Grammar

Accent / Stress

► Primary accent: on nasal vowels (the number elements).

• n1kiA nâ-kiA; in Roman transcription, a caret is placed over the vowel or it is underlined, or the numeral can even be used (if the former are unavailable).

Adjectives / Adverbs

m  -m

► As modifiers or qualifiers of nouns and verbs, both adjectives and adverbs end in m  m [Quality]. 

• Corresponds to English endings like -ly, -ious, -y, -al, -ary 
• o o [Life] → om om: alive 
• a a [Space] → am am: spatial 
• A A [Time] → Am Am: temporal/ly

Articles

yI yI, yIn yIn, pI pI, pIn pIn

Articles are the little ‘particles’ that precede a previously unmentioned or ‘un-sounded’ noun, introducing it for the first time (a, an), or that refer to it after it’s been mentioned (‘sounded’) once before (the…).  

Capitals 

► Usage 

• Capital vowels A E I U O A /a:/, E /e:/, I /i:/, U /u:/, O /o:/ represent long held vowels. 
• Capital consonants are used for proper names or borrowed words. 
  • Lincoln becomes LiNKoLN LiNKoLN 
• In the form of symbol elements, proper names are underlined and should not be stacked (but written at one level). 

Cases 

► Word Order

• typically conveys grammatical relationships. There are no special morphological case endings. 

Causatives

see Causative Verbs

Command/

Imperative

see Command/Imperative Verbs

Comparison

nEm nEm, nEk nEk, pnEk pnEk, mYt mYt

► Comparative Forms are used for all adjectives and adverbs, nouns and verbs. 

• nEm nEm: much [Quantity/Much-Matter-Adj.] 
• nEk nEk: more [Above-much] 
• pnEk pnEk: most [Before-more] 
• mYt mYt: than [Quality-from] is the level from which the Quality is compared and measured (the reference point). 
  • He is taller ‘than’ his father: his father’s height is the base ‘Quality-from’ which we gauge and compare (wjw, p. 135). 

Future

see Verb Tense

Gender

(grammatical)

► As in English, nouns are not inherently assigned gender, as is the case in most European languages.

Gender terms

► Comparative Forms are used for all adjectives and adverbs, nouns and verbs. 

• Lomu Lomu [Rounded-Life-vessel Quality-Human]: woman
• womu womu [Power-Life-vessel Quality-Human]: power woman
• tovu tovu [seed-Make-Human]: man
• tYfe-voz-u tYfe-voz-u [Toward-other-Move–sex-Human] transgender person
• tYfe-mu tYfe-mu [Toward-other-Move—woman] transwoman
• tyfe-vu tYfe-vu [Toward-other-Move—man] transman
• cYg-voz-u cYg-voz-u [Existing-outside-sex-Human] queer person
• toe-voz-u toe-voz-u [birth-sex-Human] cis-gender person
• 2Umu êUmu [two-Spirit-Qualities-Human] two-spirit person

https://gscc.msu.edu/education/glossary.html#identity

Sex terms

(birth assigned)

• LoYtmu LoYtmu [Rounded-Life-from (egg)-vessel Quality-Human] female. The open vessel shape of Quality is an ancient symbol for female; the ovum/egg is where Life comes from and has the Rounded form (as do other curvaceous features!)
• tonvu tonvu [Many-Seed-Make-Human]: male. Sperm is active and the angularity of the symbols can represent masculinity.
• g2-voz-u gê-voz-u [between-sex-Human] intersex person

https://gscc.msu.edu/education/glossary.html#identity

Sexuality terms

(identity)

• jam-voz-u jam-voz-u [same-sex-Human] gay person
• jam-voz-mu jam-voz-mu [same-sex-woman] lesbian woman
• jam-voz-vu jam-voz-vu [same-sex-man] gay man
• b2-voz-u bê-voz-u [both-sex-Human] bisexual person
• Yc-voz-u Yc-voz-u [not-sex-Human] asexual person

https://gscc.msu.edu/education/glossary.html#identity

► Evolution of formulations

• English dictionary definitions
  • The word woman is composed from the roots “wife/female + man”:
    [before 900; Middle English womma, wimman, Old English wīfman=wīf female + man human being] (https://www.thefreedictionary.com/woman)
    
  • Because most of us are not familiar with the meanings of etymological roots, the composition of ‘woman’ is not questioned. However, aUI’s transparent design opens our assertions to question and verification.
• Weilgart’s original formulations of man: vus vus, referring to the active sperm, and woman: Yvus Yvus, the conceptive, more passive ovum; (the final s  –s indicates a ‘concrete instance of’ to differentiate from a pronoun). In the western world especially, passivity or even conceptivity, in the sense of open, intuitive receptivity to ideas or inner stillness, is still not generally highly valued. Alternatively, he suggested the L L: “rounded” form for female, describing the egg as well as the general body form.

► More specific biological terms are also, by necessity, generalizations, considering genetic variation^1,2 and differences in sexual identity^3,4.

