_Ver 2__________________________________________R. Gaskell 1999__________
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1. Overview #1 Derivation of Language Characteristics #2 Words Don't Change With Use #3 No Part-of-Speech Markers #4 Precedence Rule Creates Syntax 2. Basic Structure A. Words B. Phrases C. Clauses D. Sentences 3. Function Words E. Noun Markers F. Prepositions G. Modifiers H. Other Functions 4. Substantives I. Concept Words 5. Noun Phrases J. Substantive as 'noun' K. Pronouns L. Determinants and Numerators M. Noun Modifiers 6. Verb Phrases N. Substantive as 'verb' O. Auxiliary Verbs P. Modal Verbs Q. Phrasal Verbs R. Verb Modifiers 7. Syntax S. Precedence T. Sentence Order (SVO) U. Compounds V. Concept Clusters 8. Punctuation W. Comma X. Semi-colon Y. Other 9. Pronunciation Z. Phonetic Rule &. Vowels &&. Consonants
#1 Derivation of Language Characteristics
. Vocabulary is from the Classical roots of Greek & Latin
. Pronunciation - Five Vowels of Italian & Spanish
. Sentence structure - Similar to English
. Words are Concept Centres - Based on Chinese
#2 Words Don't Change With Use
. Words do not have Gender.
. Words do not Agree in Number.
. The same word, unchanged, can function as noun, verb, or modifier.
. 'Verbs' have no inflections.
. 'Nouns' do not change to form the plural.
#3 No Part-of-Speech Markers
. A word is not changed to form a different part of speech.
. A word's functioning as a particular Part-of-Speech is indicated by
its position in the sentence.
#4 Precedence Rule Creates Syntax
. One word modifies the next, and so on.
. Phrase starts with least significant word, ends in most significant.
. There is an order for placing words (least to most sig.) in a phrase.
. Precedence combines with Subject-Verb-Object order and clause
structure to produce syntax.
A. Words
i. These are symbols for ideas, and are the atoms of language, but are
of little meaning, singly.
ii. There are two major groups of words:-
a)Primitives: comprising a small number of basic function words -
present in all languages - these allow us to describe the
relationships between the major concepts we convey, EG de [of],
e [and], pre [before], qe [-> ?], supra [above].
b)Substantives: the ever-expanding list of words representing things,
actions and descriptions (sometimes usable for all three), EG
kurso [run], vide [see], via [road], oku [eye], hedo [happy],
celera [swift].
iii. Consonant vowel (CV, CVCV, etc) structure for ease of pronunciation:
this pattern is the general trend, not a rigidly imposed rule.
iv. Formation of new words could be by adding completely new words, but
is usually through compounding, with hyphens, of unchanged existing
words.
B. Phrases
i. A phrase is the smallest unit of Glosa to have recognisable meaning.
ii. There are four main phrases, depending on their function within
the sentence:-
a)Noun Phrase: small group with a 'noun' preceded by descriptive
words.
b)Verb Phrase: small group with a 'verb' preceded by its modifiers.
c)Prepositional Phrase: preposition plus a Noun Phrase; can be an
"Indirect Object" to the 'verb'.
d)Adverbial Phrase: small group with a modifier, amplifying the
meaning of the 'verb'; can be one word at the start or end of the
sentence.
iii. Phrases in a simple sentence follow the Subject+Verb(+Object)
pattern, with:-
a)Noun Phrase+Verb Phrase ... with Intransitive 'verb'.
b)Noun Phrase+Verb Phrase+Noun Phrase ... Transitive 'verb'.
c)Noun Phrase+Verb Phrase+Prepositional Phrase .. 'verb' has Indirect
Object.
iv. Glosa phrases are "Substantive Final", starting with the least
important word, and followed by additional words combining progress-
ively to extend the meaning of the substantive, which comes last.
C. Clauses
i. A Glosa sentence with only one 'verb' is a Major Clause.
ii. With two, or more 'verbs' in a sentence, there is one Major clause,
with the other 'verb(s)' usually in Minor Clauses that add meaning
to the Major Clause.
iii. Two, or more, Major Clauses may be combined in a sentence through
the use of one, or more, conjunctions.
iv. Where ambiguity is otherwise possible, a semi-colon is used as a
Start-of-Clause Marker.
v. There are three types of Minor Clause in Glosa:-
a)Noun Clause: larger group that takes the place of a Noun Phrase.
b)Adjectival Clause: larger group usually starting with the Relative
Pronoun, ~qi~, and following the 'noun' it adds meaning to.
c)Adverbial Clause: larger group, that could be anywhere in the
sentence, but which extends the meaning of the main verb of the
sentence. These start with a word that places or explains the
action of the 'verb' they qualify, examples: time ~kron~ [when],
location ~loka~ [where], spacial ~dia~ [through],
logical ~anti-co~ [however], causal ~te~ [in order to].
