Hey, congratulations!
You've taken the first step towards learning something new! Whether you clicked this because I hit you upside the head or because you were simply curious, I applaud you. (Crowd whoops in the background.)
Here, you'll find the simpler aspects of the language, from alphabet to smaller words and their pronunciations. I warn you, though. don't get frustrated with me for not putting new lessons up very often; most times these are based off of what the other learners and I do on Msn or in the letters (You know you read about them on the Homepage!), as I'm often too tired to think- well, lazy, too- up the things on my own.
If you're wanting new lessons, come to me and help me make them!
Na leba kaime'n eve mea!
As the Phonetic Dictionary has been posted, the spellings of some words in the first two dictionaries that were posted are now outdated. I ask you kindly not to use them- or if you will, to let me know first. I plan on having a separate 'site for the use of those words, and request that you keep to Weyr here.
Trad/High-Weyr's for the birds.
Thanks.
-Emma!
Hello! I'm so happy you've decided to look at these lessons! -Virtuhug.-
This lesson will:
-Introduce you to the Sandic alphabet and explain some of the differences between English and Sandletters.
-Get you to examine them closely.
-Have you write your own name out using them!
Lesson One
Open a new window, navigate to this 'site, and click, on the sidebar, the LESSON NOTES tab. The very first image (And the only one yet, lol.) Will be a long line of funny-looking letters.
Here are the letters of the language Weyr! They're a simple code, lightly based on English letters and various other glyphs from languages past.
Possibly the biggest difference between the Sandic alphabet and the English alphabet is that the Sandic lacks the letter 'Q'. They simply have no letter for it, and no words you will ever see in true Weyr or even High Weyr will have that letter.
Words with the sound that 'Q' makes ('cue') will often have the letter combination Cu or Ku; though these words are few and far between, as it is.
Study the letters. How many can you semi-recognise? How many are simply English letters that have been slightly altered? How many of them are new to you in their entirety?
Don't hesitate to write the letters down and study the formation of words. Stacking those letters will be second nature to you in no time, I promise!
Once you've gotten them 'down', move on to Homework and the next lesson.
Homework(To be emailed to me!):
Assignment: Write your name using these letters.
1. Copy and paste the picture into Mspaint, and pull the letters that make up your name into a line.
...Like this! My name = .
2. Set these as a new image, save them as the very smallest size file that you can make, and attach them to an email.
3. The email's name should be Lesson One.
Remember, if you have questions or comments, I'm happy to hear them!
Msn me if you have it, or send me an email titled 'Question.'
Have fun!
In this lesson, you will learn:
-How to give your name.
-How to ask someone else for their name.
-What the prefix 'ma' does to nouns.
Directions:
Do you remember how to write your name? No?
Take a look back at it for a moment- you'll be using that image file again in just a moment, for homework.
Open another page and navigate to this 'site, pulling up the dictionary. You'll also be using this. Look up the words for 'How', and the word for 'you'.
Have you got them?
Excellent! Write them down someplace and set them aside.
Now, look up the word for 'name'. Find it? Good.
Now, the word for 'name' is be`ennu`. Bay-ee-nuh.
Say it out loud.
Most people tend not to think about this, but the word 'name', in English(Vil-an) can also be a verb. If you name something, what are you doing? You're giving that something a name, right?
Exactly.
Now, in the sentence you're about to make, be`nu` has to be used as a verb. To make be`ennu` into a verb, add 'ma' to the beginning. Basically, what 'ma' does to a noun is to make it into a verb.
By adding that 'ma', you've effectively turned your boring old 'name' into 'to name.
So, what words have you got?
You've got 'w`he', and 'Pe`ha^', and 'ma-be`ennu`''(name + the 'ma' prefix, which turns it into a verb.), right?
Exactly right, if that's what you've got! Now, Weyr will go:
'W`he pe`mabe`ennu`?'
'Whee pay-mah-bay-ee-nuh?'
How you named?
Like this, because in the conjugation of verbs, the 'you' becomes a prefix on the verb root- 'ma-be`nu`(n).' The N is added to the end of every verb, regardless, so don't worry about it too much. If you remember it, you'll be fine. Thus, the question goes literally, 'How you-toname?'
How are you named? What's your name?
^-^
Good, you've got the question of name! That was easy enough. :P
Now, to answer that question, you need to use the word for 'my'. Look that up real quick.
..Got it?
Now, you take the 'ma' back off of the be`ennu`. You'll answer this question with a noun, and so you don't need the verb-prefix. Also, get rid of the 'd'. That only goes on verbs.
You've got me and be`nu` now, right?. If you put them together-
'Me be`ennu` ........'
'Me bay-nuh...'
My name (is)...
The dotdotdotdots are where your name would go.
There's also another way to do this- to answer the question. You have to answer with an implied verb.
Look up the word 'I" real quick. You'll need it for this reply.
It's 'Fele-, right? Good. Now, a simple way to answer this question is to simply say,
Fele be`ennu` .....
Fee-h bay-ee-nuh....
I name....
And so, to review..:
. W`he pe`mabe`ennu`?
Me be`ennu`.... .