• Sexual identity is not necessarily based on biological characteristics; in addition, genetic variations as well as other health conditions exist that affect fertility (though phenotype or appearance still may not be affected). Therefore, Andrea Weilgart has concluded that differentiating gender is not where aUI’s focus lies, but instead “on our essential common humanity and spirituality: umU (Human-Quality-Spirit).”
• Personal pronouns and words referring to human beings all end in u Human, so aUI focuses on our common humanity and spirituality umU:
  
  • Spiritual beings having a Human experience (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin).
    
• A formulation based on the biological sex difference is thus only describing a general potential, (just as a ‘woman’ is not necessarily a ‘wife-man’!)

¹ An estimated 1.7% of the population has an intersex trait and about 0.5% have clinically identifiable sexual or reproductive variations.

https://www.americanprogress.org/article/key-issues-facing-people-intersex-traits

² Genetic variations as well as other health conditions affecting fertility occur in about 15% of the population worldwide.

https://academic.oup.com/hropen/article/2022/4/hoac051/6825316

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4424520

³ Identifying as transgender: about 0.6% of US population over 13

https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/trans-adults-united-states/#:~:text=Over%201.6%20million%20adults%20(ages,compared%20to%20the%20U.S.%20population.

⁴ Identifying as transgender or binary: about 5% of population under 30

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/06/07/about-5-of-young-adults-in-the-u-s-say-their-gender-is-different-from-their-sex-assigned-at-birth/#:~:text=By%20Anna%20Brown,they%20were%20assigned%20at%20birth

Gerund

-vq -vØ

► A gerund is a verbal noun, corresponding to English -ing form when used as a

noun.

• navq navØ: running (noun)
  • navq Ec vrom navØ Ec vrom: running is healthy
    (= to run is healthy = a run is healthy)

► -vq -vØ: Gerund vs. vAm –vAm: Adjectival participle

• LeL-vq LeL-vØ: Rolling stones is fun
  (the active condition of making them roll)
  
• LeL-vAm LeL-vAm: Rolling stones gather no moss (describing stones)
  
• [See more on gerunds at Daily Writing Tips.]

Hyphen

–  –

► The hyphen in aUI script is a short, raised arch – , like an arch joining or separating parts of a compound (so as not to be confused with Negation Y).

• Especially important to use in newly coined compounds to recognize which symbols belong together.

► Possessive alternative

• The hyphen can be used to indicate the possessive, instead of of:
  • eo-ca eo-ca [animal-world] = animal’s world = ca Ub eo ca Ub eo: (the) world of animal

Infinitives

► For the most basic form of a verb (‘to verb’), aUI uses just the basic verb ending

• the ‘to’ particle, which is just a marker, is not necessary
  • They start to run
    nu pev nav
    nu pev nav

• at at [Spatially-Toward] to
  • I run to my house.
    fu nav at fum uga
    fu nav at fum uga

• Ut Ut [Mentally-Toward] to
  • I agree to this.
    fu brUjev Ut fE
    fu brUjev Ut fE.

• dUt dUt [Means-Mentally-Toward] in order to (for the purpose or as a means toward doing something)
  
  
  • I must be strong in order to run fast.
    fu wYv oc wom dUt nav nem.
    fu wYv oc wom dUt nav nem.

Invectives

Yr- Yr-

► These are words used in an insulting or abusive way. Marked explicitly by Yr- Yr-  (bad), they become open to question: “what is bad about them?”

• woke: (YjwU-)Yr-fOcvAm (YjwU-)Yr-fOcvAm [(injustice-)bad-aware]
• socialist: Yr-brun-drE-jUmu Yr-brun-drE-jUmu [bad-social-money-equal-Human]
• chicken: Yr-Yb-wOmu Yr-Yb-wOmu [bad-without-courage-Human]
• vermin: Yr-Ynubos-u Yr-Ynubos-u [bad–small-With-Human-Living-Thing—Human]
• snowflake: Yr-cnOmu Yr-cnOmu [bad-much-sensitive-Human]
• nerd: Yr-Yg-brunam-nidUmu Yr-Yg-brunam-nidUmu [bad-outside-social-intelligent-Human]

Measurements

► Metric units are preferred 

• 1-na-1n âna-ân [length-unit]: meter
• E-1n E-ân [Matter-unit]: gram

Negation

y y, Y Y

► Placement 

• Like all modifiers, negation precedes what it denies.
  
• In the symbolic orthography, the Negation sign negates whatever is placed underneath it, as if covering its meaning.
  
• But if it negates the whole following concept, the Negation precedes the formulation as a mathematical minus sign before a parenthesis.
  • Yc Yc: [Negation-Be] not
  • Y-iOm Y-iOm: [non-seeing] blind, OR:
  • i-YcOm i-YcOm: [Light-not-sensing] blind, BUT:
  • yi-Om yi-Om: ‘darkness-sensing’

► Pronunciation

• Lowercase y before vowels is a semi-vowel /j/, as in English ‘you’:
  • yi yi: darkness
  • yum yum: non-human
  • Opposite of Ec Ec: is = yEc yEc: is not
    • (yEc yEc is no longer used as a ‘contrary-to-fact’ ending, having been replaced by –1mUc –âmUc (only of-Mind-be)
      
• Capital Y before consonants is a vowel /y/.
  • Ytu Ytu: parent
  • Yf Yf: other
    
• There are no diphthongs in aUI. Where two or more vowels occur together, they are pronounced separately.
  