D. Sentence
The minimum meaningful group within Glosa: it starts with a capital
letter and ends with a full stop or equivalent.
E. Noun Markers
i. Indicating the start of a Noun Phrase, particles are placed in front
of numerators and other modifiers that come before the 'noun'.
ii. The particle indicates whether the 'noun' is Singular or Plural:
a)~u~ is the particle for singular 'nouns', and
b)~plu~ is the particle for plural 'nouns'.
F. Prepositions
i. Small words that give information about a following Noun Phrase or
Adverbial Clause:
a)Time: tem [at the time], po [after], pre [before], kron [when].
b)Place: lo [where], to [at], ab [away].
c)Relationship: epi [on], in [into], intra [inside], a [towards],
infra [under], supra [over], inter [between], ex[out of],
tele [far], proxi [near].
ii. Small words that introduce an Advebial Clause:
so [thus], ka [because], sine [instead of], te [in order to]
G. Modifiers
Words placed before a substantive to amplify its meaning; they are
usually substantives too, but they add meaning to the final word in
the phrase.
i. Without changing, the same word can modify a 'noun'(being called an
adjective) or a 'verb'(and be called an adverb).
ii. In Noun Phrases, there are also modifiers of Number, Quantity &
Quality, that are paced after the Noun Marker but before the 'noun'.
H. Other Functions
i. Conjunctions
These join equivalent units within the sentence: words, phrases or
clauses:-
a)Combination: e [and]
b)Opposition: sed [but]
c)Alternative: alo [or]
d)Binary Alternative: alo X alo Y [either X or Y]
ii. Negatives
Placed before the substantive these negate its meaning:
a)Nouns: nuli [no,nothing]
b)Verbs: ne [do not .. ], no- [un-...]
c)Binary Negatives: ni P ni Q [neither P nor Q]
iii. Questions
a)The placing of ~qe~ before a statement makes it a question.
b)~qo?~ [what?]
c)~qo-~ is used to form compound question words: qo-lo [where],
qo-tem [when], qo-te [why,what intention], qo-mode [how], qo-pe [who]
iv. Generic Terms
Two-letter abbreviations of substantives can be added, using hyphens,
as terminal affixes, to change the category of a word: there are
about twenty of these.
EG post [mail], persona [person], posta-pe [postman]
v. Reflexive Forms
The action of the 'verb' is received by the Subject of the clause.
a)Where the Subject is a person, ~auto~ is placed after the 'verb',
EG An bate auto. [He hit himself.]
b)For impersonal Subjects, ~se~, or ~-se~ is put after the 'verb'.
EG U makina pa frakto-se. [The machine broke itself.]
I. Concept Words
In Glosa each concept is conveyed by one word, and it can function,
unchanged, as a noun, verb or modifier, depending on its position in
the sentence. These make up the majority of the lexicon, and all new
word for objects, action or descriptions, are substantives.
J. Substantive as 'noun'
A simple sentence has two Noun Phrases, one for Subject the other for
Object. The final word in a NP is a substantive acting as a noun.
i. A single 'noun' can constitute a Noun Phrase.
ii. Alternatively, there may be a number of determinants and modifiers,
as well as the final substantive 'noun' in a Noun Phrase.
K. Pronouns
These take the place of substantives, and represent them, acting in
every way like the full 'noun'.
i. Personal Pronouns represent people:
a)First person: mi [I], na [we]
b)Second Person: tu [you(singular)], vi [you(plural)]
c)Third Person: an [he], fe [she], pe [a person], mu [them]
ii. Impersonal Pronouns: u-ci [this], u-la [that]
iii. Relative Pronoun (Adjectival Clause Marker): qi [which,that]
L. Determinants and Numerators
These are particles that tell about the quantitative nature of the
'noun', and are placed at the start of the Noun Phrase.
i. Noun Markers: u [=a,the], plu [=the](indicates plurality); these
can be omitted, if context, or other words in the NP, clearly
indicate the presence of the 'noun'
ii. Countables
Countables exist in discrete numbers, and may be described using:
a)Numbers: mo [one], bi [two], deka [ten], bi-tri [twenty-three].
b)General terms: oligo [few], poly [many], mega, [big], pusi [small].
plura [several],
iii. Quantifiers
Substances that are Measured, not Counted, are described using:
u mero de [a piece of], ma [more], meio [less], maxi [most],
u qantita de [an amount of].