Fele be`ennu`..
You can now ask and give names!
Assignment: Create a cartoon illustrating what you've just learned.
1.Look on the Homepage at the announcement for lesson two, and take a peek at the cartoon next to it.
2.Use this cartoon was the template for your own cartoon. You can copy-paste that, if you like, and add the dialogue in- or you can make your own.
3. Use your name-picture (The one that was created in lesson one) to answer the question 'Whi peha mabaine't?' in your cartoon. Mspaint may be the best program to do this in.
Like this! :
4. Save the file as 'Name cartoon', and attach it to the email 'Lesson Two Homework.'
5. ..Send.
Repeating this stuff will help you remember, so don't feel silly about going back over it, and please remember that homework is a great way to go over it and let me know where you are!
Please also remember that any questions you've got about the pronunciation changes ('Why is ma 'mah' instead of 'muh'?') , as well as any other questions about the lesson, can be directed towards my email, and that an email with questions in it should be entitled 'Lesson Two: Questions.'
emmameow@hotmail.com
Lesson 3- Numbers.
In This Lesson, You Will Learn:
-How to count from 1- 10
-How to write the letters in their correct Sandic,
-And how to do simple addition and subtraction.
3a.
Pt. 1.
As with every language, Weyr has a number system. Useful for bartering and making sure one hasn't lost one of the three sheep he's got for the week aside, numbers are a part of our daily lives: perhaps even to a greater extent than we realise.
Thus it is very important to have knowledge of numbers in any language- constructed or otherwise, because you'd be quite high and dry without them.
To begin, there is no number for 'Zero' in Weyr. They use the word 'neot', which comes from neota^, meaning 'not'. It doesn't have a written form like the others.
One is trè- , two is shè- , three is kè- . They all rhyme, and so should be rather easy to remember.
'Tray, shay, kay.'
Then you've got four, five and six, which are olëor- , pèn- and xs- .
'Oohor, pain, kiss.'
Not too hard, right?
trè, shè, kè, olëor, pèn, xs.
One, two, three, four, five, six.
--
Let's practice some sums with those.
Mind, firstly, that as we generally use the terms 'plus' and 'minus', we don't realise. In Weyr, they are verbs- semi-verbs by definition, not that it matters. This means that they are verbs without subject/doer-prefixes. They simply exist, and the word before them is their doer.
Now you'll need the words for them- won't you? :P
Plus- - is 'alov'- pronounced like 'ah, loave.'
Minus- - is ùndèrtùc. 'Under', with a french accent- the 'er' sounds like 'air', and then 'tuhs.' 'Undairtuhss.'
Equals is just 'sa'-. Pronounce it like it looks! 'Sah'.
They're very easy to learn- and based on a logical system, once you look at them.
A warning, though- if ever any handwritten samples are provided on this 'site, then you'll see that they look quite a bit different from the stuff there- the ones you have now are the standard /printed/ characters. The numbers themelves, when written by hand, have a shorthand (No pun intended) form, which will be taught in a later lesson.
Let's try some together.
A.
Kè ùndèrtùc shè sa ?
Three minus two is?
Aa.
Kè undèrtùc shè sa trè.
B.
Trè alov olëor sa ?
One plus four is?
Ba.
Trè alov olëor sa pèn.
Practice:
Tre.
Pèn alov trè sa _________.
She.
Pèn ùndèrtùc trè sa ________.
Ke.
Xis alov olëor ùndèrtùc pèn sa __________.
Homework:
Simple homework this time, since Emma doesn't like numbers all that much. :P
1. Write out at least three sums on a piece of paper, (or in an email, if you want to send it-) and try to use their written Sandic forms. Check the Lesson Notes page for an idea of what I mean.
2. See if you can count from one to six without looking- and once/if you an, see if you can count backwards!
3. Study those, so that when the next lesson comes up, you'll keel with your already earned number skeelz!
Whe pemabeenu? -- How you named? -- What's your name?
-How to read simple conversations and write them in three different forms of Sandic.
-How to ask someone's name.
-How to say 'Nice to meet you!'
Before we begin the lesson, please look back at the 'Lesson Notes' section and review the letters. I know it's been a while since you've looked at them (Haha, don't blush so!) but they will be important for you to get the most out of this section.
I've gone back and touched up the sandic letters so that they aren't quite as scriggly as they were before (The other ones were simply ones I cut out of handwritten samples that I had laying about; it's spring break here now and I've had time to look back and re-model them a bit.) and that they are easier to read.
Once you've reviewed the letters and you think you're alright with them, then take a look at the dialogue below. The first box shows Atipican sandic- the backwards, cursive-style of writing the Weyr language. The second box provides you with a more familiar-looking dialogue that says the exact same thing, but in your learned Atasian sandic. The third box contains an english literal letter translation, and the lighter text shows what the words themselves mean.
While looking at the dialogue, try and find the:
-'My', or 'I' verb marker. Look for it in the 'I am named...'
-'You' or 'Your' marker. Look in the 'What are you named?'
-Names of the two girls. What are their names in English?
Archived 21-12-06.. It was just too stinkij' and dusty to be left? (Check out how I called 'holds' a noun!)