  

Nouns

• Nouns are basic words for visible or conceptual “things”: person, place, or object. 
  • Main vowels often function as root nouns in aUI.

• Concrete Ending: -s -s
  • os os: life-thing (an actual living entity, animal)

• Abstract Ending: -U -U
  • yIU yIU: [Non-Sound-Concept] silence
  • yIU yIU: [Non-Sound-Concept] silence

• These endings are not always necessary.

Abstract / Conceptual Nouns

► May end in U -U or q -Ø

• These words are of a conceptual, mental (U: Mind) nature or a conditional state
  (Q: Condition) in contrast to those with a concrete or material quality.

► An abstract concept of a single element or a combination of elements (noun,

modifier, or verb) ends in U -U [Mind].

Agent nouns 

vu -vu

► An agent noun is derived from a verb and identifies the doer of that action 

• like -er, -or in English: farmer, giver, traveler, sender, creator
• Vav vav: to send → vavu vavu: sender 
• In some cases u -u alone replaces a noun ending to form the agent
  • odva odva: farm → odvu odvu: farmer

Proper Nouns

• Proper nouns or names are transcribed phonetically in aUI
  • Vowels as they are pronounced in aUI
  • Consonants are capitalized in Roman script
  • When using the aUI script, names are underlined
  • and symbols are not stacked
    
• Andrea: aNDREa: aNDREa or aNDRIa
  (in this case the last two vowels can not be prevented from stacking in this font)
• Richard: RiTCaRD: RiTCaRD
• Seattle: SIaTeL: SIaTeL

Numbers

• Arabic Numerals are used for aUI figure symbols, each corresponding to a nasal vowel. As Roman letters, a caret is added; (previously, they were 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: n1 nâ [Number-One], second: n2 nê…
  • 100th: n10k2 nÔkê [Number-10-High-2 = 10²]

• Multiplication Tables
  In aUI multiplication, if factors sound alike, their product has the same ending quality:(A A means ‘times’; jUv jUv, or simply j j, means ‘equals’; neb neb means ‘plus’)
  • 2 x 6 = 12 → 2 A 6 j 12: ê A Â j Ôê
  • 7 x 6 = 42 → 7 A 6 j 42: Ê A Â j ûê

• Addition Example
  • 8 + 5 = 13 → 8 neb 5 j 13: Î neb ô j Ôî

• Colors
  • 1im âim: red, or n1i nâi first-light
  • 2im êim: yellow, or n2i nêi
  • 3im îim: green, etc.

• Stars
  • 1ki âki: sun
  • 2ki êki: moon

• Dimensions
  • 1na âna: length
  • 2na êna: plane
  • 3na îna: three-dimensional

• Roman Numeral System
  • XIII: 13 = 10 + 3 = Ôî
  • L: 50 = 5 × 10 = ôÔ
  • XXIII: 23 = 2 × 10 + 3 = êÔî or simply êî (2,3)

• Powers of Ten
  • Use k k [Above] for exponent: 10k9 ÔkÛ [Ten-High-9] one billion

• Long Numbers 
  • 1492 can be pronounced short: âûÛê, or in longer expansions:
  • Ôkî—û-Ôkê—Û-Ô—ê (still shorter than “thousand-four-hundred-ninety-two”)

• Arithmetical Terms 
  • plus: neb neb or Ib Ib
  • minus: nYt nYt
  • times: A A
  • divided by: zE-pAm Ud zE-pAm Ud
  • one-half: 1zv2 âzvê [One-Part-Make-Two] (1 part of 2 made)
  • four-fifth: 4zv5 ûzvô [Four-Parts-Make-Five] (4 parts of 5 made)

• Pronouncing Longer Numbers
  — number words that contain as many letters as the number represents:
  • 1 â = 1
  • b2 bê = 2
  • c3c cîc = 3
  • dr4d drûd = 4
  • fr5nf frônf = 5
• — the following numbers
  • 6 Â = 6
  • b7 bÊ = 7
  • c8c cÎc = 8
  • dr9d drÛd = 9
  • fr10nf frÔnf = 10, or
  • 10k1 Ôkâ = 10¹

Participles

► Participles are formed from verbs and used as adjectives.

►They are part verb, part adjective, and indicate a time element, so contain both v v , Action and m m, Modifier, plus AA, Time.

► They are used in two ways:

• to form tenses together with an auxiliary (helping verb, to be) to describe continuous action over time (progressive, ongoing). (see Verb Tense chart)
  
• as adjectives describing an active process on a noun
  • In English these end in -ing for present tense, and in -ed for past tense.