M. Noun Modifiers
Substantives functioning as nouns may be modifies qualitatively by
other substantives placed directly before them.
i. Adjectives: This is the traditional term for Noun Modifiers.
ii. Compounding: When two, or more, substantives combine, often
hyphenated, to form one complex concept, they modify the meaning of
one another.
EG trans-natio-korporati [TNC]
A simple sentence has one Verb Phrase in the middle of the sentence:
the final word in a V.P. is a substantive acting as a verb.
i. A single 'verb' can constitute a Verb Phrase.
ii. Alternatively, there may be a number of particles and modifiers,
as well as the final substantive 'verb', in a Verb Phrase.
N. Substantive as 'verb'
In a V.P. one substantive functions as the verb.
i. The 'verb' represents the action associated with the substantive.
ii. The substantive is not modified to show that it acts as a verb.
iii. 'verbs' in Glosa are not inflected.
iv. The substantive 'verb' is the final word in the V.P. being
preceded in the phrase by particles and modifiers.
O. Auxiliary Verbs
These substantive - capable of acting as verbs on their own - precede
the main 'verb' and augment its meaning. These are: es [being,is],
habe [has_the_quality_of,"is"], gene [gets,becomes,"is"].
P. Modal Verbs
These are lesser 'verbs' that usually precede the main 'verb'
modifying how it acts. These are: posi [possibly], pote [can],
debi [ought to], nece [must], probabili [probably].
Q. Phrasal Verbs
A Phrasal Verb comprises a substantive 'verb' followed by one (or
more) "post-positions" that extend the meaning of the 'verb'.
EG, ki ana [go up], moti ab [move away from], loka antero [put
in front of]
R. Verb Modifiers
The 'verb'is the final word in the V.P., and any word before the
substantive 'verb' modifies that 'verb'. The modifiers in a V.P.
follow a sequence of increasing importance to the meaning of the
phrase:-
Tense - Aspect - Modal - Auxiliary - Modifier(s) - Substantive
i. Tense Particles
Strictly speaking there are two Tense particles:-
pa - Past Tense
- Present Tense
fu - Future Tense
The default for a 'verb' not marked for tense is Present Tense.
ii. Aspect Particles
A number of other words relating to the timing or intention of the
action can come after the Tense particle to extend the expresion of
the 'verb':-
nu - immediate present
sio - would .. if (conditional)
du - continues (continuous)
fin - completed (perfective)
iii. Modifiers(Adverbs)
These are substantives that describe the action,
EG forti [strongly], celero [quickly], sine sono [silently].
iv. Verb as Noun (Gerund)
A Substantive may represent the action, but be in the position of
a noun: here the Substantive has the qualities of both verb and
noun, and is called a Gerund; a Noun Marker (u/plu) is used to clarify
the syntax, if necessary, EG
An hedo kurso. [He likes running/to run.],
Fe kanto es fo boni. [Her singing is very good.]
U ju-an interese es u vola de plu modela aeroplana.
[The boy's interest is flying model aeroplanes.]
v. Verb as Adjective (Participle)
When a Verb is used to modify a Noun, the prefix ~ge-~ is placed in
front of the Verb to indicate that the action is received by the
second word, IE ge-X Y ... where X and Y are substantives,
EG u ge-klude tira [the closed door].
vi. Subject and Object reversed (Passive voice)
To form Passive Voice in Glosa, the Main Verb is converted into a
participle, and is preceded by an Auxiliary Verb; the "actor"
follows the Verb Phrase as an "Indirect Subject", IE
"recipient"(Obj.)-Auxiliary-Participle-Preposition-"actor"(Subj.)
EG andra es ge-morda ex kani
... Un andra es ge-morda ex u kani.
The Auxiliary Verb can be ~es~ [is] or ~gene~ [gets].
The definition of syntax used for Glosa is "word order".