-!
"Don't be turned off by how complicated the articles in weyr seem to be, at first. Just because there are eight or ten of them doesn't mean a danged thing. It's much simpler than it seems, once you remember three things:
-Almost all words have the same base article, Ba. The only other base article is Da, and it doesn't really matter if you mix them up.
-Li, Ra, and all the other indicative adjectives only affect the /status/ of a noun in relation to other nouns in the same sentence, and
-If you don't want to use these indicatives, you don't have to.
First- What's an indicative adjective?
I'll bet you're wondering. Look above at my second reason why articles are easy. See Li and Ra? -Those- are your indicative adjectives. They're added to the beginning or end of the definite base article, Ba/Da, and change the way the noun relates in the sentence to other nouns in the same sentence.
For instance:
Ra means 'really' in Weyr, and as an indicative causes its noun to become 'higher' than others in the sentence. Li has no other counterpart but simply means that the noun it refers to is incomparable to any other noun in the same sentence.
..Confused, yet? Good.
At least you're still reading.
Indicative adjectives are unique in the way that they modify noun meanings. Rather than the traditional questions of 'Who?' 'What?' 'Why?' 'When?' 'Where?', and 'How many?', the indicatives answer 'In what relation to?' and 'As compared to the status of?'.
E.G.:
Ba minahx da dio holds.
The cat the book holds.
A simple sentence, with simple articles. These articles don't compare to one another, and, as in the typical english sentence, don't interact in any other way than to be affected each in turn by the noun, Holds.
Thus, the cat holds the book.
Now, if we throw some indicatives in there..:
Bara minahx nada dio holds.
The(Indc) cat (indc)the book holds.
Note the difference between the position of Ra vs. Na on their base articles. since Ra refers to the noun at the very beginning of the sentence, and its base is the first word, it goes on the back-side of the word, causing it to become Bara.
In this sentence, we can begin to discern relationships among the nouns far past basic verb-interaction levels. The 'great' cat holds the (Incomparable, in this case meaning low, or unimportant) book.
And that's basically what indicative adjectives do, in a sentence.
What not to do with indicatives!
-Do NOT attach the indicatives directly to a noun!
liminahx= BAD!
Liba minahx= Correct form, except at the beginning of a sentence, where it would have to be
Bali.
-Do NOT capitalize indicative adjectives, except when highlighting them in another language! Even at the BEGINNING of sentences in Weyr or High Weyr, do NOT capitalize them!
Liba = BAD!
Bali = Correct form.
-DON'T use indicatives on one base article and then forget to put them on your others, if you're wanting to compare them!
-Bali minahx ma'h ba dio frn da dio_ ba trekt'n. = Okay form, if you're only wanting to assert the fact that the Cat's so much better (Or indifferent in status) to the book's book. This sentence is not technically gramatically wrong, but if you're wanting to change those other nouns and describe more, please understand that indicatives leave VERY LITTLE to be inferred. You absolutely MUST spell out those differences, or else they'll be lost for good, and only available in your head.
Bali minahx ma'l liba dio frn rada dio_ ba trekt'n. = Good form. This sentence offers comparisons on all nouns within it.
A short list of Indicative Adjectives.
ko- Ba's indicative form, this adj. effectively re-asserts the noun's status as a living thing. It tells little or nothing else about the noun, but is useful in sentences where most other nouns have their own Ind. Adjs.
ra- Really, as an indicative. It makes the noun that it's attached to higher than any other noun in the sentence except where another noun in the SAME sentence shares this ind. Adj. Then, they are equal.
li- Sets aside the noun, preventing comparison with the other nouns in a sentence. If another noun is paired with Raba or Bara, and all other nouns in the same sentence are paired with lesser ind. Adjs, then they are all lower than the noun with Raba or Bara, except for where a noun has Li attached to its article.
ka- makes the noun masculine. Nouns with this noun are lesser than those with Raba, and still incomparable with those paired with Liba, but attaching this particular ind. adj. tends to show more in the maner of how the noun is re/acting. (Baka minahx liba pa`e leh. The brusque cat licks the paper. This /almost/ answers the question of 'How?', and there is sme debate as to whether it's a proper ind. adj. at all.)
ai- This is the same thing as ka, except in the feminine extreme. Use this adj. to show subservience. It is lesser than even naba, and is rarely used outside of attachment to truly servantile nouns, as it creates an effective lowering of the noun's status. Nouns with this ind. adj. are generally lower than any other noun in the sentence, and heirarchy among nouns with the same adj. are determined by the splicing of other adjs. onto the same base noun.
Baraai minahx- Highest form of ai. Note how Ai comes last, even though it's highest in effect to both the base article and the noun.
Raaiba- Again, ai comes last.
Type three sentences using the given indicative adjectives. Explain the precendence of one noun over another in your sentences. You must use ai or ka in at least one of your three sentences.
Remember, please- I welcome questions from you at any time! Hit me on Msn, if you know it, or send me an email titled 'Question.' No questions in homework, please. Send them in a separate email. "
The old Weyr glyphs. They were too ugly to be allowed.
Yuck.