► Types of participles:

• Present Participle: vAm -vAm
  • a rolling stone
    LeL-vAm wEz
    LeL-vAm wEz

• Past Participle: pvAm -pvAm
  • a rolled stone
    LeL-pvAm wEz
    LeL-pvAm wEz

• Future Participle: tvAm -tvAm
  • a ‘going-to roll’ stone
    LeL-tvAm wEz
    LeL-tvAm wEz
    
  
  
  • 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 vrO-UIv bu
    pIn yo-tvAm vrO-UIv bu
    
  
  
  • One could also do as in English, treating a noun as a verb:
    The ‘will-die’…
    pIn yotAv…
    pIn yo-tAv…
    
    
    OR, adding the auxiliary, to be:
    
    
  
  
  • The ‘will-be dying’…
    pIn tAc yo-vAm…
    pIn tAc yo-vAm…
    

• Perfect Participle: fAv-pAm -fAv-pAm
  • Forms a participal phrase that acts as an adverbial modifier, specifically expressing a reason or circumstance:
    Having waited so long…
  • adds the present fA and past pA to the participle -vAm, showing that an action is recent, with a continuing effect that emphasizes its duration (that the Action done Before over Time is Now still relevant).
  • Having seen the movie before, s/he left.
    iO-fAvpAm pI efUis Ap, cu YtepAv
    iO-fAvpAm pI efUis Ap, cu YtepAv.

Plural

n -n (if necessary)

► Omission

• Often omitted or replaced by ‘many’ (nEn nEn) or a number. In English some nouns (e.g., “sheep”) are likewise unmarked.

► If needed, the article takes on the plural marking with the ending -n -n:

• pIn pIn: the (plural)
  • pIn rUm pIn rUm: the good (ones)
• yIn yIn: a/some (plural)
  • yIn fnum bru yIn fnum bru: some (of) our friends

• Demonstratives
  • fEn fEn: these
  • pfEn pfEn: those

• Pronouns
  • fnu fnu: we
  • bnu bnu: you (all)
  • nu nu: they
• Possessives
  • fnum fnum: our
  • bnum bnum: your (plural)
  • num num: their

• Our friends have many books; we read them.
  pIn fnum bru bav nEn Ugs; fnu UiOv snE
  pIn fnum bru bav nEn Ugs; fnu UiOv snE*.
  
• The noun itself stays the same, as does the verb.
  *Alternate form: pIns pIns [the-Many-Things] them.
• Mass/collective nouns themselves often end in n -n:
  • jEn jEn: water [liquid-Much (most common)]
  • un un: people
  • En En: mass
  • kion kion: woods

Pronouns

► Singular and Plural

► Plural Possessive

• Alternatively, precede with pI/pIn pI/pIn:
  • pI fum pI fum: mine (the my)
  • pIn bum pIn bum: yours (the many yours)
• OR:
  • fums fums: mine (my thing)
  • bums bums: yours (your thing)

► Relative Pronouns

• 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 vavUs
    u, xu vUiO-pAv fE vavUs
    
• They ‘relate’ one part of a sentence to the other, or are related to the subject of the sentence. (As in direct questions, inversion is optional).

(Also see Elements of Meaning chart, Pronunciation by Dr. Weilgart, and vowel & consonant diagrams.)

► Vowels

• are pronounced as in most Indo-European languages.
• No dipthongs or digraphs! Each aUI sound should stay separate and constant.

► Consonants

• j j as in French jour
• c c as in ‘special, precious Existence’
• x x as in Spanish ‘México’

Questions

► No inversion is necessary

• What do you eat? → You eat what?
  • bu dov hE?
    bu dov hE ?
    

► If no other question word is present use ‘hI?’ at the end:

• Do you eat bread? → You eat bread, eh?
  • bu dov nod, hI?
    bu dov nod, hI?

► Main Question words

• most are usually adverbs, using the -m ending for modifiers
• …if pronunciation allows, otherwise, the -m is left off
• in contexts without questions they are conjunctions or pronouns
• what and who: pronouns

► Where variations

• usually an adverb
• in contexts without questions they are conjunctions or pronouns

► When variations

• usually an adverb
• in contexts without questions they are conjunctions or pronouns

► What variations

• usually a pronoun
• what + noun = adjective → -m ending
• how much = adverb → -m ending

► Who variations

• always a pronoun or relative pronoun

► How variations

• usually an adverb
• in contexts without questions they are conjunctions

► Why variations

• usually an adverb
• in contexts without questions they are conjunctions or pronouns

► Which

• usually a pronoun
• which + noun: adjective, taking -m ending

► Other

Verbs

v  -v

► Verbs, in general, show action in a sentence, so they end in v –v, Action, to represent the prototypical, dynamic verb.

Causative Verbs

v v-,  ve ve-,  vetvet-, vev-vev

► Causatives are verbs that cause an action. They can be formed by adding a prefix v-, ve-, or  vet-, or infix -vev-. 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 dov: to eat
• vet-dov vet-dov [Make-Move-Toward–eat]: to feed, OR:
• dvovdvov [Make-eat] to feed

[cf. p. 44]

Command / Imperative Verbs

rv -rv

► Commands in aUI are politely made by inserting r r, Good, in front of the verb ending, as in, “it would be Good to do this” or “you better do this!”