S. Precedence
Words in phrases are sequential, and there is an order of precedence
of words in phrases, of phrases in a clause, and clauses in a
sentence.
i. Precedence Rule
This states that, within a phrase, a word is modified by the word
immediately preceding it. The modifying effect is cumulative
throughout the phrase, with the meaning of the final substantive
being qualified addatively by all of the words preceding it in the
phrase.
ii. Sequence in Phrases
a)Noun Phrases
Noun - Determinant - Numerator - Quantifier - Modifier(s) - 'noun'
Marker
EG. u plura tri-loba mega alti, rubi flori
b)Verb Phrases
Tense - Aspect - Modal - Auxiliary - Modifier(s) - Substantive
Part. Part.(s) Verb Verb Verb
EG. pa sio posi es forti hedo
T. Sentence Order (SVO)
Glosa follows the majority sequence, of subject-verb-object, in the
structuring of its sentences. As with English, on which Glosa
sentence structure is modelled, there are variations on this theme:-
i. SV: subject-verb (intransitive 'verb'), EG An kurso.
ii. SVd: subject-verb-dependent_phrase, EG Fe dice fo celero.
iii. SVO: subject-verb-object (transitive 'verb'), EG U kani morda an.
iv. SViO: subject-verb-indirect_object, EG Fe ki ad u boteka.
v. OVS: object-is_verbed_by-subject EG U kani es ge-bate ex un andra.
U. Compounds
Although words in Glosa do not change through usage, to generate new
concepts, two, or more, substantives may be grouped to form a
compound word, and such compounds are usually joined with a hyphen.
i. Normal compounds are formed from two or more full substantives, EG
kryso-buklas [golden curls,"Goldilocks"], moli-centra
[soft-centered].
ii. Regularly compounded words are abbreviated to two-letter forms,
called "Generic Terms", that are affixed with hyphens to the preced-
ing substantive word, EG -do (domi)[house], kani-do [dog-house];
-bo (boteka)[shop], pani-bo [bread shop,baker's].
V. Concept Clusters
Some very complex things and actions require, for their description,
the adjacent placement of three, or more, substantive words; however,
this "clustering of concepts" is to be avoided, where possible, in
Glosa. EG u televideo cyklo undu genera-me
[a television cyclic wave generator] ... would be better
described as ... u genera-me de cyklo undu pro televideo
[a generator of cyclic waves for television].
Represents, in written form, the normal pauses and inflections of
speech; and, as required (to avoid ambiguity) indicates the beginning
of a new syntactic group.
W. Comma
a)Pauses within phrase
b)Separating equvalent syntactic elments in a phrase
c)Pauses between phrases
d)Separating clauses joined with a conjunction
e)Introducing a new phrase, where this avoids ambiguity
f)As parenthesis for brief additional information within a phrase
X. Semi-colon
a)Separating equivalent clauses in a sentence
b)Pauses between clauses
c)Introducing a new clause, where this avoids ambiguity
Y. Other
i. Colon
a)Introducing a list comprising equivalent clauses
b)Following a clause to indicate a consequence
ii. Exclamation Mark
At the end of a sentence to add emphasis or indicates surprise.
iii. Question Mark
At the end of a sentence indicating the asking of a question.
iv. Quotation Marks
a)Double quotes (") around
. Direct Speech
. Quotations from text
. specialised terminology
. book titles (Alternative use on Internet: underlining _Xxx_)
(Alternative use in printed texts: Italics)
b)Single quotes (') around
. Direct Speech quoted within other Direct Speech
. literary reference
. special use of terminology for emphasis
v. em dash ( - ) pauses for additional information
. around additional information inserted as a clause
. as a single dash for additional information at the end of the
sentence
vi. Brackets (xxxx xx) around
. alternative wording
. special explanation
. additional information not part of the syntax of the sentence
vii. Idiom and metaphor
For clarity of expression across cultural boundaries these should
be avoided in Auxiliary Language usage; however, where it is
necessary - for literary purposes - to quote a national-language
idiom within Glosa, then such non-literal language ought to be
marked with some 'neutral' symbol, EG pluvi ^plu feli e kani^.
This follows the generalised pattern of European usage.
Z. Phonetic Rule
Each letter has one associated pronunciation.
N.B. This is not automatically reversible, EG ~q~ sounds like /kw/.
&. Vowels
The five vowels of Glosa have Italian (or Spanish) pronunciation:
a - AH, e - AY, i - EE, o - OR, u - OO.
&&. Consonants
These follow the general pronunciation within Europe, but, where
consonants have alternative pronunciations, the "hard"
pronunciation is used (g, h, j, s, z). c is pronounced CH; y as ~i~;
x as /ks/; w is not used; and there is no letter carrying the
"soft" g, or "soft" j, sound.
© Glosa Education Organisation, Richmond U.K., 1999