• ev ev: to move → erv erv: move!
• For verbs ending in Yv -Yv, place r r before Yv Yv carefully:
  • sYv sYv: to receive → srYvsrYv: receive!

► Passive Imperative

• S/he ought to be moved by your [prior-sounded-plural] words
  cu O-ve-rYv Ud bum pIn UI
  cu O-ve-rYv Ud bum pIn UI.

► Perfect Imperative

• You ought to have moved them by your (plural) words.
  bu Ove-fApArv cu Ud bum pIn UI
  bu Ove-fApArv cu Ud bum pIn UI.
  

► Rationale

• Commands, which otherwise may work subliminally, become explicit (“Why would doing this be good?”) in aUI, open to question and justification.

Conditional Verbs

Qc -Øc, Qm -Øm

► Definition

• Express hypothetical or non-real scenarios such as wishes and use various endings to indicate the type of condition.
• Often use Qg Øg: if [Condition-Inside (Containing)]
• Combine with modal verbs: will/shall, would, should, can, could, may, might, must. 
• Originally, yEc -yEc [Opposite of-Materially-Exist] was the only counter-factual ending. However, it seems an obvious contradiction in terms when used in ‘would be’: Ec-yEc Ec-yEc [Materially-Is—Not-Materially-Is]
  
• Therefore, Qc -Øc [Condition-is] is now used in conditional contexts.
  
  • If you had not come, she would have been sad. (third conditional below)
    qg bu Yc tepAv-Qc, cu pAc-qc UYrOm
    Øg bu Yc tepAv-Øc, cu pAc-Øc UYrOm
    [cf. p. 50B]

► Conditionals in aUI in comparison with English conditionals (in parentheses):
https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Conditional-Sentences.htm

• Zero Conditional:
  • (IF + no special endings needed for a generally true result)
  
  
  • If you throw a ball in the air, it comes back down
    qg bu kEtswev Las tag kEn, pIs tYp-tev tYk
    Øg bu kEtswev Las tag kEn, pIs tYp-tev tYk.
    
• (IF + no special endings needed for a generally true result)
  • If you throw a ball in the air, it comes back down
    qg bu kEtswev Las tag kEn, pIs tYp-tev tYk
    Øg bu kEtswev Las tag kEn, pIs tYp-tev tYk.
    
• First Conditional:
  • (IF + future form or other modal auxiliary verb describes probable result)
  
  
  • If I see him, I will tell him
    qg fu iOv cu, fu tUI-tAv bu
    Øg fu iOv cu, fu tUI-tAv bu.
    
  
  
  • I can go if he calls me
    fu wav av qg cu udIv fu
    fu wav av Øg cu udIv fu.
  • (IF + future form or other modal auxiliary verb describes probable result)
    
  • If I see him, I will tell him
    qg fu iOv cu, fu tUI-tAv bu
    Øg fu iOv cu, fu tUI-tAv bu.
    
  • I can go if he calls me
    fu wav av qg cu udIv fu
    fu wav av Øg cu udIv fu.
    
• Second Conditional:
  • (IF + simple past + would, could, or might describes hypothetical, unlikely situation, whereas aUI uses the present form + conditional endings.)
    
  
  
  • If you had a phone, you could call me every day,  
    qg bu bav-qc Yba-uId, bu udIv-wqc fu c1n iA
    Øg bu bav-Øc Yba-uId, bu udIv-wØc fu cân iA.
    
    OR:
  
  
  • If you had three wishes come true, you could have everything.
    qg bu bav-1mUc 3 tOs tev cEjUm, bu bav-wqc cans.,
    Øg bu bav-âmUc î tOs tev cEjUm… (counterfactual)
  • bu bav-wØc cans. (would have)
• (IF + simple past + would, could, or might describes hypothetical, unlikely situation, whereas aUI uses the present form + conditional endings.)
  
• If you had a phone, you could call me every day,  
  qg bu bav-qc Yba-uId, bu udIv-wqc fu c1n iA
  Øg bu bav-Øc Yba-uId, bu udIv-wØc fu cân iA.
  
  OR:
  • If you had three wishes come true, you could have everything.
    qg bu bav-1mUc 3 tOs tev cEjUm, bu bav-wqc cans.,
    Øg bu bav-âmUc î tOs tev cEjUm… (counterfactual)
    bu bav-wØc cans. (would have)
    
• Third Conditional:
  • (IF – past perfect tense + would/could/should have + past participle to describe past hypothetical situation and its outcome, whereas aUI uses the simple past + conditional endings.
    
  
  
  • If s/he had known, s/he could/would have helped you.
    qg cu gU-pAv-qc, cu tor-pAv-wqc bu
    Øg cu gUpAv-Øc, …cu torpAv-wØc bu (could have)
    
    OR:
  
  
  • …cu tor-pAv-qc bu
    …cu torpAv-Øc bu. (would have)
  • (IF – past perfect tense + would/could/should have + past participle to describe past hypothetical situation and its outcome, whereas aUI uses the simple past + conditional endings.
    
  • If s/he had known, s/he could/would have helped you.
    qg cu gU-pAv-qc, cu tor-pAv-wqc bu
    Øg cu gUpAv-Øc, …cu torpAv-wØc bu (could have)
    
    OR:
  • …cu tor-pAv-qc bu
    …cu torpAv-Øc bu. (would have)
    

► Conditionals – Levels of Existence

(Irrealis, see also Wikipedia on Irrealis Mood)

• Like the forms of ‘to be’, meanings can be further distinguished with variations of the endings.
• In aUI the modals indicating a condition usually consist of a verb ending.

⁶⁾   In the case of the conditional form of ‘can’ – wav or wØv – used by itself (without a following verb) the ending remains -Øc (instead of -wØc, since otherwise the w is doubled, NOT wav-wØc or wØv-wØc).

• wav is preferred since otherwise the -Øc is also doubled: wav-Øc could
  (not wØv-Øc, unless the conditional aspect needs extra emphasis.)

⁷⁾ Conditional prefix for the ‘be’ verbs ‘would be’ or ‘were’qm Øm-, and ‘could be’

wQm wØm-:

• What if I were/would be a star? qm-Ec Øm-Ec
• What if I could be happier? qm-Uc Øm-Uc
• Its negation, then, is qm-yEc Øm-yEc or qm-yUc Øm-yUc
• Note: these forms avoid the otherwise usual, but awkward Ec-Øc or Ec-Uc.

► More examples

• I would fly if I could
  fu kEdev-1mUc qg fu wav-qc
  fu kEdev–âmUc Øg fu wav-Øc.
  
  
• When I was young, I could run fast
  xA fu pAc fAtom, fu wq-pAv nem nav
  xA fu pAc fAtom, fu wØ-pAv nem nav. (simple past)
  
  
• I wish it were Saturday; I wish I did not have to go to work
  fu tOv sE 1mUc n6-iA;
  fu tOv fu Yc wYv-qc av at ruwe
  fu tOv sE âmUc nÂ-iA;
  fu tOv fu Yc wYv–Øc av at ruwe.
  (I wish it were (hypothetically) Saturday;
  I wish I not must/would have to go to work.)

Linking Verbs

► Linking verbs can link the subject to an adjective that describes it, or to a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun that renames it.

• ‘To be’ is the most common linking verb
• As the most common stative (non-active) verb, ‘to be’ uses c-c: Exist as the ending instead of -v, Action. The original cEv cEv (is) is abbreviated to Ec Ec:

   [cf. p. 50C]

► There are many meanings of ‘be’ depending on context:

Modal Auxiliary Verbs

• Auxiliary (helping) verbs add functional meaning to other ‘main’ or ‘full’ verbs in a clause. They are used to create different tenses or aspects, to form negatives and interrogatives, or to add emphasis to a sentence. However, they do not have semantic meaning unto themselves – in English! https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Auxiliary-Verbs.htm
• But in aUI, they do still reflect meaning that fits the context.
• Modal verbs are used to change the meaning of other verbs by expressing modality—that is, by describing possibility, likelihood, ability, permission, obligation, or future intention.
• In aUI, the modal helping verbs that are used to form conditional verbs are attached as suffixes to the main verb: would¹ -Øc, could² -wØc, might³ -twØc.
• The ending for should⁴, -rv, does not indicate a condition in aUI, but instead a ‘positive deed’ (good-action); see Command/Imperative.
• Will and shall⁵ are simply designated as endings to indicate future verb forms (as translated in English).

► Modal Auxiliary Verbs

*’Could’ as a conditional form -wØc, should not be confused with ‘could’ as a simple past form of ‘can’: wa-pAv or wØ-pAv.

• I could work if I was well: ruwev-wØc (conditional form of can)
  vs.
• I could work like a horse when I was young: wØ-pAv ruwev (past form of can = was able to)

Optative Verb

qtrOm ØtrOm-

► is a mood of verbs that expresses a wish or desire, and uses a counterfactual (irrealis) mood. If one wants to further emphasize this mood, beyond what is given above under Conditional endings, one could use an adjectival prefix:

• fu qtrOm-sev fu ØtrOm-sev [Conditional-hope-give]: I would like to give.
  (The original book simply shows rO -rO–  (se-rO-v) but this does not give a sense of wish (tO) or condition (Ø), so I added these [cf. p. 46]
  
  • QtOm ØtOm– would desire [Conditionally-want-Quality] (desiderative)
  • QtrOm ØtrOm– would hopefully [Conditionally-hope-Quality] (optative)
  • qwOm ØwOm– may [Conditionally-Feel-Power-Quality]

Passive

Yv -Yv

► Passive verbs end in -Yv -Yv [Opposite-Action] and express passive, receiving- type occurrences in which the subject receives the action of the verb.

• English passive: ‘be + past participle’
  
  • Cain killed Abel
    KaiN vyo-pAv ABeL
    KaiN vyo-pAv ABeL
    
    
  • Abel was killed by Cain
    ABeL vyo-pAYv Ud KaiN
    ABeL vyo-pAYv Ud Kain

► Present Passive Participle: YvAm -YvAm

• Forms a present passive continuous adverbial phrase that acts as an adverbial modifier, providing information about the circumstance or reason for an action:
  Being expected to sing…
  
  • Being expected to sing, s/he blushed.
    pO-YvAm rIv, cu t1i-pAv.
    pO-YvAm rIv, cu tâi-pAv.
    
• The book mentions Yv -Yv can be omitted for certain negative forms, but typically it’s clearer to keep it. 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]
  
  

► Adjectival vs. Verbal Passive

• The vase was broken can mean:
  
• Verbal Passive (someone broke it):
  zwE-pAYv
  zwE-pAYv
  
  • The window was broken (this morning).
    pI dugai zwE-pAYv.
    pI dugai zwE-pAYv fE tiA.
    
    
• Adjectival Participle (in a state of pieces):
  pAc zwE-pAm
  pAc zwE-pAm
  
  • The window was broken (and open).
    pI dugai pAc zwE-pAm.
    pI dugai pAc zwE-pAm.
    
• aUI distinguishes these forms that have the same ending in English.
  
• Again, two possible interpretations:
  
  • “We think we are driving, but we are driven.”(attr. L. Tolstoy)
    fnu Uv fnu Ec dave-vAm, yUg fnu Ec dave-pAm.
    fnu Uv fnu Ec dave-vAm, yUg fnu Ec dave-pAm.
    We think we are driving, but we are ‘ambitious’. (adjectival participle)
    
  • fnu Uv fnu Ec dave-vAm, yUg fnu daveYv.
    fnu Uv fnu Ec dave-vAm, yUg fnu daveYv.
    We think we are driving, but we are being driven (by an external force). (passive)
    
    • The answer was known by everyone
      pI YhI pAc gU-pAm Ud c1nu
      pI YhI pAc gU-pAm Ud cânu
      (can’t say ‘…was being known’ as if it were a passive verb: adjectival participle)
      
    • The bridge is being designed in Paris.
      pI ekjE-da Uc-vAm tUvma-fAYv ag PaRiS
      pI ekjEda Uc-vAm tUvma-fAYv ag PaRiS.
      (can’t say ‘…is being un-designed’ as if it were an adjective: verbal continuous passive)
      
      
    • The building was surrounded all day.
      pI ugavs pAc LYg1na-pAm cAn iA.
      pI ugavs pAc LYgâna-pAm cAn iA. (adjectival participle)
      
    • The building was surrounded early in the morning.
      pI ugavs LYg1na-pAYv A-pem Ag pikAz.
      pI ugavs LYgâna-pAYv A-pem Ag pikAz. (verbal passive)
      
      
• In German this distinction is clearer to see: das Haus war umgeben (the house was surrounded…and alone: adjectival) vs. das Haus wurde umgeben (the house became surrounded…by the fire: passive).

► Double Passive Verbs

• If a verb already ends in -Yv, keep it intact for commands/tense changes
  • srYv srYv: receive!  [you ought to receive, it is good to receive]
  • sYv-pAv sYv-pAv received
  • sYv-tAv sYv-tAv will receive
  • sYv-pApAv sYv-pApAv had been received
  • sYv-pAm  sYv-pAm received (past participle)
  • sYv-fAvpAm sYv-fAvpAm having received
  • Uc-vAm sYYv  syYv is being received (in this case, including the fA would be confusing, and it is optional anyway)
  • This double passive is almost active: sev sev to give

Tense

pA -pA, tA -tA

(see Table of Verb Tenses)

► Past

• pA -pA: Before-Time
  • o-pAv o-pAv: lived
  • Past is considered before us in Time = prior

► Future

• tA -tA: Toward-Time
  • o-tAv o-tAv: will live
  • the Time Toward which we move, or which seems to come Toward us

► Perfect

• To show that an action is recent, with a continuing effect that emphasizes its result, fA present, pA past, and tA future can be added to the past verb:
  • o-fApAv o-fApAv: has lived
  • o-pApAv o-pApAv: had lived
  • o-tApAv o-tApAv: will have lived
• fpAv -fpAv, ppAv -ppAv, TpAv -tpAv are abbreviations [p. 47]

► Continuous

• As in English: auxiliary (helping verb, to be) + present participle
  • Ec ovAm Ec ovAm: is living
  • pAc ovAm pAc ovAm: was living
  • tAc ovAm tAc ovAm: will be living

► Perfect Continuous

• As in English, auxiliary (helping verb, to be) + past participle
  • fApAc ovAm fApAc ovam: have been living
  • pApAc ovAm pApAc ovAm: had been living
  • tApAc ovAm tApAc ovAm: will have been living

► Shifting Tense in Narratives
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 pAg: “what follows is in the past”
• pApAg pApAg: “what follows is in past perfect”
• tAg tAg: “ what follows is in future”
• fAg fAg: “re-enter present”

Verb Tense Conjugation

Table of Verb Tenses

► Further Distinctions

• The examples above could also read, “I was (emotionally) moved by the attendants’ care”, making it even more apparently equivalent to the adjectival example, “I was moved by the music.”
  
• The adjective ‘moved’ both describes the emotional character of the subject, (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. 
  
• 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.”…unless it was a very crazy hospital!)
  
• The German equivalent also shows more clearly the distinction:

(*special designation as emotional)

Word Formation

► Basic Roots

• aUI’s smallest meaningful units – morphemes – are the 42 single-letter “Elements of Meaning” (counting the numerals).
• Each of them is also a phoneme (smallest meaningful sound unit) and a semanteme (smallest unit of meaning).
• English words, as those of most any language, also come from older roots (Latin, Greek, etc.), so checking etymology can help in forming aUI compounds.
• 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 which aUI elements and roots they might contain.
• So, the shortest 2-4 element combinations, which are, in turn, combined into compounds, could be called Bases.
  • interrupt = Latin [between-burst] → g2-zwEv g2-zwEv (between-break)
  • convene = Latin [together-come] → nub-tev nub-tev (people-Together-come)

► Elemental Categories

• A good understanding of the elemental categories and their closely related meanings is essential to begin with.  
• The hundred basic compounds of the aUI book (p. 21) should first be studied and become very familiar.
• Many of these function as short roots for building further compounds.

► Prefixes / Reduplication

• To emphasize further gradients of size, one can reduplicate or reiterate a prefix, e.g. Ynam [small]; nYnam [very small]; nYnYnam [tiny]; nYnYnYnam [minute].
  
• To emphasize further gradients of size, one can reduplicate or reiterate a prefix, e.g. Ynam [small]; nYnam [very small]; nYnYnam [tiny]; nYnYnYnam [minute].
  
  • nam, nEn → n n- : big or many
  • Ynam, YnEnY → Yn-: small or few
  • nYn nYn- → many or very small
  • YnYn YnYn → very small
  • tYn tYn [Toward-small] → less
    
• For words like microscopic, its etymology tells us it is composed of Latin micro + scope (very small + to look at YnYn-tiOm YnYn-tiOm
  
• infinitesimal is from Latin in-finitus (no + end, limit)Yc-tnak-YnYnam Yc-tnak-YnYnam [no-limit-very small] infinitesimal
  

► Changing Word Class

• Add U U to make a concept
  • rOb rOb: harmony → rObU rObU harmony concept

• Add v -v,ev -ev, Ev -Ev, Ov -Ov, or Uv -Uv to shift to an active Verb form. For instance, for various types of ‘harmonize’:
  
  
  • + Uv Uv → rOb-Uv rObUv
  • + ev ev → rOb-ev rObev 
  • + IvIv → rOb-Iv rObIv
    
• Add m -m to form a modifier (adjective or adverb).
  • eO eO emotion → eOm eOm emotional
    
• Add d -d to indicate a tool, instrument, or means
  • rYvev rYvev: slide + dd Tool
  • drYvev drYvev: to skate
  • Ykb5-rYved Ykbô-rYved [foot-skate-Tool]: skate

► aUI Compounds can be of several types

• Determinative (defining):
  • Compound = Determinator (noun, verb, modifier, particle) + Base (noun, modifier, verb)
  • Attributive:
    • character: ru ru [Good-Human] Mr/Ms/gentleman/woman
    • possessor: fuga fuga [my-house] home
      (here the fu [I, connoting my] is elided or contracted with the uga [house])
    • ingredient: od-jE od-jE [food-liquid] soup
    • position or direction: trO trO [Toward-Good-Feeling] hope
    • time: tiA-jE tiA-jE [dawn-liquid] morning dew
    • cause: brO-Yrom brO-Yrom [affection/love-sick] love-sick
    • purpose: vYgjE-uYgE vYgjE-uYgE [dry-cloth] towel
    • tool: b5d bôd [hand-Tool] handle (b5dev bôdev to handle)
    • comparison: kan-4im kan-ûim sky-blue
    • intensification: k-rUm k-rUm super-good, excellent
  • Objective (action on an object):
    • eos-dos eos-dos [animal-eat-animal] carnivore
      (here, again, the dov [to eat] is elided or contracted with the os [animal abbrev.])
      
• Copulative (joining)
  • both parts are equal and additive
    • bos-iod bos-iod [Together-animal + vegetable] stew
    • tYv-fev tYv-fev [get-take] catch
    • 12im âêim [red + yellow] orange
    • k-og-ed kog-ed [Upper-body—limb] arm
    • k-Eo-wU k-Eo-wU [Above-nature-power] magic
      (not kE-ow-U!; a bow-tie is not a boat-eye, a bow-leg not a bowl-egg!)

Word Order: SVO

► Preferred Order

• Subject–Verb–Object, even for questions and relative clauses, though not mandatory.
  • Whom did he see? → literally: S/he saw whom?  
    cu iO-pAv hu ?
    cu iO-pAv hu?
    
• Modifiers (adj./adv.) before the noun/verb they modify
  
  • SVO structure preserved:
    The good teacher quickly gives just rewards to the hard-working student, whom s/he does not ignore.